Atius & Alcmene (The Twins)

Atius & Alcmene

(The Twins)

"Of course she sent you!" Atius huffed, gently grabbing his bottle of whatever this establishment believed was alcohol. What was this murky brown concoction? Atius was pretty sure he was drinking mud. Mud rolled in shit dipped in blood and served to him as whatever this liquid was. At least at home, he had access to the wine storeroom and wouldn't be drinking manure circa yesterday morning. Lifting the rim of the simple stone cup to his lips, Atius realized his mistake too late.

A solid black rod had briefly peaked into Atius' vision, one solitary heartbeat. In a downward swish of steel, Atius' container of fecal wine had shattered. Instinct kicked in as Atius followed the shimmering Obsidian forged weapon, another mistake. An hour ago, perhaps he had to the constitution to respond before the weapon flicked vertically to smash against the bottom of his chin. Atius did very little in his current state but squirmed his arms about in a failed attempt to catch the bar counter.

"Pass along my forgiveness to your mother, Alcmene." Atius couldn't believe what he was hearing. Atius' back smashed the ground reminding him how wet and cold the earth was in the Undercroft. This purveyor of Donkey Sanguine #2 should be apologizing to him, not his mother, and not Alcmene. Atius couldn't help but giggle a little, thinking all his sister needed was to "eat a dick," another mistake.

"Fu.." Coughed Atius as Alcmene stomped her left foot firmly across his knee, pinning him to the ground. "Fuck, your heavy!" Another crushing weight of a plate across his midsection. Alcmene was never a talkative soul. Atius was the charismatic twin. His sister Alcmene was always the muscle. The rock-hard muscles of a woman that tirelessly worked a forge. Her sculpted body had straddled Atius with a heavier thud than Atius was expecting, pressing the rod that broke his flagon and chin firmly against his throat.

Atius' eyes had burst wide as he gasped for breath. Chocking him was an extreme reaction, even for Alcmene. For Alcmene to come in full armor and assault him in a public establishment was overreacting. Atius had frequently fled from the safety of his mother's Inn. He kept reminding his mother if she trusted him to hunt demons, he should be able to enjoy the pleasure of a partner in his bed or a drink.

Alcmene dropped him in a heartbeat. She was always the stronger fighter. Atius would need three heartbeats to prevent the oxygen deprivation from dimming his vision. The starburst in his eye as brain cells died was enjoyable, but Alcmene wanted him hurt for whatever reason. Heartbeat one, Atius wrenched the section of the pole on his left side down. Managing to shift his weight and free his right hand, heartbeat two placed a palm upon Alcmene's armored chest. Screams of panicked patrons echo in the Undercroft as heartbeat three causes an explosion of ice to clash against Alcmene's armor, a vital mistake.

"Full armor?" Again coughed Atius as trickles of an ocean blue fluid collected on the curve of his lips. "Time out!?" Atius pleaded gracefully, arching his body to kip up to his feet. Again Atius was a heartbeat too slow. This time an obsidian steel mesh hand was grasping his shoulder, pushing him back into a tree. Atius could never match Alcmene physically in speed or strength.

"Okay, Fuck! I'll go back. You hooked your prize! May you bludgeon me with your smiths hammer," Grumbled Atius spitting at his sister. Alcmene hated being outside of her forge, away from her family. Atius understood this about his mute of a sister. There wasn't anything soft or sensitive about his sister. At least Belial could hold a conversation, even if that conversation eventually spiraled into lunacy.

"Atius..." Alcmene sobbed with a quiver that Atius had never heard before. A noticeable quake in tone jolted Atius to stare into the frantic gaze of his sister finally. He hadn't even noticed his ice blast had jostled free Alcmene's cloak.

"Alcmene!?" Alcmene's face was already bruising, her normal warm bronze skin swelling to a darker shade of violet. Blood, the color of cooled magma, was seeping from under her chest plate. Her usually pristine maintained obsidian armor, now missing many chunks, stained with black blood that couldn't be hers. Atius took too many heartbeats to realize what was happening, more mistakes. There was just too much awful wine, too much pride, and too much selfishness for him to have noticed before.

"The Crown" Atius wasn't prepared for the weight of his sister crumbling against him. How did she move under so much heavy armor? Atius took too many heartbeats to lay his twin upon the dark swamp floor. So many more heartbeats. Atius scrambled to remove the leather straps holding her armor together. More wasted heartbeats finding all the fucking punctures in her flesh, far too slow to see the quivering eyes full of water.

"I couldn't stop them!" Alcmene sputtered as the same cooled magma liquid filled her mouth.

"Stop talking, please! Someone Help!" Too many wasted heartbeats spent with blurry vision looking out as everyone had fled at the first mention of The Crown. Everyone in the Undercroft feared The Crown and his extreme vampire cultists. "NO! Someone HELP!" Atius called to the emptiness engulfing him. His hideaway was deep within the Undercroft none would hear his pleas no matter how loud he cried out. That was why he always chose the Undercroft to run to, more mistakes.

"He took them, Atius!" Alcmene’s voice had become a whisper. How many heartbeats would he have to spend helplessly watching his sister claw desperately at his chest with labored breath?

"Goddess, please, no.." Atius' turn to crumble upon his sister, desperately trying to keep her with him. Alcmene was the responsible one. She was the strong one.

"Atius?" One heartbeat it only took one solitary heartbeat to feel Alcmene slip away. Now Atius was alone. Atius couldn't imagine a world without his twin sister. His greatest mistake.