Mistress of the Depths

Leo waited on Raphael to make the call, but clutched his bident tightly and readied his hand to impale this new horror. It climbed from the walls above, first revealing its face, eyes aglow with green smoke pouring out of them. Its dark green and black body was slender, feminine, and moved with a grace wrought with occasional horrid twitches. Sweat poured from its skin that made the ground sizzle and burn, a smell like the world's combined rotten foods rose and forced Leo to cover his mouth and nose. The creature fell the rest of the distance, long ragged black dress splaying out like a tattered jellyfish. Strangely, it landed with a certain strength and grace that made it lose that horrid persona for a moment. It smiled at Leo with a serpentine forked tongue lashing out at the air.

'A special heavenly child is here. Surely Heaven didn't make a mistake, my dear Raph?' the demon hissed. Leo knew this was one of those moments someone was substituting the name of Heaven for someone else's name.

Raphael scoffed, but then let some of the tough façade fall away. 'Maybe. We came here to see someone who didn't deserve to come to Hell, and I needed to see this place for myself.'

'And what do you think? Does it not just live up to the reputation!' The demon lifted its arms as if announcing to a stadium.

'It's certainly evil. It's a place someone like you deserves to be, Astaroth.' Raphael's wings crackled and flexed outwards.

'That's Lady Astaroth, to you.' The demon glanced at Leo once more. 'And you, if you so like.' She smiled almost kindly at Leo, which felt strangely genuine. Was there something else going on with this conversation he didn't see yet? Raphael gripped his shoulder even tighter, and that only made him analyse the conversation more.

'We will be taking our leave, Astaroth.' Raphael gestured to the gates. 'We have no more business here.'

Astaroth didn't move, but instead drew a curved blade from the air itself. It looked like a farming tool of sorts, but its glistening black steel suggested some far more dangerous elements to it. 'And what will you do after you go? Surely Heaven is already aware of your treachery?'

'Yeah, God is omniscient, but we don't plan on staying there.' Raphael lifted his nose at her. Leo once again was at a loss in this conversation. Where else was there to go but Heaven and Hell? Everything else should have burned away when the universe came to an end. At least, that's what was predicted before the End.

'You mean…' Astaroth's grin twisted into a sinister thin smile. 'I thought Archangels were against the idea of Heaven's Colosseum, let alone encouraging a human to join.' Her tongue ran across her serrated teeth, and black ooze dripped from her mouth like drool. 'Oh, the afterlife just got infinitely better. Just wait until I tell Lucifer.'

The mention of the name combined with this new information mixed into one of the strangest feelings that had ever come to Leo. He was terrified and angry, but lost at the same time. Was he becoming some sort of playing piece in a game played by angels and demons? No, he wouldn't stand for that.

'Raphael,' Leo said through his clenched teeth. 'I want a proper explanation when we're out and before we do anything else.' The feeling of rage burned across his back like someone had set fire to it.

He was furious with all of this. Heaven had betrayed him long ago, no, God had betrayed him. The one person that meant everything to him was wiped from his mind so he would live without asking questions in a false paradise. Part of him was glad he knew the truth now, and the other was furious that he had to find this out at all. No, fury wasn't strong enough of a word, livid would better describe it. He hated Heaven, he hated Hell, none of it was good. Something snapped inside of Leo, far more so than when he struck the demon Faletzzar and started this whole battle in Hell. Maybe that anger was blinding him, but right now, Astaroth looked just as much like fodder as the rest of the demons here.

'Do you understand, Raphael?' he growled.

'Of–uh… yes.' Raphael let go of Leo, which was enough of a sign for Leo to do as he pleased. And it would please him greatly to slay an archdemon.

Astaroth lifted her weapon just in time to catch Leo's bident before its prongs punctured her eyes. He released a bolt of lightning from the ends that electrocuted her head. With that opening made, Leo slashed her across the torso, and again for good measure. He drew away just enough to observe her reaction to it.

'Idiot holy spawn!' Astaroth didn't seem hurt in the slightest, but her smile had finally disappeared. What could have possibly done that?

'Don't talk to me like that.' Leo charged his bident with lightning, creating the ball of electricity between its prongs again. 'Just give her back before I kill you!' He unleashed a blast from the covenant revolt, which was powerful enough to force Astaroth back a step.

'You dare demand of me?' she screamed. 'You dare threaten me!?' She brought her weapon down on Leo, and he realised that though he had made space between them, a ten-foot-tall demon woman could easily cross that gap.

'Stop!' A pair of brilliant blue electric wings surrounded Leo to block Astaroth's blow. Sparks split the air, and the demon's screams of rage buffeted Leo's ears like an attack of their own.

'Don't protect me!' Leo pointed his weapon at Raphael. 'This is your fault. You could have stopped this altogether!'

A silent second went by where Raphael's kind blue eyes were accompanied by the first sign of a tear. He wiped it away before it could fall. 'I know, Leo. I'm sorry.' The words flowed like a cool stream of water over Leo's flaming rage, and he lowered his weapon.