iCarly: iMeet the Relatives, Chapter 14: Interrogation

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Chapter 14: Interrogation

"Grif, what will you do with Jillian, anyway?" Grif was seeing Carly to her door.

He shrugged, trying to reassure her. "Oh, the whole matter will probably sort itself out. She's here accidently, so we'll just arrange for her to go back to Hell. End of story."

"You really think it'll be that simple?"

He deflated visibly. "No, not really."

…..

Back at Grif's apartment: Jillian was getting bored with the zombie movies. They seemed like they were all basically the same, anyway. Just the details differed.

She became aware of being watched, and looked around. Over on the arm of the scuffed-looking armchair was a small rat, looking at her intently. Too bad I promised to leave the animals alone, she thought. Animals, especially those blessed with higher cognitive functions, such as self-awareness, could be "persuaded" to produce some good, strong emotions. Just a little pain….

Hello, lady. Who are you? The rat watched her, twitching its nose whiskers.

"I'm no 'lady.' I'm a demon, and if you know what's good for you, you'll get lost."

I'm Stuffins. I live here.

"Yeah, Grif told me about you and the cat."

Songer's a nice cat.

"Please. I've had all the 'nice' I can stomach for one eon."

The rat watched her a bit longer, not saying a word. Then, Why are you so sad, lady?

"Huh?" Jillian had been leaning on the arm of the sofa, an expression of boredom on her face. Now she perked up a bit. "What did you say?"

Why are you so sad?

Sad? Her? Where had that come from?

Lady?

"Look, rat, I told you, I'm no-*"

You were never alone, lady. Never. And with that, Stuffins ran down the chair arm, scampered across the floor to the pantry, and disappeared into the cupboard, all in the time it took Jillian to process what had happened. Never alone? What did-? "Hey, come back here! What did you mean…." But the rat was gone.

Jillian threw herself back onto the sofa, stunned. What had all that been about?

….

Somewhere that was also Nowhere: What for lack of a better term would be called space roiled. Time started, stopped, ran in reverse, and disappeared altogether. Had there been any observers there, they would have experienced a kind of shockwave, like an earthquake, but a thousand times more powerful.

An earthquake, or Something giving birth.

….

Chez Lounge: {{So that is the situation as it is,}} Jemiah told Darian. {{Your accident-prone demon managed to get herself kidnapped, for lack of a better word, by the Darkness. Fortunately for her, my nephew was able to rescue her.}}

Darian benDarian snorted. {{That's as may be, but you fail to mention the obvious: evidently, by all the available evidence, it was your meddling in matters Eternal that brought about this incursion in the first place. And I'm given to understand the Earth realm did not escape unscathed.}}

{{Whether or not Gryphon is to blame for these recent troubles is a moot point. What do you wish us to do with your demoness?}}

{{Personally, it would please me no end for you to keep her. But the Black Throne wishes to interrogate her in person, to assess the threat these new developments may have brought about.

{{And, although it matters not at all to me, you may wish to consider the very real possibility that you and your home universe may not be beyond the reach of whatever is transpiring. Already, the suggestion has been made, by some of us, to secure our assets and close the gates. That is unprecedented, as I'm sure you know.}}

Jemiah's mental "tone" turned grim. {{Indeed it is. I have heard of no reports of incursions into our realm, but there has been at least one, here in the Earth dimension. We are in a state of alert.}}

{{As well you should be. Very well. We will arrange for Jillian Adara's return. I'll notify you as to the time and place.}}

{{Very well.}} And Jemiah closed the connection, pinching the bridge of his nose. Communicating with Hell's hierarchy always gave him what to mortals would seem like a sick headache.

And he found himself wondering about Darian's words. Had Gryph stirred up the Darkness, somehow? The evidence seemed to indicate that he had.

….

"So what have you found out?" Dr. Weston was conferring with the military attaché who was in charge of the investigation into the Mt. Adams incident.

"Practically nothing, I'm sorry to say. We know an explosion took place, but we can't determine what kind of explosion. There's no trace of radioactivity, no sign of normal high explosives, and no evidence of volcanism. There's just a big hole where the top of Mt. Adams used to be. We've got search teams scouring the area, but so far, we've found a whole lot of nothing."

