A/N: Next Chapter here we are! A little look into what Lilith goes through at work. Something to take note of, hell is based off the poem Dante's Inferno. Meaning there are 9 circles of hell, each circle significant to the type of sinner. So here's a little lore to help you understand, read up the circles as well if you wish for more information.
First Circle (Limbo): Limbo, a place of sorrow without torment. You encounter a seven-walled castle, and within those walls you find rolling fresh meadows illuminated by the light of reason, whereabout many shades dwell. These are the virtuous pagans, the great philosophers and authors, unbaptised children, and others unfit to enter the kingdom of heaven.
Second Circle (Lust): You have come to a place mute of all light, where the wind bellows as the sea does in a tempest. This is the realm where the lustful spend eternity. Here, sinners are blown around endlessly by the unforgiving winds of unquenchable desire as punishment for their transgressions.
Third Circle (Gluttony): The third circle, you find yourself amidst eternal rain, maledict, cold, and heavy. The gluttons are punished here, lying in the filthy mixture of shadows and of putrid water. Because you consumed in excess, you meet your fate beneath the cold, dirty rain, amidst the other souls that there lay unhappily in the stinking mud. Cerebus, a canine monster cruel and uncouth with his three heads and red eyes, dwells in this level.
Fourth Circle (Greed): Just before the river Styx is the Fourth Level of Hell. Here, the prodigal and the avaricious suffer their punishment, as they roll weights back and forth against one another. You will share eternal damnation with others who either wasted and lived greedily and insatiably, or who stockpiled their fortunes, hoarding everything and sharing nothing.
Fifth Circle (Anger): The river Styx runs through this level of Hell, and in it are punished the wrathful and the gloomy. The former are forever lashing out at each other in anger, furious and naked, tearing each other piecemeal with their teeth. The latter are gurgling in the black mud, slothful and sullen, withdrawn from the world.
Sixth Circle (Heresy): You approach Satan's wretched city where you behold a wide plain surrounded by iron walls. Before you are fields full of distress and torment terrible. Burning tombs are littered about the landscape. Inside these flaming sepulchers suffer the heretics, failing to believe in God and the afterlife, who make themselves audible by doleful sighs.
Seventh Circle (Violence): The violent, the assassins, the tyrants, and the war-mongers lament their pitiless mischiefs in the river, while centaurs armed with bows and arrows shoot those who try to escape their punishment. The stench here is overpowering. This level is also home to the wood of the suicides- stunted and gnarled trees with twisting branches and poisoned fruit. At the time of final judgement, their bodies will hang from their branches. In those branches the Harpies, foul birdlike creatures with human faces, make their nests. Beyond the wood is scorching sand where those who committed violence against God and nature are showered with flakes of fire that rain down against their naked bodies.
Eighth Circle (Fraud): An ampitheatre-shapped pit of despair Wholly of stone and of an iron colour: Those guilty of fraudulence and malice; the seducers and pimps, who are whipped by horned demons; the hypocrites, who struggle to walk in lead-lined cloaks; the barraters, who are ducked in boiling pitch by demons known as the Malebranche. The simonists, wedged into stone holes, and whose feet are licked by flames, kick and writhe desperately. The magicians, diviners, fortune tellers, and panderers are all here, as are the thieves.
Ninth Circle (Treachery): This is the deepest level of hell, where the fallen angel Satan himself resides. His wings flap eternally, producing chilling cold winds that freeze the thick ice found in Cocytus. The three faces of Satan, black, red, and yellow, can be seen with mouths gushing bloody foam and eyes forever weeping, as they chew on the three traitors, Judas, Brutus, and Cassius. This place is furthest removed from the source of all light and warmth. Sinners here are frozen deep in the ice, faces out, eyes and mouths frozen shut. Traitors against God, country, family, and benefactors lament their sins in this frigid pit of despair.
