CHAPTER TEN - JOURNEY THROUGH HELL

CHAPTER TEN
JOURNEY THROUGH HELL

Cormac stepped through the Gattae into Hell.
He found himself in a sparse forest, with large trees every few feet. The Archangels stepped out behind him and entered the forest to stand near him as they collected themselves.
“I thought Hell would be all fire and brimstone,” Cormac remarked. “This doesn’t seem so bad.”
“Wait until we get farther in Cormac, then you’ll see. It is a Realm of Punishment for souls who have sinned and believe in Hell. Souls that don’t believe go elsewhere.” Lucifer informed him.
Cormac looked at the others, Michael, the Celtic Commander, Saraqael the Ninja, Raphael the Healer, Raguel, the Angel of Justice and an armored Knight and Uriel, the Japanese Samurai. And Lucifer was standing next to him.
Cormac felt like this was a strong group, and he thought if he had to go to Hell, thank God it was with these powerful beings beside him. His focus was Kayla and the Angels had explained it would be a long arduous journey.
“This way,” Michael said, gesturing in a direction away from where the Gate winked out. The forest was lit by a weird light, as though the sun was hidden behind clouds or something, even though there didn’t appear to be any sky at all. It was just darker up in the treetops.
Michael walked first, with Raguel behind him, then Saraqael, then Cormac, Lucifer and last Raphael and Uriel. Cormac looked through the trees at their surrounding but it was hard to see more than a hundred feet in any direction, almost like there was a mist floating through the trees obscuring their view.
“We’ll reach the edge of the river Acheron soon, and then we’ll find Charon,” Michael announced. Cormac tried to think of what he new about Hell from reading Dante’s poems, but he really only looked at Dore’s pictures more than he read the work. He just remembered there were many creatures in Hell that looked dangerous.
They walked for maybe forty minutes, Cormac couldn’t really keep track of time, but the forest started to thin out even more and the ground got spongy. Tufts of thick grass started to stick up in the wetter areas, which was good because Cormac didn’t want to get his boots wet.
Then Cormac heard the moans, the sounds of many people, crying out in pain and fear. After another few minutes, he began to see them, naked souls walking around through the swamp, and they all had something on their faces, but Cormac couldn’t quite make out what it was.
“Who are these people?” he asked aloud.
“These are the Uncommitted, the souls that did nothing in life, neither good nor bad. They just drift here on the edge of Hell without ever going in. It’s an unpleasant existence,” Lucifer answered, his eyes kind of distant.
“If you do no harm, you can still get sent here?” Cormac asked, already upset by the thought. “That’s not right!”
“These people believe in this punishment, that’s why they are here. Some part of them wants this, even needs this. It won’t last forever, nobody stays here for eternity.”
“How do they get out?” Cormac asked again.
“They have to want to leave, then they will go to a different place, sometimes Heaven, sometimes they are reborn again. But only when they really desire such a thing.” Lucifer seemed weary already, his shoulders dropped as if this was too much.
Cormac walked closer to some of the souls and realized what was on their faces. All of them were crying and maggots clung to their cheeks, eating the tears that fell. Cormac was sickened by what he saw, but it only got worse.
He heard the buzzing before he saw anything, but the souls grew alarmed and ran in different direction to escape whatever was coming. Then Cormac saw a cloud of bright orange and brown hornets, which he quickly recognized as Asia giant hornets.
The hornets were almost as big as his hand and they flew in and attacked the souls, stinging them everywhere on their naked bodies. The souls screamed and cried out and Cormac was horrified by what he saw.
“This is nothing compared to the lower levels of Hell Cormac, prepare yourself,” Lucifer said in low tones behind him.
Cormac thought he was ready for this, but he realized then that he really wasn’t. This was going to test him surely, this trip through the Realm of Punishment. Then he grew more worried about Kayla being in this position at all. She had to be safe, he had to believe that or else he would go mad.
“There’s the dock,” Michael called out. Ahead of him there was a wooden dock, that was fairly large and stuck out into the swamp. Cormac walked onto it with the Angels and looked out into the water of the dark and misty swamp.
