For those of you who have missed Leonardo =)
Chapter 11
Leonardo looked at where his brother had stood. "Raph!" He shouted. He was gone. He looked at Raphael's patroness as she strode from the room. Leonardo ran into the hallway determined to follow her, but she was already gone. "Where is he!" He shouted at the girl...Mon, as he ran back into the room.
"Probably back in his cell." She said with a shrug. "It's not like she could keep him out forever. He has a match tomorrow, they would notice if he didn't show up."
Apprehension filled him. "Why do the gods hate us so much." He asked softly.
"They don't hate any of you. You and your brothers are famous here. Most would be very interested in getting to know you better actually. But your goddess had powerful enemies, that is where the problem lies." Mon answered with a shrug.
Leonardo nodded. "I'll take the risk, I have to. How do I become Exo-Ouroboros?"
Mon looked at him with concern. "I don't know how to feel right now. Raphael is right, you should probably just let me escort you to your place of rest and let us handle this. We will try to find them, as well as the other lost souls. As long as they all haven't been consumed by Rhenna." She added as an afterthought.
Marwolaeth Yn Annwyl is in The Ways. She is searching. Death said to them.
Mon looked surprised. "She is searching for his brothers?"
No
"Then what is she searching for, and if she's not searching for my brothers why tell me this?" Leonardo asked angrily.
She is always searching, thus, she may encounter your missing siblings. For some reason she has taken an interest in Raphael, possibly even yourself. With that Death turned and left the room.
"What is she searching for?" Leonardo asked Mon.
She shook her head. "News to me, but I think that was Death's way of hinting she may purchase you if you become a slave." Mon bit her lip. "Maybe. I don't know. What would your goddess want you to do?" She asked him.
Leonardo froze. What would She want him to do? "She would want me to do anything in my power to save my brothers." Leonardo whispered.
Mon shrugged. "Sounds good to me. Oh, and just to let you know, if you become Exo-Ouroboros, all of the scars you have right now, and your sight in that left eye of yours, will never be healed and never be restored."
"What do I care for that if my brothers may have been consumed by the same creatures that consumed me!" Leonardo yelled at her.
She shrugged. "Hey it's your soul, not mine." She stopped then tapped her finger against her lips. "Hmm, I wonder if I even have a soul?" She said more to herself than to him. She looked him in the eye and said. "Repeat after me. I desire to be Exo-Ouroboros."
Leonardo repeated the words. Manacles encased his arms and ankles. "Good luck Leonardo." Mon said as he looked at her in surprise as his world went black.
Leonardo's head hurt. He sat up quickly and took in his surroundings. He was in a stone cell, sitting on a wooden cot. He looked at his hands. He was still glowing and blue, but he felt a little more solid than he had at Death's house.
He heard keys in the lock of his cell. He slowly stood up. "Welcome welcome." A cheerful voice said to him.
A surfer walked in with clothes, bedding, and a lantern, took one look at him and dropped everything in the middle of the room. He slammed the door of his cell and looked at him grimly.
He looked at the ceiling. "Two! Really? You have got to be kidding me. I have enough problems with just one!" He rubbed his face with his hands.
Leonardo looked at the man's name tag. "Samael."
"Yes, Samael and you are Leonardo. Crap and damn. Alright why are you here? I get why Raph is here, but how did you end up here?"
"Wait you know Raph?" Leonardo asked desperately.
"Of course I know Raph. You are in The Pit, there aren't any who don't know him. He's over in cell block 9."
"Is he okay?" Leonardo asked desperately.
Samael looked at him grimly. "His fight yesterday didn't go so well. I put him back together but," he shrugged. "If he doesn't shape up quickly he might just lose more than a few limbs next time, and losing limbs is a picnic compared to losing your head." He said severely.
"What do you mean losing a few limbs?" Leonardo asked with horror. Panic reverberated thoughout his body.
"Although losing his arm was probably a picnic compared to him having his shell ripped from his body, probably didn't feel his leg come off after that." Samael said with a shrug.
Leonardo felt ill. "Hey don't worry, I patched him up all right and tight. His patroness doesn't seem to go in for torture, at least not so far, so he has been healing nicely."
"How long have I been here?" Leonardo asked through the tightness in his throat.
"Twelve hours. You are going to have to wait until morning to be brought out. So you get to rest for now. I would take advantage of it. Not like you need to sleep, or probably feel tired, but it is the thought that counts I suppose." He looked at Leonardo and sat down on his cot.
"Listen Leonardo, this is how things work in The Pit..." Samael began. He explained the ins and out of The Pit, and although he felt ill at what was done to Raphael, at least knowing that his brother wasn't permanently damaged made him feel a little better, but only a little.
"You have to change into these clothes." Samael said standing and walking to the center of the room, grabbing the clothes from the floor.
