by Amanda Churi
Eero blinked, baffled. He awkwardly glanced around before looking back to his mother for answers, but she was stiff and would not move, attuned to the oncoming stars. “Um… Mama… We need to go home… The moon is almost up.”
“But darkness…” Azuré said, her voice escaping her in a whimsical breath as she tilted her head back, embracing the eerie noises radiating from the foliage. “It is so beautiful… Pure.” She raised an eye to him, smirking. “The sun may give us power, but one is never to underestimate the influence of night… For us, it cannot even compare in terms of potency.”
Eero squinted uncomfortably. He tried to step away, but Azuré yanked him back. “No,” she growled. “You know what I speak of. You just made it clear.”
“M-Mama, you’re scaring me…”
She chuckled. “Oh, Eero, nothing really scares you; it only scares your vessel—just like nothing scares Azuré, but it terrifies Reina.”
“W-who’s Azuré?”
Azuré bent down, patting her son’s head. “Haha! Hilarious! As if you don’t know!” She turned back to the forest, her grin growing with the rising moon. “Feel that, Eero? The energy present at this time that empowers us? Empowers all things evil? The energy… From every source… Never created nor destroyed, but in one form or another, always flowing into our skin, awakening our mask.” She bunched her free hand into a fist, bringing it in close to her heart.
“The sun helps them grow and awaken. The food we eat. The bashes we take—energy passing to us however it can, most all trapped. And my dear mother Night, why, it’s the largest source of natural energy that we may ingest, for at night, Earth stands closest to Hell. Why do you think we don’t wander the outside world at night—touch the naturally dark sky? It would give us too much power; it would bring out our true selves before the time is right. It’s why I won’t let you wander beneath those stars—why rules must be imposed.”
“…Y-you won’t?” he stammered. “Mama, I don’t understa—”
She exploded into spontaneous, irate laughter, her blue eyes flashing gold as electrical currents flew from the roots of her hair to the frayed ends. Eero squealed horrifically, trying to pry his hand from his mother’s, but she would not loosen her iron grip. “Doesn’t it feel magical?! Amazing?! Oh, it’s been far too long since I felt this strong—this free!”
“What are you doing, Mom?! Stop it!”
“The end cannot be stopped!” She rounded on her son and dropped to a crouch, allowing their eyes to merge. “This world, Eero… It’s beautiful, but humans are unworthy to exist in it. Humans… They are the very image of famine, disgrace, and pain. And me… You… We will fix it—mother and son, old friends—yes, we will, along with our soldiers. But…” She sighed, her crazed eyes softening. “You’re much stronger than I am, and even with all of the shelter I have given you, your own demonic side is coming to, and it’s much too early, dear. I’m sorry… But I hope you understand what I’m about to do.”
She pressed her forehead to Eero’s, exhaling with longing. Eero went cross-eyed, his struggles gradually lessening. “But… Mama… I don’t understand…”
“One day, you will,” she mumbled, closing her eyes, “but hopefully not for a long time. For your safety, this has to be done. For my strength needed in the coming days, this has to be done. For justice… This has to be done.”
Azuré groaned, tensing her eyelids as she called upon the fledglings deep within her head. Immediately, those resting recognized their call to action, racing through her neurons and across the plates of her skull. They bolted as a mob toward her frontal lobes, cackling with excitement and snapping their teeth as they embarked on their mission.
Azuré’s forehead began to beam a gaudy gold. Eero’s body went rigid; she immediately threw her hands up and secured her grip on her son by squeezing his head at the ears, keeping his skull one with hers.
The aroma of foreign fledglings fueled the churning pit of need within Azuré’s neglected demons. As a wave, they broke free from her forehead and dived into Eero’s, plowing through the axons, dendrites, bone—anything that got in their way as they tore toward the subconscious. They smacked vital neurons along the way—even destroyed some, thwarting with his cognitive functions and purposefully impairing specific memories, allowing them to drop off and fall into the vast abyss that always lurked about the human soul.