“And Charon will get us across?” Cormac asked Michael.
“Yes, because I have brought payment for each of us, I think he will,” the Commander answered.
Cormac looked back out over the water and grass clumps and saw a shadow in the mist. There was a light hanging off the edge of a raft that had a small cabin on the front of it. Standing on the edge, pushing the raft along with a long pole was a hooded man.
The boat got closer until it bumped against the dock and scraped the wood with a loud sound. The figure, cloaked and in shadow, stepped off the raft and onto the dock and he looked over the waiting Angels.
“A living soul, and six Archangels,” Charon started to say in an old whispery voice that sounded like it was riding hidden screams on the wind. “Wait, no,” he corrected. “Five Angels and one of the Fallen.”
“We wish to cross Charon,” Michael said for them all. “We have payment.”
“Hell is no place for the boy, and Satan doesn’t want your kind here,” the old man replied. Cormac could see the old man was boney but had a wiry strength underneath the cloak. His beard looked greasy and tangled, but his eyes were bright like a hawk, watching him.
“Nevertheless, we must cross,” the Commander said again, his tone become darker.
“Then pay me and go on your way. Don’t trouble an old man who’s almost done with his tour,” Charon wheezed out, with a small chuckle behind it.
Michael pulled a pouch free from his belt and emptied it into his hand. Cormac heard the tinkle of coins and saw a flash of gold. The old man reached out, quick as a snake, and grabbed the coins. He bit each one as if to test its worth and Cormac saw he only had a small number of teeth.
Seeming to be satisfied, the old man jumped back on his raft and motioned for the others to do the same. The Angels jumped down onto the old wooden boat, followed by Cormac and Lucifer.
“Does it matter that you’re with us?” Cormac asked the Fallen Angel.
“Of course it does,” he answered with a sigh. “This will show the other Demons that I am taking back my Angelic being, that I am no longer one of them. I am redeeming myself through action and this will anger the other Fallen.”
“I’m sorry for the trouble it will bring you,” Cormac said, sympathetic to his plight, “But I’m glad you’re with me here.
“And I am glad to be at your side as well Cormac.”
Charon pushed them boat away from the dock and started moving them through the swamp. The water was dark green but in its depths, Cormac could swear he saw souls drifting along underwater. He watched them for a while until Lucifer grabbed his shoulder.
“Careful!” he warned. “To much time looking in the water and you’re go blind. The souls in there are lost and cannot find their way free.”
Cormac shuddered and looked up, towards where they were headed. The swamp was lit like the forest and was barely illuminated and still smoky with mist. The Angels were also looking ahead but were silent. Cormac wondered what they each were thinking.
“So what will we see first?” Cormac asked Lucifer, thinking he would know even better than the Angels. “Tell me what to expect.”
“There are nine circles of Hell, concentric circles that go lower into the ground until he reach a place that seems like the center of Earth but is really in another dimension, just like Heaven and Purgatory.”
“I think I knew that,” Cormac grumbled.
“Each circle shows a gradual amount of wickedness, and each sinner is punished in the fashion of the crimes they committed, like in the Fourth Circle, the sinners who were greedy fight each other in a war, trying to kill the others and take their gold.”
“That lasts for a long time? Just fighting and fighting and trying to get the most gold you can?” Cormac asked for clarification.
“That’s right. And Mammon, the Demon of Greed, rules there and comes up with ways to torture the souls under his watch. He makes them fight and die and then raises them up again to fight all over again.”
Cormac got real quiet then. He tried to imagine what that would be like. Fighting for your life, but always dying eventually, then being raised to do it again. What a horrible existence that would be. Cormac wished he could save all the souls from that torment.
“So what’s the First Circle then?” he finally asked.
“The First Circle is Limbo, a deficient form of Heaven for the unbaptized and virtuous pagans. Homer, Horace, Plato, Socrates, and even Julius Caesar were all there at one time. There is a castle there with seven gates, for the Seven Virtues. And beyond that, is where Astorath waits to judge the souls that come to Hell to see what circle they will go to.”
