HELL ON EARTH: APOCALYPSE
CHAPTER ONE: A CALL TO ARMS
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He should have foreseen the fact that he would send one of his best. However, Gabriel thought that he would have had more time with Tom Marvolo Riddle than he did; he did not think that the beings of Hell would be so quick to react to his Earthly travels. If he'd had more time to speak to the man, the outcome of his meeting may have been vastly different.
The balance on Earth had been incredibly upset by Tom Marvolo Riddle's choice to yield to the demon, and all of Hell's occupants would soon be spilling upon the middle ground between their home and Heaven. That did not give him much time.
He reached the limits of the Holy City, and began the ascent that would lead him to his position within its government. He moved as fast as he could, and as he came to the top of the City's center, he saw who he knew would be waiting for him upon his return. They had seen him off, and had promised to meet him at this very spot.
"Well?"
Gabriel glanced back and forth between the troubled forms of Raphael and Michael. They seemed to have already heard news of his failure, but, Gabriel reasoned, they would not believe it until they had heard it firsthand, and from the most reliable source they knew.
He moved past them, and towards the largest and grandest structures that Heaven boasted. "We must not delay. I cannot predict how long it will be before Hell's armies have crept from the sea's shores and began their assault on Heaven's last standing fortitude."
"So it is true, then?" Michael asked for confirmation as he and Raphael struggled to keep up. "Which demon convinced him to allow for Hell's gate to open?"
"Who has been our Lord's longest standing enemy?" Gabriel asked the two of them. "Who would, without a second thought towards his actions, instigate the Final War? He did not need to convince Tom Marvolo Riddle that Earth would benefit under Hell's watchful gaze. He pushed him into attempting to murder me, having convinced him that I was a mere, bothersome mortal."
Raphael gasped as he realized what this meant. "To attack an agent of God is to dispel Heaven entirely from Earth! Only Baal would do such a thing!"
"Beelzebub, as he is known in Hell," Michael reminded him, and then waved for Gabriel to go on.
"Yes, it was he that I saw in Tom Marvolo Riddle's chambers," Gabriel confirmed as they reached the double doors leading to the Holy Chambers. "As we speak, the Infernal Council is gathering. They will confirm their decision to invade and occupy very shortly, for Earth has been handed to them on a silver platter."
"We must warn Him, then," Raphael nodded in confirmation. "He will wish to send an army fit to conquer these demons."
"It will have to be some army," Michael's usually flawless face was riddled with lines of worry. "I have been watching over Hell - monitoring. Their troops ... they pulsate beneath the ruins of their borders, for there is not enough room left for them in the abyss. There are too many of them."
Gabriel stared at him, for it was the first time that he had heard such news. "We will have to make due with what we have. I remain confident that we will prevail. We still have the mortals."
"That is not certain," Raphael pointed out to him. "If the final Antichrist arrives on Earth, there is a chance that the mortals will be swayed by his poisonous tongue-"
"-And we will know that this is it," Michael nodded as he and Gabriel came to the same conclusion. "We will know that this is the final intended confrontation between Heaven and Hell, as instigated by-"
"Speak not the name," Gabriel covered his mouth, and glanced around anxiously. "These are times of war. You would not want to give anyone any reason to doubt your allegiance to God."
Michael gaped at him in indignation. "My allegiance will never waver."
"I've heard that too many times, my dear Michael," Raphael placed a hand on his shoulder. "You have to understand that you will be tempted by Evil. We will all face it eventually, and we will be tested in our righteousness. Many have failed, and many have turned to Darkness, but I have faith in you. Do not assume that you are safe from temptation. Just try your best not to yield to it."
"Thanks," Michael grumbled, and dropped his voice as they entered the Holy Temple. "With that weighing down on my mind, I will be even more confident that-"
"Sh," Gabriel placed a finger to his lips as the last pair of doors remaining between them and their Lord came into view. "We have arrived."
The doors were opened for them, and they hastened no time in relaying all that they knew unto their Lord. However, beneath Heaven and beyond Earth, a singular demon did not consider time important as he moved along the path back towards the homeland of his own kin. A wave of overwhelming heat greeted him, and he performed as close of an act to a sigh as a shapeless fiend could.
He was back.
Along with the heat came the agonized screams of the damned. No matter how many times he heard it and witnessed their suffering, it still managed to send a chill through him every time.
