enemies and in return, Publius killed his sister on the spot.
For his crime he was condemned to death, however due to his recent victory, he used the Roman tradition of allowing the condemned to appeal their sentences to the populace. This was naturally to end in his advantage, seeing as he had just done Rome a great service in his victory against the enemy. Therefore he cheated death.
However, no one cheated the Devil.
Which meant that when he did eventually die shortly after, due to unknown circumstances I could very well put down to the Devil’s hand, Lucifer was right there ready to take possession of all three souls. He even had their bodies at the ready, and trials of his abomination began. Now if there had been any before them, I had no idea, I simply knew that what was left of the Horatii triplets was currently at my mercy. At my mercy and close to being thrown back into Hell to face the wrath of their maker once more.
For reasons unknown to anyone but our joint father of Hell, the three weren’t destroyed after this failure but instead the Fates intervened and awarded them Keepers of The Tree of Souls. But seeing as the sins of one damned them all, it was made so as not one could live without the other. For their punishment became dependency, seeing as they had failed to depend on one another in the Afterlife. A decision that ultimately led to their Hellish demise.
Now just look at the heroes of Rome, I thought with a sneer.
“Now tell me, Horatii…where is my Queen?!” I growled this last part of my demand taking note of their pained sound at being reminded of who they once were. It was no doubt a name they hadn’t heard in over two thousand years, unless of course Lucifer himself was ever in the mood to play tormentor and pay his failed attempt a visit. Sinful, jealous brothers who the Fates had strangely deemed worthy enough to be bestowed a new name of Keepers of Three. This for reasons that would no doubt never be known to me.
“The gateway to Hell is forever changing.”
“It is fated where she will be.”
“Muhuss…”
“Don’t fucking bother saying a word, cretin!” I snapped shutting up the one with his brother’s hand in his mouth having no fucking patience for it! But of course I didn’t, my girl had stepped through the fucking portal believing that I would simply be stepping through it right after her. Foolishly doing so thinking all she had to do was wait for me on the other side. She had no idea that the Tree’s portal into Hell didn’t work like that. In fact, most gateways into Hell didn’t unless they were in the Temple of Janus. It was what made the Temple so important to our world and it was also why not everyone had been granted the good fortune of being allowed to enter it. Power was key, that and the hard to come by Janus Coin.
No, you had to earn that rite of passage…I thought this on looking down at my demonic hand that had ripped away the leather that once concealed it the moment she stepped from my sight. And now she was in fucking Hell, no doubt wondering where the fuck I was!
I am coming for you, my Queen.
“You may not know the destination, but you do know which realm of Hell she was transported…I know you fucking do!” I threatened and to emphasise this point, I pushed their combined heads closer to the swirling abyss of crimson fire. An ominous sight that looked like an eternal hole of oblivion. Of course, this was only a glimpse as to what awaited anyone foolish enough to enter through it and think that they could conquer its Hellish world by simply surviving it.
A foolish mortal like Amelia.
Fuck! But how could she even hope to endure such a place?! There was no time to waste, which was why my grip tightened and I pushed further, watching as all limbs tensed and tried in vain to scramble away. So, I kicked out again, forcing the Keepers mangled torso closer to the floor and dragged them the last few inches until they believed I had truly lost myself to madness.
“No, you can’t…Lucifer…!”
“He will kill you…You mustn’t!”
“Ffffobthin!” This was when I lifted them up close enough so I could whisper to the second head, the one who still had the use of his