"Who are you?" That was the question that Parish had asked the old man. The man however ignored him and took a seat by the table instead. And as if to add gasoline to the already blazing inferno, he started eating as if Parish had not existed there in the first place. Parish clenched his fists at that. Who did he think he even was?
"I asked who are you? And where is this place?" He asked shooting a hard glare at the man. The anger in his voice alarmed the old man. He lifted his face to stare into Parish's red eyes. His eyes! Parish hated them. He felt as if the man knew his deepest darkest secrets with just one look.
"Eat first," he said gesturing Parish to have a seat. "I'll tell you everything, including how I know your name." He added and continued eating. Parish clenched his fists so tight that his knuckles hurt. He wanted to know what was going on here, he had definitely died and should be in heaven or hell or maybe purgatory, but here he was with a very wrinkled old man and couldn't even tell what was happening… He raked his fingers through his red hair and cursed before he took a seat. The food was enticing indeed. All kinds of dishes and delicacies that snake men loved were there. It was a dream come true for Parish. But he was still cautious. He wasn't just going to trust this man from nowhere. He stared blankly at the food on the table as his tail danced in excitement beneath the table. The aroma alone was enough to send him drooling and his tummy grumbling in protest, Paris decided for the moment to enjoy it whiles it last.
"You seem to enjoy the food boy," the man said after a while of silence. Parish could feel his scrutinizing gaze on him while he had been eating. He stared at him and smiled meekly.
"Yes…" He said trying to search for a name befit for the old man, "sire"
"My name is Azazel," the man said after a while. Now it was the turn of Parish to look at him in awe. Did he just say Azazel? Azazel the god? But people were named after gods even back in his place. But why did this man feel so different? There was something about him that Parish couldn't quite put his finger on. Starting from the way he dressed, the way he talked, his home, and the intimidating aura that leaked from him. He had to confirm just to be on the safe side. And how the hell did he know his name?
"Are you speaking of Azazel the god of vengeance?" He asked holding a piece of meat as he anticipated the answer. And for some odd reason, he expected the answer to be yes.
"Yes," came the simple reply.
Parish looked at the old man with his jaw dropped. Was this even real? He shook his head just to make sure he was not in some kind of dream. This explained everything. The magnificence in this place could only be termed as a god's sanctuary. Did that mean he had met a god? Or was his mind just playing tricks with him? His lips moved to say something but nothing came. He was still in that dazed state as his gaze looked at Azazel with disbelief, awe, and surprise. Well he was already dead, maybe he got to meet a god because he was either in heaven or hell, he thought and nodded to his own words.
"So you want to tell me that I'm speaking with god Azazel right now? You must be kidding me, old man," but he just still couldn't believe it.
"Whether you believe it or not, it's the pure truth, Parish. Don't you ask yourself how I know your name? And for your annoyingly disturbing thoughts, you're in a place which is neither heaven nor hell, nor purgatory. It's a subspace of my consciousness." Azazel said, taking a bite of an apple. He watched closely as Parish's face grew more surprised. Surprise was in fact an understatement.
"Wait, you can read my thoughts!" Parish exclaimed surprised. He suddenly thought of the old wrinkled man claiming to be Azazel to be creepy, this had Azazel twitching an eye after Parish's little thoughts was transmitted to him. Because this place was part of his consciousness, everything that goes on was directly sent to his brain waves. "Am I, dead?" he gazed at the pup he asked the question with a dropping head in a whisper. Parish's heart beat in anticipation as he waited for the answer.
"Yes," Azazel said as if dying was not a big deal. Parish's hopes of ever returning home crumbled into dust, He sank on his chair, shoulders dropped as he stared at his hands in disbelief. "I'm dead." He said it to himself more than anyone else.
Azazel looked at the pup who looked defeated without any hope and was now sitting with his head low. He let him drown in self-pity for a while before he stood up. What he was about to do now would change Parish's life completely. He would give him a second chance to do what he himself failed to do. He smiled sadly when he thought that a day would come when he, a god, would fail miserably to do his duties due to his body failing to hold his magnifying power. The body of a god was just a vessel which is to contain the power of the universe, but there are cases when the vessel could no longer contain and hold the power anymore after decades, and he the god of vengeance was one of those cases. His body was slowly crumbling to dust and the magnifying power he once possessed was slowly dissipating, he had to do something about it since he knew it was only a matter of time before he body crumbles completely. He had scurried the whole planet looking for a successor when he stumbled across this young snake cub. His desire for justice and revenge for humankind suited him perfectly as his heir. And so he set to meet with him, and the only way was for Parish to face death.
"Parish?" He called softly but Parish was so lost in his thoughts he couldn't hear. "Parish?" He called again, louder this time. And Parish heard him. He lifted his face and stared at Azazel with little interest.
"I want to give you a second chance to go back to your normal life," Azazel said surprising Parish. He looked at him with a questioning gaze as possibilities ran through his mind.
What does that even mean? How will I be able to get back to my normal life?" Parish still couldn't relate how that would even be possible. He was dead for heaven's sake! Never in his life had he ever seen anyone come back to life. But again, this was a god he was confronting here.
"I can do that at the blink of your eye Parish. But you have to promise me one thing," Azazel said eyeing the confused Parish.
"Which is?"