literature

9 Circles - Round 4 vs Casino Carmada

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ROUND FOUR: Symbol of Avarice

“Theron, what are you doing?”

“You’ll see. Indulge me just a moment more, my love. Now hold out your hands.”

Callidora chuckled under her breath, but did as her beloved instructed. A small weight dropped into her outstretched fingers, like a small stone. “Alright,” Theron nodded. “Open your eyes.”

So she did. The ‘stone’ Theron had dropped into her hand was an exquisite sardonyx, polished to a gleaming finish, with a long, thin cord of gold and copper dangling from it. The Athenian couldn’t help but gape quietly. “Theron, where did you--”

“Don’t let that concern you – it would ruin the mystery,” Theron laughed. He lifted the semiprecious necklace from her hand and instead latched it around her neck. “Just enjoy it. It’s the first gift of many to my darling bride-to-be.”


---

“Oi, Athens!”

Callidora jumped with a start, lunging for her spear and preparing to bury it into the first warm body she could find. Luckily, before she found her target, she returned to reality…if you could call their current situation that.

Regaining her calm, she dropped the battered weapon, much to the relief of the half-elf that had been elected to wake her up. “Next time, perhaps it would be in your favor to be less loud.”

“Or maybe next time, you could be a little less trigger-happy,” Byten pouted.

“Trigger what happy?”

“…Never mind, turn of phrase. Anyway, Creep and Creepier just made it out. The door scabbed up behind them, so looks like this is all of us.”

“Lovely.”

Now fully awake, Callidora stretched out her arms and tried to shake off the scare. She had dozed off on their little platform, dangling on the edge of Lucifer’s third and fourth circles. With no new judge appearing to escort them, and the relative safety that Byten and Spencer wouldn’t murder her on the spot (at least without direction), a brief respite seemed in order. (It wasn’t the most restful sleep, but it was still the first time she had been off her feet since the competition began. If nothing else, it gave her clothes a chance to dry off – her sandals were once again wearable, though like everything else she had on, they still reeked of dog goo.)

Three more had joined their trio, bringing the final number to six. (Apparently, Lucifer was quite serious earlier when he demanded their numbers always be even; still, it was a bit of a relief to see Mordecai not back amongst their ranks.) The one newcomer  - they would later learn her name was Mull - was a tall, spritely blonde, wrapped in knight’s armor with a worker’s rawhide hat lowered over her eyes and a pristine blade hanging from her hip.

Callidora couldn’t help but frown a bit; while the new girl seemed to fare no better against the sludge and smells of Gluttony, something about her seemed not as…well-worn as the rest of their remaining brood. She shrugged off her suspicions, though. Whatever her secrets, they would reveal themselves eventually. It hardly mattered if Lucifer put six or six-hundred opponents in front of her – she had gone too far to be thrown out of the game now.

As Byten mentioned, two more rushed down the cobbled path to meet them – Creep and Sange, scurrying and stumbling for their lives, as if they had just barely escaped their judgment with seconds to spare. The gory hole in the oozing, fleshy wall they had all emerged from sealed up into a fresh, bloodied scab, the sounds of sick squelching and slick squishing echoing through their temporary limbo.

With the final six united properly, it left only one question: what next?

“Excuse me, competitors?”

All turned around to find a seventh on their platform. She was a pretty dame, almost good-looking enough to have fallen straight from the circle of Lust. Her golden curls were pinned into place with elaborate jewels, the same ornaments that covered her neck, wrists, and fingers. Her nails, sharp and lengthy like talons, sparkled in the dim lighting, as if they too were made of gem dust and gold leaf. A silk cloth wrapped around her voluptuous form; the fabric was soft and shining, as if made of pure liquid gold.

She was covered in so much gold and so many gemstones, it took a few glances to realize that her eyes had been gouged out and replaced by raw, uncut emeralds.

She smiled a coy, painted smile. With a wave of her bejeweled claws, a plush red carpet rolled off of their platform, leading the path further down in the dark depths below them.

“Signor Carmada will see you now.”

---

After so long in the darkness, all of the contestants cringed and hissed as they reached the fourth circle. Bright golden lights bounced off of every surface, almost replicating the sun in its heat and glow, scorching their eyes that had begun to adjust to the pitch black above them.

The escort guided them through, over steel grates dripping in molten gold, across treacherous caverns where souls of the damned drowned and burned forever in their own opulence. She walked them up a hill, where they passed soul after soul, crushed under the weights of heavy burlap bags as they struggled to push them up the unforgiving slope. Every glinting gold surface merely reflected the anguish of the damned around them. In life, they surrendered their spirit for gold – here, that choice would forever destroy them.

