by Tim Hawken
Mary moved out from behind him, watching me cautiously. I thought I might see remorse in her face, but there was nothing but contempt. She turned away and began to walk up the stairs. I glared at her back. She wasn’t going to even give me an explanation.
“An explanation?” Asmodeus said, probing my mind. “I thought you might have figured that out already. After all, it’s basic human motivation.” He pointed back to Mary’s retreating form. “Not only did you spurn her love, but you failed to protect her brother. She lost confidence in you and so she turned to someone she knew she could depend upon.”
“She would never!” I started, but he laughed.
“Already in denial, I see. Judas is now safe in Heaven as she asked, with a constant guard of angels sitting on hand for when he finally awakes. It was very simple to visit Hell again and retrieve him, once I knew you weren’t there. She prayed to me, Michael. Can you imagine?” He let a smile of glee flutter on his lips. “The whore on her knees for God. I granted her wish: safe asylum for eternity in rapturous Heaven for her and her family. Of course, I’ll have to keep a close watch on them, but it’s a small price to pay to have you as well.”
I tried wrenching the shackles he had me in, my every muscle straining to break free. It was no use. My human body wouldn’t allow enough leeway for me to move. It was too rigid. My body! A dawning inside me linked to Asmodeus’ hateful gaze. He wanted to keep me like this. As Mary had said herself, the only thing worse than death was to be trapped unconscious in a useless shell. My father clapped his hands in delight at my realization.
“Yes,” he said. “An unconscious god is basically a dead god. I can’t have you running loose down there anymore. You’re causing too many problems. Unfortunately, you’re at the point where you’re too powerful for me to destroy your soul, so I’ll just have to keep it contained.”
He started to fling a shower of elements down at me, to suffocate my mind. Instinct took over. Rather than attack back, I retreated. I pulled back, away from my physical shell and down into my ethereal self. I shrunk as much as I could inside the flesh that held me. As the tumult of Asmodeus’ attack assaulted above, I let out fire. Not outward, but within. Searing heat shuddered through my veins, bursting blood vessels and sizzling organs. The pain of it spasmed right through me. My emotion was still linked to the shell. However, as the mortal body around me burned, the heat released me from the pain. It did not hurt to burn. It felt wonderful. The furnace was now my home and I would be back there soon.
The last thing my living ears heard was a deep swearing frustration from Asmodeus. He screamed toward me, throwing water and spirit ahead of him, to try and reclaim my wasting body. It was too late. I had disintegrated it from within. As his clawed fists wrapped around my neck, the skin dissolved to cinders in his hands. I was gone already, my spirit tearing back down into Hell.
THIRTEEN
I WANTED TO INCINERATE THE UNIVERSE. Better yet, I wanted to swallow it up. I wanted to take a wrap of The Perceptionist’s anti-matter and smother everything to oblivion, as though nothing had even been here. Everything that Asmodeus had created made me sick to my core. It would be better to wipe the slate clean than to watch him pervert everything further; make him start again and then cut it off as soon as an evil thought entered the world. Then I opened my eyes and saw Charlotte, waiting for me. The deep look of concern in her eyes put a block on my hatred. She was sitting at my side, where my ethereal body must have just materialized into life. There was at least one good thing in this world. My Lotte. Instead of ranting and screaming my eternal frustrations, I squeezed my eyes closed for a moment and then looked at her again as she knelt to look me over. “Are you okay?” I asked, reaching up to stroke her face over her right eye where Mary’s blade had entered on Earth.
“I felt no pain,” she whispered. “Death was instant. It was just the worry I had to feel until you returned. Clytemnestra said this is where you’d be.”
I looked around. It was the room in Satan’s Tower that I had awoken in before, every time I had returned to Hell. I didn’t know how it worked, but it was like the code of my soul was assigned to land again and again in this exact spot when I plummeted from above. There was still so much I had yet to learn. It was why I had failed yet again against my father. He had had forever to create all the knowledge in the word. I had only had one lifetime to start to unravel it. It simply wasn’t enough.
