If there was anyone I had expected to see there, Thor wouldn't have even been on the list. The book clearly stated they had not seen eye-to-eye that much. Not only that but Thor was beating him up on more than one occasion. My heart was quickening its rate from genuine fear for the first time. Thor didn't say a word, just started making his way towards me with Mjolnir in his right hand. Loki didn't dare move as any sort of movement would burn his skin but I could notice that he was clenching his jaw. I also didn't dare move as I was also scared that Thor wouldn't miss this time.
"So, you've got something of ours." The blonde Norse god skipped all the pleasantries and went straight to the point. I preferred it that way either way. I glanced at Loki who for some reason showed fear as well. I had never seen him as scared as now. A confusion was starting to infiltrate my brain as I struggled to decide what to do.
"Yes, and there's a good reason for it." I said as confidently as I could.
"Oh really?" He asked with a cocked eyebrow. "You do know I can just fling you into space at this exact moment, right?"
"I would really love you to–" WIth one heavy swing, Thor threw the hammer towards me, making me fly across the field for about four hundred feet. I growled as my body got slammed against the ground with the hardest blow I had ever received. I felt all the air leaving my body, making me gasp for air. As I started propping myself up to get up, I heard curses in the distance which made me chuckle. Thor was realizing he couldn't help Loki out of chains as they too burned him. At that moment, I noticed something dripping down my chain only to realize it was black goo from my mouth. Only then I started feeling pain in my guts and started to take the situation much more seriously. Although it had also started making me motivated. I felt anger rising in me as I wiped the demon blood off my chin. I slowly stood up so as not to unlock yet another painful spot on the body. When I completely stood up and straightened my back, I saw Thor coming towards me with wide steps.
"You better unlock those chains now before I swing you another 400 feet!" He growled at me, with nothing but fury in his eyes. I said nothing but just put my hand against his forehead and started using mind compulsion on him. It was a bit hard at first to break through the barriers in his mind, almost like even his brain had its own muscles. However, once I managed to break through barriers I summoned telepathic powers and released my orders into his mind. His pupils had grown wider the more he was surrendering to the compulsion and, at once, he reached out towards me with the hammer, slowly putting it in my free hand. Foolish had I been because as soon as I grabbed it, the sole weight of it pulled me down to the ground again. I groaned in pain as I attempted to lift myself up. Before Thor could break out from the trance, I reached out a hand towards him and summoned all the strength I had, sending him flying across the field.
"Asmodeus!" I heard Loki's voice in the distance and I lifted my gaze towards him. "You have to allow me to use it!" A pure confusion washed over me when I heard what he had just uttered. I quickly glanced over at Thor who was just getting up from the ground. I clenched my jaw as I wrestled with many decisions. Why would I trust Loki? But these were desperate moments.
Thor roared in laughter suddenly as he fully rose up. "You're not worthy!"
"Why do you even want Loki back?! Aren't you two supposed to hate each other?" I asked, mostly trying to stall the whole fight. Although I also needed some answers.
"Well, you see, I'm not the one much for debates." He responded, walking back towards me. "But, since we're all here and you don't seem much of a coward, I will give you an answer. It's very simple, really. He got away from the cave he was safely tucked away for eons and now we need to bring him back. He got out before the time was due. We don't want an apocalypse as I'm sure neither do you."
There was something about his representation that didn't sit right with me. Once again, I got up on my feet, leaving the hammer laying on the ground. I looked over at Loki and those unusual emotions from earlier started resurfacing. I actually started feeling sad for him and this new feeling of empathy bothered me to hell and back.
"What happens if I don't let you take him?"
The god of thunder looked almost shocked as soon as he heard my question. "Like I told you. An eventual apocalypse ensues. Except this time we don't know how." That only meant one thing. They didn't know anything about Odin's prophecy. My heart started pounding in my chest as I realized how ultimately screwed this situation was. There was not a being at the moment that knew exactly how this was going to play out. Odin was probably the only one who knew the general idea but why didn't he tell the rest of them? Maybe Beelzebub was right, that old bastard was much trickier than I initially presumed.
"Won't something happen if you try to intervene with destiny?"
"Maybe… But I know none of us is ready for whatever is about to come." He made a small pause and then made a face, "besides, what are you two doing together anyway?" I didn't know if telling him what was going on was a good idea. He might even try to get him even more then. A lot of feelings had been circulating through my mind as I struggled to decide who I should side with.
