Chapter 25 – The Depths Of Darkness
A/N: Guess who's hammered!? Let's see if I can still make an awesome chapter while absolutely piss drunk.
A lone Demon stood hunched over covered almost entirely in blood, most of which hadn't even been his own. Behind him, a Dragon's carcass was happily burning away from the inside out, a solid symbol of what had happened when a Demon-God and a Dragon decided to fight against one another. There were dozens and dozens of now decaying lifeless bodies that had once belonged to fairly low ranked Demons that had heard the raging battle and had either come to spectate or put their efforts in towards taking down the grandson of Cain.
Word traveled fast in Hell and once they had heard that not only Satan had fallen to the hands of the Prince of Ire but that he had finally gotten his revenge for Cain's betrayal, he was quickly finding himself in the favor of certain groups. He was even becoming known by the Seven Deadly Sins what with having killed Satan and proclaimed his intention to claim the throne for himself.
"Well that was fun." He announced with a heavy sigh as he almost waded through the piles of bodies at his feet.
'If you can avoid something like this in the future then I'd greatly appreciate it. I may be a God but I'm one without a domain. I'm also fairly certain that my power won't do a great deal down here so you're pretty much on your own.' Percy announced clearly inside their shared mind. Perseus shrugged for a moment, not really having a suitable answer for his godly counterpart. There was a single door at the end of the grand hall. He hadn't noticed it before but these towers were all warped from the interior to the exterior. They were all existing on their own planes which meant that Satan's tower was huge in size compared to the tower that rested on the outside.
With a solemn kick, Perseus had booted the door down revealing a dimly lit room with many different showcases inside it. The big stand in the center of the room held two immaculate golden cuffs that seemed to have a liquid form about them. "This is one of the reasons I'm here for. These are Satan's sacred treasure, the Gauntlets of Ire." Perseus explained as he neared the ornate stone stand. They sat on a blood red cushion looking so innocent yet holding such a malevolent air about them.
'But they're just metal wristbands that look like slave cuffs, what's so special about them?' Percy queried, unable to understand how these tacky metal bands had gotten Perseus so interested.
"Because they bond to anyone that wears them almost in a symbiotic way. The angrier the wearer, the more powerful they become. It would actually devour anyone else but I'm the Prince of Ire, I can wear these without any negative effects. Brace yourself, this probably wont be nice." Perseus' gave the shortest of warnings before thrusting his hands above the gauntlets. The metal immediately swarmed around his wrists, burning themselves into him permanently.
'You're right, that sucked balls.' Percy sounded out of breath and rightly so, he had to concentrate in order to not be burned out of existence by the cuffs. 'Evil fucking things.' He muttered before going silent once again.
"Sorry dude but that's the worst of it, next stop, the throne room. I'm going to get that sword then I'm going to sit on that throne. Probably gonna be fighting some top notch assholes once we're there." Perseus admitted with a sigh before walking towards the door at the end of the room. From there he planned on scaling the wall from the stairwell in order to circumnavigate the labyrinth within the tower. He didn't have that kind of time and really he just wanted to get this whole ordeal over with.
Moving through the tower at an incredible rate, the Demon-God quickly found himself standing in a vast open room that didn't look like it could possibly fit within the dimensions of the tower's exterior. 'Where are we?' Percy asked. The son of Poseidon could see everything that Perseus could and it made for a few interesting sights. There was blood on the walls and everything was dimly lit so the few bits of light that were cast were all running sickly reflections off of the pools of blood that were situated around the floor. The sounds of breathing were heavy in the air, like people had been fighting and only stopped to have a bit of rest before continuing.
"We're in Satan's court. Usually, someone wouldn't be saying that with any content but this is going to be mine. There's going to be SO much cleaning up to do in here." Perseus frowned. He subconciously ran a hand over the jagged stump that was once his horn. Further along the large court, there was a raised platform above some steps with a throne on the top. Sat on the throne was a limp body that could only belong to one person.
'I assume that's...' Percy let the question hang in the air. Perseus made a grunt in confirmation. The Demon had to carefully assess the situation that they were in. Between themselves and the throne there were multitudes of Demons all lazily standing around the pillars of marble that lined themselves parallel to the side walls of the huge room. They were all just standing there watching Perseus as he looked around the room. They knew what he was and they didn't want to have to fight him unless he was absolutely certain in his chosen path of going forwards to claim Satan's throne.
