Feros and the Underworld Prince

by A. L. Bridges

“Why?” the ghoul from before asks.

  “Just hurry up and open the door!” I demand. The guards look to the Queen and she gives them confirmation.

  I quickly walk through the steel doors and up the steps as the trap door opens. Cheza informs me that she’s arrived by tackling me back down the stairs.

  “COLE! WHAT THE FUCK!?” Cheza screams. This is just a guess… but I think she’s angry.

  “Are you okay?” Cheza asks as her ice blue eyes soften.

  “WHAT THE FUCK IS WRONG WITH YOU!?” Cheza angrily screams while her eyes suddenly narrow.

  “Are you hurt?” Cheza asks, concerned once again.

  “WHY THE FUCK DID YOU SEND ME BACK!?” Cheza screams as her eyes start to glisten. I think I might’ve broken her…

  “I’m sorry Cheza, but my priority is always keeping you safe and you couldn’t even see the jinn, let alone fight back so I did the only thing I could think of to protect you.” I try to explain.

  “You’re always doing that! Stop trying to protect me all of the time! You just don’t get it… I always want to be with you, regardless of the consequences…” Cheza softly replies as I watch a tear leave a sparkling trail down her left cheek.

  “Okay… next time, I promise I’ll keep you by my side, no matter what.” I tell her.

  “Cole… I want to get married… like actually married with a ceremony and a dress and everything…” Cheza timidly says.

  “That sounds nice.” I reply.

  I feel Cheza’s happiness through the connection as her face lights up. This is the face that I could definitely look at every day for the rest of my life. I imagine Cheza waking me up after having made breakfast for me whilst wearing only an apron… just like Kita… I imagine us starting a family together and playing with our child… just like Addie… but before any of that can happen, Horus will pay for those he has taken from me. He will pay dearly.

  (Yes, we will see to it that he rues the day that he ever crossed us; however, I do not approve of your plan)

  “What? It should work! Horus is very well informed about me so I can’t just charge him with the Mu-cutter, especially since he’s as strong and as fast as Dagda. By allowing him to exploit the fact that my waist isn’t covered by my jacket and armored jeans, and letting him cut me in half, he will be lured into a false sense of security, causing him to start monologue-ing, which will buy me the time to pull myself back together and launch a surprise Mu-cutter attack!”

  (Yes but that plan only works under several serious fallacies. 1: we don’t know that he knows about the chink in your armor. 2: we aren’t positive that he’ll monologue. 3: you assume that you can pull yourself back together after being cut in half when you couldn’t even keep your severed little finger attached long enough to fool around with Cheza)

  “…Wow, it sounds really stupid when you put it like that.”

  (Right?)

  “Do you have an alternative strategy?”

  (Yes, but you are not going to approve, which is why I went above you)

  “Above me?”

  “Cole, you aren’t stopping me from helping you fight Horus.” Cheza says with a tone that promises death to whoever stands in her way.

  “Alright, so what’s your plan, Airi?”

  (First, transfuse two liters of your blood into Cheza)

  “How do you expect me to go into battle while two liters low on blood?”

  (You won’t be. You will give her two liters of your blood while sucking out the last two liters of hers)

  “So your plan requires Cheza to only have my blood in her?”

  (That is correct)

  “Hey Queenie! How long will it take you to assemble your troops?” I shout into the throne room from where Cheza has me pinned at the base of the stairs. The ghoul says something about insolence, but it’s drowned out by the Queen’s response.

  “Approximately two hours.” She replies.

  “Perfect. We’re going to need to do this thing tonight before Horus realizes that I’m here and gunning for him. I need someplace where I won’t be disturbed for about an hour.” I inform her.

  “I’ll have a room set up for you. We need to move to a safe house as she might’ve compromised our position.” The Queen replies.

  “Alright, I’ll just follow you. Come on Cheza.” I say as I turn my attention back up to face Cheza.

  “Cole, who were you talking to and where are we going?” Cheza asks as she gets off of me.

  “…You know, this is exactly the kind of situation I was talking about.” I say as I look around the room at the dozen jinn that are watching us.