“Astorath? Is he one of the Fallen?”
“Oh yes,” Lucifer nodded. “He was a Crown Prince of Throne, those are Angel even more powerful than Archangels and he is now a Demon of the First Hierarchy here in Hell. He will be the first one we must face.”
“More powerful then Archangels?” Cormac said in a whisper. “So this is really going to suck, isn’t it?”

***

Kayla looked through the glass globe.
She saw Cormac and a group of Angels get on a boat of some kind and start through a swamp. Cormac looked totally normal again, like he always had but she couldn’t shake that image she had of him before, with horns and claws. It was too weird.
“Kayla dear, let me ask you,” Satan said in his golden tones, “How do you feel seeing Cormac go to all this trouble for you?”
Kayla looked up at the Devil, who looked so handsome it was distracting. She knew it was probably an illusion, but he really looked that good.
“I feel grateful, I guess,” she answered, still trying to determine her feelings about it.
“You loved him once didn’t you,” the Devil went on, “You dated for a good two years, but you’ve known him much longer, is that right?”
“Have you done homework on us or something?” Kayla snipped back, getting annoyed.
“Ohhh! Testy!” he laughed at her. “These are just questions Kayla, but yes, I know much about the both of you. I have been interested in him for some time now.”
“Why?” she asked.
“He is a Nephilim, but what makes him really unique is that his father was one of the Fallen.” The Devil smiled beautifully and put his hands together like a tent, fingertips touching.
“The Fallen? You mean Demons, Fallen Angels?”
“Yes, exactly. And I’m quite sure who his father is, since there’s only one Fallen Angel paying close attention to him,” Satan teased.
“So you know about us?” Kayla asked, wondering how much the Devil knew about her personal life. It was creepy thinking he had been spying on her.
“I do,” he said confidently. “But I don’t understand everything, and maybe you could help me. You seemed happy with him, but you dumped him, on his birthday no less. Why?”
Kayla put her hand on her head. She felt a headache coming on. She really didn’t want to discuss this. It had been a long, thought out decision and it had hurt her just as much as it had hurt Cormac, but she felt she had to do it. Things just weren’t working between them.
“Our relationship wasn’t going to work,” she finally said to the still smiling Devil. “There were a few problems that couldn’t be resolved.”
“Like what Kayla?” the Devil asked sweetly.
Kayla sighed and rubbed the spot where her head was starting to hurt. “I don’t want to talk about this.”
“Well dear, let me put it to you this way, you are my guest as long as I feel like having you, but I could just make you my prisoner instead. I’m bored waiting for the cavalry to arrive to rescue you and I want to talk. Or I could skin you, one inch strips at a time to relieve my boredom.”
The look on Satan’s face changed as he spoke, and he glowered and his eyes got really bright, like a wild animal in the dark, peering out of the brush just before it pounces on you. Kayla swallowed and remembered where she was.
“Ok, I didn’t think we could be together for a few reasons. One was because my friends, who I have known all my life, didn’t like him.”
“What?” the Devil exclaimed. “You let your friends, your supposed friends, dictate to you who you date based on what they like? Why didn’t they like him?”
“There was a conflict. Cormac had written an email to one of my friends and she got mad and then felt like I didn’t defend her when I should have. I just wanted everybody to get along, but no matter what Cormac did to fix the situation; they just weren’t going to like him.”
“Kayla, I’ve been studying Humans for a very long time. That is a ridiculous reason to stop a relationship with a man you love the way you loved him. I know how you felt about him and your friends steered you wrong.”
“I’ve known them my whole life!” Kayla defended herself. “My mother is married to a man who doesn’t like any of her friends, and they don’t like him either. It creates tension for everyone and I don’t want to live like she does, always upset because people don’t like each other.”
“Kayla, your friends should have made an effort to like him because you loved him. You wanted to marry the man and have his children. That out weighs what they think. Your friends have let you down in the past haven’t they?”
Kayla put her head in both her hands now. She was thinking, what do they say about the Devil? That he is manipulative and the Prince of Lies. But he’s not lying here; he’s just sharing his opinion, right?
