I approached the guard outside and he nodded me in, opening the door, once again. Ferrum was still sitting at his desk, picking at his wounds. He was too busy with his bandages that he hadn’t noticed me enter the building. I started walking over towards his desk and he shoved his fingers into the open wounds, screaming in pain.
“What are you doing!?” I asked.
“What? Jonathon? What are you doing here?” he asked.
“I just came to return your sword. What are you doing?”
“Pain is an emotion. The only way to beat and control it is to experience it. The more I take, the more I can ignore. Self-injury is the best for that. I will heal just fine, even with doing this.”
“Well, here’s your sword.”
“Can you do me a favor and put it back up there? I’m a little busy.”
“Sure.” I put the sword back and came down the stairs.
“Oh, Jonathon?” Ferrum asked.
“Yeah?”
“I got that audience for you. I was just about to send my men after you when you showed up. You can go to the tower anytime today. Beelzebub said he would be happy to meet the man that was able to best me.”
“That’s great! Finally, something goes my way!”
“I thought you might be happy. Can I ask, what business do you have with my master?”
“My business is and always will be my own, Ferrum. If you want to know, then you can ask him yourself after I leave his tower.”
“And so I shall. Be warned, if there is foul play, I will be after you. Next time, I won’t be beat!” he said with a smile on his face.
I didn’t say anything. I walked out the door and started off for the tower.
9. The Tower of Gluttony
I approached the tower fearful of what I might find inside, waiting for me. The tower was tall and made of a shiny black stone like obsidian. There were four stories, each with a jagged and gothic looking buttress smashing down into the buttress beneath it. There were four sets of buttresses in all, one on the north, east, south, and west. The door came cattycorner from the building with a white grand staircase leading to it. There was a strange cloud of dust flurrying around on either side of the door. As I drew closer I could hear a buzzing noise, and I realized that what I thought were dust clouds were actually two swarms of flies. I knew that Beelzebub was Lord of the flies, so I assumed they were his minions.
Slowly I placed my foot on the first step leading to the tower. Visions of what my await me started to flash before my eyes. I pictured myself being cooked and served as an entrée, and then I thought about walking in and immediately being snatched and imprisoned. I had no idea if Beelzebub was going to treat me like the rest of them. I had Ferrum vouching for me, but I didn’t know if that was going to be enough. I had learned from Stuart and Marcus that I needed to keep steady eyes on my back, and not trust anyone I didn’t know. That would encompass everyone I was going to meet inside the walls of the menacing tower. I dreaded the thought of entering only to be found out and then slaughtered on the spot. There was more at stake than just my life.
I tried to push everything out of my mind and I started bounding up the stairs.
“State your business,” the swarms buzzed.
“I am Jonathon Cowley,” I began. “I am here to meet with Beelzebub, Lord of Gluttony.” I thought some flattery would be beneficial to me.
“Beelzebub is waiting for you. You are warned to no longer keep our master waiting!”
I thought it best to heed the advice of the insect swarms and I quickly pushed the massive door open, and entered the first floor of Beelzebub’s tower. The first room I entered had red floors and walls. There was furniture on either side of the room. There were three doors: two small ones on the side walls near the rear of the room and a big one on the opposite wall from me. It wasn’t as big as the entrance door, but it was massive as far as doors go.
I decided to first head to the door on the right side wall. It was black and had the head of a woman with her mouth gaping open for a door knob. I grabbed it and turned. The door opened revealing a strange and surprising sight. There were men sitting around a circle table with four women dancing topless for them. One man turned and said, “Either you’re in or you’re out, buddy. Pick one!” I didn’t respond. I just shut the door and head across the room to the door on the left.
This door was also black but had a man’s penis as the doorknob. As reluctant as I was, I grabbed it and turned. It was the opposite of the first room. There were women at the table and men on top. “Get out!” one of them shrieked.
I slammed the door and walked to the remaining one. “Please be normal,” I said to myself. There were no knobs on this one, so I just started pushing. It came open quite easily. This room was much larger and had another sight. There were men and women laying everywhere on the floor. They were completely covering it and were completely naked. In the center of the room buzzed a large swarm of bugs in the shape of a man. It turned and looked at me.
“You must be Jonathon Cowley,” a gravelly buzz came.
“I am,” I replied. “Are you Beelzebub?”
“I am. Please, Jon, join me in the next room.” He pointed to the room on the right, my left.
I precariously navigated the field of flesh, careful not to disturb anyone. Not to mention, I really didn’t want to be touching on a bunch of random naked people, disfigured or not.
I finally made it to the room and Beelzebub had left the door agape. I closed it behind me. This room was long and curved like it was on the edge of the building. The floor was stone and there was a desk with two chairs in front. Beelzebub was behind it. I didn’t see a chair, but I imagined that he didn’t really do a lot of sitting. I approached and sat in the chair.
“Ferrum tells me you bested him in a duel?” he asked.
“Yes, I did,” I said, grinning.
