by Jared Stone
“So, what do we have left?” Lucian asked, trying to remember what the remaining sins were.
“This portal apparently leads to Wrath, which should be followed by Sloth, Envy, and Pride,” Schuntz advised. “However, as the previous challenges have only symbolically connected to their respective themes at best, I am afraid that this finding still lends little clarification to what might lie ahead. Dante’s Inferno did not even contain separate levels for Sloth and Envy, so it would truly be blind conjecture at this point.”
Blake shrugged. “Guess there’s only one way to find out,” he said. The boy stepped up to the portal. “Almost halfway done,” he added quietly as he took the first step into the swirling red vortex. Lucian and Schuntz followed in after him.
12 - Wrath
???
The three travelers emerged from the red energy field onto a pebbly embankment. The air felt oppressively dense with humidity, almost as if every breath taken was more a drink than an inhalation of oxygen. The smell that invaded their nostrils was that of decaying vegetation and algae growth: not wholly unpleasant, but rather earthy and reminiscent of a bog or marsh. Visibility was almost completely obscured by a thick layer of fog hanging heavily around them, and this brought to mind, for Lucian, scenes from a movie in which three mobsters took a snitch down to the docks to “swim with the fishes.” He found himself hoping he wouldn’t share a similar fate.
“Wow, sure is foggy here,” Blake stated, as if the other two hadn’t already noticed. “Keep your eyes out for giant worm things again.”
“I find it highly doubtful that the creators of these realms would have employed the same challenge twice, Mr. Valenti,” Schuntz insisted scoldingly. “I am confident that they were, unfortunately, far more deviously creative than that….”
“Yeah, well, maybe that’s just what they wanted you to think…,” Blake shot back defensively.
“Either way, we should probably figure out pretty quickly what’s going on here,” Lucian chimed in, “so we don’t get surprised by some fireball, or herd of wildebeests, or swinging blades, or harpies, or some other freak occurrence that’s coming to kill us.”
Schuntz just stared at his student through the fog. “You have a very vivid imagination, Mr. Aarden,” the professor stated, clearly not intending it as a compliment. Before Lucian could comment, Schuntz began cautiously walking away from the portal and down the rocky slope, looking left and right as he did so. Lucian and Blake followed along behind him.
“So. Wrath, huh?” Blake inquired as he and Lucian made their way across the pebbly earth which shifted unevenly beneath their feet. “What kind of challenge do you think this will be?”
Lucian shrugged. “I have no idea,” he admitted. “Something about being angry, I guess? Or worse, something really angry coming after us….” He gulped audibly as he thought of this.
Ahead of them, Schuntz came to a sudden stop. Lucian and Blake came up behind him. “What is it, professor?” Lucian asked nervously, hoping that the man hadn’t stumbled upon whatever it was they had to run away from quite yet.
“I hope you are prepared to get wet once again, Mr. Aarden,” Schuntz answered, turning back toward the boy, “for it appears that this embankment leads directly into some kind of swamp.”
Looking around the professor, Lucian could indeed see that the sloped shore plunged into a greenish-brown muck ahead of them. The surface of the swamp lay still and stagnant, with a thick layer of viscous sludge floating over the top. Overall, Lucian would have much rather had to step into the freezing cold water of Gluttony again than this putrid puddle of filth.
“Dammit!” Blake exclaimed suddenly. “I told you it was gonna be worm monsters again!”
“Settle down, Mr. Valenti,” Schuntz scolded once more. “None of us has any conceivable notion what lies beyond these shores. But I would wager my life on the fact that it will not be more worm monsters.”
“Why are you so hung up on these worm monsters, anyway?” Lucian asked his roommate. “You seem really fixated on them or something.”
“I don’t know, man. They’re just… creepy!” Blake responded with a shudder. “They remind me of snakes, which is just totally not okay! Snakes are not cool with me!”
Lucian found himself smiling at this. “You’re afraid of snakes?” he asked Blake lightly.
