AN: I feel like I'm going to hell for writing this stuff.
HOUSE OF HOPE
Aim's eyes fluttered to wakefulness, a soft groan leaving his lips as he sat up. He gazed at the splendor of the Circle of Greed, then his eyes snapped to the resting form of his lover. Lucifer lay against him, finding refuge in his warmth that he now noticed he'd broken by sitting up. Her brows furrowed, and she slowly woke; eyes opening to find two soulful purples staring down at her.
She sat up with him, a moan leaving her as her hands reached down to feel at her abused body. Her jaw hinged and unhinged, before a glare moved to Aim; the man simply hugged her and pressed her back down, kissing her on the neck and filling her body with new life. Mutation occurred throughout her flesh, the new cancers then devoured and gifted throughout the sore and abused tissue and bone. Lucifer moaned as he continued to bite and nip at her neck, Aim separating briefly after as he waved his hand, a wave of hellfire bathing them. The blackened flames devoured light and sound, a brief moment of void passing over the two; before it faded the next instant. Clean, the fires having burned away the foulness of their actions previous; Aim continued to wax love onto Lucifer's body, his passion evident as his hands filtered around her body.
"M-my love." Lucifer whispered, "I, we should rest." She whimpered.
Aim's hand took hold of one of her delightful breasts, a throaty growl escaping his mouth. "As you wish." He whispered, letting go and separating, the action having Lucifer instinctually gripping his arm, pulling him back against her. "J-just let me rest." She whispered.
Aim smiled and nodded, placing her against his chest and letting her hear the thumping beats of his heart. Aim gazed up at the resplendent ceilings, eyes casting over the marvelous murals painted or chiseled out onto the skies above. The ceilings were so distant that the tallest skyscrapers in the world wouldn't reach them, servitors flying above him as they worked tirelessly to add just a bit more detail to the scene. As he gazed around, Aim paused as he spotted several servitors watching them, in their hands or placed around them were dozens of art-kits, Easels, and even more elaborate chunks of marble that were being carved before them.
Looking around, he spotted several dozen of these groups of servitors, immortalizing the acts that he'd just taken. Shaking Lucifer from her warm nook, she looked up to him, only to be directed to the sight around them. "Would you like to see their art?" Aim asked.
Lucifer nodded, curiosity on her face as he helped her up, the two standing and flaring their wings. Lucifer and Aim darted between these various servitors, the bio-engineered servants of Aim bowing deeply as they presented their works. Some were immature, but others showed amazing promise, Lucifer glowing as she walked through these offered artworks.
Some showed them mid coitus, others of a far more inspired and dramatic nature, and some pictured Lucifer before she became a woman; or even her as an Angel. "I'd like to bring some of these back to Lilith." Lucifer stated as she stroked the canvas of one such painting, the first to be drawn.
"My halls are yours, Love." Aim whispered.
Lucifer smiled, but then started to frown, "What will others think?"
"They will think." Aim nodded, "And if they speak, they will disappear." He gazed out over the grand realm of Greed; "Traitors deserve the greatest of punishments."
Lucifer giggled, "Brutal as always, dear."
"Ruthlessness is Mercy upon ourselves." Aim noted distantly; words that he'd lived by since his rebirth. "The Underworld is yours to shape, we are your servants; use us."
Lucifer snorted, "You surely used me." She whispered, bringing him close to her. Aim's eyes went lidded as he nodded, bringing her chin up to his as he claimed her for a kiss. They separated shortly after, a soft loving sigh escaping them both; then with a flap of their wings they both ascended into the sky.
They floated there, observing the Circle of Greed, holding one another in their arms, before Aim asked a question. "What do you wish for, my Queen? I may not be a Djinn, but if it is they you ask for; I shall bind one to my will."
Lucifer gazed out over the mountains of gold, then she gave a soft sigh, "The War; I may not be a General, but I do love spiting my father. Preserve Lilith; she shall forge the Devil Race unto perpetuity. Their legions will march to war for centuries to come, the blood and bones of their sacrifice; and that of their Angelic foes will be the foundations upon which an Imperium shall rise." She turned to Aim, "Build, my love. Build this Apocrypha unto its greatest heights; an Eden within Hell. A realm of endless Sin! A realm where I know I am safe within your loving arms."
