Rispetto è Principale

Paws was roaming through Rome. It had taken months to try to convince others to come with her, but in the end she had talked and even blackmailed Tayten and Acqura into coming along. In return for her generosity and pestering, she was forced to listen to the two other women complain to her for the entire international plane ride, the layover in Germany, and the flight from Germany to Italy. The only time she had gotten a reprieve was when the two of them had to sleep to recover from jet lag.

Now it was two days after they arrived, and both of them were wide awake. Luckily, Paws had been able to bribe Tayten, again, with some gelato(ice cream type stuff). Acqura was a completely different story.

“We’re lost.”

Paws looked over the edge of her map at the other woman. Acqura was startling to anyone’s eyes and every once and a while Paws was still slightly taken aback by her beauty. She had semi-long hair that was black at the roots but had white flaming up her back at varying lengths. Her eyes were bright blue and shocking against the black locks that framed her face. She was clad in a leather vest the lunged down her chest and was held closed by four metal clasps. Her pants were loose around her legs but tied at her waist and each of her ankles. Soft leather sandals were on her feet.

Paws herself was by no means ugly. She had silver hair that fell to her waist. Her eyes were a bright blue silver and, like her friend, she had fangs. Also like Acqura, her clothing was not normal for the time period. She was dressed in loose fitting pants that appeared to be a skirt. Her shirt was also loose with sleeves that went just past her elbows. All the cloth was a light blue. Yes, Paws was just as pretty as Acqura, only in a different way.

“We are not lost!” Paws exclaimed, exasperated with her friend.

Sticking a spoonful of gelato in her mouth, Tayten looked over Paws’ arm at the map. She started coughing when she tried to laugh with gelato in her mouth. The two others stared at her until she caught her breath. Taking the spoon out of her mouth, she looked over at Acqura.

“We’re lost.” The younger woman confirmed.

Compared to the other two, Tayten could be considered plain and boring. Her hair was a light brown, highlighted with copper, that waved gently just past her shoulders. She had eyes that often changed shades, but was usually described as a light grey. The clothing she wore was plain as well; jeans with a rip at each of the knees, a dark t-shirt, and a black zip up sweat shirt tied around her waist. Around her wrists were a multitude of bracelets and wristbands, there was also a ring on every other finger. There was even had an armband around her small bicep. She was cute, but really could not stand out in a crowd without her friends.

“And what makes you so sure we are lost?” Paws countered.

Tayten looked at her. “You are reading a map that was written three hundred years ago.”

Acqura laughed and put her arms around Tayten’s shoulders. “Leave it to the 18 year-old to notice something a magical high priestess misses.”

“At least I can read a three hundred year old map.” Paws growled, rolling her eyes at them.

“And where will that get you in the world?”

“A job as high priestess and almost unlimited magical powers.” Paws countered sweetly.

“But it won’t get you through modern day Rome.” Tayten sighed, taking Paws’ map from her hands. “Hold on a sec.”

She folded and handed the map back to Paws before approaching a small group of nice looking people.

“Ciao,” She said as she came up to them. “Do any of you know where we can find a map? Ours seems to be a little out of date.” Her words were English, hoping they understood.

One of the group, a man, smiled at her.

“Well bella, if you go on a date with me I’ll be your personal tour guide.” He said in a very sexy Italian accent.

Tayten could not help but blush and raise an eyebrow. “I’m gay… so I don’t think that would work.”

The man frowned and nodded at Paws and Acqura. “What about your friends?”

Paws stepped behind Tayten just as he spoke. Her eyes scanned over him once and she raised her left hand to show off the plain ring that glittered on her finger.

“Sorry.” She cooed, “I’m married.”

He looked at Acqura, who bared her fangs at him.

“I’m a murderer.” She stated simply. “One not lightly crossed.”

The man blinked and looked back to Paws with a smile. “Your marriage does not concern me. I am fine with a ring around your finger.”

