Shadow of the Abyss

"Answer the question Gods and Demons have been asking since the dawn of time: Pancakes or waffles," Aurora contorted, stripping the flesh from off the Sniper's arm similarly to how one strips tape off a wall.

The grueling cry that followed had been so horrid it tore at the man's windpipes until it burned.

The stranger was flailing, suspended in the air by two hooks embedded in each arm. The lower half of his body was a bloody mess of throbbing muscles where the flesh had been torn off. There had been so much blood it formed an expanding puddle, seeking to consume Aurora's bare feet.

"It's been three days! Why can't you answer me? Pancakes or Waffles!" Aurora barked, splashing his lower half with an acrid-smelling liquid, embellishing in the hellish scream that shook the dungeon walls.

"I don't know!!!!" The man wept, flailing back and forth as if he were on fire. He kicked and screamed, howling a prayer to whatever evil god or demon that would hear him out.

Aurora ignored his cries, pointing towards her companion, where he lay embedded into the walls by four wooden stakes. All the skin around him was torn from his body, currently being soaked in the same acrid liquid. He was still alive, but he couldn't scream. He hadn't the strength, much less the willpower.

His pupils, however, betrayed his everything, distorting it so inhumanly it didn't seem possible.

"Mr. Let me explain what will happen in the following months. This liquid, Baba'na, was created to stimulate and regulate the nervous system. Each time I splash you, not only does your sensitivity to pain double, but you'll feel like you're on fire."

"Your friend over there is on his sixty-ninth dose. The pain he is experiencing right now is something I can't even imagine. And I've only just started." Aurora gave the man a rather therapeutic look, her lips arching into a beaming smile.

Throughout the three days she'd tortured them, not once had she asked any sort of question about who they worked for or who hired them. She wanted to know her prisoners first.

"We've already sent a blood sample off the various worlds allied with our government, that includes Genesis: If your bloodline is registered in any of their data banks. Your family, friends, and lovers will all face the most unfortunate fate."

"Please…"

"Pancakes or Waffles"

"Please… I… I…I've never had any."

Aurora slapped him. "Answer the damn question: Pancakes or Waffles!"

****

Altair gawked incredulously at Raven's contorted pout. "Are you still mad at me? I already apologized," he said as Raven's folded arms tightened into a cross around her chest.

She glared at him, snorting. "Raven is supposed to be Master's Guardian, yet he couldn't trust that Raven would protect him. My Vale Qi has already coated the entirety of the Palace of Sunset. Any action taken against Master would have—"

"It wasn't about my safety." Altair tried to explain. "Look it—"

"Master should have also called Raven to capture those idiots. But chose to call his Shadows." She shot him a meaningful glare and said, "Raven isn't useless, okay?! She is very powerful too and skilled!"

Altair could only relent, having gotten the cold treatment by Raven for the past few days. It had never occurred to him that Raven might have been offended by such an act. But the more he thought about it, the more he understood. Everyone had their roles within his kingdom given to them by him.

For him to act without at least notifying the ones in charge of his protection was sure to have been a kick to the face.

With a gentle lift, he looked into her eyes and earnestly assured her that it was a one-time mistake. As he held her, he couldn't help but notice how light she felt, like a feather in his arms.

Raven still pouted, but her intense expression lightened. "Then will Master make it up to me?"

"Are you blackmailing me now?"

She nodded.

"Okay, go ahead and tell me what you most desire," Altair said with a hint of amusement in his voice. He brought her to his chest, making his way down the halls into the royal garden he'd found her tending to every so often.

Raven had to think but ultimately shook her head, changing her mind. "While Master is at fault, it's my fault as well for not showing you how serious I was in protecting you. So Master… Allow me to take charge in the torture of those captured. Allow me to hire my men and—"

"Granted to all of it. Send a detailed report to Aurora so she can come up with a budget." He rested her back down on her two feet, a little shaken by Raven's new resolve. "Weapons, armor, skills, and various cultivation resources will be at your disposal. But you know you'll have to expand your knowledge of technology, right?"

