Probably every person sucked oxygen in one motion creating a huge gasp. Silence rolled on us and I smirked when Astrid's body slumped, chains barely holding her.

In one swift motion I pulled the knife out of her body, causing blood seep out and painting her white dress crimson red. I turned to the crowd and dramatically licked the knife.

'Murderer!' Someone shouted and scared murmurs rolled down the crowd. I lifted my head and the hood fell back, showing my plastered insane smile.

'Please, do join us on the stage! The candles are still burning!' I shouted back to whoever shouted. No one replied. I looked around through the crowd and sneered.

'Why are you afraid?! You love your Gods so much, so why are you afraid of seeing one yourself?!' I shouted sarcastically. Dead silence answered me.

'Cowards!' I shouted to them.

I walked to the candle to my left and in one motion killed the flickering fire.

'Hades!' I shouted and paused for more dramatic scene. Walking to the middle candle I killed the light.

'Hades!' I shouted and paused again. Graveyard silence.

I reached the last candle and killed the light on it too.

'Hades! If I'm going down to Tartarus then better pack some snacks because you are coming with me! We will have a lot of time together!' I shouted with a mocking smirk.

No one said anything and the crowd was dead silent.

And then I began laughing. It was staged, but it sounded quite natural.

'You morons! Do you really think I would kill someone just to try to call one of your imaginary masters?!' I sneered and began walking alongside the podium, towards the sword that belonged to Astrid.

Suddenly, a freezing shiver ran down my spine. I sucked in air in surprise, but proceeded forward and picked the sword.

'Wake up, friend!' I shouted for everybody to hear and walked towards Astrid.

She rose her head and with a weak push with her hands, chains broke and she gracefully landed on the ground. A wave of awe and gasps rang throughout the field, but I ignored it. Those people did not interest me.

'Damn girl, you weren't lying about blowing our brains' she smirked and we clasped our hands in front of us in tight grip.

Don't play with me, mortal

A cold voice rang in my mind and I froze. It sounded like a real trouble. I turned around and my eyes landed on the tent right before me. I saw red eyes looking at me from the darkness and I sucked in some air. My body was stiff and my mind went into a turmoil. One side was saying that Gods actually exist, but another, the scientific part of me, said that it was impossible. And the latter won.

I raised my hand towards eyes and smiled.

'Hello from the other side! I must have called a thousand times!' I sang, my eyes never leaving the red ones.

'What are you doing?' Astrid asked amused and I turned back to her. A growl rang in my head, but I ignored it. It's just my imagination. I'm surprised I haven't went into insanity in this place.

'Making friends' I joked and saw a glint in Astrid's eyes.

'With your husband to be? That's good' she said with a smirk and I felt shivers run down my spine again. But this time it felt like something was actually standing behind me. I forced a smile, trying to hide my uncomfort.

'And you say I make fun from your Gods' I rolled my eyes, but saw a glint of worry in Astrid's eyes. But with the smile she hid it away.

'I only speak the truth'

'Yeah right. Good luck' I hugged her.

She hugged me back and after we pulled back, she tore the dress from her, showing her reall clothes. She wore crimson red pants that were tied by her knees, giving it a puffy look, the same colour short top that showed her abs. Her hair was tied up into a fancy hairdo adored by golden chains. She had a golden bracelet on her right arm and left ankle.

I gave her the sword with rubies inserted into hilt and took torned dress. With the last smile I left the stage.

<><><><><><><>

I was able to persuade guards and the very angry poker face monk to let me stay and watch Astrid's performance. According to him, after every performance, the chosen one has to be brought right back to monastery for the judgement. I guess I broke that rule.

Astrid's performance was amazing. She danced while wielding enormous sword. No wonder I struggled to carry it to Astrid. While she danced, her golden chains and bracelets glinted from fire and created a mystical feel.

When she walked down the podium, I gave her a cloth to wash her sweat.

'That was amazing!' I said with a wide smile.

'Thanks, I did my best' she grinned.

We weren't able to talk properly because very angry poker face monk came and ushered us towards already waiting cart/carriage. This time I followed the orders and both of us climbed in.

And yet the feeling that someone was next to me didn't disappear.

It was a quick way back and when we entered the monastery Astrid pulled me into crushing hug.

'I hope I'll meet you tomorrow' she whispered and power walked away, towards her bedroom. I felt sadness come and I sadly smiled.

'You too' I whispered after her and walked to oposite direction.

The only thing on my mind was sleep. After the performance I was exhausted.

I turned to my corridor and instantly felt that something was wrong. Aproaching my room I noticed that my front door was opened. I felt worry swell in my belly and I pulled my hidden knife out and carefully walked into my room.

With quick scan and check of places like wardrobe and under bed, I sighed a little bit easier. Maybe I just forgot to close it.

I groaned and pulled my clothes off my body and replaced it with a long night gown. By the time I reached the bed, my eyes were barely opened.

When I reached my bed, I just dropped down, but it was followed by pain from my hip. I hit something hard.

'Fuck!' I shouted and rolled away only to fall from the bed on stone floor. I groaned annoyed and half crawled back to bed.

My eyes landed on a small long box. I grabbed it confused. It was black made from some kind of stone and had fancy engravings of thorns on the side. At the top, in the middle, was a keyhole with roses at the sides.

But as much as I wanted to open and see what was inside, I was half sleeping. I carefully put it on my nightstand and slithered under my bed sheets.

'I will investigate you tomorrow' I mumbled to the box and instantly fell asleep, completely forgeting about "judgement" thingy.