The Underworld...
Castle of Salvatoris...
The throne Hall....
The throne hall was not a chamber of majesty but a sanctum of dread. It's walls of black stone seemed to drink in the torchlight leaving the air heavy and oppressive as though the very shadows had weight.
The silence here was absolute.
Too absolute.
Broken only by the occasional groan of the ancient pillars, as if the castle itself resented intrusion.
The path to the throne streched long and bare, an aisle designed to strip men of their courage before they reached the dais.
The Obsidian floor reflected no warmth only fractured images of those who dared to cross it, warped and monstrous in its glass sheen.
Along the hall, grotesque statues crouched in alchoves figures too vague to be named yet too human to be dismissed.
Watching with eyeless patience.
The banners above were no longer symbols of honor but shrouds, crimson and sable, hanging limp as funeral cloth.
They absorbed sound so that footsteps fell muffled, as though the hall sought to swallow every trespasser whole.
At the far end rose the throne itself—no gilded chair of kings, but a towering mass of black iron, its frame entwined with jagged bone and vein-like veins of crystal that pulsed faintly in the gloom. It was less a seat than a predator waiting. Behind it, a tall stained-glass window bled a constant, dim scarlet light across the dais, as though the throne was eternally bathed in blood.
So potent was its aura that not even the princes of the realm dared to cross its threshold unbidden.
To enter uncalled was to feel the weight of unseen eyes pressing down, to risk the hall itself marking you as prey.
And seated on this throne is the one who controls the Underworld with an iron fist.
Salvatoris!
He was no figure of flesh and crown but a shadow made sovereign.
His frame was draped in robes as dark as a starless sky, heavy with threads of silver that shimmered like chains when they caught the dim light. The fabric pooled around him, spilling down the dais like a tide of night as though the hall clothed him.
His crown was not golden but wrought of blackened iron, jagged and cruel.
Each point like the fang of ancient beast .
It seemed less placed upon his brow than fused to it or it into him. From beneath it, his eyes glimmered with a pale, merciless fire, cold enough to strip warmth from the chamber.
Those who dared meet them swore they were not eyes at all but hollow gates opening into something vast and hungry.
His face was carved with lines of command.
Yet ageless!
As if time itself recoiled from touching him.
When he did so, he moved with the inevitability of falling stone.
Slow. Deliberate. Unstoppable.
Even his silence spoke as though every breath he withheld the weight of unspoken decrees.
Around his hands,coiled faint streams of shadow.
Never dispersing. Never still. Like smoke from an invisible fire.
Some whispered it was not a king that sat upon that throne, but the throne itself wearing the memory of a man.
Not one stood in the hall without trembling.
Not soldier.
Not prince.
Or priest.
In his presence the princes bowed lower than subjects. Afraid not of punishment but of recognition. That the throne might turn its gaze upon them and find them wanting.
There they knelt.
Far away from the throne. Far away from their father lest his aura crushes them to death.
" Greetings, Father!" They chorused.
All seven of them.
" You may rise" said the one who stood at their father's right hand.
The one who speaks the words of the king.
Anthony.
" Leave us" Salvatoris whispered calmly.
Anthony took a deep bow.
Then left the throne hall.
Charles watched him as left and realized that he didn't have a shadow.
He's a puppet.
A puppet controlled by his father himself.
"Father." Lucas bowed before he proceeded.
" May I know why you requested our presence, at this hour?"
Silence fell.
Lucas had taken a bold step that even Cage dare not ask such a question.
And that moment, Cage saw something flashed before his eyes.
His father's smile.
" Do I need your permission before I request for your presence?!"
Immediately, Lucas went on his and pleaded for mercy.
" Forgive me father. I spoke without being told." His voice trembling.
" It shall not repeat itself "
Salvatoris ignored his son's words.
" After this gathering, you shall receive 500 lashes of whips with iron thorns."
Lucas swallowed his anger.
" Yes, father "
" A seer came before me with a bad news. "
Salvatoris began. " Saying that the spirits in the Lydaeus forest are getting wild and sooner or later the barrier that holds them will break and the whole Underworld will be plunged into chaos!"
His voice echoed and the castle trembled at the sound of his voice.
" That's not all. The Spirits of the Lydaeus forest claimed that we trapped their brother in the prison and says that he should be released lest the seven princes of the Underworld perish. His name is Lydaeus."
" That's the son of the murderer that was previously executed at the arena." Cage revealed.
" During the interrogation, she called her son Lydaeus"
" What kind of mother would give her son such a cursed name?" Cyrus whispered.
"Such a psychopath "
" But he is to be executed today. What do we say to the people if we cancel the execution? Won't it raise suspicions?" Charles asked.
" We'll look for someone to take his place" Lucas said coldly.
" What about the VIVATRA?" Salvatoris asked them." He's still out there. He might not be trouble now. But once he grows he'll be more than trouble. He'll be hell himself!"
The castle began to shake once more.
Like an earthquake.
They could barely stand.
Candles flickering.
Lucas saw the fire in his eyes.
"Give me three years!" Lucas raised his voice.
Silence fell.
The castle halted.
Lucas went on his knees.
" Father,give me three years and I'll find the VIVATRA "
" Three years?" Cyril laughed.
"Cage searched for the VIVATRA for five years and couldn't find him. And you want to find him within three years? Are you seeking death?"
"That's clearly impossible " Ian added.
" Not fulfilling a task promised to his majesty is death sentence " Charles stated. "He's clearly asking for death "
Lucas ignored his brothers.
" But I ask that that I may be rewarded"
"Of course you will be rewarded." Salvatoris simply said.
"Tell me, what do you want?"
Lucas Smiled within.
"I want to be the heir to the throne."
"What?!" Cage shouted.
"Such a wise choice." Charles thought.
" It'll be more easier for me to kill Lucas than Cage."
" Here we go again" Cyphron whispered.
"Father! Don't listen to him. H.. He can't find the VIVATRA under three _ "
" What if he does?" He was silenced with the question that came from his father.
" Lucas will become the heir to the throne if he catches the VIVATRA within the three years, if he doesn't he shall be be executed!"
"Yes. Your majesty " Lucas arose.
" Allow me to leave first. To receive my punishment."
" The rest of you can leave "Salvatoris commanded.
And they all left.
Only Cage remained.
"Forgive me, Father. For I am incompetent." He went on his knees and bowed. " I ask that you give me another chance to redeem myself "
Salvatoris didn't even spare a glance at him.
" Get out, before I loose my anger"
Cage stood up but didn't dare look at his father.
"As you wish."
Prison Yard...
No. 15...
There he was.
Locked up in a cell.
Where he can't tell the difference between night and day.
They were no windows.
Bounded in heavy chains.
Before him, was a small bowl of plain rice.
The food he was given the first day he came here.
He refused to eat it.
And they refused to give him another bowl unless he ate the one before him.
He couldn't eat it.
He didn't want to.
He wanted to eat the fruits.
Those fruits his brothers always gave him.
That was the only thing he wanted to eat.
The rice felt like poison before him that he didn't dare to take a bite.
He wanted to call his mother, but remembered she was dead.
She was killed in front of him.
He can't forget even though he wanted to.
It remained like a picture in his in his head each time he woke up.
It was tormenting.
He saw her in his dreams.
In every dream she was there.
And in every dream she died.
In every dream she died in front of him.
And he could do nothing but stare.
Just stare at her lifeless head rolling towards him.
Over and over again in every dream.
Soon enough, those dreams became nightmares.
And they were never gonna leave him.
His thoughts were disrupted by the sound of keys.
His cell was open.
He looked up and saw the guard.
"Get up. You have been released."