Post by Bene Elohim on Feb 8, 2024 14:40:44 GMT -8
In a dark corner of a room, deep into the bowels of the Hell built in an out-of-the-way office building in Pennsylvania, Sathanas sat on a small round stool with his arms resting on his knees. He was shirtless with bloodstains on his chest, stomach, and the left side of his face.
Standing in front of him was a middle-aged man in his early forties. His salt and pepper hair was cut short and he had a pair of thin lens glasses perched on the tip of his nose. His hands were hard at work, cleaning the bullet wound that marred the left side of Sathanas’s face.
On the opposite side of the room, donned in a beautiful black and silver suit, stood the man who opposed Lord Lucifer in the Civil War that had torn families apart.
Lord Apollyon.
He watched in silence as the doctor worked on Anthony’s cheek and jaw, his eyes narrowed on the two men. He was waiting for Anthony to say something, anything about what happened, why he returned to Hell in this condition.
Valdemar’s impatience finally caught up with him. He pushed off the wall and began to pace the floor in front of where the doctor worked on the seated man.
Lord Apollyon: “What in the seven hells happened?”
Anthony Crawford: “Sears, Sariel, and either Kenyon or Maguire. That’s what happened”
Lord Apollyon: “Kenyon or Maguire? How can you be sure?”
Anthony Crawford: “I saw the Sears boy’s face. Sariel? I know how she fights. The woman is...dangerous.”
Lord Apollyon: “And the others?”
Anthony motioned to the doctor working on his face and growled.
Anthony Crawford: “It’s a bullet wound.”
The mere mention drew ire from the Lord of Hell. Valdemar sucked in a deep, annoyed breath and blew it out his nose. His eyes traveled to the hands working on his second-in-command’s face.
Lord Apollyon: “Guns… How Michael allows Kenyon and Maguire to carry is beyond me.”
Anthony Crawford: “You need to send a message to those two. Those that live by the sword…”
Valdemar’s lips curled into a cruel smirk as he gave the tiniest of nods, his mind already working on what that could actually be. ‘Those who live by the sword... die by the sword.’
It was time to fight fire with fire.
He looked up when Sathanas continued to speak.
Anthony Crawford: “...I was picking up Johnson from the house in Wyoming. As I was closing the doors of the van, an Angel came around the corner of the house. After I disposed of whoever it was, Sariel attacked me and we fought. After neutralizing Sariel, Sears came along… and there was a fourth with them. Masked, but I think I know who it was.”
A fourth? Was it one of the Angels or someone else? Valdemar scratched his chin in thought and shook his head.
Lord Apollyon: “You were not the only one…”
Anthony’s eyes shot up to the face of the older man, silently demanding an answer. Valdemar blew out a disgusted breath and filled him in.
Lord Apollyon: “Fifteen teams of my Demons have disappeared in the last ten days. Ruvik and Taylor just returned a few hours ago, reporting that four Angels, including Adachi and Kenyon, took out their whole team. Therefore...”
The doctor finally finished and stepped back. He gave Valdemar the faintest of nods, averting his eyes, and left without a word. Anthony grabbed one of the less bloodied rags from the table beside him and wiped the excess blood from his face, then he began to clean the blood from his chest and stomach.
Anthony Crawford: “...It was Maguire that did this. I thought so. The accent...”
Anthony growled, motioning with the hand holding the towel to his face as he stood and continued to clean himself off.
Anthony Crawford: “Something needs to be done about this.”
Valdemar gave him a firm nod.
Lord Apollyon: “I agree. Do you have something in mind?”
Anthony continued to wipe clean the red from his flesh, his eyes staring down at the floor as he contemplated the problem.
Anthony Crawford: “There was this idea Lucifer and I were working on in the beginning…”
Anthony began and tossed the towel back onto the table when he was done with his torso.
Anthony Crawford: “We knew we would need a contingency plan for when people got out of hand. A family member of those who we would take to become Demons and pay for their sins. Sooner or later, one of them would begin to make problems, and we knew we would need some way to keep them silent in the public.
Lucifer refused to simply take the family members who had done nothing warranting a stay in Hell. So I thought, what if we forced them to comply in other ways? Forced compliance through fear?”
Valdemar’s eyes narrowed on the young man as he spoke. Soon, his words began to click in his mind. He knew exactly what Anthony was talking about.
Lord Apollyon: “Leashes... You’re talking about Leashes.”
Anthony Crawford: “What?”
