In the Archives, Kronos looked up suddenly from the report he'd
filed. Estrokin, one of his Balseraphim, had gone Renegade and Kronos had
been forced to file charges with the Game for assistance. ~Asmodeus is a
decent enough fellow, I suppose, but that stare of his is most
unnerving.~ Kronos had a sneaking suspicion that Estrokin might be
approaching his Destiny, which is why he had assigned a Shedite and a
Lilim who owed him a favor to track and destroy him if possible.
Unfortunately, that Shedite and Lilim were Fated to encounter some
Servitors of War in a truly foul mood. It was something about one of
Valefor's Servitors stealing a sword on loan from Michael himself and the
Shedite and Lilim just happened to be the first available targets. The
Lilim had managed to fast-talk her way to safety, seeing a Need to kill
her in the eyes of her assailants and warning them that if she were
killed, her killer would owe her one. She was allowed to scurry off, her
debt to Kronos paid after she reported some Servitors of Destiny lurking
around near Estrokin's last-known location. The Shedite...well....let's
just say that its component atoms had been scattered across all Creation,
an object lesson in why one does not tangle with the Servitors of War in
a bad mood. As Kronos contemplated the Fate that awaited his Renegade
servant, there was a soft chime and an overwhelming brilliance that
flooded the room. A quiet voice said "Come to the great plaza in
Shal-Mari at once." There was no mistaking the force in that quiet voice
for anything other than that of Lucifer, the Shining One. Kronos dropped
his report and left for Shal-Mari at once.
In the plaza of Shal-Mari, Kronos was greeted by the sight of all of
Hell's Princes and two Princesses, milling about aimlessly. Nybbas,
Lilith, and Andrealphus were conversing in a corner. Furfur was trashing
a card shop just off the plaza, for no particular reason, and Mammon was
quickly scooping up anything that emerged from the destroyed shop.
Saminga and Belial looked bored, Asmodeus was managing the typical Djinn
disinterest, Haagenti was busy demolishing a few sets of prime ribs, and
Fleurity was smoking some foul-smelling herb with a blissful look on his
face. Alaemon was wrapped in a dark cloak off to the side, speaking with
a non-responsive Beleth, trying to cajole her into a deal of some sorts:
his secrets on some of her valued Servitors in exchange for secrets
revealed in the nightmares of some prominent people on Earth. Valefor was
showing Vapula something he'd stolen from one of his Servitors, some sort
of ticking gizmo originally swiped from a laboratory under the watch of
Jean's Servitors. Vapula seemed interested. As Kronos alighted, Kobal was
finishing some sly comment that got Malphas into a snit. Baal was
surveying everything with cool disdain. There were lesser demons lurking
all over the place, curious to see what had caused all of Hell's Royalty
to assemble in one spot. They hadn't long to wait.
A few moments after Kronos arrived, a brilliant light began to shine
above the gathered demons. Intense awe and fear swept the assemblage. As
one, the Royalty of Hell and the lesser demons knelt before their Lord
and Master: Lucifer, the Lightbringer and Prince of Darkness, as
contradictory as those two titles might sound. The Shining One took in
the obesiance for a long moment, remaining above the throng, then he
raised a bat-like wing to indicate that the demons could stand. The
Balseraph in his glowing aura looked down on his gathered throng and
smiled slyly behind his glow. "Well My followers, today we shall bear
witness to a most amusing diversion I have devised. I have decided that
since we fight over mortals so often, today we shall employ a mortal to
select the agent for my next plan. Your obedience with the mortal's
decisions is compulsory. You will be required to prove why your Band and
your Word should be selected by this mortal, whom I have pre-selected.
Servitors of Lust and Fate are bringing him to Hell now." At the
astonished looks on the faces of Kronos and Andrealphus, Lucifer laughed
coldly. "Never forget who truly rules Hell, Servitors. At any rate, the
mortal will be here soon. I've arranged for a demonstration of all the
Bands, then he will be brought before each of you. After you have tried
your best attempts, he will judge and that will be the end of it. That is
all." Lucifer disappeared in a bright burst of light, leaving his demons
and their Princes to dazedly carry out their orders.
