The painting above the altar seemed to shift in the candlelight. The crimson warrior's eyes gleamed brighter, and the demon head he held appeared to pulse, as though something within it still lived.
"A prayer to the watcher of the Blazing Sun, for its crown is everlasting..."
Nero felt a chill run down his spine. He didn't know why.
The words were familiar as he'd heard them all his life. But there was something about hearing them here, in this place, that made his skin crawl.
"And a prayer to the kings of Tartarus, that they may never wake from their slumber."
The prayers ended.
The Red Mother raised one skeletal hand, and the congregation sat.
Nero sat with them, his body moving on instinct while his mind remained elsewhere.
The mass continued.
