Sorry, that this one's also short, busy day. Anyway, Treachery will probably become three chapters.
Chapter: 17: Traitors' End
"The end of my journey…" Lelouch spoke, trying to wrap his mind around the idea.
"Yes, soon you will be rejoined with C.C." Diethard said looking out into the icy abyss.
"But first I'll have to confront Lucifer. Doubt he'll just let me leave with C.C."
"No doubt that it will be a great battle. A fight between the king of Hell and the man who practically destroyed Hell on his way to fight Lucifer."
"Hey, you're making it sound like I'm the villain here."
"Well you destroyed Charon and his boat, thus hindering the souls' passage to Limbo."
"But-" Lelouch tried to protest.
"You killed Minos, crippling the placement system of souls greatly."
"Well-"
"You destroyed the tower of Lust and killed Cerberus, screwing up the punishment system of Lust and Gluttony.
"That's-"
"And lets' not even talk about what you just did in Fraud."
"Ok, ok, I get it. Maybe I did go over the top a bit." Lelouch said throwing his hands up in defeat.
"I'm not complaining, this makes your documentary all the more better. This will definitely get a good mark in action. You really came up with creative ways to kill some of your enemies, almost like you were trying to make it an art form."
"Diethard, stop making it sound like I'm a psychopathic killer."
"Yeah, you're just a killer."
"Doesn't make me feel better, but alright. Well then, tell me about Treachery." Lelouch said as he started to walk down the stone path that began to turn into ice.
Diethard began to follow in suit. "Treachery is home to the traitors. The ninth circle is separated into four parts, called rounds. The first round is called Caina, named after Cain, who killed his brother Abel. Souls are condemned here if they betray one of their kin and here they are frozen up to their faces." Diethard spoke as they passed souls frozen everywhere except their head. Diethard then pointed at a soul. "Here lies Mordred, who betrayed and attacked his uncle/father King Author."
"The throne was mine, I had every right!" Mordred snarled out. Whether anyone liked it or not, I was Author's son, making me heir to the throne, no one could say anything!"
'He's certainly not getting Lelouch's favor.' Diethard thought as in one, swift motion, Lelouch pulled out his scythe, cut off Mordred's body in half, straight through the ice, and sheathed it.
"Better not tell Anya that I just did that." Lelouch said as he also made a mental note of in case he meets Anya, the pilot of the Mordred, again.
"Indeed. Now, we are in the second round, Antenora, named after Antenor, who betrayed Troy to the Greeks. Frozen here are traitors to political entities, such as cities, parties, and countries." Diethard then points to a frozen soul that is gnawing on the back of the head of another soul. "The gnawing soul is Count Ugolino, traitor to his city. The soul being gnawed is Ruggieri degli Ubaldini, once Ugolino's partner in crime, but betrayed him and imprisoned him, leaving him to starve. Ugolino was shown some mercy by allowing him to gnaw on Ruggieri's brain, making Ruggieri suffer on top of Treachery's punishment on him."
As Lelouch and Diethard began to walk on a path that's right next to a cliff, Lelouch decided to break the bit of silence. "Doubt I'll meet anyone here worth absolving." Lelouch said as he looked up at the towers surrounding the circle. "Hey Diethard, what do those towers signal?" Lelouch asked pointing at them.
Diethard chuckled a bit, confusing Lelouch. "I'm afraid you are mistaken Lelouch. Those are no towers, those are giants, frozen up to their waists in ice."
Lelouch's eyes widened. "What exactly did giants do to end up here?"
"I don't know all, but I can name some. One is Nimrod, the builder of the Babel tower, whose actions prevented humans from speaking a single language. Ephialtes and Otus, who tried to storm Mount Olympus to overthrow the gods. Antaeus, who challenged all who passed him by to a battle. Those who accepted didn't realize it was a death match and were killed. He's actually the only giant not put in chains."
"Any others?"
"Well…" Diethard put his hand up to his chin, trying to remember. "…there's Typhon, Tityos, and Briareus, but I only know their names, but all of them are under Lucifer's command, so be wary of them."
"Oh please, they can't move get up and walk over here since they're frozen to their waists, right?" Lelouch scoffed.
"Yes, but they still have their arms." Diethard reasoned.
"I know, but as long as I avoid their arms, I'll be alright?" Lelouch declared confidently, and had the finesse to back up his declaration.
"Then explain what Nimrod's doing." Diethard said pointing to a giant that Diethard claims is Nimrod. Lelouch squinted and saw Nimrod lift its arms, making it painfully obvious that it's not a tower. It then put its hands on the ice and made them into fists. Nimrod then lifted its right hand and made a throwing motion at them.
"What's it do-" Lelouch tried to continue when he realized the answer to his own question. Nimrod threw a chunk of ice at them, but this chunk was the size of the Damocles and going at them at the same speed as the Lancelot Albion. Lelouch and Diethard hit the floor just in time as the chunk barreled past them, crashing into the ice walls and poor souls behind them.
"Ok, seems like they're still a threat." Lelouch said as he saw three more giants do the same thing Nimrod did. "Run and stay close to the wall!" Lelouch shouted as he and Diethard did just that, avoiding the massive ice chunks that were sailing past them.
"Hopefully, they'll run out of ice soon." Diethard said as another ice pieces sails into the wall behind them, destroying the way back, again for the fifth time.
"Too bad we're in the most frozen part of Hell." Lelouch sighed as Nimrod grabbed two more pieces of ice and prepared himself. "Ugh, we need to hide, I doubt Lucifer would want them to destroy his subjects." Lelouch said as an ice chunk thrown from who Diethard says is Typhon hits the cliff beneath him and Diethard, forcing them to move on ahead quickly as the part of the path they were on collapses, for the sixth time.
"Guess we don't have much of a choice. We should be safe when we reach the third round."
"Great, when's that? We've been on this path for a while." Lelouch said as both of them began to run down the path.
"Up ahead." Diethard said, pointing towards a cavern that's lying up ahead.
"Good, because we need to get there NOW!" Lelouch shouted as three ice chunks were going at them at the same time, miraculously not hitting each other along the way.
"We won't make it!" Diethard panted as he ran. While he did look fit, Diethard was never one for exercise, he just didn't eat as much and focused a lot of his energy towards his work.
"Then hold on!" Lelouch said as he grabbed Diethard by the collar and launched his spear towards the cave roof. After it stabbed and got stuck in, Lelouch reeled both of them in as the three chunks crashed into the path, destroying it, part of the cliff below, and the wall next to the path. When they came to the entrance of the cavern, Lelouch dropped Diethard, who fell to the ground, too tired to stand, and pulled out his scythe and sheathed it before collapsing onto the ground with Diethard.
"I never want to do that again." Diethard said in-between his heavy breathing.
"Agreed." Lelouch said as he stumbled up and turned around to give Diethard a hand up, to which Diethard gladly accepted. Both of them turned around and saw a large opening in the cave.
"Were almost near Lucifer now, huh?" Lelouch said.
"Yes." Diethard said, almost fully recovered from his exhaustion.
"Must say, this opening gives a good view of Treachery. The fourth round, the mountains, the giants…wait…" Lelouch looked and saw that the opening made them visible to the giants who, if you look close enough were smiling.
"Give me a break." Diethard whined as both of them started their run through the third round.
I felt that the whole ice-throwing thing would be better and slightly funner when dealing with the frost giants. Makes sense, doesn't it? Hope you stay tuned for the final chapters because I promise I'll work hard for the final chapter or die trying, but I think I want to be alive to see the reviews or something I get from all of this work I put into my first story.