Eternal

I might be in Hell, but at least the cake is pretty good.

When I fell asleep, I began to fall. The sensation was tingling, a tempest around me that I could just barely feel but easily sense was happening. When I opened my eyes, I saw that I was not in fact actually falling, but I was (in fact) stuck in a land of pure snowy ash, wind shaping the flakes into hills and valleys, though the sky glowed purple, the sun a hue of violet.

“Welcome to the first ring of Hell, Dur.” A voice spoke in the haze. I looked around. A table just in front of me seated a very familiar demons whom I had seen just a half hour before.

“Door?”

“Dur…mortal.” The demon grumbled. It sounded an awful lot like a door to me. I approached the demon nonetheless, sighing in frustration as I saw a closer look at the inhuman thing.

Izziiron, the Chain Devil that Alex had summoned. Great.

“Please, take a seat. I think we have many things to discuss.” The demon with the clinking voice invited. I took a seat, sitting down with a cloud of ash puffing up from under me. The food was entirely covered with the substance and I resisted making a face.

“Your name is Izziiron, right?” I asked finally. The demon’s glowing red eyes found me, widening at the mention of his name. The metal around him hissed in pleasant surprise.

“And you are Jynx, the Curse, the Dur, or the mortal that spied on a summoned conversation.” He responded softly in the silent surroundings. Somewhere in the distance, a soul screamed.

“Dur? What does that mean?”

“Curse. It’s draconic. I would speak in demonic, but that makes most sleeping mortals’ ears bleed.” He sighed, as if this was a conundrum that minor and couldn’t be helped. I gulped. Mentally, I screamed to wake up. The demon stared me down from the opposite end of the table. One of his snaked arrowheads slithered over a piece of cheese, spearing it and hissing quietly. Izziiron took the cheese off the head and ate it in little bites. His mouth was a collection of pointed metallic teeth that looked to rival dragons.

“That sounds terrible.”

“It really is…for them at least. For us demons, it’s natural. But to make your ears bleed is not the true reason I brought you here.”

“You took me to this ring of Hell?”

“The fourth, actually. Land of ashes, barren trees, and those souls who were too greedy in a first life. Souls would show up to this table to take food, but they’re too focused on a stash of glittering jewels that my fellow Chain Devil, Oort, is tormenting them with. Every scream is their hands grasping the coins and their fingers burning off.” He looked happy, almost smiling. I stared down at my table. Sick and twisted pleasure radiated off of him.

“Okay, so why did you bring me here?”

“To torment you, of course.”

“But I’m not dead.” I scoffed. The demon looked smug, as if he knew something that I didn’t know. One of his chains speared another piece of cheese for him to eat.

“Oh, not with death. That would be too easy. No, I am here to torment you with knowledge and with people, of course!” I paled at his words. More souls screamed in the distance. If I looked towards the sound, I swear I could at least see a dead forest of burnt tree husks standing off in a mist.

The violet sun watched on.

The demon reached out, lifting up a cover from a platter in the middle of the table. Underneath, a large cake. It was chocolate and untouched by the ash’s cruel fingers. The demon cut a slice, holding out a plate. “Here, have some! I made sure that it was kept under a platter.”

I took it, not wanting to refuse a ‘kind’ offer and invoke the wrath of a servant of Hell. Taking a knife, I wiped it off on the corner of my shirt and took a little bite off of the slice, looking at it intently. The demon had already started to dig in.

He looked at me curiously before making a shooing motion with his hand. “Go ahead and eat some. It’s not poisoned or anything. I might be a cruel demon, but I don’t ruin perfectly good cake with nasty poison. I have some decency and culinary skills, if nothing else.” The demon grumbled. Two of his chains rattled their links and swatted at each other until Izziiron calmed them down.

Why the actual Hell not have a piece?

I put it in my mouth, letting the savory flavors of sweet chocolate mix with a tang of lemon flood my tongue in a cacophony of senses. I groaned in pleasure.

“Lemon and chocolate…delicious.” I moaned in happiness. The demon chuckled.

“See? I told you it’s not bad! Feel free to have another piece. If we don’t finish this up, we’re just going to have to throw it to the gluttons on a table for them to never touch. All that food…just going to waste.” He shook his head. This Chain Devil might be in Hell…but he at least had a small sense of humanity in him.

I took another piece after finishing the first. Pointing the silver fork at him, I looked him in the glowing red eyes, doing my best to not be afraid. “So why did you bring me here?”

“Well, knowledge and people are the best tortures. Now that you’ve had a little cake, choose the first woe to endure.”

I thought for a moment.