"Major, in your opinion, what do you suppose we're looking at?"

"Off the record?"

"Off the record."

"Something new. Maybe, God forbid, a new kind of explosive, or a new geological principle, or, or, for all I know, space aliens. Take your pick. But right now, the only things we know for sure about it is what it's not."

"I see. Keep us appraised, will you?" And with that, Weston broke the connection. He turned to his colleague, Dr. Phillips. "Well? What about you? Ideas, suppositions, insane guesses, anything?"

Phillips leaned dangerously back in his office chair, and Weston watched in alarm. It wouldn't be the first time his accident-prone friend had managed to fall completely out of a chair. "Off the record? I think the major's last supposition is beginning to make more sense.

"All these things are connected, George. The timer, the explosion…I just feel like it's all of one piece. And do you remember, just after the discovery of the bomb, the local ER got in several admits who were stone blind? No physiological reason for it. They said some young man did something to them, but whatever he did, he didn't touch them. There's nothing wrong with their eyes; they just can't see through 'em.

"And the evidence points towards their being the ones who planted the bomb. Now, look at our theorized time line: this guy—whoever, whatever he is—finds this bomb, and, and does something to it. Makes time stop for it, somehow. Then he goes and blinds the people responsible for the bomb. How'd he know who they were, and how'd he find them so fast?

"So maybe not aliens—even though that shot of him was blurred, he didn't look like any alien—but, but maybe a time traveler? That would be in keeping with his stopping time for the bomb….but I don't have a clue about the blindness. Or the explosion."

"So this guy we're looking for is…an alien? Or a time traveler?"

"Why couldn't he be both?"

"Alright." Gryph had just finished conferring with his Uncle Jemiah. Jillian waited, nervously. Just because she hadn't been at fault didn't mean the Black Throne would excuse her of any wrongdoing. "Here's what going to hap-*" There was a knock at the door.

Puzzled, he looked beyond the door. Carly was standing just outside. What? He'd left her back at her apartment…what was she doing back here?

He went to the door and opened it. "Carly? What is it?"

"Have you heard from Jemiah and the others yet?"

"Yes." He motioned to Jillian, standing in the middle of the room, her fingers interlaced together, moving restlessly. "I was just about to tell Jillian what I'd found out. Er, what brings you here? I thought you'd be in bed by now."

"I couldn't sleep. And, and…never mind. What did everyone decide?"

He turned, his stance including Jillian. "I'm to return Jillian, here, back to the city of Dis, just outside the sixth circle of Hell. There, she'll be interrogated by the Black Throne. I'll accompany her, of course, to vouch for her presence here as being an accident, one for which she cannot be blamed. It shouldn't take long."

Jillian sighed. "Yeah, but I'm still gonna get every book in Hell's library thrown at me. That's just the way they do things."

"As I said, I'll go with you," said Grif. "I can attest that none of this was your fault. Surely even the Black Throne can't blame you for being attacked by the Darkness."

"You obviously don't know the Black Throne very well."

"Harsh but fair?" asked Carly.

"More like 'harsh.'"

Carly looked up at Grif. "Grif, I'm coming, too."

"What? No. Out of the question. Even with angelic protection, it's still dangerous. No, you're staying here."

"No." Carly's voice was quiet but self-assured. "I'm coming with you."

"Kid." Jillian spoke up, addressing Carly. "You don't know what you're letting yourself in for. Even, even if the Black Throne totally ignores you, Hell's a dangerous place, even protected. And unprotected, you wouldn't last a nanosecond in Hell."

"But I'll have protection. Won't I, Grif?"

He dithered. What was all this about, anyway? "Well, I mean, yeah, I can protect you from the elements, but it's still a completely unnecessary risk. Why would you even want to?"

Carly's eyes took on a long-range look, a thousand yard stare. "I…I don't know. I just know I have to. I don't know why."

"It's a bad idea, Grif." Jillian scowled. "Talk some sense into her. Use your angel powers or something."

