Hello everyone! The blackdash here with a new story for you. I've spent a lot of time researching about this and I can honestly say that this story is my baby. Thank you to my dear betareader Calipsancat for being patient with me and for helping me with this story. And despite the great distance(literally oceans and continents apart) and time(we have a about 12 hour time difference), she and I have become acquainted and now we're penpals... or type-pals. Haha! Oh by the way, she's a wonderful writer as well. I am in love with her writing style and with how she portrays her characters! Do try to read her WillXGrell fanfic "Red: The Blood of Angry Men"! It NEEDS more love and reviews! ^_^

But enough with this pointless rant, I would like to humbly present to everyone my newest story.


Hope Abandon

Prologue

"Welcome, Master Asmodeus," a deep voice greeted.

A cloaked figure slowly turned to the owner of the voice, and was met with the sight of a middle-aged man with short brown hair and brown eyes framed by oval lenses. "Ah, Baalberith. I see you have come to welcome me. Tell me, who has arrived already for the meeting?" the cloaked figure's voice was melodic, almost as if the being was singing.

"Master Mammon arrived before yourself," the being called Baalberith said as he took one step closer to Asmodeus.

The smaller figure pulled down the hood and revealed a youthful face. He had dark smoldering eyes and long straight black hair that hung past his shoulders. Though male, he had full red lips and high cheekbones which gave him an androgynous quality to his beauty. Baalberith quickly took off Asmodeus' cloak and hung it on the cloak stand.

"I see. Who arrived first?" Asmodeus asked, turning his head to see if he could catch a glimpse of the others.

Baalberith began to walk towards the ends of the hallway, "I believe it was Mistress Leviathan."

"Oh that Leviathan, always trying to gain favors from him," scoffed the dark-eyed youth. Nonetheless, he calmly followed the taller figure. "Who else is present?"

"Master Beelzebub and I believe that by this time, Master Mammon has finally arrived in the Council Room. They are currently chatting, waiting for the others to arrive," he explained as he turned a corner.

Asmodeus hummed in response and quietly followed Baalberith. They walked towards another grand-looking hallway and the black-haired youth took a glimpse outside the window.

"Oh my, isn't that that woman in England who killed her daughter, her husband and her lover?"

Baalberith turned his sights outside and saw one figure lying completely nude on the dirt ground. The only clear indication of it being female was how her long hair was splayed on the ground. Her body was covered with dust, mud, bile and blood; her bowels were ripped from her body and were lying a few feet away as if they were ripped and then thrown. Her limbs were bent grotesquely and were still twitching from the immense pain. Her body was slashed and torn and yet it seemed as if she was still very much alive. Her head lulled from side to side, her eyes were wide as if in disbelief, her mouth was agape as if she was trying to call out but instead seemed as if she was choking on her own blood and bile which flowed from her mouth.

"Yes, it is. I believe her name is Mary Ann Britland," he confirmed.

"My, isn't she new here? Wasn't she just hanged from the gallows?" asked Asmodeus whilst still keeping his eyes on the body that lay disturbingly on the dirt ground outside.

"The new ones are always stubborn at first," Baalberith said, turning his gaze away from the window. "However, one needn't worry. They shall all eventually follow the way things are done here."

The youth nodded and the two of them continued to walk silently, passing through grand rooms inside the castle and walking by rows and rows of doors until they had arrived before a large doorway. The taller of the two took the handle and held open the door for the smaller to enter into the room. Asmodeus immediately spotted the single circular table that was settled at the very center of the equally luxurious and extravagant room. Seven chairs surrounded the large table and one particularly extravagant chair, decorated with rare jewels, well-polished wood and carved with intricate patterns, stood at the very center of the round table. Three figures were already sitting, chatting idly away. The youth drew near the three and sat on his chair.

"Ah, Asmodeus!" the woman sitting to the right of the grandest chair exclaimed. "I see that you have finally arrived. And just right before the Council begins," she said with a disapproving look. The woman had wavy brown locks that hung just past her shoulders. She had piercing bluish-green eyes that seemed to condescend.

"Yes, Leviathan. I heard that you were first to arrive, again," replied Asmodeus nonchalantly as he took a seat opposite.

Her thin lips drew tight, "Punctuality is a most desired trait of a woman. She must be act in a refined manner and must arrive early. Unlike someone who is as unrefined as Belphegor who barely arrives on time for our council," she said bitterly with a click of disapproval.

"Who is unrefined?" a husky feminine voice asked all of a sudden. The four figures that were sitting turned their heads to the source of the voice. By the door stood a tall woman, her hands on her waist and her dark brown eyes glaring.

"I see that you have finally graced us with your presence, Belphegor," Leviathan stated indignantly.

The tall woman drew towards the table slowly, her long dark hair moving along with every sway of her hips. She had an air of the exotic in her beauty. She reached the table and walked towards the chair that stood to the left of the most luxurious one.

