Hel stood before the mountain that dangled before her, the Red Hood's body motionless. Hephaestus had left her here alone with this creature. And though the eyes of the Red Hood were closed, she could feel as though they were watching her through the eyelids, or perhaps it had eyes somewhere else she did not know of.
She stared at the hole in the swelled-up chest of the Red Hood. She could not see its bottom. It was like a black hole from the astral plane itself.
The goddess stepped forward, her face almost touching the Red Hood's chest. Hesitantly, she reached out and placed her hands on the edge of the hole. When her hands had contacted the edge, it felt familiar, like grasping a thread of fate.
It felt reassuring in a way. This thing had a fate, albeit hidden from her, but a fate, nonetheless. It was a fate she could read and, hopefully, use for the good of all. Hel then, as if she was reading a thread of fate, peered into the darkness and tried to perceive it.
Everything around her slowly faded away as she stared deep into that darkness until everything but her was gone; surrounded by darkness where no light seemed to shine. She looked about, turned around, and saw in the far distance a faint glimmer of light that was seemingly trying to reach out toward her. She walked towards that light as it became brighter and brighter until she realized she had stepped out of a cave.
Before her was a colorless and dark gray wasteland, filled with bottomless canyons and large walls of rough earth stretching out from it. Numerous ruins of cities, fortresses, castles, palaces, villages, and other constructs of civilization from every age were protruding from every nearby surface, even the stone walls; all at unnatural angles, each facing towards a single direction in a spiraling pattern.
The sun and moon were nowhere to be seen, neither were there any stars nor clouds in the sky, making the heavens an inky blackness.
Any visible plant life was shriveled, lifeless, and gray while simultaneously pointing or bending towards the same direction in the same pattern as the ruins. All the while faint booms groaned through the air, like the dying breaths of a fading world, could be heard.
Hel descended from the cave and wandered the land, following the direction the land itself was pointing towards. Eventually she reached a small hilltop and looked further ahead. Her mouth slowly dropped open as she saw before her corpses that were spread out as far as she could see. Every one of them dismembered or desecrated in gory displays. When Hel got a little closer, she realized that the bodies were not of just a single group.
The bodies were of those of the Order, of the Royal Makai, of Zipangu, of the Trade Federation, of lands ruled by mamono, of heroes, of mages, of assassins, of criminals, of humans, of dwarves, of mamono, of elves, and so much more. There were even dragon mamono in their original forms, now just lifeless mountains amongst the field of corpses. She also saw there were bodies of angels of each of the gods and even saw in the faint distance the broken remains of automatons, but especially of the giant machine Talos which loomed like a great tower in the distance.
Nothing was alive here, not even the insects or the tiniest creatures invisible to the naked eye. That much, she could sense.
Looking further on, Hel saw what the land was twisting towards. Behind all these bodies, all this death, towered the ruins of Castle Town, the home of the Mamono lord, teetering on the edge over a bottomless pit that stretched past the horizon.
Suddenly, Hel felt something wet touch the back of her leg and she turned sharply as she jolted to see... herself. This Hel was wounded, her own blood covering every inch of herself. Her clothes were torn, and she had visible wounds so deep, that bone was visible, "You... saw this happening, didn't you? You could have stopped this before... before it ever happened," cried the dead goddess hoarsely.
Then immediately with those words, the other Hel went limp; life already gone from her eyes.
Her heart raced, her breath shortened. But she shook her head and controlled herself. With determination to see it through, Hel continued onward.
She floated over the bodies and went deeper into the Castle Town until she began to ascend the very steps to the palace of the Mamono lord. Everywhere she looked, she pondered as to how this happened. It seemed like everyone had united to face a common foe but were all slain in a one-sided battle.
She found the stars leading to the throne room of the palace and began ascending them. Hel then froze as she began seeing the bodies of her fellow gods. There was Ares, Hephaestus, Bacchus, Bastet, Eros, the fallen goddess, and Poseidon. Each of them looked at her with their silent glares.
When Hel arrived at the throne room, the ceiling was gone and all the pillars supporting it were nothing but broken ruins. She saw the bodies of the Mamono lord and her family, she saw the remains of the current chief god, and before those bodies, laid the corpse of the Red Hood; on his knees, hunched over and motionless.
Was she alone in this lifeless future? She tried to focus on sensing any life, but still she sensed none. Even the very air was devoid of life. And yet, she felt as though someone was here. "Show yourself!" Spoke Hel. But nothing happened.
"Show yourself!" Shouted Hel again. Still nothing happened. But then, from the broken windows and cracks and shattered doors, and from the hole in the Red Hood's chest, she saw the darkness begin to grow, from every corner. The hairs at the back of her neck began to stand as the darkness, like water, started to drip and slide towards her, before then slowly crawling like a mass of insects and limbs. Then, when she took a faint inhale of breath, the darkness that now surrounded her jolted towards her like millions of lunging snakes at her vision, engulfing her in complete darkness.