  “Oh… there’s a jinni in here isn’t there.” Cheza says with a smattering of embarrassment on her face.

  (Allow me to assist you with that, Chezarei)

  “AH! Whoa! Is this how everything looks to you, Cole? Do you see auras all of the time? Wow! My aura is so pretty; no wonder you like looking at me so much!” Cheza says as she moves her hand in front of her face.

  (Chezarei is currently linked to your senses)

  I look around the room and demonstrate to Cheza what she has been unable to see.

  “Um, Cole? Why do all these jinn have guns?” Cheza asks.

  “Cheza, this is the MGFC, the Marid-Ghoul Freedom Coalition. They are opposing Horus and the Ifrit King who supports Horus so they will be helping us get to him. This is the marid Queen, head of the MGFC, and the person I was talking to.” I introduce as the Queen walks over.

  “I’m Tali and we need to change locations immediately; a scout just reported that a small squadron is headed this way.” The Queen quickly says.

  “Dagda must’ve headed back then. I’m Chezarei; sorry for giving away the location of your bunker.” Cheza replies.

  “And I’m Cole.” I say as I take Cheza’s hand and follow Tali back into the throne room.

  “What’s this about Dagda?” I think to Cheza.

  “Dagda ported me here and said that he would cause a distraction while I found you, before porting back to prepare the army.” Cheza replies as everyone files into the throne room and shuts the steel doors.

  “Hopefully we will have this wrapped up before he even gets here!” I think as five guards work on moving the dozens of pillows aside.

  A steel trap door with ten steps is revealed once enough pillows are pushed aside. Given Cheza’s lack of tripping down the steps, I’d say that Airi probably switched her vision back. We walk single-file down into a tunnel and the tunnel starts to branch off. I continue to follow Tali as guards in groups of twos and threes proceed down different branches. Once we’re all split up, only two guards with FAMAS rifles and the ghoul remain with Tali, Cheza, and I.

  “Here, you may need this in case things get rough.” The ghoul says as he hands me back my holster pouch.

  “Thanks. What’s to stop the enemy from following us down the tunnel?” I ask.

  “The bunker is wired with laser grids that detonate explosives when the throne room doors are opened while the tunnel’s door is also open. Explosives are also wired to collapse the tunnel along certain points.” The ghoul explains.

  “Yeah, that would probably do it.” I reply and we walk in silence for the next half mile.

  “Hey, don’t you think that Tali looks a lot like Naia?” Cheza thinks.

  “I was actually thinking that she looked familiar not too long ago.” I reply as Tali stops in front of a blank wall. She puts her hand on the wall and mumbles something I’m unable to catch before a light-blue light flows downward from the top of the wall to outline a door with complex looking glyphs on it.

  “We are here.” Tali says as the door silently opens.

  …

  Chapter 43: History Rewritten, First Sights, and Ryan Gosling

  “Here you are. Will you be needing anything else?” a marid butler asks after he shows Cheza and I to a bedroom in the large house.

  “No, that will be all. Thank you.” I reply. The butler gives a slight bow an
d closes the door behind him. I shrug off my jacket, remove my pack, take off my boots, and sit down on the bed. Cheza removes her shoes and joins me.

  (Use your ring to slice open your right palm and both of Cheza’s palms. Then lie down on the bed a relax with both of your hands clasped together)

  I cut open my right palm before quickly slicing into Cheza’s palms. Cheza scoots up into the bed and turns on her right side, facing away from me. I lay down behind her, wrap my arms around her, and grasp her hands that she has held in front of her chest with her palms facing away from her.

  (I’ll handle the rest. See you two in a little while)

  ****

  I wake up to find myself floating through the darkness once again.

  “Cole? Where are we?” I hear Cheza ask to my right.

  “Cheza? What are you doing here? To answer your question, this is my subconscious… perhaps. This is where the silver door was that unlocked my Drive. That gate is gone now though.” I reply.

  “Then what’s that?” Cheza asks and points behind me. I turn around and see the silver door floating in the darkness.

