Hey everyone, I'm sorry to say, but I've ended the chapter at the first part of Fraud, felt that combining the other nine into one chapter will be better than one chapter that only covers five. Also, there won't be much fighting in this chapter except near the end because I felt the need to explain the source of the three rivers of Hell like Virgil does to Dante in the game and poem.
Chapter 12: Woman of a Thousand Masks
Lelouch and Diethard continued their trek through the Abominable Sands to what Diethard says is the end of Violence, but all Lelouch sees is sand, ruins, and more sand. "Hey Diethard, are we lost?"
"What? Of course not. We just have to go…that way!" Diethard said, obviously hiding the fact he doesn't know where they're going.
Lelouch sighed and said "I don't think so."
"Why not?"
"Cause the Phlegethon is flowing that way." Lelouch said, pointing in a direction different to the way Diethard was leading him. "Rivers flow downward and to get to the eighth circle, Fraud, we need to descend, so it would be quite obvious that we can get to Fraud by following the way the Phlegethon is flowing."
"Uh…well…" Diethard sighed. "You're right."
"I am most of the time." Lelouch smiled as he said this and both of them walked alongside the river of blood. Eventually, they reached the edge where the Phlegethon went down like a waterfall. "Back in Anger, you said you'd tell me the story of the three rivers when we reach the end of the third one. Let's hear it."
"Fine, but give me a sec." Diethard said as he whistled. At first nothing happened, but then a giant creature rose up holding a giant, stone platform. The creature had a human's head, a lion's arms, a scorpion tail, bat wings, and some kind of creature's torso, probably mythical. "This is Geryon, he will take us to Fraud and I'll tell you the story on the way down." Diethard said as Geryon put the platform next to the edge and Diethard walked onto it.
After eyeing Geryon suspiciously, Lelouch followed suit. Soon after he did, Geryon began to descend at a moderate rate. "Ok, now will you tell me the story of Hell's three rivers?"
"Yes, just to satisfy your desire to learn. Ok, this is the story: On the island of Crete in Greece, there is a mountain called Ida. It once flowed with rivers all over, but is now barren. Inside a cave in Ida, there is a statue of an old man. Its head, made of gold, chest and arms made from silver, the midsection was forged from bronze. All else was made of iron, except the right foot, which is made from baked clay, the same foot it leans heavily upon. Its existence symbolizes the declining of human society and its tears from this come out from cracks in everywhere except its head. These tears, symbols of humanity's suffering, forced their way through Ida and flow all the way down to Hell where they create the three rivers: Acheron, Styx, and Phlegethon. Here, they flow down and down until they collect in the ninth circle and form the frozen lake Cocytus. That is the story of the three rivers of Hell."
"Wow, that was a lot longer than I expected the story would be. You could've become a historian being able to tell such a story by memory."
"A historian does nothing but collect stories. A journalist, though, collects stories and spreads them across the world!" Diethard exclaimed, spreading his arms out for dramatic effect.
"Of course, after editing the story though." Lelouch added with a smug smile.
"Yes, well, a journalist has to make a living after all, even if that living is made through dishonorable means." Diethard said, not ashamed by it at all.
Lelouch decided to change the subject to a more personal one. "Do you think my mother's in Fraud?"
Diethard sighed. "Truth be told, it's the only circle she could have gone to. She would have confronted us if we passed by her circle if she was in the previous seven and she wasn't a traitor, she remained completely loyal to your father and the plan to slay God, so Fraud is the only place she could be if she truly is in Hell."
"Could she have become a demonic being like Mao and my father?"
"There's a good chance. Lucifer seems to be trying to break your will by forcing you to fight people close to you, but given the fact you made an enemy out of nearly everyone, including your parents, it doesn't really seem to be working."
"You're probably right. If anything, I'm glad I got to kill Mao and the fight with my father helped my resolve some of my issues with him. I hope that I can do the same thing when I meet my mother." Lelouch said as Geryon stopped and placed the platform next to the edge of a pathway.
"Let's hope so." Diethard said as both of them stepped off the platform and Geryon flew off.
"Now then, let's find my mother and-" Lelouch tried to continue, but coming from the path Lelouch and Diethard were about to walk were four demons, carrying a chariot on their shoulders. Sitting on the chariot was what appeared to be a woman. She was wearing a tattered, orange dress and had mangled, black hair. Decorating her dress were masks, big enough for people to wear over their face. There was a happy mask, a sad mask, an angry mask, and, what made Lelouch realize the person's identity, was a mask that looked like Anya's face, and many others. On top of the woman's face was a mask that showed a serious face.
"Lelouch looked at the woman with eyes full of realization. "Mother…" Lelouch was able to pull out before the demons stopped in front of them with the woman looking down at him.
In an instance, the happy mask and serious mask switched places. "Why, hello son, so nice to see you."
"Mother, why are you being escorted by demons?"
"Oh, them? Well, you see son, Lucifer said I could have full control of Hell and a second chance at slaying God if I just do one small thing for him."
"Judging by your appearance, you took the offer."
"Indeed, and he said the thing was kill the person who stopped me and Charles the first time." Marianne vi Britannia said still wearing the happy mask.
"So you intend to kill me?" Lelouch said sternly preparing to take out his scythe.
The mask turned into one of surprise. "Oh no, I'm quite weak, that's why I'm gonna have all of Fraud try to kill you." Marianne said sweetly after the mask went back to happy. She then clapped her hands twice and said "Malacoda, please show my son how we treat the new people of Hell." The happy mask turned into a demonic one just before Marianne, her chariot, and the four demons carrying it disappeared into flames with a lone demon taking their place.
