Chapter 2: Limbo

The Normandy only got a very brief glimpse of the fields of hell before it plummeted over the edge of a waterfall that marked the end of the river Acheron. Once again it was a rough landing but this time with far fewer injuries and no casualties. At the base of the waterfall was a vast stretch of black land filled with the husks of dead trees. No sooner had they landed did Shepard begin assembling the entire team. The entire armory was emptied and everyone loaded up with their respective weapons of choice, with Garrus also donning the new armor Jacob had made for him.

The rest of the crew meanwhile, were told to stay behind, with the engineers, Joker, and EDI doing what they could to try and repair the ship following it's abuse at Leviathan's hands. To make sure the crew was not attacked while Shepard led his team into the rest of Hell, Samara and Jacob were told to stay behind also and provide protection. Between the former's incredible biotic ability and the latter's weapons skills, Shepard was confident that the crew would be safe while he led his other ten squadmates out into whatever the rest of hell had in store for them. He would have left Mordin behind as well on the account of his injuries and frailty, but the good doctor had insisted on accompanying the rest of the team.

Setting out, Shepard and his ten companions all cautiously advanced out into the vast darkness. As they walked not a sound was made, and the silence and eerie calm were quite unlike what Shepard had been expecting when he thought of hell. And though none of the alien crewmembers were terribly knowledgeable about hell (except apparently Legion) they too did not expect a place like where they were now.

As they continued to move forward though, they did at last hear a sound, namely that of a sad music filling the air. Deciding to follow it to it's source, the squad found a thin and miserable looking dark haired man sitting up against a dead tree playing a lyre. Upon seeing the ten armed and armored figures approaching him the man stopped playing his lyre and jumped up in a start.

"What is this? More demons? No, not demons...shades such as myself then?"

"We're not shades" Shepard said, signaling the others to stand down as he said this. "I'm Commander Shepard and this is my crew. We were sent here against our will and now we're trying to get out"

"Against your will you say? Ah then we share a similar story"

"Who are you?"

"My name is Orpheus. In life I was a musician, of which there was no equal in the known world. But now I am but a shade, stolen from my place in the Elysium Fields and forever separated from my beloved Eurydice"

"Orpheus...I remember reading about you" Miranda noted. "I never thought you were real though…"

The shade made the faintest of smiles as Miranda said this. "I take no offense. My time was so long ago nearly all evidence of it's existence has been long forgotten"

"Why are you here Orpheus?" Shepard asked. "I read your story too and I never took you for the sinful type"

"That's because I am not. I first came here when it was under the dominion of Hades and his queen fair Persephone. My beloved had been taken from me before her time you see, and so I set off to save her" Orpheus hung his head in shame. "Since you have read my story, you know that I failed, but there is more to it. You see, when I died I was allowed into the Elysium Fields, at which point my beloved and I were reunited. And for several millennia after we enjoyed eternal bliss. But then, like waking up from a dream it was suddenly shattered and I found to my horror that I was here once more, separated from Eurydice and eternal bliss both. For centuries after I wandered the shores of Acheron alone, struggling to understand why I had been taken. Finally I learned that as I was a pagan I "had" to be sent here. Of course if that were really true Eurydice and countless others there would have also been taken from Elysium. No, I know the real reason why: he wanted me to suffer, and so made me suffer he did. I suspect the torment of souls such as myself is his only real pleasure. Or perhaps with me he wished to make an example out of anyone else who would try to come here before their time and try to liberate one of hell's occupants"

"What kind of monster would do something like that?" Tali wondered out loud.

"You have no idea" Orpheus said simply.

"So where is here anyway?" Garrus asked. "It seems kind of spooky and quiet. Reminds me of the Collector Ship"

"Limbo" Orpheus answered matter-of-factly. "The first circle of the Inferno. The realm in which lies those who did not sin but also lacked the sufficient faith to ascend. More specifically, virtuous pagans and unbaptized children"

"So...anyone who does not believe is sent here?" Tali asked. Orpheus nodded. "More or less. And that was Lucifer's justification for putting me here, though I know it to be a lie. He just wanted an excuse to make me miserable by separating me from Eurydice"

"Do you have any idea how we can get out of here?" Shepard asked. "You see we're not actually dead, but Lucifer's trapped us here anyway"

"If I knew how to leave this place I would have long since done so by now" Orpheus shook his head. "No sadly I do not. My gods can no longer help me just as yours can no longer help you. And no mortal weapon can kill Lucifer. I am afraid you are hopelessly trapped in here as I am"

"I don't believe that" Shepard said. "There's no way for a soul to leave this place?"