"I assure you, Leviathan, that though it is in my nature to not arrive as early as you do, I always make sure that I am in time for the sake of the council," said Belphegor , glaring openly at Leviathan as she sat.

Leviathan glared back at Belphegor angrily and was about to say something until Mammon suddenly stood up. "Now see this!" He roared as he slammed both of his hands on the table. "The council is about to start and we should not be bickering already lest we wish to anger his highness," warned the tall male. His steel gray eyes looked at the two females, cautioning them.

Belphegor looked at the blonde male and then seriously looked at brown-haired woman. "Mammon is right. The Council takes precedence over all other matters," she stated seriously.

Leviathan still glared, "…Fine," she huffed.

Asmodeus casually stared at the two females and smirked, "My, women are so haughty and crude nowadays. Not at all gentle like in the past," he observed.

"Shut your mouth, Asmodeus! You, yourself, are not so different from us," Belphegor snapped, glaring angrily at the dark-haired youth.

Asmodeus merely waved his hand lazily, "While I admit that I am indeed not so different from your kind, I am also not quite unlike males. I am more even-tempered. Unlike some who snap out at the littlest and most pretentious things," the youth drawled. Leviathan fumed but stayed silent nonetheless.

The male who had stayed silent for most of the conversation looked about the table. "Isn't it unusual? Lucifer has not arrived yet," said Beelzebub. His round green eyes which were framed by his copper hair flitted to and fro between the chairs and the door.

Mammon looked towards the door, "You are quite right Beelzebub. It is very unlike Lucifer to have not yet arrived by this time,"

Suddenly, the large doors opened with a thundering bang and those within the room grew silent. The sound of boots snapping loudly against marble drew near the table and the air within the room grew tense. Those seated around the table visibly stiffened. The being grew closer and everyone stood and turned to the man that stood silently before the round table. He appeared to be around his 30's, with flaming red hair that curled slightly and was just past his ears. He towered over them all, adding to the authoritative and almost menacing aura that surrounded him. His most noticeable trait was his eyes, golden in color but seemingly they seem ablaze with flames making them appear as if they were shimmering. Those very golden eyes flitted amongst those seated the table as he casually walked over to the center chair.

Everyone stood and bowed before the being "It is good to see that you are well, Your Highness," they greeted in chorus, voices hushed.

The authoritative male's short beard twitched; perhaps he was frowning from beneath his beard. In his low but booming voice he voiced out his observation "I see that one of you is still missing."

The others looked to the empty chair that stood next to the grandest throne. The members glanced at each other anxiously, quite unsure of what to explanation to make for his highness. As they were about to answer, everyone heard the door creak open. They all turned their heads to the door and saw a beautiful young man. Tall and lean in physique with platinum blonde hair going past his shoulders and silvery eyes that seemed to sparkle, his lips were turned slightly into a unhappy frown. He took one step forward and walked towards the empty chair, seemingly floating whilst doing so. Only upon reaching the side of the authoritative male with golden eyes did he incline his head in a manner of submission.

"I apologize for my tardiness," he whispered. His voice was like silk, smooth and velvety.

The red haired male's gaze hardened. "I see that you have finally graced us with your presence," he said as he turned his eyes to the kneeling blonde. "To what do we owe the pleasure," he drawled sarcastically.

The platinum blonde did not dare meet his eyes. "There were urgent matters that were in need of attending to," he explained in a low voice.

"Matters that were of greater importance than the Council?" scoffed the golden-eyed male incredulously.

"I sincerely apologize, Your Highness," said the male with silver eyes, bowing a little lower than before to emphasize his sincerity.

The red-haired male's golden eyes flashed with rage. "You best tread lightly for I am not one who normally practices patience. You are the only exception for you have been with me for the longest amongst the members. If it were any other from within this council, I would have already given them the punishment they deserve." The authoritative male barked and threatened. "Heed my warning, Lucifer," he whispered dangerously.

"I assure you, it shall never happen again… Lord Satan," guaranteed Lucifer in a much stronger voice.

The daemon growled before tearing his gaze from the kneeling male. "Let us not delay the meeting any further. Let us begin," said the man with finality and sat upon his throne. The others followed suit and the silver-eyed male finally raised his head and sat on the empty chair beside the throne. Once seated, the sound of the door opened and came in Baalberith carrying with him several folders. He quickly walked towards the round table and stood promptly behind the authoritative male.

"What is the main problem of each kingdom?" asked Satan, his voice booming and echoing in the large room.

Baalberith quickly came forward and handed the man sitting on the extravagant seat a folder "The most posing problem right now is overpopulation as seen in the progress report that I have prepared beforehand," he said and distributed the folders to the rest of the seated members. All the members opened the folders and quickly read the reports. "We are to discuss the source of the problem and the most convenient solution."

