"Six hours to reap the harvest." I say so desperate, "I don't even know how long we've been here. I think that almost a day in my world, and we still need to pass across five more kingdoms to find Seth."
"Just four kingdoms my darling, you do not need to count mine, off course I will give you the authorization. And you are right, we have been here for almost a day. Anyways we can do nothing if you are hungry. First eat and then we will keep going."
"I know nothing about farms…"
"The harvest that my brother refers is nothing you have ever seen. The place we're going is very dangerous for someone like you. But I'm here so you don't need to take unnecessary risks. I'll do everything."
After eating we walked down a slope, very very thin. "Everyone says that I'm alive. If I fall down the ravine-"
"You will return to your world. You can not die here." Roman tells me very serious, "If you return I can not take you back. You will stay there, in the same cell where you disappeared, you will pay for your crime and Seth will stay here."
"I do need to save him." I say in fear. "This is my only chance."
"Then, you do need to obey my commandments my darling. Or the both of us will lose."
Roman looks at me and smiles, but this time there's no flirting. I almost see a hint of worry in his eyes. I nod and both follow the path. Roman is very agile, he seems to walk in a big way. For me this is torture, and despite Roman's warning, instead of being careful, considering I have not much time, I start to speed up my step and stumble on a rock and I lose my balance.
"Roman!" My body slips through the slop and fall several meters as I try to grab whatever I can, an outgoing small rock or a root. But it's useless. I close my eyes expecting the worst and I feel a hand holding me. Is Roman, he rushed behind me and strongly holds himself from a rock.
"You can't die. Can you?" I say and I can't help sounding weak.
"Of course not." He angrily says, "But if I don't grab you in time you'd disappear of this place!"
He has to be so angry, if he used contractions when speaking. Something that clearly none of them do. We finally go up and when we get to a safe place, he pushes me and I fall to the ground. In fact, I fell more because of the lack of balance and nerves than by the push itself. The push is more an act of anger than a punishment. If this demon really wanted to attack me, he could do it. But he obviously doesn't want to.
"Don't even dare to claim, or I forget the damn deal and send you back to your world."
His eyes are lit in bright silver. I quietly apologize and silently follow him. Shortly after we arrive at the plantation. We are reaping a very similar but much larger corn grass. Roman actually is doing almost everything at a speed that reminds me of some of the superheroes in the comic books Seth reads. He's not speaking to me.
It's weird. This strong awesome warrior is all sweaty, his clothes a mess. His beautiful hair is almost loose. There are long strands of hair stuck to his sweaty face. This is something totally different. Right now, Roman isn't the indestructible demon, he looks like a human. He's even more beautiful like this, he's relatable.
Roman runs his hand through his hair trying to remove it from his face. He takes a moment to breathe properly and looks at me. In that moment I notice I've been stupidly watching at him and I'm no helping.
I begin to reap the harvest again but I can feel his gaze all over me. What is he doing to me?
The time passed as we are carrying the harvest. This is so difficult for both of us. We cross the slop back and fill all the containers in exactly six hours.
Belphegor laughs cruelly seeing Roman all dirty and sweaty.
"This is an unforgettable moment, brother." Belphegor had filled our bags with food. "This thing that you are carrying should be very valuable. But your efforts are all in vain. He almost fell in my kingdom, he won't get it the others. You will lose him anyways."
…
We left the kingdom of Belphegor and now we are again in the field. I'm sitting on a rock and Roman is cleaning my wounds. He just moved his fingers and he was clean and tidy. But for some reason that didn't work for me, or he never tried to do that with me. He's cleaning me with a rag and clean water.
"The following kingdoms are even worst. Belphegor made me do something because he wanted to feel superior with one of us. And this was his only chance. But in the other kingdoms, they will make you do things alone, to won the authorization. And I will not be able to help you." Roman finally talks to me, but his voice sounds very rigid.
"Belphegor is right... I won't get it." I say, feeling the pain of my failure. "I do wanna see Seth again."
"I know you really want. But if you behave stupidly, you will return to your world." Roman says and this time he is avoiding to look at me, "If I had believed that you will not get it, I will not have wasted my time bringing you here."