"Hello there." A young looking woman revealed herself from the nearest pillar to them. She came over ever so casually with her hands held pleasantly behind her back and a genuinely happy smile on her face. Percy could feel an extremely dulled sense of emotion from Perseus almost all of the time whenever he wanted to and at that exact moment the only thing that he felt from his Demon counterpart was extreme caution yet there was no change to his outwards emotion.
Perseus clearly knew who this woman was and it was evident that she was under no circumstances to be underestimated.
'Who's this? She seems... Strong.' Percy announced inside their mind.
'She most certainly is.' Perseus answered silently. His voice inside their mind was only a whisper yet it echoed all around with the force of a malevolent wind.
"Oh? Are you monologuing? That's not like you." She frowned. Was this woman just simple or could she actually hear the conversation between the two of them?
"No." Perseus answered slowly before Percy appeared next to them, instantly fabricating himself from the water moisture in the air. It was a new trick for him but one that he was very quickly coming to master.
"He was talking to me." Percy told her, looking at her with the same cautious expression. They were in Hell and she had obviously gotten past the Dragon that they killed in the entrance to the tower so she couldn't be taken lightly.
"What are you doing here Myrna?" Perseus asked at last, breaking the sudden silence that had fallen over them. This woman, this Myrna had just cocked her head to the side and continued to blankly stare at Percy.
"Who are you?" She asked, finally looking towards Perseus and noting that they were almost identical. Percy sighed ever so briefly. He was thankful that she'd finally given him a reprieve from her overwhelmingly tense stare.
"I'm a God." He answered proudly. He was still struggling to comprehend how he could be a God without a domain. In the week he spent with the hunt in peace from Demon Hunters and Cain, he'd been requested to go to Olympus by not only his father but Zeus himself.
He was asked to split his aspects to show the council but Perseus had been dead silent and Percy found that he couldn't force Perseus out when there was no will for the Demon to do so. The fates had appeared after Zeus had summoned them, explaining that Perseus had ascended his own mortality through his own merit somehow.
The fates announced that Percy was genuinely one of a kind and formally recognized him as a God. An unbound God, someone that wasn't tied to their ancient laws. There was a LOT of leeway for Olympus after hearing that.
"A God of what?" She asked, suddenly looking far more curious about Percy than she did before. He regarded her as someone that seemed like she was trying to lull them both into a false sense of security before striking out at them, especially in Satan's court where Perseus had specifically told him that they were more than likely going to fight lots of Demon's that were all vying for Satan's throne.
Percy decided that he would reinforce the thought inside her head that the two of them were people NOT to be fucked with. With a snap of his fingers, his shimmering silver and ocean blue trident manifested itself in his hands. As ever, it had a crack in the tip of one of the outside prongs. "I'm an unbound God but I'm centrally tied to the sea." He answered her. Some of the Demons that were watching intently shifted uncomfortably upon hearing that. A God, in Hell no less?
"Oooh, like Poseidon?" Her voice was sweet and innocent, it was almost throwing Percy off but judging how Perseus had never once lessened his internal guard against her, he knew that he too should be more wary.
"No, Poseidon is my father. Perseus, I'm getting bored here." Percy announced, throwing his glance back towards all of the figures standing by the pillars.
"Myrna, why has no one yet claimed the throne?" Perseus asked, slowly walking forwards with Percy by his side.
"Hmm, well, that would be because of the fact that the throne has already rejected Absalom and nearly burned him entirely. Wouldn't happen to be a problem for someone like you though, would it?" She asked coyly. Percy saw it, it was only there for a fraction of a second but he still caught it. Myrna was a lot smarter than she was letting on. She clearly knew about at least some of Perseus' capabilities, it made Percy wonder just how infamous he was down there.
"Absalom fell to the throne? Where did it send him?" Perseus asked with a genuine look of shock on his face. Absalom was one of the top contenders for taking Satan's throne. He was not an enemy to Perseus though. He certainly wasn't an ally but he wouldn't have had to fight against Absalom to have a fair chance of taking what was his.
"I think he's stuck in an eternal sleep of fever dreams." She answered with a casual shrug, not really caring what happened to her fellow Demons.
"Damn, that's harsh, well, better get this show on the road." Perseus sighed, stretching his arms and clicking his neck. "Listen up dickwads!" He shouted, not that he needed to as all eyes had already been firmly focused on the three of them in the first place.