"The only way that I know of outside of receiving special dispensation from Lucifer himself, which he would never grant, is if one were to absolve you of your sins, thus eliminating your reason for being here in the first place. But to do that would require an angel, or in lieu of that one with an angel's power or blessing"

"Well unfortunately we don't have any of those" Miranda said.

"There is one way you may be able to acquire what you need. You said that you are living and not dead. If you pray to the archangels one may heed your prayers and offer assistance. I would have attempted such a thing myself, but I soon found that the prayers of shades go unanswered"

"I don't think any of us are the religious type" Shepard noted. "Except for Tali and Thane. Would they be able to do it?"

"The drell and the quarian? I do not know. The supreme being takes many forms and appears in religions all over the universe. It is possible that their prayers may be heeded, but I cannot say with certainty."

"Well I think it's worth a shot"

"I will try" Thane said. "I do not know of any 'archangels', but I can pray as I always have before."

"We'll have to hope that's enough"

"Hope is a thing rarely seen in hell" Orpheus noted sadly.

Nevertheless, Thane entered a position of prayer and said in a calm and serene tone that betrayed the bleakness of his surroundings: "Amonkira, Lord of Hunters, Arashu, Goddess of Motherhood and Protection, and Kalahira, Goddess of Oceans and Afterlife, I ask that you lend us your charity, your strength, and your wisdom so that we may overcome this trial, and return to the realm of the living and a return to our Whole selves"

For a moment after this nothing happened, and the dark area was plunged into total silence once more. But then, just as all began to think that their efforts had been unsuccessful, a bright light shined and blasted back the shadows of the first part of hell for the briefest of moments before fading and revealing a muscular figure clad in brilliant shining silver-blue armor and with majestic white feathered wings sprouting out of his back.

"I have answered the prayers sent up from within the Inferno" the figure said. He turned to Shepard: "You have begun something here in the Inferno. Something far more important than you realize"

"What do you mean?"

"Your contract with Lucifer that has brought you and your crew into Hell was not a coincidence. I believe that your presence here may finally allow a changing of the guard that has been overdue here for untold ages now. Lucifer has sat at the throne of Hell for far too long, and too many suffer here who do not deserve it. Therefore I will give you the strength you need to overcome the nine circles of the Inferno and free yourself and your friends. I ask only that along the way you liberate others here who have suffered in this infernal place for too long now"

Shepard nodded. "I can do that. But I'll need to know what to do"

"As I said, I will give you the means" outstretching an armored hand, the archangel produced a smaller but still intensely bright aura of light. Shepard felt one of his arms become consumed in the same light and when it faded a gauntlet the same color as the angel's armor had appeared where his omni-tool was.

"What did you do to my omni-tool?" Shepard asked.

"I have made it more than it was before. Your piece of technology now possess a portion of my powers. You can absolve shades in this realm of their sins and also smite hell's creatures that threaten you. Use it well"

And then, in another flash of bright light the Archangel vanished as quickly as he had appeared, and when he did he left behind Shepard, his team, and Orpheus' shade, who finally got back to his feet after having sunk to his knees to bask in the archangel's light.

"It would seem that at last my prayers have been answered after all. Could you use your power on me? To send me back to the Elysium fields and to Eurydice?"

Shepard nodded. "Let's see if I can actually do this though" raising up his omni-tool arm, Shepard initially aimed it at Orpheus' shade but then thought better of that and instead did the "wave" motion that one used when using the omni-tool to perform more common tasks. To Shepard's surprise, it glowed a bright blue light and an identical light then appeared in Orpheus' chest. Letting out a gasp of cathartic relief, Orpheus went up into the air, tears of joy streaming down his eyes.

"I am coming Eurydice my love"

And then, in another bright flash of the same blue light Orpheus was gone, leaving Shepard and his team alone.

"Well now we know the upgrades the angel gave you work" Miranda noted. "Now we actually have a chance"

"See? I told you all I'd think of something" he turned to Thane: "Thanks a bunch. I owe you one"

"I suspect this will not be the last time faith will help us here" Thane noted. "Especially if the place the faithless go is only the first circle of nine"

"Yes, the nine circles of the Inferno" Legion noted. "They are in descending order Limbo, Lust, Gluttony, Greed, Wrath, Heresy, Violence, Fraud, and Treachery"

"And we have to go through all of them do we?" Garrus said. "Great. Sounds like fun"

"Why do I get the feeling that the lower we go the worse it's gonna get?" Kasumi noted. "Oh wait, that's because it will won't it?"

