The room was dark as a large mass slept on a velvet and silk bed. A large door began to slowly swing open as light beamed into the room in a thin line. The figure sleeping stirred as their canine ears twitched. The figure opened its eyes, a swirling mass of red and yellows creating amber spheres. The figure looked at the door with a faint growl as another figure walked into the room.
"My Lord, the Bezekira has been returned to the Heresy ring as you ordered," Focalor said, stepping into the light, revealing her blue hair and demonic wings. The figure on the bed growled louder as they sat up and stepped off the bed. Focalor remained calm as Mammon approached her, his claws extended, and fangs bared.
"You disturb me for such matters?" The lord of greed asked in anger.
"I am sorry, my lord, forgive me intrusion," Focalor said, her voice revealing a hint of fear.
"And what of the Human?" Mammon asked, stepping even closer to Focalor. Focalor could feel the heat of Mammon's breath and the unmistakable scent of alcohol emanating from his jaws.
"I have not checked on him since I returned." Focalor stuttered. With a quick motion, Focalor was on the floor with three scratch marks now bleeding from her cheek. Mammon stood above her with purple blood dripping from his claws.
"Then check on it, you useless Goetia!" He demanded as he licked the blood from his hand. Focalor quickly shot up and rushed out of the door, holding her wound with one hand. As she ran down the hall, she glanced behind her to see Mammon's glowing eyes watching her from the room as the door slowly shut. She ran into the entry hall, still holding her cheek as she stopped to catch her breath. She began hyperventilating as she stepped into the restroom. She slowed her breath as she looked in the mirror, seeing the new mark her master had left as she poked at it with her fingernail.
"He… He struck me," She said faintly, her face no longer stiff and neutral but in fear and disbelief. "Lord Mammon has never struck me before." She whispered as a single tear dropped from her right eye.
Back in the dark room, Mammon slumped back onto the bed as he snapped his fingers, and a glass of wine appeared on his bedside stand. He took the glass and chugged it before throwing the glass against the wall. Suddenly, a bright light appeared in the room. Mammon rolled his eyes with an annoyed sigh as Satharlier appeared from the light.
"Has your task been completed?" Sathariel asked as he glided to the floor.
"It is a process, you pest!" Mammon barked. Sathariel laughed as he looked at Mammon's disheveled state. "Why are you laughing? You were the one who granted him divinity down here!" Mammon barked again, his nose scrunching as his golden teeth were brought bare. Sathariel immediately stopped laughing as his insidious smile dropped.
"What did you say?" Sathariel asked, his wings stretching out slightly. Mammon smirked and began to chuckle, replacing the angel's amusement with his own.
"What didn't you know? That Human you sent here has a divine aura and instincts." Mammon mocked.
"That shouldn't be possible." Sathariel contemplated for a moment. "Unless…" He began to say before pausing.
"Unless what?" Mammon asked, his grin still ear to ear.
"It is none of your concern, Sin… just do your job and corrupt him," Sathariel said. The next second, Sathariel disappeared in a pillar of light, leaving Mammon alone in the dark room again.
Focalor quickly walked towards the other end of the mansion and towards a balcony that connected the mansion to the bridge that led to the tower. As she walked out into the air of the greed ring, she took a deep breath and jumped off the balcony as her wings opened, and she slowly glided to the cells under the bridge. As she approached, her face contorted in dread as she looked at the empty cells and broken quartz bars. She paused, looking at them for a moment before running her hands through her hair and screaming in complete despair.
"No no no!" She shouted, flying into the cell and picking up the broken bars in a panicked disbelief. "This can not be happening." She whispered as she fell to the floor of the cell. She placed her hands over her face as she rocked back and forth. "I… I have failed Lord Mammon." She said with a desperate cry as her eyes began to water. Her eyes, now red from the buildup of pressure, glanced over to where the bars of the cell had once been as she noticed small droplets of blood on them. She walked over slowly as her attitude shifted. Her hand brushed the wet blood as her face lit up, and she took a deep breath. "Still fresh." She said with a hint of relief. Her wings suddenly extended as she jumped out of the cell and flew to the top of the bridge, seeing more blood droplets. A smirk played on the edges of her lips as her eyes followed the trail of blood leading to the tower in front of her. "You won't keep me from my duty any longer." She whispered before taking off towards the tower.
The spire connected to the bridge was more like a pillar that connected the ground of greed to its ceiling. The only way in or out was through the bridge connected to Mammon's mansion. Theo's hand reached out for the tower's large door, placing his hand on a small symbol of balancing scales.
"What are you doing, Theo?" Meloch asked, watching Theo with intrigue.
"Not sure, but in movies, this looks like it would be some sort of button or something that would open these doors," Theo responded as he felt the symbol with his fingers.
"Well, yeah, but I meant, why are we entering the spire and not making a run for it?" Meloch asked.
"You said that Mammon was running out of money, right? If we can find proof of him being… well, poor, we might be able to use it against him." Theo replied.