In this story each circle is guarded and looked after by a Fallen Angel you will find the names I use for these Angels all have meaning and a story behind them. For example Azza, the guard for the Seventh Circle, is known for his lust for power (and mortal women) and strength. And Tamiel used to be known as a intelligent astronomer before his fall from grace.
Any who I've spoken too much, you will find that I have responded to some of you lovely reviewers down below after the chapter. Review and enjoy!
Story: Pinky Promise
Rated: T (Strong Language in this chapter)
Parings: BellaxEdward, AlicexOCxJasper (Polyamorous), CarlislexEsme, RosaliexEmmett
Summary: Bella should have asked how to pronounce Santa when she was younger, who would've thought she made a pinkie promise with the devil herself?
"Men's conscience tells them:
There is a dreadful Hell
And everlasting pains;
Where sinners must with devils dwell;
In darkness, fire, and chains"
-C.H Spurgeon
Chapter 4: Violent Business
"Mistress! The souls collected from Purgatory await your judgment!"
"Mistress! The Seventh Circle has overflowed into the Sixth, causing disorder!"
"Mistress! The Angel Ezekiel wishes to speak to you involving the rise of fallen angels from heaven, he blames you for the event."
"Mistress-"
"ENOUGH!" Lilith snarled, her booming voice ringing throughout her chambers. The surrounding group of demons cowered at the sound quickly silencing their updates to the leader of hell. Lilith pinched the bridge of her nose and sighs. "I leave for a month and a half, which mind you is like a minute in this plane of existence, and everything goes to shit." Lilith can feel her sharpened teeth protruding and her horns sprouting from her head. "Where is Tamiel?" she hisses.
A small imp bowed and squeaked "I'll retrieve him right away Mistress!" With a flash of fire the imp was gone. The other demons of all shapes and sizes were still standing before her at attention, but Lilith could see the apprehension in their eyes.
"Well? What are you still doing here? Leave me!"
"Yes, Mistress!" A chorus of voices echoed and with that command the group disappeared just as fast as the imp did. Once she was alone Lilith gripped both of the curled horns on her head and released a frustrated groan. She could never get a break in this place. With a wave of her hand a glass of liquor was placed in her palm. As soon as she took a sip of the hard alcohol the imp from earlier returned with his assignment.
Standing before her was Tamiel a fallen angel who sought refuge in her domain. The man was short, his withered black wings seemed to dwarf his small stature. His tailored shirt and pants had seen better days, letting Lilith be known of the toll temporarily leading hell had on him. Nervous green eyes behind a pair of spectacles stared back at her and it took Lilith all of her self control to not throw the glass in her hand at his bald head.
"Leave." She stated to the imp, and the demon obeyed her command. Lilith stood in the middle of her chambers, liquor in hand and eyes narrowed as she watched her second in command fidget. "You had one job, one fucking job and you screw it up."
"Lilith I-"
"No." She raised a hand to silence him. "All you had to do was to keep order, the system is set up as a chain-of-command, and somehow you manage to screw that up?"
Tamiel remained silent and looked down in shame as he murmured unintelligible words.
"Speak up." Lilith growled.
"How can I keep order, when some of your own subjects are wary of your loyalty and question your strength?" Tamiel's frustrations bit out in his voice and he immediately regretted it. The murderous look on Lilith's face made him wish he hadn't said anything at all.
"What?"
"I-It's just there has been talk on how you've been spending more time with the human as of late. Others believe you are becoming soft, especially after the soul mix up a while back."
There was a silence between the two before Lilith spoke again. "Who?"
"I-I'm sorry?"
Lilith hissed at this response and stalked towards Tamiel her face dangerously close to his own, invading his personal space. "Who was it? Who started this talk? Was it Azza?" Tamiel's silence was enough for an answer and Lilith roared in fury as she strode out the door from her chambers and traveled to the deep depths of hell. Tamiel was hot on her heels pleading for her to seek reason.
"Lilith, there's no need for this!"
