Beneath The Mask
Inside, the large chamber doors opened to what looked more like a separate apartment than a bedroom. Red antique couches were in the main room, with hooved animal legs keeping the couches up from the floor. Crystal lights were at the side tables, and a long, faded Persian rug was in the center of the room, bringing together the cozy home.
Nervously Adonis led Nero through the house, pausing to look at familiar objects in the home.
The pictures of vacations, holidays, and birthdays only fueled the guilt in his chest. No longer was he was disturbed by the similar-looking staff but worried that she missed him, and tried to fill up the hole in her soul in the best way her twisted mind could understand.
Nero could feel that Adonis was scared from the shape of his eyebrows and his sad eyes.
Even though he couldn’t see his face, Nero had become long accustomed to knowing how he felt through the tiny details through his eyes. Adonis’ mask had inadvertently taught Nero how to look people in the eyes over time, slowly increasing his self-confidence.
“It’s okay to be afraid," Nero mumbled. Nero grabbed Adonis’ sleeve and leaned in. “I was afraid to see the woman who hurt me, Duchess. So I asked Alto to come with me."
“I was so afraid of Duchess," Nero continued. “I was a kid when she took me, but now that I’m bigger...she looked so small and old. So weak.”
The thought of his mother aging and becoming frail was an entirely new concept to Adonis. She seemed immortal in her wrath and beauty, any imperfections concealed by her wealth and demeanor.
“I felt so much better after I killed her. I think you will too."
Adonis started to ignore Nero again, mildly disappointed that he still believed he could kill all his problems, thanks to Alto’s influence. Nero took the initiative, shameless and rude, opening various doors in the house.
They came across a room filled to the brim with mail, another filled with clothing and various strange hats. A purple door had a room made up for seances, with candles, drapes, and a crystal ball.
One just had taxidermied animals, which made even Nero feel disturbed. Each room was filled with something closer to junk than usefulness, stranger and stranger than the next. After many tries and many more unsightly rooms, they finally found Adonis’ mother.
It had to be her, behind the door. They could hear a woman talking on the phone, laughing, making jokes. His mother, Maia, was making plans to go out to the beach and she couldn’t find her favorite pair of sandals, the ones that matched her seafoam dress.
Nero waited for him to open the door, but he refused. Still impatient, he went for the doorknob, but Adonis took his arm and started dragging him away.
“What are you doing,” Nero whispered.
“This isn’t right, I’m no better than her,” Adonis whispered back.
He pushed Nero out into the hall, grumbling the entire time. Like a child, he wanted to stay in the car, and now that it was time to leave, he didn’t want to. The large chamber doors groaned when Adonis shut them, both so heavy it took both hands to close, and he groaned a sigh of relief along with them.
He grabbed Nero and tried to leave as fast as possible, his wits suddenly about himself.
“Why are we going!? I know you don’t have to kill her if you don’t want to,” Nero said.
“That’s not it!”
“Can you let go?”
“Ah.”
Nero pulled his arm away and dramatically clutched it as if it were burned.
“I need compensation for my pain and suffering.”
“Get in the car, you ass,” Adonis laughed.
They ran back to the car, scaring more employees.
Anyone would jump out of their skin if they came to work and a masked criminal wearing a leather jacket with his red-headed conspirator who wore too many animal print shirts and carried a sword burst through their front door.
The security guard from the front gate did his job that afternoon.
Poorly.
Nero and Adonis were greeted by him when they passed the grand stairwell, and he was shooting to kill, screaming, and aiming blindly. He never fired at an intruder before, his presence alone was enough to scare off most thieves.
These intruders weren’t thieves, only simpletons, and the guard was another simpleton.
Nero and Adonis were surprised and stood in place out of shock when the security guard fired his gun at them, emptying his entire round, missing them entirely, screaming and crying.
The word inappropriate was not in Nero’s lexicon, so he opened his mouth.
“He’s not the only one here who was afraid to lose his virginity and kill someone today. Don’t feel shy, Adonis.”
“ Shut up. ”
Adonis had a very strange afternoon, apologizing to the man who attempted to kill him and then leaving his childhood home, wondering why he went along with whatever ridiculous plan Nero birthed in his perverted mind.
