The original concept of the Lucius scene was composed by Biohazard 101, and was used with his permission in this chapter. Thank you, Biohazard 101.

"Sophitia."

After so many months of travel and hardships together, Siegfried and the others who accompanied him had become something of a close-knit group. Siegfried's stoicism had been a result of solitude and a lack of companionship for several years. Now, he experienced the company and amity of others daily, which had done much to soften his stoicism.

Ever since the events concerning Cervantes, Ivy's cold nature had thawed, as if an experience unseen by the others had granted her a revelation. Where she was once insulting and rude, she was now almost what could have been called friendly.

By contrast, Tira had been eager to do nothing but please and satisfy from the outset, and had changed little. One noticeable change was that the 'babyish' and 'cutesy' aspects of her speech patterns had eased a bit.

The irony in this situation was that the final member of Siegfried's party, a woman who had always been a loving and caring person, was now the most distant and solemn of the group.

"...Sophitia?"

Only the words 'depressed' and 'melancholy' could have described Sophitia's present nature. Most of the time, she seemed absentminded, her thoughts elsewhere. Often a speaker would have to repeat what they'd said for her sake, and often she was slow to respond or react.

Her mind was indeed elsewhere - at home.

Despite seeking comfort and warmth in Siegfried's arms, and temporarily convincing herself that she loved him, Sophitia had never recovered from Rothion's betrayal. What could he be doing, at right this very moment? Cheating on her again? Perhaps he'd run away, far away, out of shame, or simply to get away from a life he'd grown to hate.

Or, maybe, the optimist within her timidly suggested, he was at home, repenting for his betrayal by putting all his heart and soul into raising their children, and staying as loyal as possible.

Unlikely, responded the pessimist within her.

Sophitia began to yearn for that memorable comfort again. To be held in the warm embrace of strong arms, to let go of every trouble that plagued her, to simply bask in primal pleasure for just a short time...

...In short, she yearned once more for Siegfried.

"...Sophitia!"

"...Eh? Oh, I'm sorry..."

"Siegfried says that we've rested long enough, and that its time to get moving again." Ivy said.

Sophitia nodded. "Right. Okay."

While traveling through Persia, the group had heard rumors that a cult that had worshipped an evil god somewhere in the Persian deserts had been wiped out. Rumors of the secret arts of a powerful god triggered their interest. Even if such power was evil, if it was a power that exceeded human knowledge, then perhaps it would open the way to destroying the cursed sword. This rumor would have to be investigated.

They had almost reached their destination - the temple was within view now. A few more hours of travel, and they would reach it.

There's no chance of doing anything with Siegfried from now until we've finished investigating the temple. ...But waiting that long would be unbearable...maybe...somewhere in the temple...we can find a private spot, and Siegfried and I could...

---

Siegfried and the rest reached the temple, and entered. It was completely uninhabited, save for dozens of corpses. By their looks, they had been dead for days. They all bore similar scars, as if the same weapon had been used to murder all of them - which pointed to the conclusion that a single person was responsible for the carnage. Memories returned to Siegfried of single-handedly annihilating the population of small villages and hamlets. He knew that something similar to his Nightmare form could be waiting within the temple.

The temple was vast in size, and complex in layout. It was almost like a maze, and after only a short while, some members of the group began to fear that it would be difficult to find their way out again. Knowing that a powerful and evil being might be lurking anywhere in the temple, the experience of traversing the temple was incredibly unsettling.

"...I think we should split up."

These sudden words had come from Sophitia.

"...Split up? Why?" Siegfried asked.

"We could be going in the wrong direction. There are so many different paths here. We'd cover twice as much ground if we moved in two groups instead of one."

"...I don't think the benefits outweigh the drawbacks." Ivy said. "If we split up, we might not be able to find one another again, and two of us would be easier to kill than four. It's better to move as one group."

"If one group moves along the right wall, and the other group moves along the left, then we'll eventually meet up again no matter what. And I doubt there is a high chance we'll run into someone or something that is powerful enough to take on two of us at once." Sophitia responded.

Sophitia and Ivy's reasoning seemed evenly matched. They turned towards their leader for the final decision.

"...I see logic in what Sophitia is suggesting." Siegfried said. "We're only wandering aimlessly, hoping to get lucky and find something, and the chances of that will be doubled if we travel separately. We'll be safe enough in groups of two, and it might be difficult to locate one another again, but it won't be impossible."

