I own nothing but my OC'. Wrote this a while ago. Let me know what you think.
Nyra was in her room, reclined on her couch, reading a book when she heard Sebastian walked in. The witch supposed he was probably drawn in by the smell of the fire burning in her fireplace. Nyra was dressed for bed but wasn't tired yet. She had a cream-colored fuzzy blanket around her legs and feet.
"It's almost midnight," Sebastian said.
"I knew you could tell time birdbrain," Nyra said with a teasing smirk before moving her feet to make room for the demon, a silent invitation for him to sit.
"Very funny," Sebastian said, rolling his eyes but sitting down on the couch. He looked at the book she was reading and chuckled.
"Quite the interesting choice of literature." Sebastian mused.
Nyra glanced up from the pages of Dante's Inferno to see Sebastian's eyes glowing pink. He seemed amused by her choice. Nyra rolled her eyes before returning to her reading.
Sebastian took these moments to study her. Her features were sly but had a softness to them when she was at peace like she was now. Her lips were thin but still pink. Her hair was long, going down to the small of her back; it was parted on the far left side and it was not completely straight, it had a slight wave to it. Her skin was pale white but still had a healthy color.
'Skin white as snow and hair black as night.' Sebastian nearly rolled his eyes at his own thoughts. 'Not nearly as innocent, but she still fits the description of Snow White.'
Out of every feature she had, perfect or not, it was her eyes that intrigued him the most. It seemed cheesy but it was true. Her eyes were almond shaped, underneath high set eyebrows and thick, dark eyelashes. Her eyes were also the most unique shade of emerald green he had seen, and he had seen his fair share of green eyes in his lifetime. He wondered why it was her eyes that intrigued him the most about her physical appearance.
"What is hell like?" Nyra's voice snapped Sebastian back to the present. With such a surprising question, Sebastian was frozen for a second before he raised an eyebrow at the witch.
"Why do you ask?" He asked, his tone completely serious.
"I'm curious." Nyra shrugged. She then held up her book. "A novel written by a human can't be a hundred percent accurate." She was firm but her eyes revealed that she was telling the truth. She was curious. "I know it's the place for thedamned to be tortured for all eternity but…" Nyra trailed off so that Sebastian could take over.
"There are seven sections of hell," Sebastian said. "They are designated for each deadly sin. Lust, gluttony, greed, envy, sloth, wrath and pride, each is ruled by a certain demon. I'm sure you'll recognize their names." Sebastian said. He watched Nyra straighten up slightly so that she was sitting straighter.
"Leviathan rules over those damned by envy, Beelzebub rules over those damned by gluttony, Mammon rules over those damned by greed, Asmodeus rules over those damned by lust, Belphegor rules over those damned by sloth, Lucifer rules over those damned by pride and Satan rules over those damned by wrath," Sebastian said, looked at Nyra to make sure she was keeping up.
Nyra was understanding everything so far. One thing that she knew was that contrary to popular belief, Satan and Lucifer were two separate entities. Lucifer was an angel created by God in heaven but was cast out. On the other hand, Satan was the name given to a devil. Those were the two main differences.
"Are you any of these demons?" Nyra asked.
"No," Sebastian said, his eyes glowing demonically. He looked at her, she was looking for more information about him. Sebastian was feeling oddly lenient this night. He would give her some more information about himself but only a few choice facts.
"They mainly oversee everything, deciding which sinners get what kind of torture and how much they get. Only a select few are tortured by them personally. I suppose you could call me an officer in the fact that I help make sure everything is organized, transferring certain damned to different segments, accepting others in and I also torture some of the higher ranking damned souls. Too sinful for the lower ranking demons to have but not bad enough for the seven lords." Sebastian said.
"And which segment to you specialize?" Nyra asked, a tiny smirk on her lips as if she already had a pretty good guess.
"Pride," Sebastian said and Nyra's smirk widened. He chuckled at the witch's expression.
"Anything particular about hell that not many others know?" She asked. "What's it really like, for you? What does it look like, what do you smell?"
"Looking to write a more accurate version of Dante's Inferno?" Sebastian asked, quirking a brow.
"No," Nyra said. "I just want to know where my favorite Archdemon nests." She smirked.
"Ha!" Sebastian's smirk was beginning to develop fangs. "Such fire." He chuckled. "It is a rocky landscape filled with deep chasms and mountains, rivers of lava and pits of fire. I 'nest' in the rocky spires that stick out from the ground. Higher ranking demons such as myself are granted such luxuries. The air always smells like sulfur, ash, burning flesh and it's filled with the tortured screams of the damned. The sky is red, there is no sun, moon or stars. All light is provided by the fires." Sebastian said.
"Besides my 'nest' as you call it, one of my favorite places are the fighting pits. Demons can test their strength against each other. Sometimes we release several damned souls against a particularly bored demon for entertainment and sometimes we have the damned fight each other." Sebastian said.
"It's like the Roman Colosseum," Nyra said. She herself had been to the Roman Colosseum when some of the bloodier sports were still in practice.
"Very much so," Sebastian said. "I remember a particular event. Three of the damned were released into the pits. One was rolled in rotting meat, one in blood and another in fresh meat, and then a demon hound was unleashed and I and my fellow demons bet on which of the damned the hound would eat first."
"I didn't think a demon would have a need for currency in hell." Nyra mused.
"We don't," Sebastian said. "It's mostly just for entertainment purposes."
"How interesting, I'll be sure to visit you," Nyra said.
Sebastian chuckled. "'Thou shalt not suffer a witch to live.' I do believe there is a spot reserved for you in hell, Nyra," Sebastian said.
"Yes, it's called the throne," Nyra said.
Sebastian threw back his head and actually laughed. It was at a deeper pitch than his normal voice and though it would cause others to shiver in fear it merely made Nyra smirk.
"A fire to rival the pits of hell," Sebastian said, looking at the witch as though he was seeing her in a slightly different light and was liking what he saw immensely. "Perhaps you would survive amongst my ilk yet."
"Please," Nyra said with a careless flip of her hair. "If they're anything like you I'll be on the throne of hell before anyone realizes what's happening." Sebastian laughed again.
Now he knew why her eyes fascinated him so much. They were so expressive, they burned like fire, with passion, anger or hate, they were always burning like the pits in his home. Though she would have been far kinder than anyone else, she would thrive amongst him and his brethren. She did not shy away from the ugliness of the world, she was almost desensitized to cruelty as she had seen it so much over the centuries.
But the most important and perhaps most interesting thing about her was that she never completely submitted to anyone. She may let someone else be in control, but she would never fully hand over the reins of power. She would always stand on the sidelines, forever retaining some command and strength. If she chose to dominate she could rule if she chose. That was perhaps the most interesting thing about the witch. She was never just one complete thing, she may be knocked down but she was undefeated, unbroken and unconquered.
'She would flourish in hell.' Sebastian thought to himself as Nyra returned to her book. 'Queen of Hell indeed.' He chuckled to himself before simply sitting with the witch, studying her as knew he would continue to do for a long time yet.