Within a few seconds, they had reached the bottom floor where the Lab was. The elevator doors opened to reveal a massive stark white laboratory which was most likely made of keltal. There were many things in the Lab, like hover drones, Hover cars, mechs, Max could even see a miniature prototype teleporter.
There was a walking path marked along the floor of the lab, it split off into many directions, and divided the floor into squares, each of these squares had an engineer, biologist or chemist work on something.
It was truly a sight to behold. They soon reached the end of the Lab, and before them, stood a door, it was made of the same purple material that the elevator was.
"Whats this purple metal?" Max asked as he kept on seeing it being used in small quantities
"Oh, this?" Bella asked pointed at the metal "it's darnite" Upon hearing those words Max's mouth dropped to the floor.
Dranite was one of the three strongest metals known in kepler
"You seem to know about it," Bella asked with a smile.
Max simply nodded back in response. Davis signalled the guards to open the door, which they did.
The room they had entered was small when compared to the lab. There wasn't much in the room apart from wooden chairs, a desk with a monitor, a few buttons and a microphone, The room, like the door, was made of Darnite as well. At the left side of the room was a door.
"Well kid, we're here. This is the demon's lair." Davis dramatically said
He sat down on one of the wooden chairs and Bella sat on the other.
"Alright, Max listen closely okay?" Bella suddenly switched back to her serious personality
"Beyond this door, lies the demon, close your eyes and enter and once you enter DO NOT, and I mean It, DO NOT open your eyes understood?" Bella seemed to be taking this very seriously and so was Max, his heart could be heard pounding from a mile away
"The demon will ask for your name. Do not tell the demon your real name."
"Do not touch the demon, don't try to be friendly with it okay? The demon is a cunning creature he'll try and trick you"
"Don't even think about God" Davis added
"And lastly ONLY ask the demon to grant you strength, if the cost is anything more than half of your life span reject it immediately, understood?"
Bella asserted the rules with great emphasis put on the last one.
Max nodded, he knew that nothing would be given for free but Bella's final words scared him.
"Right kid, good luck!" Davis said as he pressed a button and the door began to slowly open, the door was at least 5 feet thick.
"And remember we can hear you, if you feel like you're in danger just tell me and ill pull you out okay?"
Max nodded before heading into the demon's room. His eyes shut tight. His hands were shaking, for all he knew he might never make it out alive.
'Don't die, Don't die' Max thought
The second he entered the room, an ominous presence had flooded his thoughts. The presence soon turned into strange words, and after a few seconds, it turned into words he could understand.
The demon was communicating to him via telepathy.
"Leave me alone" A rough voice growled at Max
"I need strength, demon." Max remained calm and tried to sound as fearless as possible even though he was shaking in his boots.
"I..." the demon paused
"i... SAID GET OUT!" The demon howled. He didn't howl in anger, but in something that Max could only describe as sadness and pain.
"My name is Omega" Max gently spoke
upon hearing Max's fake name Lore began to laugh uncontrollably
"Omega huh? So now there's Alpha, Gamma, Delta, Sigma and Omega" The demon blurted out. But his laughter soon turned into anger.
"LIES!" The demon Howled "ALL LIES!! WHY MUST YOU ALL LIE SO MUCH?" Although Max couldn't see the demon, his blood-curdling howls were enough for him to sense the sheer hate he had in his heart.
"I-i" Max started to choke up
"JUST LEAVE ME BE YOU PATHETIC HUMAN" His cries boomed through max's head
Max paused for a while.
'I need to do this. For my family" he kept chanting in his head
"I, I can't do that" Max retaliated
"I need your strength, I can't let my loved ones die."
Davis and Bella who were hearing the entire conversation could only hear one half of it, they had no idea just what Max was going through
"So? what do I do? Give you strength in exchange for your lifespan? An-and extend my own? TO PROLONG MY SUFFERING?"
"YOU HUMANS, ARE ALL A BUNCH OF LYING PIGS" The demons loud cries had started to make Max light-headed.
"I-i Know that, I don't know what you've been through. But I for the past 4 years have been through NOTHING but TORTURE!" Max had, had enough he needed the demon's powers and he wasn't going back without them
"I WAS TAKEN AWAY FROM MY FAMILY! AND IF
... IF I DON'T DO SOMETHING THEY'LL ALL DIE!"
The demon could tell when one was lying by the colour of his soul. Max wasn't lying.
"I. I CRASHED ON YOUR PLANET, I WAS WEAK. YOU OFFERED ME HELP. BUT ALL YOU PROMISED ME WAS NOTHING MORE THAN LIES" Hearing Max's words the demon too had started to remember his story
"AND YOU KEPT TORTURING ME YOU SEALED ME HERE WITH THESE HOLY TEXTS, YOU LIED TO ME, YOU KEPT USING ME!"
Hearing the demons story Max could understand what the demon was trying to say, after all, he had suffered a similar fate.
"ALL I DID WAS ASK FOR HELP!"
"I understand your pain... I'VE BEEN THROUGH IT AS WELL. MY FAMILY LOVED ME AND I WON'T LET THEM DIE."
"I WAS ONLY 9, A CHILD, LOOK, LOOK AT ME I... I CAN'T EVEN REMEMBER MY OLD FACE ANYMORE"
"Omega that's enough I'm coming in," Davis spoke through the microphone
The demon went quiet after hearing Davis's voice. Something about his voice seemed off.