Leonardo looked at the clothes. Raphael had told him to keep Her Mark a secret. Samael saw him hesitate. His eyes narrowed. "You don't happen to bear The Golden Goddess' Mark do you?" He asked softly.
He looked at Samael in surprise. Samael closed his eyes. "Raph said The Golden Goddess only Marked him."
Leonardo remained silent.
Samael sighed. "Fine we will do this the hard way."
Leonardo found himself pinned to the wall. Samael walked over to him and unbuttoned his uniform. Leonardo struggled to no avail. Her Mark glowed lightly. Samael tapped his chest in thought.
"Now that I think about it, I didn't see The Golden Goddess' Mark when I healed Raph yesterday. So you show up with Her Mark which is faded...as if it's power has been...used."
"So when did you manage to see your brother, and how did Her Mark get transferred?" He asked him. His eyes widened slightly as if a thought struck him. "Something definitely havey-cavey going on." He said softly. "Oh well, not any of my business. I am just the Orientation Leader around here." He said with a smile."I am the one who told Raph to hide the Mark by the way." Leonardo looked at Samael with suspicion.
Samael checked the inside pocket of his uniform. He pulled out three photos. "You guys are just a treasure trove of these things." Samael grumbled.
Leonardo was released from the wall. "Gladiator or slave?" Samael asked while looking at the photos that had been pulled from his jacket.
Leonardo looked at him in confusion as he slowly dressed into the clothes given to him, A sleeveless blue top and blue cotton pants. "Eye patch as well." Samael said holding out his hand.
Leonardo paused and removed the patch from his eye. There was a large messy vertical scar that ran through his eye ridge and tapered off onto his cheek. He still had an eye and eyelid, but he could not open his sightless eye. It had taken months after he had been injured for him to even be able to move his eye ridge a little bit. The messy scar intersected with a large burn scar that ran the entirety of his cheek. He had found people tended to stare, so he had started wearing the eye patch, at least it covered part of his ruined face.
"Raph's patroness is already taken, so if you attempt to become a gladiator I will tell you right now that Heterion will get you." Samael said breaking into his thoughts.
Leonardo's eye widened in shock. "The God of Nightmares?"
"Yeah him. You'll see him tomorrow, he'll probably bid on you. Look for the gold flag with the black butterfly." Samael shook his head. "He was not pleased to have lost Raph let me tell you."
"Slave." Leonardo said grimly.
Samael nodded. He tapped the photos against his palm. "You can try to keep these and hope you get an owner who is willing to let you keep them, or I can get them to Raph for safe keeping."
"How do I know that you would actually take them to Raph. I don't know you." Leonardo said coldly.
"True." Samael said with a smile as he handed the photos back to him.
Leonardo looked at the photos he had taken with him into war against the Patheons.. "Can you get a message to Raph for me?" He asked instead of taking the photos.
Samael nodded, putting the photos into his front pocket.
"Tell him I'm sorry, I had to, and tell him that if he doesn't fight better, he won't be able to help. That is what he has to concentrate on. He will know what I mean." Samael nodded, taking up his discarded clothes. "I won't see you tomorrow, so I'll wish you good luck." Samael paused. "If I were you, I would pray to the Golden Goddess, you never know, She might just hear you. Gone, does not mean forgotten." Samael said as he exited his cell.
Leonardo looked at the closed door in shock. He sat down on the floor, legs crossed. He supposed it was no different than talking to a loved one's gravestone. There was no guarantee that they would ever hear you, but you hoped that they did. Leonardo hadn't talked to Her since they had all left their masks on Katherine's grave. So he talked to Her in the darkness of his cell hoping that even though She was gone, that maybe She would hear him.
A few hours later Leonardo heard his cell door lock turning. He sat up slowly. A lantern was produced illuminating the figure of a shorter man with a ex-football player build. "See just as I said, we've got another one." The man said as Leonardo stood.
"Ah Caligula, I am so happy that you informed me of this new 'development'. I am glad that after our last conversation, our 'communication' problem has worked itself out." The man who entered after Caligula said with a smile. He was tall with short black hair, grey eyes, swarthy complexion and was carrying a black walking stick with a silver top. "You may leave us Caligula. This creature and I have so much we need to catch up on."
Leonardo's eye narrowed. "Who are you?" Leonardo asked him.
The man turned and watched as the door closed behind him. The man turned back to him and smiled. "Your worst nightmare. Well...at least I am sure I am sitting somewhere in the top ten." He said showing him even white teeth. "Not much to look at anymore are you. Not that you were much to look at before, but still." He said with a shrug. "I go by so many names, but I suppose you can call me Lucifer."
Leonardo felt fear slide through him, but he remained stoic. "What do you want?" He asked hoping his voice came out without a tremor.
