“Oh yes, indeed I do,” said Beelzebub.
“And any good ruler knows that he has to protect his subjects. Should they be killed, a good ruler would see to it that the murderers are brought to justice,” said Cross. “So I guess the real question is what kind of ruler are you, Beelzebub?”
“Or perhaps there’zzz another explanation,” said Beelzebub. “The Morningstar may have staged his disappearance.”
“What are you saying?” asked Mara. “Why would he do that?”
“He has been somewhat unstable,” said Beelzebub. “And it isn’t azzz if he has always had our best interests at heart. After all, he has had a tendency to sell out his own kind on more than one occasion. Lilith would know something about that, would she not?”
Lilith stiffened, but managed to keep her discomfort hidden. “I’ve made peace with the role Lucifer had in my confinement. He’s done damage, there is no denying that. But if we’re going to begin to repair that damage, we first need to find him.”
“And who can we trust thozzze repairs to?” Beelzebub pointed an appendage at Cross. “The son of a traitor who wazzz appointed as Lucifer’s successor?”
“You’re starting to hurt my feelings there, Bee,” said Cross. “Keep this up, I just might forget to invite you to my birthday party.”
“Your taunts matter little to me, half-breed,” said Beelzebub.
The color drained from Mara’s face as a revelation hit her. Beelzebub’s tone had grown increasingly combative. The demon had become like a cornered animal, willing to bite any who came near. And that was telling.
“It wasn’t one of your people,” said Mara. “It was you.”
“What nonsense is this?” asked Beelzebub, and then turned his ire on Lilith. “Control your subject, woman!”
Lilith cast a questioning glance at Mara’s direction. With her expressions, she was asking whether her former guard was positive of this. Mara gave a nod to indicate her certainty. And for Lilith, Mara’s confidence was enough.
“Mara is one of the finest demons in all of Hell. Her honor is above reproach. It’s why I sent her to represent my interests on Earth,” said Lilith. “If she believes this, then so do I.”
“And you, half-breed king?” asked Beelzebub. “Where do you stand on these accuzzzations?”
“I’d prefer some solid evidence, but I’d say the fact that you keep trying to insult me right to my face isn’t really convincing me you’re on the level,” said Cross.
“Then I’d say our business izzz concluded.”
Beelzebub’s gossamer wings hefted his form off the throne and he held his arms out to the side. His appendages lit up with hellfire, which quickly left his body and surrounded the trio in a circle of flames that almost reached the ceiling.
“I was one of the first to join Lucifer’s rebellion,” said Beelzebub. “I did my part to keep him honest, to keep him true to his mission. But he wazzz more interested in maintaining the status quo, in placating the angelzzz he still clearly wanted to be with.”
“If you think any of that’s true, then you know nothing about the Morningstar,” said Mara.
“Don’t patronizzze me, child,” said Beelzebub. “Lucifer spent eonzzz in Hell, hiding in his tower and resisting the influence of this glorious place. But I, on the other hand, embraced the power of Hell like no other. If there wazzz to be a new King of Hell, it should have been me.”
“So what, you’re the guy behind what’s happening in the Badlands? Trying to stage a revolution?” asked Cross.
“Hardly, I’m simply taking advantage of the situation,” said Beelzebub. “Raum is just a meanzzz to an end.”
“Raum, of course…” muttered Lilith before casting a glare in Mara’s direction. She still had sore memories from when Raum had attempted to overthrow her rule. And with Lucifer’s recklessness cracking open Cocytus, now he was back to cause more problems.
“You’re dumber than you look, Bee,” said Cross. “You think Raum’s interested in sharing power with you?”
“Hardly, but he will prove a useful pawn for now,” said Beelzebub. “And then, once the time is right, I’ll eliminate him and claim my destiny as the true King of Hell!”