Gerald Finkel had never had much success in life. The son of a
blue-collar factory worker and a waitress, Gerald had grown up with his
two brothers and three sisters in near-poverty conditions in the poorer
section of Philadelphia. His dad had been laid off after thirty years of
hard work when his company went high-tech, so the kids got shuttled about
to various relatives. His grades in high school were barely adequate to
get into a trade school and take up auto mechanics as a career. He'd been
stuck in that lousy job for twenty years, and had never seen anything
beyond the poor side of Philadelphia. Then he'd met Tina. After years of
rejection or one-night stands at the local bars, Tina was like a dream
come true. Tall, leggy, with hair like sunshine and a body that men would
kill for, she had strode into the life of the overweight, balding auto
mechanic with a magnet-like charm. As he went to fix her brand-new Lexus,
Tina had offered to buy him a drink later, and he wasn't fool enough to
turn her down. Gerald had discovered nothing wrong with Tina's car, but
he didn't mind doing the work for free. Gerald had fought hard not to
drool openly when Tina had walked away with a sultry wink, deliberately
swaying her curvy hips, and promising to come back that night to pick him
up. When Tina had returned that evening, clad in a stunning black dress
with a slit up the side, a pearl necklace, and black high heels, Gerald
had hastily stumbled into her Lexus, still in his blue suspenders and
oil-stained t-shirt, and they had left. Dinner had involved a trip to
some fancy joint called "Tres Magnifique", and then Tina had lead Gerald
towards her home. Her perfume and her little touches had distracted him
from noticing the strange trio behind him. That is, until they had
reached some adult bookstore. Before he could really question anything,
the four people had shoved him inside, taken on these weird forms, and
pushed him into a pillar of light that had left him stranded and alone in
this velvet-upholstered waiting room.
Fortunately, the wait hadn't been too long. Just an hour after he'd been
dropped in the room, a bright light started shining right before him.
Gerald squinted his eyes and pulled down his grimy blue baseball cap, but
it didn't really help. A soft voice said "Greetings, Gerald Finkel of
Philadelphia. Do not be alarmed. I am Lucifer, the Lightbringer and
Shining One." Gerald blinked. "Huh? Never heard of ya, bub!" There was a
sigh. "Maybe you know of me by that ridiculous pseudonym: Satan, Prince
of Darkness?" A blank look. "The Devil?" Finally, there was a glimmer of
recognition and fear as Gerald nodded. Lucifer reflected that he might
have picked a brighter subject for this experiment. "Good. Now that the
introductions are out of the way, I have a little task for Gerald."
Noticing Gerald's suddenly defensive air, Lucifer waved a wing. "No no,
nothing that will threaten your soul. This is more in the manner of a
friendly challenge for My Servitors. All you need do is to witness the
presentations that will be made to you, and then select a member from one
of the Bands and one of the Superiors. Then shall you be free. You want
to help me Gerald." Gerald felt something crawling around inside his
head. He suddenly knew that he really *wanted* to help the Shining One.
He nodded wordlessly and Lucifer smiled. "Very good Gerald. Follow me."
The light moved off towards a door Gerald hadn't seen before in the
purple velvet curtains. Gerald was glad to leave the cloying incense of
the waiting room behind, so glad that he ignored the weird cloud-things
on either side of the door.
Gerald was led into a white-tiled room with soft pillows and coverings
of velvet and silk all around. There was no incense here. Gerald was
directed to seat himself on one of the ornate pillows, then Lucifer said
"Now, I shall introduce you to a representative of each of My Bands.
Think of a Band like a race. A race of Demons. After you have seen each
Band, you shall judge which of them is most worthy for my purposes, and
we shall proceed to the next step." Gerald nodded, afraid and dazed as
Lucifer left. A few moments later, he nearly screamed. Standing across
the room from him was this gigantic snake! The thing had dull-blue
scales, bat-like black wings, and six freaking eyes! Gerald crawled up
against the wall, fingers crossed in the old sign against evil. He was
shocked when the snake started talking. "Do not be frightened, little
man. I am a Balseraph. I will explain why my Band is the greatest of
all." The Balseraph coiled itself and give Gerald the attention of its
six-eyed gaze. "My Band has the ability to create truth, little man. We
realize that the truth is a malleable thing, and it is up to us to create
it, to mold and nurture it to the way it is supposed to be. Select us and
know that the truth shall be molded properly and competently." The
Balseraph grinned at Gerald. "I know you'll make the right choice."