Aim grew a wide smile, "As you demand of me, my Queen." He pressed his forehead against her own.
Lucifer took his lips into her own, the short chaste kiss ending as she breathed and continued in her desires, "I wish for you to love me, I wish for you to feed me the greatest of delights, to pleasure me, to allow me to live!" She laughed, free and full of life and joy; her eyes sparkling with the affection of her lover. Then, she gazed below, and remembered the Circle above.
"I wish to learn. Teach me everything; guide me in all facets until I reach my zenith from which I can strike down God. Can you do that, my love?" She begged, curling his hand into her own; "I wish to see him kneel. I wish to see him prostrated before me, not through the death of a thousand cuts, not through an unsatisfying end; but through a battle most grand. Only then shall my endless Pride be satisfied." Aim hugged her close, and Lucifer continued, "I wish to watch our children frolic, I wish to spawn them and to see them grow; to be proud of what I have built and what I have created! I wish to be proud, Aim; Proud of myself, proud of you, proud of my Imperium, and proud of all that shall come from it." Lucifer breathed raggedly, passions unsaid, newly born being birthed as she spoke.
Lucifer watched as a maddening smile spread across Aim's face. "I can work with that." A cackle slipped out of the man with 288 thoughts that were going utterly wild with theories on how they could ascend Lucifer into an Entity that could kill God.
Lucifer watched as the man was lost in his thoughts, a smile on her face as she pressed herself against him, letting him hold her as they floated through the endless realm of Greed. As she stared down at the realm, she grew curious. "Take me through this Realm. I'd like to see more of it."
Aim drew out of his thoughts and theories, before he nodded, waving his hand and causing the space within this realm to distort. In one moment and the next, their position within space altered; and they appeared within the Circle of Gluttony. They appeared within a great hall inspired after Valhalla, a massive eating table filled with empty plates. "This is my true kitchen. It is where the Servitors eat." Aim stated, "Beyond this, there are similar facilities that harvest the flesh of various Hell Beasts, and additional hydroponic bays that grow food at accelerated rates."
Lucifer grew keen on the latter, "That would allow us to solve some of our issues regarding food…" She noted.
"My knowledge is for you to peruse and implement as you so choose. I should warn you that certain Devils are seeking to monopolize certain industries; the agricultural industry most notable as by controlling the food and stomach of a nation and army, they control the army; or at least have great influence." Lucifer frowned at that.
"Who dares?" She asked.
"Legion, most notably. I know he, Dantalion, Gaap, and Bune seem to be focused within the industry. Legion, however, is greedy; he's making enemies with Dantalion and Gaap. Bune seems to be doing his own thing though, farming out in the rough and focusing on developing specific plots of land; he seems to have a passing interest in animal husbandry."
Lucifer frowned, realizing how ignorant she was of her Nation's people. "Tell me more."
Aim nodded, a frown falling on his face, "The best person to ask of this would be Beelzebub." He stated, "But I can give you some notes that my Brains, Spies, and Divining has pulled through. There's roughly three factions within the Pillar Families; your Loyalists, mindless sycophants that form your Six Houses. They attach themselves to your legs, loyal, but parasitic; you should actively leverage them to your political desires. Those that are truly loyal will only become more so when they see you taking an active role within the ruling of Hell; the hanger ons that see you as a revenge blinded fool will fall away and seek refuge in other political blocks."
"I shall do so." She stated as they walked through the grand halls table, reaching the very end where a massive table was elevated over the rest. Aim pulled out the central seat for Lucifer, and conjured a second seat for himself, seating Lucifer and sitting next to her. Her lips pulled themselves into a smile at the subtle pageantry, Aim's knowing smile made the act meaningless; especially with no-one of importance around, but it was a small gesture that she appreciated. Even in his own home, she would be the one seated at the head of the table. Any other Devil would be incensed with their pride stomped and spat upon; but for Aim, she was his Queen, and any less would be an insult to him.
