Throughout the entire night, my mind was filled with so many summonings made by people but at the very least, I didn't think about anything else. I decided to be inside my room for as long as I could so as not to attract any attention. Surprisingly no one bothered me either so I was finally at peace. But the hour of the ceremony was approaching and I had to be there. Unwillingly, I opened my eyes slowly, breaking through my meditative state. A commotion could already be heard all around the castle, everyone seemingly excited to be there. The more time was passing the less I felt like I was representing the type of a demon I should've been. Although, considering the recent events, I wasn't really too much of myself either way. On the other hand, if the apocalypse was approaching, I may as well enjoy the rest of my days.
I got up from the bed and simply envisioned in my mind a formal demon attire. At once, I had a black shirt with a red neck-tie. I ended up loosening the tie a little bit as I didn't want to look too uptight. I went up to a mirror on the other side of the room and started rolling up my sleeves to my elbows. I knew the sleeves were going to bother me at some point. I ended up envisioning a long maroon red cape hanging off my shoulders with raised up collar for a masquerading purpose. I looked at my pale face in the mirror which definitely looked like it had seen better days. Then, I simply ran my fingers through my short black hair just to give it some style. I stretched out my palm and a plague doctor mask appeared in it. I smiled to myself as it was one of my favorite human fashion pieces. Wearing that mask, I was also able to blend into the crowd and people not recognizing me at all. So, maybe after all, I'd be able to enjoy this event. I put the mask on my face and looked at myself once more in the mirror before leaving the room.
The hallways were completely empty, everyone probably already being in the big hall. It was really curious how many of them gathered during this time of the year despite most of them hating the big boss so much. That had also made me draw a conclusion that most of them were big fat liars or simply hypocrites. One might wonder why demons would hate their own boss who created them. The answer was quite simple really. It was because he was starting to resemble his own father on the other side. Ironic, wasn't it? Well, an apple never fell too far from the tree. You either die a hero or live long enough to watch yourself become someone you hate. And, the Devil was still kicking, unfortunately for a lot of us.
I walked downstairs into the big hall, the many demons already chattering between each other almost happily. Seeing all of them like this made me realize that maybe they weren't here for the Devil, they were there just for them. It was mostly the lower ranks that were excited however to be there as they were the only ones who had to work much harder than any of us. The Devil was known to give them a lot of errands that required a lot of strength and power.
I was able to recognize most of them and as I was trying my best to push through the crowd, I collided with someone. I looked up only to see a gigantic head of a fly used as a mask which made me gasp and stagger backwards. I quickly calmed down as I realized that this could be only one demon - Beelzebub. He could've chosen a less terrifying mask, that was true. He had his arms across his chest and refused to move as he kept staring down at me with those huge green eyes.
"You seem mad." I noted.
"You have such a good eye!" He retorted sarcastically before telling me to follow him as he turned around and started walking through the crowd. We got to a small bar table in the corner of the hall. Nearby, next to the big windows, stood a long table with all sorts of different food that looked mouth-watering. However, they did not just look like it, the more one would stay closeby, they'd be able to feel the hardest to resist smells ever. Beelzebub was truly a masterchef.
"I thought you were dead!" He suddenly exclaimed. The more I looked at him with that fly mask the more uncomfortable I felt. The eyes on it were way too big and invasive.
"I know, I'm sorry for not saying anything. Some things have happened." I swallowed a lump, actually considering not telling some details of the story. I didn't know why my gut was telling me that being too honest was a bad idea but it was. Maybe I just didn't want to get him involved. For so long I lived with the lack of empathy, that even small actions of care were foreign to me.
"Well, you seem to be still kicking so it couldn't have been that bad?"
Beelzebub placed too much faith in me that it almost pained me to admit. He was right not to do it in the beginning. We should have just never done anything. It was like no matter what I did with Loki or to Loki, things seemed to just escalate.