"I can't use my powers to override somebody else's free will."

"Grif, I have to go. I don't know why, I just know I have to go."

He was silent for a long moment. Then, "Alright. Well, we shouldn't be long, no matter what. Carly, you stand over here, and Jillian, you stand over here." With them to either side of him, he concentrated, concentrated on going to a place he'd never, in his wildest imaginings, thought he'd ever go….

The first thing Carly became aware of, once the electric tornado around them had subsided, was fire. Everywhere she looked, she saw either fire or some sort of black basaltic rock. There were fires in the background, fires in the foreground, fires overhead, fires everywhere. It was like being in the middle of a raging forest fire—only a thousand times more so, because the fire seemed to be all around…but curiously, without any smoke. She couldn't feel the fire, directly, or the heat, but the psychological effect was almost overwhelming. Why had she felt like she needed to accompany them here, to this horrid place?

They were standing in front of a titanic wall that curved inward, made of some short of metal, and which seemed to be segmented. The front gates were open, and there were two male demons, clad, like Jillian herself, in what she guessed was the standard demon garb: crimson tunic and trousers, black leather (?) belt and boots. Each of them carried a trident as long as they were tall, and they all wore what seemed to be dark capes that flowed behind and around them. These capes didn't seem to be really real to Carly, somehow, and she remembered when Jillian had first appeared in Grif's apartment, she, too, had been sporting a similar cloak. She resolved to ask Grif what it was when she got a moment.

Another demon, one seemingly older than the other two, approached them from within the city. "You would be Angel Gryphon, returning our flotsam? The Black Throne is waiting." He saw Carly and frowned. "Who's this?"

"This is my mortal friend, Carly Shay. She asked to join this expedition, and I saw no logical reason to refuse." Grif smoothed over their conversation from before.

"Hm. My orders were to conduct you and our wayward demoness to the Black Throne. Nothing was said about any human groupies."

"Nonetheless, she is here. Now, shall we go? Or do you wish to keep the Black Throne waiting?"

The older demon shot him a dangerous look. "I don't need you to tell me how to do my job. Come with me, all of you." Even as he spoke, a large piece of the pumice-like basaltic rock broke free, and he gestured for them to climb on. "We can make better time this way, rather than walking."

Carly clung close to Grif, still wondering if this had been a wise choice on her part. Why had she insisted on coming? This place was no vacation resort.

Over the streets of the city they flew. Carly looked down, as best and as carefully as she could. This would be a poor place to fall and injure oneself.

Plus she could sense the fantastic heat of the place. The interior of a star wouldn't have felt this hot. She could sense the heat, in a strange sort of way, but it didn't harm her, somehow.

Down below: the streets were crowded with demons, most moving along in what appeared to be purposeful errands. Several of them looked up at the flying rock they were on, but seemed to accept it. Carly wondered if it was all that unusual a sight here. She didn't see anything resembling Earthly automobiles or the equivalent.

But there were also other creatures moving along the streets. These beings were anywhere from three to eight feet tall, powerfully muscled, with bright red skin, bald heads, with horns growing out of the temples. They wore nothing but loin cloths of what appeared to be animal skins. Each of them had tails, tails that ended in a wicked looking barb, and seemed to be prehensile….

"Those are devils," Jillian told her, quietly. Carly almost jumped; she hadn't even noticed the demon girl approaching. "They're a different species from us. We use 'em for manual labor." She shrugged. "They're strong, but not too bright. As long as they get proper direction, they're okay." She paused. "Though I'd advise you to stay away from them, however. They can be vicious." Carly had time to reflect on the idea of a demon calling something else "vicious".

Maybe it was a good idea to stay as far away from the devils as she could.

They approached an immense cathedral-like structure seemingly forged from solid black rock. It was so black that Carly found it a little hard to see, at least with her human vision; the black surface absorbed all light that fell upon it, making actually seeing it somewhat difficult.