"Then there are the Oligarchs; Baals followers, and the independently ambitious, like Legion. They've formed in your absence and lack of interest in actively ruling. They find comfort in their noble titles, claiming land, ruling their lands and reinforcing their legions with the powers of industry. Uneducated as they are, Devils are rather sharp and have been forced to rapidly innovate. These Devils are, in my opinion, the most dangerous; if you weren't going to take a strong position within court and continue funneling everything in a single minded direction."
Lucifer bit her lip, "I hate losing." She whispered, "If I am not putting my full focus on the war…"
"We will undoubtedly take losses, but this is not a War that will solve itself within the next year, decade, or even century. Heaven has billions of Angels within its Kingdom, while God himself is capable of waving his hand and creating billions more. Lilith is an advantage that will soon dry up, and you will then be forced and pressed on winning a war that is unfavorable to us due to the attrition factor before the numbers of Devils dry up." Aim took up a glass of wine delivered to him by a Servitor, pouring Lucifer a glass and then himself one. Both of them were still entirely naked, but neither exactly minded. "And with their natural fertility rate, having them fuck until we have even more armies is untenable."
Lucifer's lips lifted, "But I have you." She stated, taking a sip of her wine, eyes widening at the richness of flavor.
Aim smiled, "Fermented by a Brain that is utterly obsessed in creating the most delightful of alcoholic spirits." He noted, "And yes, you have me. Attrition is no longer a concern; I have genetic samples of Lilith, and all of the Devil Pillars. I could clone them all and we'd have endless Generals; although I do warn about doing so as the already present Seventy Two are enough of a head-ache."
Lucifer visibly relaxed into her seat, a source of stress just…disappearing with that claim. A smile lifted on her face as she swirled the wine in her glass. But, in place of that relief, a bit of confusion rested. A lack of direction.
"Where do I go from here?" Lucifer wondered, a frown carving its way on her face. "The War…will fight itself. Just throw more Legions at the Angels and keep Father entertained, I guess."
"That is what Empire Building is about. I am your advisor, and so I shall bring issues to you and you will give myself, the Satans, and the Pillars your decrees on what you wish to do about them. Everything else, we shall handle. I promise that you will succeed as an Evil Overlord by virtue of simply having competent underlings and minions." Aim stated with confidence in his tone.
Lucifer chuckled, "That sounds like a lot of work, Aim. You are a Devil of Sloth, are you not?"
The Devil Lord laughed, "I have tamed my Sloth to work for me! Besides, that is what delegating work is for. You see it around you already." He waved to the servers that were bringing them a spread of delicious food. "Beyond merely managing Devil Kind, there are plenty of things that the Ruler of Hell can be doing." He chuckled, "First of all, is your desire to Slay God."
Lucifer blushed slightly, "Ah, yes." She muttered.
"Do not grow embarrassed, it is a wonderful goal to have; and one that will require training, experimentation, and plenty of combat." Aim's eyes grew distant, and she noticed him shuffling his legs. A glance below the table saw him growing hard. She blushed, "What are you thinking about?" Lucifer asked seductively.
Aim jolted out of his thoughts and coughed, "Ah, well. The future. I saw you as The Devil, slaughterer of billions; a Monster of Hell who has climbed mountains of skulls through your armipotent martial skill." He said poetically, blushing slightly as only Aim would find that image romantic.
Lucifer blinked, "'Slaughterer of Billions?'" She asked.
Aim furrowed his brow, "I believe that number of dead should qualify you for Godhood." He muttered, "The ritual design I'm thinking of is a very confusing thing, in all truth. Eso-teric." He tasted the word, smiling at the shocked look of Lucifer. "If we go through with it, we should be capable of marking you as an Aspect of the Universe; the most powerful and condensed representation of an ideology or concept." Aim said casually, "Oh, by the way, I'll likely be acting as a rogue agent in assassinating or divesting the power-bases of the Gods of the Underworld; so individuals like Izanami and Hades. Those fucking Grimm Reapers need to go as well; thus Thanatos is also getting the boot. Hmm, I should see about investigating Tartarus, then maybe some diplomatic action with Nyx and her Children; although considering I'll likely have killed Thanatos by that point, those talks may be going south." Aim muttered.