  “What the…” I absentmindedly say and make my way towards the door.

  I rest both hands on the double-doors’ handles and pull them open. There is a flash of light and I’m greeted with an unfamiliar scene being projected in the doorway in a two dimensional fashion, as though the doorway were a movie screen. The scene is shot from an angle that is about three feet off of the ground and is of Uncle Eric, standing in the middle of the desert, talking to a tall blonde woman that is almost familiar…

  “Mom?” I say in shock.

  “Inti, you have already helped us out a great deal by supplying the blueprints on the blood warriors, but we need your help again. We need you to raise the boy. He won’t be able to get the worldly experience that he needs if he’s raised on Mount Kailash.” My mother says while gesturing towards the source of the recording and I realize that she’s gesturing to a five year old me.

  “Why not stay here and raise him like a human?” Inti asks.

  “This body is already greatly weakened; if I don’t return to Mount Kailash, this incarnation will be destroyed completely, along with whatever city I happen to be in.” My mother replies.

  “I understand. The boy will be well cared for and I’ll send updates on his progress.” Inti says.

  “That will be unnecessary. We used the incarnations of Kali, and Durga to act as a guide that will be able to give us reports on him in real-time.” My mother informs him.

  “Are you talking about his Drives?” Inti asks.

  “We used Bhairava for his Drive and decided to combine all the Drives into one. No, this guide is something more of his conscience that will stimulate the growth of his powers when the time comes. Speaking of which, here.” My mother explains and hands Inti a bottle of pills.

  “We don’t want him using his Drive until we are sure that he can control it so have him take these pills. We will send new ones when he runs out.” My mother adds.

  “I’ve already implanted false memories of my death and funeral so he won’t ask any questions. However, as a side-effect, he will be silent and rather unresponsive for quite some time. It will take more than a year for him to snap out of it.” My mother informs Inti.

  “Alright, I’ll hire a private tutor so that he won’t fall behind with schooling.” Inti says.

  “That has already been taken care of. Did you think it was a mere coincidence that Saraswati’s daughter’s resume was on your desk this morning? Wait a while to start combat training and choose someone who you think will be appropriate, preferably a lesser god that is trustworthy. You of course already know the importance of keeping his identity and purpose a secret. I have to go now, but we’ll keep in touch. Bye Inti.” My mother says.

  The silver doors slowly swing shut.

  ****

  [October 13th]

  I gasp awake with my arms tightly wrapped around Cheza. I roll onto my back and try to catch my breath. What the fuck was that?

  “Cole…” Cheza softly says as she turns over into my right side and drapes an arm over my stomach.

  Okay, I can now say several things for certain. 1: Uncle Eric knew about what I am. 2: Airi is some weird combination between Durga, Hindu goddess of righteous victory, and Kali, Hindu goddess of change and destruction; while Bhairava, an incarnation of Shiva that is associated with destruction, is somehow involved with my Drive. 3: my mother knew about the gods and used blueprints of the blood warriors for something, most likely something to do with me. However, this also brings up multiple questions that I have no hope of answering. What I need is to speak with Nagi. I swing my legs off of the bed and stand up.

  “Cole?” Cheza asks.

  “Come on, it’s time to go see Horus.” I tell her.

  “Do you want to talk about it?” Cheza inquires.

  “I need to talk to Nagi, but we need to take care of Horus first.” I reply, and head toward my jacket and boots. I stop when I hear a gasp.

  “What?” I ask as I turn around to find Cheza staring at me wide-eyed.

  “What’s on my back!? GET IT OFF! GET IT OFF!” I scream while frantically clawing at my shirt while remembering that the jinn plane resembles the Middle East i.e. the worst possible place to have something on your back… with the exception of Australia, where freaking everything is trying to kill you. I finally rip my shirt in half and throw the remains on the floor only to find that there is nothing on it.

  “Cheza… why did you just make me waste a perfectly good shirt?” I inquire calmly as Cheza just stares blankly at my torso.