"I'll go with Siegfried." The words had left Sophitia's mouth almost before Siegfried had stopped speaking.

She received odd looks from her companions. Her sudden assertiveness in suggesting a plan and then picking a partner seemed uncharacteristic, given her disposition lately.

"...I just - wanted to start doing my part and pulling my weight, that's all." Sophitia lied, providing an answer to the unasked questions that were passing through the others' minds.

Siegfried, unaware that Sophitia was secretly harboring quite different motives, was quick to accept her proposal. He knew well the feeling of wanting to prove one's worth.

"That's fine. Sophitia and I will follow the right wall, and Ivy and Tira will follow the left."

Tira and Ivy had long grown tired of carrying on the childish rivalry they'd once nourished, and did not argue. The two groups split up as they had been designated.

And when Tira and Ivy were out of sight, Sophitia began to discretely loosen her clothing to make it easier to remove in a hurry.

---

An annoyed sigh passed through Siegfried's lips. He and Sophitia had followed a long hallway, only to reach a dead end.

...Now.

As Siegfried began to turn around, Sophitia reached out and tugged on his hand.

"Siegfried."

"...Hmm?" He asked, turning to face her. As he did so, his eyes couldn't help but wander downwards towards her breasts. Her garbs appeared to be exposing more skin than they usually did - the cups of her metallic brassiere and the fabric of the white toga she wore seemed to be mere millimeters from exposing her nipples. And her clothing seemed loose enough to fall off at the slightest shrug of her shoulders.

Siegfried quickly adjusted his eyes to meet Sophitia's, but her head and eyes were directed to the side, which consequently allowed Siegfried to look without being noticed. She crossed her arms beneath her breasts and then moved them up slightly, accentuating her breasts even further. The metallic cups moved slightly away from her breasts, and Siegfried realized that if he leaned forward just a few inches, he would be able to look down past the cups and see her nipples. With Sophitia's head turned as it was, she might as well have been making him an offering.

...What a letch I am! Siegfried thought to himself. I shouldn't be thinking of these kinds of things. She is not an object for my-

"...Siegfried..."

Sophitia reached up to the buckles that held the metallic cups up, and unfastened them, which led to the full exposure of her breasts. Then she took Siegfried's right hand, worked off the glove that covered it, and pressed his hand up against her right breast.

A mixture of shock and arousal temporarily kept Siegfried from saying anything, but once he remembered how to form words, he tried to voice his puzzlement.

"...Why...are you..."

"...Siegfried...I want to feel you touching me. I want to feel you holding me. I want to lose myself in your embrace. Please, Siegfried...hold me...touch me."

She quickly moved forward, pressing herself against Siegfried's body, and in moments his left hand's glove was off and both hands were exploring her body. It had happened so quickly it was almost an involuntary, reflexive action - Siegfried didn't have time to tell himself, "No, stop, don't" before his body had already surrendered to its desires. And, even after he'd realized what his hands were doing, he couldn't make them stop. His body's wishes had already superseded his ability to reason, and Sophitia's skin was so, so soft...

Sophitia placed a tiny soft kiss on Siegfried's lips, and he returned it enthusiastically. It wasn't long at all before the two of them were beginning to remove one another's armor and clothing...

---

Footprints...and recent. Someone else entered this place not too long ago.

Cassandra was kneeling down and inspecting footprints in the sand outside of the temple. Two...three...four people. Four people had entered this temple recently. There were no tracks leading out, so they were probably still in there.

I guess I'm not the only one following this rumor. Damn! I wanted to be the first one. I wanted to be the only one...If someone beat me here, then the entire trip was a waste. ...Maybe they haven't found the evil power yet. Maybe I can still be the first. ...I've gotta hurry!

Cassandra stood up, and then darted into the temple.

Oh, great, it's like a maze in here. ...I'll stick to the right wall. That way I can't get lost, and I'll explore the entire thing.

Cassandra ran at top speed through the temple, leaping over corpses and always sticking to the right. For most of the trip, the temple was deadly silent, but suddenly, Cassandra began to hear sounds.

She stopped in her tracks, leaned up against a wall, and listened carefully.

Sounds like...slapping. Skin on skin. I can also hear something that sounds like labored breathing, and moaning. And I smell a strange odor coming in the same direction...This is really creepy...What could it be? Cassandra imagined a foul monster with loose flaps of skin slapping against one another as it skittered along the dank halls, breathing heavily and groaning. She readied her sword, and prepared for a fight.