Two demons stood guard outside the massive door that led into the building. Arrayed around them were somewhere between fifteen or twenty devils, all of the clutching spears, and gazing at the newcomers with a dull, but malignant, intelligence. None of them had tridents, which Carly had come to think was the standard here in Hell, and none of them had that strange black cape that the true demons did. "They don't have the, the cloaks?" she found herself whispering to Jillian.

"Shadowcloaks? Grief, no. And no tridents, either. Those are just regular spears they're holding. That's all they're allowed to be armed with. But those spears can make a human-kabob out of you." She glanced at a pale Carly out of the corner of her eye. "I doubt Grif would like that very much."

I know for a fact I wouldn't. "What's a shadowcloak? And, and while we're at it, what's with the tridents, anyway? I mean, on Earth, demons are always depicted as having tridents, but I've never heard why."

"Study your ancient history. Poseidon, the old god of the sea. Carried a trident, because, in those days, tridents were used for fishing. Get it? God of the sea? Fishing? Except they got it backward. Mortals saw us with tridents and made some wrong assumptions." Shrug. "Most worlds', most civilizations have similar things. They see us—or, I guess, angels—and they back-engineer it to fit their own beliefs.

"And the shadowcloaks are standard for all demons. We can use them to move between dimensions, teleport, you'd call it, among other things. And I'm babbling."

She's nervous. Carly was pretty nervous herself, and she wasn't the one about to be interrogated by unguessable Powers. "Jillian, it'll be alright. You didn't do anything wrong—well, I mean you may have before, but, but not this time. Surely nobody can blame you for what happened. You did your job. You were just a, a bystander, a casualty." I'm actually trying to console a demon from Hell. But the truth was, aside from her snarky attitude, Jillian didn't seem like such a bad sort. In fact, she sort of reminded Carly of Sam, on a bad day.

"I don't need or want your pity, human. Remember, your kind are food to me. That hasn't changed." She stepped over to the other side of the flying boulder.

The flying rock slowed down and the demon that had accompanied them conferred with the demons at the gate. The whole while they were talking—which seldom employed actual speech, at least none Carly could hear (although, oddly enough, she was able to perceive some but not all, of the unspoken communication; she assumed Grif was "translating" and relaying it to her)—the devils clutched their spears and looked at her and Grif with undisguised malice, tinged with a kind of hunger that made Carly extremely glad Grif was along.

The guardian demons finally drew back and opened the gate into the inner corridor. Still standing on their flying piece of rock, the quartet—Grif, Carly, Jillian, and the demon officer who'd first met them—levitated their rock down the vast black hallway, a hallway illuminated by inset alcoves that shot flame upwards towards the ceiling, again without any sign of smoke. Carly wondered if the flames themselves were illusory. How could any fire not produce smoke? But, of course, this wasn't regular fire…and this wasn't a regular place.

But the flames from the alcoves, as well as braziers hung at intervals, did serve to light their way into the massive complex. Carly was reminded of the long, long hallway in the movie, The Wizard of Oz. Except this was no cheery hallway with windows to jump out of, as the Cowardly Lion had done.

And jumping ship here might easily result in attracting the attention of the devils outside. Something told Carly that would be bad carried to the tenth power.

The arrived at a room seemingly surrounded by a wall of flame. These people must really like fire. Across from them was a boxy arrangement that didn't so much resemble a throne as it did a set of outdoor amplifiers, such as might be used for a major amphitheater-based rock concert. Several more such boxes flanked the main one, the ones on either side being not quite as tall as the central one, which appeared to be about three stories tall, if Carly's human vision could be relied upon, here in this strange place.

At no point did Carly see any living beings. There was no apparent actual seat, no actual throne; just these black boxes—or whatever they were-which she now saw were not amplifiers at all, simply about the right size and shape—and the fires all around. The interior of the vast chamber was lit on every side by the ever-present flames.