“It takes quite a man to be able to beat my champion at a game he was built for. He is the only man I’ve known that possesses the prowess to slay an Elohim. Can I ask how you managed to do so?”
“Did he mention nothing else of our duel?”
“He did not. He seemed embarrassed of defeat.”
“I was simply a better fighter than he had thought.”
“Is that the reason you are here?”
“I’m sorry, I don’t follow.”
“Are you here to follow in the footsteps of Ferrum and challenge me? I must warn you, I will not show you the mercy I showed him. He was the first, and therefore deserving of it. You would just imitate him and, therefore, you would not be so deserving.”
“That’s not why I am here.”
“Then what is it? Do you wish to join my ranks?”
“That’s not it, either.”
“Then why do you wish to visit my tower?”
I had to think quickly. I couldn‘t tell him to his face ‘Hey, I‘m here to steal from you!’ So I had to come up with something. I wanted it to appeal to him so I said, “I merely wish to see the greatness that you are.”
“So then you are an admirer of Gluttony?”
“That’s exactly it.”
“Is that all? I do not believe you, but you have bested Ferrum and, therefore, I shall tour my tower with you and reveal my greatness!” He swarmed up and over my head, coalescing behind me.
I turned and followed him out the door.
“Each floor we visit will be different than the one before or the one after. As I’m sure you have seen by the Hall of Eroticism, the first floor is dedicated to those that are gluttons for sex, the second floor is wealth, the third floor is food, and the fourth is power. Do you understand?”
“I do. So why do you have each floor different? Why don’t you just make the entire tower all of the sins that are encompassed as gluttony?”
He swung his fist at me and knocked me down. “Gluttony is not a sin! Sins are for the righteous. I have no sins! I only have enjoyments!”
“Forgive me! I misspoke.�
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“Yes you did, Jon. Do not make the same mistake again. I am not as forgiving as you may have thought. Now follow me to the stairs.”
I walked behind him. ‘I didn’t think he would be this vicious over a rule that I didn’t know he had,’ I thought. ‘It’s not like I personally insulted him or anything. I was just answering his question. I guess Callista was right. I should’ve just avoided him.’ I couldn’t have anticipated that he would react that way or I wouldn’t have said what I did. I just kept my Shannon in the front of my mind. I had to endure.
I navigated through the maze of flesh to the door on the opposite side of the hall. Beelzebub’s feet separated and he floated above them. We entered the room.
It was very small and plain. It was made of the same black stone as that of the tower’s skin. Ahead of us was a set of stairs leading up to the second floor. They were normal stairs that had the shallow bend of the tower, slowly turning to the left.
“Follow me, mortal,” Beelzebub commanded. I didn’t respond. I started walking to the front of the stairs. Beelzebub pushed me out of the way and walked up first.
The room we arrived in was much like the room I had just exited. It was plain, small, and black. There was a single door to the rest of the second floor.
We approached the door and Beelzebub turned and said, “This is the Hall of Treasure. You will see the wonders that I have collected in my lifetime. Though you will find it unguarded, do not think that thievery shall go unnoticed. I have a special connection with a few of the artifacts in these rooms, and I will know if you were here after I have left, or if anything turns up missing while I am not directly looking at you. Also, know that my body is made of 5,000 flies.”
“I understand most of that,” I began, “but what does your body being made of 5,000 flies matter?”
“It matters because each fly is equipped with two eyes. Just because my head may not be facing you, does not mean that I will not be watching you.”
“You have nothing to worry about, Beelzebub. I am only here to admire you countless accomplishments.” I was laying it on thick. With all this he was telling me, I didn’t want him to realize it was me when his sword does finally go missing. I knew it had to be here. I considered it treasure, anyway.
“We shall see, Jon. I will hold you to your words.”
“As well you should hold all to their words.”
He didn’t respond, he just opened the door. I was now in a room with three piles of gold. They weren’t in the form of coins or bullion, they were just masses of gold nuggets. One in particular was almost entirely its own mound. It must’ve weighed at least a ton. There were two doors in this room; one large door to my left and a smaller one in front of me. It wasn’t small or even normal size, but it was small in comparison to the other one. They were both left open.
“Which direction would you like to go?” Beelzebub asked.
“This is your tower,” I responded, “I am simply a visitor. Let’s go wherever you like.”
He started for the smaller door. I was hoping he would pick that one. Judging from the first floor I figured that the smaller doors led to single rooms without exits. I wanted to explore the entirety of the tower just to be sure that I find the sword. So every room counts. I highly doubted that he would keep such a possession in the line of sight of some passing from floor to floor.
We entered the room but to my dismay. The sword was not there. There were stacks of paintings sitting everywhere on the floor. They were dusty and ragged like that had not been taken care of.
“This is my collection of paintings,” he explained.
“May I ask why they are on the floor and in such disrepair?”
