Discovery

The Pope was in hiding.

He was being hunted by royal guards.

And upon capture, would be subjected to a tribunal.

For the first time in nearly a decade, Father Demetri felt like he could breathe a little easier. Despite the severity of the situation, he couldn't help but feel relieved that the sly tongued devil was finally facing the heat of his actions.

And this time, the problem was too severe for him to hypnotize everybody into braindead adoration.

Demetri had felt something lift off of him in the last 48 hours. Something that had been clouding his judgement and making him forget himself and his goals. Once the haze in his mind was gone, he knew he had been under some sort of hypnosis. One which forced compliance. 

And who else but the Pope would be responsible for it. It was the trademark of demonic power to hypnotize. Why kill when you could enslave?

Demetri headed straight for the library and pulled out the scroll he had retrieved weeks prior. It had been a bit difficult deciphering its exact meaning, but he was convinced it was a map description. It puzzled him as to why a map would be written rather than drawn, but it could only mean the location wasn't something anyone was meant to find. You had to solve a mathematical equation before you knew how to go about looking for an entrance.

And with the Pope's eyes and ears away from him, he was more determined than ever to find the hidden passage which led to the lowest part of the Cathedral.

Positioning a chair to prevent the door from being opened, he walked towards a section of the chamber wall and knelt down, examining the sun's rays on it. He moved his hand against it for a while, pressing his fingers against the marble. Finally, his thumb brushed past a tiny open space located next to a bookshelf. Examining it for a brief moment, Demetri pushed against it. He felt it budge a bit. Pushing harder, he watched a square section of the wall retreat. A light scrape sounded in his ears and the shelf next to him suddenly pushed out and turned to reveal a staircase.

His eyes sparked with both apprehension and excitement. Would this lead him to the Pope? How would that man react? And what exactly is he doing down there? Or has he already surfaced and is now on route to the palace to spew more lies?

I must dismantle him today! If he is not down here, then surely I will uncover incriminating information!

Grabbing an oil lamp and stepping inside, he pushed back at the square protrusion on the other side of the wall he was now standing in. The bookshelf turned and slid shut.

Holding the lamp up and out, he carefully descended the stairs. It went down for a while, each step adding to his chill. He shivered and saw his breath fog once he reached the landing step. Spreading his arm out in an arc, he gritted his teeth when his hand painfully smacked against the stone wall. He was in some sort of tunnel. He could tell this tunnel was rarely used by the amount of cobwebs and night critters.

Was this not how the Pope came underground? Did he use another passage?

Where am I? Did I get it wrong?

Walking forward, his footsteps were unsteady. The ground was uneven and at times he was stepping on soft earth, other times on broken rock. The light caused some spiders and beetles to drop on him. Grimacing, he threw off his robe and began to run. The tunnel grew narrower, making him feel claustrophobic. Demetri wondered if he'd made the right decision by coming down here.

What happened to the Pope's personal knights? Were they still watching him? Would they trap him down here? But he had not seen either one of them in over a week. What had the Pope done with them?

Spotting a door up ahead, Demetri noticed some strange markings on the wall. The shapes were circular and rectangular. There were some sentences written in an unfamiliar language, but before he could try to decipher them his attention was dragged to large bold words carved in the modern tongue.

And the message was daunting.

Beware, the Devil. Moniqua Del Montague.

Demetri stepped back in shock. "Lady Moniqua? What? How?" 

Suddenly a high pitched scream could be heard from behind the door and before Demetri could react, it blasted open. He fell back as dangerous wooden shards cut into his face and hands. The oil lamp fell from his grasp and crashed, shattering into pieces.

The light went out instantly, leaving him in complete darkness.