"And so it begins…"
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Those seven words shook the cores of Hell's foreign inhabitants. Striking each of them still and speechless.
"A new hell lord has been born."
Kahal's face paled. His eyes scrambled around the second circle, in hopes that Aaliyah's physical body was at least still present, and somehow it was.
The wildfire that surrounded the burning tree had cooled, revealing another cocoon preserving Aaliyah's body.
'D… dammit'
Lieutenant Sidra, who was clutching her abdomen had strained torn muscles to prop herself up, using what little strength she had to form a single thought.
'Damn it all… what's going to happen now?'
In the silent moment, everyone seemed to have been wondering the same thing. A new hell lord? Could that strange voice have been referring to Aaliyah?
Based on everything that had happened until now, it made sense. After all, no one really knew what would happen to the captives of Hell's circles once they've been assimilated…
So far, most of the information provided to them by Kahal had been just a guess from his time spend in the treacherous world of Hell.
And as though confirming their suspicions, what happened next would fill Selene's heart with unbearable dread.
The ground beneath them seemed to shake violently. And before their eyes, the landscape of Hell's second circle began to change right before their eyes once more.
The land of flowers rotted one by one, turning into black blossoms, The sky was filled with the smoke from the burning tree.
In the next second, something none of Hell's foreign inhabitants could perceive had sent a shiver crawling up their spines. Something that made each of them groan in utter agony, as though their minds were breaking all at once.
This uncomfortable feeling went on only for a few seconds, until the ground stopped shaking completely. With tired eyes, Jason felt the air next to him change as he heard the flowers beneath him crumple.
His hand instinctively rested at the hilt of his katana, Jason twisted his body and swiftly swiped his blade across the air, blood splattered on his cheeks.
'I didn't feel it Connect'
Looking down, he noticed that his own hand had been completely severed. Blood splashing wildly.
'The hell?!'
Letting out an agonized broken shout, Jason fell to his knees. Selene who was kneeling just before the burning tree, couldn't even turn her head before feeling a cold hand wrap around her neck.
Selene strained her red streaked eyes as much as she could, until she could finally make out the appearance of whomever had their cold hand around their neck.
It was an extremely pale skinned woman, with black tunics on her towering figure. Intricate black tattoos were adorned along her skin, and the heels that seemed infused into her feet made her seem taller than she actually was.
Looking into her darkish yellow eyes, Selene's heart sink even further than it already was. Despite her assimilated appearance, she could tell exactly who the new hell lord was.
Selene's voice came out in a choked shrivel.
"Ma…"
The demoness glanced down at Selene, but then slowly set her sights back onto the cocoon. After a tense moment of silence, she spoke.
"For some reason unknown to me, I feel as though there's something binding my curiosity toward this woman… can any of you tell me why that is?"
Her words seemed to have paralyzed Hell's foreign inhabitants in unparalleled fear. Their still figures trembled violently, their mouthed clamped shut.
The demoness's face remained still and patient, though her grip slowly tightened around selene's neck. followed by a tingling sensation at her fingertips, that were followed by pink blossoms sprouting along Selene's neck.
"I asked you all a question… I'd like an answer."
Hearing Selene's pained yelps, Kahal forced himself to his knees and flew like a blur through the heavy air.
But before he could reach the demoness, their eyes briefly met. And suddenly, everyone felt a heavy pressure slam right into them. Knocking them all away, and through a crimson gateway.
Finding themselves back inside the cold room of Hell's catacombs.
Once she ridded Hell's second circle of all its pests, she lifted Selene up a few inches off the ground. Silently inspecting her now slumbering form.
And with an indifferent sigh, she walked off.
***
During the final moments before Aaliyah's assimilation was complete, the remaining six Hell lords had gathered around in a dark room.
The only source of light being small torches perched against eight pillars that surrounded the circular stone platform.
At its center there was a chair made up of bones and skulls belonging to giant animals, where Hell's Queen Azura sat cross legged, her chin propped up against her fist, as she tapped her knees.
With a dull expression, she stared blankly around the room at the six of her children. Indifferent to the violent tremors reaching out from Hell's second circle.
After a moment of oddly comfortable silence, her voice echoed across the room.
"Your sister has almost completed the assimilation process. Despite being the weakest of the bunch, she's managed to capture and assimilate her target, so what are your excuses?"
The six stood still in their silence, which only seemed to irritate their queen further. Suddenly, she tapped her foot once, in the next moment a small shockwave sprung out through the room. Cracking the walls and pillars.
"I am beginning to wonder as to why I ever gave birth to such defective failures to begin with."
Hearing her words, Ikari and Tengu specifically seemed to have had their nerves stricken. The sight of Tengu's vein protruding his forehead seemed to calm her silent anger.
With a faint smirk, she tilted her head and said:
"Please do not be upset, Tengu. It only enrages me when you all fail because I want to see you succeed. Is it so wrong for a mother to want what's best for her children?"
Tengu simply closed his eyes for a moment, and then opened them after the sound of echoing footsteps descended.
Raising her head, Azura glanced over her shoulder and saw Aphira, though there was something different about her appearance.
Her once thick skin was now resembling that of a human, and the lust insignia that once resided on her cleavage was now bright pink.
The woman called out. Her voice tinged with ecstasy.
