The demons heeded their master's call, vanishing from their various tasks around the UnderKingdom. Lucifer's four servants appeared in the Great Hall; Adam remaining behind to guard the Aether. The pale, ruby-eyed demons bowed, awaiting their commands.
Lucifer gave a gesture, giving his demons permission to rise. "Good morning men, Hellena. I have a bit of a change of plans for our new recruit; I will need Edward with me today, as we have several new arrivals to our realm. Vincent, you do excellent work, do not consider this a blow to your abilities, but I am going to have Hellena teach William the ways of the Tormenter."
Vincent nodded approvingly. "She does excellent work, Sire. I fully understand your decisions."
William gulped nervously. –An entire day with a woman who hardly speaks to me? And then Tormenting with the most aggressive Tormenter in the Master's service? But, if this is what Master Lucifer wishes…–
"Vincent, you will be out in the Third City of the Lost. Hellena dear, I will have you take William to the Second City of the Lost. Edward will be with me for the Judgements of the new arrivals. I wish you all a good day, and I will see you this evening. You are dismissed." Lucifer turned toward his throne, and Edward disappeared to begin ushering in the new arrivals.
Giving William an encouraging smile, Vincent stepped between the realms, leaving Hellena with the newest recruit.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
Peter Jones curled his decaying body in a corner of a small room. A fire blazed in front of him, repeating the worst moments of his life in its heart. He watched the memories, shame consuming him. He was free to leave the room, but he knew being out in the City of the Lost left him open to other forms of torment. It was easier to watch his guilt.
A sigh passed Peter's scabbed lips as he watched his death. He had not seen the one responsible for the end of his life before he came to this realm, but now he knew the man well. A tall, statuesque man with golden curls, wings gracing his back, and fury in his handsome face. Peter cringed as the fire crackled at the same time the angel snapped his neck, the timing of the flame impeccable with the image. The embers glowed, and the image shifted, and Peter watched as he kidnapped Ravenna from her home. Another pang of shame overwhelmed his mind. He recalled the way she shouted at him, knowing she was right. He deserved everything that came to him in this realm and more. His first wife's face flickered in the flame, silent sobs wracking her body as she was beaten. Peter's heart leapt to his throat. She was so disposable at the time, and now he rotted in the UnderKingdom, Ravenna's parting words etched in his mind along with the man who took his life. He deserved everything the demons did.
Red smoke appeared outside of the small room. – No...please no... not her... anyone but her...–
Peter's wishes went unheeded. The slender, feminine figure slipped into the chamber, crushing the flame with her heeled boot. He shrank back, not wanting to see what the demon had in mind for him today.
"William, come in. If we're doing this, you're learning properly." Hellena's instructions were short, and a new demon stepped into the small space. His face was familiar, but his features had become those of the demons. – She called him William. But no, it can't be the same man... can he?–
"So," Hellena began, "this waste of a soul thought he was above women." She flung her snowy hair over her shoulder with disdain. "His crimes include beating his wife to death, kidnapping another woman and attempting to sexually assault her."
William's sanguine eyes shot downward to the Lost man cowering in the corner in the dark. He recalled Ravenna's story before his Conversion, and disgust overwhelmed him. His lip curled as he put together the description Hellena gave and the story Ravenna had told. "Not a surprise to see you here, Peter, although it must be a surprise to see me."
The Lost man quavered. "W-W-William Reed?"
Hellena waved her hand dismissively. "Yeah, yeah. It's so lovely to see reunions. We're here for a job, William."
"Trust me, Hellena. This man is not a friend."
A flash of sadistic joy appeared in Hellena's eyes before she composed herself. "Excellent. Then you will have no issues with our tasks today. What makes me the best at what I do is finding punishments that mimic the reasons the Lost person is here in the first place. Peter here likes to feel superior over women, and his punishments involve knowing what it is to be far, far inferior."
"Does that mean Vincent and I will never be assigned to people like Peter?"
Hellena placed her boot firmly on the back of Peter's head, forcing him to the ground. "Unlikely. Peter is my special boy, though, aren't you, Peter?" Once his body had fully pressed to the floor, she lifted her boot. "Now crawl!" She pointed to the exit of the chamber, toward the streets of the City of the Lost.
Afraid of the dagger he knew was sheathed in Hellena's boot, Peter obediently began to crawl. William inhaled sharply in disbelief- he had never seen the haughty man give in to any polite request, let alone a demand, from a woman. – Hellena has certainly given him a fright to make him obey so readily...I can't imagine what she must have done to him...–
As if the female demon could read his mind, Hellena smiled widely at her companion. "It took some extra work, but he was very trainable."
Peter continued to crawl toward the empty square of the city, the pair of demons in tow. Once they reached the center, Hellena put her hand on William's arm. "Wait here." She placed her boot in the middle of Peter's back, stopping him. Bending over, she whispered in his ear, and the Lost man recoiled.
Hellena began to shout, stepping between the realms to appear before different buildings around the square. "LADIES OF THE UNDERKINGDOM! FREE YOURSELF FROM YOUR DAY'S PUNISHMENTS AND JOIN ME IN THE SQUARE! THOSE WHO FAIL TO MAKE AN APPEARANCE WILL SEE TWICE THE TORMENT NEXT VISIT!" The smoke she left behind during her frequent realm-travels had surrounded the square, clouding the open space with a haunting red fog.
William swallowed hard as the Lost women began to shuffle toward the City square, their greyed and decaying forms still giving the youngest demon a sense of unease. Hellena's summoning shouts grew fainter as she travelled further from the square, and Peter whimpered from his place on the ground.
