It is always very disturbing to realise that we are not alone in a place in which we were sure we were alone. That is doubly true when the place in question is none other than a nasty, cold, and dark dungeon in hell's territory. Although he was undoubtedly startled, Lucius quickly pulled himself together and regained his composure.
"With whom do I have the honour of sharing this cell and speaking?" he asked.
"With Old Nigel, young lad. Well, the name's Nigel, but they call me Old Nigel because, well, because I'm old, so you can do so as well. And who may you be, if I may ask?" asked the voice, which sounded old and tired.
Lucius hesitated a bit. Should he reveal his name so easily to a completely unknown person sharing his fate in this dark and wretched place? Did something like that even matter? Even among angels, there weren't a lot of individuals who knew who he was.
"You don't have to tell me if you don't want to. It's not like we are going to be spending a lot of time together anyway, judging by what that pesky black knight said. I'll just call you "angel," if that's alright with you." said Old Nigel, obviously noticing his hesitation.
Lucius had to admit that Old Nigel had a point.
"I guess there is no harm, if you know. My name is Lucius. I am pleased to meet you, Old Nigel." said Lucius politely.
"My, my, what politeness! I haven't heard anyone address me like that since… Well, since I can remember, actually. So, the pleasure is all mine, young lad! You see, one soon begins to wish for a more civilised type of conversation after spending all his life listening to swearing and cursing and the rest of the quite limited vocabulary my kind usually possesses." remarked Old Nigel, honestly impressed by Lucius's courtesy.
"Pardon me if I'm being too direct, but when you speak of your kind, what exactly do you mean? I hope I'm not rude or anything; it's just that you know that I'm an angel, and I don't know what you are."
"But of course, you cannot see in the dark! Silly me! It really doesn't suit someone called Lucius to sit here in the dark. It's good that your time here is limited; otherwise, you would undoubtedly start acting like a bat in a year or two." joked Nigel. "Luckily, I can help you with that. One moment, please."
In a few moments, a small fire appeared floating in the air in the middle of the cell, providing enough light for Lucius to see around himself. What he saw surprised him a lot. He wasn't that surprised because he was in the company of a demon. That much was evident from what Old Nigel was saying. What really surprised him was what kind of demon Old Nigel was. He was expecting something else for sure, but despite his expectations, on a big stone slab hanging from the wall on two chains sat a small imp. He looked old and tired and was not at all impressed or excited by the fact that in front of him was an angel, the sworn enemy of demons. On the contrary, he seemed quite happy that he's in good company. Lucius didn't know what to say. Again, Old Nigel noticed both his surprise and his loss for words.
"I see your head is going to burst from such a large amount of questions that suddenly barged into it. We should try to prevent that as soon as we can! Go on. Get rid of them. Ask me whatever you want, and I will happily answer." said Old Nigel with a wide smile on his face.
Lucius was trying his best to accept this surreal and bizarre situation as a reality and not a dream. In front of him sat an old imp, a type of demon that is known for doing mischief and serving as an expendable nuisance or a slave. Despite that, this individual was (at least for now) thoroughly acting like a real sir, well versed in gentleman's dialect, irony, and sarcasm. He was supposed to be a creature of evil that would wait for an opportune moment to ambush Lucius in the dark, but instead, he was probably the friendliest person he ever met. What is more, of all the people he could remind him of, he reminded him the most of his master Albert, sharing with him the two main characteristics of being old and wise. Was this some sort of trick? Some sort of diabolical plan according to which he is supposed to become friends with this imp and then tell him all he knows in full confidence? It sounded crazy, and Lucius didn't believe it, but he decided to remain wary anyway.
"Well, for starters, I would like to know why you are not trying to claw my eyes out right now or something like that."
"Would you like me to do something in that vein?" asked Old Nigel, still smiling.
"Not at all; it's just that I'm having a hard time believing that your behaviour is genuine. Don't get me wrong, I find you quite charming; it's just that my previous encounters with imps were far more… Uncivilised, shall we say? They included a lot of violence and fighting, which is what I'm trying to say. As you heard from my talk with the black knight, I'm a soldier. That's why I'm a bit confused. You are simply quite different than what I expect when I think of an imp." said Lucius, trying his best not to offend Old Nigel, which added even more bizarreness to the situation because here he was, unironically, trying to be kind to an imp.
Old Nigel's smile disappeared, and he took a deep sigh. This was obviously a somewhat painful topic for him, and he looked even more sad and tired now that he was going to talk about it.
"Yes, I'm different, alright. But it wasn't always like that. In my youth, I was just like any other imp out there. Young, mischievous, and wicked. I dreamt about attaining power and becoming the mightiest imp there ever was—something that every imp is guilty of, I should add. But then something happened to me. I had a very enlightening experience, about which I wouldn't talk right now because it's quite personal and we just met, so I hope you understand." he said, looking at Lucius to find the understanding he was asking for on his face.
"Of course." said Lucius while nodding.
