Chapter 693

~~ Trinity ~~ Actually, now that I think about it, Rudy probably didn't care if he died or not. He was just going to live the same useless and boring life until he wasted away. Why would he care? Why would he want to do that? I didn't say anything for a little while after that. I just thought about the lonely existence that Rudy had to have had. Rudy and all the others that came before him. And to think, there was another self-aware guard and all that he cared about was stopping me and punishing me. How was it that they could have such drastically different views on their lives and jobs? Maybe the position that they worked had something to do with it. Maybe the fact that Alexio was so intent on stopping me and doing his job, was that he had a different outlook based on what he saw in his job. Rudy, being a gatekeeper, was the one that had to hand out the punishments to everyone else and that would definitely be hard on people. Alexio was guarding somewhere deeper within Purgatory. He didn't have the same things to do. He didn't have to be the one to tell people where to go to be punished. This wasn't something that I needed to be thinking about though. Not at all. I needed to focus on our escape. Then I needed to focus on killing Hekate. I needed to get us through this and then I could think about what to do next. I could think about things like what to do about Rudy. I couldn't leave him here to die. But should I take him back with me? Should I bring him to the human world? Should I give him a place among my people and save him that way? I don't know why, but part of me was thinking that I probably should. I mean, I couldn't let him die just for helping me. That would be a total bitch move. Something that I would never forgive myself for having done. But how was I going to get him home with me, though? I mean, I still didn't know how I was going to get home. Whatever, I would figure it out. I wasn't going to leave him behind. Nope, that wouldn't be right. And I was going to try to be a good person for the rest of my life, mostly anyway. Alright. My mind was set. I knew what I was going to do. And I had thought about it all when I told myself not to. Oops. Oh well. It was done now and I was able to focus on the tunnel ahead of me. I mean, it wasn't like I could see anything beyond the tops of the boys' heads and Rudy's ass. It was an OK sight and all that, but I would much rather see Reece's ass in front of me. His was my favorite ass in the world. Both, the literal and figurative ones. I mean, there were plenty of times that he acted like a major ass, you know. Still, he was usually sweet now and that was all that mattered. GAH! Why do I keep thinking about these random thoughts? I needed to focus but I couldn't Dammit! All I wanted was to go home and be with my family again. This needed to hurry up and get to the end of this fight. I was just about out of patience for it all. "I see the end of the tunnel, Queen Trinity. I can see a light out there. I do not think that it will take us that much longer to get out of here." Rudy sounded way more excited to say that than I had thought he would be. He must not like this tight space. Hey, at least he didn't have claustrophobia. That could have ruined our entire escape plan. I had actually been lucky about that. Or had I been? I mean, do demons have issues like claustrophobia? Was that a thing among the inhabitants of the underworld? I didn't know and that was kind of bugging me. "That's good, Rudy." I finally commented about the light he was seeing. "Be very cautious when you leave the tunnel. We need to make sure that Alexio isn't around." "Yes, understood." "Zachary?" I called out to the boy. "Yes, Mommy?" He happily answered me. "How close is the door? How much further do we have to go?" "It is not too much further, Mommy. I can feel that it is somewhere over there." He pointed toward his right, that the direction we had been going in before Alexio had decided that he needed to stop us. That stupid giant asshole. Why did he have to be such a fucking pest? "He's right, Mommy." Zander added. "I can feel the door too." "That is good boys." I nodded at them even though they couldn't see me. It was just a habitual gesture. "Rudy, when we are out of here, we will run as hard and as fast as we can for the door." "Yes, Queen Trinity." He agreed and started to slow down. Apparently, we were close to the end of the tunnel. He was stopping so that he could peer out and check for danger. The area right here was larger than it was on the other side. Just at the mouth of the cave-like tunnel, and nowhere else. Still, that little bit of room, that small area that let us stand side by side was going to help out a lot. I shimmied along the wall, past the boys, to the wider opening in the cave. It was also a taller section of the cave which allowed me to stand completely and Rudy to straighten up just a little bit. "I will look with you." I told Rudy as we stood side by side, checking the surrounding area for Alexio and any other enemies. "I do not see him, Ma'am." Rudy spoke calmly. "I think that the coast might be-." That was when Rudy stopped short. He was not able to finish saying those words. Why couldn't he finish saying them? Because they weren't true anymore. While we were watching the area, we saw a flash that was unmistakable. Alexio had just run past the opening to the tunnel and was heading in the direction of the door. How had he gotten over here so fast? And why was he moving in that direction? What was he planning now? Well, let's see if I can answer those questions for myself. He got over here so fast because he was a giant rampaging bull that moved faster than almost anything that I've ever seen. Almost. I mean, David could go invisible with how fast he was able to move. He was literally the fastest person ever. OK, let's continue on to the next question. He was probably heading in that direction because he knew the door was there and he was going to guard it and block me from escaping. And well, that last one sort of answered the second and the third question so there was no more need for me to explain things to myself. "Dammit!" I snapped as I thought about what to do now.