I hadn’t been a complete failure, though. I wasn’t in his clutches. It had been a small victory to be able to burn my earthly body away before he could render me trapped inside forever. Before he could hang me as a prize in Heaven. Rage started to rise again over my sense of hopelessness. Heaven. Mary was now there. The traitor. She had taken the coward’s way out and done what was best for her and her brother only. Normally I would try to see a situation from everyone else’s view, but I did not want to get into Mary’s psyche this time. She was dead to me and if I ever saw her again she would be dead to the rest of existence as well.
“Michael!” Charlotte’s voice invaded my thoughts. She was shaking me lightly.
I must have closed my eyes again. What was the use? Why should I bother to open them again?
“Michael,” Lotte’s voice urged once more. “What are we going to do?”
My thoughts presented nothing in answer. I was blank. There was no way forward. I had been trained in my life to get back up when an enemy knocked you down: each time your back hits the dirt, you dig in your knuckles and push yourself back up. But this was not life; this was death. It was supposed to be rest, yet all I had received since first dying was constant torment. It was more of a psychological Hell than the realm that surrounded me. When would the struggle end? I should have just let Asmodeus render me unconscious like Judas. That way would be easier. I kept my eyes closed and shut off any noise from my ears. It was blissful nothing for a moment, until a teardrop dripped onto my face. It made me look up into my wife’s pained eyes.
“Michael, what happened?” she sobbed. “You have to tell me.” Her hand rested softly on my chest.
“We lost,” I said. “It’s over.”
“No,” she said, shaking her head. “I can’t believe that. It’s not in your nature to give up. You’re still here. We’re still together. We can work out another way. There is always another option.”
I started to sit up and Charlotte helped me. It wasn’t that my body was tired. It was my soul that was weary. She propped me against her chest and stroked my hair.
“Mary took the Jewels of Blood with her,” I said slowly, explaining. “We can’t make any more bodies. We can’t use their power to help us overcome him. We can’t get out of this stinking Hell.”
I clenched my fists, digging my sharp fingernails into my palm so the physical pain would distract me enough from losing control.
“That’s not all she took.” Charlotte said, rubbing her fingers along my cheek. The tender movement offset the gravity of her next words. “The Pure Seven are gone as well. They never turned up to train the legions. Marax has been doing that all on his own.”
The news made me sit up properly with a jerk. The Pure Seven as well! Asmodeus had said “asylum for her family”. I had assumed that only meant Judas, but she had taken her sinful angels too. My father must have been desperate to allow them all to enter Heaven. The thought made me seethe. If he was willing to make concessions for pure sin, then what about the others who were struggling against their vices to become better? Why weren’t they given the benefit of the doubt? It only reinforced that his unjust actions were completely selfish in motivation. The rage inside pushed down the sorrow I was feeling. It galvanized me. This wasn’t right and someone had to stop it. I would have to be relentless in my pursuit of Asmodeus, if we had any hope of winning. Perhaps I could wear him down with persistence.
“What is Marax doing with the army?” I asked, waiting for more disastrous news.
“I don’t know,” she said. “That’s all I’ve hear
d so far. We haven’t been back for too long before you. The others are waiting upstairs to debrief properly.”
“The others?” I asked, still rattled internally, but starting to try and formulate ideas in my head.
“Smithy,” Charlotte said in response, “Marlowe and Germaine. Clytemnestra has gathered them together. We’re ready to plan the next battle. We’re ready for you to command.”
I wanted nothing more than to stay where I was. I wanted to lie back down and hold Charlotte with me. The look of expectation in her eyes told me she wouldn’t let me do any such thing. I slowly got to my feet, feeling the lightness of my ethereal being. Only my thoughts weighed it down. We had a war to wage. Only the end of time would stop that from being true. The only way forward, was up.
