The Pleasures of Hell

~~Day 97~~

~~Mia~

"Get out of my way, Lilith."

"No."

The rider came closer. Even without eyes, he stared at his wife, and Mia took a step back. The aura circulating from the man was harsh, a biting wind without air, and it cut into her like shards of searing hot ice in a storm. Each stab came with a message: fight.

She pushed it back, blocked it from her mind, but it screamed at her, as if offended she could do such a thing. It wasn't a demon aura, or an angel aura, or the aura of an unmarked. Maybe... a human's aura? Humans couldn't make auras, except for maybe the two skeletons standing in front of Mia.

"You know what future awaits us if the unmarked succeed," Cain said. "Are you prepared to live for the next billion years? And the billion after that? Can you stomach a trillion lifetimes with no end in sight? We are not angels, Lilith. We cannot be reborn as they, and yet even they succumb to the dread. When you stand at the edge of existence, when nothing is left in you but a shred of awareness, screaming for a death that cannot come, what will you do? We are not demons or angels. We are human."

There was a battle happening in the background, and Mia couldn't hear any of it. She could barely see any of it. Her eyes and ears were locked on the rider, what she could see of him past her friends, and Lilith and her flaming sword. Cain and Vin were similar -- they didn't talk much. Hearing the man speak this much left Mia's mouth hanging open.

The dread. That was what was inflicting the angels. He even used the same word.

"It is worth it!" Lilith yelled. "That was the plan! That was why we--"

"We made a mistake."

Lilith shook her head. "No, we did not. The dread will not take you, my love. And it will not take me."

"Yes. It will." Cain shook his head. "You never did have a mind for the future, my love."

Lilith took a step forward. "And you never could resist your bloodlust."

Cain met her step with one of his own, but the conversation was over. Whatever strange history these two had, it wasn't enough to stop them from coming at each other, and swinging their weapons. And from the way Lilith dodged to the side as Cain's two axes crashed down against the ground where she'd been, they'd fought before.

"I said go!" Lilith yelled over her shoulder. She kicked out at the rider, and the man teetered toward the edge of the ravine. Flame burst from his shoulders, ethereal, flowing through his aera armor, and his fire wings pushed him back onto the path.

Mia didn't get to see the rest. Kas scooped her up, and the group got on the move. She stared back at the married couple fighting on the ledge and tried to think of something to say, some question to ask, anything to get some answers. She had nothing.

Kas slid her along his shoulder, and she fit into the groove on his back between his spikes. One of the spikes was bleeding where it met flesh, and she did her damndest not to touch it, but the ride turned into a bouncy mess as Kas found a jogging pace. Ahead of her, Julisa ran with Azreal in her arms, and Romakus did the same with Cerberus over his good shoulder. Behind her, Vin kept pace, barely.

There was no getting around it. Everyone was fucked up, bleeding, injured, stabbed and broken and probably other things she couldn't think of. They had to get away. She could create a hiding spot for them, a cave, a wall, anything to net them some time so they could recover.

The path was a mess. It wasn't meant to be walked, only flown. And the aliens had turned her giant cut through Angel's Spine into a deep gash all the way to the bottom. A ravine overhead. A canyon below. And in some places, the walls had crumbled, forcing Mia and the crew to walk straight up against the ledge. The canyon was a hundred meters across in most places, and if anyone slipped and fell, they were fucked. It was a straight plummet to the bottom, and the awaiting darkness below.

Slowly, the distant sound of battle faded. What demons had been around had been summoned by the spire aura from before, and were now at the spire. What damned souls were around were probably all dead, or fighting to save their master from a few more bee stings. And the aliens weren't giving chase, distracted by Beelzebub. If she was right, Beelzebub playing music wouldn't summon the aliens, but Mia's would, if Hell joined her. But its presence had a musical essence to it, same as Mia's did, even if it couldn't play with Mother Hell. Maybe the aliens thought Beelzebub's presence was Mia, once they were in the chaos of the fight?

She checked back over a shoulder a million times, waiting for the rider to come jogging around a pile of rocks, or for hovering aliens to shoot her down, or even Beelzebub, shaking the ground and giving chase, tearing the ravine apart with its bulk. But none of that happened. The sound of battle faded until it was nothing but echoes in the distance, getting lost in the myriad of tunnels and caverns the ravine left exposed.

