stealth_andsecrets | Where the Wicked go after Death

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Where the Wicked go after Death

Purple leans against a wall, inside the back-room of the Caritas. For the last hour or so, she has watched Winston (War) tend carefully to the ailing Lorne. Many of her siblings were around the bar, as one of Lorne's requests was for them to get acquainted with the business (so they could run it once he was gone from this world.).

It was almost too much to bear at times, to watch Lorne get sicker and sicker... and feel so helpless to help him. There were so many times when she was so close to tears... sick to her stomach with the thought of losing him.

Winston came to sit beside her. He smiled softly, looking at his younger sister. "Where is your boyfriend today?"

"You need to speak to him?"

"Yes. I do."

Purple pulled out her PINpoint, sending Niverian a message, asking him to come to the Caritas as soon as he was available.

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Cipher Nine exhales quietly in relief, smiles a little, and gives a deep bow of his head to Hades. "Thank you, my Lord. It's good to know I haven't lost my instincts in that regard." He straightens again. "Is the move contingent upon the terms your wife suggested? If so, then I'll accept them."

"I will have to consider the terms my wife suggested. It is unwise to have a Guardian who does not respect one of the rulers... now is it... Niverian?" Hades asked quietly.

"True," Cipher Nine admits, evenly and with a small smile, "but it can be equally unwise to have a subordinate who cannot be candid with their superior, who takes everything at face value, or who is too afraid to ask the right questions regardless of who they might anger in the process. There's a fine line between obedience and effectiveness—keep the subordinate on too tight a leash, and you defeat the purpose of having them in the first place, at least for this kind of position. In the end, it depends on whether you're looking for someone who gets results, even if they start a few fights on the way, or a sycophant." He shrugs. "I have my issues with Persephone. But I can be professional with her, as I hope I demonstrated a few moments ago."

"You are free to be candid with me..." Hades shrugged. "I do want you as a Guardian... since you would be effective. And you would get results."

"But I can not be put between my desire to have you in my employ... and my desire to make my wife happy."

"What are your issues with my wife?"

He pauses to consider his wording for a moment. Even when given permission to be candid, he still does his best to be polite. "She's overly capricious. Irrational at times. And there's the fact that, the first time we met, she tried to coerce me into cheating on the woman I love. As a result of that, even being around her makes me a little uncomfortable. However, it's nothing that can't be remedied by keeping my distance from her." He leaves his suspicions about her involvement in Lindsay's move out for the time being, as he doesn't have proof, and it's not the kind of allegation he should make lightly. Especially given that all said allegation amounts to at the moment is a strong hunch.

"Ah... well you have only interacted with her for the last few weeks. When she has been preparing for spring, and her departure from the Underworld."

"You must understand guardian... My Queen had periods of joy and unburdened happiness... while others she is sensitive and irrational. You will have to balance those moods, if you choose to represent us."

"She will be better when she returns from her Mother's Land."

Hades then closed his eyes to the second statement. "She only tested you... as is her way. If you had failed in proving your love, you would have not been allowed to pass from her garden. She has no intentions on you... no more than you had intentions on the women you had coerced during your duties with Imperial Intelligence. You need to let it go. As a Guardian, you will need to report to me as well as her... and distance is not an option you will have."

"I didn't mean I don't want to talk to her at all," Niverian clarifies evenly, "just that I'd prefer not to be too close to her when I do. But I see your point, my Lord, and it won't be a problem. Like I said, I can be professional."

"Good. I would hate to lose you as a Guardian."

"Lindsay will be moved shortly. If you head to the Fourth Circle, you should find him there. He will be able to speak to you."

Cipher Nine bows his head again in appreciation. "Thank you, my Lord." He turns to Purple and his parents. "Back to Tartarus, I suppose."

"The Fourth Circle won't be hard to endure, will it?" Purple asks, still a little upset about the Ninth Circle.

"No, my dear... it won't." Hades answers, before turning back to his work.

Niverian smiles a little, also relieved to hear that the fourth circle won't be as difficult to endure. His parents, meanwhile, turn and start out of the throne room, back towards Tartarus. "This way," Lorvia says with a small smile, gesturing for them to follower her and Nalresan.

Purple walks quietly for a moment, and gently takes Niverian's hand in hers. "You okay?"

Niverian looks over at her, smiles, and squeezes her fingers, before lifting her hand and gently kissing the back of it. "I'm fine... Nerves are still a little jangled from Persephone's temper tantrum back there, but other than that, I'm okay." He laces their fingers and adds, "How are you holding up, dearest?"

"She did ask some valid questions... do you think it would help, interviewing other people who might have a reason to put Lindsay in a difficult situation?"

"I just wish... this was easier."

"That's certainly something we should ask Lindsay about," he agrees with a quiet sigh. "Whether there's anyone else who might want to set him up for something like this..."

"I know it's hard, too. Maybe, once we've figured this whole thing out, we can just... take some 'us' time. De-stress a little, together." He smiles over at her and squeezes her hand again. "How does that sound?"

"You sure you want to wait until we figure it out? It might not be case closed right after we speak to Lindsay..."

Niverian laughs a little. "Good point. When we're done here, then?"

"That sounds much better... less waiting for quality time."

"Much better," Niverian agrees with a quiet laugh, leaning over to place a gentle kiss on her cheek. "I look forward to it."

The Fourth Circle is not as scary as the Ninth was... of course there is some things in it that might cause despair, or fear. Those whose attitude toward material goods deviated from the appropriate mean are punished in the fourth circle. It is here that Cerberus, the three-headed WarHound is the main Guardian.

Lindsay is tolling with a large sack of money, trying to roll it up a steep hill when Niverian and Anastasia arrives. Cerberus gives a loud bark, and he stops in his actions, turning to the two approaching figures.

"I saw you... in a dream..."

Niverian gives Cerberus a slight smile and a small bow of his head, then turns to Lindsay, thinking it would probably be kinder to let him think his time in the ninth circle was just a dream. Had he been in Lindsay's shoes, he wouldn't want to remember anything about such a trying ordeal. "Oh?" he asks, halting a few paces away.

"Can't truly tell you more... my mind can't seem to recollect the experience."

"But what brings you here?" Lindsay sits for a moment.

Cipher Nine gives him a small, somewhat apologetic smile and sits down across from him. "You've been accused of trying to break out of Tartarus," he says quietly. "I want to hear your side of the story."

"That is why I am here... right?" Lindsay can't seem to recollect being transferred to the Ninth Circle at all. And so it bothers him that pieces of his memory are missing.

"Well your parents found Eve... she was in Limbo. Her only reason to exist was to see me again."

"And I remember being upset... learning that she really never had a human body... or true spirit of her own until meeting me. And wondering about how could I help her..."

"I saw a Lethe Flower... one that would have great power in the Underworld. And they are just so rare... that I guess I left my post."

He arches an eyebrow, frowning slightly. "Where would those flowers usually be found?" he asks, wondering if it should really be considered an escape attempt when Lindsay didn't actually want to escape, only to see a rare flower.

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