I carefully stood so I could place my hand on his cheek and gently smooth locks of his hair from his face. “My boy… oh Nick, my sweet child… I am so sorry!” I sniveled.
“You… don’t remember anything? Nothing at all?” Praxis asked sheepishly.
I whipped around and shook my head rapidly. “Gods, no, not at all! Guys, I would have never hurt any of you, not for a single second! I…? Gods, what a fucking idiot I am!” I punched myself in the head multiple times until Deveraux took my hands to stop me.
“Atlas, stop. We’ll fix this, somehow…” he tacked on at the end in a low groan. I settled on sobbing into my hands, falling to my knees. I pushed Deveraux away in shame and let out all of my anguish, utterly beside myself.
In the middle of my cries, an odd sound enveloped the room. Everyone heard it, and it made them sit up wearily and listen better. “What was that?” Constantine asked.
The tile beneath my knees shuddered, making Ashlynn place a hand to the floor. She winced when the hot tile burned her, and went to say something, but she was cut off by a metallic screeching. In the next moment, the ground beneath me crumbled, and I was free-falling into Gehenna. Ashlynn let out a horrific gasp and screamed my name, but before she had the chance to dive in after me, the portal closed in her face.
The fall into the depths of Gehenna was longer than I thought. I plummeted in circles towards what looked to be Decimus’s Layer, where all of the rulers of Gehenna were seated in a circle in the thrones from their own Layers. They were in their demon forms, something abnormal for an impromptu meeting, which meant this must be serious.
Isadora looked to the hole I tumbled from and added another layer to it, as she could sense Ashlynn trying to force it back open. “We do not need the Gods interference right now.”
I was too weak to stop myself from falling, so when I hit the ground, the impact rattled my bones and made my head throb. The concrete floor was blistering hot, as was the room, and made sweat erupt from my clammy skin. I stiffly pulled myself upright and rubbed my sore temple, which beat like a drum from a headache I was now sporting. “What the actual fuck was that for?” I spat.
Elias raised his head stiffly. “Your presence is required for this sentencing the same as your familiars.”
“Sentencing?” I breathed in horror. Two guards dragged Amara, Asher, and Bodhi into the room, all who were chained by their necks and in their dog forms. They snarled and snapped at the guards, who threw them at my side carelessly. I protectively scooped them up and held them to my chest; they whined andlicked my cheeks rapidly, grateful to see me with them. “What do you mean by sentencing? Who are you to treat my familiars this way!” I demanded.
Peregrine stood and walked to the center of the room, his hands behind his back as he approached. He did not meet me entirely, keeping substantial distance between us. “Atlas Crawford; you are being charged for your actions as one of the Four Horsemen responsible for the destruction to Earth, Caelum, and Gehenna.”
My jaw popped open in disbelief. “I am the God of this Realm! You cannot charge me with any crime…!”
“Oh, but we can. Gehenna has rules and stipulations to abide by, and even Gods are responsible for atrocities they commit against the Realm, especially using demons to cause such destruction. We are beings older than you by the millions, and you will respect us and our sacred Realm regardless of the position you hold.”
Arabella spoke now, clear and commanding, “We lost thousands of demons and Elementals because of your summons. Many high-ranked demons perished due to your actions. Humans, millions of them, were slaughtered by you and your familiars. You disrespected your command of Gehenna and used our demons for your own pleasure, and that is a crime we cannot let go unpunished.”
“I had no control over myself! Ambermourn forced our transition! How does that have anything to do with me?” I bawled, fearful tears welling in my eyes.
Peregrine took over once again. “You chose to become one of the Horsemen. No one held a gun to your head to make that contract. You did so to help Humans you say, yet you have become a force that killedmillionsof them. You knew the consequences of that contract yet still subjected yourself to it.You are guilty, whether you want to admit it or not, and will not walk away from this unscathed.”
I panted on adrenaline welling in my chest. “Do you not think I am crushed by my actions? That I am not disgusted by what I have done? How could I condone such violence? My own son was nearly slaughtered by my own hand-…!”
“That is another aspect of your sentence.” Aloysius addressed the room now. “You horrifically maimed the true God of our Realm, the Successor of Endymion, who we have waited centuries for. Nicodemus means more to this Realm then you will ever, regardless of your current status. We cannot let this slide.”
“I understand he is Endymion’s Successor, but I am still a God-…!”
“You are a placeholder,” Elias barked over me, which made me shrink under the reality of his words. “You are nothing more than a buffer to wait for our true God. We respect you as a being who keeps the peace amongst Realms, but this time, you need to face the consequences of your actions. Nicodemus nearly died trying to satiate you and your beasts, and both Gehenna and Caelum suffered blows they will not easily return from. You are a menace to this Realm and all others, and we cannot allow you to run free after what you have done.”
I stood abruptly, but multiple guards crossed the room and grabbed my arms to hold me in place. I fought against their holds, screaming out in anger. One of them locked a collar around my neck, similar to my familiars, and once the lock was in place, all of my strength depleted. I crumbled to my knees, heaving harsh pants as I fought against the overwhelming feeling. “You bastards will pay for this. I will turn this Realm upside down when I am free and make sure none of you ever hold your place as a ruler again!” I threatened in a gruff tone.
Peregrine snorted. “Your threats are hollow. It is not our fault that you made such poor choices. Nicodemus is the only God we respect as of right now. You are a lowly worm who was given far too much power for his own good. As the rulers of Gehenna, we will bind you filthy mongrels for good and ensure you do not bring harm to this world again.”
“Fuck you!” I spat, and received a spear handle to the spine for it.
Peregrine unraveled a scroll and cleared his throat loudly. “We, as the rulers of Gehenna, have decided the fate of the Atlas Crawford, God of Death, and of his familiars, Amara, Asher, and Bodhi.”
I fought desperately against the hold the guards had on me. “You haven’t even considered the facts! How could I control myself when I was forced into that role? If I hadn’t contracted with them, they would have destroyed humanity!”
He ignored me completely as he read off the scroll. “All four are sentenced to a hundred years in Decimus’s Layer for their actions. They will be imprisoned in the Layer of Violentia for their crimes, amongst souls as violent as they have been. So said by the court.”
“A hundred years…?” I whimpered.
“It will be roughly a year back in your home Realm, so you will be back in time for Nicodemus to hopefully dispose of you in your final fight.” The scroll rolled up and dissipated in his hands, leaving a stream of red dust in its wake that he brushed off on his chest. “Your sentence begins now.”
“This isn’t right! You cannot imprison the God of your Realm! I swear, I will get out, and I will tear you all to shreds when I do!”