“Pfft! No!” Blake exclaimed defensively. “I’m not afraid of them! They just creep me out, that’s all!” He crossed his arms across his chest as he said this and scrunched up his face in disgust. “Nothing good about snakes!!”
Lucian chuckled. “Alright, then…,” he said with skepticism clear in his voice.
“I’m serious, man!” Blake insisted. “I’m not afraid!”
“Well, to avoid this whole mess, can’t we just walk along the shoreline and see where it leads instead?” Lucian suggested hopefully. “I mean, this beach area seems to go on for a while in either direction. Maybe there’s another way around.”
Schuntz glared at him seriously. “Does such a simple course of action seem like something that would successfully overcome one of these challenges, Mr. Aarden?” he asked condescendingly.
Lucian hung his head. “Not really…,” he conceded.
Schuntz turned back toward the murky water. “No,” he began. “I fear that our destination likely lies on the other side of this swamp. And, to arrive there, we must wade through…, and face any obstacles that lie between.”
The three of them stood in silence for a solid minute staring reluctantly into the green filth before them, each seemingly waiting on the others to take the first step.
“Well, go on then!” Blake finally urged impatiently. Schuntz turned back toward him with a scowl.
“I am assessing the most strategic way by which to approach this situation, Mr. Valenti,” the professor retorted. “Success depends on previous preparation. Without such preparation, failure is certain.”
Blake folded his arms across his chest again. “Seems to me like you’re just too scared to go first,” he challenged.
Schuntz’s eyes narrowed. “If you are such a brave adventurer, why are you not already in there by now, Mr. Valenti?” he countered. “You have always been the first to charge ahead blindly into the thick of things. It seems now that you seek to impose upon others what you do not desire for yourself.”
Blake let out a disgruntled sigh. “Fine!” he stated, marching up to the end of the shore. “If none of you are gonna step up to the plate, I guess I’ll just have to do it again! Just remember, after I’ve been eaten by worm monsters, how I was always the one willing to jump in first!”
Schuntz shook his head in exasperation. “There are no worm monst-”
“YOU DON’T KNOW THAT!” Blake shouted, throwing his hands up.
“Hey! Why don’t I just go first?” Lucian suggested, stepping in front of Blake and gently moving him out of the way. “Seems to me like we’ll all have to do it eventually anyway. I might as well be the first one in this time.”
Blake let out a big sigh. “Thanks, man,” he said, finally calming down and patting Lucian on the shoulder. “I’ll be in right behind ya…, assuming it’s not poison or acid or anything.”
Lucian just stared at his roommate. “Why would you even…?” he inquired as a whole new assortment of possible grotesque death scenarios came flooding into his mind.
Bake just shrugged. “I don’t know. Just seemed like a possibility, I guess,” he said.
Lucian shook his head and turned to face the swamp. God, I really, really hope this isn’t acid, he thought to himself as he carefully stuck his right leg out and hovered it just above the fuzzy layer of green sludge floating atop the water. Placing the front of his foot down tenderly upon the surface and seeing that the sole of his shoe did not immediately disintegrate, he pushed down a little harder. The viscous layer gave a little under his force, but his foot still wasn’t able to punch through.
“This gunk seems pretty thick,” h
e commented back to his companions.
“You just gotta put a little more weight behind it,” Blake responded.
Lucian pushed down harder with his foot, sending a sort of gentle ripple across the surface of the swamp as far as he could see in the fog; yet the fuzzy layer remained unbroken.
“No, I’m serious,” Lucian insisted. “It’s, like, really thick.”
Blake stepped up beside him. “Dude, just kick through it,” he advised. Before Lucian could try again, Blake lifted up his big foot and drove it down into the sludge. This produced a ripple effect that created mighty waves from the point of impact, but these waves still remained encased by the top covering of strange growth.
“Wow. That is really solid,” Blake admitted.