Lord Apollyon: “It was something Lucifer would do to people whom became problematic. He’d take someone they cared about to ensure their neutrality or cooperation. He called them Leashes.”
As Valdemar finished, one of the black and white-clad Demons walked in with his head bowed. He soon handed Anthony a black tank top before bowing once to Valdemar and leaving. Anthony slipped the top on, the tattoos still visible on his shoulders.
Lord Apollyon: “However… outside of Hell, Lucifer doesn’t have anyone.”
Anthony Crawford: “Who said anything about Lucifer?”
Anthony walked past his Lord and through the open door, causing Valdemar to turn and follow him out. The room opened up into what appeared to be a huge dormitory in the level between the cells of Hell and Lord Apollyon’s office. The pair walked through the halls, each of the Demons in the doorways of the rooms inclining their heads as they passed.
Anthony Crawford: “Those who serve him have people on the outside who are vulnerable. Jessica Matthews? Everalda? Gael? The Maguire children or her sister? Bethany Kenyon? Her pair of lovers? That Anderson girl would put pressure on that Maricela woman to convince West to talk Lucifer down.”
At the mention of Danielle Anderson, Valdemar’s eyes narrowed.
Anthony Crawford: “There are many options--”
Lord Apollyon: “We will not touch Miss Anderson.”
The tone in Valdemar’s voice said he wasn’t going to discuss the matter. However, after he pushed the button for the elevator, Anthony glanced at him with a lifted brow. He was expecting an explanation. The older man let out an exasperated sigh and massaged his temples.
Lord Apollyon: “You’ve done enough to her already, Sathanas.”
Anthony Crawford: “You are dangerously close to grievous territory.”
Anthony’s tone was one of warning. He knew that any talk of Markus Rael would lead directly into discussing Melissa Reed. They had an accord, a promise that Valdemar wasn’t thrilled to relive. It should have remained buried.
With the elevator’s ‘ding’, the doors opened for them. Valdemar stepped inside, but he placed a hand on Anthony’s chest and shoved him back. The two men stared into one another's eyes, but the Lord was the only one who spoke.
Lord Apollyon: “I am the Lord of Hell, Sathanas… It would be wise of you to remember this.”
Soon after, the doors closed. Valdemar stood alone in the elevator with his eyes narrowed. The audacity of his Right Hand irritated him, but alas, Sathanas was still necessary for the mission. When it was all over and the time was right, he would dispose of him.
Perhaps then his Lady would return to his side, but he had little faith in such a reality. Vanita was not going to accept the new plan… and he knew that.
The elevator’s ding captured his attention. When the doors opened to reveal his office, Valdemar found he wasn’t alone. At his desk, seated in the chair on the opposite side of his own was a man in his late-thirties with a fohawk cut.
Henry Ruvik.
Valdemar’s lips pursed into a thin line as he came around the desk and seated himself, folding his hands on the desktop. The man across from him looked from the desk up to his face and then back down again.
There was nothing special or unique about Henry. He had the average build of a man who was built for speed but had never attempted to do more with it. A contrast to his Right Hand who had trained himself to excel.
He also happened to be one of the men who had re-offended and captured the woman Valdemar called Mother for so long. Two months under constant torture in Hell had loosened the man’s tongue to the whereabouts of the two other men who had taken part in the gruesome things they had done to Maiko Adachi.
Two men who were currently in a cell within the bowels of the building, undergoing their own absolution.
Valdemar took a deep breath and let it out slowly.
Lord Apollyon: “Taylor informed me that while you two were on assignment, you were accosted by Maiko and Ashley.”
Henry Ruvik: “Yes, Sire.”
Lord Apollyon: “He also told me that when faced with the truth of who was behind the mask, you began to taunt Maiko.”
The color seemed to drain from Henry’s face as the realization of his actions was thrown back at him by the annoyed God.
Henry Ruvik: “I was just trying to throw her off her game, Sire.”
Lord Apollyon: “Is that so?”
Henry Ruvik: “Y-yes, Sire.”
A thoughtful look befell Valdemar’s expression before he narrowed his dark brown eyes.
Lord Apollyon: “You know what happens if you re-offend... don’t you?”
Henry Ruvik: “...Yes, Sire….”
Lord Apollyon: “Keep that in mind the next time you see Maiko Adachi. Now get out of my sight.”
Without another word, Henry rose from the chair and bowed low at the waist before turning and heading for the elevator to Hell. Valdemar brought his hands up to his chin and rested it on his fingertips as he turned his mind to the leashes and who would best serve his purposes.
