Author's Note: The next chapter will not be out as soon as these, but, I assure you that I will be updating one chapter every week! (Hopefully, my PC won't have a break-down again!) Anyways, the new chappie!
Note: I do not own the demonic references other than the ArchDemon Primera, Segunda thingy. The names: Lucifer, Satan...is all taken from factual texts.
Chapter 2: The Mystery Disclosed
Alexonia observed her master sitting before her, eyeing her with mingled curiosity and excitement in his blue eyes. She smirked before beginning her tale.
"My liege, the story I am about to tell you is the most basic guide you can get about demons and hell, the place where infernal creatures such as ourselves live. The story is complicated. Therefore, I must ask you to not interrupt me as I say it. Do you agree to my terms, my liege?"
"Well, since you know I love to interrupt…"said Jacob with a quiet laugh."Alright, I won't interrupt."
"My liege, let me just begin with the fact about Hell. Hell is terrible for humans. Humans who will go to Hell will suffer horrific punishments. But, for us demons, Hell is home. And home can never be a bad thing, can it?"
"The true hell is along the lower layers, where sinners are punished for wrong-doing. That consists of pits of molten lava, hot fires, and raging flames and smoke that will choke you if you breathe it in. We live on the upper layers of Hell. There, we have a demonic city. It has no name; much like demons that inhabit it. We spend our leisure times loitering around the city. Our city is much more advanced and sparkly than these human cities. We have glowing lights almost everywhere. We freely use magic for our purposes, and I am sure I can bet that it would be much to your liking as well. You humans would adore our city a lot more than the city of the Angels, where harp-music is the best form of entertainment. We have casinos, discos, bars, clubs, brothels; you name it."
Jacob didn't bother to ask what a casino was. Neither did he bother with the disco part. He assumed it was a kind of demonic activity. Alexonia possibly noticed this.
"Casino is a place where you gamble. And discos are places where you dance to loud and wild music. It will not be long before they are introduced into the human world as well."
"Demons like gambling and dancing? And visiting brothels? And drinking?" Jacob was seriously taken aback.
"Of course we do. You don't think humans are the only 'fun-lovers', do you?" was Alexonia's straight-forward reply. "Besides, we have a lot more fun than just gambling, drinking, and dancing. We hoist shows, parties, orgies, games; everything including what humans do now or don't do as yet."
Jacob was speechless.
"My liege, you probably remember the time when we made a contract. I had told you about a certain Devil by the name of Asmodeus. I had also told you about me being a demon of lust. Do you recall?"
"Yeah…I do. But I never asked, since I was too preoccupied with the contract at the time." Jacob said, sarcastically.
"You must know the basic things about us demons. Many of you humans have developed the thought that we are ugly creatures who need to learn manners. You think of us as savages." Alexonia's voice was laced with contempt and anger. "But, in fact, we are a much more advanced and, if I may be so bold to imply it, much more beautiful than you expect us to be. You think that the form you see me in at the moment is a 'human' body that I use on this earth. That is, in fact, wrong. Most of us have an original appearance that is pretty close to what we look like at the moment. But, mind you, we can change our features at will. I could even impersonate you if I wanted, right at this moment. We also have a more terrible demonic form, through which we can easily unleash our powers to their full potential. That is the form we use while battling with other demons, or when we want to display our powers to our lords to qualify as their personnel."
"I am sure that you have heard of the seven deadly sins. Our lords each govern a separate sin. We have seven demonic lords for the seven sins. You may be familiar with their names. They rule over us all, and we refer to their rank as the 'Devil's Ranks'. They are all what you may call 'the Devil himself'. They are, as follows, along with their sins. They are also the few demons who are known by a single name."
Alexonia brought out a pen and paper and quickly jotted down a few names and words onto it. Then, she handed it over to Jacob. He looked at the text.
Lucifer: Pride
Satan: Wrath
Asmodeus: Lust
Leviathan: Envy
Belphegor: Sloth
Mammon: Avarice
Beelzebub: Gluttony
"Wow. I didn't know this…" Jacob trailed off.
Alexonia chuckled. "There are a lot of things that you don't know; my liege."
"We have rankings after that. I am an Arch Demon, or what you may call 'a demon originating after falling from grace'. I would fall in the first hierarchy of demons; my origin being based from the fall of a Seraphim, Cherubim or Thrones. You have heard of the angels corresponding to each type, I presume?"
Jacob simply nodded.
"Good. The demons in the Devil's ranks are also in the First Hierarchy. They are all fallen angels. But, they have, as you know, a prominent history. They are known to be much more powerful than the rest of us, not to mention much older. That results in them being the masters of hell."