Paws smiled briefly at him. “Maybe so, but I am incredibly loyal to my husband. He would kick your ass if he found out I slept with you.”

Confused, Tayten leaned into Acqura. “I though Paws’ husband was kind of wimpy.”

Acqura shook her head. “Sweet and soft-hearted, yes. Wimpy, no. Paws has no patience for those who cannot hold their own.”

“Look,” Paws snarled at the man. “Tell us where we can find a map, or have us cut out your tongue.”

The man glared. “The Vatican will have a lot of maps.” He said in Italian to spite them. “But I doubt a trio of gay whores will be allowed in.”

Paws’ smile became fixed. “Only one of us is gay.” She replied in perfect Italian. “The rest of us are simply too good for you.” Turning her back to the man, she looked at her friends. “Let’s go to the Vatican!”

Tayten blinked. “You know what the Vatican is…right?”

Paws rolled her eyes. “Yes, I do, thank you. It is no big deal. They have statues of goddesses too. I can simply ignore the Jesus stuff.”

Tayten shrugged. She and Paws looked at Acqura.

Sighing, Acqura glowered back. “Not exactly how I was planning my day to go. But, it is bound to be interesting.”

Smiling to each other, they ignored the angry grumbles from the man and headed in the direction of the largest house of the Christian God.

--

After about two hours of waiting in a line the trio was about to get in when a man stepped in front of them. His eyes were wide and glued to Acqura’s relatively revealed chest area.

“E…excuse me.” He stuttered, causing all three women to look at him with various looks of annoyance.

The man seemed to lose his focus. Rolling her eyes, Acqura snapped her fingers in front of his face.

“Stop the fantasy buddy boy, before we see what you’re thinking.” The woman muttered.

Tayten giggled.

“Oh! Right!” The man blinked and shifted his eyes. “Sorry, shoulders have to be covered. He shot a glance at Acqura. “And no knees can be seen.” He pointed at Tayten’s pants.

Tayten gave Acqura a fake pouting look. “Aww, damn. I love the cleavage.” She glared at the man. “There goes all the sex day-dreams.” Still muttering, she dug into her purse and pulled out two safety pins. Ignoring everyone’s strange looks, she pinned the rips in the knees of her jeans. She looked back up at them, as innocent as could be.

“And why didn’t you bring her lover?” Acqura whispered in Paws’ ear.

“I didn’t have enough money for another ticket. She also didn’t accept my bribes.” Paws explained as she worked magic over Acqura. Before their eyes, a dark brown cloak appeared on Acqura.

Once more the man’s eyes widened. “Is that covered enough for you?” Paws asked sweetly as she slid past him with the others into the Vatican city.

“You know Paws, one day you might get in trouble for your magic.” Tayten pointed out as they walked into the first court yard. “What’s with the pinecone?” She nodded towards a very large statue of a pinecone.

“A pinecone is a symbol of the goddess.” Paws explained as she fwapped Acqura in the stomach. “See, I told you they had pagan-ish stuff.”

Acqura rolled her eyes. “Oh, so sorry. Next time I won’t question your knowledge.”

“Who has been fornicating with the devil!?” An angry voice boomed.

All three women turned to look at the source of the voice.

“Paws! It’s the Pope!” Tayten exclaimed, not really a religious type, but still curious to see who was having demon fornications.

The Pope spotted them and strode over to them. “I see it. I see the devil and his demons in you.” He turned to Tayten and put his hands on her shoulders. His face turned serene. “You, my daughter, can still be saved.”

Tayten’s eyebrow shot up. “Excuse me?” Her voice was stunned. “Sir, I mess around with a goddess every night I can.” At his equally stunned look, she grinned. “Yeah, you heard me right.” She stepped out of his arms.

A moment later, Paws’ hand touched his shoulder, making him flinch. “Back away from the gay girl and explain yourself Pope.”

“Don’t touch me witch!”

Acqura snorted.

“Well you have that part right. Now, tell me why you are screaming at us?” Paws asked.