FOURTEEN
THE ELEVATOR RIDE UPWARDS helped firm my resolve further. Watching the floor counter reminded me of the experience I had once had, re-living my life through unbiased eyes the first time I arrived in Hell. When I had seen myself wallow in doubt and self-pity, sinking to addictions of drugs and gambling to numb the pain, I had shuddered with disbelief. That was not the person I was. I had risen above then and I would do it again now. Fuck Asmodeus. I would beat him, even if it took an eternity of trying. Charlotte didn’t say anything to me as we rode up. She didn’t need to. She just held my hand, showing me that she was still by my side, always supporting and guiding what I did. Even pushing me if she had to. The silver doors slid open and my diminished war council turned around. The only person who smiled to see us was Smithy. The rest looked as grim as I felt. Clytemnestra stood at the window with Marax, overlooking the inferno below. He was pointing downward and explaining something in low tones. When he noticed we had arrived however, he stopped and turned.
“Lord Michael,” he snapped a fast salute. “I heard there was trouble with your mission. Clytemnestra summoned me as soon as she returned. Your army has started training.”
I looked around at the others. They all watched me questioningly, waiting for me to give an explanation.
“What about The Pure Seven?” I asked him. “I am told they have also disappeared.”
He paused briefly, but continued.
“I was hoping you would be able to tell me. When they didn’t show up, I assumed they’d been moved to another, more pressing assignment. That is what I told the legions. In their absence I appointed lieutenants to begin organizing.”
“Good. How did you appoint them?” I asked hoping the conversation would give me a few moments to gather in my mind how I would explain what had happened.
“Each Legion of Sin put forth a leader when asked.” Marax said simply. “Of the seven, only the Legion of Pride wasn’t unanimous. Six leaders stepped up. I had them fight until someone remained victorious. Genghis Khan now heads that division. He decapitated the rest of his opponents.”
Marax indicated down below as he continued to speak.
“The hordes are busy already.”
I turned my attention to Hell City. It was a hive of activity: not the normal chaotic hub of traffic and vice I was used to, but streams of people marching the streets in formation. Even the cars moved with a semblance of order. The buildings around us were each topped with colors, denoting which sinful legion belonged in which portion of the metropolis. On some rooftops, flags were still being mounted. It was as if Hell was being split into nine massive sets of barracks: The seven deadly sins, the black and the white. It was mostly a change in outward appearance at this stage, but watching the movement below, I knew it wouldn’t be long until every soul in Hell had found a new home amongst their fellow soldiers, who they would fight alongside. The internal shift of intent was heading in the direction of jihad. This was a city on the brink of holy war.
“Impressive,” I said, still watching it unfold. “You’ve done very well, Marax. Better than us.”
I didn’t wait to study his reaction, but turned, facing everyone.
“Unfortunately, The Pure Seven are not on a mission,” I said loudly. “Mary has betrayed us. She sold us out to be allowed into Paradise. She took Judas and the Seven with her. I was also supposed to be part of the bargain. They tried to catch me and hold me captive, but I escaped.”
Everyone’s reaction was different. Clytemnestra nodded like she had expected as much. Marlowe bristled with anger as did Marax, who punched the window in front of him with frustration. Germaine stared into space, like he’d lost somebody dear to him. Charlotte stood by my side, forever in support. Smithy shook his head in disbelief. I felt for him the most. He had been starting to form a stronger friendship with Mary and that was now crushed. I understood he might not want to accept that it had been a pretence on her part to keep up appearances. Still, he remained sagely silent, waiting for me to go on.
“She has also taken the Jewels of Blood with her. All of them.”
“No!” Germaine exclaimed, his eyes widening.
I held up my hand to stop him from continuing.
“Our original plans are gone. We now have to bide our time, prepare and find another way. Does anyone have any ideas? I want solutions, not problems.”
“We can get more jewels.” Germaine said quickly. “We can –”
“We cannot,” I cut him off. “The Furies made it clear that what we had was the only blood they would provide. Besides, do you think another resurrection to Earth will lead to a different result? That path is now closed. Asmodeus knew we were coming and will now have it heavily guarded. Next!” I said, waiting for someone else to step up with a plan.