"Roman, I'm a weak creature." I dare to touch his face, for the first time I'm touching him.
He leaves me guide his face as I force him to face me. His angry gaze softens, "This is not about you being powerful. You just need to be smart. That was something you were not in the slop." His voice also softens.
"I'm so sorry. I promise I'm going to follow every instruction." I'm being honest.
"It is ok, you learned a lesson." He says and draws a tiny smile with a hint of his foxiness.
I can't help but smile, "Thank you."
"This is a deal, hon. I think you are forgetting it. You will pay every effort I am doing." He holds me from my shoulders and makes me stand.
"I know that." I whisper.
The night finally came and the sky turns into metallic tones. It's something stunning. Roman guided me to a cave close to the next gate. We are inside the place and he lit the cave with some kind of ball that shines and bounces.
Roman just cleaned my wounds but my clothes and my face and arms were still dirty. "Can't you do that magic with me?" I asked while I recharge my tired body against a rock.
"Of course I can, the first time I did it. I took all the blood, sweat and dirt off of you. I wanted to appreciate your beauty." He says in that sultry way.
This is the usual Roman. I know I said I began to hate his sultry attitude, but after my stupid actions and the fact that his anger against me felt much worse, I'm starting to be more sympathetic to him. Maybe leave me in this dirty clothes is his way to punish me. It's still a soft punishment considering he's a demon and we are in hell. I don't wanna think why I prefer his flirting than his anger.
"Darling come here," He pats the ground beside him, "You are a living creature and need to rest. That will be impossible lying on that rock."
I widely open my eyes. What the fuck!
"Again this shit." He knows how to swear, "Honey, if I wanted to rape you or something like that, I had done it, do not you think?"
"You're so weird."
"I find you attractive and really enjoy the closeness of your body. I am not hiding it. So come here and make happy the two of us. You can rest and I can touch you."
I know this is weird and a part of me feels like a cheater, even if I'm not really cheating Seth. But I'm so tired and my body aches. Now I'm comfortably lying in Roman lap as he embraces me and it feels warm and soft. I need to sleep. I need to sleep not only to rest, I need to do it, to see Seth again.
…
I wake up feeling the warm of a body. I open my eyes and I recognize his smell and how his body feels next to mine. I used to wake up next to Seth but never held me. Roman seems to enjoy our closeness.
He's looking at me with his smirk. "Did you sleep good?"
I nod.
He's brushing the hair from my forehead. We are lying in the grass inside the cave. I can see some light filtering.
"Why?" I can't help but ask, "Why aren't you punish me or mistreating me. I don't understand."
"Darling, have you not noticed how things work here?" There's no mockery in his question. "Hon, we are not destroying someone else's souls. They built their destiny. They are their own punishers. Humans like to blame other humans, other creatures, the nature or whoever they can of their wrongdoings. Even here they keep doing it."
"You're just doing your work. Do you like to torture their souls?"
"Yes, that is part of our nature. We are made for that. It is cliché but truth."
I don't want to think why I'm still enjoying his embrace instead of running away from him. No, I won't think about that.
"Roman… You're so alone, aren't you?"
He looks at me with intensity, but this time there's no smugness. He quickly composes himself and smiles.
"We have to go cutie. We have a mission that needs to be achieved."
"Yes."
We reach to the third gate that's made of a wood like pine. It's beautifully styled, there's not a single flaw in it. They selected the best wood to make it. The wrought was even more beautiful than the gate of the Kingdom of Mammon.
"Welcome to the Kingdom of Leviathan, sweet one." I finally grew used to his sultry smile.
The guard is a misshapen creature, his legs and arms are almost parallel, and he walks like a gorilla. His nose and mouth are as united in a huge scar. His eyes are bulging and full of veins, it's horrible.
The creature is mesmerized seeing as Roman saunters into the kingdom. As if his eyes had not seen such a beautiful being.
"Leviathan never has let him in. That is why the few times I have been here, this creature idolizes me." Roman stops across the gate. There's a hint of worry into his gray eyes, "This kingdom represents the envy."