The Pope studied her for a moment. “Have you two not looked in a mirror? You have fangs and unnatural appearances!”

Paws and Acqura glanced at each other.

“So?” Acqura asked.

“Clearly you two have had contact with demons, or even the devil himself!” the Pope answered.

“So that’s what Devi is.” Acqura muttered.

Paws looked at the Pope. “Look, if you back away and let us enjoy the artwork we won’t… what’s the word?”

“Fornicate?” Tayten supplied.

“Yeah! That’s it! We won’t fornicate with the devil while we are here. In fact, we won’t even think about it.”

The three women turned to leave but the Pope stopped them.

“I will not allow the likes of you three to pollute this most sacred area!”

Paws froze. “Other than our looks and sexual preferences, what is wrong with us? Why are we not allowed here?”

The Pope sneered. “You are a company consisting of a homosexual, a dabbler in dark magic, and a succubus.”

Paws’ silver eyebrow arched. “Sir Pope.” She said with as much respect as she could have for a man like him. “We are nothing but three women with different views and gods than you. No more. We do not have sex with demons…”

Tayten coughed.

“…we will not try to lead others down our paths. That is the furthest from our minds. As for our power and our looks, they are blessings from our respective goddesses.”

The look on the Pope’s face did not comfort her at all. She stared at his anger distorted face.

“You are blasphemers! Get out of my city and enjoy your hell!”

Paws smiled. “Oh I will! Tell me Pope, who goes to hell?”

The Pope looked slightly taken aback. “Those who do not follow the Christian ways are condemned to the fiery depths of hell.”

The witch smirked. “Alright then, hell will be one big party.” She looked over at her friends. “Don’t you three agree?”

They all smiled and nodded very enthusiastically.

The Pope looked stunned. “You will be condemned to an eternity of torture!”

“So be it.” Paws said. “If I am sent to hell for being a majority, more power to me.” She smiled. “Think of all the interesting people there.” The Pope looked like his heart was about to stop and Paws smiled more. “Did you realize Christianity was a minority?”

The Pope stuttered a bit. “God will have mercy on their souls. He may even have mercy on yours.”

“Goddess, I hope not.” Paws replied. “I do not want the Christian God judging me like you do.”

He puffed up and clenched his fists at her. “Get out of my house blasphemous witch.” He snarled. “Before you defile it with your words.”

She smirked and pointed to the statue of the pinecone. "You hold the symbol of my Goddess there! Another of her symbols flies over your head every night! Your god and mine seem to always be around each other in harmony. Stop judging me and my beliefs! Let me get on to looking at the wonderful artwork!”

“No!” The Pope snarled. “Get out of my house! I will not let you spoil the goodness of God with your false belief and satanic deity!”

“Fine!” Paws finally snapped, her anger getting the better of her. Her body started to glow blue with her magic. “I feel unwelcome in the house of your god! Since you approached me, you have done nothing but insult me, my husband, my friends, my belief, everything! I will go! Good day to you sir!” She spun on her toes and stormed from the city, her friends on her heels and the air crackling in their wake. Before they lost sight of the Pope, Tayten spun and flipped him off with both hands.

When they were out of the city and down the street, Acqura nudged Paws. “How did he insult your husband?”

“By implying that I would fornicate with anyone but him.” She was clearly in a livid rage. “People like that piss me off! His religion is not the only one out there! And he gives a bad name to other Christians! Not only that but…” She cut herself off with a scream. “Let’s go look at some ruins.” She snapped.

--

Later that day, the three women were chatting with two nuns about how politics and religion seemed to go hand in hand in many places when a third nun approached. She smiled at the previously condemned trio before turning to her sisters.

“Did you hear the Pope today?” They shook their heads. “He gave a wonderful speech about how we have to accept those around us, for it is God’s word, and he said missionary work would be encouraged."

Paws, Acqura, and Tayten all looked stunned.

“Well…” Acqura started. “…either the Pope changed his tune or….

“We have another hypocrite in hell.” Paws said smoothly.