"No need? No need?!" Lilith exclaimed as they made their way through the Second Circle, ignoring the erotic, pained moans of the punished souls; and the smell of sex and lust that permeated the air. "He questions my authority and the realm that I have been ruling for thousands of years Tamiel! How dare he!" Tamiel took two steps back as Lilith's rage grew, her demonic aura becoming visible as she stalked through the Circles of Hell.
Making their way through the Fourth Circle, the place where the damned are punished for greed, Lilith pushed her way through the jousting souls and the pleading cries of ancient clergymen and cardinals. Their destination was the Seventh Circle, known for it's place where the violent sinners, such as murderers, perish and the circle that Azza himself guards. Tamiel's pleads were deaf on Lilith's ears as finally made it to her destination. Lilith stands in a river of boiling and blood and fire that accompanies the outer ring of this circle as she yells out.
"AZZA!"
The fallen angel in question appeared in front of Lilith. Unlike Tamiel, Azza was his complete opposite. Broad shouldered and hefty, the giant guard of the Seventh Circle was shirtless exposing his bronze skin to the harsh elements of violence. Blue eyes stared at Satan and Azza raised a ginger brow, a condescending smirk was plastered on his face.
"Who do you think you are?" As Lilith spoke she poked Azza's strong chest with a surprising amount of force that made him stagger back. With the smirk turning into a mocking frown Azza questioned his leader.
"What do you mean, Mistress?"
"Don't play dumb with me!" Lilith snarled "You've been questioning my leadership, my strength and planting seeds of doubt within my subjects. So I ask again. Who. Do. You. Think. You. Are?" With each enunciated word Lilith's formed morphed to become more demonic, a small flame appeared between her horns and with her face contorted with rage, the human in her receding to the back of her mind. In front of Azza now was Lilith, Satan, The Devil, torturer of millions of souls and one who showed no mercy. Azza heard the small voice of reason to tell him to submit but his pride became the best it him.
"If I didn't question your authority, who will?" Azza spoke, his deep voice smothering over the screams of the damned. "Ever since Lucifer fell things haven't been the same! You've become weak the moment you took up an oath with your human pet!" He spat. "And you put him-" Azza pointed to a trembling Tamiel who was bowing his head at the sight of Lilith's power. "-to lead us while you frolic on Earth? Knowing you, that human is probably just a fu-" The fallen angel was cut off by Lilith's clawed hand around his throat. Regardless of their stature Lilith was lifting the large man by his neck and Azza felt fear as he stared into Lilith's furious slitted eyes.
"You finish that sentence-" Her grip tightened and Lilith felt enjoyment at seeing Azza's tanned skin redden in pain "-and I'll gut you where you stand." She threw him down in the river, blood and fire covering his body as he coughed and sputtered gathering his bearings. Growling in frustration and batting away the pleading hands of damned souls, Azza quickly silence himself as he saw Lilith crouch in front of him.
"The next time you question my leadership," Lilith grabbed Azza's red hair, forcing him to look at her "be a man and challenge me like a true demon would." She hissed and stood up making an about face on her heel, she barked at Tamiel for him to follow. Leaving Azza, now filled with contempt and rage to seethe within the boiling river of hell.
"Tamiel, hand me the list of souls that need judgement." Lilith's voice was still filled with anger as they walked back from the Seventh Circle.
"Y-yes Mistress." A clipboard appeared in his hands and he quickly passed it to Lilith's outstretched one. Lilith, with a quick eye and hand, read through the list and assignments. An inefficient way to condemn the souls but she didn't have time to sit through and individual sort through the damned.
"Do you know why I chose you as my Second Tamiel?" The sound of Lilith's heels tapping on the brimstone echoed throughout the corridors between circles. Lilith's appearance, while still intimidating and demonic, didn't deter Tamiel answering his boss.
"I'm afraid not, Lilith." The man wrung his wrists together eyes downcast and afraid of the negative answer Lilith would give him. Lilith stopped mid stride, snapping her fingers and the clipboard with condemned souls disappeared with a flash. Crossing her arms Lilith stared at her second in command before replying.
