They called it the underworld...
For a good reason too.

They ruled the dark forests, possessed the dreaded beasts that walked the earth and worked magic and sorcery. Drinkers of blood were not missing from the lot. Beyond their gates one will discover, that in it the witches converge and the demons emerge; simpletons in tow and food for the beasts.

Where in the outside world, one may commit crimes of all sorts in secret, here in Gehenna, they were the order.

Avert your eyes young ones from the scene which unfolds; harlots with devilish beauty offering their services in every nook and cranny. Where immoralities were commanded and young minds poisoned to make costly mistakes.
The surprise therein, when you dare dig deeper beyond the town gates and closer to their master's courts, you see children slain in open fields to keep the immoralities at work.
Heads are removed and crushed for merriment and the peasants are taught to take delight in hanging.

For the moneylenders caress the thighs of their female servants with the gold coins of their earnings and the ones who don't permit have their flower petals plucked repeatedly for all eyes to see. So yes, the money speaks in nary a whisper. Disrespected is the bloodstained gold

But child, in the ruler's Court, much worse, you see, for thousand more millions multiply the evil in the streets. Their ruler himself is far from a pretty one. The ruler of the pretty ones himself, devilish beauty if I may. He delights in spilled blood and drunks and whores of the silver and gold.

Ruler in Gehenna.

He teaches young ones to despise their parents and parents, their children and neighbors, each other. In his orchard are different plants; some for deceit, some for revenge. His favorites are the ones he gives to his favorites...to empower them to curse and speak against the king of Shamayin for though he knows his reign is limited, still he loathes his first master and chooses to war against Him. In a battle that will end all battles even if he can never win. But take as many of the subjects with him, subjects of the king!

He wanted to claim her, cause the king enough grief to reject her and make her choose Gehenna while he showers her with pleasures in exchange for her freedom.

Then he will win Diana!

*******

Diana rolled over in her sleep.

"Eashoa?"

"Hmm?"

"He said you're gonna go...", she rolled onto her back.

So she talks in her sleep, He mused.

When he felt she had calmed a bit, he turned over again but it wasn't long before she let out a blood curdling scream and began thrashing about, flailing her arms as well. Her her eyes rolled back till only the whites showed. The screaming only got louder when he neared her. Worry was etched on his features as he brushed tear after tear from her face.

Now he was really worried.

He knew she was having a nightmare, but urgency and rage took over when blood began to stream from her eyes made him angry.

"Diana! Wake up, come on! Don't let them get to you!" He was fanning her face with his hands and trying to calm her trembling body. Her foot shot out and sent a poor vase to it's early grave, she had sweat enough to drench the new sheets. The blood began pouring out of her ears as well as she continued to scream and thrash about.

"Eashoa....!"

"Isābōthäsi!"

This was a very dangerous thing to do for someone in her current state but it was necessary at the moment. The Isābōthäsi, or as it was often called in Shamayin, Aradyte; meaning 'salve' or healing balm is ancient technique he learnt while he was still in Shamayin. It was used to eliminate nightmares of the high priests when they battled demons in their sleep. Eashoa's was different. The chakra in him was different. The power he exuded was different. His was a forceful break into someone's mind to eliminate grief or in other cases, partake in people's dreams to fix anything. It was used rarely because not many people had the mind that could withstand the power of his chakra. He stopped practicing after a woman nearly died from it when he was much younger. If Diana's mind could not handle it then...

He broke into her consciousnes and watched what her soul was suffering; a circle of gremlins had her tied to a pole in the very center as the largest of them tried forcing a hot liquid down her throat. She seemed to be resisting but every time she did, she took a club to the face. She was far too weak already.

Gremlins dwelt in and ran errands in Gehenna. If they were here for Diana then it's not just her dreams to worry about. Her very life source was endangered. This was fresh torment to her soul!

"Aräbakī sóūjùkö Shamayin dámñkàíí bīdöújīnáï Madigel á bíbádóná!! Shonán!"

"EASHOAA! Báyíkár dúnáíí!! Help me!!"

There was a sound like rushing waves as Eashoa left her subconscious and watched with a bated breath, as she squirmed for a bit longer, her breath evened out and the screaming ceased. Things were quiet for a few minutes before her breath hitched and she regained consciousness.

She opened her eyes slowly and wiped the sweat on her forehead peeking from beneath her messy mop of hair at a very troubled Eashoa. She felt a headache coming even as her horrible dream replayed before her eyes like every other night.

"How long has this been going on?"

A few years.

"Quite a long time Eashoa, really long".

He looked grim as he sat next to her. The vein in his forehead kept twitching. He was visibly annoyed to say the least. He sighed aloud.

"Think you can sleep again?"

"No thank you"

There was a stretch of silence for a long time. After what felt like hours, her room mate began cleaning things up. He helped her wash her face and change clothes; the former being discarded in the fire. She was still trembling even as she drank from Eashoa's water pitcher.

An hour past and she was begining to settle down again but her too frequent jerks showed she would have a hard time achieving such a feat.

"Tati Diana. Come." She looked over at him wearily and drew up her walls but let them fall again when she saw the plea in His eyes. She took a step towards him but he covered the rest and engulfed her in an embrace. Her tears flowed again as her head remained buried in his chest. He kept whispering words of comfort in seven different languages, two of which Diana knew, and whispering in Hebrew promises of protection. They rocked together to and fro and it was as though time had paused to give her the peace she needed.

"Can– can I stay? Just like this?" She asked him, her voice hardly as audible as the sound of the feet of cockroaches in clay floor.
Eashoa picked her up and took her to His bed. He arranged her small frame next to his and she laid her head on his chest. Sleep hit her like a wave as she clutched to his linen vest for dear life.

Eashoa cried.

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Thank you for reading so far, I really appreciate your audience. Special thanks to bloomar_ng for the support. Means a lot.

Now I know I used a lot of language switching in this chapter but do not worry yourselves because half of it is made up. I'm sure it looks real enough for this olden vibe I was looking for so let me know what you think.
The chapters are pretty short for now because I've not really had time to sift through the whole thing but I need your encouragement, please click on the star at the bottom or the one at the top.

#onelove