"I am the Prince of Ire. I was strong enough to actually kill Satan in the first place and now I'm permanently bonded to the gauntlets of Ire, that makes me more powerful than any of you can imagine. When I am in one body with my godly aspect here, we are literally known as the Demon-God. DEMON. GOD. So, anyone that's brave enough to try and stop me from getting to that throne, step forward now, the rest of you get lost or I'll incinerate you anyway." He announced. The sheer power that was echoing around the room was astounding, it was like a tunnel of overwhelming pressure pushing down on everyone. A man in an old ragged prison uniform stepped forwards out of the shadows alongside two others that were standing near the throne.
Percy felt the strangest chill emanating from the shadows, a woman in a black robe that was covered by darkness was quite content with simply watching them but she wasn't the only one. There were two people watching from above. Asmodeus, the sin of Lust was sat on marble platform twenty feet above their heads. She'd mentioned that she was curious to see if Perseus really could pull it off. "Riveting speech!" She shouted, getting their attention before hooking her thumb at the man that stood next to her on the platform. She had the biggest grin on show when Perseus had scowled at the seemingly new arrival. He had medium length hair the purest shade of white. It matched his emotionless gaze well, nothing but just a bland and neutral stare.
"Sammael. Stay out of this Sammael!" Perseus bellowed threateningly. Sammael continued to just stare blankly.
"Relax Prince, I merely wish to spectate, at least today." He answered in an incredible monotone.
"Perseus, do you feel that?" Percy whispered quietly. Naturally the only people to hear Percy was the two Sins near the ceiling and Perseus himself. Perseus nodded casually. He hadn't been ignoring it but he'd needed to ensure Sammael didn't involve himself in this next fight.
Percy swiped at the air with his trident which launched a hugely pressurized jet-stream of water towards the woman that was hiding in the shadows. There was the sound of shadows whipping at the air like whenever Nico shadow traveled anywhere. The next thing they knew, that very same woman was standing with her arms folded in front of the pillar.
"Well that was needlessly rude!" She told him. She was evidently not impressed with Percy nearly getting her wet. Myrna sniffed at the air for a second before spacing herself from the boys.
"Oh, who's this hottie?" Asmodeus asked from above them, staring down intently.
"My name is Death." Percy cursed under his breath. Anyone that could willingly venture into Hell with the name Death was probably a big deal or immensely powerful in their own right. Percy had to remember that despite him being one of the strongest people in the mortal world and even among the Olympians, there were always others that were much stronger than him.
"Did she just say she's Death!?" Sammael's voice registered surprise, a visible reaction of shock was written across his face.
"Did he just have an emotion!?" Perseus pointed with a badly muffled laugh. He had wanted to fight Samamel for some time despite knowing that there was an immense difference between their power. That gap would almost become extinct once he fulfilled his self made promise to become the Sin of Wrath.
"Know your place Prince or you shall be fighting a Sin much sooner than you thought." That pressure that had expanded through the room when Perseus had issued his challenge was back but it was coming from Sammael and it was HUGE.
"I must admit, I am very interested in the Demon-God. One side is a God unbound by law and the other is a Demon contending for being the Sin of Wrath. It makes for a very powerful asset. I'll be watching you both." Death told them with a wink before disappearing.
There was silence before Perseus looked at everyone and done the one thing that only he would do. "Guys, I'm totally going to fuck Death." He grinned before deciding that now was the time his advance began.
"Alright, time to cull these retards." He laughed insanely before cracking his knuckles and staring down the enemies. Myrna happily skipped over to the people that were going to get in the way of what Perseus wanted.
"Got a statement to make Myrna?" Perseus asked her with a raised eyebrow. He expected a knife in the back, but earlier, he was surprised that she'd taken this long to reveal her intentions, not that she was particularly hiding them in the first place.
"Sorry Prince but I want that throne and I'm not about to let the likes of you take it from me." She answered with a smile. Her hands left their place behind her back for the first time since they saw her. She splayed them out and with a flash of light they turned into something reminiscent of the Dragon they slew downstairs.
"OK then. Percy, Myrna is a Dragon, maybe should have mentioned that earlier, be wary of her breath. Probably not a good idea to tell her that we annihilated the one guarding the doors, probably part of her coven." Perseus pointed, noticing the rapid change in Myrna's face from happy to wrathful.
"Right, and what's his deal, the prisoner?" Percy pointed at the scruffy man who had petiently wated for this fight to begin. He had an air of extreme malevolence about him.
"Remember Crowley?" Perseus' head craned slightly.
"Yeah?"
"That's the REAL Crowley, nasty piece of work. No idea what those two rimjobs in the back are but they look like pushovers. Let's do this, I've got a date with that throne." Perseus' words were the signal that kicked the fight off.