“Yes, sometimes my friends let me down,” she replied. “But I have known them since I was a little girl. I had to choose them over him, even though I loved him.” Her eyes started to tear up but she got angry with herself and stopped herself from crying. She wasn’t going to cry in front of this Demon.
“Alright Kayla, I can respect that,” the Devil said after a few moments of silence. “But just for my curiosity, what were the other reasons?”
Kayla looked up at him, sitting in his wide leather chair, behind his large wooden desk, in the small office library or whatever the room was supposed to be. This Demon was torturing her and she couldn’t do anything about it.
“Cormac wouldn’t work, and that bothered me because I work so hard, and I was paying for everything. I paid for the gas to visit him every weekend when he lived an hour away, I paid for dinners and movies; everything!”
“But wasn’t he waiting for SSI to give him a check based on his mental disability? And hadn’t you known that the whole time you were dating?” the Devil said with another smile.
“Dammit! You already know the answer! Yes! I knew all that, but I built up resentment because he wouldn’t even try to work! I mean he should have found side jobs off the books or something, anything!”
“Kayla, that’s not entirely fair now is it?” the Devil said just as sweetly as before. “He does have a mental disability doesn’t he? He can’t keep a job, isn’t that right?”
“I don’t know! I don’t know alright! Is that what you want to hear? I left him because I was mad at him for a few different things! And I didn’t think we could resolve it! I made the right choice!”
“And yet, this man, who you dumped on his birthday, has followed you to Heaven and Hell to find you. Even though you hurt him, deeply hurt him, he is still moving Heaven and Earth to find you and keep you safe.”
Kayla finally broke down in tears. It was overwhelming and she knew she was being manipulated and teased but it was also true. She was scared and worried and she was hoping Cormac would find her and rescue her but the damn Devil was messing with her and it was all too much.
She slunk down in her chair and cried, totally defeated in under an hour.

***

Andrew looked around at the interior of the castle.
The castle was made of stone, the same stone that was all around the cavern, a sort of blue-gray grainy looking stone that had been cut into blocks to build the castle.
The castle was filled with treasure, to the point of being overwhelming. The floors had carpets and rugs, stacked one on top of another. The walls were covered in tapestries and paintings, with sculptures in little niches. There was gas lighting illuminating everything and it was bright in every corner so you could see all the treasure.
There was marble and gold and porcelain, there was gems and diamonds, furs and silver, each hall and room was filled to the top with valued items. Andrew walked behind the giant Demon and gaped at the amount of stuff he had collected.
“This is an amazing castle you have!” the Otheymm called out to the Demon who walked before them.
“THANK YOU,” he replied politely. “IT HAS TAKEN ME CANTURIES TO AQUIRE ALL THESE THINGS, MY TREASURES.”
Jessica and James followed their leader, walking through the stone hallways towards an unknown location. The rooms started to look modern as they got deeper and Andrew realized that the Demon was up to date on his belongings.
He led them finally to what appeared to be a throne room, where a massive chair sat on side of the vast room, with more collected treasure stacked up on either side of the throne. The Demon, sat in his chair and finally gazed at his guests.
“SO WHAT BRINGS YOU HERE, TO MY CIRCLE OF HELL?” Mammon asked, still sounding like a genteel man.
“Ah, well, we are here as more of an accident than on purpose you see,” Andrew managed to say. “We went through a Gate and found ourselves here in your Kingdom.”
“IT SEEMS TO ME THAT YOU ARE NOT SOULS, YOU ARE HUMANS, ALIVE BUT IN HELL,” Mammon observed.
“Yes, that’s true,” Andrew answered. “We are Otheymm to be precise.”
“AH!” Mammon exclaimed. “SO YOU HAVE SOME POWERS THAT HUMANS DON’T NORMALLY HAVE!”
“That’s right,” Andrew agreed with some pride.
“YOU’LL FIND THAT IT’S QUITE DIFFICULT TO CREATE ANYTHING IN HELL HOWEVER, THE SEER IS NOT AS, SHALL WE SAY, CLEAN HERE.”