----------------------------------------
Nero grinned as Adonis bought him the next in the series of his nonfiction tapes. It was called Religions of the Galaxy, And You! It came in a plastic box with a tiny media player and batteries. The box had fun little pictures inside to give a visual insight into the various religions discussed in the book.
Adonis was confused when he got him the book, never understanding why he liked them so much.
“You sure you want this," he asked tentatively. “This doesn’t seem very interesting.” Nero nodded enthusiastically, excited to finally get the next book in the series he had long-awaited and followed online.
“This one discusses the implications of the spread of monotheism and—”
“Where did you even learn those words? ”
“What words?”
“You said implications! Monotheism. Since when did you know things like that ?”
Nero shrugged. “Dunnoh.”
They exited the oasis of AC and quickly left to Adonis’s car, before someone would recognize them, again blending into the crowd of numerous tourists. As the week went on, the colder Paradis became.
It was harder to notice, but now it was slightly chilly as the sun was setting, and some of the tourists were wearing heavier coats, and none of the numerous lizards sticking to the sides of the buildings and sunbathing were nowhere to be found.
Inside the car, there was no heat function, and Adonis was dismayed, confused, and then he understood, it made sense there would be none, on a planet that was always warm. He tried to make the trip home as quick as possible.
Nero was quiet and closed his eyes as the soft sounds of the reader taught him about a new subject. Adonis wondered if he was underestimating Nero’s intelligence all along.
Nero wasn’t stupid, he was only uneducated. He only attended school until he was ten, and he could read, just not the written language of the Union. Adonis started to wonder if Nero and Alto’s relationship wasn’t Alto taking advantage of him, but the other way around.
Nero was the quietest he had been in a long time. Adonis had never seen him so still and quiet and checked if he was still breathing. Adonis tapped his shoulder in concern.
“Don’t touch me," he mumbled. “He’s talking about something funny.”
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“Something funny?”
“Yes, it's hilarious ," grinned Nero. “These idiots on Earth, did you know they have only one god?”
Adonis parked in the lower garage of the apartment and got out the special elevator keys that took them straight to the penthouse, got out of the car, and chuckled, slightly relieved that nothing about Nero had changed.
“Don’t make fun of other people’s religions. That’s not right.”
They crossed the garage and got into the elevator, going straight to the top, and Adonis hummed along to the elevator music, his favorite version, the same techno remix of Ace’s horrible ringtone.
Nero pouted as he heard the horrible elevator music in the dimly lit metallic trap.
“It makes no sense at all," Nero continued. “ No one can do everything. That's why there’s more than one god.”
He held his hands out, as if offering the explanation, someone should take it, it was clear as day! How could someone not see the obvious answer.
Monotheists were so silly.
Adonis snickered, and Nero continued his diatribe.
“Every year they eat pine cones, dance around green trees, and celebrate the birthday of the god’s zombie son. How disgusting. ”
Adonis was laughing out loud now, enjoying that he misunderstood key parts of the book and was trying to impose his own moral superiority.
“ Then, listen to this," Nero huffed. “They believe people die and go to Paradis if they’re bad people!” He threw up his arms in exasperation. “Makes no sense!” Adonis stopped laughing and looked at him, confused but still entertained.
“What do you mean bad people come to Paradis," he asked.
With a soft ding, the elevator opened into a hallway that led into the living room.
“It says there’s this place where it's always hot, where bad people go, and you’re tortured forever! That’s Paradis!” Adonis stopped walking down the hallway and had to hold onto the wall.
Tears streamed down his face as he laughed so hard he cried.
“I know. These people need help. It’s okay to cry. ”
Nero patted his back, oblivious to his own ignorance.
Through laughs and loud gasps, Adonis tried to explain.
“It’s Hell, Nero. They’re describing Hell .”
Nero shook his head, already stuck in his ways, and refused to change, like in all other aspects of his life.
“That’s what the book said," Nero insisted. “Paradis is a punishment. I knew it this entire time.”
Adonis had finally calmed down and wiped the tears away from his face. He held his stomach and tried not to get a cramp. “Did they use the word, Paradis , specifically, Nero," he asked.
Nero pouted.