Hel instantly began to see and feel millions of memories and emotions that were suddenly flooding her mind. Memories of pain, of joy, hate, sadness, of failure, of victory, of hope, hopelessness, grief, vanity, pride, love, pity, compassion, lust, disgust, envy, and more. She was almost overwhelmed, but using her skill and knowledge of when she would read the strands of fate, she managed to filter them out to peer further in.
She couldn't see anything now, not even herself. She tried to cast magic to create light, but not even such light could pierce the darkness that engulfed her.
Hel started feeling weightless and cold, as if in the vast emptiness of a starless space. She could feel a strange suffocating pressure all around her, as if she was deep below the ocean depths at its very bottom. She was truly alone in this abyss.
A voice then echoed around her. It sounded frail and weak, and yet at the same time she felt authority and power ooze from every syllable that reverberated on her like she was inside its vocal cords, "Once upon a time, in the old world, the foundation of your world, there came a great flame. From it three souls, three gods, were born. Each with dominion over a primal aspect of reality as it is known, each an incarnation of pleasure and suffering. One of light, one of life, and one of death. They ruled reality, their dominion unending for as long as the fire they came from burned. But there was another soul."
Hel could feel something in the darkness move, or perhaps it was better to say she felt the darkness that surrounded her move. The more she concentrated, the more it felt as though she was inside of something, something alive, something that was perfectly still yet pulsating with life, "In the shadow of the flame was a fourth soul, destined to rule the world forever once the flame faded. The three, in fear, robbed the soul of its birth right."
The goddess swore she could see things move in the darkness. She could feel it! Was it a mass of limbs? Running flames? She couldn't tell, but something had to have been moving in the darkness. Or was it a trick of her mind? The voice continued, "However, one by one, the three disappeared, along with their legacies as the flame faded. Sadly, though the three have passed, the fourth was still denied its birth right. Even now it has been denied."
Hel was looking around frantically, unable to see anything still. Now a slight tint of anger was in the Voice as other smaller voices echoed alongside it, "That soul was the darkness itself, and from that darkness came the abyss, that darkness will have its birth right, and that darkness..."
The goddess felt as though she could see a face in the darkness, even though she could not see it. It was fat, no, it was thin. It was large, no it was small. No, it was all in her head, she couldn't see anything! Then what was she seeing!? She had peered into the abyss, and only now she realized that it had been staring back at her with its bottomless eyes this whole time!
"IS. ME."
Those words throbbed in her head as a consistent pulsating pain grew in her brain. It grew more and more painful at a steady rate as memories of pain, of rage, of sorrow, of torture, of grief, of betrayal, of resentment, of envy, and hate forced and wiggled their way into her thoughts. Her heart throbbed as fear filled it. And then, she started to scream from the overwhelming suffering she was being forced to endure.
Hel began to fear that here she would die and be left in the cold bitter darkness forever where all things ended.
But then, she returned to the real world where she stood before the Red Hood, cold sweat dripping from her forehead.
"What did you see? You've been standing there longer than normal for this sort of thing," spoke Hephaestus from behind Hel, which startled her as she jumped around to look at him. Never had she been relieved to see his rough face and be reunited with his rough personality and speech.
"I… probably best to explain to everyone at once, perhaps a meeting?" Asked Hel with strained breathing.
Hephaestus gave a grin, "Already have called one," his smile faded just as fast as it came, "I have things that should be explained to the others as well."
(-)
Petri stared at the ceiling, the warmth of the realm's own sun beaming down on him. His own heartbeat like the ticking of a clock in his ears. Bacchus had still yet to return from the supposed meeting.
He wondered if this now was his chance to escape. To flee. No, Bacchus would know the moment he left the room. Every god could feel whatever happened within their realm as if it was their own body. And yet, he knew nothing would change if he stayed.
Petre would still be used for Bacchus's own pleasure, and he would eventually, once again, be forced to do all the work she was supposed to do in the mortal realm. Did he really want to live the rest of his existence here?
No, Petre did not want to go through any more of this life. But what would be the point of trying to escape? If, and it was a large if, he managed to escape, he would be found again and dragged back to this prison. The only reason he was not punished this time around was because Bacchus thought the Red Hood forced him along. He felt like a dog with a leash of glass.
It was then Petre realized that while he was traveling with Gael, he had felt freer than he ever did. No one grabbed him and dragged him back to Bacchus. No one purposefully harmed him. He had company with someone he considered a true, real friend. He looked back to those memories with a bitter-sweet joy. But that all changed when they left the mountain.
Where was Gael? That was the new question that came to Petre's mind, no longer thinking about his own escape. He pondered and pondered as his eyes studied the details of the wooden ceiling.
It dawned on him. There is only one place where they could safely contain him and study him and, if need be, quickly make the tools to deal with him—Hephaestus's realm.
Should he go to free Gael? Sure, Petre stated that Gael had changed, but did he really mean it? Gael at one point was a killer, no, more than that. He had destroyed and ruined lives, families, dreams, and aspirations. Gael had committed numerous atrocities to have reached the point he did before meeting Petre. He destroyed his own world.
Petre stopped in his thinking as he remembered his own crimes. Yes, Petre's sins were nowhere near Gael's, but, both him and Gael did them because they were made to in some form. And they both started down the path out of good intentions.
