"So how was it?" I asked, trying to send Marcus's eyes anywhere but on me.
"I could feel a tingling sensation all over my body as if needles were poking me. At first, it felt relaxing until the needles turned into knives, and I thought I was going to lose my mind. That feeling was then replaced by my body getting pulling apart from the inside. It hurt like hell, but when I fell into the water I could feel my whole body start to recover." Vera explained.
"The stabbing feeling served as a kind of acupuncture, cleansing your body of any impurities. When you felt like your body was being pulled apart, that was your muscles getting stretched to their limit and then being released straightening them in the process. As for the water, that's due to a healing formation located at the bottom of the pond, you kids will come to appreciate it as you progress through the stages." Astaroth said.
"Well Astaroth, as fun as almost losing my mind sounds. I've used up my reserves of blood and will need to acquire some more unless I want to end up like a dead pharaoh." Marcus said jokingly.
"Check the bag I tossed to you before we left the cabin, it should have what you need." Astaroth said.
"Marcus reached into the bag that he placed on the ground next to the pound when we first arrived. His eyes were filled with shock realizing that it was not a normal bag.
"A storage bag?" Marcus asked.
With a nod of his head, Asraroth assured him that his guess was correct. Storage bags were like storage rings but they haven't been used for a very long time because they weren't as convenient. Marcus started pulling out blood bags, alchemy pills, food, wine, and many other things. I found myself thinking, why is he helping us so much? Before this morning I had no idea he was even alive. So like any reasonable person, I was compelled to ask.
"Astaroth." I said.
"What can I do for you?" Astaroth asked.
"Why are you helping us so much? I can tell your strong just by looking at you, but you are taking a huge risk with Lucifer knows how many men chasing us. Also, how did you know where we were this morning?" I couldn't help but bombard him with a series of questions.
Astaroth had a look of seriousness in his eyes before asking. "Who wants to hear a story?" He gestured his right towards the ground as if telling us to have a seat. We took our seats and eyed him, awaiting his next words.
The story went something like this. In the beginning, God created everything, the universe, the stars, and the planets along with a few hidden secrets in between, he stopped right there to add a smile before continuing. For millennia, it was just God and his collection of rocks and dust. At some point, I suppose he got bored or something so he created the Archangels, Michael, Lucifer, Raphael, etc. Then came the rest of the angels and shortly after that, God created the humans. Lucifer didn't like the fact God was giving the humans more attention than the Angels.He felt that the angels were superior in every way and just couldn't fathom why God would choose them of us. Lucifer convinced Beelzebub and I, along with a few other angels that would listen to his plea that he could lead us better than God ever could.
We were trying to win a game against the person who created it, and you can see how that turned out for us. Once we were cast out of Heaven, Lucifer played a few tricks on God. The most famous one amount humans, was when he took over Nachash's body to trick Adam and Eve into having sex, but human's story says some bull shit about a fruit. He paused again, but this time he laughed.
After getting bored of tormenting the humans, we came up with the idea to occupy Hell. Hell was a place for cleansing souls. Once a living being dies their soul would then be sent to Hell to be purified before being transported to Heaven for reincarnation. This process continues today, but it isn't a known fact amongst humans or the supernatural, only high-ranking individuals know about this. This is for a few reasons, the first is because it serves to keep the humans on a somewhat righteous path, this is something God had put in place. The second is because it makes the occupants of Hell believe they have a sense of control over something other than their day-to-day lives.
Once we got to Hell everything was in disarray, It took us countless years to make Hell's Will bend to us. At which point Lucifer, Beelzebub, and I were given a piece of this Will, with Lucifer gaining the most of it. This allowed us to control and see certain things that went on within this domain. When Lucifer and Beelzebub died during The Great War, Hell's Will was released from their bodies and up for grabs once again. The four current rulers now possess remnants of this Will, but not all of it, as they would like to believe.
"So you were able to see when we were fighting with Konrad and his warriors?" I asked.
"Precisely, and right before Marcus placed his hand on the podium I changed the coordinates, sending you here. Also once Nachash dropped us off I sent him to destroy the teleportation pad so that no one would follow behind you." Astaroth replied.
"That still doesn't explain why you are helping us." Vera said.
"Did you not get your answer from the story I just told you? Even God got bored of just existing. Astaroth said.
"Why didn't you claim the throne of Hell after King Lucifer die?" Marcus asked while sipping on a bag of blood.
"Enough stories for today children, I think it's time you start your training?" Astaroth said while standing up from a rock he sat on during the story.