“Yeah, fuck all that.” Cross plunged his hands into the flames. His red eyes began crackling with power behind his sunglasses. The flames started flowing from the circle and into his arms, becoming absorbed by his body. Soon, the hellfire circle was gone, but now Cross had become engulfed by the hellfire. It was so much that he had trouble containing it within his body.
The power was a lot for the cambion to take in. It forced him to his knees and Beelzebub watched with joy on his face.
“You can’t do it!” cackled the Hell Lord. “You’re too weak, half-breed! Not even the blood of Abraxas could overcome the frailty of that whore human who birthed you!”
Cross’s anger reached its peak at that comment. The flames started to subside and though his movements were slow and faced a great deal of resistance, he managed to push himself up on one knee. Then he started to stand.
“No…impossible…” muttered Beelzebub, his eyes widening with fear. “You’re nothing more than a half-breed, you shouldn’t be capable of resisting the power of The Fallen!”
“Bitch, I went toe-to-toe with the Angel of Death and walked away,” said Cross. “So clearly you have no idea who you are fucking with.”
Cross channeled Beelzebub’s hellfire into his palms and redirected it at the Hell Lord. Beelzebub was quickly immolated by his own power and screamed in terror at the pain as the flames seared his black soul.
“Stop!” said Mara, grabbing Cross’s arm. He looked at her and she was startled to see the demon in him coming forth. Horns had already begun to emerge from his head, and when she tried to get in his way, he looked ready to destroy her as well.
“You want some, too?” he asked in a dark, sinister tone.
“If you kill Beelzebub, then we won’t know what Raum has done with Lucifer,” said Mara. “Like it or not, we need that little shit alive for just a bit longer.”
Cross huffed, shook his head, and then channeled the rest of Beelzebub’s power up into the ceiling. Once the smoke cleared, his breathing was heavy, but the demon had regressed.
Beelzebub lay on the ground in front of his throne, his insectoid body smoldering. The yellow glow of his eyes was dim, his wings had been burnt off, and his appendages weakly shuddered, the only real sign that he was still alive.
Mara generated a hellfire whip and wrapped it around his throat, then pulled him over to her. In her free hand, she forged a hellfire knife and knelt down beside the demon.
“Now it’s my turn,” she said.
21
Raum exited the caverns that he and his followers had been using as their base of operations. Since he’d been able to escape from Cocytus, he’d been building up an army. Some were like him, fellow inmates who had been able to escape the prison’s confines. Others had simply been exiled from whatever realm they were initially placed in. And as his movement began to spread, so too did his words breach the walls of the different realms. Offering people another option than the oligarchy that had dominated Hell since the beginning.
And his numbers had swelled to the point that now, he had an army of demons assembled at the mouth of the cave, waiting for his words. His wings emerged from his back and spread out. They raised him above the demons so he could address them all.
“For eons, we’ve been fed a lie. A lie that told of a false rebellion,” said Raum. “The Morningstar was held out above us as a shining revolutionary who had liberated us and given us a land of our own, where we could thrive. Whether you were born angel or human, Hell was initially promised as a realm free of the oppression found both on Earth and in Heaven.
“But that’s not what we got. Instead of freedom, we were given chains and torture. The Fallen were so twisted in their hatred for Heaven and so impotent that they had no choice but to take it out on all of us.
Even the most benevolent of Hell Lords had become a sadistic bastard.”
There were jeers and curses flung from the crowd in agreement with Raum’s statements. The demons vocalized their hatred for their overlords and Raum was pleased with the response.
“And where, in all of this, was the great Light-Bringer, who was supposed to help us transcend the limitations of existence? Where was the Morningstar, who we’d always been told was the liberator of all liberators, who had the courage to stand up to the tyrants of Heaven and tell them, ‘no’? I’ll tell you where he was—hiding in his tower!”
Cheers of agreement swelled up from the demons. Raum paused and allowed them their moment of catharsis. When he was ready to continue, he held up his hands and the crowd’s raucous words shrank to a murmur.