Toward the top of the unconquerable mountain was a building, dripping in gold and jewels as the rest of its circle. Flashing lights sat above the door; while Callidora wasn’t familiar with the modern tongue, the parts of the group that were all cheered and ‘oohed’ at what the sign promised them.

Standing at the door was a man, his all-black garb sticking out wildly in the shimmering lights of the circle of Greed. His suit was slick and proper, save for the bloody bullet holes across his knees, arm, and chest. A black fedora sat on his head, shadowing the black mask that covered his face.

He extended them a welcoming bow. “Buona sera, contestants, benvenuto. I am your master of ceremonies for this round, Van Carmada. Are you all ready to play a little game?”

His only answers were six tired glares. “Goodness, Lucifer’s been putting you all through your paces, I see,” Van noted with a cough, straightening up. “Then my round will be just what the doctor ordered, won’t it?

“See, contestants, the tricky thing about blood is that it’s TERRIBLY hard to wash out of fabrics. I’m sure most of you will learn that when you see the dry cleaners after you get home. Really, look what it’s done to my suit. Anyway, I’ve just had my little arena cleaned up for you all, so I’d appreciate it if you didn’t get each other’s bodily fluids all over my carpet.”

He chuckled at the sight of all of their confused faces. “That’s right. You lot won’t be killing anyone this round.”

“Instead, you’ll be looking for these!” Van dug into his pocket and pulled out a small, plastic disc, painted emerald green with white stripes along its ridges. “Poker chips – what’s a casino without them, right? They’re hidden all over the place in there, and it’s YOUR job to figure out how to get them. You can take them from my girls, any damned souls you might find crawling around in there…even each other, if you so choose.”

Callidora tightened her grip on her spear. If this contest came to a physical fight over these chips, there was no guarantee that Van’s ‘no murder’ rule would hold out.

“Three-hundred is the number to beat,” Van continued to explain. “You may find more, but don’t you DARE find less. Once you’ve hit your number, rush them back out to me. If you pass the counting, you pass the test, and a ticket into the next round is yours! Any questions?”

“One,” Spencer spoke up. “How many chips are there for us to find?”

Van chuckled. “Six-hundred. Enough for two tickets to Circle Five; shame there’s a whole six of you out here. Since this is a no-murder round, perhaps you’ll decide to get a little cozy with your competitors, hmm? Pairing off would ASSURE that the two of you make it to that next circle…assuming your partner doesn’t hoard that 301st chip and doom you to save their own skin.”

Callidora glanced to her competitors. Creep and Sange were nodding and snickering amongst themselves, while Byten and Spencer were already exchanging glances and preparing their plan of attack. Then she glanced to Mull, who looked far too preoccupied in the directions to look around.

Alone again, I see. How typical. Callidora rolled her eyes, but looked back as her xiphos nudged her shoulder. It forced itself into her free hand, allowing her to wrap her fingers around the tired leather that made up the handle. She took a deep breath, spinning the blade and allowing the goddess’ magic to flow through her. Then again, Athena’s always been the only partner I’ve ever needed.

Van stepped aside, tipping his hat towards the door as the black marble gates slowly creaked open. “Good luck, competitors – though in a casino, there really is no such thing, is there?”
CIRCLE OF GREED, GET HYPE. :eager:
sorry guys for the way over repetition of "gold," "wealth," and every other adjective i could find. circle of greed is shiny as butts, man

Anyway, I hope you guys like cameos, 'cause there's a lot of them in this round. XD If these challenge rounds continue, then it's probably going to be the six of us for a long time coming. Best make peace with it and get you losers involved in my entries so it's all the more heartbreaking when I inevitably have to kill you all.
As usual, if anyone has a problem with how their character is portrayed, please let me know so I may correct it.

Alright, I'll quit rambling. You guys get going, this is a multi-part entry, go read the rest of it. :nuu:

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PART ONE | PART TWO | PART THREE

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Created for the :iconthe9circlesoct:

Callidora (c) xmayflowerx
Van Carmada (c) Iyanor

Byten (cameo) (c) scytheblade
Spencer (cameo) (c) Android3000
Creep (cameo) (c) NirnrootThirtyTwo
Sange (cameo) (c) Zombard
Mull (cameo) (c) anthropomorphiccanin
© 2014 - 2024 xmayflowerx
Comments6
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Android3000's avatar
I loved the intro, got to see a little more of the man Calli's fighting for XD