"I chose you, not because of your physical strength, but your mental strength." Tamiel looked up at this confession in shock and Lilith continued nodding. "Mhm, you're intellectual prowess is something of legends Tam, you focus on keeping the balance of things. Not like Azza who thirsts for strength and power. If he was in charge the book of Revelations would probably be happening on Earth right now."
"I don't know if I'm the right man for this job Lil…"
Lilith placed a hand on her friend's shoulder gazing deep into his emerald eyes she sighed.
"You need to grow a backbone and step up my friend. Use that big brain of yours and lead." standing up straight Satan fixed her blouse and spoke to Tamiel once more. "I took a vacation for a reason and I plan to finish it. I'll be doing monthly check ups and if anything is amiss, don't be afraid to contact me."
Tamiel dipped his head at Lilith indicating his respect. With that and in a blink of an eye Lilith was gone.
'It's been a week and four days' Bella bit her lip, a nervous habit she seemed she couldn't get rid of. Sitting in her Biology class Bella could feel Edward's worried gaze settled upon her.
"Are you alright?" He murmured and Bella nodded. On Monday Bella confronted Edward and told him she knew what he was, a vampire. Edward had tried to scare her off and deter her but unbeknownst to Edward she's been threatened by worse. Comes with being able to visit hell once in a blue moon. However when Monday came around there was also no sign of Lilith. When Tuesday appeared still no sign or peep from the devil. Now it was Wednesday and Bella was scathingly close to drawing a pentagram and summoning a demon in the middle of class to take her to the underworld.
Bella should be excited, she was seeing, dating? Venting a soft breath she rubbed the back of her neck. She was going out with Edward Cullen, they haven't necessarily kissed yet and Bella didn't even meet his family, well she was this weekend. 'Get back on track Swan!' she scolded herself. Right there was the issue, a Lilith issue. Needless to say she left a confused Edward when she gave him a kiss on his cheek goodbye and rushed out of the classroom and to her truck, determined to get to the bottom of Lilith's disappearance.
Bella's frantic search for her friend was cut short when the devil appeared in her car while she was driving.
"Yo."
"Fuck!" Bella slammed on the breaks and gripped the steering wheel for dear life as she pulled over to the side of the road. "What the hell Lilith!" Catching her breath, Bella now red-faced and breathing hard began interrogating the woman. "Where have you been?" Bella eyed Lilith who was strangely enough, wearing her usual business wear for work. A red silk blouse matched with a black pencil skirt that accented her legs.
"Work."
"Work?"
"Yes."
"I thought you were on vacation?"
"I am, but some demons need to be reminded who's still in charge."
"Really?"
"Really."
Bella could feel the frustration and anger radiating off of Lilith so she decided to cut her interrogation short. Obviously, things weren't going well down south and either Lilith received bad news or the angels were getting on her nerves again. Judging by Lilith's stiff posture she assumed it was the former. Pulling back onto the road Bella asked Lilith if she wanted to drop off Lilith at her house. When Lilith agreed they rode in silence. Reaching their destination Lilith thanked Bella and stepped out of her truck, before she closed the door Bella blurted.
"I'm dating a vampire!"
Raising a brow the dark skinned woman replied. "I know." Bella groaned and slammed her head against the steering wheel.
"Of course you knew, you're Satan for God's sake."
"I would appreciate it if you didn't His name and mine in the same sentence. Unless you're quoting the Quran, Bible, or other religious text." Lilith said in a teasing tone.
Bella chuckled at this and looked at her friend. Narrowing her eyes at Lilith, Bella questioned. "Are you sure you're okay? Do you want to talk about it?"
Lilith waved a hand in dismissal, shaking her head. "I'll be fine, it's nothing I can't handle. I'll see you at school tomorrow." With that sound of Lilith's clacking heels disappeared into her house.