“We didn’t know that, and I am grateful that you have shared that information with us. I am hoping that we can be allies in some way.”
“WELL THAT DEPENDS LITTLE OTHEYMM,” the Demon said with a wide grin. “WHY ARE YOU IN HELL? YOU SAY YOU CAME THROUGH A GATE. WHAT WERE YOU AFTER?”
“I’m not entirely sure to be honest,” Andrew said, thinking it was best to tell the truth at this time. “We are looking for another Human, a girl that was grabbed by someone of power that opened a Gate in Heaven. That’s where we came from.”
“SOMEONE OF POWER, OPENED A GATE IN HEAVEN, GRABBED THIS HUMAN, AND YOU FOLLOWED AND FOUND YOURSELF HERE? IS THAT RIGHT?”
“I believe so, yes,” Andrew said. “Do you know who that person could be?”
“I HAVE ONLY ONE GUESS. SOMEONE THAT WAS POWERFUL ENOUGH TO OPEN A GATTAE IN HEAVEN, OF ALL PLACES, BUT MADE IT SO YOU DIDN’T GO WHERE HE WENT WHEN YOU WENT THROUGH THE SAME GATE, THAT COULD BE ONLY ONE BEING. YOU FOLLOWED SATAN HIMSELF TO HELL.”
Andrew took the news silently. This was bad. Going to Hell to fight a Demon like Satan, when they really didn’t know enough about Hell or Demons, this could be very bad.
“Well, that’s not exactly good new then,” he finally said with a crooked smile. He was trying to figure out a way to ally with this Demon, but he didn’t have much to offer.
“WELL, YOU’RE HERE NOW, AND I’M GLAD TO HAVE YOU!” the Demon laughed with a rumbling chuckle that seemed to make the room vibrate.
“We would like to go after the girl, she’s very important to us,” Andrew ventured, hoping they could work out a deal of some kind.
“OH I DON’T THINK YOU’LL BE BALE TO DO THAT,” Mammon said as he waved his hand and snapped his fingers. Suddenly all three Otheymm were grabbed from behind and quickly bound with rope, their arms stuck behind them. Even James was bound up and held.
“SEE, I’M GLAD YOU’RE HERE, BECAUSE I HAVEN’T EATEN REAL HUMAN FLESH IN SUCH A LONG TIME!”
Andrew felt his stomach drop and panic set in. His skin got flushed with heat and fear and he looked towards James thinking he could get free, but there was a dozen souls holding him down. Jessica gasped with fear and looked at Andrew with venom like it was his fault they were there.
Andrew tried to create a weapon, even though his hands were tied behind him, but he could feel it was taking way too long. It would be many minutes before he had a weapon in hand and by then, they might be dead already.
“TAKE THEM TO THE CELLAR, BIND THEM TO THE TABLES AND I WILL BE ALONG LATER,” Mammon commanded the slave souls. They quietly and obediently gathered up the Otheymm and directed them out of the room.
They were brought down a long corridor and then down an enormous set of stairs into a lower section of the castle. Down another hall and then into a brightly lit room, with real electric lights.
Andrew looked around, horrified by what he saw. In this new room, there was an entire laboratory, complete with all kinds of machines and computer and tools. The souls guided them each to a table that was titled like a drawing board and they were tied down, spread-eagle facing front so they could still see each other.
“Hey,” Andrew called out as the souls were tying him to the table. “If you let us free, we’ll get you out of here too!”
One soul looked up at him with a tired look. He shook his head no, and then went back to tying Andrew’s left hand to the edge of the table.
“C’mon buddy!” he tried again. “Don’t you want to be free? We have power; we can get you outta here! I promise!”
The soul didn’t speak or even look at him again. He finished tying the knot and walked with the others out of the room, leaving the Otheymm under the lights to think about their fate.
“We are gonna die and be eaten!” Jessica wailed.
Andrew jerked his head over to look at her. “We are not gonna die here! We have to get free! James, can you get loose?”
