The two sided of a coin- Tales. The Day Heavens Wept Blood.

*Dike's POV*

Hell- it was but a concept, a mythical realm where they imprison the wicked in the afterlife for the sins they have committed, or just a reference to something terrible. Some say it's a fiery place. For some, it's absolute darkness or a never-ending nightmare. Some don't even believe in it- we just go through samsara, they say. But none can say for sure what this Hell really is like. I'm confident the Gods know all about it, but they won't even let a word slip- won't even acknowledge its existence.

But I always believed in it. Believed that from some place- in some form- in ways we cannot fathom, it follows us- haunts us. I've seen people's lives turning from heaven to Hell: forced to spend the rest of their lives in utter misery and sorrow… maybe that's Hell. For the most heinous criminals I've arrested, our Prison of Screeches is Hell- For a bloated, corrupt aristocrat, losing his wealth and status is.

Everyone has their own version of Hell, all terrifying in their own right… and this was mine.

An ominous red beam of light, shredding past the sky through that massive vortex of bloody clouds above. The entire city covered in the most sickening red. Booming vicious red lighting curling up in the cluster of clouds raining down actual warm blood onto the neat streets, flooding everything with a gut-churning stench of rot and decay. The thick red coating the brilliant Magic Lamps flared like torches lit by the devil, hueing the city in an even sinister glow.

Those horrified screeches that drowned the city- the good people, running for their lives, abandoning each other as they climbed over others for whatever shelter they could find. Covered in their own puke and blood, they pushed the weak out in the rain. Mothers and fathers cursed and punched anyone who came their way to the closest shade.

The kind lady I bought snacks from just minutes ago- she shoved a knife into a man's heart right in front of her own child, only to secure her little one a spot below the tree. The giggling kids playing by the swings just moments ago- now covered in blood, shrieked and cried to their parents- lost were those bright, innocent smiles of pure joy.

Seconds… in mere seconds, the calm and harmony we fought so hard to uphold shattered into millions of pieces, right in front of our faces, while all we did was… just stand there.

Welcome to My Hell.

We may be the Law Enforcement, but how do we command the sky?

Even so, I had to do something. So-

"Themis…" I cried to the name which held the answers I sought.

But silence replied to me instead as she -unlike the others- scowled at the crimson ray of light in the hatred I never saw in her eyes before. She stood beside me, shoulders trembling, her chest heaving though bloody gritted teeth, eyes stretched to the brink, clutching my hand as we stood drenched in the roar of blood beside the fountain, surrounded by the crimson glowing magic lamps- a sight that will haunt me forever.

"Themis!" I called out again, "Tell me what's going on!"

"The highest order of sin…" She hissed, "A mortal has killed a God!"

My soul, as though froze the instant her words ended. For a mortal to kill a God? Never in my life had I imagined this could come to pass. Even the act of hurting a God is blasphemy! It was not even a possibility in the book; after all, no one's dumb enough or evil enough to hurt a God, much less kill one. It's as though murdering one's own parents- it was the natural law of the world itself!

Gods are the reason the world is what it is today- they are the sole reason we can fight back the monsters below. And for a mortal to kill one?

Unthinkable! Beyond twisted!

"Dike," growled the Goddess of lovely cheeks as she let go of my hand, "No matter what you have to do… that monster must not escape!"

"Rest assure, Themis," I said, "No one can protect him now!"

"Now go!" My Goddess decreed.

And I did as told.

My feet shot ahead in the strongest sprint they could, zeroing to the garden's 5-meter tall fence, but not even for a second did my pace slowed.

-Woosh!

A single stomp to the sticky ground- I hurled myself past and above the metal bars- and onto the streets.

Everywhere I gazed at, all I saw was chaos. Merchants, desperate to cover their stock, while others too disgusted to stay a moment more as they scrambled to the closest shelter, abandoning it all. Horrified wails of children filled the streets as they hugging their elders, who were too busy puking to hush them a pet. Some even broke into other's homes for shelter.

Never imagined the lovely flowers adorning the streets could look so demonic.

How many times have I walked these streets?

The man in the corner getting beat up by those hysterical looters- I would buy breakfast from him every day.

That woman cradling her little girl from this Hell- she sold the best pancakes I've ever had.

I realize it now- just how fragile what we built really is.

In mere moments, this stunning city was bathed in blood and the stench of rotting death.

In mere moments, so many smiles that monster traumatized forever- so many lives he ruined.

I wanted to help them… how I wanted to help them! But I couldn't. That monster cannot escape!

How it killed me to see such chaos, with no choice but to look away.

I knew for a fact that I wasn't the only one rushing to that pillar. I didn't even have to look around the sky- I knew the other Familias were on their way. It would come to me as no surprise if I saw some already amid their own investigation.

'Damn it!' I clenched my jaw, lunging from roofs to roofs. I just hoped the officers there would be able to keep them from entering the crime scene.

Soon, the roofs turned into pavements- then pavement turned into roofs again, as I dashed with all my might, forcing my legs and lungs beyond what I ever thought they could go.

And that's when-

-Shing!-Woosh!

The unstoppable flow of time- stopped, halting the world as it spun- freezing me in the air, in the middle of that jump along with every form of life in this world.

But only for a second.

And the moment that second passed-

That heaven piercing pillar of light vanished- it didn't just slowly die out, it disappeared in an instant- like it was never there… As if the Hell, we all just saw was nothing but a dream, a hallucination… or maybe an ugly prank by the heavens.

The sky flipped clear, so did the clouds, reviving the starry sky to its previous glory. No lighting boomed my ears anymore. No blood- I was dry and warm again, the streets themselves were dry too, not even a speck of that sickening red was in sight. The aroma of various street foods once again caught my senses… a smell I never thought would feel so precious.

It was like a switch being flipped off, the apocalyptic red vanished... just like that.

People drunk in chaos as though after a slap, sobered up, just frozen- too paralyzed to move, or form a thought.

But I had no time for sightseeing. My feet never stopped, driven by the single-minded mission to reach the cause of it all.

And soon, I arrived there… arrived at the gates of Soma Familia, or what was left of it at least.

There I stood dumbstruck on a roof, staring blank at the colossal crater that was once Soma Familia.