He paused as another being of his own rank moved towards him through the crowd of lesser demons and their assigned prisoners. Beelzebub watched as the lower orders fluidly shifted aside, for none dared to get in the way of a High Demon, unless they desired pain and suffering on the same level that the former mortals here underwent.
"Avnas," he greeted him. "Gather the council. We have much to discuss."
Avnas sniffed in disapproval as he gazed down upon Beelzebub through the flames that surrounded him. "Do you bear good news, or bad? If it is the latter, I assure you that you would be best to turn right back around and never show yourself here again."
"You would speak to me this way, when I have succeeded in opening the portal to Earth?" Beelzebub paused as he possessed the human form of a formidable looking man. "Because, Avnas, I did not need to barter, and I did not need to exercise my patience. It seemed that I got lucky ... or perhaps it was with a little help from above?"
Avnas burst into laughter, and emitted a sound that pushed those that surrounded them even further away. Beelzebub knew Avnas' type of humor better than he had originally thought.
"Oh, those mortals," Avnas shook his head as he mused to himself. "They credit Him with so much. If only they knew the truth."
"So long as they remain ignorant, they will never realize just how much He truly does for them," Beelzebub smirked. "Now, walk with me, Avnas. We must gather the others. We have some quick planning to do."
"They are already gathered," Avnas informed him. "They are eager for news, just as I am. Ah, just who we should be looking for. Beleth! Come here."
He and Beelzebub came to a halt as Beleth, the highest-ranking general and the demon with eighty-five legions of soldiers under his command, approached them. "Yes?"
"You are to gather the other generals," Avnas told him with an obvious glance in Beelzebub's direction. "There is a very good chance that we are to depart for Earth, soon."
The rough-faced demon gazed at them in interest, but hid his surprise well. "Earth, you say? And what are we to do there? Defile their woman? Kill their children? Burn their churches?"
"Perhaps, if there is time left over," Avnas gazed down his nose at Beleth. "Surely, you know better-"
"-Than to assume that we will pursue petty enjoyments when we reach the middle ground," Beleth finished his sentence for him in an equally monotonous drone. "I know, Avnas. I was kidding. Kidding."
"Funny," Avnas sneered at him. "I've never known you to have a sense of humor."
"You, neither."
"Avnas," Beelzebub stepped between the general and the demon before a pointless fight could break out between them. "We need to be on our way. Heaven knows that I have been to Earth. An angel was there with that pathetic excuse for a man when I arrived."
"An angel?" Avnas seemed to forget about Beleth, and turned all his attention towards Beelzebub. "Which one?"
"That's not important right now," Beelzebub shook his head as he watched Beleth move away from them and towards where he supposed the other generals to be. "I will tell you everything that happened upon my visit when we meet with the rest of the Council."
Avnas nodded in agreement, but Beelzebub knew that he grew impatient with him. It was just like him, to think that he deserved this knowledge before any of the others.
"Let's go, then," Avnas grunted, and began to make his way through the crowd once again. "We would not want the others to think that we are taking our time."
They continued without a spoken word as they continued on their way through the light traffic that the small streets had offered them. They weaved around structures and statues, big and small, but continued to move downhill. The further they moved, the thinner the crowds grew, and the higher-ranking beings they saw. They no longer saw common prisoners, and it was not long before they solely saw demons ranked only a few rungs below them.
They eventually weeded out as well, and when they passed the last public gate, Avnas and Beelzebub found themselves to be alone. Their gaze did not waver from the gate that would take them to the place that only their ranks as High Demons could. When they reached it, they hurriedly glanced at one another before it was decided that Avnas would go first. He stroked the rusted, burned bars, and then strolled through them as he received the signal he was watching for. Beelzebub did the same, and they were soon walking beside one another, and headed for the room at the end of the tunnel.
"Took you long enough," a gravelly voice greeted them from the closest seat to the exit.
"Xaphon," Beelzebub replied with naught but a mere nod of his head.
Beelzebub and Avnas came to a parting, where Avnas resumed his seat amongst the council, and Beelzebub continued on towards the podium in the center of the room. When he reached it, he performed the customary bow, and then took his position behind it.
"I, Beelzebub, Echelon Number Three of the Infernal Council, directly address the Infernal Council on the subject of happenings that occurred during my time on Earth."
