Prequel:
Chapter 2: The Message
Sounds of unbridled laughter coupled with horrible screams, emanating from the chamber of torture and punishment, could be heard throughout the center of hell.
The cavernous chamber had been carved out from a mountainside of obsidian by the hands of the damned. With soaring ceilings where bats roosted, the rayless space was illuminated by heavy cast iron, candle lit, chandeliers and the walls were lined with sconces of roaring torches. The scene, which was mostly devoid of color, was punctuated with blood; deep shades of cadmium red, dripping from the instruments of torture, arcing sprays on the walls, and puddling under victims enduring various hideous punishments. The only pops of color came from demons scurrying about and the reflections of flames, bouncing off of the shiny black volcanic glass back drop of the walls.
A huge, flame-belching oven dominated the apse of the chamber; its stone exterior portrayed a carved demon face, whose eyes and mouth glowed from the fire within. The blast furnace was primarily used by the fallen angel Xaphan who fanned the flames and tended the fires of hell. Xaphan and his demon blacksmiths forged all of the heavy chains, clasps, hardware and instruments of torture. They also produced some of the finest and deadliest weapons in all of the universe: demon daggers, swords, and arrows—all forged in hell and deadly to all: divine, immortal and—especially to mortals.
When the devil was particularly busy and body parts began to pile up, they were burned in the oven to make room for more. The furnace powered by hellfire burned a hundred times hotter than any crematorium, immolating anything introduced into its fire-breathing mouth in a matter of seconds.
Eons of smoke had partially coated over the shine of the gemstone walls with charred soot and drifting layers of ubiquitous ash covered the bedrock floors. On most days a layer of thick smoke hung in the air of the windowless chamber. The only décor, if one could call it that, was all of the instruments of torture hanging from the chamber's walls. At the entrance, massive wrought iron detailed wooden doors ushered in the damned souls to the point of no return: a one-way ticket into the chamber of woe.
Lucifer and Mazikeen were in the midst of torturing a newly damned soul, stretching him to the breaking point on the rack. As his miserable body pulled apart, bones splitting and cracking, skin tearing and blood spurting—his screams curdled in the chamber of punishment and torture.
The devil, barely able to contain himself, bent over and seethed in the victim's ear: "So you wanted to be free from the yoke of your family—they weighed you down, held you back; they were… inconvenient. You decided to rid yourself of them, not by abandoning them; although that would have been the kinder route to take.
No, you decided to play God and end their lives. You stabbed them through the heart, each in turn, till you'd killed them all: your wife, your three sons and your infant daughter. And there you left them to be discovered huddled in front of the fireplace—a discarded pile of remains; their faces frozen in twisted horror from the final seconds of their lives as they watched you murder them one by one until there were none left to watch for you'd butchered every last one of them. Not a single speck of remorse did you feel, you walked out of your hovel with not but a care—you were free!
But not from me, oh—I've been waiting for you, waiting for you to die, waiting for you to come to me so that I may punish and torture you exquisitely for all eternity!" The words all but hissing out of Lucifer's lipless gaping hole, where his pearly white teeth peek from the sneer that had twisted itself from what had once been his mouth. Wringing his hands with glee, he shifts his gaze over to Mazikeen who is laughing ever so wickedly.
"Stop having so much fun, my dear, we really must get to the task at hand; today's list is long, besides I really can't wait to get to this bastard," the devil spits out with small flames sputtering from his mouth.
The king of hell was in his element, he never assumed his handsome angel form while working in the chamber unless one of his brothers dropped by for a visit. Right now, the devil in all of his glory, decides to finish off the family killer by unleashing bolts of fire from his fire-breathing maw that burns off all of his victim's skin—while he is still alive. The chamber now fully engulfed in smoke, reeks of burning human hide.
Mazikeen is virtually ecstatic, the smell of charred flesh is like perfume to the demon's nose and the tortured screams are like music to her ears; a snarling toothy grin has split her demonic visage as she continues to laugh with wild abandon.
Lesser demons bustle about to prepare the heap of burnt bones on the rack to reconfigure so that the cycle of torture may begin again. "Next…?" the tiny demons squeak.
Maze, regarding her master with a look of thorough enrapture, is so turned on by her lord's horrific acts of torture that she pulls the demonically morphed devil to her, loosening his robes, she begins to bite his neck and lick his partially flayed mottled purple and red scared chest while trailing downward. The exposed blood vessels on his neck begin to pulsate, soft puffs of flame escape from his mouth, Lucifer shuts what's left of his eyelids, guiding the demon's head down further, he takes in a sharp sigh as she reaches her destination.
The mood is abruptly broken when the devil senses a disturbance approaching; a bright light illuminates the sides of the great stone canyon as it descends the depths of hell: dropping closer and closer. Maze scowls as Lucifer pulls himself away, morphing into his angelic form, he steps out of the chamber and waits for the light to reveal the heavenly visitor.