Shepard nodded. "But now like Miranda said we have a chance. That angel Thane summoned gave me some of his power. With it I can get us a way out of here"

"I hope you're right Shepard" Garrus said. "Because this is definitely a whole lot different from what we're all used to"

"I know Garrus, but we can make it through this. I know we can"

"Gee and I thought I was the optimistic one" Kasumi noted.

"I figure it's the only way we're gonna last at all down here" Shepard pointed out. "Somehow I don't think losing hope will help in a place like this"

"Touche"

"Now remember what the angel also said: that there are souls here who don't deserve to be here. If we find any we should make sure to help them"

"Are you kidding me?" Zaeed said incredulously. "We're going to stop and help every poor bastard who ever got sent here? We'd all die of old age before we got past the first circle!"

"I never said everyone in Hell, just some. And something tells me we'll know them when we see them"

"And what makes you so sure of that?" Zaeed pressed.

"Call it a gut feeling"

"If you say so. But somehow I doubt any of these souls will have big neon signs hanging over their heads saying that they need absolving or somesuch. Not to mention they'll probably all say they don't belong here"

"Regardless, let's try and keep it in mind" Shepard said. "Especially since I told the angel I'd do it"

"Shepard!" a voice called out. All turned to face it and saw none other than Orpheus, now glowing with a brilliant blue light and looking far happier than before.

"Orpheus. I thought you had gone back to the Elysium Fields to be with Eurydice"

"I was going to, but I decided that I needed to pay you back for liberating me first. So I will be your guide through the nine circles of the Inferno until your journey here is complete. Then I will go to Eurydice"

"But won't you risk being trapped in here again?"

Orpheus shook his head. "No. I am absolved now, and will stay absolved. Lucifer may not like it, but there is now absolutely nothing he can do to me"

"Good to know" Shepard said with a nod. "So how do we get out of limbo?"

"Follow me" Orpheus said. Heeding his advice, Shepard and company followed the absolved soul through the dark and quiet lands of the first circle. As they continued to make their way through though, faint sounds began to be heard, noises that sounded almost like…

"Those are the cries of babies aren't they?" Shepard asked Orpheus, who nodded. "Yes. Children who perished before they could be inducted into their people's religion, whatever that may be"

"Wait, I'm confused: you say this place is for virtuous pagans and unbaptized children...does that mean anyone in the galaxy who isn't a Christian that dies go here?"

Orpheus shook his head. "No not necessarily. The Supreme Being takes many forms throughout his creation. Your Christian God is but one. Whatever the central and dominant religion on a world or among a species is, is in fact that particular representation of the Supreme Being. For humans it was the Abrahamic religions of Judaism, Christianity, and Islam. For the Drell species it is the religion your companion is a follower in, and so on and so forth. This realm then is for those who believed in something else, or no religion at all"

"I always had trouble with the concept of religion" Miranda admitted. "But mostly just because I figured they couldn't all be right...apparently they could be and were"

"The Supreme Being does not limit itself to one specific faith. Faith itself is what sustains it"

"So then why are these people here?"

"Part of it depends on the faith in question" Orpheus explained. "I believed in the Elysium Fields and also had the virtue to reach it, so that was where I went after death along with my beloved. Religions who believe in reincarnation get exactly that. Faiths with less defined ideas of the afterlife, or none at all, go here. Others still were forcibly taken here by Lucifer, who always used their being pagans as a flimsy excuse, as he did with me. Come, I will show you what I mean"

At this Orpheus flew off again, and again Shepard and his companions followed him. As they did though Shepard noticed that Miranda wasn't with the others and set off in search of her. He found her standing over an alcove built into a tall black tree, from which a baby's cries could be heard.

"Miranda, what's wrong?"

Miranda turned to face him, tears welling up in her eyes. "It's one of my sisters"

"What?"

"One of my sisters" Miranda repeated. "Remember how I said I wasn't the first child my father made just the first one he kept? Well I saw him personally discard others he judged to be failures, even ones as young as her" Miranda pointed to the baby, which looked like any human infant save for it's skin being a pale gray and it's eyes having misted over. But it continued to cry quietly.

"How did you know she was here?"

