Chapter 2 - Chapter 1
Submitted June 9, 2010 Updated June 9, 2010 Status Incomplete | The past present and future unfolds, of ancient God-like beings; immortals that live in our world still, as told from the point of view of "Reth", brother to the current ruler of Hell.
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Chapter 2 - Chapter 1
Chapter 2 - Chapter 1
12:00PM - April 6th - 2004
Reth... Reth.... She's here, up above, in the light... Come to me and I will grant you form, come to me and you can finally prove your spirit... My name is Lucrezia and I will set you free
I stood still in the black of hell, a single shaft of light pouring down from the rocky face of wall. And a voice echoed through it to me. So I pulled myself up to the crack, staring through it and blinding myself with white. Wind and electricity rushed through my ears, and I lay at the foot of a towering building of steel.
I blinked a few times and held my hands out, touched them. Flesh. Human flesh. I knew I was grinning as I noticed the woman standing over me. Dressed in a short white dress and tall black boots, her shining black hair hung loosely over her chest, falling to her waist, and her thin face held one pale scar along its left cheek descending to her chin from beneath thick-rimmed glasses. She held out her hand.
Ten minutes later we were sitting in a coffee shop. How strange I must have looked dressed practically in rags. But I didn't care. Luckily I had viewed the changes of the world from beneath it or else I would have been faced with a huge shock. I hadn't tasted anything in decades though and so when the coffees came, I burned my lips drinking too quickly.
"I can't believe this worked. My name is Lucrezia - Luc if you like. I'm a wicca - a mage - I recently gained access to a library of sorts... it's rather ancient... anyhow, I've been researching and I came across your story in threads throughout history - I became so interested in setting you free!"
I blinked a few times and tested the coffee again. It was safe.
"I had no idea I was in books..."
"Well, no books around in this world, they're elsewhere, and there isn't much. Your name certainly comes up in a lot of larger stories though. I've always liked digging into things. Most people focus on the big stuff, I like smaller things."
"That's not really a compliment Luc"
She laughed. I hadn't heard laughter in so long.... well not joyful laughter anyhow.
"So what was with the fancy talk back there?"
"I'm a drama queen"
"Drama queen?"
"I like making things appear to be more than they are"
"Oh. Well, you did raise me from Hell."
She shrugged
"I recently found out that the woman - Kanika - the one who drove you mad in Egypt - she was killed, sent to the shadows like yourself, but as a Goddess of the shadows... trapped...well, she came back and she wanders the world as you now do!"
Luc's piercing grey eyes gleamed and she grinned with perfect teeth. She was so excited, and it was easy to gain the feeling myself, as I thought of finally meeting - and challenging...
"Kanika..."
"Yes, Kanika! Oh I'm so interested in seeing this play out it's like being a part of history"
"You're a strange girl, I never ran into someone like you"
"I'm a history student - you've never met a history student?"
"Well uhm, no. In my time - not to say you... shouldn't but - they weren't really educated at all"
"Oh I know that, don't be silly"
She laughed again. Looking back I must have seemed like such a fool... not to mention a dark cloud on top of it all.
"So what, you sit by and... watch me on my vendetta"
"I'm not busting out the cam corder or anything, I just want, well, this every once in awhile. Let me know what's going on. Give me some diary material"
"Cam corder?"
"Video... moving image of what you're doing, I follow you around and, record it"
"Oh, those. I've seen those"
"You'll catch on fast"
I looked into the swilling bottom of my coffee cup and remembered tea leaves... Ebony in the forest with tea leaves... Ebony in the sunlight...
"So I'm going to hand off the cash at the counter then we can head over to my place. I've got a spare room or eight"
Laughing again. I didn't answer but continued to stare blankly as she got up to go to the counter.
Soon we were walking down the sunlit street. The world was so ... civilized... and beautiful. I could get used to it here. But I got the feeling I would have to restrain myself from any acts of violence. That would be a little difficult.
"My parents both died a few years ago, limo crashed into a bus... pretty nasty, they left me with this huge place, enough money to last me..."
"I'm sorry"
"I've healed"
She smiled but didn't show her teeth. It reminded me of how Albina smiled around me; it wasn't true happiness or conviction.
"So you live in a castle?"
"Not a castle, people don't really live in those anymore, the government owns them because it'd be too hard to pay for one and stuff like that"
"Oh..."
"The economy, stuff like that. My house is big but it's not like a castle, just modern day wealth. Not uber wealth"
She talked a lot. But that was okay right now. And then we were at the gates. She unlocked a padlock and they swung open. She locked it again behind her.
"Wait a minute - that's not much security. No guards..."