“No," he mumbled.
“Then it’s Hell," said Adonis.
“I still think it sounds like Paradis! You can’t change my mind."
Adonis sighed and walked into the living room. He walked down into the conversation pit and collapsed onto the couch.
“You’re wonderful, you know that," he told Nero. Nero’s cheeks burned by the unexpected compliment.
“Thanks," he mumbled.
“I’m sorry for what I said the other day," Adonis said. “I think I was frustrated.” Nero sat next to him on the couch and tried his hardest to remember what he was apologizing about, but he had already forgotten.
“It's okay," he said. “I don’t even remember what it was about.” Adonis chuckled, not surprised that he didn’t remember their argument or any argument they had, really. He would only remember something if it was important, his memory selective yet sharp.
Adonis sighed and sat up on the couch.
“I just feel stupid," Adonis said. “I wanted my mother to be someone she never was and someone she would never be. I need to move on instead of living in the past, and going there, I knew I was just like her.”
“I get it. I always felt the same way about my brother.”
“I’m sorry," Adonis continued. “All these years you were with me, and instead I was chasing some silly dream.” Nero scooted closer to Adonis and squeezed his shoulder.
“It’s not silly to want your mom around," Nero confirmed.
Adonis felt quite silly, sitting there on the couch, having Nero console him. For as long as he had known him, Adonis was his guardian, but now that their relationship had changed it was hard for him to move on.
“You grew up a long time ago," Adonis sighed. “You’re just irresponsible and reckless, not a child.”
Nero rubbed his neck and glared at Adonis.
“This is a terrible apology. Start over," he commanded.
Adonis started to laugh again, which just made Nero angry, and then Unas decided to give his own input, about how he should finally kill Adonis and become the head of the household.
Nero then began to argue with the both of them, which just made him seem even more ridiculous because Adonis couldn’t hear Unas. This made him laugh even harder , continuing the cycle of stupidity and anger.
Diamond and Pumpkin stumbled into the living room, exhausted, to see the idiots arguing amongst themselves.
They had a long day.
“What are you idiots doing now," Diamond jeered. “You still having marital issues?”
Pumpkin giggled and this just further enraged Nero, made Unas’ complaints more specific and violent, and Adonis’ laughs erratic.
“Don’t be jealous just because we’re close," Nero sneered.
“I and she are close, but we ain't about to suck each other off every other day."
Adonis stopped laughing and his skin tingled, his face went red.
“I would rather fuck Alto before him," he mumbled.
“What does that mean," Nero asked. “ What do you mean? ”
Adonis realized that there was no way out of his comment and promptly left, citing he really needed to pee.
“Liar," Nero shouted.
“It’s nice to see you’re around each other more often," Pumpkin said. “You’re sad when you’re not together.”
“It’s okay...it’s normal for families to fight,” Nero whispered.
Pumpkin let out a soft oh my, and Diamond raised her eyebrows.
“So bold," Diamond teased. “Don’t tell Alto."
They walked off leaving Nero embarrassed and at the mercy of Unas’ threats. To drown out the sound of a disgruntled immortal, Nero decided to listen to his book. Indignant and sure that he was right, he listened to the section from the beginning.
Much to his dismay, Adonis was right.
Unas began to turn his insults towards Nero and this time he had enough. He promptly walked out to the patio and chucked Unas in the pool, turning it into a makeshift hot tub from the heat the sword was emitting.
He watched the sunset finally fade into darkness, and marveled at the sparkling lights in the city. The only time he felt that he was at home was when he could look at the night sky, and imagine he was back at Ionadis, back in his old room, with his favorite teddy bear, and the cookies Mint had baked him.
Nero started to think that maybe he was wrong about some things in his life, that sometimes he made bad decisions. Maybe it was time for him to move on, that focusing on the past was hurting him.
Adonis said that he was living in the past like his mother. Killing the people who hurt him wouldn’t change what happened. Possibly, he could focus on other things, his time better spent.
“Have I been wrong,” he asked himself out loud. “Maybe this is all wrong.”
There was a brief silence and he came to the only conclusion he could find.
“Nah.”
Refusing to change, Nero gazed upon the town he thought was eternal punishment.