Gerald felt the prickling in his head again, felt the certainty that he
would make the right choice. That certainty was certainly shaken when the
Balseraph left and something that looked like a freakish mix of snapper
turtle, lobster, and a jellyfish, with the head of a malformed lion. It
slouched forward, growling. "I'm a Djinn. Pick me or not, I don't care. I
latch onto things, know where they are and what's happening to them." The
creature shrugged and oozed on out, much to Gerald's relief.
Gerald had a few minutes to catch his breath, then he was confronted by
this weird, grubby-looking thing with a red face, black horns, and black,
bat-like wings. The thing growled at him. "I'm a Calabite. Pick my Band
and know that nothing and no-one shall stand in the way of the Master's
plan, for the entropic aura of the Calabim will destroy all before us."
He turned to a pillow and focused his resonance. A black wave rippled
from him, striking the pillow. It immediately unraveled, shriveled
feathers flying everywhere as it fell apart. The Calabite looked pleased
as it walked out. Gerald was soon greeted by something that at least
looked human, but was mutilated and covered in hideous tattoos. Gerald
chuckled nervously and forced bravado into his voice. "So where'd you get
your tattoos done, buddy?" The demon frowned coldly, and suddenly Gerald
was reeling with a wave of fear and acute depression. "I am a Habbalite,
a Punisher of God. Despite the propaganda you may hear, we Habbalites are
a Choir of Angels, who serve God from where He needs us the most: in the
depths of Hell. We feel the emotions of others, and punish those who are
weak with the powers of our own, pure emotions. I know your weaknesses,
your faults, Gerald Finkel. You will be punished for them, one day." The
Habbalite turned and walked away, and Gerald thought to himself
~Definitely not picking those creeps!~ The next arrival definitely
stunned Gerald.
It was Tina! Only...she was different somehow. She was all green for one
thing, and she had tiny white fangs and horns. Her body was still as
alluring as ever, still in that slinky and skin-tight black dress and
high heels. She was smiling, and her soft voice reached through the fear
and horror left by the other representatives. "Hi Gerald. Remember me?"
He nodded dumbly. "Well, my name is is Tenari, and I'm a Lilim. The Lilim
are very special. You see, we're the daughters of Lilith, the original
woman and..." Gerald shook his head. "Nuh-uh, babe. I ain't religious as
a rule, and I ain't been to Church in God knows how long, but even I know
that Eve was the first woman." Tina's eyes narrowed. "A lie. I'm not
surprised that you believe it though. Our Mother has been maligned for
thousands of years. Know that our Mother, Lilith, was the original woman,
long before that docile child Eve was made to satisfy the whims of that
chauvinist Adam." With an effort, she controlled herself and smiled
again. "At any rate, we Lilim can look into a person's eyes and see a
Need, something that we can do for them. Then we do it, but in exchange,
the person who we do a favor for owes us one." Gerald took that in with a
nod. Favors were something he could comprehend. "So whattaya do if the
mook don't pay up?" Tina smiled. "When we agree to do a favor, we place a
Geas, a supernaturally enforced oath, on them. If they refuse to repay
us, the Geas will slowly consume them until they pay. So you see, if you
pick us Lilim, we'll owe you one. Mother has an interest in this, and
she'll owe you too....as will I..." She swept out in a haze of flowery
perfume. Gerald was starting to really feel good about this, when this
freakish cloud swept in. It didn't look remotely human, with weird limbs
and organs and red light all pulsing around inside the black cloud. A
pair of eyes stared at Gerald, then a hand showed up and the cloud seemed
to bow. "I am a Shedite. Pick my Band, and you will know that things are
handled well. We possess people and drive them to release the urges
inside them. We will carry out the Master's plan with no one the wiser as
to our nature." The Shedite departed, much to Gerald's relief, only to be
replaced by another humanoid. This one was also female, and she looked
more or less normal: a girl in her late teens, with flowing brown hair
and green eyes, dressed in a goth-style black shirt and pants. The only
things that set her out were her dark wings, the horns on her forehead,
and a dark halo. She smiled. "What's up, dude? I'm an Impudite. We take
Essence from people." She saw the blank look on her face. "Oh yeah, you
wouldn't know about Essence. Basically, its' like soul-energy. Angels and
Demons use it to power our special abilities, well, most of 'em anyways.
