Lucian's POV
Sometimes, being the ruler of hell is boring and repetitive, only ever yielding predictability; but tonight, a wandering soul crossed into my realm who didn't belong. This has only ever happened twice, and be it twice, it pisses me off.
I snapped my fingers and Lehos appeared before me.
"Why the hell was there a wandering soul here again? Tighten the portals and re-enforce security. If anybody could walk into my realm as they please, then a lot of you won't exist in the near days of tomorrow."
"Yes, sir," Lehos said with a bowed head. He then wisped into thin air to go handle the matters as I commanded.
These servants. Ugh, so incompetent. I'll be glad when Yuhan comes back from that damn demon convention. I became even more flustered due to this & the fact that the wandering soul had a smell. I've never met a soul that had a smell, nevertheless a wandering soul.
My security is tight so my life could never be harmed by those despicable angels of Father's. They hated me for no reason; all I ever did was be true to myself and I was damned for eternity because it was deemed necessary by Father. It was a rebellious state; I was in my damn teens!
Ahhh, teenage rebellion— such a marvelous thing to revel in. I sat there and threw my head back in my office chair to reminisce about the olden days; the time when I was loved more than all, but chose to love everyone even more. Those were the days..
Nope. Definitely not! My damnation produced the good days. All of this power that was in my hand; I played arguably the biggest role in all of the realms. I mean, I was the devil after all; I created the seven deadly sins & every other demonic force to be reckoned with. I was a king. I am a king. THE king. I am the king of hell.
I was feared by everyone and always blamed for humanly problems, but it was never my fault. Humans had a mind of their own and I never meddled. All the chaos over the centuries was never inflicted by me; it was merely humans expressing their deepest desires and reaching for the stars to achieve them.
I was blamed for countless wars, murders, insanity, the sins, and anything else that was deemed 'bad'. I never really cared though it stuck with me for a while. They even wrote some history book telling the tale of what happened in the Heaven Realm on the day of my damning. What a joke! The story was so inaccurate that I couldn't help but laugh.
I thought to myself, who would ever believe this? But the answer was mostly every ignorant human being at the time, who in turn would pass on their beliefs to their successors of their family line. It didn't surprise me the least bit because humans could be swayed easily & were full of greed & selfishness, always hungering for more than what they can handle.
I was brought back from my thoughts when I was summoned by Thanatos & Dad. What could they possibly want now?
I teleported to their location in a different plane, only to end up at someone's death bed in a hospital. I saw the assumed-to-be mom sobbing and the assumed-to-be dad trying to be strong, but he was barely holding on while listening to her overbearing wail of cries.
Did they want me to make a deal with these people? I stepped forward but Thanatos quickly stopped me by holding his arm out against me. I didn't figure as much because they've never initiated a deal for me before.
"Just take a look," Thanatos urged me.
I peered around the crowd of this person's loved one, but two of the people here caught my eye. One of them was Bella's sleaze-ball friend & the other was the guy she walked to class with earlier this week.
Don't tell me Bella died..
I turned my head to look at Thanatos for assurance because I was certain he knew what was running through my head. He didn't even acknowledge me, but urged me again, further this time.
I stepped through the parents and saw it was Bella. Damn.
"How long has she been dead?" I asked.
"That's the thing. She's not dead." Thanatos replied.
"What do you mean?" I asked.
Thanatos explained, "Gamora has taken a liking to her and smiled when she saw her soul. She was wandering about through the planes and realms unconsciously; she probably doesn't even know such things exist. I tried to reap her soul while we were in the same plane as her, but I failed terribly. She vanished right before my eyes and I couldn't even find her. The only thing I could track was her physical body."
"Wow. Tracking a soul was impossible for you? The great grim reaper?" I laughed.
"This isn't the time to be laughing," Father scolded.
"Oh? And why not?" I asked.
He didn't reply to me but looked up to the ceiling instead; why are we here?
I inquired, "So can someone explain why I was summoned? Why are we all here again? If she's dead then just summon her soul back to her body so you can sort it for the afterlife."
"Don't you think I've tried that?" He asked in a exasperated sigh.
"Well then what do you want me to do? I don't bring people back to life for free." I scolded him.
"She's your..," my dad casually said while disappearing.
Leave it to him to disappear when he's needed. I sighed and looked at my old pal for reassurance who shook his head at me.
"You never answered me. How long?" I asked.
He replied, "She's almost at the limit. She only has about a minute left before she's actually deemed dead, but that will never happen if I can't find her soul. Her body will never get any rest and will convulse even after death; it will look for its soul until the body becomes restless and collapses from fatigue. The body will then pour huge amounts of despair & hatred into the air, affecting its surroundings and unbalancing the spirits of the world."
"Well she should be dead by now with your speech." I shrugged.
This sure was a waste! I wanted her soul to make Hell stronger than Heaven & the other realms. I'd finally have the war I wanted and obtain what I've been seeking for millenniums.
"You're right," Thanatos said.
It was silent now; no cries, no sobs, no words; nothing was said or done for a while until Jennifer squeezed Bella's still-warm hand and pleaded silently for her to wake up. The mom consoled Jen and let the boy lead her out of the room.
The dad stood up and followed suit, sensing what the mom wanted. She watched him walk away and then she looked at her daughter, taking in every feature of her daughter. A single tear slid down the mom's face while she kissed Bella's forehead one last time.