"Hm… I don't think it is a matter of overpopulation that is the problem here," said Mammon as he turned a page of the report.

"I agree. The increase in number of corrupted souls is a very good advancement on our parts," agreed Belphegor.

"Indeed, no doubt this is due to the sudden advancement of the human intellect," said Leviathan. "What do they call that subject again?" she asked as she looked amongst the members.

"I believe that the humans call it science," uttered Beelzebub as he placed down the folder. "But enough of this small talk, we should be discussing the dilemma at hand" he said and looked expectantly at everyone.

"I don't believe that the overpopulation is the problem that our kingdoms are facing right now but perhaps it is the rate in which they are arriving," Lucifer had remarked.

Everyone looked at Lucifer, intrigued, "Do further elaborate for us, Lucifer," Satan urged whilst looking at him.

Lucifer closed and placed the folder down, "I believe that the problem is that there are too many souls arriving at once. We won't be able to give them their proper sentence immediately," he said calmly, lacing his fingers together.

"Then what solution would you propose?" Asmodeus questioned while raising his brow skeptically.

"It is simple, really. All we need to do is increase the number of contracts," the silver-eyed daemon stated simply.

"Increase the number of contracts?" Beelzebub asked incredulously, "How would that solve the rate at which the corrupted souls are arriving?"

Lucifer slowly turned his head towards the short-statured man, "It would help us greatly. Now we all know that the reason we created the Contract is in order for daemons to feed on the live corrupted souls and replenish energy and possibly give us more power-"

"Yes! Yes!" snapped Leviathan. "And the contract must be established on earth for it to become valid. I believe that everyone within this room knows that much."

The silver-eyed male looked at Leviathan coldly, "I was not finished with my explanation. Now, if you would stay quiet so I can finally finish proving my point," he said slowly and threateningly before turning once again to the council. "Now, we all know that once the contract is created, the soul would wholly belong to the daemon for feeding. Of course, just because the contract was created does not necessarily mean that the daemon who established the contract is obliged to fulfill all the terms of the contract. I believe that we could use this loophole as an advantage," he elaborated. Everyone grew quiet, thinking of what was proposed.

"Send out more vassals onto earth in order for them to feed and gain power through the contract as well as control the rate of corrupted souls entering into our Kingdoms," muttered Satan thoughtfully as he rubbed his mustache. Everyone considered the plan, humming and nodding in approval.

"But wait!" Beelzebub interjected, every member turned their eyes towards him. "If we were to send out our vassals to establish contracts with live corrupted souls but without fulfilling all the conditions of the contract, would that not mean that the soul is not at its peak maturity? Would it not be better if we let the soul mature first before feeding? I doubt that our vassals would be satisfied with an immature soul."

"Yes," Lucifer answered coolly. "However, the point of the plan that I have proposed is not to nourish our vassals with mature souls. It is to control the rate at which the souls are coming into our kingdoms. Feeding is merely a plus for solving this problem. However, I believe that if our vassals can collect enough souls to feed from, the maturity of the soul would not matter."

"However, is it not quite risky to send out our vassals to collect these souls?" asked Belphegor before daintily raising her hand upon her forehead. "What ever shall I do without them within my domain? Who would serve me and who would guard the souls within my kingdom?"

"I am not saying that this is a permanent plan. It is only up until the rate of souls arriving has slowed down enough for us to receive all of the corrupted souls and give them their suitable sentences." The silver-eyed male glanced towards Satan. "Once that happens, we will summon back our vassals into our kingdoms and they can resume whatever work they had previously."

"Wait! There might be another problem to this solution that you have proposed, Lucifer," Mammon suddenly interjected.

Lucifer turned to look at the male with golden locks, "And what might that be?"

"What of the Reapers? I highly doubt that they would merely stand aside and let us collect a massive amount of souls through contracts. They have constantly guarded and continuously tried to protect the souls with which our kind has established contracts from long ago. No doubt that they will plan some course of action in order to stop these contracts from being created," Mammon said in a serious tone and the members of the council grew quiet.

"Might I suggest then that we send out our strongest and most trusted vassals? I believe that they are quite capable enough of protecting themselves and their contracts." Lucifer answered back coolly.

"An adequate solution," Satan commented. "However, are we all willing to risk a little by sending our strongest vassals?"

Everyone grew silent and weighed the plan in their minds, all the pros and cons of the solution that Lucifer had proposed. Each member looked thoughtful and glanced amongst each other. Members whispered quietly to others of their ideas and thoughts about the situation. Suddenly, Lucifer spoke up.

"If it is of any comfort to my fellow members, I would gladly send my most trusted and strongest vassal, Belial, onto the world first," proposed Lucifer smoothly. The council looked a bit more at ease at the thought that Lucifer's strongest would be the first to arrive.

"Then, are we in agreement of putting forth Lucifer's proposal?" asked Satan as he looked at each member of the council.

Those at the table all nodded in approval.