Humans don't realize it, but they use it too, and we Impudites steal it.
Pick us and we'll charm our way into someone's life....and their Essence
too!" She giggled and left, leaving a very bewildered Gerald to slump on
his pillow.
After about ten minutes, Lucifer reappeared in his glowing halo. "So,
Mr. Finkel, may I call you Gerald?" Gerald nodded dazedly. "Well Gerald,
what do you think? Which of my Bands is best suited for my purposes?"
Gerald pretended to think a few moments, but he'd already made his
decision. "The Lilim, hands down Mr....uhhhh...." Lucifer waved a wing
indulgently. "Lucifer will do. You have selected the Lilim, eh? Even
without a Geas?" Lucifer checked him over rather carefully, then nodded.
"I see. Very well, the Lilim it shall be." Lucifer chuckled with wry
amusement. "The Temptresses each owe you a favor Gerald. I advise you to
use them wisely." As Gerald's face brightened, the Lightbringer chuckled
again. "Well now, on to the next stage. You will be interviewing each of
the Demon Princes of Hell. Each Prince has a Word. It's complicated, just
think of each Word like a power, a very important power. You've
determined that a Lilim shall be chosen, now you must determine what Word
she will serve, and that means you have to speak with each of the Demon
Princes, to best judge. Make your decision without fear or bias, Gerald.
As much as they might intimidate, the Princes are not permitted to harm
you during the duration of this experiment. You are under my protection.
Shall we be off then? Since this place is in the area, your first
interview will be with Andrealphus, the Prince of Lust." Lucifer smiled
as Gerald sat up straighter, then engulfed him in a brilliantly golden
light.
When the light faded, the auto mechanic found himself in a white-tiled
corridor that had other halls branching off from this main one. That
cloying incense was back, making Gerald cough. There were more of those
weird things about, some of the....what was that? The Balseraphs, that's
right. An...Gerald was having trouble here. He thought a moment, and then
nodded. An Impudite was beckoning him towards a set of doors at the far
end of the main corridor. The Impudite was certainly attractive: female
with little on save for a black leather halter top and loincloth. She
opened the doors and bowed him in. Gerald followed, entering a spacious
office. The floor was white-tiled, draped in silken hangings of blue
lined in gold. There was a low divan set against the far wall,
upholstered in bright red. Statues were set all over the office, in
various poses of eroticism, with aromatic plants draping them. There were
two golden braziers near the divan, who spewed a purplish incense into
the air. It was what was on that divan that caught Gerald's
attention.
She was a young woman, with long jet-black hair in ringlets and smiling
blue eyes. Her skin was pale and smooth, like white marble. She was
slender, but curvy in all the right places, as her brilliantly blue
one-piece bikini showed. She waved a perfectly manicured hand to Gerald,
beckoning him over as the doors closed behind him. In a sweet voice, she
said "Please, be seated my friend." As Gerald sat butterfly-style before
the divan, trying to control the reaction in his loins from the incense
and the beauty before him, the young woman stood and poured Gerald a
glass of fruity wine from the pitcher on the small table nearby, handed
it to him, then sat and crossed her legs very slowly. "I am Andrealphus,
the Prince of Lust." She giggled. "They call me a Prince even though I'm
obviously a woman, as you see. Its' just customary." She smiled. "I am
glad to meet you. What do you think lust is?" Gerald managed to get his
jaw clamped shut and then stammered out "Well, uhhh....I think its'
like....just desiring someone for their body?" Andrea smiled. "That is
certainly a part of it, but I find that Lust also entails the pleasures
of the flesh in all their myriad forms." She leaned forward, her
bountiful cleavage at eye level with Gerald. "Please consider well the
Word of Lust when you make your decision Gerald. I'd be....very,
*very*...grateful." She inhaled deeply as Gerald gulped his wine and
nodded, wide-eyed. Before Andrea could do anything else, Gerald was
surrounded in a brilliant golden glow and he vanished. She leaned back in
her divan, looking at the broken wineglass the man had dropped. Then she
laughed and spoke coldly "Let's see the other Princes match that!"