“They are not in disrepair. You will not find much beauty in Hell. The beauty you will often find has been ruined or tainted in some way. I do not hang them because I do not care for art. I stole these paintings from a fellow Elohim. When we lived with Him, we were allowed to practice such things as painting. We would even sing and compose poetry. We may still be able to do so, but the desire has long since passed, but this is not a history lesson, continuing on!”
We went back through the gold room and exited the larger door. This room had two tables made from the same stone as the tower. Upon them, glittering like the sea at sunset, were tons of gems and jewels. They numbered so great that you could only see the tables from the side. The tops were completely covered.
“This is my Diamond Room,” he explained. “I possess the largest collection of jewels and gems in all of the Hell. I challenge you to find another collection so large or vast.”
“It is quite spectacular,” I complimented. “I haven’t seen anything like this even on Earth.”
“Let’s carry on to the next room.”
“Lead on.”
We walked through the massive door across from the one we entered. It was filled with shambled statues spanning the entire room. There was room enough for a thin man to walk through a path that led to the left and to the right.
“These are the many statues that were made in Heaven,” he said. “They were also cast to the depths with my brethren.”
“They are quite numerous,” I responded.
“That they are.”
We continued to the “T” intersection. To the left was a large door and to the left was a normal sized door. We turned and went to the large door. He opened it and my eyes were immediately drawn to a sword hanging on the wall across from us. It was beautiful. It was long and the hilt was crafted out of what looked like pearl. I was sure that it was the sword that I had been sent to retrieve. There were other weapons in the room, but I couldn’t take my gaze from the sword. It was so close. I could literally reach out and grab it, if it weren’t for Beelzebub standing in the way. I knew I had to wait to be alone with the sword before I could grab it. I didn’t want to experience the wrath of Beelzebub just yet.
“This is my collection of weapons,” he said.
“They are equally as impressive as the rest of your treasures,” I said.
“A few of these are more than you could imagine. Enough of my treasures, let’s continue to the next floor.”
“As you wish.” We went down the other path to another plain black room with stairs to the next floor. I really didn’t want to continue on. I found my prize and I didn’t see the need to view the rest of the tower. On the other hand, if I just abruptly left, then Beelzebub would grow suspicious. When his sword did finally go missing, he would know it was me that took it, so I decided to just go along with it.
The next floor’s landing was yet another plain black room with a single door.
“This is my Mess Hall,” Beelzebub explained. We walked through the door and the putrid smell of rotting food was everywhere. There were three long tables that stretched the tower wide room. Each was filled with a substantial variety of food, and all of it was rotting. There were flies swarming everywhere, but none of them were on the food. I assumed they were his guards. There were no mortals in this room. I figured that even if the dead could eat, they couldn’t get past the smell to delight in any of it.
“Wow. What’s that smell?”
He smacked me again and three guards formed from the flies buzzing about.
“Do not speak of my home in such a way! This is your last warning, Jon. If you speak ill of me, my home, or my men again, I shall slay you!”
I didn’t reply. I recoiled back in a defensive stance. I didn’t want to fight him. I had promised myself that I wouldn’t fight anymore, and I was trying my hardest to hold up to that promise.
“Let us just finish the tour so you may be on your way,” Beelzebub said. I nodded.
We walked through a door and to the stairs to the next floor. It was almost entirely empty. The room spanned the entire size of the tower. There was an arched ceiling with reinforcements coming from all four sides of the tower and in the center of the room, stood a throne like chair.
“This is the Seat of Power within m
y domain,” he explained. We walked toward the throne. It was taller than I was. The fabric was a velvety red and the structure of the chair was made of gold. There were jewels encrusted throughout.
“That is a very impressive throne, sire,” I said.
“Yes it is,” he responded. “Would you care to sit?”
“I guess so.”
He held his hand out welcoming me to sit. I slowly lowered myself on to the cushion. As soon as my entirety was at rest a searing pain shot into every part of me that was touching the chair. I tried to escape its grip, but I couldn’t free myself. Beelzebub began laughing as I struggled to free myself.
“It’s not use, Jon. Only I know the secrets of the chair. Know that it will destroy you should you sit there long enough.”
I continued struggling. I went this far, fought many battles, killed men, deceived others, I wasn’t going to be stopped by a piece of overgrown furniture.
Beelzebub laughed, “You can’t do it, mortal. There is no chance for you. I shall release you.”
I stopped struggling and waited for Beelzebub to do whatever he had to do to end this new nightmarish pain. It was burning into my skin. It wasn’t just burning the top of my skin; the pain was starting to drift deep into my flesh. The chair held me like it was covered in glue.
“Before I release you,” he began, “I think I shall interrogate you.”
‘Interrogate me?’ I thought. ‘What would he want to know about me? What could I possibly offer him?’
“Why are you here?” Beelzebub asked.
“I am only here to admire you!” I responded.
“You test my patience! I did not ask for flattery, I asked for an answer!”
“I have no other answer!” I couldn’t tell him the real reason. He may have been sensing it, but I couldn’t let it go. If I told him I knew that I would never escape the chair or his tower.
“Who sent you?”
Hellbound: Chronicles Page 17