"Wa-wait, back up; what's going on in that skull of yours, Aim?!" Lucifer stated, "Killing Gods? Yo-you meant that?"
"Why of course." Aim said, somewhat offended, "Nothing is true. Everything is permitted. We exist to soil, to corrupt, and to desecrate; why limit ourselves? The Pagans could get angry and step on our Empire, but when we are powerful, the lives of our armies mean little. If they dare challenge us, we kill them. If they dare scheme and plot, well I'll figure something out that'll make them piss themselves in their sleep."
"I, what? But…what of our Empire? What of what we shall build?!" Lucifer struggled to understand where Aim's mind was. First he speaks of building an Empire, and then the next moment he is inciting others to destroy it.
Aim rolled his eyes, "Come now, Lucifer. The world is an open stage, and we are playing on it. We shall face set-back after set-back; but so long as we live, we survive and shall continue to play. If right now, Lilith were to be erased off the Map by God's Holy Light; it'd fucking suck, but then all we must do is to rebuild. Create a new Lilith, and start anew; build more Devils, more Cities, build, build, build. Because it is fun. Because it appeals to our egos and prides. But there needs to be something we are building towards." Aim tapped the table with a cunning grin on his face, "You said you wish to face your Father in his Prime, in a fair satisfactory combat; no? You wish to reach the Zenith of your potential, and to do that, we must break a few rules; shuffle the cosmology of the universe a bit, be a bit daring." Aim took a bite of some mashed potatoes. He swallowed, "I've already drafted several dozen plans of action that we can take towards that path. Welling up your fullest potential, identifying God's greatest weaknesses; those being you and his Archangels, along with paths of potential power that can be leveraged." Aim chuckled as he took in the silent awe of Lucifer, grinning at her, "Be a little creative, Luce. Just because we're Evil, doesn't mean we have to be boring about it. We have a Kingdom to burn, after all; make it a spectacle."
Lucifer let out a slightly deranged chuckle, rubbing at her temple, "Just…Explain it step by step."
Aim chuckled, "Very well. First, we need you to be powerful and skilled in combat. So, training, facing your siblings in live combat, showing up at the fronts and getting bloody. Don't give me that look, you'll be fine. I'll teach you everything I know about immortality and death warding." Aim waved the deadpan away, "Anyway, we'll then start exploring your Omnipotent Light, super death rays out the wazoo. Put some more cognitive thinking between those pretty little eyes, and we can have those rays reflecting off of the rain falling in a battle field; killing everything that the light reflects off of."
Lucifer leaned back, and just let the words…flow.
"All the while, we'll be working on getting the Imperium as you call it on the up and up. That other faction I didn't get to talk about, they're the Moderates. They like isolation and I'm technically one of them, although I'd qualify more as a Loyalist now. Anyway, we'll get some hooks on them and start building up our own political faction that serves the needs of getting the Devils some education, industry, homes, and a decent background in War Magic and strategy. The Moderates, we'll want to leverage them to work on more civic needs, like the Agricultural industry, without handing such a critical field to a wolf like Legion." Aim took a gulp of wine.
"And what was that bit about killing Gods?" Lucifer deadpanned.
"Well, the Titans and Greeks Gods are currently fighting it out right now, but from my divinations; Hades is going to be anointed as Lord of the Underworld and he'll jump into this war against us because the Greeks like taking what isn't theirs. Or what they see as being theirs. We'll shove his spine down his throat in the process, but he's going to become an annoyance if we just let him stew. So, assassinate the fucker and take that section of the Underworld over as our land; that and we kinda need all forms of Divine influence being excised from the Underworld for you to be sole hegemon and Queen of Hell. Thus, we'll also be killing Ereshkigal and Nergal."