"Thank you very much! So, as a result of that aforementioned experience, I started looking at the bigger picture. I started asking myself why we demons are doing what we are doing and why the angels are doing what they are doing. The more I thought about that, the more I came to the realisation that the whole thing is quite pointless when you look at it. Demons snatch the souls of humans to get more powerful so they can control other demons and kill more powerful angels, and angels defend the humans and receive power from God to fight more powerful demons. But if God himself gives power to the angels and the demons can only get power by absorbing human souls (keeping in mind that angels, demons, and humans are his creations), what prevents God from eradicating us demons all by himself? Why is he letting angels waste their time and lives? And why are we demons wasting our time trying to become more powerful when God will basically send his warriors to take down the mightiest among us? Basically, the more powerful you become, the bigger of a target you become for the angels. And there is never enough power to keep you at the top forever. Do you agree with what I'm saying, Lucius?"
"The questions that are bothering you have bothered and are bothering many, including myself. I'm afraid that there are no satisfactory answers to them, at least not for now. It is what it is." answered Lucius, amazed that a demon could think that way.
"Exactly! It is what it is. Nicely said! Anyway, having realised all of that, I completely lost the will to do what an ordinary imp should do. In other words, I didn't want to be evil anymore. Instead of harming humans, I started examining them, and through time, I realised that they weren't that bad at all. Oh, don't get me wrong, there are a lot of bastards and scum among them, but your ordinary human just wants to live and care for his family and friends. I began learning about love, friendship, and kindness, and I had to admit that they weren't that bad after all. I started understanding how sick it is to want to cause evil just for the sake of doing evil. I noticed how evil itself was grasping the hearts of my kind and other demons. There was no room for anything else. And then I understood how awful it is to be a demon! Humans can change their ways. They can spend all their time being evil, have a change of heart before death, genuinely repent for their sins, and God will forgive them. But we demons… We can do no such thing. We are damned to live like that. I guess that's why the hatred towards God motivates others. But having learned the vileness of evil, I couldn't force myself to act and live like that. I felt like there were only two options for me. The first was to end my pitiful life, and the second was to try and share my knowledge with some of my friends in hopes of changing them for the better. I chose the second option. How do you think that went?" asked Old Nigel, sadly smiling.
"Well… Since you are currently imprisoned in a dungeon, I guess they didn't have a lot of understanding for your way of thinking." replied Lucius, genuinely feeling bad for Old Nigel.
"Of course. It didn't surprise me. But not even one? I was completely rejected. At first, they just laughed at me. But as time went on, they started to fear me, even hate me. It is always like that with things or people we don't understand, is it not? For them (and even for myself), I was an anomaly, something that shouldn't be. They started imprisoning me and torturing me. Being an imp, I was resourceful, and I always managed to escape, trying my luck at spreading my beliefs in another place. But it always ended the same way. First the torture, then the imprisonment. To be honest, it is unbelievable that they haven't killed me yet. Anyway, at last I arrived here, at the very border of hell. As you can see, the same thing happened, but this time, I decided not to escape. This was the closest I was ever going to get to Elysium, where I felt I belonged, so I might as well stay here, I thought. And so I did just that. I stayed here in this dark cell. In time, they forgot about me and left me here to spend the rest of eternity, feeling loathing at myself for being different and at my kind, who couldn't understand me. There. I hope all of your questions are answered now. That's my story. Care to tell me yours now?"
Lucius was fully amazed by Old Nigel's story, and his confirmation that they were still at the border gave him at least a sliver of hope that somebody might come and help him, so he was thankful to the imp.
"Well, there is not much to tell, really. You listened to my interrogation, and I was fully honest with the black knight. Of course, I left out some details, but everything I said is true. I could tell you the details, but since I'm about to get tortured in 10 minutes or so, I think it's best to not make it any more boring for you than it needs to be. That way, everything will be new for you too when I break under the pressure." said Lucius, joking at his own expense.
"I see…" said Old Nigel.
They both looked down at the cold stone floor. Old Nigel jumped down from the stone slab and started walking back and forth, thinking. Lucius closed his eyes, trying to calm himself. He was going to need to rely on his mind and not on his body to endure what followed. The body was weak, but the spirit was strong, and God was merciful. He was going to give his best, as always.
"You know, it would be a damn shame if a young lad such as you met his demise so early in his career in a God-forsaken place such as this. At least you are fighting for a worthy cause, unlike my kind…"
"There's nothing you can do about it, Old Nigel. It is how it is. I am at least glad that I met a good demon before I died. To be perfectly honest with you, I didn't think something like that existed. But you proved me wrong. You may be an anomaly, but don't hate yourself because of that. You realised what millions of your kind couldn't and can't do, and that's not an easy feat. You should be proud." he said, with his eyes still closed.
Old Nigel didn't reply, but Lucius heard that he stopped walking. He was probably touched by his words. After a few moments, he continued walking. What a strange demon! Lucius called him a good demon. It was a pure contradiction. Demons can't be good. But this one, somehow, was. It was nothing short of a miracle, and Lucius was amazed by God's mercy, which literally knew no boundaries if it decided to touch the heart of one mischievous imp.
The sound of the lock unlocking made Lucius open his eyes. Next to the opened cell's door stood Old Nigel.
"I told you I was quite resourceful." he said, smiling mischievously.