Before the Infernal Lord

WARNING: Implied physical and sexual abuse. Mirage doesn't have a good time here, to say the least.

~*~

Mirage had cleaned out the shattered lamps and removed the broken chair, but he hadn't been able to do anything about the gouges marring the floor and walls before the Infernal Lord had come calling.

Now the Infernal Lord had a front-row view of the mess from the giant mirror in the center of the lair. Smaller mirrors floated throughout the cavernous space, inside which glowered the stern countenances of the Infernal Legion's highest generals.

Every single one of them had their gazes fixed directly on Mirage, kneeling before the Infernal Lord's mirror. Beneath their combined disapproval, Mirage struggled against the overpowering urge to shiver. Now more than ever, he could show no weakness.

'This is just like back then,' he told himself furiously, gritting his teeth. Hundreds of eyes boring into his body, examining like he was merely a thing for them to use. He'd held his head high and made it through every humiliating day, and so help him, he was going to make it through this too.

He welcomed the fury blazing in his core. It provided some measure of warmth in the icy lair.

"Captain Mirage." The Infernal Lord's voice rumbled in his bones like thunder. "Explain yourself."

Though the Infernal Lord had addressed him, Mirage kept his gaze submissively trained on the black marble floor. Not that he'd see anything more than a vague mass of darkness if he looked into the mirror. Nobody, not even the Four Grand Generals, had ever laid eyes on the Infernal Lord's true form. It was laughable to think he'd reveal himself to a lowly officer like Mirage.

"Captain Mirage. I asked you to speak."

A chiding edge slid into his stentorian tone, like he was scolding a child. It made Mirage burn, but he swallowed his humiliation and answered.

"My Lord, I promise you, this situation is not as bad as it appears." To his relief, his voice came out clear. Just as business-like as he'd intended. "I have located the prince – "

"Yes. You have. As I am given to understand, you located her almost two months ago."

Soft rustles issued from the other mirrors, like barely contained laughter. Mirage glared harder at the floor, his heart squeezing into a tight knot.

"Two months ago, yet I am only just finding out about it now."

And how exactly had he found out? The anger blazed hotter in Mirage's core. Someone must have snitched, one of his stupid, useless, traitorous troops. Well, he could rule Melphi out – no way he'd ever be able to summon the motivation.

It was most likely Phantom, if Mirage thought about it. That depraved sister-lover had never owed him the slightest amount of loyalty. Who knew, he might have wanted to get Mirage back for his last punishment.

No use in wondering about it now. The Infernal Lord knew; this was the reality he would have to face.

A bead of cold sweat slipped down his temple, making him curse inside. 'It's not too late,' he told himself fiercely. 'I can still turn this around.'

A dim prospect indeed, but he wasn't the sort to just roll over and admit defeat.

"My Lord," he said, keeping his voice soft and demure, "I am aware that you may think my motives were nefarious, but I assure you, I only had the good of the Legion in mind."

"Oh?" The cruel amusement in the Infernal Lord's voice made Mirage's stomach twist. He glared harder at the floor, trying to ignore the chill deepening in the air.

"I needed to make absolutely certain that I had correctly identified the prince. I hardly wished to waste your precious time with a false report."

"And it took you two months for this?"

More rustling from the other mirrors. Damn them all, drinking the scene in like this was their personal entertainment. It was all he could do to keep his voice level as he said, "Like I said, my Lord, I wanted to be absolutely certain."

For a long, long time, the Infernal Lord didn't reply. As the seconds stretched into minutes, Mirage began to ache with the mad urge to lift his head and sneak a peek at the huge mirror. Only well-honed self-restraint – and perhaps a small measure of fear – kept his gaze resolutely pinned on the floor.

When he thought he couldn't stand it anymore – when the tension had stretched so taut he felt like he would explode – the Infernal Lord at last spoke.

His voice boomed like a thunderclap, deep and terrible.

"For a supposed master of illusions, you are terrible at this, Captain Mirage."

His disdain buffeted Mirage in icy waves. Before Mirage could stop himself, a violent shiver wracked his entire body. It was too late now, he knew from long experience, to care about maintaining his composure anymore.

"Did you honestly believe I would swallow such obvious lies? No, your true motivations are clear enough for a newborn baby to see. How utterly shameless of you, Captain Mirage, to attempt to deceive your Infernal Lord not once but twice!"

"The whore thinks he's being clever," one of the generals sneered. This time the others didn't bother suppressing their laughter.

Their raucous peals boiled in his blood, stoking a pitch-black fire of fury and hatred. But it was useless; he could never unleash it. Not when they held so much more power than him.

One day, one day he would get his vengeance on all of them – but for now, he had to do whatever it took to survive. As the terrible cold pressure of the Infernal Lord's Levia deepened, bending his shoulders, he made one last desperate stab at averting his coming fate. "My Lord, I swear to you, I would never – "

"I tire of your lies, Captain. Your role should have ended the moment you located the prince. Whatever possessed you to believe you had the right to bring her in, let alone the power? All you've done is waste valuable time and resources when we could have had her in our grasp already. You've even destroyed the lair that I specially prepared for you."

His deep sigh dragged through Mirage's insides like barbed wire. But it wasn't nearly as horrible as what he said next.

"From here on forth, you are relieved of your command of the Earth operation. I shall send a worthy officer to lead the capturing effort, and you will report to him."

Before he could stop himself, Mirage snapped his head up. "Please, my Lord! I beg of you – give me another chance – "

He couldn't let it end like this. To have to give up everything he'd spent the past year and a half so carefully building, to have to once more bow beneath another's orders –

More snickers from the other mirrors. "Begging on his knees like the whore he is."

Mirage no longer cared about their petty insults. Every ounce of his attention was focused on the blackness roiling within the mirror before him, so deep and dark he felt like he was staring into an endless void.

It grew deeper with each violent throb of his heart, until the mirror no longer seemed capable of holding it in. Tendrils of black smoke began to rise from the surface of the glass, drifting into the lair like swirls of ink in water. As more emerged, the pressure in the air deepened until it crushed him like a vise.

Mirage's panic boiled over. Flinging himself to the floor, he babbled, "My Lord, my Lord! Please, I beg of you, just one more chance, I'll prove my true loyalty to you, I swear, everything – everything is for you – "

His voice died into a choked gurgle when an icy grip clamped around his wrist, tight as a manacle. Through the haze of tears, he saw the black smoke had congealed and solidified, forming a shape resembling a tentacle, and more were emerging from the mirror, slithering toward him like a swarm of snakes.

"Captain Mirage, do you know why I have not yet killed you? Pathetic and useless as you might be, you are nonetheless still good for one thing."

"No!" Mirage screamed, tugging fruitlessly against the tentacles. The others had joined it, winding around his limbs, yanking them apart, hauling him into the air. Their icy touch burned through his clothes. "No, please – my Lord, my Lord!"

"So useless you cannot even take a simple punishment with good grace. You should be weeping with gratitude that I am sparing your pitiful life."

The generals' gazes drilled into him. Their voices blended into a hideous drumbeat. 'Whore, whore, whore.'

No! He wasn't! One day, one day it would be him behind that massive mirror, inspiring fear in demons everywhere – all who mocked him now would tremble before his wrath – but his fantasies couldn't comfort him for long. Beneath the Infernal Lord's sheer power, they swirled away like dust in a tempest.

The tentacles arched his body into a grotesque curve, displaying him for all the mirrors to see, and as panic wiped his mind blank Mirage's last dim thought was that maybe, he had never stopped being a slave.