Divine Diligence

Chapter 8

Martius 11th, 2206.

With Princeps Azuro healed, it was almost time for Propinquis Mei Et I, along with Ahmed to journey to Elysium, but there was one final thing we had to take care of first. By that point, it'd been two days since Fratres Meus stormed off on his own to cool off and he'd yet to enter Ad Paradisum Imperiale which greatly concerned all of us, including my godfather, Pluto.

Thus Soror Mea Et I left to search for Fratres Meus early that morning, with the assistance of Ahmed as well as, Domina Aurora. "Fratres!" I called. "Where are you!?" Admittedly, this little game of hide and seek made me rather nostalgic as it reminded me of when the two of us were young, playing the same game in Nostro Padre's then fortress.

Due to his wolf like instincts and the fact that he always treated the game like stealth training, whenever he played the role of hider, he remained as quiet, and still as a normal wolf pup awaiting Parentes Eius' return from a hunt.

Now, compare that to when I'd be hider. While yes, I also remained quiet and still for a large majority of my turns, there were multiple instances where I became rather cocky especially when Fratres Meus passed my hiding spot without noticing me. Whenever that happened, I often chuckled to myself and shifted in place, not too loudly but enough for Fratres Meus to discern my location thanks to his sensitive hearing.

I always found it unfair when that outcome occurred, not willing to admit my own mistake however, now that I'm older, I'm more willing to admit that fault. As for when we played with Patris Et Avunculi Nostri because they were still hiding their little secrets at the time, they never used their heightened senses whilst playing which I appreciated.

However, there were also times where those skills made things problematic. Back when Fratres Meus was still suckling, there'd be instances where, whilst Madre was in the library or somewhere else in the fortress, and we were playing in our room, Fratres Meus would get hungry, and always ran off to find her for milk whilst my back was turned.

When I turned back and saw that Fratres Meus was gone, after I recovered from my initial shock, I summoned Il Mio Padre's servants to help me search for him, which just as with our rounds of hide and seek, was very difficult. Though we'd eventually manage to locate him it'd usually take several hours of searching the entire fortress before finally finding him suckling in Nostra Madre's arms.

The first time it happened was when he was seven months old, and after finding him, I asked Madre what'd happened. She explained that one of the fortress guards found him, and when he attempted to return him to me, he began crying.

Long story short, after multiple failed attempts at soothing him, the guards simply brought him to her, and he started suckling. Thankfully, I never got punished during those times as Madre believed that the fear and subsequent stress I'd endured during the search was already punishment enough.

Whilst searching for Fratres Meus, I came across two souls running from nothing and asked Soror Mea about them. "Those two are Haman and Sati," she answered. "They were once heterosexual aethers, and yes even members of the old wolf packs ended up here and in Tartarus, tasked with resolving a queerphobic argument between two witches in Hyperion Heights."

"The argument was regarding the wolf packs' right to possess their elemental abilities, while one believed they only came about because the gods favored homosexuals, the other disagreed and counterargued that the werewolf packs won favor with the gods through their faith. He also argued that if they were to show the same faith than they could also be granted the same abilities, his friend disagreed, and a physical confrontation broke out."

"Once it came to the point where both parties were seriously injured, Haman and Sati were dispatched by the then aether pack alpha Lucius Cassius, a fire aether who was famous for being able produce different colored flames as well as lightning in addition to fire."

"As for how he received or should I say learned to do so, legends say that he was separated from Parentes Eius Biologicum at a young age, adopted by blue fire wolves, the rarest type of fire wolf that're only born to the fire wolf alpha family."

"Anyway, by the time Haman and Sati arrived at both party's homes to assist in their reconciliation, the two witches had already grown indifferent, and wouldn't speak to one another no matter what the two aethers tried."

"Instead of simply requesting for backup or attempting a different strategy, as their homosexual packmates would've done, those two half straights thought it wise to end their own lives before their alpha could hunt them down and punish them."

"Upon their deaths, Tuus Avunculus Pluto threw them into the Anulus Mortem, since Asphodel Mountain hadn't been created yet but when it was, your godparents Et Titanfather decided to grant several souls a chance to earn a place in Elysium."

"When did they create Asphodel Mountain?" I asked. "While I don't know when they created the other areas," Soror Mea stated. "This part was created not long after Fratres Tuum's rampage when we told him the truth regarding his origins."

"Truly?" I asked. "Yes, and when I passed on, gave the role me of being the angelos of this area and as you witnessed with Haman and Sati, souls would cleanse themselves by running around in circles without rest."

"HOWL!" a loud howl echoed in the distance as the souls ran, and the former Imperatrix immediately knew who it was. "This way Kurin!" she exclaimed. I followed her until we found Fratres Meus chasing two other wayward souls.

In a move, that made me feel ancient, Imperatrix Amalia summoned her golden flail and used it to restrain her mate. "Gotcha!" she exclaimed. Imperator Grimus struggled for several seconds before looking down to see his mate staring back at him.

"Amalia!" he exclaimed; his eyes widened in shock. "Salve, Puella, you busy?" "Yes actually," Fratres Meus answered. "I was hoping to get directions to the Ad Paradisum Imperiale, however the souls here are extremely rude, and keep running away whenever I try to speak to them."

"The nerve," Imperatrix Amalia said. "I know," Imperator Grimus responded. "And don't even get me started on what Kurin did." "Oh, come on!" I exclaimed. "You're still hung up on that." "Hmph, it appears you haven't learned your lesson." "How is any of that relevant!?" I asked. "Oh, so you aren't even willing to acknowledge it now!" "Enough!" Amalia exclaimed. Fratres Meus Et I ceased our argument and turned our attention to the former Imperatrix.

"I understand you two are stressed due to everything that's happened, we all are, but that doesn't make it appropriate for you to argue like a pair of pups. It's unbefitting and quite frankly irrelevant; Antonius is already in Tartarus being punished for his sins and you two should be focusing on saving our home."

The two of us lowered our heads in shame and proceeded to reconcile. Once Imperator Grimus already returned to his witch form, we sent a message to Domina Aurora and Ahmed, informing them that we'd found Fratres Meus before returning to Avunculus Noster's Castle, to prepare for our trip to the realm of light.