"Well… Not exactly." I let out a breath before grabbing five shot glasses from a waiter carrying a tray next to us. I filled them up with some pink demon alcohol called "Fairy Drops" that was sitting on the table. I knew the name was misleading and this alcohol would most likely flip my brain like a burger. Beelzebub knew some crazy story was coming so he waited patiently until I downed all five shots. In the meantime, he also poured himself a drink and took several shots himself as well. Not even he was ready to digest this sober and he didn't even know what it was. I didn't know what sort of drink he poured for himself, I just saw it was blue.
Due to wearing a mask, I had to do extra steps just to drink. That meant having to lift the bottom part of it in order to drink. Something was telling me I'd regret choosing this mask by the end of the event. Beelzebub had it much easier as he had an actual small opening where his mouth should've been.
Once we finally succeeded in making ourselves a bit tipsy, I was ready to uncover what had happened. I ended up telling the story with as much detail as possible which surprised even me. I just kept on spewing everything that went through my mind and I didn't leave anything behind. I started worrying that the drink could have some sort of truth serum in it. I couldn't see Beelzebub's face of disapproval but I could feel his disappointment radiating. While I was talking, he kept pouring his blue drink non stop.
After I finished with my retelling, there was a short silence as Beelzebub tried to collect his thoughts.
"You know what? I'm not even going to be bothered." He shrugged and continued drinking. I think his drink was also affecting him weirdly the same way mine was doing to me. Especially considering the fact that what had happened should worry him greatly. I frowned as I reached out towards the bottle of the blue liquid and looked at its name. It was called "Frigid Stinger". Whoever was coming up with these names should have been brought in for questioning. Either way, he was behaving quite… frigid.
"Do you think there's something weird in our drinks?" I asked, hoping I wasn't the only insane one here.
"Yeah because I really want to punch you right now. Yet I can't make myself."
That was a way more appropriate reaction than the previous one.
"I'm just being overly honest… I didn't even mean to tell you all this." On some level I thought that this was some plot against us but I knew deep down that it was just my luck lately. I couldn't even get drunk without having to suffer for it. Besides, Beelzebub wasn't the one suffering, he was feeling fine. In fact, I had never seen him more relaxed and I was glad that at least one of us was enjoying themselves. I let out an annoyed sigh as I pondered on what to do. At once, Beelzebub went over towards the center of the hall where demons were gathering to dance. Classical music started playing in the distance and each of them found a partner to dance with. It looked like they were about to dance a waltz. I groaned as this was the most boring part of the event. I was never much of a dancer, let alone those dances that actually needed you to know the moves. I did, however, enjoy watching them have fun. Especially Beelzebub who had finally released the short stick that he had in his ass sometimes and let himself enjoy himself for once. The only time I had actually seen him happy was while cooking and maybe sometimes with me when we had nice times. Lately, however, I seemed to be much more of a bother to him than good company. That was why I kind of regretted telling him everything. The less he knew the better. But that goddamn drink ruined everything.
I went over to the large table only to realize that even that was a risky game considering I didn't know what that was laced with. However, I just decided to let go and allow myself to have fun. Maybe odds would be in my favor this time. I took something that looked like a skewer kebab as it would be easy to eat with this impractical mask. As soon as I swallowed the first piece, I instantly felt such a big sense of euphoria consuming my body. I had finally felt that sense of peace I was yearning for and wasn't able to get it in weeks. Although, it was clear to me then why everyone was so addicted to Beelzebub's food. Even though I had already tasted it in the past, it didn't quite hit the spot the same way it did now. I was in such a state of mental turbulence that any kind of substance that would make it go away was more than welcome. And so far, the food didn't have any strange side effects so I was also at peace in that segment. All of the things that caused me stress and distress seemed to fade away into the background the more I was eating. Once I ate the skewer in its entirety, there was nothing in my head that bothered me anymore. There was a small smile playing on my lips even though it couldn't be seen from under the mask. Then, I realized there was a similarity between Beelzebub's food and human weed. They worked in a very similar way. Except, of course, a demon's handmade food was much more intense in its effect. Suddenly, I noticed someone stepping right next to me. I turned my head towards him only to see a very familiar stature. Not that he had tried to hide himself that well considering that his mask only covered his eyes. It looked very retro as well - it looked like it was glazed with gold along and there were also different patterns covering it.