James shook his head, “No, they bound me up tight. Maybe Jessica, since her wrists are smaller.”
Jessica looked at both of them with a crazed look in her eye. “Do you think, if I could get free, I’d be saying we’re gonna die?” she shouted.
“Don’t loose it Jess!” Andrew yelled back at her. “We’ve got to get free somehow. Think! What can we do?”
Jessica closed her eyes and thought. Andrew followed suit, copying her and shutting his eyes. His mind was racing, but he kept thinking over and over about how big the Demon was and how he would probably eat his legs like a chicken wing or something.
He kept picturing Jessica being eaten and wondering how long James would last since he was so much bigger. Then he thought about that bitch Kayla and how she ran off when they ate the fruit from the Tree of Knowledge. A lot of good that tree did them now!
They were immortal, he thought, but what good does that do if we’re eaten? Dammit, he yelled in his own head. What can we do? How do we get out of this? He tried to focus and keep thinking about what options they had but then Jessica started crying and he could concentrate.
They were all going to die here.

***

Cormac stepped off the boat onto dry land.
Before him was the Asphodel Meadows, a huge area of green grass and asphodel flowers. The flowers were a stark white and grew to a height of three feet. The leaves were gutter shaped and glaucous. The flowers were funnel shaped with six elongated petals.
Lucifer explained that the flowers were eaten by the dead, along with water from the river Lethe that made them forget their former lives. The souls that lived in Limbo were the guiltless damned, those who had done now great evil or good, but still believed in a punishment of Hell.
Beyond the fields was a city, no very large, but filled with enough souls to still call it a city. There was a huge garden where they grew produce and another large area where the raised livestock.
It was clear that their lives were simple; they were farmers, living a plain existence in the deficient Heaven. Beyond the city was a castle, made of white stone, that stood out against the dark gray of the cavern all of this was in.
Lucifer told Cormac that the castle had seven Gates that represented the Seven Virtues. It was there that Cormac would learn about virtue and be given spiritual armor in order to complete his quest in Hell.
Cormac wasn’t sure what to expect, but the Angels led him through the fields and into the city. Souls were hard at work living their lives, moving food items from one place to another or out farmer, or with the livestock. It seemed everyone had a job but the people seemed a bit lost, as they stared off into space a lot.
The Angels ignored them completely and guided Cormac towards the castle. It was circular in shape and the seven Gates were positioned in the circular wall that surrounded the rest of the castle.
Cormac was led to the first Gate, and the Angel bid him go through and speak to the man he found inside. Cormac pushed on the wide wooden door, his hands on the cool brass handle, and he entered a well lit room where he found a group of souls kneeling before an Angel.
Cormac entered the room and walked past the souls that seemed to be praying or meditating and approached the Angel. The spiritual energy he felt coming off the Divine being wasn’t as powerful as the Angels that came with him to Hell. Cormac wondered what kind of Angel stayed in Hell to work.
“Excuse me,” he began. “I’ve come to learn about the Seven Virtues?”
The Angel looked at him silently for a moment and then nodded. “You are a Nephilim aren’t you?” the being asked.
“Yes,” Cormac answered without further explanation.
“But not of Divine origin I think,” the man said.
“No, my father was one of the Fallen,” Cormac explained.
“I am a Nephilim myself, that’s why I asked,” the half-Angel revealed. “Why are you here, in Hell? Have you come to work?”
“No,” Cormac said. “I am looking for a friend who was brought here against her will.”
“Ah, so you are young still, you haven’t lived a long time yet,” the Nephilim said as if that made some kind of sense to him.
“What do you mean?” Cormac asked.
“You are a Nephilim,” the half-Angel elaborated. “You will live longer than humans do, so at some point, you will grown tired of watching them grow old and die and you will look for some other way to live.”
“Some of us come here,” he went on. “To work, to teach or to punish. Some work in Heaven, contributing to the work there. Some even travel through the other Eternal Realms and visit other Heavens.”
“There are other Heavens?” Cormac asked, suddenly more interested.