Arm to chest, Raven nodded in salute. "Don't worry, Master, I will not allow you to feel even the slightest bit of danger."

And she was gone, hurrying to find Aurora with a dangerous fire in her eyes.

"I never realized how seriously she took her job. Perhaps that is just my failure." Altair forced a smile, realizing there was still much more to learn. He chuckled, gliding an eye towards the goddess tending the garden, accompanied by Zagreus.

"Come on, Aunty! Are you seriously not interested in relations or settling down yet?' Zagreus was asking her, handing her a watering can. "I know, as the virgin goddess or whatever, you've no interest in many activities, but don't you think adoption could be a viable option to pass the time?"

"Adoption?" She looked at him, unable to understand what he was getting at. " Why would I ever adopt a child?"

Zagreus shrugged his shoulders. "Why not? You spend most of your days scheming; don't you want to turn it off every once in a while?"

"Did Hades ever turn it off?"

"Between Irina and Nyx. I'd say he does more often than not. He was insufferable before caring only of Order amongst the dead. But now… Now he seems far more relaxed."

"Irina? You mean… she's still in the picture?" Athena muttered, her mouth opening. "Hades has more than one wife?!"

Zagreus laughed. "Yup. It's probably the only time I think I ever saw my Father so torn. Irina wasn't really happy about it, but she also knew it wasn't his fault."

"And where is Irina now?"

"You really can't turn it off," Zagreus mused, smiling almost dangerously. "Forever a slave to your Mortal Dao. A shame, really."

"Enough about me. What about you, dear nephew? When are you going to settle down? Or will you continue to bed, maidans, each night?" Athena countered, her prescient eyes peering into the maelstrom of knowledge. "Or perhaps you're just looking for the right one?"

"I'll stop when a woman can hold me down. I— Oh," Zagrues noted the presence of Altair, straightening up as he grinned. "Eavesdropping my Lord?"

'Hardly. I was thinking of giving Babels Tower a trial run. I want to test out the first floor. Care to join me?"

"Wasn't there just an assassination attempt?" Athena mentioned, frowning. She lowered the watering can. "Are you seriously going to walk into public?"

"Of course. I'll be communicating via my Neruolink. It still has a connection in Babels Tower, right?"

"Correct… I just fear you're hubris might get you killed in the first trial. You've heard of it, right?"

Altair nodded, "Yup. They call it tag. The moment that creature touches you, you're frozen. If the creature touches you again, you die. However, if Zag perchance were to see me frozen and touch me, he can unfreeze me."

"Correct," Athena remarked. "So I recommend you bring Syris and Zagreus with you. This sick game has an element of luck to it, created by the God of Mischief, Loki. If you are lucky, you can just run to a safe zone. If you're unlucky… well, you can be swarmed by several creatures capable of manipulating time."

"Huh?" said Zag. "Manipulate Time? What are we talking full-time stop, acceleration or—-"

"All of it. You'll be up against Cambions, who has seduced the Dao of Time. There are pretty brain-dead amalgamations due to the necessity to make the trial somewhat fair, but the first floor can be either the easiest trial or the hardest." Athena kindly explained, measuring the look of intrigue on the young lord's face.

He seemed every bit a mix of confused and curious. "A Cambion? Now that is interesting. Very interesting. What are such low-rank demons doing outside the Nine Hells? Are you telling me Babels Tower binds these demons?"

Athena nodded. "Loki… as far as I know, works directly for the Eighth Monarch of Hell—"

"Mephisto"

"Don't speak his name," Athena snapped. "Never Speak the name of an Infernal Lord. especially his!"

Altair looked at Zagreus, who wryly smiled and said, "There is a bit of history there… Apparently, Mephisto is the one who gave the Olympian Gods Pandora's Box. Nearly wiping all of mankind in the lower realms."