Miranda shrugged. "When Orpheus mentioned unbaptized children I remembered the siblings my father killed, and then I heard her cry...like it was calling out to me specifically…"

Miranda angrily brushed the tears out of her eyes. "I hope my father rots in the lowest and worst part of this place forever" Miranda growled.

"That makes two of us" Shepard agreed. He embraced Miranda before kissing her on the cheek. "Come on. We need to catch up with the others"

Miranda nodded but turned back to her sister. "I just wish there was something I could do for her...to help her the way I helped Oriana…"

"Maybe I can help with that" Shepard suggested. "I have the power to absolve souls remember? Let me try to absolve hers"

So it was that Shepard walked up to the crying baby and waved his omni-tool arm. It glowed brightly, and the baby's crying became louder and filled with more life as she was enveloped in a bright light that then shot upwards into the heavens that awaited it.

Shepard turned to see Miranda's eyes again being filled with tears but this time with tears of joy. "Thank you Shepard. I won't forget this"

Shepard nodded and hugged Miranda tightly to him again as they walked back to join the others together. Soon the whole squad came upon a massive black castle towering so high the tops of it's towers brushed up against the roots that danced across the "ceiling".

"Follow me inside" Orpheus said. Once they all entered, they were greeted with a massive and incredibly spacious light gray colored room that seemed to be of infinite size. And filling this place were countless shades, all of whom stopped for a moment to look at Shepard and his companions, who they immediately identified as being alive and by extension out of place.

"This here is the Hall of Kings, home to all virtuous non-believers, including the great rulers and philosophers of the Old World. This realm is ruled by Persephone, now a widow after Lucifer slew her husband during his takeover of the underworld, which he renamed Hell"

"I recognize some of them" Shepard observed. "Some of them are aliens from all over the galaxy...Asari Matriarchs, Salarian scientists, Turian leaders…"

"I can see Homer" Miranda noted. "And I believe that is Saladin"

"Very astute observations" Orpheus noted. "And do not forget Plato, Socrates, and Aristotle"

"I have never agreed to such terms!" one of the three wise men said in a strained and hoarse voice but one that was nevertheless also filled with defiance and conviction.

"I say that God exists in a realm of thought accessible to human ideas!" Plato said in a much stronger voice that was filled with ironclad conviction.

"Oh please Plato" the third wise man said, intervening. "...there is only one philosophy in the Inferno: Lucifers"

"Then why continue this discussion with us if you see no point to the discussion itself?"

"For no reason except my own amusement" Socrates said with a lopsided grin. "But our radical ideas won't help us here old friend" As he said this Mordin began making his way towards them.

"Mordin what are you doing?"

"Would like to join this conversation" Mordin said matter-of-factly. "Studied various religions in past, human religion included. Also know about great human philosophers like Plato. Sounds very interesting" as Mordin said this a large smile appeared on his face and he walked up to the three philosopher's shades in full and wasted no time introducing himself and unintentionally sparking another debate between the three on the account of his being an alien and thus proof of sentient life beyond the Earth.

"Unbelievable. He manages to find a way to entertain himself even in hell" Miranda said shaking her head.

"Though this is the first circle of the Inferno I can assure you that this place holds not a candle to the rest of it" Orpheus told her. "Though it is not eternal bliss the shades here at least do not suffer the way they do in the other eight circles, the entrance to which is just beyond this citadel"

"Then we should probably get moving" Shepard said, ordering his squad to move out and forcing Mordin to exit his conversation with the human philosophers, much to his annoyance. "Such a waste. Conversation incredibly educational. Fascinating to learn more about ancient thinkers and their ideas. Pointless. Pointless waste"

Moving beyond the Hall of Kings, Shepard and his crew followed Orpheus down a winding and twisting series of walkways of cobbled stone that were surrounded on all sides by darkness. As they continued to make their way through though, they could hear a sinister, bellowing voice in the distance:

"LUST!" the voice shouted, followed by a scream of terror that quickly faded. Then the voice shouted out again: "FRAUD!" and again a scream could be heard, this one louder than the last.

"What's going on?" Tali asked. "Where are those screams coming from?"

"The truly sinful are being judged and sent to their respective circle for their punishment. It is through the judge in question that we will reach the other eight circles of the Inferno"

"VIOLENCE!" the voice rang out again, followed swiftly by a cry of: "GLUTTON!"

Finally at long last the squad came upon the judge in question, and saw him to be a massive serpentine creature that from the waist down looked vaguely like a monstrous fusion of snake and octopus. From the waist above the creature had the appearance of a pale skinned man, with a mess of giant skulls strung together in a mockery of the fur on a medieval king's cloak. His eye sockets were covered with what looked almost like columns of melted wax, and over his hairless head he wore a tall and imposing crown topped with spikes and looking more like a tower from a castle.