{{Jillian Adara. Step forward and present yourself.}}

Carly heard Jillian gulp. Then the demon girl stepped forward, off the rock, which was now resting on the floor, bowed low, and replied. "I am Jillian Adara. I was in charge of guarding sector 37f of the lava fields, out by the northern end of-*"

{{We are familiar with this. Report on how you came to be in the Darkness.}}

Another gulp. Carly almost felt sorry for the demon girl. She was so clearly discomfited by this situation. "I saw something I couldn't identify, couldn't get a good look at. I went to investigate. The next thing I remember is seeing someone's legs floating over me. I grabbed onto 'em…and they turned out to be his." She turned and nodded in Grif's direction. "He was investigating the Darkness, and, when he felt me grab hold of him, returned to the dimension he came from, the Earth dimension. I got pulled along, too."

{{And you remember nothing else? Nothing between the time you went to investigate the anomaly and your returning to consciousness in the Darkness? Nothing?}}

"I, I….no, sirs, your excellences, I mean. It…it just happened so fast…"

{{Angel Gryphon. Do you verify this account? We charge you to speak the truth.}}

Grif stepped forward. "Jillian's account is, as far as I know, accurate and truthful. While I am, of course, unaware of any incidents prior to escaping from the Darkness and, in the process, taking her with me, still, what she has said has been the truth as I understand it."

There was a rumbling sound that seemed to go back and forth between the strange box-like constructions in front of them. {{So all are in agreement that demon Adara did not desert her post?}}

"I would vouch for that."

{{Upon your honor as an angel?}}

"Upon my honor as an angel."

{{Why?}}

Grif was taken aback. "What do you mean?"

{{Why are you willing to vouch for this minor demon? She is of absolutely no consequence to you; her fate, whatever we decide it to be, need not concern you in the slightest. Why have you gone to such trouble as you have?}}

"She is innocent of any wrongdoing in this matter. I believe her. I do not wish to see her punished for something she could not help. My kind need no other reason."

{{We note that you have tolerated her presence, a feat many of her own kind find difficult. Why is that?}}

Grif looked startled. Where had that come from? "Such a thing is hardly of any import in this matter, your excellences. It does not really matter."

{{We note you did not answer the question.}}

"With all due respect, sirs, the question and its answer have no place in this conversation. However, the simple truth is that I understood her predicament, one she did not ask for."

Another rumbling sound. Carly noticed Jillian was pulling on her shadowcloak, trying to pull it around herself, almost like she was trying to hide. What was it with all these questions, anyway? What was with all that?

{{Demon Adara. We have decided. Step forward.}} Obviously nervous, Jillian stepped up in front of Grif. {{It would seem we find ourselves in a unique predicament. We have a report of an incursion into our realm by the Darkness, an unprecedented occurrence. The matter bears looking into. We will assign several of our top-ranking demons to investigate.

{{Now for you. While you did not actually desert your post, you nonetheless displayed poor judgment in going to investigate alone. So we are demoting you further, to Third-level fire pit stoker.

{{Perhaps there, you might ruminate upon your mistakes. Your many mistakes.}}

Jillian was aghast. "Third level fire pit stoker! You can't do this to m-*, I mean, I mean, well, yes you can, but, but I haven't done anything!"

{{Are you questioning our decision?}} Carly could hear the menace in the "words."

Jillian hung her head. Again, Carly was moved to feel sympathy for her. "No, your excellences. I….I accept your decision."

And Carly found herself receding somehow, as though she was both there and not there. It was a sensation similar to a dream….

She found herself stepping forward, coming up beside the obviously distraught Jillian. She faced the Black Throne squarely. "Jillian must return with us, to the Earth dimension." Both Jillian and Grif looked at her, startled.

Carly could sense the Black Throne's attention being turned her way. {{Identify yourself.}}

Something high sang within Carly's soul. "I'm Carly Shay, of Earth. I'm the mortal girlfriend of Gryphon Stryder."

Another pause, while the rumbling sound reverberated between the box-like structures. Grif came up behind her. "Carly! What are you doing?" Jillian was looking at her with her jaw hanging open.

"I'm…I'm not sure, Grif. I only know Jillian's got to come back with us to Earth."

{{Why do you intercede on demon Adara's behalf?}}

"I'm not sure why. I just know that, unless Jillian returns with us, to the Earth dimension….

"…then all the worlds, all the universes, both possible and not, will be in grave danger."

To be continued….