Once the oscillations of Blake’s stomp had died down, Lucian stuck his foot back out past the shoreline. He placed the bottom of his shoe down once again, this time shifting his body weight onto it slowly. He felt the green covering give beneath his foot to a point, then support him, almost as if he was stepping into one of those bouncy castles he had loved so much as a kid. Bringing his other foot alongside his first, Lucian stood tenuously balanced upon the surface.
“I…, I think it’s stable,” Lucian posited cautiously. “At least, it feels like it for now.”
Blake stepped out onto the swampy terrain himself with a little more force behind his movements than Lucian had employed, causing the layer of flexible sludge around him to wiggle and almost send Lucian tumbling down.
“Hey, this is sorta cool,” he stated. “It’s like walking on a trampoline!”
“Please don’t start jumping!” Lucian cut in as he saw his roommate begin to bend his knees in preparation. He really wasn’t too anxious to face plant into this stinky, fungus-like substance.
“Oh, fine…,” Blake consented with a disappointed frown.
“Yes, I fear that this is not a time for trampoline-related revelry, Mr. Valenti,” Schuntz said as he, too, made his way onto the gelatinous layer. “Lest you find yourself leaping into the open maw of one of those worm monsters you so abhor.”
“Dude, that’s not funny,” Blake said, furrowing his brow. Lucian had to disagree.
Looking out into the dense fog before them, Lucian found himself wondering what was waiting for them out there.
“So, do we just continue on, then?” he asked.
Blake shrugged. “Might as well,” he said.
“Lead the way, Mr. Aarden,” Schuntz agreed.
With this, Lucian began moving forward. He found that it was tough going at first; but, once he got into more of a rhythm with it, it became significantly easier. It was very much like what he imagined walking on a water bed would feel like, if he had ever been fortunate enough to own one. The swampy water beneath him sloshed around with every step he took, but he was very relieved that he could actually still keep his feet dry through the whole process.
They had walked quite a ways before Blake spoke up again. “So…, where’s the next gate?” he asked. “I mean, this seems too easy. It’s gotta be harder than just walking there.”
“I am confident that the main substance of this challenge will present itself in time, Mr. Valenti,” Schuntz responded. “We can do nothing but adapt quickly to changing circumstances when it does.”
No sooner had the professor said this than Lucian looked up and beheld the massive silhouette of a man standing there before them in the fog. He must have easily stood ten feet in height, dressed in long dark robes over his broad shoulders and a long gray beard that reached down to his stomach. His eyes seemed to glow and burn with an intense fire deep inside as he stared at the party before him, and in his left hand he held a pole that was even taller than he was. Lucian stumbled back in alarm, coming very close to toppling over entirely.
“Halt!” the towering man commanded in a booming voice, holding up his right hand. The three travelers froze.
“Greetings,” Schuntz announced after a moment of silence. “My name is Professor Kazimierz Schuntz. My companions are –”
“I know who you are, Kazimierz Schuntz,” the giant man stated assuredly. “I am Charon, Ferryman of the Underworld and keeper of the River Styx. If you seek passage into the lower realms, only I am able to show you the way.”
There was silence once again, until Blake spoke up.
“Dude, I am just so happy that you’re not a worm monster,” he stated with half a nervous chuckle. “So, do we have to fight you or something?”
The ferryman’s eyes turned to the boy and flashed as if someone had suddenly stoked the fire within. “Ah, yes,” he said. “Blake Valenti. There is that ill-fated attempt at humor combined with false bravado that serves to poorly veil the insecurities of a terrified child who realizes that he will never be enough to make his mother happy, but will instead inevitably grow up to be just like his abusive and absent father.”
Blake stood there dumbfounded. “Ummmm, what?” he asked.
“You know of what I speak,” Charon stated coldly. “Your mind is plagued by the truth that you carry within you the very worst qualities of the man who abandoned you, like a demon lying beneath the surface attempting to claw its way onto the outward expression of your very being. Your portrayals of confidence and inflated sense of self are simply a façade, behind which you lie, alone and vulnerable, paralyzed by your dread of disappointing the very few on this earth who are foolish enough to love you.”