Satisfied with her work, Hellena appeared next to William, an arrogant curl to her lip. "I've been saving this for a special day." Her boot landed between Peter's shoulderblades, and he collapsed under the pressure, his face back into the dirt. "Remember how I said my special boy here liked to treat women as though they were lesser? Today he will grovel, not only to me, but to every woman I summoned."
William raised his eyebrows. –She put extra thought into this…no wonder Vincent said she is the best at what she does.– "But what if the women do not forgive him for his attitude toward women?"
"Then it will be a very, very long day for him." Her attention turned toward the Lost man in the dirt. "Remember what I told you. Every woman. No exceptions. Got it?"
Peter whimpered, knowing his place.
"Good boy. It looks like the last of your ladies have arrived. Now crawl!"
Peter obeyed, pushing himself from the dust and dirt to crawl toward the first Lost woman. The woman had the greyed skin of the rest of the Lost, and ashen grey hair. Her dead gaze fell to the man at her feet, who shifted from a crawl to sit on his heels, looking up at her. "What do you want?"
"I…I have lived a life…" Peter turned, looking at Hellena. The demon gave an icy stare, and made a breaking motion with her hands. Not wanting his neck to return to the way it had been when he had first arrived, Peter turned his attention back to the Lost woman. "I was wrong. I spent my life treating women as if they were beneath me, and now I have come to apologize to all women here. It will never erase my sins, but this is what I must do."
The Lost woman's decaying lips curled in disgust. "What do you want from me, then?"
"Forgiveness. I am apologizing for my old ways."
The Lost woman turned her back. "See to it that you never make the mistake again. Move on to the next of us."
Peter began to crawl through the throng of the Lost women, preparing to approach the next woman, one who seemed covered in burns. He had a long way to go, and Hellena was determined to see it through.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
William sat next to Hellena in the dim cavern after lighting a single lantern on the wall.
"Thank you for showing me around today, Hellena. It was certainly... something... to see a Tormenter at work. Edward had told me that between you and Vincent, you were especially good at your job. But now that I've seen it for myself, I have a whole new respect for you."
The other demon shifted, looking away from her companion. "Yeah, thanks. It's really easy to do."
William decided to take a chance, seeing that she was partially receptive to his compliment, perhaps she would be more open to speaking with him if he continued. "You know, I had a son about your age when he died... when I died. As a father, you can always tell when your children are in pain; I hated that look on my son. I thought I saw it on you today when Peter crawled toward that Lost woman with the burns…"
Hellena picked at the buttons of her dress absently. "Yeah. Vincent mentioned you had a son. Sorry he didn't come here, I'm sure you were hoping to see him again."
–Not quite what I was hoping for, but she is talking. Vincent said it took her decades to speak with him, so I suppose this is progress.– "You know, I'm happy my son isn't here. It means he got to go to the Forever to be with his mother. She would have been elated to see our boy all grown up. We always wanted a daughter, but we were only blessed with our Samuel."
"He must have had good parents then." The female demon still wouldn't look at him, but she continued to reply.
"I loved my son. All parents should love their children more than anything in the world. My Samuel meant more to me than... Hellena?"
As William had said that all parents should love their children, he noticed the bloody tears falling from her eyes, staining her pale cheeks as she cried.
"Hellena, what's wrong? Please, don't cry."
She flung her hand toward the newest demon dismissively as she turned away, trying to hide behind her snowy hair.
"Hellena, whatever happened to upset you, you can tell me. Please, don't cry." William put his arm around the female demon, feeling her fight back against his attempt at comfort. All his fatherly instincts refused to allow him to ignore her struggle, and he wrapped his other arm around her, embracing her, and he felt Hellena collapse against his chest.
"Why didn't my parents protect me, William? Why didn't they save me? You said they're supposed to love me!" Her sobs racked through her body, and her bloody tears began to soak through his shirt.
"I don't know what they didn't save you from, Hellena, but please know that in Lucifer's realm, here, you are loved and you are cared for.."
"You killed the man who murdered your son! My parents stood aside as I was burned! You wouldn't have let me burn!" Hellena continued to weep against William's chest, her centuries of heartache rippling through her.
"What happened to you?"
Hellena straightened up, wiping the blood from her cheeks. She sniffled, and another drop fell from her eyes. "They burned me, William."
"Who burned you?"
"When I was eighteen, my father moved our family to another town for a job opportunity. It was a small town, Aronia. I used to be a beautiful young woman. I went to the market with my mother, and I drew too much attention. The men all looked at me with lust, and the women were angry that their husbands were giving me their attention. The women came together, and declared that I was a witch, because I must have used magic on their husbands to draw so much attention to myself."
She sniffled again, her memories clearly painful. "The men weren't going to admit their wrongs, so they agreed to hold witch trials against me. They were going to burn me. So I ran away, but I had nowhere to go. I ran deep into the forest, taking refuge in a cave. Have you ever lived in a cave? It's horrible. I set up so many traps just so I could sleep at night. I was hunted ruthlessly, so the townspeople could drag me back to town to hold the witch trials." Another drop of blood dripped down her cheek.
"I refused to go back. I killed anyone who came near me. I killed so many men, all for their own lust. How is that fair? One night, they ambushed me. I couldn't take them all on at the same time. I didn't go without a fight, but they won. I was brought back to Aronia, and the trials began. The women declared me a witch, and the men sided with their wives. I was tied to a post in the town center and I was... they burned me. My parents didn't save me. They didn't try to hide me. They didn't even try to stop the trial."
Blood tears welled up again in Hellena's red eyes. "Why didn't they help me, William? Why didn't the Ruler stop them? I didn't do anything wrong! And now I'm condemned to a life of... no." She sat up straight, wiping all traces of tears from her face.
"No. The Ruler could have saved me. He chose not to. Master Lucifer gave me my second chance. I will follow him to his revenge against the Ruler. And men, women… I will crush them all."