Panting, they reached their goal—the strongest, impenetrable net of cells surrounding the human soul that shielded the core. The sight enraged Azuré’s grotesque demons, but such was not their target as they whipped their heads to those outside the cage. Imps and several other minute demons were wandering about aimlessly, having nothing purposeful to do with so little power other than mess with the helpless child.
The violent intrusion awakened their bored, condemned souls, shrieks of fright and uncertainty blaring when the foreigners charged. Azuré’s demons whisked up the puny fledglings one at a time before racing back to whence they came, stealing the power and influence they weld and giving such to their successor instead.
It only took seconds, but it was seconds that felt like hours as Azuré’s brain burned and tingled, her eyes struggling to open as she watched the life fade from her son’s eyes—watched his irises gray and legs lose the ability to stand.
Once the final demon had returned to her, his mind barren of all who had awoken, Eero collapsed in his mother’s arms. She gasped, holding his limp body tight against hers. She could hardly breathe as she kept him there for minutes, panting as her new inhabitants made themselves at home.
Winded, she shifted her flighty eyes back to her son, frowning and closing her eyes as she gently stroked the back of his unconscious head with long, glittering nails. She wished she hadn’t done that… Her struggle would only be harder now with an increased number of fledglings preying on her, but she refused to leave her son alone without making sure that he would not transform on his own and get himself killed.
And yet, she didn’t know how long she would be missing from his life—if it would be months or years. She didn’t have time; her escape from this world was about to begin, but somehow, she knew that she would have to get him other means of protection besides her army while she was away—without guidance, she could only imagine how many more would awaken and what they would do with the absence of a solid rock for him to lean on when things got tough.
But she had no choice. She was out of time and out of options. Now, she could only hope that what she did would be enough.
“I’m sorry…” she rasped, golden, glistening tears streaking her face as she cradled her dormant son. “I love you, Eero, no matter what you may come to think as you grow up, but I can’t let you complete the puzzle yet. It’s for your own good…
“…Because like you told me long ago: we have to destroy what Satan began, no matter the cost…”
One
The Gates
I can’t recall a time when I was truly happy…
Scratch that: once, and we see where that got me.
Stuck in this world for countless days would take its toll on anyone, and I was no exception. It doesn’t matter your rank; it doesn’t matter how much respect you get—because in the end, you are not a person. You are a slave. You are bound to the orders of Him, and anything that is not His will is not tolerated.
People think they know what Hell is like: eternal physical torture; injustice and chaos; smoldering pillars fueled by blood; seas of lava; islands of ash. They don’t know anything. You can never truly comprehend the concept, the horror of real Hell until you find yourself here, standing amongst the ranks of trillions of others supposedly like you. But they weren’t like me at all—and that was what made my experience the epitome of all hells.
The environment had changed drastically since my last memory born thousands of years back. The withered, blackened fields that used to stretch on to infinity were no more. Arid red clay no longer spun around my ankles; my skin no longer stung from
the robust fires that once infected the air, continuously burning away oxygen and wringing the lungs. Now, everything was dark and still—an overhang so thick that it took the role of fire and brought suffocation all on its own. Piles of rock, brimstone, and bone coated the parched soil beneath my bare feet, veins of neon blue ice winding through the cracks and freezing over what appeared to be the entire dimension. There were no zombified, broken damned within sight; bending, cackling shadows were the only beings in this literal hellhole. They were wispy, wheezing strands of smog escaping through the breaks in the frozen soil, dancing several strides beyond my current location in a compact circle. Even my sharp eyes could not see beyond their dense, smoky forms, their infectious, toxic fumes obscuring not only my sense of sight but smell too.
What a great place to come to, I silently complained. What sick angel destroyed the connecting portal?