Blake, still taken aback by what the stranger was saying, contorted his face into a snarl. “Hey, who the Hell do you think you are!?” he shouted.
“What terrible things to say to this young man!” Schuntz interjected, as if scolding the ferryman. “No matter the faults of his parents, they deserve respect and honor! You are in no position to judge another man!”
Charon turned his gaze to the professor, the flames within his eyes seeming to burst forth even brighter. “Kazimierz Schuntz, the self-righteous ‘gentleman,’ wishes to speak of filial propriety, eh?” he taunted. “And where was your respect and honor when you selfishly forsook the only real parent you ever had? Do you truly believe that Argus understood why you abandoned him after he had devoted so many years to caring for you, giving you all the wealth and affection he had at his disposal? No. Your careless behavior destroyed him, tearing apart the most sacred bond between parent and child. Your lofty ideals of reciprocity and benevolence are nothing more than a hypocritical farce crafted to assuage your crippling recognition of your own shortcomings.”
Schuntz stepped forward defiantly. “I was young then,” he countered forcefully. “I was not yet aware of what was most important in life. I would have –”
“And what, then, is your hollow justification for Xun Mei?” Charon further prodded. “What of her? You know as well as I that your past failings are not simply mistakes, but rather indicative of a lifestyle of conflict and resentment. You failed as a son, only to then fail as a husband and father. You now even fail your students, who receive solely your scorn instead of guidance. For one who claims to so revere the five relationships, you wantonly cast away those who seek to form bonds with you, choosing to instead struggle and despise the world alone. Your hatred of human nature has conversely molded you into the very embodiment of the qualities you have learned to hate.”
Lucian could tell that the ferryman’s final comments had significantly wounded the professor, who stood there in silence looking both enraged and almost on the verge of tears.
“Why are you saying all this stuff?” the boy asked the guardian before them. “Do you just enjoy saying mean things to people or something? What are you doing?”
Charon then turned to Lucian. Lucian could see the furnace that now blazed in his eyes, as if the pain and rage he was inciting acted as nothing more than a bellows stoking his power. “Ah, the great Lucian Aarden,” the ferryman said mockingly. “Stepping in once again to be everyone’s hero. It is so exhilarating for you, is it not? To have lived life so powerlessly, only
to suddenly realize the depth and potency of your own capabilities. It is truly unfortunate that you always fail so remarkably….”
“That’s it! I’ve had enough of your insults!” Blake yelled out. He balled both hands into fists and lunged at the ferryman, attempting to strike him. But, as his first step connected with the green layer beneath it, the muck previously supporting him opened up, exposing a hole into the pitch black swamp waters beneath it. Blake fell through, immediately sinking with a splash until he was submerged entirely. Before he could even paddle his arms to stick his head up out of the water again, the viscous green growth flowed back over the hole, sealing it up. No more could be seen or heard from the boy.
“Blake!” Lucian exclaimed, striding clumsy over to where his roommate had sunk and dropping down to his knees. There was no movement beneath the thick surface, and, no matter how Lucian tried to claw and scrape, he was unable to tear his way through.
“What did you do to him?” Lucian looked up and yelled at the giant ferryman, who stood watching the spectacle mercilessly. “Let him go!”
“I have done nothing to the boy,” Charon stated. “He is simply a prisoner of his own anger, insecurities, and resentment.”
“I demand that you release him at once!” Schuntz commanded sternly. “I will not tolerate you toying with us any longer!” The professor held out his hand to the side and gathered within it a ball of red energy. But, as soon as he had done this, a hole similarly opened up beneath where he stood. The old man plunged into the abyssal waters within a second, and the hole had already sealed itself shut again before Lucian could scramble over to it. Lucian now knelt alone before the guardian of the swamp.
“Why are you doing this??” he asked desperately. “What do we have to do to make you happy and let us pass?”