"Fallen angels are classified in three hierarchies; the First, Second and Third Hierarchies. The First's demons, as I have earlier mentioned, are descended from Seraphim, Cherubim and Thrones. Demons of the Second are from Dominions, Virtues and Powers. The Third consists of those from the fall of Archangels, Principalities and Angels. However, we also have other branches of demons; such as demons of Earth, succubi, incubi and demons resembling animals."
"The Phantomhive butler, with whom you are acquainted to as Sebastian Michaelis, not unlike me, is an Arch Demon. He also has wings in his demonic form, like me. His demonic form is a raven. He was created from the fall of a Seraph. You could say that he is the Arch Demon Primera. The Trancy butler, named Claude Faustus, falls in the Second Hierarchy, since he was created from the fall of a Dominion. But he is not only an Arch Demon. He is rather a War Demon, who has extensive knowledge in terms of demonic warheads. He is the Arch Demon Segunda. We are acquainted since we are all senior ranking demons, and the Devils we serve are intertwined. But, Hannah Annafellows falls under a different classification; she is a flower demon, one of the demons of earth. Some of the demons of that kind hold the right to form contracts, while others don't. She, obviously, is a one who can."
"But who do you serve, then?" Jacob asked his female butler.
"I am the Arch Demon Tercera. I serve Asmodeus before all. I am, after all, a demon of lust. But, mind you, I am not a succubus. They are lower ranking demons under our control. They need human's energy to sustain themselves, whereas we only need the soul. As Arch demons, we have the authority to command them. We are also the demons who hold the ability to bear a contract with humans. We are the demons of Hell."
"The demon that contracted with Ciel Phantomhive is possibly the most dangerous demon among us; he serves the masters of sin. He serves the demonic lords- Lucifer and Satan. You may have noticed how proud the butler seems to be, no?"
"Yeah, he's always smirking and giving the impression as if he and only he himself knows something so crucial that others will possibly die for," said Jacob, shifting slightly at the memory of the cunning butler. "And his catchphrase- 'I am simply one hell of a butler'. How arrogant. He's so full of himself! Now that you mention it, I noticed it!"
Alexonia giggles softly. "You're very observant, aren't you; master. He does say that quite often, but for you to actually remember his words…"
"Shut up, you…" Jacob was shrinking back at his demon's mischievous gaze.
"And, master, I am sure you noticed the Trancy butler, and his catchphrase. I am right, am I not?"
"Yeah, he seems sort of…greedy! 'I want to greedily devour you to the end'- that's what he says sometimes, doesn't he? He also seems to be jealous of Sebastian sometimes! He seems to want to stay near Ciel, even though he has his own master, and Ciel belongs to another!" Jacob remembered the butler saying it in a low voice. He looks down at the paper. "Does that mean he serves…greed…avarice-Mammon! And jealousy…envy-Leviathan!"
"How observant! Remarkable indeed! You are a very clever Young Master!" Alexonia got pretty close to Jacob, and trailed a long, black-nailed finger down his cheek.
"Uhh…Alexonia…"
"Oh, forgive me, my liege. I got a bit…carried away. Anyways, the demon Sebastian serves Lord Lucifer with all his priority, though he is a demon who is treasured by Lord Satan, too. It may be for his flattering charms; oh yes. He knows very well how to flatter others. However, he is strong in his services; never failing in his contracts, and always carrying out special and difficult tasks for the Lords. Like the incident of the Black Death, for instance. He was the one to carry out the job of spreading Satan's wraths over mankind. With commendable results, I must add." The woman licked her lips demoniacally.
"The Black Death? You mean to say that a demon caused it?" Jacob cried out; horrorstruck.
"Yes, my liege. The demon you see as Sebastian is indeed the cause of the Black Death. He managed to use a great amount of complex spells to pass the deadly and magical potion he made onto the rats and other agents, thought to be responsible for the pestilence. Humans, such interesting creatures indeed…"
"And you call that 'commendable?" Jacob could not believe that it was something to call 'job well done'. "More than half of Eurpoe's population had died out in the 1300s! And you speak of it as 'commendable'?"
"Forgive me, my liege, for I did not mean to make you go so sentimental about this. But after all, we are demons. We have no emotions whatsoever towards humans. All we care about is the soul."
"But, what did you get from this?" Alexonia laughed a demonic laugh. It sounded lyrical, yet, it was horrifying.
"My liege, whether we say it or not, we demons owe Sebastian Michaelis at least one of the souls we attain through a contract. He had practically created a new feasting ground for demons. Not to mention the Reapers were pretty annoyed, and have never adored the said demon after that. We had enough to eat for free even with the Reapers working day and night."
"Go on…"Jacob was at a loss of what to say at this.
"And, as you have so cleverly observed, my liege, Claude Faustus serves Leviathan with his priority. Though he also serves Mammon. He pesters the world with avarice and envy, driving people to commit heinous sins for gaining what they want. He takes the form of a spider; a cunning creature, which lays out a trap for wanting more."