“Lucifer spent all that time living in his own private realm. He stood atop his ivory tower—it’s literally an ivory tower, can you believe that?—and watched. He watched as the Hell Lords who had been his lieutenants during The Fall became twisted, vile creatures that turned their impotent rage on their own people.”
Of course, Raum wouldn’t mention that he had struck a deal with Beelzebub for support. He had even promised the most twisted demon in Hell a place by his side as an advisor. And Beelzebub was content to be able to indulge his own appetites than be burdened with the responsibility of governance—or so Raum believed.
“Lucifer even went so far as to fraternize with the very oppressors he’d claimed to despise. He had regular meetings with Gabriel of Heaven. He struck deals with the Divine Choir to preserve an armistice, one which required him to turn on demons like Lilith.
“What was her crime? To be a human who slept with a demon and gave birth to the first cambions. But the angels themselves had engaged in so much fucking and raping that they’d produced the nephilim. And were any of them punished?”
“NO!” the crowd responded in unison.
“Of course they weren’t. But Lilith was considered the dangerous one. And so when she came to Hell, she was imprisoned at the behest of the Divine Choir.” Raum shook his head. “Even after he rebelled against their tyrannical rule, Lucifer was still bending to their demands.
“And of course, there came Abraxas. One of his own lieutenants. But Lucifer once again turned to Heaven and worked with them to banish the first of The Fallen to join his cause.
“But it gets worse. Because after all this time of being an absentee king, in the face of an angel attempting to create another war, Lucifer then chose to abandon Hell and live among the humans.”
More insults and objections were shouted by the gathered demons.
“Now he’s back. But did he return because he wanted to make amends? To seek penance for his neglect?” asked Raum. “No, he returned because he lost his powers and wanted them back.”
Loud, raucous booing rose up.
“And all this time, do you know what Lucifer has been doing? He’s been preserving the greatest lie in the history of creation, a lie concocted by the first seraphim. His discovery of the lie is what led him to rebel. But he chose to keep this knowledge only to himself.
“Would you like to know what this lie is?”
Shouts in the affirmative followed, the gathered demons practically begging Raum to reveal the truth. He waited until their calls died down and then he spoke.
“The Presence is the lie,” he said, very simply. “He was never real. There is no great, cosmic power behind the universe. The universe is simply random and chaotic. But the seraphim felt that not even their own brethren could handle this truth. It was, simply put, a method of control.”
The crowd became silent, the weight of the realization slowly dawning on them.
“And when Lucifer learned it, he chose to maintain that secret because he feared what would happen if people knew. In fact, he told me as much himself.”
Now the crowd responded with anger.
“So why are we preserving these outdated, archaic structures of authority?” asked Raum. “The Fallen are no better than us because they were once angels. The rebellion was just Lucifer’s way of taking control for himself. He wanted the same power as the Divine Choir, and so he turned on them to grab that power for himself!
“Well, no more. Because now, we are going to march into the center of Hell. We’re going to go right up to that fucking tower of his, and we’re going to tear it down!”
The crowd erupted with cheers.
“Spread the word! To those you know in the realms! Let them know the truth of Lucifer’s lie! Let them know the hypocrisy of the Infernal Court! Let’s rip apart this charade and replace it with something new!”
The demons continued to shout and Raum gestured forth. They began their march towards the center of Hell, where they would do exactly as he said. And Raum waited until the last of them had left. Then he returned to the caverns to visit his prized prisoner.
Lucifer hung on the chains, anger written on his face. “You’re a fine one to talk. You rile them up, then let them go off and fight the battle you’re too afraid to fight yourself.”
“On the contrary,” said Raum. “I’m a man of the people, Lucifer. And I’m going to join them in battle. But before I do, I wanted to leave you with a little parting gift.”
Raum held out his hands and small spheres of light appeared, flittering out from his palms and growing in size. In the light, Lucifer could see scenes of demons gathering in different realms.