“We should go to Magdalene’s Mansion and see if we can find any clues as to how Asmodeus took Judas,” Charlotte said. “If we knew how he came in, perhaps we can trace his footsteps out again.”
“Yes,” I nodded. “That’s a start. What else?”
The others looked at me crestfallen. In the beginning, a resurrection had been the most feasible plan. It had been the only one. If there was another path from Earth to Heaven we were ignorant of it. They were all grasping within themselves to see if a plan would rise to the surface.
“The army,” Marax said, casting his eyes out the window again. “We’ll need to tell them about The Pure Seven’s defection.”
I sighed. The news could crumble any sense of camaraderie we had built faster than it had been formed. Smithy seemed to sense my apprehension. He walked over to the window as well and rubbed his whiskered chin.
“The army is the best thing we have going for us at the moment,” he said. “We can’t risk that. I suggest we continue the pretence that The Pure Seven are off on an important mission. Marax, does anyone else know we have returned?”
“No one,” Marax said. “Clytemnestra summoned me with a signal only she and I have used before.”
“Good.” Smithy grunted, finally meeting my eyes. “We should keep it that way. As far as the armies know, we’re still working on bringing down the barrier for them to attack. We could be gone for months. For them, the longer we are gone the longer they have to prepare. It will be seen as a blessing at first while the units gain confidence. If unrest starts to show, then one of us can appear, saying we were killed during the mission, but the others were getting close. We can’t lose morale.”
“We also can’t keep up the charade indefinitely,” Clytemnestra added, once again turning her attention to the outside world, as though it might erupt at any moment.
“It will buy us some time,” Smithy replied firmly. “It’s what we need.”
“But we’re lying to them,” Charlotte cut in. “Isn’t this the kind of thing we’re trying to fight against? Manipulation of the masses?”
Smithy went to Charlotte. He took her hands in his, with a sad, but determined look on his face.
“We have to use any opportunity we can,” he said softly, squeezing her fingers with reassurance. He turned back to me, choosing his next words carefully. “We can split moral hairs during peace time. During war, the only ethical wrong is killing the innocent or
torturing your captured enemy. As much as I hate to say it, the rest is fair game.”
Smithy was normally the most conservative when it came to this kind of thing. It made me think this was the right way ahead. We couldn’t act flippantly, but an extraordinary set of circumstances meant that sometimes rules had to be broken. The Pure Seven and Mary weren’t here to object with their religion of Truth. They, who had ended up being the worst liars of all. Every single one of us was on our feet, looking out to a more unified Hell than we’d ever seen before. I wouldn’t let that fall without a fight.
“Marax, make it happen,” I said, making the decision. “If what you’ve done so far in a few days is only the beginning, Asmodeus should be afraid of what you can do in months.” He snapped to attention again, living up to his name of general. He saluted and started to leave. “And Marax,” I said to him, stopping him in his tracks. “If you find any spies among us, hang them upside-down from the closest power line and set them on fire. We need to make people understand that betrayal will not be tolerated.”
“Very good,” he growled, grinning an ugly smile.
“Marax,” I added before he could leave. “Only if they are truly traitors. If there is any question, bring them to me first. No kangaroo courts.”
He understood my warning. While it was important to make examples of anyone who was against the cause, I wouldn’t have people persecuted for no good reason. The last thing we needed was pointless witch hunts. When he had gone, the others remained in stony silence. Still no one sat. Everyone waited on their feet in vigilance. I started to pace over the plush black carpet, walking back and forth, still agitated. I strode to the back wall, examining the bookshelf to see if there was anything there that jumped out as interesting. There were was mostly volumes of history. Nothing. I ran my fingers along their spines, thinking. Could I still trust people for advice, or should I rely on scripture instead? Who else could I trust? Mary’s defection had shattered my faith in everyone except Charlotte. I didn’t want any more surprises.