"What is that...thing?" Garrus asked.

"A figure from my own time. And though I did not know of him personally I had heard a great deal about him while we were both alive. In life he was King Minos, ruler of Crete who fed Athenian children to his spawn the Minotaur until the inventor Daedalus boiled him alive in his bath."

"Charming" Miranda said sarcastically.

"Following this Hades decided that his soul could still be of some use. In that period he was assigned to judge the souls of the dead alongside his brothers Radamanthus and Aeacus, but after Lucifer assumed control he did away with Minos' siblings and had him be the lone judge of damned souls, as you see before you"

Indeed, as Orpheus said this Minos grabbed another hapless shade and brought him up to his deformed face. Sniffing him, Minos made the slightest of smiles. "Ah yes...suicide"

"No please, I am innocent" the shade begged.

"I dismiss that claim" King Minos replied coldly before tossing the pleading shade onto a cruel, rusting and bloodstained spike on a wheel, which then spun and sent the shade into the abyss below, with him screaming the whole way down to the seventh circle.

"And how exactly are we going to get past him?" Tali asked Orpheus.

"We shoot him of course" Zaeed said matter-of-factly. "The bastard died once he can die again if we shoot him enough. Doesn't matter how big he is"

"I sense a violent soul here" King Minos bellowed before turning to face Shepard and his group. "The living. There is no place for you here...not yet anyway"

"You're right, there isn't a place for us here. But Lucifer's trapped us here anyway, so we're going to...'negotiate' our release. But apparently he's at the bottom circle, so we need to go down there"

"None pass me!" King Minos bellowed. "I hold dominion here! You are nothing to me!"

"Take him!" Shepard ordered. Heeding his command, the whole squad opened fire on King Minos' massive reptilian body. To Shepard's relief the bullets clearly succeeded in hurting Minos, as he reeled back with every shot fired at him, each one also causing him to shed thick green blood. Roaring in anger, King Minos lashed out with the tentacles attached to the sides of his snake tail, each one striking with such force that it sent up a small amount of rubble and dust with every attack that failed to hit one of Shepard's crew.

All the while King Minos tried and failed to squash Shepard and his crew beneath his massive tentacles the group continued to shoot at him, only for Minos in turn to continue lashing out in a rising and single-minded frenzy.

"The rate this is going we're not gonna have anything left for whatever else we'll run into!" Zaeed shouted as he narrowly avoided another strike of one of Minos' tentacles.

"I agree" Shepard said. "We need to end this now. Garrus, hit him with the Cain!"

Nodding, Garrus drew what was perhaps the single most devastating weapon in the Normandy Crew's arsenal, the M-920 Cain. The weapon was so powerful and destructive that it had been given the (albeit inaccurate) nick-name "The Nuke Launcher". Taking aim with it as King Minos was distracted attacking Tali and Legion, Garrus aimed it right at Minos' head and fired.

The effect of the shot colliding with King Minos' head was nothing short of spectacular. An incredibly powerful and almost blinding fiery explosion tore through Minos' face and was so bright it briefly illuminated the eternal darkness around them. Bellowing in rage but also gurgling green blood, Minos flailed about wildly before at last falling forwards and collapsing. His impact created a large amount of dust and his tentacles continued to flail about after he landed but then at last they too fell to the ground and lay still.

"Did we kill him?" Shepard asked Orpheus.

"Only temporarily. You cannot truly kill that which is already dead. King Minos will return in due time to resume his position as judge of the damned. The same holds true of any shades you slay here. They will simply rematerialize in their respective circle"

"But Lucifer's not dead. He just rules here. That means we can kill him"

"Perhaps. But to do so would require an incredible amount of power. You may not have what it takes"

Shepard smiled behind his N7 breather helmet. "I guess we'll have to find out won't we?"

Author's Note: And so with this chapter we get into hell proper. I also feel like this chapter is a nice example of how some of my own ideas are integrated into the general depiction of Dante's Inferno. As for the clear Greek Mythology references throughout, those were present throughout the original poem, so I figured they could and should be included here. Plenty more will follow these.

And yes, I know the Archangel is a little dues ex machina, but not completely. This is not the last you'll see of that particular character and he has a more important role to play near the end of the story. You'll see. For now at least I hope you enjoyed my chapter.