Lucifer took a deep breath, "Sole Hegemon and Queen of Hell. That's quite a title…" There was a bit of awe in her voice when she said it though, and Aim smiled.
"Of course. But, there's a greater reason for that. God has his Kingdom, and thus you deserve your own; that is the most base reason. However, when The Underworld in its entirety is declared as your own, we'll use it as an anchor-point for your divine ascension; but for that you have to own it. In its utmost entirety…which means we'll be needing to tame the Hell Pits, and Tartarus."
The difficulty of what Aim was speaking about kept skyrocketing with each word Aim spoke, and while another person might balk at this; Lucifer just sat straighter. New ambition burned in her eyes; for Aim had delivered on exactly what she'd wished for. A vision started to brew within her mind, and she envisioned a war torn nation -no a world-. Ancient and old; a realm of brutality, but also of great culture. Ruined fortresses dotting the realm's landscapes, battlefields on every inch of land, with old relics of an ancient age and great battle being left in the dirt for centuries to come. Endless armies marching, followed by reinforcing armies led by her Generals; wielding them like brutal weapons to live or die within this endless War of Attrition.
Never before had Lucifer been so enthralled with the idea and concept of War; but Aim had a strange magic that twisted the concept into something that almost resembled a…game. Not just War, but ruling a State. He trivialized it, simplified due to an extreme level of sheer competency; not in tactics or high strategy, but a mastery of simple logistics. Why would a general need worry about casualties when they had an endless army? Why would a ruler need to worry about food when Aim had knowledge of how to grow it inside of a spatial dimension? Why worry about armaments and war materials when Aim had an entire Demi-Plane of wealth for them to forge entire armies out of Gold if they wanted to?
In turn of War, however, Aim generated new ambitions. Assassinating Gods, playing a grand game of Great Civilization, building an Empire; only for it to be turned to rubble, but then to build it again.
Building an Empire was meant to be a difficult feat of grand planning, requiring Golden Ages, and resources, and people of skill and knowledge; not a War against God himself. But Aim spat on that fact, conjured forth a realm of endless knowledge to learn any skill from, and then gathered a small cadre of the most powerful individuals within Hell to then lay the foundations of an Empire. That so long as those core aspects survived in the form of Beelzebub, Lucifer, and Aim; Then the Empire they built would survive.
Lucifer started to see from his perspective; understanding where Aim was standing. For many within the world, even those of long-lived as herself and many other races, saw things in the now. Lucifer had lived so long within the present. The future had no meaning when God plotted each and every step, and the past was worthless or bitter.
Aim saw in the length of centuries and millennia. He even said so in the Throne Room, stating how poorly Devils planned their future; if they even thought of it at all. Aim's mind was alien to her, even now, but as she took in this grand vision; one that would take millenia to fulfill the satisfaction of its creation, an endlessly entertaining war, the construction and management of Empires, the political manipulation of her subjects, the careful planning and coordination of well-played plans executed decades, centuries, and millenia into the Future…
Lucifer started to see it all coming together. A plan that would start here, now. With no risk of failure due to Aim's promise of Immortality. God would fall, Pantheons would crumble in the actions of her Love; because she wished to see her father grovel at her feat, she would train, struggle, and kill. She would rule an Empire, because it gave her greater meaning, and that it was her nature and purpose to do so. She would fuck the man beside her into a coma, birthing children that she would be proud of. She would ascend into something greater than herself, and in the process stare God in the eyes. There she would show him. That for all his power, knowledge, and splendor; she would show him that he was wrong.
"You see it now." Aim nodded, "Good. Very good." His purple eyes smiled, "Now that we've finished talking about affairs of the estate…let's talk about something more personal."
Lucifer cocked her head.
"Children!" Aim jazzed his hands.
She choked on her spit. "E-eh?"
"You're pregnant!" He cheered.
