Detarru Island

by Mickey Deymon

  As soon as she said those words, the crowd started cheering and applauding. An immense roar was heard echoing around Grand Central, 32nd and 34th Street. Not only the people at Madison Square Garden were cheering but all around the world too.

  This global army was ready for battle.

  Chapter 17

  Inferno

  I swear to my life; I was going to make him pay for this. My grandfather was going to be avenged, one way or another. I just couldn’t go back right now. I refused to go back. I was ashamed of myself. I didn’t even have the courage to face my friends or my family. I needed some time, and had to think things through. I had to get away from everyone and everything. This whole mission was too much for me. My grandfather was gone because of me, because of my wrong choices. I couldn’t help but to think I was hopeless and how I let everyone down. I wanted to give up, but every time I did, I heard my grandfather’s voice say:

  ‘No matter what happens, never give up.’

  How come the more I tried to do things right, the more I messed up?

  I didn’t want to go back. What for? To make things worse? I’d rather hide like a coward than face Satu.

  Yes, I said it, I am a coward.

  I heard a few demons flying in the distance. They were headed my way.

  Christ! Why can’t they just leave me alone?

  I kept quiet and hid behind a big rock. I heard a familiar female voice talking to her demons as they all landed nearby.

  “Ethasus? We know you’re out there, come out. I need to speak with you.”

  How could I forget her? She was responsible for my grandfather’s death.

  That traitor.

  I came out alright. I came at her so fast I was going to knock her out, but instead I tackled one of her goons who got in my way.

  Whatever, as long as one of them got a beat down. As soon as he hit the ground with me on top of him, I punched him so hard in the eye. I think I killed him on the first punch, but I didn’t care. I was going to kill the spirit out of him too.

  If he had one.

  Then I was going to kill it again and again. I kept punching it like a punching bag. The thing wasn’t even moving anymore.

  I felt two strong hands grab my arms and pull me away from him.

  I screamed with rage. “Let me go!”

  “Relax,” she said calmly, letting go of my arms. I turned and swung at her. As usual, she was fast. She wanted me to stop but I wasn’t listening and she wasn’t fighting back either.

  Good. Because I sure as hell was.

  She flew up in the air trying to avoid my swings.

  “Get down here and fight me, you coward. Let’s end this right now!” I screamed. I saw the other demon standing there. I ran towards him, grabbed him by the wing and ripped it off. He moaned in pain. Then I kicked him hard in the stomach. He ran off scared and I was just about to run after him, but I was too tired. I fell to my knees, breathing hard.

  “I’m not here to fight with you, Ethasus. I’m here to help you,” she said.

  “Haven’t you done enough? You and Satu have ruined my life and he’s about to destroy the world. Isn’t that what you wanted?”

  “That was Satu’s own doing. I had nothing to do with that. I told you I wanted something entirely different. I did warn you about my plan, and you agreed to the terms, so why are you upset?”

  “What do you want from me?” I asked, not caring anymore.

  “My plan is not over yet.”

  “You want me to keep trusting you? After all that?”

  “We need to trust each other, or we won’t be able to win this.”

  “Say that to my dead grandfather.”

  “I told you, there was nothing I could do. Satu would’ve used The Others against me and killed me too.”

  “I can’t help you anymore. My friends are under his control now. I can’t fight against that kind of power.”

  “I know another way,” she responded. I stood quiet, listening. She had my attention. “Aren’t you going to ask me how?” she said with a sly smile.

  “This isn’t a game, Lola,” I said in a low voice. I was angry again.

  “Many will die. Get it through your head.”

  “If you would just listen to—”

  “No,” I interrupted. "I’m done listening to you. I trusted you once and everything you told me was a lie. I’ll never trust you again so just leave me alone, I’m finished here.” As I turned my back on her, she came at me with such strength, I didn’t see it coming. She lifted me up in the air again and forced me to go with her.

  Hell

  Lola took me to the deepest and sinful of places. This place was in no way similar to Inferno. Inferno was darker, colder and swarming with all types of demons.

  This place was submerged in evil and lava.

  Literally.

  My skin was on fire. I was burning alive. It wasn’t burning my skin though. It was burning my soul.

  It was awful.

  The deeper we went, the more excruciating the pain was, but I had to endure it if I wanted retribution. I was willing to do anything, as long as Satu paid for what he did.

  There were ruins and black temples, sort of like the ones in Greece but these were gigantic. They were dark and covered in lava.

  Lola didn’t seem to feel any pain though. I guess she was used to coming down here. We stopped by what seemed to be the end of the road of Hell. There was a massive hole at the center of this ocean. All the lava was pouring down like a large cataract.

  Where to? I couldn’t tell. The hole was a seemingly dark abyss. Satan’s dark abyss.

  “Why are we here?” I asked, not trusting this demon one bit.

  “I am going to introduce you to the only devil I trust.”