"Oh, a little of this a little of that. From you however...not much. I just thought I would come and say hello." He paused. "Buying a slave for me is a little redundant, however, for you, I may just make an exception. I haven't actually watched the entertainment in The Pit for several hundred years, after all it is not like it isn't something I don't get to see every day." He looked at Leonardo speculatively.
"Fine then leave." Leonardo said to him.
"I shall" He paused and smiled."Should I put in a bid for you? After all, I have already dragged your gladiator brother to Hell and back, why should I need two abominations when I already have access to one?" He asked with a sweet smile.
Leonardo felt himself pale. "You lie." Leonardo said defiantly.
"No, why would I lie when the truth is so much more fun?" He asked cruelly. "Yes, that was such fun. You should be proud of him. When I recited all of the horrifying and torturous things that I wanted to do to him, he was very defiant. You should also know he didn't scream even once in Hell, very impressive. Of course when I had him delivered back to his little cell, I had broken him enough that he began to lose in The Pit."
Leonardo's hands clenched together in anger, bile running hot in his throat as he remembered what Raphael had told him about the conditions in The Pit.
Lucifer gave a cheery wave goodbye as he turned to leave.
"I will make you pay for what you did to my brother." Leonardo swore.
"Oh, I highly doubt that. In fact, one day, if you manage to survive, you might just thank me." Lucifer said with a laugh as the door was closed behind the Devil, the click of the lock sounding like a death knell.
Leonardo supposed it was morning when a guard came to get him. He was currently standing in the middle of the arena floor looking up at the millions of spectators and gods that were now oddly silent. A Cyclops was handling the sale of the slaves. It was a silent sale. Women with grasping claws and large brown wings instead of arms, possibly Harpies, took bids from gods. The winner would give the Harpies a bag of gold which was brought back to the Cyclops. Apparently there would only be noise if two gods bid on the same slave. So far no two gods had bid on the same slave, but they hadn't gotten to him yet, and he felt as if he was being watched very intently.
He found the flag of Diemortia and Dielucere and was shocked at their changed appearance. He had of course found Raphael's patroness, Mar- something, which meant Death's Beloved, but who also went by the name, The Destroyer. Which somehow was not comforting in the least.
He stepped forward and there was a flurry of bags of gold being raised. The Cyclops walked to the center of the arena. He held up his arms for silence. "The auction shall commence, with the bidding starting at 1000 gold coins!" He yelled into the crowd.
A gasp went up. The other slaves had sold for no more than ten gold coins, some of them less.
"1000 gold coins!" Heterion shouted from his box.
"1100 do I hear 1100!" Another god stood, and so it went. There had been about 10 gods to start with and all had been whittled down to four and his price was currently sitting at 20,000 gold pieces.
Leonardo looked at The Destroyer's box. The curtains remained closed. If she was in there, she was not making her presence known.
"One million gold pieces." A man's voice rang out from somewhere in the crowd. There was a gasp, as the crowd parted around a figure standing several rows beneath the luxury boxes of the gods.
"Lucifer." Leonardo whispered.
"One Million gold pieces going once. going twice, sold to Lucifer for the record breaking price of one Million gold pieces."
Leonardo felt his heart plummet. He stood in line waiting for the last two slaves to be bought and was finally led down a snaking set of tunnels and passageways to be 'processed', whatever that meant.
They were led to a room where a large open fire pit dominated the room. Sitting in the fire were various pokers. As Leonardo looked around he saw that thousands of pokers lined the walls, no not pokers, brands. One by one slaves stepped forward to be branded with their owner's marks. The smell of burning flesh assaulted Leonardo's nose. The slaves started out blue and at first did not appear to feel the sting of the brand, but as the brand left its mark the slaves would begin to scream. Their bodies gained substance, and they registered the pain of their burning flesh.
Leonardo stepped up to the pit next. He looked at Lucifer's mark which seemed to consist of an inverted triangle with the outer edges sweeping into a crossed curve with a v on the bottom. Inside the triangle was an x that extended past the outer lines of the triangle.
There was a loud clattering sound as a few hundred brands fell to the ground from the wall. "Oh my, I was just looking through all of your lovely brands, and must have knocked against one that caused the whole wall to fall down." Lucifer looked at the two Cyclopses who were doing the branding. "Oh, I wouldn't worry about this creature." He said. "I shall make sure this creature is branded by my own hand when I drag him into Hell with me."
"No slaves are to leave The Pit..." One of the Cyclopses began.
"Yes, but I am so handy with a branding iron, I figured I should get the pleasure all to myself." Lucifer smiled cruelly.
"But..." The Cyclops began.
Lucifer lost his smile. "I am not asking your permission, I am telling you what I am doing. Do not make me complain to Caligula." He growled. The Cyclops put the brand down and Lucifer smiled. "Good."