Something deep down In Petre's heart was telling him to save Gael—something compelling him to do it. And Petre agreed. Gael was his best shot at escaping, but not only that, Gael was the first true friend he had in a long time, and he refused to let Gael suffer. Gael had saved his life numerous times, Petre had to even the score for Gael's sake. He had to at least try, even if the chance of failing was high and the consequences of failure grave.
Petre rose off the bed, determination in his eyes and burning bright in his soul. With a deep breath, he opened the door and left the room in a mad sprint.
He would reach the portal of this realm and head straight to Hephaestus's realm and get Gael. He had no other plan; he didn't have time. For who knew what the gods are or will be doing to Gael. He failed those closest to him before, but NOT. THIS. TIME.
The man rushed through the halls of the tree, through the exit, and over the bridges. Petre pretended he was on an errand for Bacchus, and her servants either fell for it or were too drunk to care.
His heart pounded with every step; Bacchus would arrive at any moment. There was no way she didn't sense him moving now. He had to go!
(-)
Once more the gods had gathered at Purgatory's colorless palace. All the information Hephaestus had discovered, and all that he had theorized, were swiftly stated in the start of the meeting to the others. Same as well, the vision that Hel had seen.
Bacchus drank a deep gulp from her chalice, a scowl on her phase as she laid on her throne. She looked at Hephaestus, though she probably did not realize that she was giving a death glare to the smithing lord, "so, what yoush both are suggesting, is that the Red Hood is or is atleastsh a vessel of a... a... a god, and our relics are fragments of its soul."
"Correct." Sighed Hephaestus.
"Nyeah, since you seem to know everything from that vault from Lescete," spoke up Bastet, "perhaps you also know the design of the soul extractor that the Kunoichi from back then possesses."
Hephaestus turned sharply to Bastet, "You want me to extract that thing's soul?"
Ares shook her head, "No, not all at once. If The Red Hood is just the vessel, then it wouldn't accomplish much. We don't know if that Vessel limits it or what would happen if we ripped it all at once. I say we extract portions of it until it is no longer a threat. If needed, we could store them or repurpose them as the Chief God did in the making of the divine artifacts."
"That could work," Hephaestus pulled out a nail from his apron and started to chew on it, "But I say we don't do anything yet. Not until we know more about this thing and its abilities. The chief god had a lot of safety mechanisms for the bug and comparing it to the Red Hood is like comparing a literal bug to a dragon."
The scowl on Bacchus's face deepened as she suddenly sat up and spouted, "Then let us leave it to a vote. All in favor of extracting the Red Hood's soul, say I."
"I would not wish this on anyone but… I cannot allow them to cause anymore grief. I," Spoke Hel.
"For the good of all! I" Shouted Ares.
"Let's end this already. I!" Blurted Bacchus.
"I… I sadly Agree. I wish all can feel love, but the Red Hood... He has ruined so much love in this world. I," Voted Eros.
"Nyah, I also agree. Besides, there were so many pretty cats in the Sahara Desert and Zipangu that died because of him. I," purred Bastet
"If this means an end to all the suffering, then I say, I," Spoke the fallen Goddess.
"All opposed?" slurred Bacchus. Everyone looked to Hephaestus who gave an annoyed growl before gnawing the nail in half. He could feel their eyes staring at him, pressuring him to say something. But he knew it wasn't worth it. He was out voted in this matter, and he doubted he could change their minds. He knew that much from his own experience whenever they had him make something.
"Good. Anything else?" Spoke up the Fallen Goddess after a minute of silence.
The smithing god threw his nail away and spoke up, "Yes, I would like to make a vote for us to, for the moment, lock away our divine relics. This being... as we've explained it has and can use them against us."
Debate began between the gods. Everyone participated and brought in questions or answers or arguments against or for things. However, through all of this, Bacchus said nothing as she slowly got up from her seat and left, muttering something under her breath, taking her divine chalice with her. The gods did not notice her departure.
(-)
Every door Petre pushed open, every staircase he ascended and descended, he winced from memories where Bacchus caught him in such places. But, as fate would have it, she was still not showing up! He could do it!
He saw it in the distance, the portal that led out of this realm. Just a little more and he'd be halfway there!
Suddenly, pain shot out from his stomach as he keeled over, once more vomiting gallons of boiling wine. Once more, like all the other times when he was caught, he began to shrivel up as the wine that was his life blood gushed from him like a spring of water.
"Wheresh do you think…." Shouted the voice of Bacchus with the fury of a hundred storms, "YOUR GOING!?"
When the vomiting stopped, Petre looked up from the puddle of wine he now laid in. He saw, right in front of the portal, a scowling Bacchus; her wrinkled face like that of an angry demon.
His head throbbed as his vision distorted back and forth between the real world, and the realm of his nightmares. The realm of an endless street with endless taverns and bars with withered husks of those he had wronged watching from afar, and Bacchus herself replaced by a bloated, rotten, naked, and featureless corpse with soggy hair that grazed the floor.
He heard both Bacchus' voice and the voice of the corpse speak at the same time but stating two completely different things, "YOU BELONG TO ME! / YOU DID THIS TO ME!"