The Devil Prince
I have seen the Devil; he walks amongst us - beauteous beyond any mortal ken with hair as darkest night, skin pale as the moon and eyes of darkest emerald. Of course, he calls himself not Lucifer, but Loki, Prince of Asgard.
When I was much younger in my years, barely having achieved Brotherhood here at the Monastery of San Uriel, he came to me first in the early darkness of evening; he claimed that he was fallen nobility, poor, in need of shelter, and so in good faith I let him in. How my life would have differed had I listened to my guardian angel's voice I know not.
That such innocence, charm and beauty hid the utmost depravity I could not have known. He came to me in my cell during the morn's earliest hours and with soothing voice and wicked smile to seduce me into sin. When I awoke Loki was gone, I went about my day the best I could. After Morning Prayer finished Brother Raphael asked me when I had returned to the abbey, he had seen me not.
I, of course, protested my return, saying that I had in fact walked past him through the gates with Loki at my side. In fact, were not for my own pain I would have thought the encounter a mere dream. That was the first instance in which I suspected devilry, though I wished to forget it at the time.
Five years later, was my second encounter with the Devil Prince, the confirmation of his devilry. I shall never forget those emerald eyes glowing so eerily from a dark corner in my cell. Even now, his proud laughter echoes in my ears as I remember how slowly he approached to cover my rosary with his own hand smirking at my shock. That movement alone stilled the prayer that fell desperately from my lips.
How shocked I was when the lips of palest pink moved to press against the inside of my wrist before mocking me in equally soft tones. "You think me so worrisome ? Truly, you flatter me, Brother Sebastian. Sebastian, Sebastian, such a strange name, such a…lovely name."
What protests fell from my lips were weak, untrue as my body trembled with lust and I gave in to him, again. I worshipped the Devil Prince with gluttonous tongue and body, pride is indeed hard to swallow. Worse still, I coveted him as he left me and gave into sloth, so missing Morning Prayer for the first time.
The third and last of my encounters with him was twenty years ago. It was the middle of Morning Prayer when bold as the sun he walked between the other Brothers and up to me. It surprised me that the Devil would warn me of the impending attack, yet he did and so I mentioned it to Father Abbot Maurice. When Father Maurice asked me where I had gotten the information, I lied saying that San Uriel sent a vision to me as surely Loki had wanted.
Later that day, a ragged platoon of pirates surged toward the abbey from a nearby port. Strange emerald fire would appear consuming some, as others would suddenly turn to flee screaming in terror. I knew not what it meant, I thought somehow that it was Heaven itself protecting us. When the odd smoke cleared and the full moon gleamed off fallen and charred bodies, it was not a righteous angel, but the wrathful Devil looking up at me before disappearing in an instant. The remaining pirates never returned and Father Maurice praised Heaven never knowing the true reason for our survival.
I write this in hope that others of my order might avoid the embrace of pleasurable sin, of Lucifer the Devil in the guise of Loki. May Father God forgive me my sins.
Father Abbot Sebastian Botticelli of the Monastery of San Uriel.