Long ago, long before the three Prime Evils attempted to take control of the mortal realm and use it as an outpost in Hell's war with Heaven, there was another war, far more violent and intense. It was unlike any other war fought before or since, because pitted angel against angel. Lucifer the Mighty, one of the four great Archangels, rebelled against the society that the angels had set up in Heaven.
The other three Archangels, Tyrael the Wise, Gabriel the Pure, and Michael the Just, went to war with Lucifer. With three-quarters of Heaven against him, Lucifer knew that it was more than likely that he would be defeated, but he knew that there was no other way to show his true intentions.
Millions of angels died. Lucifer's army, though outnumbered, was made up of far stronger individual angels than those of the other Archangels. Eventually, though, Lucifer was worn down. His Pandemonium Fortress, which he had built on the edge of the mysterious fire-realm that no angel had yet ventured into, was overrun. Tyrael's army took those angels of Lucifer's that survived hostage. When Tyrael and the other Archangels entered the Fortress, Lucifer fought them.
"Heaven is not as it should be." Lucifer said as he struck Gabriel down. "We angels should not live in servitude. We are the one true race, and we should rule all realms."
But he would not see the angels released from servitude. Tyrael and Michael defeated him in battle, but refused to kill him. They used their mystical energies to chain Lucifer to a physical body, and then cast Lucifer and his angels into the fire-realm, which they named Hell. The nature of their curse made it so that Lucifer could never, ever leave Hell, regardless of his powers or wishes.
The angels of Lucifer's army were warped by the evil, arcane energy that ran through Hell. They became unnatural demons, dark and evil and lusting for blood. Lucifer himself became changed, with bat-like wings and horns. He quickly took over Hell, using his combination of Light and Dark powers to kill those who resisted him.
There were already demons in Hell, and many of them quickly sided with Lucifer. It didn't take long for him to take full control of everything that happened in Hell. As time went by, more and more powerful demons were born, and the might of Hell only increased. Tyrael and Michael fully realized that they had created a deadly enemy, but there was little they could do, as venturing too far into Hell would sap their powers.
Many thousands of years passed, and many changes came to the world. First and foremost, a race of beings appeared in the mortal plane. These beings were called "humans," and although they were intensely primitive, they were being watched over by Heaven. Secondly, and perhaps more important to the course of history, Lucifer found a female demon with which to produce an heir, and he had three sons by her.
The oldest son by five decades or more was Mephisto. He, like his mother, had a way with magic and the elements. Lucifer took a lot of time to personally train Mephisto in the way of demonic magic, and Mephisto soon became a specialist in it. The oldest brother was lacking physically; he was tall, but skinny and very bony, so he was no great shakes at physical battle. Lucifer, after having killed Gabriel with a sword, knew that physical strength was very important in battle, so he did not choose Mephisto as his heir.
The second son was named Baal. This son was far more powerful than Mephisto, both with demonic energy and in physical battle. Baal was much like a spider, with four multiple-jointed legs beneath a humanoid torso, head, and arms. As Baal grew, however, Lucifer noticed two things that overrode his joy that Baal was so powerful: one, that Baal was far stronger than his father, and if chosen as an heir, would probably rebel and kill Lucifer, and two, that Baal was out of his mind. Baal had a love for needless slaughter that could never be sated. Lucifer recognized that although Baal was powerful, he could never be a good leader for Hell. So Baal, too, was abandoned.
The third and final son, perhaps three decades younger than Baal, was Diablo. For the first time, Lucifer could see the makings of a true heir. Diablo looked much like Lucifer did, and had an equal combination of magic and physical skill. He was only about as powerful as Lucifer, which meant that there would never be a rebellion. He also was, although not as smart as Mephisto, fully in control of his mind and his abilities, so that unlike Baal, he would be a good leader. After training Diablo for a decade, Lucifer chose Diablo, the future Lord of Terror, as his heir.
And now, our tale begins with that heir, deep in the depths of Hell...
ONE
Diablo's foot slammed the ground as he left his father's fortress. Lucifer was becoming ill. It had been thousands of years since the Hell War, and although Lucifer would have been more than able to survive, had he been in angelic form, he was now bound to a demon body, and was trapped by the curse of a life span. Diablo took another step, causing the ground to shake. A small group of lesser demons took off when they sense Diablo's angry aura approaching.