  “What? You really brought me here to meet Satan? What is wrong with you?” I screamed again. I wanted to run the heck out of there.

  “Orcoptu is not Satan. Satan is a lot more powerful than Orcoptu and I don’t even have the clearance to get to him.”

  “So why bring me here?”

  “You need to convince him to join you,” she replied.

  “You want me to what? What makes you think he’ll listen to me?”

  I didn’t know what was going on with this chick, but I finally realized she was psycho too.

  “Let me be very clear,” she warned. “Do not look into his eyes, do not speak before spoken to, and whatever you do, do not, I repeat, do not question him.”

  “What happens if I do?” I asked, trying to know the outcome.

  “He’ll eat your soul.”

  GULP.

  Lola carried me up in the air, wrapped her wings around me, and we both made our way down into that black hole. Every minute, the heat and burns were more painful. We went on really deep into this warm hole.

  After a few more minutes of torture, we finally made it to the bottom of this tormenting pit. The pain wasn’t gone though. Now it was multiplied 100 times worst. The gravity in this place was unbearable and it was crushing my bones. The pressure in my head was killing me too and my lungs were going to collapse or explode.

  There was a huge altar made out of black crystal and there were stones at the center of the place. Once we got near the altar, the pain went away. It was like magic.

  Lola put me down and I was able to stand on my own two feet. As soon as I touched the ground, there was complete silence and nothing was heard. I couldn’t even hear myself walking. It was weird.

  I looked around the strange place. There was a throne made out of black crystals in the middle of the temple.

  The temple was empty. Lola kept walking inside and I followed. When she got to the throne, Lola got on her knees and waited for someone. I did the same. We heard whispers echoing around the temple.

  “Who d
isturbs me?” the voice said, whispering. I think I even felt a breeze behind my neck.

  “It is I, Lola,” she answered with reverence.

  “I never called for you. What is your business here?”

  “A human.”

  There was silence again, and I swear everything went dark for a minute.

  A glowing gray smoke appeared before us, with an ugly death face.

  Holy Jesus.

  I couldn’t see his eyes, but I saw his skeletal mouth with sharp gray teeth. His eyes were covered in gray mist. From where he was standing, he looked like one of those monsters from the movie Aliens. His right foot was shackled up with some underworld metal. He disappeared and then reappeared like an energy irregularity.

  He reappeared behind me, and grabbed me from behind in a chokehold.

  “How did he cross to the underworld?” the ugly devil asked while smelling my hair, curious to see a human for the first time. The guy was transparent, but he was strong. He grabbed my chin with his other hand and pulled my head back towards his shoulder. He seemed ready to bite my neck off.

  I didn’t want to die, so I yelled, "Lolaaaa!”

  “He is not an ordinary human, my Lord. He is The Chosen One.”

  He stood there still holding on to my face. He had sharp white nails that could’ve slit my throat any minute. Telling this guy who I was definitely was not the smartest thing to do either. He growled like a beast and was ready to snap my head off.

  “Satu wants to become a devil,” she continued quickly. She wanted him to listen before he could break me in half.

  She got his attention.

  “That does not concern me,” Orcoptu hissed.

  “He wants to overthrow every devil in Hell. Ethasus is here to stop him, but he can’t do it alone.”

  He let go of me and I fell to the ground. I backed away quickly from the thing and I ran behind Lola for safety.

  “Do you have proof of such allegations?”

  “He has five archangels under his control.”

  His face changed. I could finally see his eyes as they went wide with perplexity. They were white.

  “He’s planning to use them to destroy Earth and Paradise,” she went on. “If Earth is destroyed—”

  “The Order will be broken,” he finished. He turned his back to us and walked up to his throne. He slowly sat and faced us again. I think he was looking at me. I felt his glare.

  “So, The Order will be broken, and the war between devils and gods will begin. This is almost comical.” He almost looked like he wanted this to happen. That didn’t sound good. It wasn’t looking too good for me either. This devil would probably join forces with Satu.

  I couldn’t let that happen.

  I had to step my game up. I had to gain his alliance, otherwise it was game over. I had to say something. The gods confined him in Hell, but if freedom is what he wanted, then so be it.

  “I… have a proposition,” I stuttered, standing next to Lola. He quickly glared at me, furious. I even noticed how Lola glanced at me too. But I kept talking, even though she warned me not to speak.

  “If you join forces with me—”

  Orcoptu got out of his chair and stalked me. I was going to faint from fright. “Then what?” he asked while looking at me sideways. Well, I think he was looking at me sideways. I was trembling.

  “I’ll remove your shackles,” I said backing up.

  I could see him giving it some thought. “You don’t have that kind of authority,” he finally responded. He disappeared again and reappeared in front of me and grabbed me by the shirt so quickly, I didn’t have time to react. The gray mist disappeared, revealing his white eyes again.

  “The Creator will have to agree to my terms. I am the one risking my life to save all 6 realms!” I shouted.