"We're just friends!" Loki suddenly yelled out from the distance and we both looked at him in bewilderment.
"Friends?" Thor and I both said at the same time and then looked at each other. I quickly changed my facial expression to a serious one.
"Yeah… It got out of hand and I tied him to a tree to teach him a lesson." I said trying to remain composed, the whole situation starting to turn quite comical. Thor didn't seem too convinced, however. I couldn't blame him, this was the dumbest excuse I had heard in my life. At once, the anger shot out of the norse god and he grabbed me by the collar of my shirt, lifting me up off the ground.
"Listen to me, do I look like an absolute idiot to you?" He spat without a hint of sympathy in his voice.
"I mean…" He gripped onto the collar even tighter, his fist pressing against my throat.
"You're a cocky little thing, aren't you?!" I was now coming to realize he would kill me without hesitating. Maybe I should have read up more on Thor as well.
The god of thunder was just about to hurl me against the ground once again, I stretched out my hand which made the chains around Loki snap open. I fell onto the ground, again, the back of my head smashing against it. My vision started to blur before me as I tried to comprehend the amount of bare strength he had. I tried to lift myself up when I realized that the power of the hit made my head spin. I leaned against the surface when I heard Thor roaring "NO!" a few feet away from me.
"Loki, you're making a huge mistake!" He thundered. Loki had managed to get to the Mjolnir just in time.
"How does that make any sense, my brother, huh?!" I heard Loki cackle in the most murderous tone. "You've come to tie me back into that cave! Why would you think I'd come to you?!"
"We can come to an arrangement, just don't do this!"
"Oh so now you're willing to negotiate?! And you think I will believe you?!" The red-haired god started laughing once again and there was no hint of mercy in his voice. That was the first time I had ever experienced so much anger coming off of him. I smelled the smoke coming from behind me when I noticed the grass around me catching on fire. My body still felt weak, causing me not to be able to move, just leaving me hoping I wouldn't die engulfed in flames. Ironic for a demon.
Suddenly, the skies above us darkened, sending a downpour of rain and extreme lightning and thunder. Did I just single handedly start Ragnarok? I sure did hope that wasn't the case. That's when I lost sight of Thor before me as he started sprinting towards Loki. I managed to turn my head around to see what was going on.
Thor was just about to reach him when Loki swung the mjolnir, making the other god crash so hard, creating a giant hole in the ground. My eyes widened in shock as I saw Loki's whole body radiating with flames. I saw Thor getting up on his knees with a blood-covered face, "You do this, and you're forever exiled from our world."
"Well, who died and made you the righteous ruler of Asgard?" Loki spat out before once more swinging the hammer and hitting Thor, rendering him unconscious.
Meanwhile, I was left completely speechless by the whole "performance". I had no idea what I had just started or ended but it didn't seem too good. I slowly rose to my feet when I realized that it was finally alright in my head. Loki was still standing in the same spot, staring at his now possibly dead brother. The flames on him had subdued as he let the hammer just drop to the ground.
"Is… Is he dead?" I asked carefully not to awaken more anger from him. I didn't want to experience whatever Thor just had.
"I… don't think so." It seemed like it was starting to come to him what he had just done. The previously furious demeanor was now gone, and he was nothing but scared. He looked up at me as if to ask for some sort of help. I started making my way towards him and then looked down at Thor. Well, he didn't seem so mighty and strong in this state.
"What do you think happens now?"
"I… genuinely don't know. If he isn't dead… Then I might have to be on the run forever. Unless Odin decides to do something about it. But they will definitely be searching for Thor when they realize he is gone."
I let out a deep breath as it was slowly dawning upon me that the apocalypse could be closer to us than it appeared. As much as I found Loki quite a menace, my gut feeling and ever-slight sympathy I felt for him, I couldn't just let him leave. I couldn't even push myself to tie him back to the tree. I despised so much whatever was going on with me for the past few hours. I hesitantly put my hand on his shoulder and turned myself towards him.
"As much as it pains me to say this… I'm willing to help you." I swallowed a lump in my throat, my gut feeling screaming at me that I was making a grave mistake. The-red haired trickster looked up from his unconscious brother for the first time and locked his gaze with mine. His eyes gave out emotion I hadn't seen before. However, one emotion was prevailing over any other and that one I was very familiar with - despair.
