Devil's Death [Part 2]

A being stood in a space of white light. No sound could be heard, no thing could be seen. There was nobody there except he, yet he knew he was being watched. A clap of thunder resounded so suddenly that he thought he'd gone deaf for a moment, until everything went still again.

"You will bow to my creation," the holiest voice commanded. The projected voice rang within the being's skull. The being portrayed blatant disrespect as he refused to bow.

Strokes of lightning materialised and shot through the being's body at a rapid speed, damaging not just it's physical body but also his soul. Yet the being did not waver, did not yield nor protest. Seconds later, and the being suddenly felt like he was falling. Falling, falling, down into the deepest corners of the world, surrounded by unseeing darkness, down and down again without a reminder for the passage of time or even his own identity.

A soothing comfort erupted from the darkness as the being continued to freefall for eternity. He was neither asleep nor awake, alive nor dead, and continued to fall down into the bottomless pool of darkness. Then, without any warning, he hit the ground. There wasn't any physical ground, but he'd hit a barrier of sorts, something that had stopped his fall of eternity, and with it time froze. Reality shook and the world cowered in fear. An immense power like no other filled the being from top to bottom, inside and outside, over and under and behind and in front, until he could contain it no longer.

With a muted growl leaving it's lips, the being's entire body shook and then red light engulfed him, the first colour and thing that the being saw other than complete darkness. When he next opened his eyes, the world around him had changed.

Gone was the unending darkness. There was land for him to walk on, something physical and very visible. The black ground shook for a moment and then red lines, like veins in a humans wrist, crawled along the surface of the world and glowed brightly. Dust that he hadn't noticed in the air before had quickly settled, and with it the clear view of a pitch black sky welcomed him. Then he felt a shift in the world, this new world, and more power engulfed him. It greedily drank from him, sucked his life essence dry, but he never died because he was an immortal being. The power left him and entered the red roots of the blackened land, and suddenly fountains of burning, fiery red lava burst out from the ground in random places.

The being turned, and found himself standing before a humongous palace. It's structure looked as delicate as ice, but somehow the being knew it would never fall.

Towers of red twisted high into the sky, blackness jumped from the shadows and covered various parts of the palace as though it were still in construction. The being walked forth. He found himself in a room. And in that room, which held nothing but a sturdy desk, he learned of his new role. His new identity.

"HEAR ME, OH FOUL ONE! THIS WORLD IS TO BE YOUR PRISON. YOU MAY NEVER LEAVE, THOUGH SOME MAY ENTER. AND HERE YOU SHALL SERVE, SERVE UNTIL YOUR DYING BREATH, UNTIL THE END OF TIME ITSELF!"

An ear-splitting voice made itself known, engraving it's words into the being's very soul. He could not fight back, but he didn't want to. No, it seemed like a suitable punishment. A punishment is a punishment, it is made to be carried out and for the lost one to receive salvation. The being turned, made his way to the desk now overflowing with paperwork, and sat. Moments later, another pile of papers filed on the desk, these being completed and transferred from the overflowing stack. And just like that, the being continued this procedure without moving from that seat even once over the next hundreds of years.

Time passed in the blink of an eye for this immortal being, and at the same time he felt like nothing had changed at all. Around 6,000 years after he first took his place at that desk, the being finally pushed back his chair and stood up, taking a break. He walked outside, and looked at the new world that had become his cage.

Rivers of molten lava streaked across the ground he walked upon, and a limitless sky like a black void rested atop his head. The land was no longer empty, for rows and rows of cursed souls wandered the area. They lined up, ready to be judged of their sins. Screams rang out for those who could not be saved, and hysteric laughter followed those who were given the chance to reincarnate after serving their time. The world was in a bloody mess, yet the being could not care less.

He stalked forward, ignoring the horrified flinches of those around him. They didn't know him, but by his general presence they automatically feared him and came to learn that he was the ruler of this hellish place.

The being spent another 1,000 years walking the lands, seeing how it changed and evolved. Punishments were harsh, then became mellow, and then suddenly a system was constructed over the punishment based upon the severity of its sin. The being hadn't needed to say or do anything, the world seemed to have a law of its own to follow. It learned, adapted, and gradually less beings came to join him in this place forsaken by the gods.

At the end of those 1,000 years spent wandering the place, the being had returned to his original point all those years ago. In doing so, he turned and made his way back inside the palace he now called his. He once again took his place before that sturdy desk, filled to the brim with stacks of paper, and began carrying out his unending punishment.

He considered it a miracle.

Millions of years had gone by since he first arrived in this place he now dubbed 'Hell,' and the number of souls had gradually waned. Yet after reaching this point, there was a sudden increase. Usually he wouldn't even notice, would not have even bothered to care about what was happening outside the walls he sat in. But then a presence like no other appeared.

This presence was dark, it was dangerous, it was greedy and angry and oh so very terrifying. The being couldn't hold back his own shock at the aura emanating from this unidentified presence. And because he had to know, he fled beyond those walls. He had to know what this powerful being was, and what it's message could possibly be. After all, he knew that his former master would not allow such a presence passage to his world unless it was a sign, a sign for him.

He looked up, and in the darkness, he could make out not even a single silhouette. But he could feel it, the raw power radiating off the presence that hovered in the air in front of him. Blinking once, twice, and almost thrice, the being finally saw a flicker of light. That light turned out to be a small fire, which moulded into two round gems that glared back at him. The gems took form of two red eyes peering at him from the darkness, and a woman with the palest skin the being had ever encountered was made visible. The woman took a step forward, her hand outstretched.

"My love... it has been an eternity since we last met, the end of time itself where we last held each other close. Now the worlds have aligned, time has reset and for the first time, we meet again."

She stood before the being, raised her hands to his face, then smiled. That smile was so blinding that the beings skin melted and his bones rebuilt, his memory was rewritten and he remembered who he was. Taking the woman's hand in his, he smiled his own deathly smile and kissed her knuckles before pressing them to his forehead in a display of affection.

"My heart, my soul, the very fire igniting my cursed existence... for the first time, and the last time, we meet again. I shall look forward to our next round, but for now, let us enjoy our time together while it is blessed upon us."

The being, now a man, grasped hold of the woman's hand tightly. Together, they walked through the land of souls and beyond the veil of time. And that, itself, was the end.