"Eh!" Lucifer shot up from her chair, eyes wild and disbelieving, "W-what!? Already!? We had sex one time! The chances…"
She saw him chuckle, "I actually impregnated Zepar yesterday. Or was it two days ago? Ah, no matter. I developed a fertility potion a while ago; a bit difficult to make, but for the Pillar Devils I could see it being useful." He shrugged, "The effects last a while though, so I'll be fertilizing anyone I have sex with for the next month or so." He cut into a piece of Hell-Beast steak, "I'm hoping to talk about us raising the child." He smiled, "Both of us are absolutely horrible people. I'm self aware of that fact. Any children we raise will inevitably turn out as wastes of space or absolute disappointments to us if we just let them rot with servants. Sadly, we'll both be busy, so spending time with them will be difficult." He frowned, tapping his fork against his plate. "Having them crave our attention would just be sad and pathetic, so we'll either need surgoats, find as much time as possible to spend with them, or try and shape them into people similar to ourselves." He chuckled, "Me: traditionally evil, twisted, sadistic; I could go on." He waved the option away with a wave of his hand, then gazed over at the flustered Lucifer who just stared at him with shock.
Aim raised an eyebrow at her silence, "I'd like to hear your opinion on this matter, dear."
"Sorry, I was a man half a day ago, you shitty bastard!" Lucifer snapped, taking a deep breath as she processed that information. She wanted children, but she didn't imagine it to ever come so quickly! "You obviously seem to have a plan…" She growled as he just nodded.
"I was planning on raising them as normal during their infancy; then when they become toddlers I'll have them start training. Simple things to desensitize them to death and killing, interspersed with Servitor-led education and conditioning; I'd have them raised as soldiers, trained politically, sharpened mentally, given the greatest education and training the world could ask for. They'll have one another for social support. If you don't allow me to have children with others, just know I'll likely be drugging you to have twins, triplets, or quadruplets; and impregnating you often." Aim stated with a kind and loving tone of voice.
Lucifer stared at the man she loved; wondering why her heart was swelling even as she heard such horror spew from his mouth. Then it continued.
" I'll throw them into the D-Class Prison to get them used to more gruff individuals." Aim explained, finishing his breakfast as he leaned on the table. "I've developed research to assist in this endeavor just the same. Several developmental potions, elixirs, and serums that will enhance their growth potential; giving them the best head start in their physical growth. Potential genetic treatments to further refine their respective mutations, along with the Brain Neural Link giving them years of education in relatively short time-periods. Paired with the various gauntlets, conditionings, and potential indoctrination to be loyal to their wonderful parents; I'll create what I hope to become the Elite of our society, spawned from my loins. Soldiers, Opperatives, Assassins, Killers, Princes and Princesses; our little monstrosities." Aim sipped on the last bit of his wine. "It may be interesting to raise them diametrically opposed to our moral alignments though. Wouldn't it be fun to have our children be moral saints and virtuous individuals, espousing all the traits that God wished Humanity to portray? That'd be fucking hilarious." He snickered. "The Spawn of the Devil, and her Wicked Consort; Saints of God!" He laughed, Lucifer unable to hold back a snicker herself.
Aim pounced on it like a wolf, "Oh, was that approval I heard?" Aim teased, leaning forward to give his lover a kiss. They separated after the quick kiss, Lucifer pouting at him as she held a hand to her stomach. "You seem to truly care about them; wanting to give them the best." She noted.
"Of course." Aim nodded, "I'm having to put them into neat boxes, like 'interesting experiments', and when they're gross little potatoes I'll likely think about throwing them into a Hell Pit, but when they start being cute I'll be all over them! Everyone loves cute things, even the Devil." Aim stated this like it was a fact, staring at her with expectation.
Lucifer chuckled, "I like cute things."
"My faith has been awarded! A thousand souls to the Golden Throne!" Aim cheered, lifting her from her seat and spinning her around. He dipped her down, then gave her a smoldering kiss, pulling her up and giving her yet another spin. "Oley!" He cried, the two entering an enthralling dance with one another; music being played by the Servitors as they danced.
Their flight ended quickly as Aim tripped over a table leg, spilling out onto the floor; his laughter at his own clumsiness making Lucifer laugh just the same. Standing up, he offered his arm, and he took her deeper into the Circles.
"Now, let me show you the Circle of Wrath…"