Diablo was built more sensibly than his two brothers. His head was semi-human, with eyes, a mouth, the trace of a nose, and spiky ears beneath the long gray horns on either side of his head. His massive upper body came towards the ground at an angle, merged with his hips, and was offset by a long, spiked tail, much as a dinosaur was. He had huge, heavily muscled arms that forced the issue of using his tail as a counter-balance. His legs were reverse-jointed, again like a dinosaur's, and ended in round, seven-toed feet.
He had always prided himself on making biological sense.
He was maybe seven feet tall, a great deal shorter than either of his brothers. Diablo wondered vaguely where Baal was at the moment. He rarely ever saw Mephisto, who was in command of one of Lucifer's demon armies and was always off slaughtering one set of rebellious demons or another. But Baal, at least, should have been around. Lucifer was nearly dead, and would be gone given another few months. Baal should have been taking more interest in what was happening to his father.
Diablo was annoyed. Lucifer had told him that he needed to begin paying more attention to what the various Hell armies and clans were doing. "You are the Heir." Lucifer had croaked, on more than one occasion. "You need to learn how to run things. My life is finite. You need to realize that I will not be around forever to run things for you. You need to begin learning now, my son."
"Bull shit." Diablo mumbled.
Hell was in a precarious state of affairs. Rumors were flying that Heaven had heard of Mephisto, Baal, and Diablo's births, and that they were planning ways to counter the new demons in battle. More reliable intelligence came in that Tyrael was massing an army in Lucifer's old Pandemonium Fortress, preparing to strike Hell at the first sign that Lucifer was getting ready for war.
The poor old fool, Diablo thought. Doesn't even realize that Lucifer will soon be dead.
A plume of fire rose from the gray, burnt earth in front of Diablo. A lesser demon scurried out of his way. Diablo was bored, and needed entertainment, so he pointed at the demon and shot a bolt of reddish electricity at it. The demon was fried instantly.
"Pitiful." Diablo shook his head sadly. "What weaklings we have."
"Now now, little brother, we shouldn't be too hateful of the little ones." said a cold, haughty voice from behind Diablo.
The big red demon turned to see Baal moving towards him on his four spider-like legs. There was a metallic, pincer-like sound as each leg hit the ground. Baal ran a hand over one of the thick gray horns on his head. "They can't help it, you know." Baal said condescendingly, looking down at Diablo maliciously.
"I was wondering when you'd show up." Diablo growled. He shook his head. "Never far behind trouble, are you?"
Baal smirked. "Of course not. I hear Father is ill."
Diablo nodded. "That demon body of his is on its last legs. He'll remain here, of course, just... not in a substantial sense."
Baal sighed and turned away from Diablo, walked a few yards, then turned and moved back towards him. "He could always have Mephisto chain him to another body. That would work, as well." Baal rubbed his chin in thought, carefully considering his next words. "I wonder why he doesn't just let himself die. He'd be back in his angel form, and that curse that Tyrael and Michael placed on him would be broken."
"No." Diablo said, watching Baal pace in irritation. "He's been away from Heaven's energies too long to be able to exist in angel form. He's just going to be a soul, like every other dead demon."
"Perhaps he'll get to Heaven..." Baal smirked again, looking thoughtful. "He is an angel, after all. And, rebellious as he was, he never did anything evil. He was merely... idealistic."
Diablo snorted. "I doubt that they'd let him in."
"I don't know about that." Baal said, shrugging. "They may not have a choice. So, what did he tell you?"
"The same old lecture." Diablo said, sighing. "'You're the heir, and you need to take on some responsibility.' He's getting worried, now that it's obvious that he'll be dead in the next few months. He thinks we won't be able to manage without him."
"He may be right, Little Devil." Baal said. "If you can't learn how to lead..."
"I know how to lead." Diablo snapped. "And I'd know better how to lead if he'd put me in control of one of the armies. But, no, that's Mephisto's job... You and I can't be trusted with it. We're not good enough." Diablo slammed his tail onto the ground in anger. "Why doesn't he think I can do it?"
"You're twelve years old, Diablo." Baal said, shaking his head. "By the standards of a greater demon, you're still a newborn. You need to prove yourself, before Father can put you in control of something like that."
"I don't see you doing anything important." Diablo shot back.
Baal chuckled. "Father has great reason not to trust me." He raised his hand before his face. The odd, bullwhip-like tentacles on his arm raised up and waved wildly. "My power is far, far beyond his. If he were to trust me at all, I'd be able to capitalize and destroy him entirely."