"Mammon, if you have come here to gloat for whatever reason, spare me. I'm not interested." I spared him pleasantries and turned my whole body towards him now.
"I'm not gloating. Why? Should I?" He also turned himself towards me, his left hand holding a glass of wine. There was an obvious condescending tone coming from him and it looked like he was trying his hardest to fight off a smirk.
"What do you want?"
"I was just curious to see what you were up to. Hadn't heard from you since I saw you leave the library." He said and took a sip from the glass.
"Well, it's not like you ever leave that place."
"That's fair." He let out a small laughter and it made me even more confused. Did he try to make buddies with me? He was really bad at it.
"If you want to press me for information, you know full well you're not going to get it."
I really couldn't relax around here. Just as soon as I started to feel better, Mammon had to come and just rain on my parade. If it was only rain, he quite literally just took a nasty dump on it. Before he could say anything, as if matters couldn't get worse, music around us fell silent and everyone stopped dancing and looked towards the stairs. Then, I couldn't believe my eyes. The Devil, who had been locked away for so many centuries, finally decided to show himself to the public. Honestly, it was quite unbelievable. He was dressed in an all black suit and didn't even have a mask on. Did my words actually get to his head?
"Well, well, well, look what the cat dragged in." I heard Mammon murmuring and it surprised me that I instantly looked at him. Was he also not a fan of his? This was getting more interesting. I decided not to say anything in case it was some sort of a trick. I turned my attention back to the Devil who decided to stop at the center of the staircase. I reached behind me and grabbed another skewer. I didn't think I was ready to listen to his speech sober.
"Welcome to the annual Remembrance Party!" The Devil said loudly and his voice spread like thunder through the hall. Everyone in the room started applauding and yelling in excitement and support. Well, everyone except me and Beelzebub, surprisingly Mammon as well. He was just standing there, tall and unmoving like a statue.
With one swift hand motion, the Dark Lord had silenced the demons before him. "Now, I know I haven't shown myself in eons but that is about to change. Thanks to advice from an old friend, I have come to understand some things. I've been quite proud of your work lately, except for that little mishap with the wall."
I couldn't believe what I was hearing. I finished with yet another skewer so his speech made even less sense than it would have if I wasn't sedated. At once, an idea had crossed my mind although I wasn't quite sure how good it was. The magical food side-effects were making me far more creative with ideas and confident than I should've been. That was why nothing could stop me at that moment.
I concluded that while he was holding his speech, his office upstairs was empty. There was a gut feeling urging me to go and check it out. However, at that moment in time, I wasn't aware if it was just the side-effects or if it was real. That didn't stop me nonetheless. I started going through the crowd, trying not to collide with somebody on the way. Others were looking at me like I was insane but luckily they couldn't recognize me through the mask. Maybe some of them could but that wasn't of my concern anymore. They could all drop dead if you asked me.
There was a reserve staircase on the other side of the hall, in a small hallway on the corner. Considering that I couldn't use the main one, these ones would have to do. I hurried towards them and started heading upstairs. I had to quite literally run all the way up because I had no time to waste. As soon as I climbed the last stair, the demoness sitting in front of his office looked up from a paper she was writing on.
"Excuse me, sir, you can't be here. The Devil is not here." She said, clearly not recognizing me. So, I took off my mask and showed my face which made her face become red and her eyes widened.
"How about now?" I asked, holding the mask in my hand.
"He said he'd kill me if he saw me near you again." She mumbled.
"He doesn't need to see anything." I grinned as I started approaching her.
"I'm sorry but I'm risking a lot."
I went over to her and cupped her face, looking deeply into her eyes. "It's going to be fine. It won't take long. It'll be just five minutes inside his office and that's all. I promise."
"Fine. But I'm counting."