  “I know, I’m one beautiful son of a bitch with amazing pectorals and washboard abs that would put Ryan Gosling to shame, but you’ve seen those dozens of times and they aren’t going anywhere so you don’t need to stare!” I sarcastically exclaim.

  While my ‘physically active’ lifestyle does keep me fit and I do have decent abs to the point that I’m not embarrassed to take my shirt off in public, I’m hardly a beautiful Canadian bastard like Ryan Gosling: a man that could walk down the street with his shirt off to the tune of three fatal car accidents, two heart attacks, and a round of applause, and that’s not even counting any women that happen to be nearby… the people in this fictional scenario are applauding Ryan Gosling, not the five or more dead people because I’m not quite cynical enough to believe that everyone in the world is that much of an asshole.

  Honestly, I’m just happy that I haven’t been confused for a sixteen year old since I’ve been back from the dead, most likely thanks to my now gaunter cheeks. It could also have to do with the fact that I can now grow a beard, even though it is constantly at a five o’clock status. If there’s one thing I can thank the gods for in my somewhat shitty life, it’s for making it so my facial hair naturally looks like I’m thwarting a terrorist plot, which coincidentally is sort of what I’m supposed to be doing right now anyway… Shit, has Cheza responded yet?

  “Cheza?” I ask as I take a few steps towards her, now concerned that she hasn’t responded.

  “Cheza!” I say as I caress her cheek, causing her to yelp loudly. “What’s going on?”

  “I… I was just looking at your aura.” Cheza replies while continuing to stare at my torso.

  “You can see my inner aura!? What does it look like?” I immediately inquire.

  “You’ve never seen it?” Cheza incredulously asks.

  “Well I know that the outer aura is silver, because it surrounds my Mu-cutter, but I don’t know what my central aura looks like because I’ve never seen it in a mirror… then again, I’ve never looked in a mirror specifically for that purpose.” I explain.

  “Yeah, I’ve seen the silver of your Mu-cutter before, but I’ve never seen the silver outline that you have now. What I’ve been staring at is the orb in your stomach; I keep getting lost in it… it feels like it’s sucking me in…” Cheza trails off.

  “Well, what does it
look like?” I ask, trying to keep Cheza focused.

  “It’s… black… with cracks of silver that streak through it like lightning, but the black seems as though it’s swallowing them, like a black hole.” Cheza says with heavy use of simile.

  “Actually, ‘black hole’ is a misnomer. They tend to be the brightest things in the sky because they compress gasses, which are ignited from extreme friction, which cause cosmic blasts of fire.” I stupidly say because if there’s one thing I’ve learned, it’s that women love to be corrected when they’re trying to make a point.

  “Smartass… you’re lucky that you’re cute.” Cheza says as she kisses me. I think she actually means ‘you’re lucky that I don’t stab your bitch-ass for interrupting me,’ or perhaps I’m just over analyzing it too much.

  “Cheza?” I say when I notice her blank stare once again.

  “Sorry. The black reminds me of looking into two mirrors that are facing each other so that they appear to go on forever when you look into one… anyway, you should probably get dressed.” Cheza says after shaking her head to snap out of it. I grab my jacket and pull it on while noticing that Cheza is trying to avoid looking at me.

  “Alright, let’s go.” I tell her once I put on my boots and holster. There are two quick raps at the door before it opens.

  “Mr. Cole, I have been instructed to lead you to the Queen.” A butler says as he opens the door. His eyes flick to the floor to look upon the remains of my shirt before returning to me.

  “We didn’t have sex; she just gave me indication that something was on my back so I frantically tore off my shirt when I remembered this place is technically part of the Middle East and the Middle East is home to scorpions and camel-eating spiders or whatever other giant-ass spiders that you guys have.” I explain.

  The butler gives me a look that clearly states that he didn’t ask.

  “Lead on good sir.” I say while pretending that the last few moments didn’t happen.

  Cheza and I follow the butler out the door and down the hall to the right. The butler leads us into a living room where Tali is sitting on a silk pillow in front of a square low-table with her back to the door, dressed in combat armor.