Gerald blinked as the glow faded around him. Now he was in a different
office. This one seemed much more sedate. There was a desk made of dark
walnut wood in the center of the room, set atop a red carpet of Persian
silk. White curtains hung draped over high windows that seemed to look
out over a city. There was a computer on the desk along with a few neatly
stacked folders. Some pleasant-looking plants hung on long chains from
the walls. As Gerald blinked the glow from his eyes, a black swivel chair
turned and he found himself facing a tall woman. She was certainly
attractive, although she did not possess Andrea's stunning beauty. She
also dressed differently. She was in a form-fitting white business suit,
revealing only a little cleavage, a black skirt that revealed long and
shapely legs, and black high heels. She had long golden-blonde hair and
brilliantly green eyes. She smiled. "Greetings Gerald Finkel. I am
Lilith, the Princess of Freedom." Gerald frowned a moment. "Yeah, that
Tina...Tenari...whatever...she said you were her mom." Lilith nodded.
"Indeed. I am the creator of the Lilim. Did my daughter tell you what I
am?" Gerald nodded. "Uh, yeah. She said you was the first woman, before
even Eve, but God got ya bumped sos Adam could have a more quiet wife or
something, right?" Lilith's face darkened momentarily, but then she
recovered. "That is essentially correct. I have always been an
independent woman, and I support the Word of Freedom because of that. I
believe that everyone and everything should be totally free to do
whatever they wish. Does that not sound appealing?" Gerald nodded. "Yeah
I guess, but if everyone did everything they wanted, wouldn't lots of
people get hurt?" Lilith shrugged. "They'd be free to defend themselves
or avenge themselves as they saw fit." She smiled. "If you pick the Word
of Freedom, repression won't be an issue and I'll owe you another one."
Her smile became more calculating. Gerald simply nodded. "I'll think
about it miss." As soon as he said that, the golden glow surrounded him
again and he was gone.
When he reappeared again, he was standing in front of a resturant on a
filthy street. Some members of all the Bands were milling around,
consuming anything in sight. There were damned souls as well, grubbing
through the garbage for anything to eat. Gerald *was* starting to feel a
bit hungry too, all this excitement had quite chased away his earlier
feelings of fullness from the meal at Tres Magnifique, but when he saw an
Impudite drain some poor soul of some strange white energy than toss it
into the maw of a Shedite, he lost his appetite. The doors of the
resturant opened and a hand beckoned him inside. As he entered, he was
greeted with a sight that turned his stomach. Seated at a table was a
Calabite, maybe three feet tall, with this *enormous* mouth. The waiters
didn't even both setting the food down, this guy just swallowed
everything whole, even the plates! Gerald kept a healthy distance as the
hairy thing gave a colossal burp and looked him over like an entree. "So
you're the guy, huh? Well, I'm Haagenti, Prince of Gluttony." Haggenti
belched and Gerald held his breath. The thing didn't seem to have heard
of mouthwash. "You know what Gluttony is, mortal?" Gerald shook his head,
not really caring to know either if this was its' representative.
"Gluttony is the consumption of what you most want, what you desire the
most in your heart." A cheese-and-anchovy pizza was brought and swallowed
whole by Haagenti. "If you pick the Word of Gluttony, the Master's
desires will be fulfilled, and I'm sure your own secret desires can be
fulfilled as well." Gerald turned away, his gorge rising, and he nodded.
He choked out "Yeah, well, I'll think on it." It was a relief when the
golden glow surrounded him and he vanished from view.
When Gerald reappeared this time, he was in a maze of alleys and
streets. There were all sorts of comedy clubs, marquees, movie theathers,
and arcades around him. He felt a tap on his shoulder, and turned around
to see a thin young man of medium height. He was wearing a black jacket
over a white shirt, black slacks and dress shoes, and a golden watch. In
fact, if it weren't for his bat-like wings, horns, and dark halo, you'd
never know he was an Impudite. The young man grinned under his mop of
dark hair, his dark sunglasses shading his eyes. "Hey dude. From the
gross-out look on your face, you just saw my foster brother, Haagenti."