"Thank you." I said and kissed her on the forehead. I released her and she unlocked the door to the office. As soon as I got inside, I went over towards his work table. I placed the mask on top of it and started searching through the drawers. The Devil didn't bother to lock many of them as no one had ever dared to come up here unless requested by him. Well, it took only once for someone to look through your things. However, I ended up finding nothing of value anywhere on the table or in it. I wasn't exactly sure what I was looking for but it almost felt like something was calling me to investigate. Well, whatever was calling out to me seemed not to be anywhere near the table. It felt like I was playing hot and cold with the thing. I went over to the book cases standing against the left wall. I started pulling book by book and going through them, trying to find anything that would make my brain go through "Aha!" moment.
At once, I glanced over to the side of a book case where a painting was hung. I frowned as I felt my intuition growing more intense. I returned a book back into its row and walked to the painting. It was a picture of a vast forest with tall trees with a new moon shining in the sky. There was nothing too peculiar about it. That was until I saw the leaves themselves starting to move on it, even making me feel the breeze in the room. I took a few steps back away from the painting as I actually had no idea what was going on. A part of me was telling me to leave immediately but I knew that was just a survival instinct and I knew I had to stay. What once was a clear night sky on the painting, now it got covered by a blanket of stars - one of them being the brightest one of all. I got closer to the painting again to inspect it more carefully. There was something about that particular star that had awoken some sense of familiarity in me. For a moment the painting reminded me of Van Gogh's "The Starry Night". Suddenly, the colors on the painting started swirling before the painting itself disappeared and turned into what resembled a void or a black hole in the wall. There was such a strong gravitational pull that I couldn't fight it off while it felt like it was dragging me in. I heard the demonness's voice, most likely telling me time was up. Unfortunately, I was stuck trying not to get stuck inside the painting. Then, I managed with one hand motion to push enough force against the wall which threw me off a few feet away from the gaping hole. I landed on my behind and looked up only to see the void still open and yearning for something to pull inside itself. The demoness rushed towards me, trying her best to avoid the pull and helped me get on my feet.
"What in the Devil was that?!" She exclaimed and looked at the hole which seemed to be slowly closing.
"I wish I knew." I said, glancing at it and then back at her. "Thank you for helping me. Although you didn't really have to." I laughed and ran my fingers through her hair. Her face softened and we looked at each other for a short while before I cleared my throat and averted my gaze. "Excuse me but… I never got your name."
"I'm surprised you remembered to ask me." She laughed. "I'm Pandora."
I smiled lightly, "Well, nice to officially meet you." I was about to plant a kiss on her lips before we heard footsteps ascending the stairs. We looked at each other in panic before I looked over at the painting that was slowly closing its gap. There was a look of fear in her eyes as she grabbed my hand as she tried to stop me. I mouthed "I'll be back" before I tore my hand out of her grasp and ran over to the painting. I only had to reach out my arm for the force to grab onto me and pull me into itself. I heard a scream coming from Pandora but that was quickly cut off as I ended up falling through the endless darkness.
What felt like several hours of falling was interrupted by my body slamming hard against the ground. I propped myself up only to find myself surrounded by the same trees and the sky from the painting. I got on my feet and looked behind me but there were no portals or the black hole that had just spit me out. There was fear creeping up in my being as I realized that I had no idea where I had just landed. This must have been the worst mistake of my life. Although I kept my faith that in case I was gone for too long, someone would end up searching for me. Suddenly, I remembered the mask I left on the desk in the office. I cursed to myself and hoped that Pandora managed to hide it somehow before the Devil arrived.
I looked up towards the night sky and found the brightest star. Something was telling me that I needed to follow in its direction. There was no point lingering in one spot, may as well try my best to get out on my own. And, considering that this celestial object alone was calling me the entire night, I figured I should at least put an end to it and figure out what it was trying to tell me.