"What are you proposing? Is there even a solution to this?"
I was silent for a few seconds as I rummaged through my brain to suggest the least potentially dangerous option. "Honestly, I think you should tell Odin first what happened." I couldn't believe I had to be a voice of reason for the first moment in my life.
"Tell Odin?!"
"Yeah… You should be honest at least about this thing. I hate to say this but in this situation, honesty is the best policy."
Loki gulped and once again threw a glance at his brother on the ground. He nodded swiftly and, out of nowhere, his arms wrapped around me as he squeezed me closer to him. "Um… excuse me?"
"Thank you." He murmured.
"For what? I didn't do–"
"I'm finally free. Thanks to you I'm no longer bound to the wills of Thor."
"We don't know if he's dead."
"Shhh… Don't kill the mood." Loki said as he continued hugging me. I still didn't know what exactly was going on. I had never experienced someone thanking me for anything.
"Okay, that's enough." I started pushing him away as I felt the hug had been going for a bit longer than socially acceptable. Loki's face no longer gave out the emotion of despair but rather, he was now grinning his widest smile. I blinked once and felt my dead heart skip a beat.
"Even if he's not completely dead, my dear Asmo, he will be laying there for quite some time. It will be like a vacation for me." He beamed in such a way that I almost saw small sparks in his eyes.
"Do tell Odin though otherwise it could end really bad for you."
"Sounds like you're speaking from experience." He said, giving out a hint that he knew how much I was putting at risk to keep him hidden from the Devil himself.
"Exactly." I responded before I turned my attention towards the Mjolnir on the ground. "You should probably bring that with you as well."
Loki followed my gaze and sighed. He bent down and picked it up, starting to inspect it. "Definitely."
"To Odin. Not to yourself." I said with a stern voice.
"Fiiiine." He whined, rolling his eyes. "Anyway, we should probably be heading back. You have quite a story to tell to your buddy." He said, implying Beelzebub. He walked past me and patted me on the shoulder before opening a giant portal. I watched him step out of the human world, my brain struggling to comprehend what the hell just happened. I should've never left Hell - that was for sure. Loki was right, I had to go tell yet another story of failure to Beelzebub. Instead of solving anything or delaying it, I had just made everything worse.
Few hours later, I was seated in the chair in my office, downing my tenth shot of brandy. Sometimes I wish I was human and I could just sleep until everything was over. The best demon can do in his meditative state is not be aware for a maximum 3 hours. And after those 3 hours, a mind would be just filled with visions and prayers from people. There was no way for me to tune out other than vices I had - and sex. That was when an idea crossed my mind. I had completely forgotten about that curious little thing that was the Devil's secretary. It was a good day to spite the Devil too.
I smiled to myself as I downed one last drop of liquid from the glass. I stood up from the chair, making my way towards the door and up the attic towards the boss's little cave he made. As soon as my eyes met with the demoness that was sitting at her desk, she instantly grinned and stood up.
"You're back!" She beamed and just looking at her being so happy to see me, improved my mood greatly. At least there was someone here who didn't know anything about what was going on but was still excited to see me. Although it was just lust that she had felt, it was better than any emotion I had experienced in the last 24 hours.
"Indeed, one and only." I stretched out my arms and she rushed towards me, suddenly pulling me for a deep kiss."Impatient, aren't we?" She didn't respond with anything, just ended up pulling me into the storage room. She pushed me against the wall as she started lowering herself on her knees. That's when she started unbuckling my pants and took my length in her mouth. I let out a grunt as I gripped her hair. Her tongue started making circles on the tip before she pulled the skin slightly upwards, her tongue now making its way inside it. Her hand was gripping my penis with the perfect strength as well. All of this made my mind clear of all worry as I completely gave myself to the lust, letting it completely surround my senses. I looked down at her, my gaze meeting hers as she was bobbing her head, as I gripped her hair even harder. I started telepathically sending her the waves of lust, wanting her to feel the same amount as I had. However, just when the pleasure was about to build up to its highest point, the door slammed open. Both her and I snapped out of the dreamlike state and looked towards the intruder.
"Asmodeus, are you for real?" The very same Devil from across the hallway said. There was a clear annoyance and I felt happy that I had succeeded in invoking a reaction.
"You want to join?" I smirked, in a half-dazed state as my mind was still in many sensations of lust. I saw the boss getting even angrier as he looked down at the demoness on her knees.