Gerald looked at the Impudite. "Brother? But you're...." The Impudite
chuckled. "Not a freak? No. I'm Kobal, Prince of Dark Humor, at your
service." He offered a hand Gerald took it in his own grimy and calloused
one. Kobal pretended not to notice, walking along with Gerald as he
pointed him towards one of the theaters. Gerald decided to take the
initiative. "So uhh...Dark Humor? Let me guess? You're the local
prankster around here?" Kobal grinned. "You got it. But I do more than
just set upright tacks on Lucifer's throne and pin happy faces to Beleth.
My job is to make sure that you mortals learn to take everything in
stride. You mortals get so tense about things like murders and death, so
I have to lighten you up, teach you to laugh it off." Gerald frowned a
bit as they sat down in the theater and a car chase movie started up.
"Those are sensitive subjects." Kobal shook his head. "That's exactly
what I'm talking about! Here, watch this." Ten minutes into the movie, a
car's engine exploded, flipping it off the highway and straight down onto
a woman pushing a baby stroller on the streets beneath. The resulting
explosion sent fragments of the stroller at the camera. Kobal laughed
uncontrollably, wiping his eyes, while Gerald gaped. Kobal slapped him on
the back. "C'mon, admit it! That explosion was hilarious!" Gerald frowned
some more, but gradually began to chuckle. "Well, yeah, I guess it
was...." Kobal smiled. "That's more like it! Now, you see why you should
pick Dark Humor?" Gerald chuckled noncomittally. "We'll see." Before
Kobal could say anything else, the golden glow surrounded Gerald and he
was gone.
When Gerald re-emerged this time, he was standing in some place that
felt hotter than Hell. When he looked down, he saw himself standing on
some form of hardened ash or cinders, all black. His thick work-boots
weren't enough to keep out the intense heat of the flooring. There was a
large pool of magma in the center of the expansive chamber, and behind it
there was a tremendous pillar of solidified obsidian. Steps were carved
into this pillar, leading up to a gigantic throne made of volcanic rock.
Damned souls writhed and screamed in the magma pool, but when they tried
to climb out they were shoved back in by Djinn with long, sharp metal
pokers. Gerald felt the sweat streaming down his face and only his
baseball cap kept out some of the glare from the magma. As he sweated,
there was a blast of flames from atop the pillar. When it cleared, there
stood a Calabite. The Djinn immediately fell on their faces. The Calabite
sat on his throne, his red-and-gold robes rustling, and gave Gerald a
stare that burned him to the core. "So it is you, Mr. Finkel. I welcome
you to my domain. I am Belial, Prince of Fire." The Calabite rose and
bowed extravagantly, then flew down near him, quite ignoring the Djinn.
"Do you feel that you understand the Word of Fire?" Gerald nodded, though
it was hard to think. "Yeah. Burn stuff down and blow stuff up, right?"
Belial smiled and nodded. "Yes, that is the true power of Fire. I can see
that this temperature does not agree with you. Please consider my Word,
there's a good man." Gerald nodded and then the golden glow took
him.
This time, Gerald found himself standing on a smooth floor of polished
black crystal. The entire room was dark, draped in heavy shadows. The
only light was red-tinged, coming from around the corner. Gerald shivered
in the sudden cold. Belial's place had been blazing hot, this place was
cold enough to chill the soul. Gerald was suddenly confronted by a
Shedite. It said softly "She awaits you." Gerald didn't know who the guy
was talking about, so he walked around the corner. The chamber was
completely empty, save for strange, round crystals that glowed with red
light. There was an open balcony at the far end of the room, through
which blood-red light come through from outside. Standing at the balcony
was a Djinn. It had the head of bat, a body that mixed and matched parts
of a lion and a shark, with wings that looked like something seen on some
prehistoric aerial predator. Gerald shrank away with the creature turned
to face him, but when it spoke, the cold and haunting voice came into his
mind instead of through the thing's lips. ~Little mortal. Such delectable
little thoughts encased in your turgid skull. I can taste them, just
waiting for nightfall to come out.~ The Djinn drew closer. ~I am Beleth,
Princess of Nightmares. I and mine haunt your mind at night. Choose the
Word of Nightmares, mortal, and perhaps I shall be tempted to mercy when
dealing with your mind, little man.~ Gerald gulped and mustered all his
courage to give a noncomittal shrug. The glow engulfed him and he was
gone, leaving Beleth to return to her brooding.
Back to the INC Mainpage.
EDG <[email protected]>
In Nomine Collection Curator