Mia reached for the invisible strings passing through her soul. They were there, and she plucked them gently. The vacuum silence brought by the aliens was distant, and the black eye within the ocean wouldn't spot her if she didn't play loud enough for Mother Hell to join in.

How quickly she started thinking of it, her, as Mother Hell.

Mia reached behind her and summoned a wall of rock behind Vin. Nothing big, but definitely an obstruction. They got further, and she plucked out a chunk of ground from under some rubble, starting a landslide that blocked off the path behind them some more. She did it six more times as they made ground before Vin finally fell to his knees on the narrow path. His tail dangled over the edge, and Mia sucked in a breath.

"Vin! V--"

"I am fine," he said. He got to his feet and resumed the march.

Romakus put up a hand. "We're not getting any further than this." He gestured ahead. "I think I see a tunnel that didn't collapse because of your stupidity, Mia."

She frowned back at him, but the demon was right. Most of the tunnels they'd passed had looked like cave-ins waiting to happen, but this one looked fine enough. Julisa led them in, and the moment they were inside, Mia summoned rock and blocked the tunnel off. And she did it four more times.

Inside the tunnel, amber veins lit the darkness. Unfortunately, tunnel turned into cave when they walked two minutes and met a wall. Just a boring, empty cave. Thank god.

"Mia," Julisa said. "You can sense the shape of Hell. Why did you pick this tunnel?"

"I didn't--fuck, give me a second." She climbed off Kas's back and reached out with her sixth sense. "The aliens were blocking me. But... I think I can find us a better tunnel."

"Tomorrow," Kas said. He wandered over to the closest and collapsed. Panting hard, he lay on his side more like a dog than his usual shark-dinosaur self would ever lay.

Julisa set Azreal down against the wall, sat beside him, and closed her eyes as she pressed on her wounds, hissing. Romakus did the same with Cerberus, and Mia got on her knees beside her hellhound.

"Cerberus," she said. "Cerb, I'm so sorry! I... I didn't have a choice. I didn't--"

"It's a hellhound," Romakus said, groaning. "It was happy to fight."

She frowned back at the asshole. The asshole frowned back. Okay, they could argue some other time.

"Vin?" she asked. "Are you--"

Vin limped over to a nearby wall, sat down, grabbed his ankle, and twisted. The loud pop sent a nauseating chill through Mia's body almost as bad as the alien screams. He fixed his two arms, too, and Mia had to look away. Whatever pain Vin felt, he bit it back as every muscle in his body flexed.

There was no way he'd set the bones perfectly, but close was good enough for demons. They'd heal, as long as they got more food.

Sighing, Mia gently combed Cerb's spikes. They were too big to really comb, so she brushed them with her whole arm and petted each of his heads. He was conscious, but barely.

"We need food," she said. "I'll--"

"We ate yesterday," Romakus said. "Just sit down and let us recover. We can eat later."

With another weary sigh, she looked to the demons and Azreal again. Broken limbs.

"Romakus," she said, got up, and walked over to him. "Your arm. It needs to be set."

Romakus glared at her. Julisa still had her arms working, and she came over, checked on her boss, grabbed his left arm, and gave it a few disgusting, gut-wrenching twists and yanks. Through it all, Romakus kept his voice bitten back, and spared some nasty glares for Mia every so often. But when Julisa did the same for his wing, the tetrad let out a snarl.

Mia didn't have to ask. Julisa sat beside Azreal and did the same for him, and Azreal didn't make a sound. Unconscious.

"Julisa," Mia said. "You sure--"

"I have set thousands of bones in my life. Usually mine." She slumped back against the wall and pressed on the dozen holes in her flesh.

"What about Cerberus? Can you... help him? Please?"

Groaning, Julisa slid over a few meters and looked down at the poor hellpup.

"I see no broken bones."

"You sure? He--"

"It will be fine." Julisa growled at her and went back to her spot. The tetrad shared a glance with Romakus, and the two shared a knowing sneer to join it.

Mia got up and glared at the two assholes. "What?" Okay, maybe they'd argue right now.

Romakus nodded his head toward her. "You did something without asking us for any better ideas. You nearly got us all killed."

"Are you fucking serious?" She dismissed her armor and weapon. Maybe a bad idea. She kinda wanted to beat some sense into them with her staff.