"And you?!" He thundered and she quickly stood up, wiping her mouth from the possible liquid then bowed her head.
"I'm so sorry, sir." She said quietly, dashing past him.
"I will deal with you later!" He yelled out at her before fixating his eyes on me.
"Do you like what you see? Is that why you keep looking at me?" I laughed out loud before he started making his way towards me. The lust I had been feeling until now completely vanished and I instantly straightened and zipped my pants up. He was looking directly into my eyes as if studying me and trying to understand what was going on in my head.
"What is going on with you, Asmodeus?" Surprisingly, his voice was soft, giving out a hint of concern even. That had genuinely taken me aback. "I thought after our talk, you'd… think?" There it was -the ever-present mocking.
"What's wrong with making a bit of love?"
"Don't push me," he said harshly, clenching his jaw. "This is the second warning and the last. If I see you once again near that girl, I will personally end you." He hissed, before turning away and walking towards the exit. I was once again overwhelmed with the feelings of betrayal except that now I had started feeling this big hole in my stomach. One would associate it to something similar to sadness.
"And what about you?! What happened to you, huh?!" I cried out. "You are nowhere to be seen for years… You just disappear somewhere, you don't say anything! And you only invite me when I make a mistake! Have you forgotten… everything?!" There was a giant lump in my throat. I couldn't believe there were even slight tears welling in my eyes. The Devil stopped in his tracks, just as he was about to leave through the doorway. He didn't even try to look at me, he just simply responded with, "don't be a child, Asmodeus. We both know things and people change."
I couldn't believe what I was hearing. There wasn't even an ounce of the Devil I used to know. It almost seemed like there was a part of him that was missing. Like I was talking to a doppelganger even. The rage had now replaced the anguish, making me feel close to how Loki felt earlier today. I felt like I was touching a surface of despair and I couldn't let myself succumb further into it. I was the one who was supposed to control it, not be a slave to it.
With nothing left to say, I just clenched my jaw, mumbling a silent "screw you" as I pushed past him. I didn't turn back and swore to myself that I would never come back here again. There was no force that would make me. I couldn't look at him, I couldn't even talk to him - it was too painful, as hard as it was to admit.
I went straight to my chambers and decided I wouldn't come out of it for a while. That was at least one place where no one would bother me that easily. Unless of course someone like Loki decided to invade again but even he had better things to do at the moment - I hope. I couldn't even bring myself to tell Beelzebub what had happened with the whole Thor and Loki situation. I couldn't bring myself to watch him look at me with disappointment - the only friend I currently had.
I laid on the bed, resting the back of my head against the wall. I actually started to feel a relaxation coming over me so I closed my eyes, trying to let my mind go. As much as I loved to appear as the most laid-back demon ever, my own mind would never make me rest. Especially considering all the recent events, I didn't have one day of peace. I let out a deep breath, a temporary peace washing over me. However, that also wasn't long-lasting as I heard something sliding on the floor. I groaned to myself and opened my eyes, only to see a letter on the floor in front of the door. At least it wasn't a demon-killing bomb or something. I stretched out my palm, forcing the letter to fly into my hand. I groaned even louder when I opened it and I saw an invitation to a masquerade party tomorrow. It was an annual celebration where we thank Hell and the Devil for what he had done for us - which was mostly nothing. However, a lot of demons went there either to just let loose or some actual idiots who still worshiped the Devil. Of course, the presence was mandatory especially since I was me - the king. Another day of having to pretend but at least there would be booze and drugs.
I let the letter rest on my chest as I closed my eyes once again. A vision of Loki grinning at me and hugging me appeared in front of me, making my heart skip a beat again. I shot my eyes open as I realized that whatever was surfacing in me was maybe a more dangerous thing than the apocalypse itself. Even if it wasn't what I thought it was, caring for someone new was such a strange concept to me. That was when I decided to push these thoughts somewhere deep inside where I would never be able to find them. I was aware of how wrong it was but I absolutely refused to deal with those emotions and there was nothing that could make me. I even started to feel angry at myself because I let myself be vulnerable even a little bit. That was why I closed my eyes again, deciding to just sleep these thoughts away. Tomorrow would come and I could forget all about it again through a lot more vices. So, I let myself drift off into the land of demon dreams, hoping I wouldn't get a vision of the world ending in a week. However, I was more concerned of my own feelings being even worse in a week.