Percy lazily raided his trident before slamming it against the ground. The whole place shook uncontrollably, throwing their enemies completely off balance, or so he'd thought. When he looked up to start the fight in a more personal mannor he saw that he had about half a second to move out of the way of Crowley's fist that was aimed straight at his face. With no time to react on anything other than instincts he instantly pushed his body forwards and rammed his trident through Crowley's guard and impaled his entirely.
"Wow, that God just demolished Crowley." He heard Asmodeus whistle from above. With Crowley's limp body bleeding out the floor, Percy ran over to help Perseus who was fighting off the other three enemies. He was mainly blocking against the two random Demons while absolutely sponging damage from where Myrna was rushing around him like a tornado filled with razors that were all slashing down at his body.
"Well he IS a God, you mustn't underestimate people Asmodeus, much like the Prince. I believe he may actually succeed in claiming that throne. Satan never liked him but he respected him and recognized that he was the next rank in Ire." Sammael responded, giving a solmn glance at the body belonging to Satan that sat on the jagged throne of frozen fire. The throne would revive and become alive with flickering flames once again after it's owner had returned.
"Gotta make this quick, I'm running out of patience. Percy, hide." That was the only warning that Perseus was giving the God. Percy instinctively dived behind one of the pillars a few seconds before the whole court was filled with fire.
The two unnamed Demons were nothing more than a pile of ash and Crowley's body had been charred pretty badly. Myrna was struggling to breath. She'd put her guard up just in time to defend against the fiery inferno but it had taken the fight out of her. She just hung her head and looked on.
"Nice. Do your thing, I wanna go home soon." Percy pointed at the throne, hurrying his Demon up. With a quick nod, Perseus found himself standing upon the frozen throne that held Satan's body, exactly how he had left it when he slew the Sin in the first place.
From Perseus' presence, a faint glow fell over Satan and he seemed to be revived if only temporarily. "Oh? So you came for my throne after all? I expected as much." Satan's voice was hollow, he was not alive once again but temporarily being held up like a puppet from the power of the throne. There needed to be an owner at all times.
"Of course, I did tell you that was my intention from the very beginning." Perseus shrugged.
"Well, I'm not surprised but you have to take something from me, something that can fit you as the new Sin of Wrath." Satan's blood red skin was slowly returning to color the more Perseus stood near him.
"I've got just the thing." Perseus grinned sinister before slamming Satan's head against the headrest of the throne and violently ripping off the Sin's left horn. Satan's horns were far larger than Perseus' and instead of being sleek and black, they were slightly curved and were a very dark red with streaks of black adorning them. Having ripped the horn from Satan's head, he held it just above his own broken one. A light filled the room and when it had gone, the scene had changed completely.
Perseus was sat atop the throne that was no longer frozen. Satan's body was gone forever, the only thing left behind was the horn that had fused perfectly with Perseus' broken one, and the sword in Perseus' hand.
"Is that his spine?" Percy asked with a raised eyebrow. Perseus HAD mentioned that he was going to rip out Satan's spine and make it a sword but literally in the blink of an eye? That was pretty intense even for Perseus. The Sins who'd been watching from the ceiling were now no longer there, they'd seen what they needed to see and now they were in the tower that belonged to the new Sin of Wrath.
"Yes it is, my consolation prize for finally achieving what I set out to do. I have become one of the Seven Deadly Sins; the Sin of Wrath." He smiled, finally he'd done it, FINALLY!
"Very nice, now can we go home? I've got a lot of explaining to do to Artemis when she figures out that in our one little trip to Hell we have irreversibly tipped the balance of power among the higher ranks of devils." Percy told him sarcastically with a smile that matched that of the Demon's.
"Fine, we shall go." Perseus agreed. Percy dissipated, returning to Perseus' body once again. "Here we go, it'll only take a snap of my fingers to return up to where we left." He said, snapping his fingers. It was instant, just like he said it would be. They were once again in the mortal world, except, there was a difference.
It was barren, all of it, it was all just a ruined wasteland. Everywhere as far as the eye could see was just the remnants of an old world. "What?" Percy deadpanned. There were no traces of humanity left anywhere near them, there was just... Nothing but destruction.
"The fuck?" Perseus finished. The two of them were just standing in a stunned silence as they looked at the decayed carcass of their world. It was all just... Dead.
A/N: Did I just blow your mind? I totally just wrote all of this pissed out of my bonce. Oh, I've got Twitter now, a terrible decision really, but none the less you can all get some actual updates on what I'm doing, when I'm being a smartass or just my daily life if that sort of thing interests you. TheDonSocrates