Horsemen of the Apocalypse: The Beginning

Chapter 17: Deal with the Devil?

Chapter 17: Deal with the Devil?

"Is it possible for our perception of "good" and "evil" to be slightly askew? Look deep within yourself, and be the one to honestly judge your own being. Have you ever danced with a devil by the pale moon light?"

Death and Hades had long since become accustomed to the daily routine of rotting breakfast, torture, a rotting dinner shared with the rats, more torture. Spring brought forth thunderous rains, the flashing lightning strikes adding to the detriment of the damned souls contained within the dungeons. The sweltering summer heat beat down through the windowless stone walls, threatening to choke the life from the prisoners, successfully with a handful of the elderly. Autumn had long been set, the trees turning from deep shades of green, to a rainbow of reds, amber, and browns. In the dampness of this perpetual damnation, torches were lit with each shift of the guard, a feeble attempt at keeping the cold at bay. Keeping the prisoners alive wasn't exactly the mission, but a little hope for the damned did always seem to add to the silver lining the pockets of the watch.

Eventually, Hades, as loquacious as he was, had become rather taken to training the rats that accompanied his cell, rather than trying to chat with the guards. His considerable expertise with being the God of the Underworld, all too soon left him running out of new ways for the executioner to well, execute him.

The medical team that performed the experiments was beginning to take notes from Death, and his anatomical annotations that he so graciously provided. Through their research with him, their favorite patient as he simply didn't die, they began to find more.....creative ways to extract information from the other criminals. It simply was amazing how many feet of the intestine could be extracted from the human body before it collapsed!

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The city council of Bremen made every attempt possible at convincing the public (and themselves), that in fact, there were not, and never was, any prisoners that fit the description of the two undying that they currently held at bay below the city streets. Try as they may, no amount of coercion would slow the stories of beasts in the shadows that came for naughty children, husbands, and whores.

Once word of the papal arrival had slipped beyond the city's high walls, the chaos of prayer, repentance, donations, and preparation ran amuck. With the pending arrival of a man of such godly stature, no one wanted to be on the receiving end of his "graces". Pope Gregory Doctor of the Church, was not known for his mercy.

Even with his tall stature, and round, cheerful face, his piercing blue eyes seemed to gaze to the soul. The most notable of his actions came during his years in the monastery. A fellow monk, whom lay dying on his death bed, confessed to the theft of three gold pieces. Gregory forced his brother to die friendless and alone, then threw his body, and the gold into a pile of manure to rot stating:

"Take your money with you to perdition."

Bremen had set off a festival for His Grace in full swing two days prior to his actual arrival. Bards entranced their veiwers with tantalizing tales spun with musical notes from flutes, harps, and guitars. Jugglers, fire walkers, and sword eaters captivated the imagination of both young, and old, seemingly inhuman feats performed gracefully before their eyes. The sounds of music, laughter, and dancing filled the air, disrupted only by the occasional drunken fight, quickly broken apart by threats of being taken before the Pope himself for judgment.

The merrymaking had offered more than enough of a distraction for Pope Gregory, and his companion, Bishop Archibold, to slip beyond the great city walls, into the underground corridors which led to both the city sewers, and the notorious Bremen dungeons.