"No security! Not really. Got a couple alarms near the house. I let all the help go. Most places in my house I haven't been into in months. I clean what I need; I keep up what I need. Rather spend my budget on school than servants, I feel more comfortable that way"
"I wouldn't"
The grounds were grass covered, yet it was all overgrown except for a small patch of lawn near the front of the mansion, obviously the bit that Luc could keep up herself. The place looked entirely abandoned....
"Well you're a warrior, aren't you? I've got protection now"
"I- yeah. I guess."
"So, d'you want a window?"
"Excuse me?"
We were at the front door, the walkway up was long.
"Got a few spare bedrooms - My parents' room is locked up, off limits. Nicest room is taken by a girl staying with me right now, but the others are great I think"
"Girl?"
"Yeah, her name's Jess. Younger than me, not much of a memory, found her wandering the streets. She's a sweetheart - free spirit like me I think"
"You got a habit for picking up strange people, Luc"
"Keeps things interesting and... not so lonely"
"She knows about the magick?"
"Oh she knows, darling"
She gave me a smile as if I knew absolutely nothing. The door swung open.
In the middle of the entry way, an ornate carpet had been folded back to reveal hardwood floor and sitting on it was a girl younger than myself with light brown hair. She had her legs crossed and her eyes closed. All decoration in the entryway was either floating off its table or away from its wall as if some other worldly source was pulling at them. There was a blue haze surrounding her small form.
"Jess?"
"Luc!"
Her eyes opened, the pictures smacked back against the wall and a vase crashed onto a table, spun and broke on the ground. Her eyes shut tight again.
"I'm sorryyy"
"That's okay Jess; just... clean it up please"
"Will do"
She jumped up and flopped the carpet back to its original position.
"Who's he?"
"His name's Reth, he's staying with us"
"Cool"
She then walked out of the room.
"So she definitely knows about the magick"
"Definitely. C'mon up, I bet you're tired"
And in fact, I was even though it was the middle of the afternoon. I remember that sleep in the upper corner guest room as the best I've ever had. The bed was large, comfortable... and the heavy drapes blocked all sunlight, leaving me in pitch black comfort.
"Orange pancakes!"
Sunlight streamed in blinding my eyelids as I kept my eyes tightly shut trying to stay in a dream
"Good moooorning sunshine"
I sat up rubbing my eyes and Jess put a breakfast tray onto my legs.
"Eat. You've been sleeping a full 24 hours! I mean, you just came back from the dead pretty much but you still slept an extraordinarily long time then again I've never seen someone brought from the underworld and-- I'm talking too much. Eat!"
She left the room and I looked down at the steaming pile of pancakes, custard on top, some strips of bacon and a glass of... orange juice. The girl liked oranges that was for sure. At least her cooking was good; I hadn't tasted food in so long I thought I'd gone to heaven.
These are the moments you look back on when so short a time after all your cupboards are stocked with are instant noodles coffee and booze, and your bed is a mattress on the ground.
A couple hours after I had eaten, I found myself walking down the street, Jess in the lead, to a bus stop. Luc hung back to point out various buildings to me as we walked. She briefly explained basic laws and politics to me and I tried my best to keep them in mind. It was very strange to know that people no-longer dueled to settle arguments and that it was rare for there to be an arranged marriage. Watching the world go by is one thing, but what I only saw was skin-deep. Learning the ways of these people was a whole different thing. A complicated thing.
We reached a square glass shelter and sat down on metal benches inside. I looked around this city, it was really wonderful downtown. Weathered brick buildings were hung with multitudes of plants like the hanging gardens of Babylon.
I had to say I really liked the concept of cars, though they also seemed very scattered and I found it hard to comprehend the rules of the road. The idea you had to go a fixed speed, that if you hit another one you might -die- from it. When the bus driver showed up, Luc pushed me up the steps and handed me a ticket. The driver gave me a pointed look as I figured out what to do with it and Jess ended up grabbing it from me to shove in a little slot near the man.
As we walked to the back of the vehicle, Luc grabbed my arm and leaned in to my ear
"He probably thought you were on drugs or something" she giggled.
I just blinked and figured I'd learn about that later.
"Now in the museum, you can look at everything but you can't touch it, unless it says so. Also, none of it is real it's just preserved"
"I know about museums"
I grumbled.
Learning wasn't really my number one interest. I had the basics, now I just wanted some action. Luc, with her studies was quite different. I was certain a museum was the sort of place she would spend an entire day in solitary and scholarly.