He knew on some level he didn’t need to be concerned about Ruvik. Even if he did re-offend, he would get his just desserts. Either from him... or if she found him first, from Ashley Kenyon.
Standing in front of him was a middle-aged man in his early forties. His salt and pepper hair was cut short and he had a pair of thin lens glasses perched on the tip of his nose. His hands were hard at work, cleaning the bullet wound that marred the left side of Sathanas’s face.
On the opposite side of the room, donned in a beautiful black and silver suit, stood the man who opposed Lord Lucifer in the Civil War that had torn families apart.
Lord Apollyon.
He watched in silence as the doctor worked on Anthony’s cheek and jaw, his eyes narrowed on the two men. He was waiting for Anthony to say something, anything about what happened, why he returned to Hell in this condition.
Valdemar’s impatience finally caught up with him. He pushed off the wall and began to pace the floor in front of where the doctor worked on the seated man.
Lord Apollyon: “What in the seven hells happened?”
Anthony Crawford: “Sears, Sariel, and either Kenyon or Maguire. That’s what happened”
Lord Apollyon: “Kenyon or Maguire? How can you be sure?”
Anthony Crawford: “I saw the Sears boy’s face. Sariel? I know how she fights. The woman is...dangerous.”
Lord Apollyon: “And the others?”
Anthony motioned to the doctor working on his face and growled.
Anthony Crawford: “It’s a bullet wound.”
The mere mention drew ire from the Lord of Hell. Valdemar sucked in a deep, annoyed breath and blew it out his nose. His eyes traveled to the hands working on his second-in-command’s face.
Lord Apollyon: “Guns… How Michael allows Kenyon and Maguire to carry is beyond me.”
Anthony Crawford: “You need to send a message to those two. Those that live by the sword…”
Valdemar’s lips curled into a cruel smirk as he gave the tiniest of nods, his mind already working on what that could actually be. ‘Those who live by the sword... die by the sword.’
It was time to fight fire with fire.
He looked up when Sathanas continued to speak.
Anthony Crawford: “...I was picking up Johnson from the house in Wyoming. As I was closing the doors of the van, an Angel came around the corner of the house. After I disposed of whoever it was, Sariel attacked me and we fought. After neutralizing Sariel, Sears came along… and there was a fourth with them. Masked, but I think I know who it was.”
A fourth? Was it one of the Angels or someone else? Valdemar scratched his chin in thought and shook his head.
Lord Apollyon: “You were not the only one…”
Anthony’s eyes shot up to the face of the older man, silently demanding an answer. Valdemar blew out a disgusted breath and filled him in.
Lord Apollyon: “Fifteen teams of my Demons have disappeared in the last ten days. Ruvik and Taylor just returned a few hours ago, reporting that four Angels, including Adachi and Kenyon, took out their whole team. Therefore...”
The doctor finally finished and stepped back. He gave Valdemar the faintest of nods, averting his eyes, and left without a word. Anthony grabbed one of the less bloodied rags from the table beside him and wiped the excess blood from his face, then he began to clean the blood from his chest and stomach.
Anthony Crawford: “...It was Maguire that did this. I thought so. The accent...”
Anthony growled, motioning with the hand holding the towel to his face as he stood and continued to clean himself off.
Anthony Crawford: “Something needs to be done about this.”
Valdemar gave him a firm nod.
Lord Apollyon: “I agree. Do you have something in mind?”
Anthony continued to wipe clean the red from his flesh, his eyes staring down at the floor as he contemplated the problem.
Anthony Crawford: “There was this idea Lucifer and I were working on in the beginning…”
Anthony began and tossed the towel back onto the table when he was done with his torso.
Anthony Crawford: “We knew we would need a contingency plan for when people got out of hand. A family member of those who we would take to become Demons and pay for their sins. Sooner or later, one of them would begin to make problems, and we knew we would need some way to keep them silent in the public.
Lucifer refused to simply take the family members who had done nothing warranting a stay in Hell. So I thought, what if we forced them to comply in other ways? Forced compliance through fear?”
Valdemar’s eyes narrowed on the young man as he spoke. Soon, his words began to click in his mind. He knew exactly what Anthony was talking about.
Lord Apollyon: “Leashes... You’re talking about Leashes.”
Anthony Crawford: “What?”
Lord Apollyon: “It was something Lucifer would do to people whom became problematic. He’d take someone they cared about to ensure their neutrality or cooperation. He called them Leashes.”
