The demon hopped impatiently from clawed foot to clawed foot. It growled to itself as it looked around. They were have supposed to be there already. Another nervous look around. If they didn't hurry, then the exorcists would notice the demon's presence and remove it. A nervous growl emerged from the demon. It turned and began to head back down the alley it had been standing near when a gust of wind made it freeze. Upon that wind came the sound of wings flapping. Slowly, the demon turned as the two angels descended, one of them carrying a bundle in her arms.
The demon crept quickly towards them. "What took you so long?" It hissed. "The others are hunting this poor child down. We had to be sure we could leave without being noticed." The female angel said, gazing softly at what lay in the bundle. "He is far from happy that this has arisen. He is furious that this child was even conceived in the first place, let alone that it has managed to survive." The man said. "Yeah, well, Satan won't be happy that you're dumping him with another son." The demon remarked. It was then the child made a small sound. "It's a girl?" The demon cried. "Yes, she is remarkable in every way." The female angel said, whilst handing the bundle to the demon. The demon gazed down to see a pale face with deep purple eyes and a shock of dark purple almost black hair staring back.
The sound of wings flapping snapped the demon from those eyes. The angels were returning back to heaven. "Take her back to her father in Gehenna. Make sure she doesn't come back to Assiah until she is old enough to handle the truth. And tell them, her name is Astarte" They called as they flew back through a parting in the clouds. The demon watched before turning and heading back to it's home, the bundle clutched tightly in its claws.
It was a surprise for them all to say the least. They had heard of a new child being born but they had all expected it to be another boy. So when cries of a much higher pitch were heard, everyone was shocked. They all ran to Satan's palace where a huge crowd had gathered already. "Is it true?" someone asked. "Is this new child a girl?" Another whispered. The murmurs spread like wildfire until the horn sounded and the doors opened. All the demons silenced their whispers as their lord and god, Satan walked out to face them. He held a bundle in his arms, but a small tail, covered in black fuzzy fur and ending in a tuft of purple fur was visible, as were a tiny pair of draconic wings. A small, pale hand with claws as black as night reached up and touched Satan's face, a small laugh emerging from the bundle. "A new child of mine has been born and sent to us." Satan said, his voice carrying to the far reaches of Gehenna. "Her name is Astarte and she is the princess of Hell." The crowd cheered as the bundle was raised so that the child within could see the realm she would one day rule.
"My darling little Astarte, one day you will be queen of this realm." Satan said as he carried the bundle back into his castle. As he did so, his sons all headed in after him, each eager to see this new child. They all fought to be the first to see her as she was placed in her crib. As the eldest fought, the youngest crept through their legs and clambered up the side of the crib. He was only a few years older but as he stared at Astarte, and she gazed back, they both seemed to recognise their closeness instantly. Until, one of the eldest realised what had happened and dragged the youngest son away from the crib. "She's rather small isn't she?" One of them remarked as they all gazed down at her. "Well, what did you expect? She is still a baby" Another retorted. "Yeah, but. She doesn't look strong. She doesn't look like she will handle being queen. She'll need to have someone rule beside her." A third said. "Which is why father has said that she will be promised to someone when she comes of age." A fourth one interjected.
The baby stared at each of them calmly as they watched her and then turned to leave. They didn't know that she had been forming bonds with them as they watched her. But she had already formed two close bonds, and as she drifted off to sleep, she felt that they would one day hold great importance.
The years passed by and Satan watched his daughter grow. She grew not only in age, but also in strength, intelligence, wisdom, power and beauty. Yet maturity seemed to avoid her at all costs. He also watched as her relationship with one of his sons grew close as well, with the two of them being nigh on inseparable from each other. It had seemed that even before she had come of age, Astarte had made her choice on who would be her king. But she did also seem quite close to another of his sons, calling him by a different name to the others. Whereas, most of the others she would call brother. She always referred to him as Aniue. It seemed like she had already made her choices in terms of her relationship with the rest of the family. He chuckled as he watched her open her wings in order to fly. He summoned his youngest son as he watched her take off and fly off in the direction of the plains to the east. "Go after Astarte and tell her I wish to speak to her." He said. He watched as his youngest son ran off and smirked. Time for Astarte to show if she knew what could be so easily seen.
