Dashiel had told his sister that morning over breakfast that he was going to Heaven to get some lessons on running it from their grandfather. He asked if she wanted to come and she declined. She had other plans today.
After showering and making sure Narla the Panda was fed, Zoka went into her room and pulled the large rug from off the floor to reveal the red markings painted there. She sat in the middle of the circle and concentrated, closing her eyes. As she did, the markings under her began glowing red and Zoka began hovering a few feet in the air. She muttered the words of the transportation spell she memorized and within a second, she was transported to Hell.
Zoka walked down the dark halls of Hell with her glowing, scarlet eyes on full display. She spotted a Demon and it froze when it saw her. "My King?" He questioned the shadowy figure luring through Hell, but it got closer and he realized it was a female. It still had Grace similar to Lucifer's but he had two sets of white wings while this being had three sets of sparkling white ones.
"Lucifer is dead. I'm in charge now." Zoka declared. "Go spread the word. Queen Zoka has arrived."
SPN~*SPN~*SPN
Zoka was traveling through the Halls of Hell, humming a tune as she made her way to the Throne Room. She wondered if the Demons she sent out would prove themselves useful or not, but it's been a while since their last update. She pushed one of the large doors open and stopped when she realized she wasn't alone.
Valys and Druka were in the room as well, but the female Demon was quick to bow when she saw her new Queen. Valys set something on the ground before he bowed and she eyed it with interest.
"We found what you requested, my Queen." Valys told her as she walked to her throne. She sat down and he picked the bag up, dumping its contents before her feet. What fell out of the bag was an elf-like creature without any clothes on, but she knew it was an expert at creating weapons. She went to the back of her throne and retrieved a chain from there, clamping it around one of the creature's legs.
She gave it a pile of rocks mined from Hell and an enchanted set of blacksmithing tools. "Make me a crown." She requested. The creature squeaked at her before it scurried over to the workstation and began creating. "Excellent work, 50 souls to you both."
The pair bowed again before leaving the Throne Room and the only noises that could be heard were the tinkering of the creature as it crafted a crown for her. She was about to sit down when she realized the noise stopped and she looked for the little creature. Its leash led its way to the front of her throne and it was presenting her with a Gothic-style, moon goddess crown with black ribbon roses.
"On the first try." She complimented the tiny creature. "Now, for something a little more challenging. I want a guitar and an axe as one. Can you do that?"
The tiny being jabbered something at her and she pulled an unimpressed face at it before snapping her fingers and conjuring a box of markers. She pulled a grey and orange stick from the organized pile and made her thoughts come to life as she scribbled on the ground. She added as many details as she could to it before she stopped, reflected on whether her drawing was accurate enough then, nodded. The tiny creature seemed to be studying her art, then it went back to its workstation to begin tinkering.
She looked to the opened doorway and saw some Demons passing by. She snapped her fingers twice, then one of them came in to see what was needed. She requested a long mirror because she had a crown to wear and the Demon nodded before excusing himself. She impatiently waited for 5 minutes, then the Demon returned with what she asked for, being carefully carried by a pair of lesser Demons. Once it was upright and in view of her throne, she carefully lowered the crown onto her dark hair. It fit her perfectly and when she turned her head, it didn't move out of place.
She felt her entire body aflare when an ear-piercing sound was heard. It sounded like an elephant being choked by a snake that had a violin. Whatever it was sounded terrible and she hoped one of the Demons didn't find a new way of inflicting pain onto something that. She looked over her shoulder and found that she was still alone, but whatever was making that noise persisted. She looked near her throne and realized the little creature wasn't tinkering away anymore.
Zoka stepped over to the small being and was well aware that the noise from before was coming from it as it tried to play the guitar-axe she drew for it; it looked to be made of rocks and glowing magma. She picked up the guitar-axe and swung it around a few times. The sharp end was nothing to joke about. Next, she tried strumming it much better than the little creature could and it would grumble at her when she stopped, so she thought of something to play for the demanding little creature.
"It can't be said I'm an early bird
It's ten o'clock before I say a word
Baby, I can never tell
How do you sleep so well?
You keep telling me to live right
To go to bed before the daylight
But then, you wake up for the sunrise
You know you don't gotta pretend, baby, now and then
Don't you just wanna wake up, dark as a lake?
Smelling like a bonfire, lost in a haze?
If you're drunk on life, babe, I think it's great
But while in this world
I think I'll take my whiskey neat
My coffee black and my bed at three
You're too sweet for me
You're too sweet for me"
The tiny creature seemed to be dancing as Zoka's voice filled the throne room and she smiled at it. Her orders to Valys and Druka were to bring her a magical being that could create things with the right ingredients and she wasn't talking about a Witch that could conjure things. She could do that on her own.
When the song was over, the small being cheered for her and clapped its tiny hands. She curtsied at the approval, but bent down to unshackle the creature, letting it climb up to her shoulder to sit on. She was sure it could fit small dog-sized clothes, so she went looking for her phone to start browsing.
SPN~*SPN~*SPN
Since she opened both of the tall doors leading to the Throne Room, some of the Demons had congregated inside and were talking among themselves about their own conspiracies or the daily dealings of the Crossroads Demons. She didn't hear a peep about any bad news or anything else for her to be worried about and that pleased her.
The elf-like creature was sitting on her knee and it looked around, but within the hours she'd claimed the thing, it didn't seem to want to stray from her. She decided to name it Liric due to being unsure of its gender and it seemed to respond to it when she talked to it.
"Deliveries, my Queen." A Demon suddenly announced, coming into the room with a cart filled with parcels. All of that was stuff for Liric and a new pair of boots for herself.
Zoka smiled and stood, placing Liric on her shoulder. She motioned for the Demon to follow her and led him to her bedroom, but when she tried to push the door open, she found it barely budged. She sighed.
"Chemi, move your big, fat, butt!" That was her Hellhound disguised as a Great Pyrenean dog and it was around the time she began her afternoon nap.
It took two more tries, but she managed to get the door open enough to allow the Demon inside with her cart of mail. He left her alone and the first thing Zoka opened was a red, short-sleeved flannel shirt that she easily slipped onto Liric.
After she cuffed the collar, she gave the little creature a second to get used to wearing something, waiting to see if it would pitch a fit and try to take it off. Liric looked down at the shirt and rubbed the material against its tiny hands; the shirt came down to its knees.
Chemi's light snoring came to a stop and a few seconds later, the disguised dog was stretching out with her tail in the air. She came over to get some affection from her owner, but noticed Liric sitting on the bed. She went over to the edge and thoroughly sniffed the small creature before cocking her head at it.
Ping!
Zoka was brushing Chemi's white coat when she heard her cell phone going off. She snapped her fingers and it appeared in her free hand and after unlocking it, she found a text waiting to be responded to from her brother.
'Mom and Cas are making baked ziti for dinner! You should come join us.'
Zoka looked at Liric and smiled when she realized the little thing had tucked itself in and was sleeping in her bed. She didn't have anything to do for the rest of the day and baked ziti sounded really good…
"Nymor, Valyn!" She called and a few seconds later, the Demons in question appeared at her door. She pulled on her leather jacket. "I'm going out for a while. Whichever one of you is still alive when I get back gets promoted to VP." She walked past them and was about to blip out of Hell, but she reminded them, "Make sure Chemi gets fed."