She crept along the hallway, slowly and carefully - it was very dark, and hard to see a thing. There were a few torches lining the walls, probably enchanted to be lit for a long time, but the light they provided was inadequate. Eventually, she spotted something down the hall, mostly obscured by shadows.

It was a monster! A beast with four legs and four arms. It possessed two loose flaps of skin that were bouncing as it performed odd, bucking motions. Its body was mostly hairless, and glistening with sweat and who knew what other ungodly bodily fluids. Unless her eyes deceived her, the beast possessed two heads, both of which were emitting the groaning sounds. She knew not why the monster was heaving and moaning as it was. Perhaps it was dying? Injured by the four travelers in an epic battle? Both of the monster's heads suddenly emitted moans much louder than before, and the pace of its heaving quickened momentarily, and then slowed. It was in the throes of death! Now was her chance to strike!

Cassandra raised her sword high, and charged forward.

"YAAAAAH!"

"...Huh?"

The beast tilted one of its heads forward, and Cassandra clearly saw its face.

"...S-So-Sophitia!"

Cassandra came to a grinding halt, and now that she was only a few feet away from her foe, saw it much more clearly.

It was not a monster, but two naked humans. One was Sophitia, the other was the man she'd left with. What was his name? Sienfried? Siegfeld?

For a few seconds, the three could do nothing but stare at one another. After the initial shock of the sight had worn off, a realization came to Cassandra.

"You're cheating on your husband!"

Sophitia flushed even redder than she already was. "No! No, I'm not! This doesn't count!"

"What do you mean, it doesn't count?" Cassandra demanded.

"I - I can't really hold a conversation right now!"

"Fine, I'll just go wait down the hall while you finish fucking Seinfeld!"

Cassandra turned and stormed off, and Sophitia practically sprung off of a dazed Siegfried to gather her clothes and put them on.

Once fully dressed, Sophitia bounded down the hallway, and caught sight of Cassandra.

"Cassandra!"

Cassandra didn't stop.

"Cassandra, please wait! Come back!"

"I'm disgusted in you!" Cassandra shouted over her shoulder without stopping.

"Just give me a minute to explain!"

Sophitia caught up to Cassandra, and followed a few feet behind her.

"Listen to me - the night before I left, I found Rothion in bed with another woman."

This was enough to make Cassandra stop. "...What?"

There was an awkward silence between the two sisters.

"...So, then, having sex with that man back there was your way of getting revenge?"

"...I...don't really want revenge...I, I worry so much about what's going on back home, and sometimes I just need to forget for a..." Sophitia's voice trailed off as something else took priority. "...Wait. What is going on back home? Why are you here, anyway? What about the children? Did Rothion stay, or did he run off?"

"...Um...The night before you left, Rothion returned home late at night…"

---

Rothion ran down the street, one hand holding the gash that has been carved across into his face.

He slipped into an alleyway as he attempted to hold back the flow of crimson pouring from the wound. He looked over his shoulder to see his pursuer still close behind and approaching quickly. Rothion made a half-hearted swing with his own blade, but once again he saw a flash of blue and white as his blade was deflected, and then a fist as it smashed into his face. He toppled to the ground, and started to rise, but froze when the tip of a longsword pressed lightly against his throat. His eyes moved up and down the sword, the blacksmith within him admiring the weapon even as it threatened his life - it was not the kind of sword used by the kind of person he would expect to do this. He looked up to see a blond haired boy of his upper teens, anger seething upon his face.

"...I actually enjoyed the ceremony, you know. You have a lot of nerve spitting on my blessing." Suddenly, the blade was drawn back, and then sent into Rothion's collar bone. "But ripping apart my sister's heart as you did is not something I am willing to tolerate." Rothion groaned as the young man twisted the blade and then drew it out.

"You'd be surprised just how quickly your bitch spread your words around Athens. About how Sophitia was the worst thing since sin, about how her family is ashamed of her, about how her BROTHER is ashamed of her!" He said, giving Rothion a kick in the back of his legs as he tried to stand. "Don't move, else I'll make sure you never consummate another union."

"This has nothing to do with you, Lucius...!" Rothion muttered. This statement earned him a boot to the side of his face.