"Mother! I've done it! The assimilation is complete!"
The corners of Azura's lips curled up. Gesturing with her finger, she said:
"This is why I favor you compared to your siblings, Aphira… you do whatever it takes to make your mother proud."
Aphira stood next to her mother. The tense silence filled the room for a few more moments, only to be interrupted once more by another violent tremor that shook the planet.
In front of Azura, a giant bud grew from the stone platform. From its center, a crimson cocoon blossomed with it. Containing a foreign yet familiar figure within it.
Slowly, the cocoon began to unravel until it revealed a woman who stepped down. Her bare feet rested on the cold platform, and her balance unsteady.
As she took her first few steps toward Azura, her balance steadied. And a thin black fabric of clothing began forming around her body, and the shape heels infused into her feet.
Once she stopped in her tracks, her darkish yellow eyes met azura's. And with a satisfied expression, Azura's next words seemed to sound across all seven circles of Hell.
"A new hell lord has been born."
***
Eris gritted her teeth. Her slitted, hostile eyes gazed at the back of the new demoness.
"Your scriptures described the assimilation process as something to empower us. Not to create these failed attempts at recreating us!"
Hearing her daughter's words, Azura fell silent. And her silence seemed to have given Eris suffocating feeling of instant regret once those words left her mouth.
Azura slowly turned her head, and looked over her shoulder. Casting a blank glare right into Eris's slitted eyes.
Avarus, who stood left of Eris, dropped to both knees and said in a pathetic tone:
"She's sorry, mother! She didn't mean any of those words!"
But his pleas were met with silence. Azura's eyes peered through the dark space, noticing that each of her children's insignias were now burning brighter.
"Pride, greed, lust, envy, gluttony, wrath, sloth"
This sight, as well as Eris's words seemed to have ignited a hint of controlled rage that burned inside Azura's chest. But with a deep breath, she spoke indifferently.
"As you all know, you're in an early stage of life in which you aren't fully conscious. And the point of assimilation is to graduate you all into adulthood, and give each of you a sense of consciousness."
Then, her gaze fell onto Tengu specifically. The sight of the pride insignia on his forehead seemed to bother her even more. Grinding her teeth, she continued.
"But make no mistake, even as you all reach adulthood, your power will never be on the level of mine. And as you all develop your own consciousness… your motives may oppose those of my own. And I do not intend to sit idle and let you all have your way."
Taking a few steps until she stood behind Aphira, Azura ran her fingers through her daughter's silky hair. Taking in its pleasant scent.
"The second point in the assimilation, is to create more Hell lords. As you all may know, over one thousand years ago… at the end of the war, spirit king Kesean prophesied an inevitable second blood war…"
"We lost the first war, due to your father's weakness. And all of you's having not understood the true scope of your powers and potential."
Stepping forward, hands in pockets, Tengu stood tall. With his usual blank expression as he spoke.
"I trust that you haven't forgotten that we were on the winning side of the war, until you made the foolish decision in sharing your power with Kahal."
A hint of a smile appeared on Azura's face. One that seemed to unsettle Aphira slightly, as she felt Azura's grip on her hair tighten.
"And, boy?… your point?"
A brief moment of silent eye contact between them passed before Tengu opened his mouth again.
"You may be able to fool Aphira, but it's clear to the rest of us why you did that. To get our father out of the picture perhaps?"
Azura's smile remained.
"…"
The shadows casts by the torches on each pillar in the room danced across Tengu's patched face. Making the darkness in his eyes more unsettling, yet intense.
"I don't know what your goals are, beyond getting our father out of the picture. But I hope you are aware, that we won't allow you to use us as pawns."
Azura was silent for a moment, her smiling lips separated as she threw her head back. Her sudden laughter echoed throughout the room.
Aphira jumped slightly, and stepped back a few feet. Unsettled by the sincerity in her mother's laughter.
Once her laughter stopped, Azura sat back down in her chair. Legs crossed, as she looked up at her eldest child, and said with delight:
"Boy, you never fail to give me a good laugh. You and your pride… then again, you never were one to heed your own advice."
"Careful… judgement being clouded by pride could lead to your perception of what's fact and false causing your downfall."
She recited in a mocking tone of voice. Letting out another short laugh, before leaning back and eyeing down her eldest born son.
"While I do have no intention of telling you my goals, aside from killing Kahal… I will tell you this, a final piece of advice as your mother…"
The room fell silent, though everyone listened intently and with an uncomfortable sense of unease.
"It's not wise to oppose your mother… as one saying goes, honor thy mother and father."
As she had her final say, she stood up and walked toward a stone carving, shrouded in a shadowed section of the room.
The carving was an intricate, yet detailed illustration of seven dead children whose lifeless bodies were scattered around their mother, who's tears stained the cold cheeks of the child whom she had been cradling in her arms.
That one child's face wasn't one of fear of death or sadness, but rather one of bittersweet emotions in the moment.
Running her fingers along the stone carving, Azura suddenly began singing what sounded like a lullaby, in a soft yet unsettling voice.
"…rest now little darling, everything'll be alright… mama's gonna sing in the stillness of the night…"
And as though in response to her siren song, the torches on the pillars flickered. And shut off…
Casting the room into infinite darkness.
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Continued in chapter 119: Tense when I'm tired
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