The walk through the forest seemed endless as it appeared like there was no change in the scenery. I was beginning to worry that I could end up eternally stuck here. However, the place didn't seem like a painting, it was starting to resemble a whole other world. There were even animal sounds, mainly from owls and some bats. The sounds reaffirmed the idea that it wasn't a still painting. Rather, the painting itself was a portal to somewhere else. I truly wondered what the portal to another world was doing in the Devil's office.
The further I got into the woods, the colder it had become even though I wasn't supposed to be affected by any temperature change. However, it wasn't like I had anywhere to go. All I had was faith that I wouldn't die here considering the prophecy said the apocalypse was supposed to start with Loki present as well. Unless I was even capable of avoiding the prophecy. Guess I was about to find out.
The forest eventually came to a clearing which made me exhale in relief. Across the wide field, there stood a run-down and seemingly abandoned tower. The star itself was also shining right above it as well. My heart pace quickened as I felt my stomach twisting which assured me I was on the right track. Whatever was in there had to be big.
I hurried my pace, my curiosity growing in its intensity. In a short while, I was at the doors of the tower. They were wooden and slightly opened too as if the tower itself was expecting me. The moment I stepped into the tower, a big wave of cold air met me. For the first time probably, I felt the chills down my spine. It was pretty dark inside and there was nothing but brick walls on the bottom floor. I started climbing the staircase which stood on the right side of the room. I came into the room which was twice the size of the lower one. Despite me not having issues seeing in the dark, I couldn't see anything in here. Like there was some actual veil covering the center of the room. I couldn't say I wasn't frightened but there was no turning back. I stepped one step closer towards the center and two candles on opposite sides of the room lit up. The same repeated three more times until I reached a giant cage in the middle of the room. Inside it, there sat a bruised and beat up body of some deity. He was sitting with his back against the bars with his eyes barely open. His hair was short, wavy and blonde. He was only wearing some rags for pants and nothing on the top. It looked like there was no willpower left in his body. Despite being already behind the bars, there was a chain around his neck which was clasped at the center of the cage.
Then, all of a sudden, it clicked. The Devil's office, the star and not just any star - the brightest one in the sky. There was only one answer to this puzzle.
"Lucifer Morningstar." I whispered to myself, knowing he wasn't able to hear me. There were so many questions swerving in my head yet I couldn't even begin to understand how this even came to happen. Although one thing was clear - now I understood the mysterious change in the Devil's personality. He had lost the only part of himself that made everyone else admire him and was left only a shell of his former self. However, what I was seeing didn't really look like he had lost the part by accident.
While the questions were swarming my head, I started looking for a possible way out. I couldn't let him just sit here considering he was the only thing that made Devil the Devil. I was so focused on trying to rescue Lucifer that I hadn't noticed when we received a visitor.
"I wouldn't do that if I were you." The voice echoed through the room and I instantly turned around to see a silhouette standing before me. I couldn't see the newcomer's face as they were cloaked from head to toe.
"Excuse me, but who are you?"
As soon as I asked, the silhouette dropped his hood and revealed an angular and manly face. However, the demon in question looked a lot older than regular demons which indicated that I was dealing with someone who had been around since before the Devil. Although the Devil was a master of manipulation so his face was probably in reality much older looking than he showed. The demon before me also had longish black hair that looked a bit unkempt.
"My name is Abaddon." He grumbled in probably the deepest voice I had ever heard. It was almost frightening.
"The Abaddon?!" A shock came over me as most demons had never met Abaddon and I was one of those. Some of us even thought that he didn't really exist and was just a fairy tale of sorts. A myth. Abaddon was an overseer of an abyss in Hell and king of the void. According to the stories we had been told, he made sure that the worst of sinners never see the light of day. In other words, the worst people would end up forever trapped in the abyss pit.
A small smile played on his lips although it looked a bit more like a smirk. "Indeed. You shouldn't have managed to get here, yet here you are."
"Am I in the void?!" That definitely made me worry and I was about to lose my mind. In spite of that, Abaddon started laughing which made me frown in confusion.
"If only it was that easy." He replied, which made me relax immediately. So, there was a way out after all… maybe. "No. You're in my realm though."
