The Primordials: Death's Fury (Book One)

Chapter XXII: Judgment Hall (Pt.1)

      I know that voice...but that doesn't make sense, Za'Fia thought.

      "Right, I forgot that was today," Trevor prompted.

      Avarice walked to the top of his pedestal and sat facing the double doors at the other end of the room. His face and body language expressed how unenthusiastic he was about what was about to take place.

      Verin stood to the left of Avarice at the bottom of the pedestal, placing her between Za'Fia and Avarice's throne.

      To Za'Fia's right, a section of the ceiling lowered, hiding the tanks and advanced lab behind a thick wall. To her left, the floor below the collection of rare and dangerous elements dropped into a space built underneath them. Then the floor closed above it as portions of the walls and floors with the shipment markings flipped to unmarked sides with TVs, lamps, bookshelves, water fountains, and more.

      The area now looked like a large office or gathering room. With Avarice's throne and the High Gods standing on either side of the red line on the floor, it looked like some sort of judgment room.

      Verin looked at Za'Fia in annoyance.

      "I wish she'd fall asleep again. Regardless, she should still be too weak to cause trouble," she said.

      She pressed a button on her tablet and instructed the person on the other side of the doors to enter.

      The doors opened, and Za'Fia watched silently as Alissia's friend, V, walked in.

      What's she doing here? Za'Fia asked herself.

      She was guiding a man Za'Fia assumed was the perpetrator mentioned before. As both of them walked down the red line past the High Gods, V's composure was calm and expressionless, like this wasn't her first time there. However, the guy was sweating profusely as his eyes, full of angst, darted from one person to the next.

      Trevor smiled at him sinisterly, Wren cruelly assured the man that everything would be okay and gave him a fake sweet smile, and Junichiro watched him with a stoic satisfying expression.

      The guy seemed to grasp who they were gradually and began to freak out.

      "No, no, no, those are the High Gods. This is the Judgement Hall. No one at my level comes here and walks out. Please! No," he started.

      "Shut up," V told him as she turned and gave him a death stare.

      The guy swallowed hard as he went silent. His face was beet red as he stumbled forward. The way he was acting, Za'Fia guessed he was caught doing something he shouldn't have been doing.

      V stopped them 10 feet away from the pedestal. They stood inside the large red box that was painted onto the floor.

      V and the perpetrator bowed to Avarice.

      "My Lord," V said as she bowed. The guy repeated her nervously.

      Za'Fia's eyebrows raised as she realized V was part of Avarice's forces. And she had a feeling that none of the others knew.

      "Let's get this over with," Avarice stated from his throne.

      The edges of the box lifted as rails rose from the floor, surrounding V and the perpetrator. Then, an extra rail rose to separate the two, creating a smaller, personal box for V. Her box then elevated itself a couple of feet above the perpetrator's.

      "Holder, E.J. Stone, has been accused of insubordination and treachery. As his commanding Sub Deity, Vicki, you will speak on his behalf. Holder, you will not speak unless addressed. Is that understood," Avarice decreed.

      So, that's her name, Za'Fia mused.

      "Yes, My Lord," she replied. The Holder followed suit.

      "Begin," Avarice ordered.

      "While under the alias, Prodi-G, Stone was caught redistributing vials of JANUS tablets without authorization. After further investigation, I discovered he'd been stealing small amounts of vials from Base T's factory for the past three months, which helped him go so long without getting caught. In fact, the only reason he was caught was because his gig started doing so well that to keep up with the demand, he had to steal more," Vicki stated.

      Avarice loudly tapped his index finger on the gold in the armrest of his throne. Each tap sent an ominous sound reverberating throughout the room as he sat there, thinking.

      "Holder, do you have anything to say before I pass judgment?"

      "Avarice, I mean, My Lord, I needed to make money to feed my family and get out of debt. I beg for your forgiveness, my back was to the wall, and I saw the JANUS tablets as my only way to get out of the hole. Once I've paid my debts, I plan to stop, I swear," he explained desperately.

      Avarice shook his head and sighed.

      "I pay each Holder a six-figure salary on top of other benefits, and I know you paid your debt years ago due to that salary," Avarice rebutted.

      Avarice reached into the inner lining of his suit and pulled out a brown notebook.

      The moment Stone saw it, his face went pale.

      "Judging from your expression, you know full well what the contents in this notebook are. You wrote them, after all. These notes and business models display your interest in making your own drug company after stealing the formula of JANUS from me," he stated, looking at Stone disappointedly.

       "And after I reached out a helping hand to you...."

      Stone began to cry.

      "Please, My Lord, I'm sorry; my greed blinded me. I'll stop. I'll shut it down. Please, I have a little girl who needs me!" Stone begged.

      "I'm ready to pass judgment," Avarice stated. "For your actions of insubordination and treason toward me and for being unappreciative of the life I've given you, I sentence you to death."

      Verin stepped forward, and with her palm open, she raised her arm toward Stone. A silver-lavender film appeared around him. As Verin slowly closed her hand, the area inside the film grew smaller and more spherical. Eventually, it became a floating sphere with Stone screaming inside.

      He cried in pain as his body and limbs were bent in ways the human body wasn't meant to be. As Za'Fia watched the gruesome death of this man and listened to his endless screams, she felt a pit form in her stomach as she began to hear his bones snap as they were crushed and ground together.

      None of the others flinched at what was happening before them.