Canto V

(There is no more time for rest. Laguardia had awakened me and told me we must once again set foot deeper into the dark bowels of the infernal abyss. We had soon reached the edge of the forest and came upon a large Colosseum. Multiple naked souls trembled and hid. Many shielded their eyes. In the center of the Colosseum was a great eye, a single ocular orb rotating to view upon all the souls in the stands. Then, an optic nerve sprouted like a tentacle and grasped one of the souls.)

*Man screaming*

Father, who is this great beast?

L: That is the Judge Minos, once a foul demon and powerful in his own right, but then the Dark One took control of all demons.

Minos: I see within your soul, mortal.

*Man continues to scream*

Minos: Violence, greed, oh so much to choose from... your punishment shall be severe, won't it?

(I noticed the severe hatred Minos had, and the pure enjoyment Minos had from then lashing its optic six times around the soul and then throwing him onto a large.)

L: Six times... six circles down. He is entering Violence. The number of times he lashes his tail around the soul is the number of circles the soul shall tumble into.

(The great orb tilted itself toward us.)

Minos: What have we here? If it isn't two wanderers. Well, I shall put both of you back where you belong!

*Whipping of optic nerve, my screams*

L: Minos, you are out of your jurisdiction! This mortal is still alive!

Minos: It is of no matter. He is already in Hell, of course. 

(I gaped, both in agony and in shock. This giant eye was intentionally crushing me. Not because it was its job, it was because the great eye took pleasure in it. Then, I remember looking towards the souls and seeing their eyes... only it was not their eyes. It was another pair of eyes for each of them, all judging and angry. Then I looked towards Lagaurdia. His eyes were also a pair of judging eyes. No... no... I remembered those eyes. I remembered the man who had them in life and I shall probably never forget those eyes. The eyes that looked at me with such hate that they had chased me to the ends of Italy.)

*Me screaming*

L: Minos, drop the wanderer.

Minos: Why must I? You can smell the heresy on him.

L: Minos! This breaks the code!

Minos: What code? There is only you... and I... and the heretic.

L: Minos, I warn you, if you do not let the boy go than the consequences shall be severe.

Minos: Bah. You are nothing but a Purgatorial Shadow, less than nothing! What could you possibly do?

L: Perhaps I should call one of the Demons.

Minos: ...no...

L: Yes. Perhaps some of the Malacoda may be greatly interested in your endeavors, breaking the codes set up by your treacherous Dark One.

Minos: ...you wouldn't dare.

L: You attack one of my greatest comrades and a chosen wanderer, and you think I wouldn't dare?

Minos: ... I concede to your terms.

(Suddenly, as if they had never been, the judging eyes of the one who had pursued me vanished into the nothingness it came from. The great eye looked contemptuously at me, then dropped me gently to the ground. One nerve motioned to the stairs, and then got back to its work of giddily torturing the souls that lay beyond. Past Minos we descended a ways and came unto a great whirlwind. We saw people yelling and moaning hysterically as they sped around the great circular wind. But the strangest part was it didn't seem to be air. It seemed to be a storm of blood. There was only one entry way; a narrow gap in the whirlwind. We were forced to pass through, but we noticed that as we continued our journey through, the tortured souls floated through the viscous fluid to sneer at us.)

"Look, if it ain't the priest."

"Pathetic and useless."

"The virgin. All his life and nothing to show for it. Bah."

Father Laguardia, these souls that taunt us. Why are they not suffering?

L: Look closer, Riccardo, and see that the lustful in life are forced to forever maintain a twisted version of their passionate image for the rest of time. They do not truly mean the things they say; if you look closely, you can see the gritting of their teeth, the tears welling beyond the blood. The Lust has overtaken all of them, and the Lustful are fully aware and completely regretful.

(Then, all but two of the souls left. The two seemed to be hideously formed into one, a male and a female, the part that had been welded together glowing a bright scarlet.)

L: These are the tortured souls of Paolo and Francesca. I believe you had heard their story before. An arranged marriage was set up for both of them. However, the arranger of the marriage, the groom's brother Paolo, became the center of her sinful lust. They had committed adultery and, in the end, took their own lives. However, their lust outweighs their suicide, and so they goad all the souls and wanderers for the rest of eternity.

Paolo: W-why, priest, do y-you shun the greater urges? Why do you not join us? (At this point, I could hear the cracking of age and regret in his voice.)

Francesca: Y-yes... I-I... (She remained strong for a long time, and was unable to speak.)

Paolo: Why do you not wish to join us? Why must you not be as to us?

Francesca: Why...?

Father Laguardia, can we not save these poor souls?

L: No. I'm afraid you ask too much of me.

You two. I refuse your offer. I cannot help you, and all I can say is that I look upon you in pity.

(Then the two began weeping, and suddenly the red bond glowed. They struggled against it, pulled their heads back away from each others', but then the crimson bond was too strong, and the two were forced to obsculate in front of us. Then the bond consumed them both, and drifted off, out of the center of the storm and into the wild outer winds.)

Father Laguardia, I have nothing more than the utmost pity for them.

L: Aye. And pity is all we can give these souls. Do not forget that they have chosen this of their own accord.

Father Lagaurdia... that may have been one of the tougher decisions I've ever had to make.

L: ...if you say that here, while we are so far from the epicenter of the realm, while we barely lie beyond the outskirts, still two circles away from the City of Dis, then you must learn to be stronger. Or else the challenges later will overtake you.

(We left The Lust Storm behind us, and rested on a cliffside facing the unholy precipice of the Gluttonous circle.)