The Empire's Descent (First Draft)

Chapter 50: Watching Her, Watching Him, Watching Her: (III) Wrongs

Luca POV

"I'll ask about that some other time," I flashed my head to unstick that revelation. Wow... God is real!

Focus!

"Alright, continue showing me his history, please," I motion Kerbe to play.

"Now look what you've done, Miseria! Look how long it took him to transform, he could have been the strongest created, hell-mongrel! But you had to infect him with the viral Bacchus!?", Ira's hair was smoky purple as she directed her ire to her husband.

"Yes, dear, that is regrettable," he patronized, thumbing through sample shades of their Furiae Festival attire.

"For Chaos' sake!", Ira threw her hands up, exasperated. She turned away from him and continued watching Adam through the eyes of a shadow she sent after him.

Adam crept through the Asphodel Wheat fields, his metallic fur and thick, leathery sable skin impervious to the carnivorous nips of the national grain.

"Despite, its carnivorous nature, the Asphodel Wheat grains is one of the largest yielding crops in any world. With all this excess food, would Queen Ira be afraid of raising countless armies"?, Kerbe interjected.

"Noted," I note.

At the end of the expansive fields, was the mouth of River Daimon. Adam paused on the bank and watched, unblinking. Sure enough, the restless Daimona of humans who died filled with madness and hate raged causing the water to swell and crash against the riverbank, with crazed cries. Each thrashing of the water caused the river mouth to froth with a thick, creeping corrosive foam.

"The Daimona are human spirits that died in madness and hatred and vowed to carry it to the next life. To do that, they have to spend time in several limbo spaces, including the River Daimon in the Florence Isles. It's the only river in the Isles that flow easterly to westerly, the others flow northerly to southerly," Kerbe provided.

"They look like clear jelly," I contributed.

"River Daimon is usually the first stop for these raging souls and they have no definition and no real power at this time, so their form is clear... but when they get to where River Kali and River Kakia meet? Then, they take on the ugly Phaestus colour and become a real problem, even for Queen Ira and she's the Goddess of Mania!", Kerbe explained.

"Phaestus?", I wondered.

"Named after the ugly god, Hephaestus. It's a colour you just have to see to know. I can't explain it... anyway, back to the trials of Adam," Kerbe played the projection.

Adam instinctually roared so deeply that it was silent. The restless Daimona quelled and the raging river was silent once again. Adam slowly entered the river and began wading across. The Daimona globs made a conscious effort to avoid touching him... except one brave, but foolish spirit.

It stood out as it was not clear like the others, but more translucent, a testament to it nearing maturation in this limbo.

The translucent spirit glob coiled around Adam's body and smothered him, sure that it could corrode its helpless prey. Adam relaxed as the corrosive Daimona glob felt like a cooling patch on his burning body.

"He looks comfy," I observed the smoothed features of Adam's ridiculously cute, yet majestic dog features.

"He should be. No one knows that Hell-mongrels feel the raging Hadic fires from the penultimate underworld in their bodies at all times. It's why we're not to be made unless for a punishment; like the Liger of your Earth. Great beasts, but unnatural and cruel to breed. Can you imagine that? Constantly burning? It drives you mad eventually and you succumb to the wildness of the animal. It's why the recovery rate of created Hell-mongrels is so low... most often, there's nothing to salvage. Let alone, save," Kerbe explained, solemnly.