Just thinking that cursed word created a knot in my head, steering my sight down to the woman who lay sprawled across the ground, unconscious. Her hair was no longer bleached, and her skin had transitioned from a flawless, luscious bronze to a beaten, pasty white. Three scars ran across her cheek, and one of a poisoned blue divided her arm, all while her entire body appeared to have shrunk—she did not even remotely resemble Maeve, but the scent she radiated was so enticing and pure, ringing uncountable bells and blossoming long-buried memories. So familiar, it was… So comforting and warm…
So traitorous.
The sound of claws on ice hit me, my solid body spinning in the direction of the encroaching presence. My ears shot out beside me, vibrating as they switched to high alert; Coruscus readied itself, my tail rising and waiting, poised at my side as my blade prepped for whatever lingered beyond my vision—the possibilities were endless given that I had dared to return.
The scuffling noise quickly changed direction, causing me to whirl around. A growl rose from my throat, the severity of my warning burning my trachea. The strings of black fumes surrounding me rippled back and forth; the veiled faces of the demons embedded within them were cracked wide with ravenous, excited smiles, but anchored to the ground, they could not approach, only protect those beyond.
“Show yourself!” I bellowed. “Trust me, I’ve never been more inclined to rip someone’s throat!”
“It would help if you were facing someone who had a throat to give you.”
The black wisps wailed, their swaying movements slowing before they fell like a curtain, retreating into the cracked soil and granting me a full panorama of just what I was about to deal with.
A bare mob of several hundred demons from every corner of lineage surrounded me. Some were angry, others passive, but certainly none looked trusting nor happy. Some breeds I recognized, and others I had never seen in all of my existence, but he who approached me was undoubtedly a classification that all needed to acknowledge if they wished to continue with their pathetic afterlives.
A male shi demon currently disguised as a human happened to be my fateful encounter. In his current form, he looked no different from those who dwelled upon Earth with the exception of one characteristic that could and would always mark those who loyally enforced His word: venomous purple eyes that swirled with rage, clashing with mine of a reborn, traitorous gold.
“You currently have a throat,” I noted righteously, pointing to him with a claw as I referenced his brown, fleshy skin.
The shi’s eyes narrowed. “Thousands of years gone, and that’s how you dare speak to me?”
I took a step forward, hissing as Coruscus irritably lashed beside me. “Thousands of years trapped, suffering, and you think I would care?”
The shi growled. “You’re still in the same mindset that you were in when you were executed, aren’t you?”
An imp from the crowd burst into uncontrollable laughter, referencing the woman behind me with the sharp tilt of a head. “Ha, obviously not! Look who he brought along! A few years late, maybe, but he got her!”
I folded my arms, huffing with satisfaction as I watched the shi’s eyes enlarge with surprise. “Think of it as compensation for my troubles.”
The shi said nothing for a moment, heatedly gaiting forward. He crouched beside her, running his hand across her cheek and leaning close, inhaling with thirst. After a deep intake, the shi pulled away, his nose twitching as he wiped it with the back of his hand. “She looks different.” That was all he said, and very flatly, might I add.
“I know,” I acknowledged. “But the soul… It smells identical, no?”
“There is an ever-so-slight variation.” He leered at me. “This is clearly not her in full. Are you holding back on us, Eero? Are you only offering up half of the woman so that you can have the best of both worlds?” He rose, spitting at my feet. “Narcissistic bastard. You can’t fool me.”
I snapped my fangs. Several bystanders shuffled back, but he did not sway. “For Satan’s sake, Korbu… I did what Reeve did not! I have obtained the woman and have clearly changed. Is that not obvious?”
“No, not at all.” Korbu raised his bony hand so that his open palm was turned on Maeve. He glared at me from the corner of his eye. “But I suppose that if your words are sincere, you won’t mind her immediate disposal, will you?”
“No,” I answered gruffly. “Do what you wish.”
Korbu huffed, flicking his wrist upward. “Smart choice. Shifts! Take Maeve to Him.”