I look around me and the place is even more beautiful than the kingdom of Mammon. Not covered in jewelry, it is built rather artistically. Each of the buildings have work of various schools of art, there is a Baroque construction and other clearly Gothic. The palace has a huge, beautiful mural carved glass. Outside each building is a statue of the same being in different poses.
"It also represents the vanity and all the feelings associated with it."
Roman begins to stir my hair even more and takes the earrings off my ears, then he do something that leaves me stunned. He pulls a small knife out of his pocket, and cut a part of the skin of his forearm.
His blood is red as mine. My clothes were dirty and stained with dust, now also had his blood on it. Shortly after he took one of the rags with which he cleaned my wounds and bandaged his forearm. Then, he returned to hold my hand.
"What have you done?" I'm amazed and don't understand anything.
"You are smart, you will realize it at right time."
He's taking his time making me look even worst. When he realizes it's enough, he let me go.
"You see the statues, those beautiful figures carved in marble are representations of Leviathan. He himself is the representation of beauty."
"I thought that would be you." What the hell I just said.
Roman smiles pleased, "Well, we are brothers. He is the most beautiful creature inside this world, and so he is full of vanity and pride. You are so handsome dear Dean. He can send you back just for that."
"Envy... jealousy... vanity." I muttered. "That's why you didn't clean me."
"Everything I do has a motivation. Even if you can not understand it." Roman caresses my face and a shiver runs through my body, I don't understand what happens to me, "Everything about you is so perfect and need to hide it or my brother will be envious and he will send you back."
I close my eyes, trying not to think about what is happening, but that doesn't help. His hands caress my neck and gently descended from my ribs to rest on my waist. I bite my bottom lip. I should push him, move away from him or do something, however I just stay frozen like a statue. He draws me against his body.
"I can not allow him to see what I see." Roman whispers in my ear, his lips barely touching the lobe and I can feel the warm breath near my cheeks.
My whole body shudders without being able to stop him and I have goosebumps. Roman releases me and takes my hand again. I open my eyes and feel my cheeks burning. What is happening to me? I have no time to figure out anything because he is leading me to the palace. I silently walk behind him.
I hear the cries and they fade when we reach the palace. Roman announces himself again.
The statues aren't worth to represent Leviathan's beauty. Roman is really handsome, but his brother is... there is no description for this kind beauty. He's a little smaller than Roman and his skin in so pale. His lips, nose, eyes and even his ears are perfect. His face is flawless, his hair are long blond locks that end in his knees. His eyes are a deep green. He is shirtless and his body is well muscled, like he worked daily in a gym, he is not fat nor thin.
However the beauty of Leviathan is so flat, defects are part of the charm of a creature and such perfection lacks of the charm that Roman seems to have even to share. I look to my feet because I don't want to make eye contact with a creature that, just for the fact I exist, can send me back.
"Little brother, after our last meeting." Leviathan emphasized the last word, "I thought you would not come back, at least not so quickly."
"Our incestuous relationship is fun, but once sex is done and you start talking, anyone would flee as far away from you."
"Wise words by the Emperor of The Kingdom of Lust... One does think you only live to indulge your basic instincts." Leviathan says approaching Roman.
So Roman represents the lust.
"I do that all the time." Roman smirks, "I have been indulging my basic instincts for millennia. Sometimes I just want something different."
I try not to look but curiosity wins. Roman has plastered that smirk on his face as Leviathan runs his fingers through his chest, drawing the shape of the symbols in his vest.
"For some reason we are the most attractive beings in this doomed place. I have quite missed you little brother." Leviathan lead his hand to Roman's hips, shaping it.
"Maybe another day..." Roman ignores the hormonal surge of his brother.
Leviathan doesn't seem to hear Roman. He tightens his grip on his hips. "I want you… I know we are equals. I can not force you to be mine. How I would wish the great demoness to grant me the wish to have you tied at my feet. The things we would do together, you are quite skilled in sex."
Leviathan is eye fucking Roman. It's disgusting, I just want to pull his perfect hair and force him to stay away from Roman.
"This is not the right moment for this, brother," Roman is unfazed by his brother's blatant harassment.