“Oh yes, of course,” the Nephilim answered. “Humans believe in many religions, in many afterlives, so all of them exist in one dimension or another. The Viking have Valhalla and the Romans have the Elysian Fields, there’s Nirvana and many others!”
Cormac realized he knew very little of this new world he had been brought into. He discovered that he wanted to travel through the Realms and see these other places for himself. Then he also thought about watching Kayla grow old and dying and he lost his good humor.
“Lucifer said I had to learn about the Seven Virtues, that it would give me spiritual armor,” he went on, decided not to think about anything but the quest he was currently on.
“How deep do you plan to go?” the Nephilim asked, somewhat alarmed.
“All the way, I guess,” Cormac said uncomfortably.
“God in Heaven!” the being exclaimed. “You’re going to confront Satan?”
“It seems that way.”
“Then yes, you will need out help. My name is Adriel and I can teach you about the First Virtue; Chastity, the opposite of Lust.”
“Uh, ok, we can start there,” Cormac agreed, thinking to himself, I have broken this rule many times in my life. I wonder if that will affect me here.
“Have a seat, or kneel here near the others and I will teach you something. I’m sure you understand the word Chastity, but perhaps not the meaning. Chastity is not just the act of abstaining from sex; it is the practice of courtly love and romantic friendship.”
Cormac kneeled down at the edge of the group of souls that were there before him, all of them quiet with their eyes closed. He listed carefully to the words of the Nephilim who stood before him.
“Chastity is cleanliness through cultivated good health and hygiene, and maintained by refraining from intoxicants. It is being honest with oneself, one's family, one's friends, and to all of humanity. It is embracing a moral wholesomeness and achieving purity of thought-through education and betterment. It is the ability to refrain from being distracted and influenced by hostility, temptation or corruption.”
“In short it is Purity, Knowledge, Honesty and Wisdom. Can you understand that? It is keeping yourself pure from pollutants, in body and mind, so that you can give of yourself to others without fear, or lust, or misguided intention. It is a way to become Divine.”
Cormac thought about that and knew that it was more than he realized. He had used drugs and alcohol throughout much of his life. He had only recently got sober. He thought he had good morals, but the truth was, he stole and sometimes lied and perhaps he wasn’t as wholesome as he led himself to believe.
“I understand,” he said slowly. “I have not been chaste in my life and I don’t know if I can maintain it either.”
“Well that is being honest,” Adriel said with a smile. “I all ask is that you think about it. Spend some time with the idea, the feeling of that kind of life. And the Virtue will protect you in your efforts here in Hell.”
Cormac thought about Chastity, felt himself letting the ideas coat his spirit, the belief system cover him and when he opened his eyes, he could see that glowing gauntlets of pale, see-through white had appeared around his hands.
“Is this the armor?” he asked with wonder.
“It is,” Adriel answered. “You have accepted the First Virtue into your life. The longer you believe in it, the more it will protect you.”
“Thank you Adriel,” Cormac responded with real feeling.
“You are very welcome. Now go back out and enter the second Gate. Learn each of the Virtues and arm yourself well, for you are facing the most powerful being since God existed. He is the Leader of the Fallen, he commands all of Hell and it is here that he is most powerful.”
Cormac swallowed as he heard the words. He raised himself back to his feet, nodded once to the fellow Nephilim and he walked back outside.
The Angels were seated at a small table where a pair of female souls were serving them drinks. The all looked up from their communication to each other and smiled when they saw his glowing armor.
“You have the first bit then,” Lucifer called. “Good. Now get the rest, we will wait for you here.”
Cormac waved and headed for the second Gate. This one was a door of stone, with carvings in it much like the first one. Chastity’s Gate showed couples together without any sense of sex or even real romance.
The stone Gate had scenes that showed some kind of justice being enacted, where noble men were casting out what was probably Demons from other people. Cormac pushed on the door and entered the second room.
Standing at the front was another Angel, or Nephilim Cormac thought since his spiritual pressure was also rather light. He was dressed in white, looking very Angelic, with his wings spread out behind him, catching the light from a stained glass window.
“I have come to learn the Seven Virtues,” Cormac said.