“Knowledge.” I could handle knowledge, right?

“Great! What fun! So you heard Alexander and I talking, correct?” Izziiron asked. I nodded.

“You obviously live in the fourth ring of Hell, that other demon, a harpy named Liin, was Descended to the second ring from the seventh. Something about Annabelle never being able to Ascend. Purgatory is the first ring. About right?

Izziiron nodded. “Very smart, Dur. You are clever as a whip.” One of his chains cracked and hissed at that. “But besides that, I feel the need to enlighten you on some secrets about your fellow castlemates.” He grinned, his red eyes flashing in twisted glee.

Secrets?

“Like…what?” I questioned slowly.

“Who to start with…who to start with. I do love tearing lives apart, don’t you? No? Two entirely separate lives connected by one person that will rip them to shreds and use their bones to pick her teeth, what fun! Anyways…Blue. That curiosity of a girl. Perhaps not the most fantastic of a secret, but one that’s been eating her away nonetheless.”

“What’s wrong with Blue?” I demanded through gritted teeth, spearing a piece of cake angrily.

“Oh nothing! That girl can rhyme like no ones business! Thing is, she has a curse on her.”

I stopped breathing for a moment, just long enough to choke on the cake. I regained my breath, tilting my head out of curiosity. The ashen land seemed to grow duller.

“Curse?”

“Yes, Dur. She has a curse on her! Well, it’s on her family, really. Her uncle had it last. He was sooooooo close to breaking it to! I was actually rooting for him for a while! A local witch had put a curse on her family way-back-when after the grandpa refused to home the local witch during a bad storm. Oh man, that grandpa had the right idea! He knew that the witch was truly a demon and was doing anything to keep her out of his home. Instead, she put a curse on him that he would only be able to speak in poems and rhymes until he died. It would be passed on from generation to generation. Uncle Fex was the last one who had it before he died. The demon had manifested herself in someone in their village and Uncle Fex had finally figured out that who the demon was. Unfortunately, the demon killed him to avoid being killed herself. When the demon is killed, the curse breaks, so the curse was then passed on to Blue after the death of Fex.” Izziiron explained lazily, as if the topic bored him. My jaw nearly dropped to the earth in shock at what I heard.

“So this isn’t Blue being…different.” I responded. The demon shook his head, responding with a simple, “Nope!”

“You speak as if you know the demon personally.” I asked. The demon nodded.

“I used to play bets with her in this ring when she came to visit. You see, devils and demons such as I aren’t allowed to wander out into the mortal world unless summoned, like Alex had done. Once we’re released from a summons, we return to our assigned ring. In Hell, we can travel between rings for limited time. Say, I want to visit Liin in the second ring. I could go to the second ring, but I only have a day to do that before I’m sucked back to this ring. This demon, well, she would often come around to this ring and place bets on souls with me. It was all fun and well, I guess. She owes me money, though.” He mumbled. I laughed.

“You have money in Hell?”

“It’s just bobbles and trinkets, really. It’s the best we can do in a land of nothingness.”

“Okay, but what does this demon have to do with someone else I know?” I asked after a moment. Izziiron chuckled.

“The demon’s name is Lilith.”

“Okay…” I paused, thinking back to any knowledge I had of any Lilith demon I’ve heard of. I know that she’s supposed to be pretty powerful, very high up, and one of the original demons.

The Chain Devil across the table took another hefty slice of cake and started to nibble on the frosting. “Here’s a hint of her daughter: What’s a shorting name for Lilith?”

I paused a moment.

“Lil…Lin…Lily?”

The demon eyed me as I felt the heat rush out of my cheeks.

“Oh. No.” I gasped.

“Ruining lives and blowing minds since before life was created: Izziiron the Chain Devil. I have no business cards, but call me up sometime.” He waved his hands elaborately as the chains whispered and clinked together.

I gasped for air that was suddenly being choked out of my lungs. “No…No…Does she know? She used to be a Witcher! This is going to crush her!”

The demon rubbed his temples, as if I was giving him a headache. Good. He deserved it. “Of course the only daughter of one of the most powerful demons in all of Hell would know her parentage! Lilith wooed an unsuspecting mortal before crushing him under a mountain and gave birth four hundred years later to a baby girl with green eyes and a heart of brimstone and hellfire. What a lovely baby shower it was.”

“But…she’s a Witcher! Er…was!”

“And she’ll always be half-demon. You know…there is such thing as keeping secrets from people. She just chose to not tell anyone else of who her mother was. And besides, she doesn’t know everything, just that her mother was Hell born, not one of the full big shots here in the land down under the earth.” He shrugged. I felt like a million tons was on my shoulder. The taste of bitter grey flakes of the burned forest soured my tongue.