"You may have noticed that we demons correspond to the sins whose patrons we serve. My liege, would you be so kind as to delight me with a bit more of your keen observations?" Alexonia was clearly toying with the boy.
"Umm…okay…let's see. You serve…Asmodeus," he gazes at the paper, "the patron demon of lust; therefore, you are so beautiful and react almost sensually to everything. Proves why you're so clingy…"
"Hmm…I support the compliment, but I'm afraid that I do not go with the 'clingy' part so much…"Alexonia entwined her fingers and hands on the table, and rested her pointed chin on it, silvery blue eyes sparkling.
"You are a demon of lust, that's why you're bound to have lust in you as the strongest emotion, and also to be able to bring out lust in others…you have to be beautiful. Sebastian is a demon of pride, and so he has to be proud of himself, and also be able to make others feel the sin of pride. Claude is the demon of envy, so he feels envy very strongly, and can also enable others to feel that!"
"Wonderful, my liege!" Alexonia clapped gracefully.
"But what about you? Don't you also serve two Devils?"
"I do; my liege. It is, indeed, Lord Lucifer. That is why I am better acquainted with Sebastian Michaelis," said Alexonia. "All the sins that we serve the patrons of are bound to turn up in us; more in some, less in the others. However, the patron to whom we serve with our priority: that sin will be dominant in us."
"Okay, so let's move on to 'earthly' things. What are you and those two always up to when we go to either the Phantomhive, or Trancy manor?" Jacob had finally asked the question he wanted to know the answer of.
"Oh…that. You see, my liege, just because those handsome men are demons, doesn't mean they are immune to human feelings like lust. If you must know about inside maters, then I'll tell you. These matters are confidential; between Sebastian Michaelis, Claude Faustus and myself."
"No, tell me." Jacob would not back out now.
"Alright then. Let me tell you a bit of back story. Otherwise, this won't make much sense. You see, either demons want me as his mate." Alexonia replied, with a casual smirk playing on her lips.
"What? Mate…as in…"
"Yes, my liege. What you may call as fiancée, is what we call as mate. You see, we demons do not get married or anything. We just form bonds with each other, signifying that we are together for eternity. And, like you humans, we can break those bonds at will. However, our bonds may become much harder to break than signing a couple of papers."
"Mate…what a crude word!" Jacob could not believe his ears. He had been driven to think by now, that the deadly trio had probably been concocting a plan of world destruction, and here they were, constructing a love triangle?
Alexonia went back to the times. It had occurred almost five thousand years ago. She had met the both of them on the same night. What a coincidence. She had to meet both the demonic enemies on one night. She had gone over to the largest central casino and lounge for the night with a team of her cronies. She had worn a black shimmering floor-length gown, with a high leg-split on either side. The 'Queen's Robes' they termed it; because it was something worn only by the most powerful demonesses of lust. She had met Claude Faustus first, who of course, was not called that way at that time. He had been at the blackjack counter. He had always been a great poker-player, since it was almost impossible to catch his bluffs. His dead-pan face never showed any whatsoever emotion. She had lost at blackjack to him that day. She left the casino, enraged, when another, yet handsome, demon appeared from the disco. He had asked her to a dance. She willingly followed. She had wanted to relax. Little did she know that it would also turn into a battle. For, it had soon turned into a competition. This demon turned out to be a devilishly-accomplished, excellent dancer, and she lost yet again. It was too much for her. How could she lose to these demon men? The next day, she again walked to the same casino and managed to make both the demon men agree into coming to one of her parties the next day. They arrived there to find that it was more than just a party; the demons of lust were all over the place. Many other demons were also there. Alcohol and the making-out suggested that it was an orgy. The beautiful demon who had invited them was there. She walked over to them and gave each of them some drinks. She meanwhile set five or so of her cronies to keep one busy while she took the other (the red-eyed one first) and did her 'business'; which, apparently, consisted of bondage and free make-out. It definitely did not end at heavy-petting. She was driven by the feeling of losing, and would not be letting them away easily after this. She had made them both submit to her. The red-eyed one was slightly more difficult to tame, as he seemed to want dominance over her. But, in the end, both demon-men had complied. After all, this was her game. And they wouldn't be winning it.
"Well, since they were and are blinded by lust, I decided that I might as well toy with them before choosing. After all, they are both much more handsome than most other demon men…"
"Demons…" Jacob, after hearing such things about his demon and the other two, decided that he had no energy left in him to welcome his guests any more.
"My Liege," began Alexonia, taking out a nail-file and shaping her long black nails casually, "It's best that you don't worry yourself with our issues. And you should be prepared. Knowing demons, both your guests should be at our gates when the clock strikes noon."
A/N: I decided to make the ranks in Spanish on a whim...XD I luv Spahish, so I couldn't resist! Reviews, baby!