“I see you have accepted Chastity already young soul,” the Nephilim said in return. “I am Dumah, and I teach Temperance.”
“I confess I don’t really know what that is,” Cormac said honestly.
“You will know its opposite, the Sin of Gluttony,” Dumah smiled. Cormac nodded his head that he did know that well enough. Without being told, Cormac kneeled down near the souls that were meditating in this room already.
He looked up to listen to what Dumah would teach him. He tried to clear his mind of his concerns, living too long, the worry that Satan was just too powerful to beat, or where the Otheymm had disappeared to.
“Temperance is restraint and justice. It is constant mindfulness of others and one’s own surroundings. It is self-control, moderation and deferred gratification. It is moderation again self-interest and the needs of others.”
“It is self-control, justice and honor,” Dumah continued. “It is the opposite of Gluttony, which you will find in the Third Circle of Hell, where Beelzebub, Lord of Flies rules.”
Cormac had his eyes closed and he tried to think of temperance in his life. He had learned to handle things in moderation now that he was sober, but he had struggled for a long time against that feeling of justice in the world.
He had never equated Temperance with justice or self-control. It just wasn’t a word he used and he had often been consumed things without control. But he was different now, he controlled himself better and his mind was clear. Cormac felt he could understand this Virtue and he opened his eyes.
Cormac stood up and looked down at the feeling near his knees. A pair of greaves had formed against his shins, still ghostly and pale white, but clearly armored. It felt warm and he realized Hell was colder than he thought it would be. He had expected fire, but Hell was cold instead.
“You have accepted Temperance, and this will add Justice to your actions. You are obviously here to fight a battle and this will help your cause. I think when you are ready, you should seek out other Nephilim, they will understand your existence better than anyone, Dumah said warmly.
Cormac thanked the man and turned to go. He looked again at his new armor and he felt better about what he was doing, about his goals here. He was ready to hear the next Virtue.
He exited the stone door and walked along the wall to the next door. It was made of bronze, hammered out into a tall door with more scenes carved into the soft metal. The door showed a woman handing out food and other items to the starving and poor masses. He guessed he could figure this one out.
Cormac entered the room, so the usual souls kneeling in supplication and a woman Nephilim this time looked up as he walked towards her. She was very pretty and her wings were silver behind her.
“Welcome Traveler,” she said in a soft voice. “You have learned of the first Virtues, are you ready for more?”
“I am. This is all new to me, but it makes a certain sense also. May I ask your name?” Cormac questioned.
“Of course,” she answered sweetly. “I am known as Jehoel. I teach the Virtue Charity, the opposite of Greed.”
“I don’t know if I’ve been charitable in my life, but I’m ready to learn about it now,” Cormac admitted.
“I can see into the past young soul, and you have been charitable many times. You are a giver, and you see to the needs of others often before yourself.”
“Charity is generosity and self-sacrifice. It is will, benevolence and sacrifice. In essence, it is Love, one of the greatest theological Virtues. In the sense of unlimited loving kindness towards all others, is often considered the ultimate perfection of the Human spirit.”
“It is said to glorify and reflect the nature of God,” she went on. “Love is necessary for salvation and with it, none can be lost. You are here for Love are you not?”
Cormac opened his eyes and nodded once. “I am. A friend, who was once more than a friend is in great danger, and I must help her or die trying.”
“You will find Greed in the Fourth Circle, guarded by Mammon, a very strong Demon. You must understand Charity, in your soul itself to be armored against his power.”
Cormac thought again about what she had said. He would completely sacrifice himself in order to save Kayla, he knew that without question. There was no doubt in his mind. He felt his skin prickle again and he opened his eyes.
Around his chest and back, appeared a pale white ghostly image of a breastplate, glowing slightly in the shadows of the room. Cormac smiled and looked up at Jehoel. She smiled in return.
“Go now, and seek the rest. This Virtue is an important one, but the others are needed too. You have done well so far. What is your name so I can record it here for eternity?”
“Cormac,” the young warrior said. He turned to go and walked past the kneeling souls, back out into the light of Limbo.