Julisa flicked her tail and pointed it at her. "Yes. You created the most chaos this province has seen since the Second War. You have made us the prime target of everyone within dozens of miles. Dobasi could have been our ally, and you ruined that with a split-second decision. Now Beelzebub is looking for you directly, as are the aliens, as is the rider. You--"

"I wasn't going to let James die! Or Adron! Or Faust and the boys. Or Livian! Remember her? Bolstara tetrad? You worked with her for how many years? The Damall?"

Julisa shook her head. "Livian knew the risks, unmarked. They all knew the risks."

"Not good enough. I had to save James."

"Even if it dooms us all?" Again, the fujara tetrad sneered, flicked her tail, and gestured to Romakus.

"It was a bad call," Romakus said. "You stirred the hornet's nest. You--"

"You aren't from the surface, Romakus! Stop referring to it like you are!" Mia stomped forward and glared at the bastard. Even with him sitting, they were basically eye-level. "Now, I made a choice with the limited options I had. I'm sorry I'm not my brother, but I came up with the best plan I could fast as I could! We were in the heart of Dobasi's territory, and there was no way he'd just let us walk away. I wasn't going to let an unmarked die, one we trust, one who's actually closer to False Gate than we are! And you may not care if your friends and comrades die, but I do."

Julisa shook her head. "Far more died today than them. If saving lives was--"

"It wasn't just about saving lives! It was about saving lives that are trying to help! It was about doing what needed to be done, so maybe, just fucking maybe, we can save the Great Tower. It was either lose some lives, or all of them!"

"Lies," Julisa said. "You ripped Angel's Spine apart because you can't stand the thought of losing Adron."

Mia glared hard. Just maybe, if she stared hard enough, she could boil Julisa's blood inside her body.

"I--"

A rumbling voice jumped in. "Mia is correct."

She spun and faced Vin, blinking. "What?"

The titan sighed, holding his wounds with his two working arms. Blood leaked out from between his fingers, and more than a few of his spikes looked broken, some ripped from the flesh and exposing blood circles around the spike's bone below. He'd heal eventually, and even regrow the spikes, but he took a full kick from one of those alien titans. His insides were probably a mess, but he talked anyway.

"You were right, Mia. These fools are too interested in chasing their own desires to understand what must be done." He gestured to Azreal, and blood dripped from his fingers. "The angel would defend your actions."

"Th... Thank you." Mia smiled softly at Vin, gave Julisa and Romakus and surly glare, sat down, and petted Cerberus some more. She shifted around, got his heads on her lap -- she couldn't fit all three -- and gently stroked the tops of his heads between his little horns.

Kas rumbled, but said nothing. Maybe he disagreed with Mia, too. Whatever he thought, he kept it to himself.

"At least," Romakus said, "we got some answers. Sort of."

Mia nodded. "Yeah, that's true. Lilith and Cain. And they had a plan, something they did, but now Cain's changed his mind about it. It... It sounded like he thought this was the only way to... die?"

"The rider," Vin said, "Cain, is immortal."

"I get that," she said, "but I hadn't really thought about it, you know? He's immortal, truly immortal, and--"

"And human," Romakus said.

Sighing, she nodded again, but her head grew heavier, and not because she was tired.

"I've read fiction," she said, "exploring the idea of humans who can't die. Who can't ever truly die. They always go insane. When I learned Vin had been in Zel's dungeon for centuries, I couldn't wrap my mind around it. That'd break any human mind into pieces, being locked up for that long. But Vin's fine. Fine enough." She spared him a quick grin. "But a human?"

Julisa leaned back and let her arms go limp. "He spoke of the dread affecting angels, but that he cannot be reborn like them."

"Yeah." Mia set her gaze on Azreal and watched. Now would be the perfect time to interrogate him about the 'dread' driving angels to suicide, but he didn't stir. "When first talking with Yosepha and Galon, and then Noah and Azreal, I'd gotten the impression angels were thousands of years old. But the math doesn't add up. It's not like angels die often, do they?"

"No," Vin said.

"Then they couldn't be getting born often, or Heaven would spill over with billions of them. So, maybe they're all getting reborn more than they realize? And maybe they're losing even more memories than they realize, too?" The idea made her nauseous, and she rubbed her naked arms, hugging herself. "Now I'm thinking maybe they're millions of years old, and have probably reborn themselves a bunch of times, trying to escape the 'dread'. And... And now we have some kind of clue about what that is, I guess, assuming what terrifies Cain is what's affecting the angels."

Julisa shrugged. "No demon has ever suffered this dread."

"Any demon live millions of years?" Mia asked. "Other than the Old Ones?"