"NO DON'T YOU DARE, I NEED HIS POWERS. I WON'T BE ABLE TO SAVE THEM OTHERWISE"
The demon could too sense the pain in Max's words.
"I'm just like you... a prisoner... the only difference is that my chains are longer" Tears started to flow out of Max's eyes he was now no longer standing but kneeling on both knees
"You're family must be really... nice for you to have such strong emotions towards them," The demon said, but he didn't growl at Max he sounded normal, sad, but normal.
The demon's voice, although sad, was so soothing. Upon hearing the demons voice Max's head stopped throbbing.
"They.. they were the nicest people *sob* I've known" max could no longer contain his emotions, they began to flow out in the form of tears.
There was a long pause before the demon finally spoke up.
"My name is, Lore, I am a demon, I was injured in a clash with another race. I landed here, on your planet. Yo- Humans lied to me and took advantage of my weakened state."
"At first I demanded ridiculous prices for this wishes, such as the blood of a thousand young or the heads of twenty innocent men"
"I thought they would get annoyed and leave me be, but to my surprise, they brought me whatever I asked for in exchange for power, some even brought the heads of their loved ones"
"Boy, that man, the man who spoke to you earlier, he was one of the people who had brought me the head of his son, and wife in exchange for power. I may be a demon, but I have a heart. I couldn't bear to see innocent people die because of my ability to grant wishes"
Hearing the demon's words about Davis had shocked Max. Davis had lied to him about losing a child back on Earth when in reality he had used his family as a bargaining chip.
This filled Max's heart with a newfound hatred for Davis. Davis had killed the same thing that Max yearned for.
"So, I changed my demand, Although I'm nearly immortal, I started asking for their lifespans, they still accepted my condition."
"So I made a new condition. I asked for those who had the rarest blood"
"You peop- no you monsters still brought me whatever I asked for. They even dragged you, an innocent child into this mess"
"And ever since then I made a promise to myself, that I would NEVER make another deal, no matter the consequences.
Lore began to sympathize with Max.
"KID ARE YOU ALIVE?" Davis called out
"I'm fine, I'm talking to him don't worry" Max replied, he no longer saw Davis in the same way as before, he felt disgusted talking to Davis.
There was a long pause in the room before Lore spoke up
"I'll give you what you want, in exchange for 50 years of... your lifespan" Lore sounded upset, he didn't want to make deals anymore yet he felt like helping this boy was something he needed to do.
"I accep-" before Max could accept Lore interrupted him by saying
"Or... I'll give you ALL of my powers, in exchange for a fragment worth of space in your soul..."
Lore's, request shocked Max, he didn't even understand what he had asked for.
"I wish to live your life. It sounds more, kind. I'm done with this world. I don't need these powers BUT if you can find solace in this cruel world, then, be my guest."
"Remember that my powers come with great responsibility" Lore added.
Max was left confused. He didn't understand what to do. But he knew that he needed strength if he wanted to keep his loved ones safe.
"Fine" Max responded
"What's the deal, kid. Tell me" Davis inquired
"DO NOT DO THAT!" lore yelled
"If you do you'll end up exactly like me, after this deal DO NOT TELL anyone about the powers you received." Lore added "We demons are obligated by our lord to make deals with living things. If we don't we'll be punished"
Max paused to think of what to say to Davis
"Uh he wants 45 years"
The room went quiet for a while.
"Fine, it ain't a bad bargain, kid. You're a blue and only 12, You'll have more than enough time." Davis instructed
"That heartless monster" Lore groaned
"Listen up, omega to make this deal with me you need to tell me your name YOUR FULL name and you need to shake my hand or touch me anywhere, you also need to look at my eyes" Lore's instructions were everything Davis and Bella had told him not to do.
"Hey, the kid get it over with already," Davis said impatiently
"He wants to shake my hand. He says he'll change it to 35 years instead" It was an obvious lie but max hoped it would convince Davis
"No, it's a trick Omega" Bella spoke up.
"It isn't a lie, he swore" Max replied
"Kid, if he swore then tell him to increase the amount of strength he'll give you and then we'll talk" Davis presented his counteroffer
"But-" Bella wanted to interject but she was immediately shot down by Davis
"Bella, you work for me so zip it"
"He said okay, but he would take 45 years" Max replied
"Take it kid" Davis encouraged Max
"Greed, one of the human races worst traits" Lore's voice boomed inside Max's head
Max moved in and slightly opened his eyes, only to be greeted by a skinny, bald, and extremely pale demon with broken horns. His eyes had massive bags underneath yet they stilled sparkled like a starry night and not only that but his entire body was covered in seals written in a language Max couldn't understand.
He was chained to the wall and his chains were made of Dranite.
"Pretty aren't I?" Lore said sarcastically
Max brought his hand close to Lores and touched him, his skin felt like it would flake off at any moment.
"My name is Max Williams and I accept your offer" Max whispered as quietly as he could.
"I, Lore Orjing accept... Thank you, Max" Lore said as his lips were extremely dehydrated and his soothing voice sounded very strained.
Max felt nothing until he felt everything. All of a sudden a burst of energy started to flow through him, the rate was so fast that he fainted almost instantly.
Davis who was watching Max immediately opened the door and rushed in to grab him.
Bella kept smashing on the close button and the door shut behind Davis just as soon as he came out.
"And we're done" Davis sneered and grinned while looking at Max.
_____________________
Author's Note: This chapter is a bit longer than usual, I hope you don't mind.