"You have your own realm?!" That did explain a few things like why no one had ever seen him.
"Yeah, it's strenuous work, I can't afford distractions." Abaddon simply shrugged before proceeding, pointing at Lucifer with his finger, "And that right there is leftovers of your beloved boss. I wouldn't advise touching that."
"Don't tell me you're in on this? Also why are you referring to him as an object?" I was starting to get irritated as I couldn't believe that he knew about this the entire time yet did absolutely nothing. He definitely had something to gain from it. A powerful being like him wouldn't do something like this for nothing in return.
Abaddon walked over to the cage and kicked it once, just for Lucifer's body to fall lifelessly to the side. "That's why. He's but a carcass." He said softly.
"You didn't reply to my first question."
"I'd rather not discuss my personal business with the Devil with you." He forced a smile which sent chills down my spine. I had to admit, he was blood-curdling. A true representative of a void. "But if you must know, yes I'm in on this, whatever you're referring to. Do I care? I assure you I do not. Do I approve of it? Not really but who am I to judge?"
I was left speechless by his words so I just kept staring at him in pure bewilderment. He was like nobody I had ever met. Although if he was by himself nearly all the time then apathy to things was a thing that usually came along eventually. Honestly, I would've probably also felt that way if I had never known Lucifer like I did. But seeing him like this pained me that I couldn't even put it in words. I couldn't even wrap my head around what was going on. It was… cruel. Even coming from the demon or fallen angel or whatever current Devil was.
Without responding to Abaddon, I walked over to the cage once again and crouched in front of it. I grabbed one of the bars as I leaned closer to inspect Lucifer closer.
"Luci… Can you hear me?" I asked with the softest tone but still loud enough for him to maybe hear me. His dark blue eyes met mine but he said nothing - there was just silence. I felt a lump forming in my throat combined with the deep rage. I looked up at Abaddon who was still standing next to the cage. "Why did you let it come to this?" I hissed.
"I'm not made to have empathy." He said. "However, I do see how you could see it as wrong. Personally I see it as somebody who no longer wanted to be plagued by his past."
The more he was speaking, the more rage was starting to burn up inside me. I stood up, my breath becoming uneven while I was trying to contain it.
"He's not just some past, he's a being! Or at least that's how he was supposed to be!"
"Lucifer and Devil were supposed to get split up eventually. Devil just… rushed it." The aloofness in his voice was just ever-present and going on strong. He truly, really, didn't care. There wasn't one bit of him that had an ounce of sensitivity. It was like he was the void himself, just personified.
At once, I grabbed him by his collar in the heat of rage, "You fix him right now! You're the sole responsible party in this! I don't know how you did this but you can't let him be like this!"
Abaddon was looking back at me with the same indifference as before. Only now, with one swift push, he made me slam against the opposite wall.
"This is just a warning, next time you touch me, you're going to be flying into the abyss. Very friendly folk down there." He said sharply and fixed his collar. I was breathing heavily as I was trying to fight off an urge to attempt murder. Probably would have resulted in me being the one dead and in the abyss. That was the only reason I didn't try. I had to find a way to get Lucifer out and I wasn't good dead.
I slowly stood up and then said, "Well, if you don't mind telling me how to get out then."
"I was looking forward to it actually. I've had enough company for today."
"I feel the same way."
"Good then." There was a sign of relief in his voice. He really didn't like having company. "Well then, follow me."
I hoped he wasn't going to push me down the abyss. I held onto the belief I was going to go down with Loki and that this place wasn't where I was to die. Abaddon passed by me and started heading downstairs. I took that moment to look over at Lucifer again whose body was still in the same position like a few minutes ago. Nonetheless, I still could feel there was still some spark left in him but too much power had been taken from him already. It was such a heartbreaking sight.