"Oh, but I do believe it does. You think that just because I live far away and rarely visit gives you the right to speak for me? My parents might be ashamed, but then again, they are the ones that let her marry a dog like you. It would seem, however, that the dog has already been replaced. I hope you no longer hold a place in her heart, either."

Rothion glared hard at his brother-in-law. "What? Sophitia has someone else? Who?"

"Vain jealousy does not suit you, Rothion, because you were never worthy of Sophitia. I'm not so sure that it will necessarily be something along the lines of love, but there is no shame in comfort, I suppose."

Rothion growled as he tried to raise himself from the ground, already fixing his eyes towards the inn that his wife was staying at, but then groaned with pain as Lucius' blade stabbed his foot, bringing him down to the ground again. "So, now you believe that she has no right to stab you in the back after what you did to her? How utterly pathetic."

"Aren't you supposed to be jealous and feel left out all the time, like Cassandra?" Rothion taunted, but this only earned him punishment in the form of a kick to the ribs.

"If it were not for the fact that my sister bore you two children, I would kill you where you lay right now. I do not wish for my nephew and niece to grow up without a father, or to see your rotting corpse at a funeral. I doubt that Cassandra could raise them all by herself, so I'll let you live to raise your children. You've proven that you are of questionable morals, and knowing Cassandra, she'll probably be unable to live a life staying at home, so I will be 'visiting' for the next few weeks to keep an eye on you. ...But if you step even into the shadow of another whore, I'll make you suffer far worse than you have here tonight."

Lucius grabbed Rothion by the hair and lifted him up, swung him back into the street, and pointed down the road to his house.

"You were mugged. When the muggers found out you didn't have any money on you, they roughed you up. That's why you were so late coming home tonight, and why you look like you were just dragged through hell. Tomorrow will be the first time we've seen each other for years, and after learning what happened to you, I'll decide to extend my visit to help raise the children while you recover. Don't speak a single word otherwise to anyone."

Rothion's ego had been flattened to a pulp, and he did not even have the strength to direct one last glare or sneer at the boy. He nodded his head in defeat and acknowledgment of the alibi Lucius had provided him with, and then began limping home. Lucius sheathed his blade, and then went to go find an inn to stay at until morning - preferably not the one his sister was currently making love in.

---

"The night before you left, Rothion returned home late at night covered in scars and bruises. He'd been mugged by a bunch of kids, probably the same gang you scared away from the temple one night. He was in no shape to work his smithy or raise the kids. I was getting really worried - but then Lucius showed up!"

"Lucius! Why was he there?"

"He said he'd just come to visit and see how things had been going. But when he saw what horrible shape Rothion was in, he insisted on staying for at least a few weeks to help him recover. I'd never seen him so concerned about anyone - he treated all of Rothion's wounds and followed him everywhere. He must really like him. It was strange, though, because Rothion didn't seem to appreciate his help or want to speak a word to him."

Sophitia thought that there was something strange about Cassandra's story. Something about Lucius coincidentally showing up a few hours after Rothion had allegedly been mugged seemed suspicious - but she couldn't jump to any conclusions.

"And, as for why I'm here, well...I just couldn't stand staying at home baking bread while I knew my sister was probably having an epic adventure. I want to live this kind of life - I want to follow rumors and explore temples, too! And, since both Lucius and Rothion were at home to watch over the kids..."

"...I see." Sophitia said. She knew her sister's nature well, and as long as her children had at least two guardians, she felt that they were safe.

"...Ew, what is that?"

Sophitia was surprised by Cassandra's sudden deviation from their conversation. She seemed to be sniffing the air. "Something smells nasty."

Sophitia sniffed, and smelled it, too. A foul odor, like nothing she'd ever smelt before.

Noticed only by Cassandra, a few pebbles fell to ground behind Sophitia. Cassandra looked upwards towards the ceiling for their source, and found it.

"...SIS, MOVE!"

"Wha-"

Knowing her sister might not react fast enough, Cassandra lunged forward to shove her out of the way. The two sisters went tumbling to the ground a mere second before a three hundred pound golem came crashing down to the ground, the force of his impact causing cracks in the stone floor he'd landed on.

"You survived...but let's see if you can do it again!" The golem growled. He had grown quite tired of lying in wait in this temple, and these two maidens would quench his desire to kill for the time being.

"By the gods, what is it?"

"I think this thing is what destroyed the cult."

"That's right...and you're next!" The monster snarled.