"Yeah, if we can prove he isn't the wealthiest, then he won't be able to stay as the Sin of Greed." Meloch agreed.
"Wait, is that really how it works?" Theo asked, genuinely surprised.
"Yes, Greed specifically has to maintain his appearance, or he will lose his power, and someone else can take it for themselves. If we can spread the word…" Meloch said before pausing for a moment.
"Then we would both weaken him and paint a target on his back," Theo said, finishing Meloch's thought.
"Exactly," Meloch said excitedly. Theo looked at him with a grin, then turned the scale symbol upside down. A few moments later, he heard a click from inside the spire as misted air sprayed through the cracks of the large door. With a loud clang, the doors began to swing open. The sudden scent of rusted metal hit Theo in the face, nearly causing him to vomit.
"Fuckin hell." He said, covering his nose.
"Yeah, this place hasn't been opened in years. Only Lord Mammon is allowed in." Meloch responded by covering his own nose.
The two walked into the spire as the large doors closed behind them. Theo looked around, seeing golden coins stacked meters high, covered in a thick layer of dust, and large jewels lining the walls with a diamond staircase spiraling up for what looked like forever. He picked up one of the coins and brushed its dust off with his thumb.
"You'd think that the lord of Greed would treat his treasure better," Theo said.
"Well, normally Lord Greed would have servants to clean it," Meloch said, looking slightly puzzled at the disheveled state of the spire.
"But you said only Mammon was allowed to enter the spire," Theo said, turning to Meloch.
"That's a new rule, actually," Meloch said, then an even more puzzled look crossed his face. "Actually, normally there would be many more servants of greed around, but I can only recall Focalor and myself for a long time," Meloch said, holding his head in pain.
"Meloch, are you alright?" Theo said, rushing down to him.
"W-Why don't I remember anyone else. Well, I-I remember that there were others… but I can't see their faces or remember their names." Meloch said, still clenching his head.
"Hey, we need to focus and find a way to show how broke that bastard is," Theo said, helping Meloch to his feet. "Then we can uncover what that hound has been hiding."
"R-right," Meloch said, shaking his head and refocusing his vision. Theo walked over to the diamond staircase.
"So… Up or down?" Theo asked, leaning his head over the railing. The sight itself was disorienting, as he looked down and then back up, it was the same sight. A spiraling shiny staircase that stretched past his vision, with leveled bridges reaching out every few hundred feet.
"Well, Lord Mammon should be sleeping at this time, so you go down, and I'll go up," Meloch suggested.
"Not splitting up is like the one rule in these situations, Meloch," Theo said with a smirk.
"But if we don't find anything before Lord Mammon wakes up, then it won't matter if we are together or alone," Meloch responded with his own smirk.
"Fair," Theo replied. "Just don't get erased before we take that bastard down."
"Deal… or wait, not deal… I meant "agreed." Meloch stuttered. Theo chuckled and began walking down the steps of the spire as Meloch began walking up the stairs. Theo's boots thudded against the diamond steps as his legs shook slightly from the vertigo after his head dipped below the floor. His knuckles went white as he gripped the railing, and his breath hung with every step. He wasn't normally affected by heights, but this wasn't the fear of seeing the ground from multiple stories up, but was the fear of not seeing the ground at all. Like slowly walking down in an endless symmetrical ocean. He took a deep breath as his body relaxed slightly.
"I just need to find something that will show how broke Mammon is." Theo sighed. "Like what? I can't just see that he doesn't have money and act like that proves anything." Theo said, realizing the flaw in his plan. "Hey Meloch!" Theo yelled up the stairs, his voice echoing through the tower.
"What is it?" Meloch shouted back.
"How do we prove anything? We can't exactly take pictures of his lack of money." Theo asked.
"There should be an Abacus somewhere that shows the Sin of Greed's fortune. It is tied to the Sin and will give us all the proof we could ever need." Meloch explained.
"Perfect!" Theo shouted back. He took another breath as he walked down to the next floor. He looked around to see nothing of value. "So he really is this broke," Theo whispered, kicking a small bucket spilling out a single coin. He knelt down and picked up the coin, examining it, then placed it in his pocket. He got back on the stairs and kept walking deeper into the depths of the tower. Eventually, as the floors passed, the rooms began to get darker and darker, until he came to one that was nearly pitch black. As he stepped off the ladder, his head scanned the room until it finally locked on a small light being hidden behind a door. This door was the first one he had seen since entering the spire. "That looks promising."
Theo walked over to the door and tried to open it, but it didn't budge. He tugged on it and then pushed it, but nothing happened. Then his eyes locked onto a small slit in the door. He took the coin from his pocket and placed it in the slit as he heard the sound of gears turning from behind the door. It suddenly began to open, revealing a room lined with pure gold with furniture made of luxurious silks and platinum frames, but Theo's eyes weren't fixed on those things for very long as he froze, his eyes widened, and his heart raced. In front of him was Mammon, sitting peacefully on a reclined chair, reading a book.