Leonardo found the chains that shackled his legs together had disappeared. A metal collar appeared around his throat. Attached to the collar was a chain. Lucifer pulled on the chain and began dragging him through a series of passageways and tunnels. Leonardo tried resisting tried to pull back on the collar and chain, but Lucifer's strength was too much. If Lucifer even noticed he was trying to resist he gave no indication. But of course, where would he go if he did manage to escape?
Leonardo stopped trying to resist and hung his head in defeat. Leonardo passed Samael on the way, who looked suspiciously after them.
He knew Samael would tell Raphael who purchased him. Leonardo closed his eye. He was going to be no help to Michelangelo and Donatello. All he had managed to do was get himself dragged into Hell, with no chance of escape.
He glared at Lucifer's back. He opened his mouth to tell him that he would never break, not matter what he decided to do to him, when he found he could not talk through a leather gag that appeared in his mouth.
Lucifer walked into an elevator and pulled him roughly inside. Lucifer glared down at him. "I don't want to hear it." He growled. "This had better be worth it." Lucifer grumbled as he hit a button on the panel.
Nausea rolled through Leonardo as the elevator began moving, the little light on the panel reading Hell level 1. He closed his eye but managed to stay on his feet.
The elevator dinged and the doors opened to an office. Lucifer dragged him out past a receptionist, who didn't even glance up, through a set of doors and straight up to a pane of glass.
After Lucifer had touched and opened the pane of glass and dragged him through he was unable to stay on his feet. He stumbled and fell to his knees.
"I have always found it interesting that, even though you are just barely solid, you still want to puke after being dragged through dimensional space. Especially considering you can't really feel anything." Lucifer said with a wave of his hand. A chair appeared behind Leonardo. Lucifer looked at a branding iron and placed it in a fire that was roaring in the fire place.
"Please, have a seat." Lucifer motioned for Leonardo to sit. Leonardo got shakily to his feet but did not sit. "I have some paperwork that must be completed before I continue."
Leonardo glared as he was pulled into the chair by an unseen force. His manacles disappeared only to be replaced by leather straps that bound his wrists, ankles and his neck to the chair.
Leonardo could hear the rustling of paperwork behind him.
"All sealed and legal." Lucifer sighed. "That is a depressing thought, oh well, one must do unpleasant things when the need arises I suppose. This next bit however, I am so going to enjoy."
Leonardo still did not speak.
"Your brother was a lot mouthier than you are. Even through his gag he wouldn't stop with the talking. Not much better when I removed the gag. I had to listen to, what he probably believed were, pithy little comments." Lucifer said with a smile. "Still nothing, oh well. Shall I see if I can make you scream?" Lucifer asked as he walked over to the fireplace and brought out the glowing red branding iron.
"This is going to hurt by the way, but it really is for your own good, sadly enough." He said with a sigh.
Leonardo began breathing steadily. He wouldn't feel the pain. He would fall deep into himself and block out everything that Lucifer was doing to him, and going to do to him.
The pain started out as more of a warm sensation that slowly began to build in intensity. Leonardo tried to find the calm place within himself but couldn't. There were too many thoughts intruding. He kept seeing Raphael's face pleading with him not to make the same mistakes he had.
Leonardo bit down on the gag as pain coursed through his shoulder. He felt the instant when he became completely solid. It was as if a cloudy haze had been ripped away from his body and he almost screamed in agony as the brand burned his flesh and all of his emotions became clearer, became real again. Fear crashed through him. Fear for Raphael, fear for Michelangelo, fear for Donatello and finally, fear for himself.
He felt the brand being removed, but the pain did not stop. "I am impressed not even a whimper." Lucifer said and the straps all disappeared to be replaced by manacles.
Leonardo opened his eyes and looked at his right shoulder. A double crescent moon, with tips pointing up and down was burned onto his flesh.
Lucifer looked at the brand in his hand. "Stolen brand. At least I am not falling completely into the hellish depths of goodness." Lucifer said with a smile. He put the brand down and walked over to a sideboard, reached underneath and opened a small door. He pulled out a bag of something. Lucifer walked back over to him and handed him a bag of ice. "Better ice that quickly, ice doesn't tend to stay long around here." Lucifer said with a shrug.
Leonardo took the bag of ice, placing it as best he could on his branded shoulder. He looked at Lucifer with suspicion. "Now if you are ready, I need to deliver you."
The collar and chain appeared around his neck again as Lucifer led him from the room. They went through the door, which led into the office. Lucifer did not slow when Leonardo stumbled. The nausea was even worse this time.
"I wouldn't puke if I were you. I think it would be unpleasant to choke on your own vomit." Lucifer said happily as he pulled him back into the elevator hitting the button that read DEATH INC.
Hmm...Now what is Lucifer up to?
Please please reveiw!