The demon looked similar to an Arch-Demon except this one didn't have wings and wielded an axe made of fire. The demon then roared and his entire body turned to fire, but still retained its outline.
"Careful Lelouch, while the Malacoda are in this state, they're immune to your scythe attacks, with enough cross attacks, they'll revert back to their solid state." Diethard whispered into Lelouch's ear before vanishing.
Lelouch thought of using the Suicide Fruit, but thought it would be foolish to use it on just one enemy and decided to use Diethard's advice. He fired three cross attacks at the Malacoda before it could get close to him and to finish the combo, Lelouch fired a fourth cross bolt, turning the Malacoda back to its solid state. Lelouch rushed in, trying to finish it off before it could revert back to its flame form, but the Malacoda blocked most of the attacks, leaving it with nothing but a few abrasions on its body, and kicked Lelouch back, turning back into its flame form right after.
'Damn, its good, but while in its flame form, it must think he's nearly invincible, I should use that arrogance to my advantage.' Lelouch thought as an idea came to mind as he got up after being kicked. Lelouch then smiled as he fired three cross bolts at the Malacoda and while the third was still moving towards it and, after turning his scythe into its sword form, stabbed the head, or would've stabbed the head, but the Malacoda was still made of fire and grinned as Lelouch's sword phased through its head, but Lelouch also smiled and, right in front of the Malacoda, fired the fourth cross bolt, materializing the Malacoda with Lelouch's sword in its head. The Malacoda turned to ash and Lelouch reverted his sword back into a scythe before sheathing it.
"That was quite a good idea." Diethard said appearing next to Lelouch.
"It will take more than that to kill me." Lelouch stated proudly.
"Unfortunately, your mother probably thought the same and most likely put opposition for you in all the pockets."
"Pockets?"
"Oh, forgive me for not explaining. You see, Fraud is divided into ten pockets, each known as the Malebolge. Depending on what kind of fraud you commit determines which of the Malebolges you go to, each possessing their own punishment. I'll go into a bit more detail when we reach the pockets."
"Sure." Lelouch agreed as he and Diethard walked down the path and came to a medium-sized platform with a lever on it. "I take it this will take us to the first pocket?"
When Diethard nodded, Lelouch pulled the lever and the platform descended down. Once it stopped, they saw a door with the Roman numeral I above it.
"The first Malebolge: Panderers and Seducers. Here, those who seduced and pandered to get what they wanted in life shall be forever whipped, prodded, and beaten by Lucifer's lieutenants." Diethard said looking at the number.
"Maybe Tamaki will end up here." Lelouch joked as he opened the door and saw an arena-sized platform in front of them and beneath the platform was an abyss where screaming souls could be heard from.
The moment Lelouch walked onto the platform, the door behind him closed and the path leading from the door to the arena vanished. "Welcome to the first Malebolge, son. You probably seduced many people with your good looks, but hopefully you didn't use them to your advantage." Marianne's voice said, echoing throughout the pocket. When she finished speaking, a Guardian Demon, a Throne Demon, and an Arch-Demon appeared.
'So this is my opposition, huh? Better take care of the weak ones first.' Lelouch thought as he avoided a rushing attack from the Throne Demon. Lelouch then rushed at the Throne Demon who just put his shield up to block, but to its surprise, Lelouch jumped, planted both feet on the shield and jumped off it and into the air. Lelouch launched his scythe at the Guardian Demon and hooked him onto the scythe. Lelouch then, using all his strength, pulled his scythe, with the Guardian Demon still attached, and threw the Guardian Demon over him and over the edge as a result. Lelouch landed and thought 'Two more to go.' The Arch-Demon took to the skies and rushed towards Lelouch for a sword strike. The Arch-Demon was rushing too close to the ground for Lelouch to effectively dodge, but was able to block the attack, albeit move closer Lelouch looked to his left and saw the Throne Demon Rushing at Lelouch for a charged attack. Using his right leg, Lelouch waited until the Throne Demon was about to strike before he kicked the Arch-Demon in-between him and the Throne Demon's attack, resulting in the damaging of the Arch-Demon. Using the weakened state of the Arch-Demon to his advantage, Lelouch stabbed his scythe into the Arch-Demon's head and cut it in half vertically. Lelouch jumped back and fired a few cross bolts that went through the disintegrating corpse of the Arch-Demon and towards the Throne Demon. While the Throne Demon was stunned, Lelouch turned his scythe into a spear and launched it at the Throne Demon, stabbing it in the chest. Lelouch then pulled the blade and the Throne Demon towards him and when the Throne Demon was pulled in close enough, Lelouch pressed his cross, which he had been charging since he launched his spear, against the Throne Demon's face and fired, completely destroying the head.
Once the Throne Demon completely vanished, Lelouch saw a draw bridge come down, reveling another elevator-platform on the other side with the lever ready to be pulled. 'I swear, if this is what it's gonna be like, if not harder, for the other nine pockets, I'm going to demand a vacation at the end of all this.' Lelouch thought as he walked over to the next lever and pulled it.
Like I said, not much fighting, or any really, except near the end. I just want to give information on parts of Hell like Virgil does and I feeling like making my story somewhat educational, even though this information will probably never prove helpful unless you intend/have to write a report on The Inferno from The Divine Comedy and I suggest you don't use this story as a source if you end up writing one. Also, I didn't want to add a Damned here because I have one already in mind and its in the other pockets and this Author's Note is quite long so that's all for now, bye!