  “That’s not good enough for me,” he insisted. I saw him lifting an arm, ready to go for the kill.

  I had to think of something and fast. Even if it cost me the most valuable thing I had.

  “Then I’ll sell you my soul,” I bargained.

  Chapter 18

  Earth

  “I can’t believe you sold your soul to Orcoptu.” Lola spoke first, after we made it back from Hell.

  I didn’t answer. Seems she was very staggered at my decision.

  “Why?” Lola asked.

  “Why what?”

  “Why your soul?”

  “I don’t know, maybe out of desperation,” I responded in a low voice. “Maybe I care too much for my friends and my family, I just can’t let anything happen to them.”

  “I’ve never met anyone who would do what you just did, for the love of mankind. I just don’t understand that.”

  “Well, you’ve never experienced what is like to live on Earth, or what is like to have a family that cares for you and loves you unconditionally. You’ve never felt what is like to have friends and be free, to live a peaceful life and be human for once,” I explained.

  “What is it like?” she asked, interested.

  “What is what like?”

  “To be human?”

  “It’s beautiful! You live life to the fullest, explore its wonders and the beauty of nature. You learn the difference between love, pain, joy and hate. Most importantly, you learn to live. Being human has its own disadvantages too though. You go through tough situations, and sometimes make bad decisions that you later regret, yet you learn from your mistakes, which makes you a better person as you grow. Not to mention, you don’t get to live forever, but at least you take those great moments and memories with you for all eternity after you die. For me, I think that’s what matters the most.”

  “So family is very important to you.” She paused for a minute. “What is it like to be loved?”

  She made me smile.

  “Why do you want to know?” I asked.

  “I was just—I was wondering—what’s so great about your world for you to do what you just did?” she said embarrassed. She got serious again. “I heard there is an army somewhere in the city,” she informed me.

  “Yeah, the Satunians. I saw them marching somewhere in the city too. I don’t know where they were headed though.”

  “Actually, it’s your army.”

  I gasped. "My army?”

  “Rukus and some of my cyclops have been spying on your army for quite awhile now.”

  “Who is that freak anyway?”

  “It sounds like you’ve met before.”

  “Yeah, and he is not very nice.”

  “He’s in charge of a portion of my territory. He reports to me,” she said.

  “Do you trust him?”

  “No,” was her simple reply. “I trust no demon.”

  “Oh! But me trusting you was an exception,” I said with sarcasm.

  “He must not know that I’m helping you. If he finds out, he’ll turn my demons against me and tell Satu.” There was a long pause. “Come with me,” she said.

  “Where are we going now?”

  “I’m going to take you to the people you love. Your family.”

  Ethasus’ Army

  An alarm was heard and the crowd started moving fast. They were all preparing themselves for something big.

  “Why are they gearing up?” Craig asked, running towards Christine.

  “The Satunians are moving in,” she said.

  “They’re going to attack now? And start a war in the middle of the night?”

  “You’re talking about Satunians, Craig. They never play fair,” Rebecca said, joining the conversation. She walked up to them with Nathan, Jack and Clara right behind her.

  “You don’t say!” Jack responded with sarcasm.

  “We need to get our men and women ready. This might get ugly soon,” Christine said.

  “What can we d
o?” Nathan asked her.

  “We wait.”

  “Aren’t we gearing up too?” Craig asked.

  “Guardians do not fight this battle.”

  Everyone looked at her, concerned.

  “Christine? We can’t just stand here and do nothing,” Jack added.

  “We must wait. It isn’t our time yet.”

  The crowd started walking out through all the exits in the coliseum and marched uptown. They were all prepared and ready to fight for their future.

  “How do we know when the time is right?” Craig asked.

  “When The Chosen One gathers all his guardians. Erick will choose them at the right moment. I just hope he’s okay.”

  “He is!” came a voice from behind.

  A young man walked down to the middle of the arena. He was smiling.

  Clara started tearing from joy. Everyone was happy to see him. Clara ran to him first and hugged him tightly. Jack and Christine joined them too, and together they hugged from joy.

  “I haven’t seen you guys in years,” Erick said, still hugging his parents. He didn’t want to let go. "I thought I'd never see you again.”

  “It’s okay, baby. We are here now.” Clara said.

  Erick knew he had forgotten how his parents looked like at one point. Just remembering those awful memories made him want to hug his parents even longer. Christine was relieved to know he was okay.

  Erick was happy to see her too, but he was afraid she would ask about Harris. What could he possibly say? After all, it was his fault he was dead. She would never forgive him for that. He wasn’t going to be able to hide the truth forever, but he decided not to talk about it until he felt it was the right moment.

  Clara took a quick look at Erick for a few seconds. She realized he had changed drastically. He was a lot different. He looked more mature, taller, stronger, and tired. She hugged him again, realizing he had gone through a lot. She knew he must have been alone and lost all this time in the underworld.