There was nowhere for Alessandro to run, he had already calculated this outcome.
He went with plan C and returned to his offices, where he hid a shotgun under his desk and grabbed it. If he was going down, he would take as many people as he could with him.
He did his best to barricade the door and buy him some time, enough to load the shells into the shotgun and sit on his chair.
Waiting for his inevitable demise, he took out his notebook and placed the picture of his granddaughter against the lamp.
Why… Why did he do all of this? This situation was one he would have never dreamed he would be in. The hit on the Niotos familia was a gamble, but he knew one hundred percent they were going to attack their turf and try to seize control.
The picture of his granddaughter stared into his soul, and with the remaining strength he had he slammed his fist pathetically on the table and started to cry.
It’s not as if he was crying because he didn’t want to die. No, he was crying because his actions had caused the one person he truly unconditionally loved to die. She’d barely had a chance to enjoy her life.
“Why… Why do I feel this way… I would have never made such stupid mistakes like this if I didn’t have you in my life, Elena.”
He heard men outside of the door banging and hitting it trying to get in. Alessandro tried to lift the shotgun up but he couldn’t, instead his vision started to get blurry and his eyelids heavy.
No… he thought as he started to drift away; death was approaching for him. He heard the sounds of guns going off as the men on the other side started to shoot the door.
He used all the remaining strength and life he had left to lift the shotgun and fired two shots at the door. The noise on the other side stopped. It was silent, an eerie madding silence that would make anyone mad.
As if time had stopped.
The pain he felt also stopped. “Wha—” He felt it, that same presence earlier, now it was behind him and he was too afraid to turn around. It was abnormal and scared him to his core.
“Human. Why are you so scared?” the feminine monotone voice behind his seat said. “Weren’t you the one that was justice? That placed this fear in others? For someone so old, you are acting like a little child.”
Alessandro hated the way the entity spoke to him and gritted his teeth and turned the chair around to face it on. “ Listen, I’m the underbos—” He sank in his chair as Minerva stood in front of him. Her eyes flared with hatred and contempt for the man, it felt like she was a giant towering over the man.
“Are you death?” Alessandro asked.
“No.”
Her one word answer was unbearable to Alessandro, her tone the way she stood as she said it; it was nerve wracking. He would rather deal with the man outside the door with guns than spend another moment with this monster.
“Then what are you?”
“I am Minerva, a Roman deity and a member of the Judicators. I’m here to dispose of your soul.” Confusion and fear showed on the man’s face, he didn’t understand anything. Did he already die? Even if he already did, he hated the way this woman was making him feel. He quickly reached for his revolver and shot the last two reminding bullets at the so-called Judicator. The bullets were caught in one motion by Minevra who looked expressionless.
She held one of the bullets in her fingers and bent down near the man, she held the bullet near his temple and using her index finger, she slowly started to push the bullet in. It felt like the bullet was being shot through his head as it slowly entered his head. He screamed and grabbed Minerva’s wrist to move it away, but no amount of force could move her arm, her level of strength was behind his comprehension.
“I heard from Demeter that some grandparents love their grandchildren even more than their own children. Apparently, your humans had studies on it done. It’s quite fascinating to see this phenomenon in person.”
She moved the bullet even more, to the point that it went completely inside his head. Her finger touched the rest of his temple, transferring the information she wanted him to know about the Tryfing and who she truly was.
“I am one of five Judicators of Elysium.” The information transfer was a new found torture to him. He didn’t know which one felt worse: the bullet that was slowly moving through his head or the information that was being directly fed to his nerves and mind.
Unauthorized usage: this narrative is on Amazon without the author's consent. Report any sightings.
“We five are the order and balance of the entire universe; under Metatron’s leadership, we make sure God’s world is intact. Are you following?” Alessandro started to cry blood and couldn't stop violently shaking.
“Souls are the most important aspect of our universe, anyone who tampers with a soul in any way will be punished by us. See, God is getting to the point where he can no longer create any new souls. That’s why the cycle of reincarnation is the most valuable tool our wardens have in aiding our Father, God. Now what if there were souls tainted with such evil, that when they entered the cycle they would poison every other soul? Wouldn’t that be a problem?”
He nodded slowly to appease her.
“My duty as a Judicator is to police the other deities of Elysium. The other deities know of us but do not know which deities are members of this holy order. Really though… that’s all a facade, we sneak beyond God’s sight with Metatron help to send tainted souls that can’t be cleansed like yours, into the eternal oblivion, where it belongs.”
She removed her finger off his temple but left the bullet in his head. Alessandro stood still, he felt that one slight movement of his head would cause the bullet to move deeper.
“So.. God doesn’t know you Judicators are doing this?” he asked cautiously
“No. He doesn’t, Metatron is making sure of that.”
“Why are you all doing this?” Alessandro hadn’t blinked since she let go of his temple. He was too worried about the bullet.
“We do this for our Father and for Justice. I have known about you for a while but only recently have I watched you, or seen your past. You have caused great pain and destruction in other human’s lives. Not only that Elena soul, so pure and innocent, was brutally attacked because of your actions. You. Sicken. Me.” She spat at Alessandro with hatred.
