“Welcome to hell," said Zhou, "This is Arx Horatius, citadel and grave of Saint Horatius. We will follow this road up the hill to the forum where his basilica stands."
The street they went up passed by many apartment blocks as empty as the insulae they first saw. The simple fountain they passed by had only still puddles of water. While Zhou walked in the middle of the street, Aaliyah used the stoai and porticoes on the sides to avoid the baleful gaze of that thing that could not be called a sun. On the road ahead, however, there would be no such reprieve as the road up the hill was uncovered save for the triumphal arch to the forum.
“What is this place?”
“Are you deaf? I already said it.”
“I always knew Tyler got his crudity from you. Please explain the history of Arx Horatius to pass the time for us Ms. Deimos, thank you,” snapped Aaliyah. Zhou stopped to turn to Aaliyah, almost impressed, then continued on.
“Horatius converted against the wishes of his gens and Emperor. His miracles gained him many followers, but his enemies saw a growing cult that rivaled their authority. Horatius brought his followers here to allay those fears: a forward outpost that would hold the daemon in its own territory. Yet the growth of this outpost into a city with its own army only emboldened the jealousy of his former gens and fear of the Emperor. His gens exiled him and hoped to ingratiate themselves as members of the Empire. But the Emperor had already begun to consort with daemons: the gateways that led to the Arx Horatius would be sealed, all those who had supplied them were put to death, including his gens. The inhabitants of this Arx marched into the plains to die in battle rather than starve, and Horatius was erased from history.”
“This is truly hell then? It… doesn’t seem as inhospitable as I imagined. Much different.”
“This is one circle of it: The Flesh Praire is the realm of sloth and the magic here has been trying to drag you to sleep. Rather than inhospitable, the raw magical energy here is the only thing keeping you alive in a place without air or friendly bacteria. You will still need nutrients, however.”
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“Shouldn’t we be… getting eaten by demons or monsters by now or something at least?”
“The relic we are here for repels most daemonic power; soon, you will notice its effect get stronger as the dark magic gets weaker. It was returned here after my son cut down the arch-daemon and every sinew in the plains. There are no monsters here for now.”
The knights lowered their rifles in relief, but Aaliyah understood the statement as it was intended. They were halfway up the steep stone road to the arch. They could make out the design of the arch now: monsters were speared at the bottom by warriors so that laborers could build bricks over the corpses. At that point, the suppressive power of this circle began to lighten as Zhou said it would.
“What is this relic exactly?”
“Horatius’ star cross. His affinity was much the same as yours and wielding the energy stored within it will enhance your own power. I’m sure he would not mind passing it on to you. If Zariah was around, you might have even gotten to meet him. We could go see his corpse while you’re here.”
“I hope to leave as soon as possible.”
“Another time then.”
In silence, they finally went through the arch, into the forum, and arrived at the Basilica where Aaliyah was finally able to let down her bubble. The structure was built with solid brick to form a box and an iron double door was its entrance. For a saint with his own city, the church of Horatio was plain compared to those Aaliyah was usually flown to and the inside was much the same. The marble tiles held rows of wooden chairs under the baleful light that seeped in through the arched windows. The apse at the end of the nave contained the raised tribunal whereupon the altar of the star-cross lay.
Aaliyah alone went down the aisle between the chairs; empty as they were, she felt watched by more people than she arrived here with.
The altar was a stone slab with a purple cloth draped over it. In the center, the wooden star-cross was held upright by a meager stand. Though it appeared to be timber, to Aaliyah, this cross burned with the radiance of the sun.
Aaliyah brought her grasp to the base of the radiant star-cross and the celestial spirit within it gripped her soul with far greater ferocity than the taint of hell. Novas burst across her body to release holy nebulas that swirled about her as she strained to hold her body together. The veins in her hand bulged through her skin as she struggled to wrench the cross from its stand with all her strength. The nebulae were sucked into her body in an instant and the cross was plucked out so suddenly that she threw herself on her back. The last thing she saw as she fell out of consciousness were white flower petals falling from the ceiling.