"No."

"Right. I know you guys say demons are timeless, and angels say the same thing. That the wear and tear of time doesn't affect them. But... But maybe it does? Maybe not as fast as it affects humans, but maybe it does?" She looked around at the crew, waiting for someone to jump in. They didn't. She had to juggle the information herself, and she wasn't David. "From what Cain said, he's terrified of eternity. And I don't blame him. He thinks whatever he's doing is the only way to die, and--"

Julisa raised a hand, like a school student. Mia almost laughed.

"If Cain is looking to die," Julisa said, "why doesn't he hurl himself into the ravine? You've said before what happens to creatures that hit the black oblivion below."

"I was thinking about that earlier, too. I'm guessing when people hit the bottom, they don't leave the Great Tower. They kinda hit the outside of the Great Tower, shatter, die, and the Great Tower absorbs them back. That's what it looks like. But if Cain and Lilith are immortal, and they definitely are since you guys literally ripped off Cain's head and it didn't kill him, then maybe they'd just re-materialize? They pop up out of the ground, like fucking lava daisies. And they're skeletons! They're... They're really immortal."

Romakus rotated his bad shoulder, hissed at it like it'd struck him, even raised his good hand to attack it, but let it go.

"Cain is going to doom the entire Great Tower," he said, "and all of us along with it, because he wants to die?"

Sighing, Mia looked down at her pup and checked some of his wounds. The bleeding had stopped, but he was still a bloody mess. If she had bandages, it'd probably help, but she couldn't use her clothes; it'd just dissipate and return to her. The best she could do was make sure he rested peacefully.

"I guess he does," she said. "He must be terrified. You heard what he said. He'd become a madman, trapped in his body."

The demons stared at her, not really getting it. Maybe Azreal could explain it to them in a way they'd understand, if angels and demons were timeless in the same way. Humans couldn't handle eternity. They just couldn't.

"Lilith disagrees," Kas said.

Mia nodded. "Yeah. There's something going on there. And I'd love to ask her, but if Cain can basically teleport to her the same way she appeared today, Lilith will avoid us to keep her husband from finding me." She looked up at the ceiling of their little cave and the glowing amber veins running along the rocks. "I... I wonder. The angels say God left. Do you think... maybe things would be different if he were still around? He, they, it, whatever. I know the angels really miss him. I wonder if there's more going on here than just... him being gone?"

She waited for someone to answer. No one did.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

~~Day 94~~

~~David~~

He tapped his amber necklace, and the door to the spire room closed, black teeth meeting each other like a creature's bite.

Everyone groaned and collapsed onto the blanket pile in their room. Moriah and Tsila didn't normally join the demons so quickly, but they did this time, both dismissing their armor and collapsing onto their backs, wings spread. They took up a lot of room, and the demons gave them space.

Except the Las, who tossed their armor bits aside with glee, and once naked, climbed onto the awaiting wings, and buried their faces in the soft white feathers. Moriah groaned but didn't stop them. She fluttered her wings a few times, earning some giggles from the Las, and even a tiny smile from the angel she wiped away with her thumb.

The other demons got naked, too. David wore his potram rune again, the girls took off their armor, and everyone got comfortable on the giant pile of blankets. It was a guilty pleasure, watching the girls go full nude without a second thought, and he couldn't help but stare.

Daoka sat, legs apart, and Jes climbed in between them and lay back, head on Dao's stomach, giving Dao free rein to comb Jes's hair. It was a position they'd taken a million times before. Caera went full-on splat mode, flat out on her stomach, arms and legs down and out like a cat that'd collapsed forward and didn't bother getting back up; the pile of blankets kept her from hurting her tits, hopefully.

Laoko and Acelina were far more controlled. With finesse, they removed chunks of their armor, helped each other remove the harder straps, and the two huge ladies sat near each other. David did his best not to stare at their absurd curves, but he failed. And of course Laoko noticed and smiled at him in that subtle way she always did.

"So we leave," Laoko said.

"What?" he asked.

"The spire. Soon, we leave, and resume this dreadful journey."

David hadn't sat down yet, and he paced near Laoko's hooves at the edge of the blanket pile.

"It's not dreadful, is it?" he asked.

"We have nearly died, many times."

"Yeah, but... Well, okay, yeah it's pretty horrible. But I'm pretty damn fucking lucky to be going on this journey with you ladies." He gestured to the group.