"I'll be back." I said in a low voice just for him to hear. I went downstairs where Abaddon was waiting for me and we both headed outside. We started walking northeast from the tower and after a while a small pathway was starting to get formed. Most of the walk was spent in silence as I was too busy going through a lot of thoughts in my head and he just wasn't much of a talker. There were many questions I wanted to ask him but I didn't know if he was willing to answer them. He was walking a few steps ahead of me while I was looking around the vast space around us. For some reason, even though the area was not far from the previous one, there was a bit of snow on the ground. I had never been in such a confusing realm.
"Is there a way to release Lucifer?" I had to ask.
"Of course there is." I was surprised that Abaddon replied. I expected to be brushed off. "A few ways actually but that's not for me to tell you."
"Expected as much." I mumbled and let out a deep breath. There was still deep hurt within me from the sight that was engraved in my head by now. No matter how much Abaddon said he didn't care, I still couldn't forgive him. "What does the Devil even have on you?"
Abaddon didn't say anything for a few seconds as if weighing his words.
"He got me this. This realm. What I'm about to tell you, you're going to have to promise to bring it with you to the grave." There was grave seriousness in his voice which made my heart skip a few beats. Although, as always, my curiosity was more intense than any fear I'd feel at a given moment.
I didn't know how long I was going to live so I said, "I promise. I hate him so whatever you tell me, I won't jeopardize it."
Abaddon snorted at the last sentence and then suddenly stopped. I looked up to see a big blue orb floating above a small stone. I frowned slightly and glanced over at Abaddon who had his body now turned to me.
"Before you go, I'll tell you this. The Devil helped me build this place and without him, I wouldn't have this realm. In other words, he desperately needed to be rid of Lucifer part of himself. He has never told me why and I haven't asked. I knew I had a whole realm for myself and not just a pit in the middle of nothingness, if such a place had a center. But when he came to me, he was already not himself. " Abaddon finally finished talking while I was left in shock by his sudden confession. Not that I didn't appreciate it.
"Why have you told me all this? I thought you didn't want to collaborate."
Abaddon rolled his eyes, "I'm not collaborating, I'm explaining to you what happened. Your energy is overflowing with so much pain it won't let me focus on anything else. So I figured if I told you a part of the story, it'd make it easier for you and me."
"Well, thank you for telling me," despite his selfish reasoning behind it. However it didn't help. What I needed was for Lucifer to be back on his feet and remerge with the Devil. But apparently, the Devil wasn't capable of handling Lucifer's energy anymore. No matter how you put it, that only meant things were much worse than I had expected.
Noticing that there was silence for a bit too long, Abaddon decided to interrupt my train of thoughts. "Well… this blue orb is a teleportation portal in a sense. You just reach out your hand and think of a place where you want to go, and it automatically takes you there."
"It's that easy?!" I exclaimed.
"Well yeah… I need to be able to move around and get victims with ease."
"Oooh." Then I just nodded and shrugged, motioning that it now made sense. "You can't tell the Devil I was here and I also won't tell anybody what I know."
"Deal." He simply stated and I walked over to the orb, praying to the highest force in Astral not to transport me into the void. Considering Abaddon's lack of empathy, it was very well expected and not at all surprising. I took a deep breath and reached out towards the orb and thought of the human world and my sacred haven in the fields. Almost immediately upon picturing the imagery, there was a bright light around me and when it faded out, I was standing on the grass near the well-known stream and the forest nearby. Suddenly, all those emotions I had been repressing for the past several weeks started building up in me and found its way to the surface. Then I dropped to the ground on my knees and just started crying like a baby. That was the first time ever I had experienced these emotions and I didn't feel like myself at all. Yet, I couldn't stop thinking of all the things that had been just ending one by one. And somehow, all the blame circled back to the Devil and Lucifer. There was not only sadness and hurt; there was a feeling of such deep-seated rage that even I never knew I could experience and seeming inability to do anything about it. After a while, when it looked like there was nothing else left in me but emptiness, I leaned against the ground and looked up at the full moon shining down on me.
Then, only anger started rising up in me again which showed itself in black smoke coming out of my body the more I was thinking about the Devil. He needed to die.