"You won't have to, Baal." Diablo grumbled. "He'll be dead in six months."
"Perhaps." Baal said, shrugging. "But Mother has her way of... prolonging things. Besides," he added, glaring at Diablo, "You're the Heir, so you'd be in my way more than him. I'd have to kill you."
"What?"
Baal laughed a mirthless, cold laugh. "Don't worry, little brother. If you run things in a way that pleases me, we won't have to worry, now will we?" He stepped away from Diablo. "Though I don't think you'd mind much, if I took over before you could be made the Lord of Hell."
Diablo shook his head. "Of course not. There's so little opportunity to slaughter in that sort of position."
"Indeed." Baal's eyes flashed, making Diablo suspicious. "You're a demon after my cold, dark heart, Diablo. You and I could do great things together." Baal shook his head again. "But, alas, I must go. Father requested my presence... I think he wanted to give me a position of some sort." He turned away from Diablo.
"Wait, Baal." Baal turned his head slightly, to look at Diablo. "How powerful will I be when I'm fully grown?" the younger demon asked, looking up at Baal determinedly.
Baal studied his brother carefully. He turned slowly around. "I don't know. As strong as Father? Maybe stronger..."
"I want something conclusive, thanks."
Baal sighed. "Keep in mind, little one, that I'm not even fully grown yet." He scratched the side of his head. "Well, how about this? I'll give you a little test."
"A test?"
"Yes." Baal waved one of his hands, and before him appeared a small, rat-like demon. "Create me a demon." The rat-demon looked up at Baal in fear, then turned and ran. One of Baal's tentacles flew out after it, seized it by the neck, and decapitated it. "It's rather routine, for demons of our pedigree. But at your age, it might be a tad difficult. If you can create one... then you'll be a powerful demon when you're Mephisto's age."
Diablo stared at him. He looked around. "Well, I'll try... Father taught me a sort of shortcut for demonic summonings. It takes less energy, and I can focus more on the strength of the demon..." He reached out his hand and traced a long oval in the air. It became a transparent red. On the other side of the oval, a thick forest could be seen.
"A portal to the mortal realms?" Baal wondered aloud. "You're going to use a mortal being as a focus for the summoning? Interesting. I've never seen it done this way before."
Diablo watched the portal carefully. "Mephisto does this en masse. He uses corpses, and changes the type of demon they are, but is able to resurrect them at the same time. It doesn't take much energy at all..."
He feel silent as a shadow passed across the portal. Diablo's arm shot through and seized whatever being it was. There was a face pressed against his palm, and a great deal of hair or fur beneath his fingers. The creature fought against his grip, pummeling his hand with weak fists. He held the creature's head for a few moments, unsure of what to do next.
"Kill it, fool." Baal murmured. "You can't demonize it without killing it."
Diablo nodded and twisted his wrist, as if turning a doorknob. There was a snap as its neck broke, and the creature fell limp. Diablo pulled the creature trough the portal, which closed after his hand came through.
The creature was small, maybe five-foot-three, and was very slender. It had soft pink skin, two legs and arms, and long red hair. It wore a strange animal skin garment that came down to its knees. Diablo noted with interest that the creature was not as blocky as many mortal beings were; rather, it was curved in places. He released the creature's head, and let it fall to the ground. Its large blue eyes stared up at him blankly.
"So that's a human." Baal said, leaning closer to inspect the dead thing. "Female, too, by the looks of it... Hm. I've never seen a human before now. How interesting."
"What's a human?" Diablo asked, crouching low beside the body. It was much easier for him to do this than for Baal. "And how can you tell it's female?"
"A human is a species of primate that is rising to dominance in the mortal realm, with the help of the angels." Baal said, peering at the dead human. He reached out, and one of his tentacles prodded the human's curved chest. "And I can tell it's a female by those. Female humans feed their young children with them. Now, if we can skip the anatomy lesson... Get on with it, Diablo."
Diablo looked down at the dead human. She looked young, though Diablo, never having heard of humans before, was no one to judge. He wondered vaguely why he felt guilty for having killed her. He shook his head. "Lift her up a second, Baal."
Baal sighed. Two of his tentacles wrapped around the human's ankles and neck and lifted her slowly from the ground. Diablo drew a large, elaborate circle in the dirt using his claw, with a long oval for where the body would be placed. "Set her down again, in this circle." Baal put the body down again.