“So she knows her mother is from Hell and is Lilith, but not how huge of demon she actually is?” I cleared.

“For the millionth time…yes! Go ask her yourself if you want, not like she’ll tell you.” The demon grumbled. I sighed.

“And let me guess…this demon that put the curse on Blue’s family is the exact same Lilith?”

“There can be only one!”

“Great.” I grumbled. The cake felt heavy on my fork, so I set the silverware down, staring out into the distance. I swear I saw a familiar figure on the corners of my vision.

The demon munched away happily.

“Oh, and speaking of torture, here comes your second one.” The demon snapped his fingers and the violent sun and sky started to spin.

I closed my eyes and grabbed at my head to keep from the vertigo. When I opened my eyes to make sure it was all clear, we were in another scene entirely. We were in the remnants of a broken tower, the white marble faded to grey and the pillars laying broken around the dead grass. The innards of the castle were exposed completely, leaving everything bare. The roof was collapsed as were the walls. The demon walked with his chains sliding all over his body. He led me to a room.

Two eyes peeked out curiously. I knew those eyes.

“Annabelle?” I whispered.

“My name.” The soul appeared from her hiding spot. She was ethereal, see through, and looking thinner than ever. Her hair hung and floated about loosely. Every step she took, she sailed through the air. There was nothing holder her down.

But it was Annabelle. I was sure of it.

She came up to me. I tried to touch her, but my hand went through. The Chain Devil beckoned her towards him. She squeaked and squealed, panicking and biting her lip. I saw her eyes widen in fear.

“Come here, Sil.” He hissed. The soul of Annabelle stuck eternally in purgatory came closer out of fear. He reached out, grabbing her arm. I sucked in a breath, expecting it to go through the soul.

“Mortals pass through Sil, souls. Demons and other souls are the only things that don’t pass through them.” He let go of her arm. She crouched back, trying to hide without seeming like it.

“Jynx, don’t let Alex try to summon me back. It won’t work. His soul will just go to the ring of frauds, to the eighth ring. He’ll be damned more than he already is.” Annabelle pleaded desperately to me. I could almost imagine Alex’s heartbroken face when I told him the news. If I told him the news…

Could anyone know of this trip to Hell that I’ve made in my dreams. Would anyone believe me?

“Wait, Luna! How is she?” Annabelle called as the thought came to mind. I shook my head.

“She misses you so much. All she does is spend her time with Jack. We all miss you.” I whispered, a tear starting to come to my eye. I shook with sadness.

The world started to fade as I looked at the floor in sorrow. The Chain Devil howled with laughter as Annabelle backed away into the shadows, a lingering face of fear plastered over her.

“What a fun experience, but looks like time is up!” He hissed malevolently. “Thanks for playing along, but if you want another playdate you’ll have to summon me. I’m sure you’ll be able to ask Alex how to do it.” Izziiron cackled.

I clutched my stomach as I fell to the floor. My vision went dark, but I was still falling.

I opened my eyes as a steamy hiss sounded. Everything was black.

“Oh, and be sure to hi to Lilith for me. She’s coming to reclaim her daughter very soon and pay you all a visit. Tell her she owes me my money too. Ta ta, Dur.”

And then, I woke up. My eyes blinked open as I jerked awake. Austin’s arms clenched around me. Oh, I had forgotten we had fallen asleep. A book was on the ground, the one he had been reading earlier.

“Jynx, are you okay?” He asked curiously. I closed my eyes again, feeling the dizziness hit like a wave of bricks.

“I’m fine.” I grumbled. Was that dream real? It felt real. It felt too real.

“Do you need some food? It’s been a while since you ate.” Austin suggested, stroking my hair. I shook my head.

“I’m fine.” I dismissed easily. It was true. I wasn’t hungry.

For some reason, I still had the taste of chocolate and lemon on my tongue.

Notes

Hey everyone!

I'm super super super sorry that I haven't written for this story in months! It's not because I don't love this story (I really do!) it's just that i've been trying to get through some other ones first and finish those up so I could dedicate more time to this. Now that i'm out of school, I'll be sure to finish this story up and work on the sequel soon! I promise that it'll be up very soon!!!!! YAY!!!!

Oh and I want to dedicate this chapter to the contest winner BringMetheKellic because you've been super patient with me and have actually reminded me to bring my attention back to this story so thank you! I'll be sure to start working on the sequel soon as this story will quickly be finishing up!

Love you all! :)