The bus ride was exhilarating; I kept my face close to the window, the wind whipping my hair back. Jess and Luc spoke in quiet confidence and I was glad they weren't directing anything at me right now. What would I do in this world? I certainly wouldn't settle into domesticity. Luc had informed me there was pretty much always a war to sign up for but I thought I was sick of that as well. I suppose there are many opportunities for an immortal.
Reth... Reth.... She's here, up above, in the light... Come to me and I will grant you form, come to me and you can finally prove your spirit... My name is Lucrezia and I will set you free
I stood still in the black of hell, a single shaft of light pouring down from the rocky face of wall. And a voice echoed through it to me. So I pulled myself up to the crack, staring through it and blinding myself with white. Wind and electricity rushed through my ears, and I lay at the foot of a towering building of steel.
I blinked a few times and held my hands out, touched them. Flesh. Human flesh. I knew I was grinning as I noticed the woman standing over me. Dressed in a short white dress and tall black boots, her shining black hair hung loosely over her chest, falling to her waist, and her thin face held one pale scar along its left cheek descending to her chin from beneath thick-rimmed glasses. She held out her hand.
Ten minutes later we were sitting in a coffee shop. How strange I must have looked dressed practically in rags. But I didn't care. Luckily I had viewed the changes of the world from beneath it or else I would have been faced with a huge shock. I hadn't tasted anything in decades though and so when the coffees came, I burned my lips drinking too quickly.
"I can't believe this worked. My name is Lucrezia - Luc if you like. I'm a wicca - a mage - I recently gained access to a library of sorts... it's rather ancient... anyhow, I've been researching and I came across your story in threads throughout history - I became so interested in setting you free!"
I blinked a few times and tested the coffee again. It was safe.
"I had no idea I was in books..."
"Well, no books around in this world, they're elsewhere, and there isn't much. Your name certainly comes up in a lot of larger stories though. I've always liked digging into things. Most people focus on the big stuff, I like smaller things."
"That's not really a compliment Luc"
She laughed. I hadn't heard laughter in so long.... well not joyful laughter anyhow.
"So what was with the fancy talk back there?"
"I'm a drama queen"
"Drama queen?"
"I like making things appear to be more than they are"
"Oh. Well, you did raise me from Hell."
She shrugged
"I recently found out that the woman - Kanika - the one who drove you mad in Egypt - she was killed, sent to the shadows like yourself, but as a Goddess of the shadows... trapped...well, she came back and she wanders the world as you now do!"
Luc's piercing grey eyes gleamed and she grinned with perfect teeth. She was so excited, and it was easy to gain the feeling myself, as I thought of finally meeting - and challenging...
"Kanika..."
"Yes, Kanika! Oh I'm so interested in seeing this play out it's like being a part of history"
"You're a strange girl, I never ran into someone like you"
"I'm a history student - you've never met a history student?"
"Well uhm, no. In my time - not to say you... shouldn't but - they weren't really educated at all"
"Oh I know that, don't be silly"
She laughed again. Looking back I must have seemed like such a fool... not to mention a dark cloud on top of it all.
"So what, you sit by and... watch me on my vendetta"
"I'm not busting out the cam corder or anything, I just want, well, this every once in awhile. Let me know what's going on. Give me some diary material"
"Cam corder?"
"Video... moving image of what you're doing, I follow you around and, record it"
"Oh, those. I've seen those"
"You'll catch on fast"
I looked into the swilling bottom of my coffee cup and remembered tea leaves... Ebony in the forest with tea leaves... Ebony in the sunlight...
"So I'm going to hand off the cash at the counter then we can head over to my place. I've got a spare room or eight"
Laughing again. I didn't answer but continued to stare blankly as she got up to go to the counter.
Soon we were walking down the sunlit street. The world was so ... civilized... and beautiful. I could get used to it here. But I got the feeling I would have to restrain myself from any acts of violence. That would be a little difficult.
"My parents both died a few years ago, limo crashed into a bus... pretty nasty, they left me with this huge place, enough money to last me..."
"I'm sorry"
"I've healed"
She smiled but didn't show her teeth. It reminded me of how Albina smiled around me; it wasn't true happiness or conviction.
"So you live in a castle?"
"Not a castle, people don't really live in those anymore, the government owns them because it'd be too hard to pay for one and stuff like that"
"Oh..."
"The economy, stuff like that. My house is big but it's not like a castle, just modern day wealth. Not uber wealth"
She talked a lot. But that was okay right now. And then we were at the gates. She unlocked a padlock and they swung open. She locked it again behind her.
"Wait a minute - that's not much security. No guards..."
"No security! Not really. Got a couple alarms near the house. I let all the help go. Most places in my house I haven't been into in months. I clean what I need; I keep up what I need. Rather spend my budget on school than servants, I feel more comfortable that way"
"I wouldn't"
The grounds were grass covered, yet it was all overgrown except for a small patch of lawn near the front of the mansion, obviously the bit that Luc could keep up herself. The place looked entirely abandoned....