So the next day, routine went as normal as it did when Lilith first arrived in Forks. Meeting Bella at her house and making small talk with Charlie. Lilith told him how there's been some family issues that came up and that's why she was gone for so long. Charlie being the kind man he was offered his aid if needed but Lilith just politely declined and said goodbye to Bella's sire following her friend out to her truck. When they arrived at school, Lilith exited the truck and proceeded to be tackled by a 4'10 Cullen.
"Lilith!" Stepping back, Alice crossed her arms and gave Lilith a suspicious look. "Where have you been?" Feeling as if she was on thin ice, Lilith's black eyes caught Jasper's amber ones, and she pleaded for help. Jasper in turn responded with a raised brow, he too wanted to know where his missing history partner ran off to. Alice noticed this exchange and snapped her fingers.
"Uh-uh, no asking him for help!"
Lilith ignored Bella's giggling behind her and sighed. "I was pretty sure Bella told you, I had some issues with the family, took longer to deal with than I expected it too." She shrugged. Jasper narrowed his brow the same time Alice tilted her head. The empathic vampire asked.
"Are you okay?" Lilith gave the both of them a small smile and nodded.
"Peachy."
Alice seemed to brighten at this and bounced on the ball of her feet.
"Great! Then I can ask you to go shopping with me this weekend!"
"What." Lilith stated with a blank look on her face. "Why just me and not Bella?" Black eyes flickered over to Bella who was in the arms of Edward. Both of them seem to take humor that the banter between her and Alice.
"Because," Alice chirped "Bella will be with Edward, besides I scheduled another time for all three of us to go, next weekend in fact." Lilith snickered as she heard Bella's laughs turn into a disappointed groan and muttered darkly.
"I hate shopping."
With bell like laughter Alice grabbed both Jasper's and Lilith's hands and dragged the two towards the school. Bella and Edward followed them in, the brunette looked up at Edward question on her lips. "Those three seem pretty close, hm?" Edward nodded a small smile graced his lips.
"Mhm, they're both happy, Alice and Jasper, they enjoy her company." Walking with hands intertwined in the hallway, Edward then voiced his concerns. "The only thing I'm worried about is if my family should fill her in on what we are." Before Bella could think the words were already out of her mouth.
"That won't be a problem she already knows."
"What?"
'Shit' Bella thought. She waved a pacifying hand so she could speak before Edward jumped to conclusions. "Edward it's fine, she's the one who actually knew before me. In fact, Lilith encouraged me to research and guess. She hasn't told a soul."
Edward ran a hand through his messy bronze locks and blinked, his eyes were narrowed in confusion.
"And she's just fine, with you and me? With her being close to Jasper and Alice? Just like that?" The two now stood outside Bella's first class of the day, leaning against the door frame she spoke quietly knowing Edward could hear her just fine.
"I'm sure Lilith will have words with you soon to see if you're worthy of me, and not just because-you know…" She gave him a pointed look. "As for the last two questions, you'll find that Lilith doesn't care. As long as you have a good soul it doesn't matter what you are."
Edward frowned as he heard the bell ring signifying five minutes before school began. "Trust me Bella, we don't have souls." In that moment Edward witnessed the strangest smile to come across Bella's face and as she backed into the classroom, waving him goodbye she said:
"I think Lilith would argue otherwise."
A/N: Replies!
AsuraNight: Thank you! Yes, Bella's and Lilith's relationship is interesting to say the least, I try to have them banter and bicker at each other, have Bella as the voice of reason and Lilith the voice of action. Yin and Yang type stuff.
IllegitimatePrincess: I'm glad I got you hooked! If the Tumblr post you're talking about is the one where kids accidentally write letters to Satan instead of Santa then you're right! I had a little bit of inspiration from that post as well. I agree with you on the Poly ships, theres not enough healthy portrayal of them to go around. Most focus on the sexual aspect of them but forget the communication and the emotional support and effort that makes a triad, quad, or any other poly group goes through. I haven't found a good triad relationship fanfic in the Twilight section as of yet so why not be the first to contribute?