"Anything you need from me will have a price, little brother." Leviathan's lips are almost touching Roman's, "Your body is such a-"
"Take your hands off of him!" I said and with that all the attention is on me.
"What is that thing you brought?" Leviathan looks at me in awe, "This thing is alive!"
Roman looks at me and although he should be angry. There is actually a small smile of satisfaction on his face. At this moment I realize that I have just threw a tantrum because of... jealousy.
"To be honest I came here because I need your permission to leave your kingdom with him." Roman smirks.
Leviathan laughs. "You have got everything you have wanted. Monumental orgies, all kind of creatures had succumbed to your touch. You have seduced even angels, you have destroyed entire worlds in sin and corruption. I can not believe you want to fuck a living being. I think you do not even know if that is possible."
Leviathan snaps his fingers and I'm clean and free of dirt, wounds or blood. As Roman brought me from my world. He discovered his brother's plan. I can see a hint of surprise in Roman's eyes but as always he hides it under a facade of audacity and foxiness.
"It is a beautiful specimen. I just could not help it." Roman says in an even more sultry tone as he walks beside me.
"Well, well. I have never hear about one of us fucking this kind of creatures, much less inside our Valley. I do not even think that would be possible." Leviathan mocks.
"How do you know? That is something no one tried before with a living creature." Roman is still smirking.
I think Roman has everything so calculated. Every move, his sultry tone, and the way he walks. Yes, he fits in the roll of The Lord of the Lust.
"Ok, ok, little brother. I will give you the authorization you need to keep carrying your living being."
"And the price is…"
"I want you all fours, naked, chained at my feet as I ruin you in all possible ways, little brother. Your little human can watch us. I have been craving your naked body. Just imagine, the lord of lust being used as a whore, something totally unheard. I'm going to humiliate you that much. That is what I want."
Roman smirk vanishes. He is the Lord of the Lust and for some reason he doesn't want to do this. Roman is clearly uneasy with this deal. He worked his ass off for me in the last kingdom and now he will be used as a whore. I'm so fucking angry.
"You don't have to do this." I say.
"There's no other option I guess." Roman says pretending everything's fine.
"I say no," I'm firm on this, "Everything but that."
"I have done a lot of dirty stuff so being demeaned and humiliated by my brother would not be…"
"Don't…" I can't hide my anger, "I don't want to see you doing that. I said no and it's no."
Roman looks at me in detail. At this point I'm not even trying to hide my mood.
"I don't understand why you don't accept my deal. It is sex after all, it is what your body was created for." Leviathan says.
Then he looks at me and seems to have an epiphany.
"Is it because of him, is not it?" Leviathan is pissed. He looks at me with real hatred. "This is unbelievable. So this one is special, uh? Maybe that is why you used your own blood to dirty his clothes, instead of using his own blood. You thought I would not notice it. Let me see how special he is. If he wants the authorization, he has to win it."
Yes, he's as jealous as I am. And he's also envious. I'm fucked.
"Then, since you don't have to perform a sexual show for me, little brother. It would be him who will do the sacrifice."
"You're not touching Dean!" Roman is angry now.
"Of course not, ugh," Leviathan says. "He needs to survive a challenge into the pit of souls. That is all. Come on little brother, show me he is worth of all the problems you are going to get when you take him to the Kingdom of Abaddon."
"I think you are forgetting that he is a living being. He can not do that." It is the first time I see Roman so worried, and Leviathan notices it.
"How do you know? That is something no one tried before with a living creature." Leviathan mocks Roman's previous words.
"Okay I'm gonna be your whore. I just don't want him watching us." Roman says.
"If you do that is the end." I say, "I'm returning back to my place. Let's do this pit of souls stuff."
"This is stupid Dean. This isn't like the harvest. This is insane and won't work." Roman insists.
And he's contracting words again. He's scared.
"I am tired and sick of your lovers quarrel. I want the human in the pit of souls. And that will be the only way to obtain my permission." Leviathan is jealous of Roman's interest in me and wants revenge.
"Let's do it." I say watching at Roman who is clearly scared.