“I wouldn’t lie, there’s a small part of me that respects your level of intellect and strategies. That’s why I’m giving you a choice. Become my retainer and bring me victory using every tactic and all your experiences you had here in your mafia life. Use the wish to bring Elena and her mother back, and I’ll consider sending you to your oblivion.”
He finally blinked and looked into Minevra's eyes “And if I refuse, I assume you will cast my soul immediately into the eternal oblivion?”
She nodded her head yes.
“Basically you give me no choice, but I don’t get your angle. If I sicken you why ask me to do this?” He was making sure every word he said didn’t anger the deity in front of him, he didn’t want any more of that unspeakable pain again.
“Your thought process is different from other humans, you rose up to your ranking and decide to stay there instead of being the main boss. Effectively controlling your boss from a lower position of power. You only failed today because I was the one to warn your boss and ordered Mateo to take care of you.”
“YOU WHA— URGHGHHHHHH!!!” Alessandro raised his voice in anger only to have Minerva move her index finger in front of his face, controlling the bulleting and moving it further into his brain.
“Don’t. Interrupt. Me.” That authoritative tone of hers hurt Alessandro more than the bullet. She turned the chair Alessandro was in and then took one of the chairs off the side and placed it in front of the desk, sitting in it.
She sat prim and proper in the chair. “I have a competitive spirit and I hate almost everyone I'm facing in the Tryfing. Ra is egotistical buffoon, Nuada is a pathetic excuse for a deity, those angels shouldn’t even be in this sacred battle, and Freya? Heh.” She snorted after she mentioned the Lady of Seidr. “That lazy fool should be casted into oblivion for being a waste of space.”
Alessandro laughed. “I agree, lazy people make work harder for others, they need to be dealt with and toe the line.”
“Agreed. The others like Warden Zhong kui or Inari, I respect to some extent but to lose to Inari? It makes my blood boil.” She clenched her fists and slammed her lap, causing the helm on her head to slightly move.
What is this?...A therapy session? She talks a lot,Alessandro thought. He decided it would be better just to listen to her vent.
“I can’t stand her and her brothers, They win one time in a mock battle and think they are superior! IT WAS ONE BATTLE.” As she let out her frustration her helm moved even more and was now crooked. “She may appear to be all lady-like and regal but deep down she’s a battle whore! It’s disgusts me, these faces she makes when she watches battles unfold!”
Alessandro didn’t know what else to do so he just blinked. A battle whore? These people she’s complaining about don’t sound like deities to me.
She finally took time to straighten her helm and regain her composure.
“What about… the last deity of the Tryfing?” Alessandro asked.
Minerva stared straight into Alessandro's eyes, it felt like she was talking straight into his soul. “Lugh Lamhfada, of the long arm… the Celtic trickster savior deity himself.”
During this whole exchange Alessandro was scared of Minevra. He could feel the hatred she had for him the entire conversation but it was here that he saw the roles reverse. It was now Minevra who was scared.
“He’s the one I fear the most, as a tactician and general he is one of the only deities that has stood defiant over my tactics in mock battles or that stupid Celtic board game of his Fidchell. He’s even beaten me before. Before the Great Rebellion, he was a force to be reckoned with, now he’s like Nuada, a pathetic husk of what he used to be. Blame Lucifer for that, but I know that savage trickster is still there. I was able to peek at his retainer, he found someone whose soul matched his.”
She clenched her fists so hard, Alessandro saw blood drip from them.
“How lucky could he be, to look over billions of souls and find basically himself in human form.” She cursed in Latin and hit her lap again. Her helm moved exactly like before and she went to fix it.
The fear left her once she repositioned her helm, causing her to return to her calm monotone self. “I want to beat him...all of them, and I need you.” She snapped her fingers and a scroll appeared, she opened it and showed him the scroll which had his stats written on it.
Alessandro Lorenzo Bianchi
STR:<0/0/0/_/_/_>
INT: <0/0/0/0/0/0>
ATH: <0/0/0/0/0/0>
RES: <0/0/0/_/_/_>
“You are perfect for the role of tactician, the role I want to win with. You bring me victory and I’ll overlook sending your soul to oblivion and you can revive your granddaughter, the one that deserves to live. So...”
She stood up and snapped her fingers, removing the bullets from his body. “I, Minevra, ask you…do you wish to fight for my cause? Do you heed the call?”
“Not like I truly have a choice.”
He stood up and stretched his neck, grabbing the photo of his granddaughter and his trusted handy dandy pocket notebook.
“I heed your call and wish to fight for your cause. As your eternal retainer. Let’s deliver our justice, my lady.”
The final retainer had been selected.
3rd Tryfing
Official judge: Heroic Greek deity, Achilles.
Support judge: Angel, Damaris.
Chosen deities:
Ra: Demi-God: Darren Donaldson
Lugh: Knight: Ariel Morales
Zhong Kui: Exorcist: Audrey Rhodes
Inari: Polymath: Kento Sanosuke
Freya: Assassin: Charlie Wilson
Nuada: Conqueror: João Machado
Minerva: Tactician: Alessandro Lorenzo Bianchi
Team Arc-Angel: Hero Luther Satenly
Fantasia world: The world known as Helioan
Starting year: not yet decided.
20:00:00