As Valdemar finished, one of the black and white-clad Demons walked in with his head bowed. He soon handed Anthony a black tank top before bowing once to Valdemar and leaving. Anthony slipped the top on, the tattoos still visible on his shoulders.
Lord Apollyon: “However… outside of Hell, Lucifer doesn’t have anyone.”
Anthony Crawford: “Who said anything about Lucifer?”
Anthony walked past his Lord and through the open door, causing Valdemar to turn and follow him out. The room opened up into what appeared to be a huge dormitory in the level between the cells of Hell and Lord Apollyon’s office. The pair walked through the halls, each of the Demons in the doorways of the rooms inclining their heads as they passed.
Anthony Crawford: “Those who serve him have people on the outside who are vulnerable. Jessica Matthews? Everalda? Gael? The Maguire children or her sister? Bethany Kenyon? Her pair of lovers? That Anderson girl would put pressure on that Maricela woman to convince West to talk Lucifer down.”
At the mention of Danielle Anderson, Valdemar’s eyes narrowed.
Anthony Crawford: “There are many options--”
Lord Apollyon: “We will not touch Miss Anderson.”
The tone in Valdemar’s voice said he wasn’t going to discuss the matter. However, after he pushed the button for the elevator, Anthony glanced at him with a lifted brow. He was expecting an explanation. The older man let out an exasperated sigh and massaged his temples.
Lord Apollyon: “You’ve done enough to her already, Sathanas.”
Anthony Crawford: “You are dangerously close to grievous territory.”
Anthony’s tone was one of warning. He knew that any talk of Markus Rael would lead directly into discussing Melissa Reed. They had an accord, a promise that Valdemar wasn’t thrilled to relive. It should have remained buried.
With the elevator’s ‘ding’, the doors opened for them. Valdemar stepped inside, but he placed a hand on Anthony’s chest and shoved him back. The two men stared into one another's eyes, but the Lord was the only one who spoke.
Lord Apollyon: “I am the Lord of Hell, Sathanas… It would be wise of you to remember this.”
Soon after, the doors closed. Valdemar stood alone in the elevator with his eyes narrowed. The audacity of his Right Hand irritated him, but alas, Sathanas was still necessary for the mission. When it was all over and the time was right, he would dispose of him.
Perhaps then his Lady would return to his side, but he had little faith in such a reality. Vanita was not going to accept the new plan… and he knew that.
‘Yet I promised her no more secrets…’
The elevator’s ding captured his attention. When the doors opened to reveal his office, Valdemar found he wasn’t alone. At his desk, seated in the chair on the opposite side of his own was a man in his late-thirties with a fohawk cut.
Henry Ruvik.
Valdemar’s lips pursed into a thin line as he came around the desk and seated himself, folding his hands on the desktop. The man across from him looked from the desk up to his face and then back down again.
There was nothing special or unique about Henry. He had the average build of a man who was built for speed but had never attempted to do more with it. A contrast to his Right Hand who had trained himself to excel.
He also happened to be one of the men who had re-offended and captured the woman Valdemar called Mother for so long. Two months under constant torture in Hell had loosened the man’s tongue to the whereabouts of the two other men who had taken part in the gruesome things they had done to Maiko Adachi.
Two men who were currently in a cell within the bowels of the building, undergoing their own absolution.
Valdemar took a deep breath and let it out slowly.
Lord Apollyon: “Taylor informed me that while you two were on assignment, you were accosted by Maiko and Ashley.”
Henry Ruvik: “Yes, Sire.”
Lord Apollyon: “He also told me that when faced with the truth of who was behind the mask, you began to taunt Maiko.”
The color seemed to drain from Henry’s face as the realization of his actions was thrown back at him by the annoyed God.
Henry Ruvik: “I was just trying to throw her off her game, Sire.”
Lord Apollyon: “Is that so?”
Henry Ruvik: “Y-yes, Sire.”
A thoughtful look befell Valdemar’s expression before he narrowed his dark brown eyes.
Lord Apollyon: “You know what happens if you re-offend... don’t you?”
Henry Ruvik: “...Yes, Sire….”
Lord Apollyon: “Keep that in mind the next time you see Maiko Adachi. Now get out of my sight.”
Without another word, Henry rose from the chair and bowed low at the waist before turning and heading for the elevator to Hell. Valdemar brought his hands up to his chin and rested it on his fingertips as he turned his mind to the leashes and who would best serve his purposes.
He knew on some level he didn’t need to be concerned about Ruvik. Even if he did re-offend, he would get his just desserts. Either from him... or if she found him first, from Ashley Kenyon.