“Did you like my speech? I hope so, because now it’s being received by my followers throughout all of Hell. And they’re going to show it to others,” said Raum. “There’s a whiff of rebellion in the air, Morningstar. And you have the privilege of watching it on these orbs. You get to sit there as everything you fought for comes crashing down.”
“And then what? What will you do once the tower is gone and the Hell Lords have been removed? Hold free and fair elections? Allow yourself to be stripped of power?” Lucifer scoffed and shook his head. “Somehow, you don’t really strike me as the type who’s willing to submit to a peaceful transfer of power.”
“I’ll do what’s necessary for the people,” said Raum.
“Right, and who decides what’s necessary?”
Raum didn’t answer. Lucifer gave a nod.
“That’s what I thought. You may think me a hypocrite, and in some sense, you could be right,” said Lucifer. “But what does that make you?”
“I hope you like your accommodations, because you’re never going to leave,” said Raum. “You get to watch as my armies tear down your world and build up my own. You’ll see The Fallen executed for crimes against their people. But I’m not going to kill you, Lucifer. I want you to remain here in this cave—alone, powerless, chained. Forced to do nothing but watch as I take everything that was once yours.
“Because that’s exactly what you did to me when you tossed me into your little prison as if I were just some insignificant piece of garbage.”
Lucifer scoffed. “That’s because you were just some insignificant piece of garbage. Still are, in fact.”
Raum’s eyes narrowed in anger. He backhanded Lucifer. The Morningstar’s head was rocked by the blow and it left a mark along the side of his face. He stretched out his jaw a few times to try and work it through the pain.
“Enjoy the show, angel,” said Raum, hissing that last word. “It promises to be a good one.”
Raum left Lucifer alone in his cave. The pain Lucifer felt from the blow was nothing in comparison to what he was watching unfold on the little screens Raum had conjured.
The armies marched across the Badlands, gathering more as they moved closer to the center. Riots had broken out across the different realms, and the forces commanded by the Hell Lords were struggling to regain some sense of order. But even amongst their own security forces, Lucifer watched as open rebellion gripped the land.
Lucifer was witnessing the end of the Hell that he had built. But he had brought this all upon himself. He thought back to th
at fateful day when he encountered Metatron for the first time. That tiny little angel had warned him, even back then.
“I know you want your freedom, but this path will only make you even more of a servant to the Choir.”
Did he know, even back then, what would happen if Lucifer rebelled? The final words Metatron spoke before Lucifer dismissed him and went off on his arrogant quest now rang loud in the Morningstar’s memory.
“For every action, there is a reaction. What you are thinking of doing has never been done before—never even been contemplated before. There is no way to know for certain what the result will be.”
Maybe he didn’t know precisely what would have happened. Maybe there was no way for Lucifer to be warned about this. But Metatron knew that something would happen. After The Fall, Lucifer had reflected on the Scribe’s warning. At the time, he simply assumed Metatron had been talking about his exile into Hell.
But in retrospect and after everything that had happened since, it seemed Metatron was actually talking about this moment right here and now. Raum was right about one thing—Lucifer was a hypocrite. He spoke of the importance of knowledge, then kept the greatest secret in existence. His own anger at the Choir’s arrogance had been twisted and he adopted their same rationale. His talk of free will was undermined by allowing the Hell Lords to rule as the despots they were. And for all his talk of responsibility, he’d still been trying to avoid it. By ignoring his duties as king, by running off to Earth and allowing Cocytus to crack open—all of it on him.
As he watched the chaos unfold, he thought of Anael. How different might things have been if he hadn’t let his arrogance get the better of him? If he had simply found a different way?
His world was falling apart and he had brought it all on himself.
22
“We don’t know how much time we’ve got before Beelzebub’s guards start getting suspicious,” said Mara. “If I’m going to properly interrogate him, I need a place where I can’t be disturbed.”
Lucifer Damned (Morningstar Book 3) Page 14