From the tight crowd, four tall, buff, contorted demons with lanky arms that dragged across the ground came forth. Their faces were shriveled, young, and slick, similar to that of a newborn bird, but their body was coated in layers of blackened, skin-slicing bark. Black, rounded beaks jutted out from their face, their small, beady purple eyes flicking back and forth as they dropped down around Maeve’s limp body, covering each side of her. One by one, they swung their arms out, grabbing those of the shift directly across from them and locking their gnarly, rotten fingers together in an unbreakable hold. Shoots from their legs and sides burst from their skin as withered, slimy vines, whipping and cracking as they built a cage around Maeve, ensnaring her with the strength and magic of the Underworld until her unconscious body was held aloft by their countless appendages. As one, they rose, marching into the distance with their prey that had no hope of escaping.
I felt nothing as I watched her vanish into the gloom. I didn’t know how much my prize would be appreciated, but it was certainly my best bet if I ever wanted a chance at getting back on Satan’s good side.
Korbu came to stand beside my towering body, leaning close and looking on with me. “Don’t think that just by capturing a little wench you can escape your fate. I don’t even know how you got back here, but let me be the first to tell you that you are by no means welcome.”
Unintimidated, I glared down at him, taking note of his flabby muscles and long, shiny white hair. Maybe he chilled my skin long ago, but certainly no more—none of them did. My strength was at its prime, and theirs had dwindled to that of rodents. “What? Is it that tough being a shi without my weaponry to help you out?”
Korbu’s eyes shrank with hate. “Trust me, we’ve adapted.”
“I can see that. Look at your downgraded, pathetic form. Being the head of His army obviously isn’t a very hard title to hold onto anymore, is it?”
“Satan antichrist, Eero, look around!” Korbu shouted furiously, cracks racing across his skin as he threatened to change form. He threw his arms out, referencing those who stood among him. “Do you not see all of the breeds missing? Falkas, regs, lerials! Eradicated from these lands and captured by the writhing slime above that call themselves flesh and blood! Do you see fire or mounted heads? People hanging from the hells by their heels? Succubi and incubi bathing in painful seduction? No! It’s cold as Heaven down here, and it’s all because of you!”
If he was trying to faze me, he was failing miserably. “I’m not going to apologize for what my past-self thought to be right; all that I will do now is follow through with the orders I am given.”<
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“And who says that you will be given orders in the first place?!” a demon screamed from the crowd. “I certainly don’t want anything to do with your putrid face anymore!”
“Oh, I will be,” I assured them, “because it seems to me that right now, none of you have a snowball’s chance in Hell at fixing this mess.” I chuckled, unable to help myself. “Wait, that phrase doesn’t work anymore, does it? The snowball has a major advantage now.”
“You sadistic prick,” Korbu hissed. “You think that you still have influence in this realm, do you? Well, let me tell you something: you have long been replaced. A core has no home in coming here—only a death sentence!”
Korbu swung, and I swiftly dodged, able to calculate his strike without blinking. I snatched his wrist in mid-swing—flung him over my shoulder and threw him to the ground back-first, fracturing the ice around us. He grunted in outrage; his purple eyes flared, and his white teeth transitioned to a rotten black, preparing to have a second go.
I twisted his wrist with a sharp yank, refusing to stop until I heard the sharp snap of bone. He screamed, the frailty of his form no match for me nor my fledglings who had years to regain strength while the inhabitants of this world shriveled away.
Several demons took a step toward me, but one look at Coruscus’ snarling blade made them reconsider. Maybe my banishment was lifetimes ago, but I obviously had more than a lasting impression on their flawed selves.
Well, the demon who became the first core most certainly should have.
“Take me to Him,” I demanded.
Korbu winced, grinding his crumbling teeth. “What?”
“The fledglings failed,” I reminded him slyly, allowing my grin to grow and consume my face. “They are not pardoned, but aren’t I now? They did not beat Satan’s game; I did, and I deserve the reward instead.”
Korbu stuttered, flashing his eyes to his crippled wrist. “No,” he snarled. “No deal was made for you, just the fledglings. Watch! Give it a few more hours, and they will—!”