It is Lucifer's little brother Gabriel, no doubt with a message from his Father. Ever since his fall, his Father no longer communicated directly with him. On the occasions when He'd sent word to Lucifer, it was always through the archangel Gabriel—God's special messenger.
The handsome angel bore long honey colored curling locks, framing a smooth boyish face with hazel colored eyes; he wore long flowing robes of golden yellow with shimmering silvery white edges and his wings, shone like the moon—bright silver white.
Pulling in his wings, the archangel's feet alight upon the ash covered floor of hell. One would think that locating his brother in the complete darkness of the pit would be nearly impossible, but it was actually pretty easy for Gabriel. All he had to do was follow the only spec of light in all of the place; the splendor of Lucifer's wings, always guided the messenger angel right to him.
For a few seconds, the two angels faced each other, trying to appear stone-faced, before breaking into laughter and falling into their familiar brotherly banter.
"Luci! Good to see you!" The amiable archangel pulled his brother into a warm embrace. Lucifer always a bit reluctant to trust when it came to his brothers, accepted the hug, but did not return it.
"It's good to see you too Gabe, it's been a while, what brings you down to the likes of me? A message from Father I suppose" Struck by a brief pang of hurt from the loss of his Father's love, it crosses Lucifer's mind that God hadn't reached out to his son in several eternities, except via Gabriel's messages.
Unlike some of Lucifer's other brother angels, Gabriel actually missed him, secretly, he wished his Father and brother could somehow reconcile so that Lucifer could come back home again.
"Yes, dear brother, I do have a message from Him, but it is only a brief one."
"Well then little brother, I don't have all day, there's a long list of punishment and torture that I must get back to—spill it out!"
"Very well," Gabriel smiles, "Father requests your presence at the Temple of Babylon to meet with Asherah at midday—today."
In the blink of an eye, Lucifer's demeanor transforms: his easy smile twists into a frown and his imposing wings instinctually fully unfurl in response to a perceived threat. Asherah was not exactly his favorite divine being, there was something about her that had always made him uncomfortable. He'd caught her leering at him and when she realized he'd seen her, she had laughed at him.
Towering over Gabriel menacingly, standing his ground, only inches away from his brother's face, Lucifer's jet black eyes glinting with fire, seized him in a gaze that sent chills down his little brother's spine. "Why do I have to meet with that infernal woman?" he sneered.
The young archangel, knew that his brother the devil could be a formidable adversary and was not one to be messed with. Gabriel was not looking for a fight, unlike his brother Michael, who would jump at the chance to take on Lucifer and take care of him for good.
Backing away from his older and more volatile sibling, the younger angel tries to diffuse Lucifer's mounting anger, "you know how cryptic Father is. I'm just the messenger brother. Can I tell him you will be there?"
Ever the tease, his big brother regains that devilish twinkle to his eyes while a sinful grin takes over his face. Lucifer snarks, "what if I don't show?"
Wearing his feelings on his sleeve, Gabriel, swallows hard and looks down at the ash covered ground while wondering, why this simple message was developing into such an ordeal. Obviously there had been some bad blood between Lucifer and Asherah that no one had known about…
Grasping his hands behind his back, the young angel fidgets with an errant wing feather, "Please Luci, you know I can't disappoint him."
"No need to worry little brother, I am only teasing you. I have no idea why he wants me to meet with that crazy ex-wife of his. I thought that was all dealt with. But, I will do as has been asked of me," the devil sighs in exasperation.
"Oh, and Luci, please don't take this the wrong way," Gabriel, continuing the tease match, "I know that you haven't been topside for a while, but you may want to 'freshen' yourself up a bit before coming back to earth. You know, brush off the ash and perhaps rid yourself of the odor of burnt flesh"
"Humph," the devil, looking ever so smug snickers, "You would do well to remember how splendidly I do clean up—Eve thought so too…"
Lucifer, elicited the effect he was looking for, as the young angel's face blushed hard at his mention of the devil's temptation of Eve. This last brotherly jab had clearly landed a disquieting blow upon the younger angel. Gabriel downcast his gaze, clearly not able to meet his brother's piercingly sardonic expression.
Not wanting to further trouble his little brother, Lucifer grabs him affectionately by the shoulders and brings his face in close to his, "you know I would never get you in trouble, you are one of the few who still genuinely cares about me and doesn't wish me dead."
"Now go back to Father before he wonders if I have corrupted you and decided to keep you down here with me."
Returning to his normal jovial state, Gabriel shares a good laugh with his brother. It pains his heart to see Lucifer exist in all of this darkness and endless punishment. Unfurling his wings, Gabriel's ascending light can be seen all over hell before he exits the darkness and heads toward the brilliance of heaven.