Beelzebub's eyes shot to Balbarith, the Master of Ceremonies, as he waited for permission to continue. "Very well. State your visit's initial purpose, and the outcome in your pursuit of that purpose."
"My purpose, as assigned by the Infernal Majesty himself, was to formulate the foundations of a collaboration between him and the man on Earth known only to us as Voldemort," Beelzebub announced to the Council, though he was certain they already knew this. Before he continued, his eyes flitted towards the thirteenth and center chair, saved for his Lord. It was, however, empty on this occasion. He thought it strange, but did not dwell. "Mephistopheles, who boasts the gift of foresight, saw this man overcome his foes whose strength matched his own, and foresaw that the man would soon conquer all those below him, making him the most powerful man on Earth. For this, I was sent."
He waited as the anonymous scribe finished documenting his initial address, and then continued. "I was more successful than I could have ever thought imaginable. Upon my arrival in the man's chambers, I discovered that he already had a visitor - a visitor from above."
A whisper broke out amongst the other demons as curiosity spread. Only Avnas and one other demon maintained their attention on Beelzebub.
"Settle down!" Balbarith barked at the other demons in an attempt to establish order. Though it did not usually work, it somehow did this time. "Who was there, Beelzebub?"
Asmodeus bared his teeth, and stood from where he sat. "Was it Raphael?"
Beside him, Azazel emitted a low growl, for the archangel Raphael was also his enemy and counterpart in Heaven.
Beelzebub shook his head, and waited for Asmodeus and Azazel to calm down before he spoke. "It was Gabriel, His messenger."
"They must have heard of our plan somehow," Mephistopheles spoke over the voices of the others. "Do angels also have the gift of foresight?"
"It may be a coincidence that they coined a plan similar to ours," Baphomet offered his thoughts on the subject, diverting Beelzebub's attention from Mephistopheles. "What did Gabriel say to Voldemort?"
"He came to warn him that by attempting to rule all the mortal men, he would incur our Earthly presence," Beelzebub told them all. "Of course, he did not get so far as to say that, for I revealed myself."
"Do not stop there!" Mephistopheles growled from his seat with a flash of his blackened teeth as Beelzebub paused. "Tell us what happened!"
Beelzebub gloated with pride, and glanced around one more time before finishing his story. "I managed to convince Voldemort to attack Gabriel."
There was silence as they stared up at him in wonder until Abaddon broke it. "He banished Heaven's powers from Earth."
"Meaning," Euronomos added. "That we do not need to wait for Voldemort to claim mortal men to be under his command. Hell's gate has already been opened."
"Yes," Beelzebub nodded fervently, his blank eyes shining with malice. "Avnas and I have already begun preparations. On our way down here, we spoke to Beleth. He is gathering the generals as we speak. Within hours, we will be ready to break free of our abysm, breach the depth of the Mediterranean Sea, and mow a path to the Heavenly gate of Jerusalem."
A raucous roar echoed through the chamber, and all but one of the demons exchanged looks of excitement with their closest neighbor. More than a few of them glanced up at the empty chair, and wished desperately that their Lord had been able to make it to this meeting and hear this wonderful news.
"There still presents a problem, though," the one demon that had not joined in on the celebrations spoke in a high, chilling voice. "If the mortals band together with Heaven, then there is a chance that we will be overpowered."
As the other demons realized this potential danger, they ceased in their merriment. If the souls of the mortals joined Heaven, that would be billions of more soldiers against them. Their armies may be large, but they were not large enough to overcome such numbers. If those numbers were in their favor, though...
Beelzebub's eyes scoured the demon at the forefront of the room. He was the only demon present that outranked him on this particular council, boasting Echelon Number Two. "What would you suggest?"
"Simple trickery," the demon answered as he calmly stood from where he sat and moved towards the exit. "With this council's permission, of course, I will make my way up to Earth, and I will do what I was asked to do thousands of years ago in the event of the Final War between Heaven and Hell."
The demon looked to Balbarith, who caught on rather quickly as to what he wanted. "Right. All in favor?"
No demon hesitated in raising its hand. Even if they were against the motion, none would dare oppose it.
"I will be on my way, then," the demon bowed its head to them in farewell. "Come as you are, and do not be afraid to hasten. Unlike you, Beelzebub, I will not be tardy on my task."