See You in Hell

Deep within the bowels of Hell, the most terrifying, horrible demons imaginable thrive. These beings are the very worst of their kind; they held tremendous physical and magical power, and were highly treacherous and deceitful. They had 100 motives for everything they did; 99, at least, were malevolent. And yet, as a blonde woman in unusual clothing casually made her way through the portion of Hell they called home, none of them attacked her or otherwise led her astray. The reason for this was simple: the Lord of Terror had told them to let her come, and no one, not even the most powerful demon in Hell, dared disobey the Lord of Terror.

The woman walked on, traveling further and further into the deepest reaches of Hell. She seemed undisturbed by the images around her. The tortured souls; the demons reveling in their punishment; the horrible, grotesque figures still pleading for forgiveness; she ignored them all. She was fully focused on the path in front of her, determined to reach her goal. She seemed to be walking for ages; Hell did not exist in a truly physical sense, which made travel through it extremely slow and tedious. Eventually, however, she found herself where she had wanted to go; the throne of the Lord of Terror.

A river of souls, screaming horribly, curved past his throne and circled back, cutting off all paths except the one directly facing the throne. The Lord of Terror himself was an imposing figure, sitting in that throne. He was massive, with red and yellow skin. His face had several horns, sticking out of his head and chin. His eyes glowed an eerie yellow, and his mouth was full of fangs. There was a red jewel sticking out of his forehead, rising up like one of his horns. His long, scaly arms ended in massive claws, as did his legs. At the moment, he was sitting down, looking over the woman who had just entered his presence.

"Greetings, Diablo," she said, bowing respectfully.

Diablo remained silent for a moment. Then, in a deep, horrible voice that would make most men shudder in fear, he said, "Lucretia Merces. I must say, I am impressed. Most mortals would go mad on the path to my throne."

"I am not most mortals," was her only response. "I trust you know why I am here?"

"Yes," he replied, continuing to look at her with interest. "You wish me to release two souls that have been sent to me, so that they may participate in this tournament."

"That is correct," she said, smiling.

"You presume much," Diablo growled, a hint of anger in his voice. "Why should I help you gather these participants? I have no interest in whatever noble plans your benefactors might have."

Lucretia continued to smile, despite Diablo's refusal. "I would not dream of asking something of the Lord of Terror without offering something in return. If you do this task for me, I will bring you to the tournament as well, which will take place in the mortal realm. From there, you will be free of the curse that binds you. And if you win, you may yet gain the power to break it."

Diablo remained silent again, but Lucretia noticed that his glowing yellow eyes wandered up to the red jewel sticking out of his forehead, if only for a moment. After what seemed like another eternity, he answered.

"Very well. I will bring these two back. And then we shall leave."

At this, he stood up, turning towards the river winding around the area. He seemed about to perform the task, before hesitating.

"These two are quite powerful, and very dangerous," he said slowly, once again examining Lucretia. "They are imprisoned in one of the lowest, darkest areas of Hell, an area that befits their sins."

"But surely they are not beyond your power?" Lucretia asked, the smile still on her face.

"Of course not," he snarled, the hint of anger returning to his voice. "I was just making certain that you knew the danger of what you ask."

Diablo refocused his attention on the river of souls, entering a state of deep concentration. Minutes passed as nothing happened, until finally something broke the surface of the river. A light emerged from it, but unlike the bright white of most souls, it was randomly fluctuating through colors, as if it couldn't decide what to be. One thing remained the same, however; the colors were always dark, and the very core always remained black.

The ball of light floated into Diablo's waiting hands. He held it for a moment, then breathed on it, whispering the word "Life" as he did so. He then released the ball, and it floated onto the ground in front of Lucretia. There, it glowed intensely, forcing Lucretia to shield her eyes. When she could see again, there was another man standing in front of her. He looked like some sort of demented clown; his clothes, complete with cape, were a bright green, red, and yellow, and his pale face had red markings underneath his eyes. And his eyes...they were normal human eyes, but a look into them sent a shiver down your spine, and left no doubt that this man was completely insane.

"Hm? Hm? What's this, then?" he said, looking around and seeming confused.

He looked as if he was in deep thought. It only lasted a moment, though; the next, he pointed his arms out, letting loose a bolt of lightning, then flames, and finally a stream of ice. At this, his face broke into a demented grin, and he let out a shrill cackle.

"I knew they couldn't keep me there forever! I'm a god, you know, a GOD! Well then, it's time to show them just how wrong they were, yes it is!"

All of this was said to himself; he didn't seem to notice Lucretia and Diablo standing nearby. Soon afterwards, though, he noticed Lucretia watching him. Continuing to smile his horrible smile, he let out a lightning bolt at her, as if to test something. It missed her, however; at the last second, it turned away and missed its target completely. The man was clearly upset by this, and let out several more lightning bolts. All of them veered of course. The man entered into what could only be described as a tantrum, furious that none of them hit their target.

"Why aren't you dying!?" he screamed at her. "You're supposed to be dying!"

"Kefka Palazzo," Lucretia spoke at last, her eyes remaining focused on the man. "I have a proposition for you."

"Don't care!" he responded, letting out another lightning bolt that failed to hit Lucretia. "All I care about is that YOU! WON'T! DIE!" He punctuated the last three words in the sentence by throwing out the largest lightning bolts yet. And they still did not even come close to hitting Lucretia.

"If you really want to see things die," said Lucretia, clearly unfazed by Kefka's attempts to murder her, "then hear me out. I am offering you a chance to participate in a tournament. A tournament full of weak people just begging for a god to show them true power."

Kefka stopped slinging lightning bolts at Lucretia, taking in her words. His chaotic mind processed them for a moment, and then the evil grin returned to his face.

"Okay! When do we leave? Every moment they spend not knowing me is another moment they suffer through the torture known as life!" At this he again let loose a terrifying, soulless cackle. Lucretia, however, remained unfazed.

"We will leave as soon as Diablo procures the third and final person that will be joining us," she replied, gesturing towards Diablo. It seemed that he had taken the time Lucretia had spent speaking with Kefka to search for the second soul. Even then, it was still several minutes (which Kefka spent slinging spells, mocking Diablo and Lucretia, and generally being a pain) before the second soul emerged from the river. This one was completely and utterly black; it was as if it sucked in light rather than actually glowing. Even Lucretia felt a bit of apprehension as Diablo breathed life into the soul and released it.

When it reached the ground and began to shine, a tall man dressed in black appeared before Lucretia. He had long, silver hair, and an even longer sword held at his side. His face was completely and utterly emotionless; even his eyes seemed completely dead. He radiated an aura of power and evil that would chill most men to the bone; Lucretia, normally completely unflappable, felt a small measure of awe and fear in his presence. Before she was able to regain her composure, he spoke to her.

"I already know the details, Miss Merces, and I assure you that I am interested. I suggest we leave quickly, before I am forced to send this one back into the fiery pits." At this he motioned towards Kefka, who was now attempting to hit the man with small fireballs; each one bounced away a few feet from him, and the man did not seem to take notice.

Lucretia closed her mouth and nodded. She removed the bag of dust from the confines of her cloak, and pinched some off the top.

"Very well. Off we go!"

At this, she threw the dust over all four of them. Within moments, they disappeared, leaving Hell behind.

By ThisIsAnOddName