At the Brink of Insanity

Chapter 24: Passing Time

He opened his eyes slowly, cautiously, expecting nothing and everything at the same time. He didn't see a thing, it was too dark. He didn't know what had happened. He didn't know where he was.

The only thing he knew was - his back hurt and the ground was cold, very cold. He heard droplets of water fall down near him. One hit his forehead. Did he fall somewhere? If yes, where from and where to? Was he alive or was he dead?

He closed his eyes again. If he couldn't rely on his eyes, he'd rely on his other senses. Calming his breathing and his nerves, he started listening around. At first he couldn't hear anything, but after some time, he heard someone other than him breathe. The person, by the audacity of breathing, is probably around one to two meters away, maybe even closer. 

He moved his hands in search of that person. Even his hands hurt, which confirmed that he fell from somewhere. He couldn't reach it. It was futile. Should he call out? Is that person an ally or an enemy? It bugged him that he didn't know anything. 

Another droplet of water reached his forehead. Grunting, he slowly leaned on his hurting arms and realized that his fragile body wouldn't withstand another fall. He gave up on getting up and crawled towards the sound of breathing. He felt thin fabric under his fingers. It was thin, but warm. Was there anyone from his friends who had such clothes? He couldn't recall. As far as he could comprehend, the clothing could be warm from body heat.

"Oi, wake up!" he said in a raspy voice, little above whisper. Did that voice belong to him? It sounded so foreign, unrecognisable. 

"Give me a second, Dante." he got an immediate reply. He shut up, seeing how the person was in a sitting position. The same second, light illuminated the space they were trapped in. Small flicker of fire with its center as Lillian's index finger, gave a clear view of the passage in which they were. 

They were in the middle of an underground old tunnel, and by the structure, even though it was old, the tunnel seemed well built. The tunnel had hieroglyphs engraved into its walls. They resembled Inca hieroglyphs, but there was no way there were Inca remains in Denver.

"Where are we?" the boy asked and got the expected answer. "I don't know."

The two got up and started walking down the tunnel. While Lillian was focused on the road ahead, the boy let his eyes wonder on the walls. He, of course, didn't know what was written, but the hieroglyphs did catch a lot of his attention, both by beauty and mystery. Maybe the two of them were thrown here for a reason, and maybe those engravings on the walls were some kind of clues. His theory couldn't be confirmed, though.He let out a sigh and continued following Lillian. 

She was deep in thoughts. She wondered where the pathway would lead them and what kind of danger lies ahead in front of them. She knew how to protect herself, life taught her that, but she wasn't sure if she could keep Dante safe as well. He wasn't a fighter, she could tell that just by looking at him. He probably never got in a real fight with his peers and if he, by some chance did, then he must have lost. She did hear from the princes of Hell about that time when he caught Mammon's axe and killed his father, but those times he was purely driven by rage and instinct. If he had to fight and keep cool head, he wouldn't be able to do it. And that got her worried the most. 

So far, it was Lucifer's pendant that kept him going this far. If that pendant was taken, he was as weak as any fragile, sick kid. But, that pendant, even though it helped Dante, could hurt him just as much. It didn't belong to a human child, it belonged to Lucifer with a reason. The King of Hell made sure that the pendant contains factors which drive him - hatred, rage, sorrow and killing intent. For someone who wasn't used to so much hatred as Lucifer was, the pendant represents a ticking bomb ready to explode at any moment. And considering that the boy used its power more than once, the next time could also be the final. So, if she was about to keep him alive, she had to get rid of the pendant.