"Well you're a warrior, aren't you? I've got protection now"
"I- yeah. I guess."
"So, d'you want a window?"
"Excuse me?"
We were at the front door, the walkway up was long.
"Got a few spare bedrooms - My parents' room is locked up, off limits. Nicest room is taken by a girl staying with me right now, but the others are great I think"
"Girl?"
"Yeah, her name's Jess. Younger than me, not much of a memory, found her wandering the streets. She's a sweetheart - free spirit like me I think"
"You got a habit for picking up strange people, Luc"
"Keeps things interesting and... not so lonely"
"She knows about the magick?"
"Oh she knows, darling"
She gave me a smile as if I knew absolutely nothing. The door swung open.
In the middle of the entry way, an ornate carpet had been folded back to reveal hardwood floor and sitting on it was a girl younger than myself with light brown hair. She had her legs crossed and her eyes closed. All decoration in the entryway was either floating off its table or away from its wall as if some other worldly source was pulling at them. There was a blue haze surrounding her small form.
"Jess?"
"Luc!"
Her eyes opened, the pictures smacked back against the wall and a vase crashed onto a table, spun and broke on the ground. Her eyes shut tight again.
"I'm sorryyy"
"That's okay Jess; just... clean it up please"
"Will do"
She jumped up and flopped the carpet back to its original position.
"Who's he?"
"His name's Reth, he's staying with us"
"Cool"
She then walked out of the room.
"So she definitely knows about the magick"
"Definitely. C'mon up, I bet you're tired"
And in fact, I was even though it was the middle of the afternoon. I remember that sleep in the upper corner guest room as the best I've ever had. The bed was large, comfortable... and the heavy drapes blocked all sunlight, leaving me in pitch black comfort.
"Orange pancakes!"
Sunlight streamed in blinding my eyelids as I kept my eyes tightly shut trying to stay in a dream
"Good moooorning sunshine"
I sat up rubbing my eyes and Jess put a breakfast tray onto my legs.
"Eat. You've been sleeping a full 24 hours! I mean, you just came back from the dead pretty much but you still slept an extraordinarily long time then again I've never seen someone brought from the underworld and-- I'm talking too much. Eat!"
She left the room and I looked down at the steaming pile of pancakes, custard on top, some strips of bacon and a glass of... orange juice. The girl liked oranges that was for sure. At least her cooking was good; I hadn't tasted food in so long I thought I'd gone to heaven.
These are the moments you look back on when so short a time after all your cupboards are stocked with are instant noodles coffee and booze, and your bed is a mattress on the ground.
A couple hours after I had eaten, I found myself walking down the street, Jess in the lead, to a bus stop. Luc hung back to point out various buildings to me as we walked. She briefly explained basic laws and politics to me and I tried my best to keep them in mind. It was very strange to know that people no-longer dueled to settle arguments and that it was rare for there to be an arranged marriage. Watching the world go by is one thing, but what I only saw was skin-deep. Learning the ways of these people was a whole different thing. A complicated thing.
We reached a square glass shelter and sat down on metal benches inside. I looked around this city, it was really wonderful downtown. Weathered brick buildings were hung with multitudes of plants like the hanging gardens of Babylon.
I had to say I really liked the concept of cars, though they also seemed very scattered and I found it hard to comprehend the rules of the road. The idea you had to go a fixed speed, that if you hit another one you might -die- from it. When the bus driver showed up, Luc pushed me up the steps and handed me a ticket. The driver gave me a pointed look as I figured out what to do with it and Jess ended up grabbing it from me to shove in a little slot near the man.
As we walked to the back of the vehicle, Luc grabbed my arm and leaned in to my ear
"He probably thought you were on drugs or something" she giggled.
I just blinked and figured I'd learn about that later.
"Now in the museum, you can look at everything but you can't touch it, unless it says so. Also, none of it is real it's just preserved"
"I know about museums"
I grumbled.
Learning wasn't really my number one interest. I had the basics, now I just wanted some action. Luc, with her studies was quite different. I was certain a museum was the sort of place she would spend an entire day in solitary and scholarly.
The bus ride was exhilarating; I kept my face close to the window, the wind whipping my hair back. Jess and Luc spoke in quiet confidence and I was glad they weren't directing anything at me right now. What would I do in this world? I certainly wouldn't settle into domesticity. Luc had informed me there was pretty much always a war to sign up for but I thought I was sick of that as well. I suppose there are many opportunities for an immortal.
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