Diablo stood and began to charge energy in either hand. The circle in the dirt began to glow a pale red. Diablo slammed his hands down in the dirt, and the circle turned a deep blood red. The energy caused the human's body to float in the air. Diablo put a claw to his opposite palm and cut it, and allowed some of the blood to run into the human's open mouth.
"Hakar ooray itasay nah." Diablo murmured. He put the bloodied palm to the human's stomach. The human's dead muscles began to twitch wildly as the energy from the circle and from Diablo's blood began to course into it.
There was a flash of red light and a wind that blew from nowhere. There was a soft thump as the human fell to the ground again. The light slowly died away, and Diablo looked down at the earth. He grunted in satisfaction, while Baal let out a cry of amazement.
The human was completely changed. She was now naked, for one, though that didn't mater much because of how her body had changed. Her pink skin, except that of her face and neck, was now a deep red that matched Diablo's. Her head and neck were still almost entirely human, except for the two gray horns that came out of the sides of her head where her ears had once been, and the two rows of red spikes that emerged from the top of her head on either side of the part in her hair. The area from her collar down to her groin was covered in a thick, chitinous tan skin which took the shape of her curvy body. Her arms were very muscular, like Diablo's were, except that they were human-proportioned. There were three spikes on either knee, and her legs were otherwise still human, except for the red skin. Her hands and feet were still dainty and human. On her back was a rock-hard armor that extended down to her hips.
She was fully demon. But she was still dead. Her blue eyes were still blank and dead-looking to Diablo. "Was she supposed to come back to life?" he asked Baal tentatively, hoping that Baal would not take offense to the lifelessness of his newly-created demon.
Baal laughed. "Of course not. Which is why I would have preferred you had created one from scratch... But you'll have this." He snapped his fingers, and the dead girl jerked. "There. I am impressed, Little Devil. I certainly couldn't do that at your age."
The girl sat up and stared at Diablo, without once looking at her new body. "Master Diablo!" she said in a happy, upbeat voice. "I'm sorry for having taken so long to wake up. I swear I'll do better in the future."
"Apparently," Baal observed dryly, "death and demonizing do nothing to change personality."
The girl smiled widely at Diablo. The demon had never, ever seen anything like this before. Were all humans like this? It blew his mind to see... happiness. He had never experienced anything at all similar in his entire life. "What's your name, girl?" he asked, his voice sounding different from normal.
"Ama!" the demon-girl responded. "My only purpose is to serve you, Master Diablo, so please, give your first order! I await your every command."
"Stand up and let me look at you." Diablo said. Ama pushed herself up and stared adoringly up at Diablo. Yes, she is exactly the same proportions as before, Diablo thought as he walked around her. Except for her arms, which are more muscular. She even has those lump things on her chest... He looked intently at the "lump things," which despite being covered in the chitinous skin, were quite clearly defined. Humans, it seemed, were quite odd. Long legs and hair, large eyes, small noses... They just looked funny to Diablo. "That'll do." he said to Ama.
Ama nodded happily.
"I can always kill her for you." Baal said in an undertone to Diablo. "You can always find a less uppity one."
Diablo shook his head. "No, that's all right. It's my first time creating another demon... This needs to be celebrated. She deserves a chance to live."
Baal shrugged. "Your loss, little one. Well, I must be going." He turned back towards Lucifer's fortress. "Have fun with your new friend, Diablo." He laughed darkly and set off towards the fortress.
Ama walked up besides Diablo. "Who was that, master?"
Diablo looked down at her. "That's my brother, who you will call Lord Baal. You must be very, very respectful around my family, because they'll have no problems with killing you. And I would prefer," he laid the slightest possible stress on the word, "that my first servant not be killed."
Ama nodded solemnly. "Yes, master. I will treat Lord Baal with the utmost respect. He is very powerful... I think I'd respect him, even if you hadn't told me to." She turned her large eyes back on Diablo. They made him shiver. There was something about this girl that just didn't sit right with him...
"Come, Ama." Diablo said, turning around heavily and stalking off towards the River of Fire. "We must test you. And perhaps, with my father's illness... Perhaps Mephisto will return."
Ama, with her two long legs and small, nimble feet, turned easily and followed right beside Diablo. Though she may have been slightly annoying, Diablo was happy that at least he had one loyal servant.