CHAPTER 9

One afternoon,Betram takes a walk into the castle grounds forests.In his arms was the infant Petra.He finds them a spot where they sit under a shade.He sets down the baby who plays whilst he studied his books.A wind blows in their direction.Betram looks around and closes his book.Ahead of him emerges Daegal who stands across him."Afternoon professor,"he greets him."Afternoon,"Betram replies and quickly picks up his child.Daegal smirks,"I'm not going to take up much of your time.Apparently you are in possession of our property."Betram raises a brow clueless to what he meant."I think not,"Betram slowly takes a step back.Daegal points at the baby,"Do you know whose child that is?"Betram holds Petra tightly,"If you plan on taking my daughter,then you must be the most idiotic demon I've ever come across."Daegal laughs,"So you have figured out what I am huh?"He rubs his chin and turns his gaze on Betram,"You should listen to your wife.She was right.This child is neither hers nor yours.Truth is you are surrogates for the child of the demon lord."Daegal begins to slowly walk towards them,"This child has led many to their deaths.I can spare you that fate.Give her to me,you can go back to your wife and son."

For a moment,Daegal's offer sounded tempting.Betram looks at the innocent little Petra in his arms.He turns to Daegal and sighs,"I don't know you demon but know this.She is my child.She came out of my wife's womb and carries my blood."Daegal is surprised by his response and frowns,"You have made your choice.Prepare to die!"Betram smirks,"You first asshole!"

Betram takes a step back,an inch away,narrowly dodging the blade of a lesser demon.Ten demons jump out of portals and surround him."Secure the prisoner.Kill the magician!"Daegal orders the demons.Betram places Petra down and has her encased in an ice crib,"Hang in there dear.Daddy has to take care of business!"He gives her a snowflake which she snatches and nibbled.

Betram conjures two ice daggers and engages the rabid demons.Numbers meant nothing as the master sorcerer made short work of the demons.Daegal howls and transforms into the Hellhunter.He fiercely attacks Betram who dodges all his attacks.Meanwhile,the commotion attracts the attention of baby Petra.She sits up and is immersed in the view of her father duelling.She rocks happily,and claps every time her father dodged the attacks.Desperate and annoyed,Daegal is stunned before being stabbed fatally.He falls to his knees as Betram fatally impaled him with several ice spikes from the ground.The demon angrily eyes Betram,"Imbecile!You are going to suffer for this.You will not be spared from his wrath when he comes for your ass!"Betram points his ice sword at Daegal,"Then tell he who sent you who has his child that I will be waiting!"Betram proceeds to knock out Daegal who hangs his head still impaled.He frees Petra who was hyper and couldn't help her excitement.She cooes and emulates her father's skills.He laughs,"Now,now!You are too young to be practicing violence!"Betram kisses her little head and begins to walk back to the castle.The encounter with Daegal lingers in his head and looks at his daughter."I don't care what you are.You are my child.And I will help channel whatever power you have for the greater good,"he says to himself as he walks into the castle.

Betram looks up at Martine who is shocked by his revelation."As she grew,I kept a watchful eye on her.She was a curious girl and a rather unusual quick learner.I carried out several tests on her but she did not exhibit any demonic traits at all.However,"Betram pauses.His silence brings in an unpleasant suspense."Go on,what else did you find out?"asks the anxious Martine.

Betram sighs,"Petra is a nephilim."Gregory turns to his father,"How is that possible?"Betram turns to Gregory,"The most logical answer I can come up with is she might be the last of her kind."

Martine paces up and about,she then stops,"If she is part angel,why is it that lap dog of Kazamir called her the daughter of the demon lord?"

Betram nods,"I think this must have something to do with her father.Fallen angels become demons.There is a high chance this demon Lord was once a powerful angel.He wants his child but for some reason she keeps rebelling and escaping from Hell."

Martine looks up at Betram,"Wait,escaping Hell?"

The apparitions of Betram and Gregory begin to fade."Oh no,we have been on this plane for too long!"He looks at Martine,"Listen my dear!Petra is our daughter and she is alive.She needs your protection.Find her!"The two men disappear,leaving Martine more panicked than before.She walks out of the dark room and goes to the balcony of the apartment she was staying in."This is a big world.Where do I begin looking for that damned child?"she says to herself.

Present...

"What are we going to do?"Jaciel asks as he looks at the number of enemies surrounding them."Stand your ground!"Pierre says to him.Zack rushes to Genesis,"Dude,we have A problem."Genesis goes to him,"We are having some sort of electric interference,"Zack reports to him.Celestiel smirks as she raises her fists,"Bring it on!"The dampeners malfunction,leading to the angels retaining their powers.The sky rumbles as a thick dark cloud appears above them.A nearby hydrant is struck,water bursts and floods the streets."Every one stay close!"Pierre says and conjures a shield to protect them.Several lightning bolts strikes.The behemoths and the demons are electrocuted.The bolt runs in and out of them,burning them till charred,reduced to nothing but ash.The other strike hits the cars.Most of the guild acolytes barely escape the cars as they too are striken to death.

Genesis,Jon,Aubrey and Zack escape unscathed and find cover.They look up and see Martine flying to the ground.Genesis grunts,"How in the fuck is that bitch still alive?"Jon looks at Genesis,"If you ask me,I think its time we jumped ship.The Professor joining the fray is a game changer.We are no match for her!"Genesis grabs Jon and punches him in the stomach.He looks at Zack and Aubrey,"Call in for more reinforcements!"Genesis runs off in the opposite direction.Martine walks up to the company of Pierre who were relieved to see her.From the other side,another wave approaches led by a pair of giants.Martine eyes them and frowns,"What are you all staring at?Are you waiting for an invitation to kill some fucking demons?Get your asses out there!"she barks at them.Pierre turns to the angels,"You heard the woman!"

Jacinto jumps out of a portal and slides onto the battlefield.He tosses frozen daggers thanks to his cryo abilities.The Professor unearths a chunk of tarred boulder and tosses it at the behemoth.The blow takes off it's head and crashes the demons who were behind it.She summons a lightning bolt which she wields like a sabre.She begins to slaughter the demons.Whilst in the heat of battle,the last giant guns for Pierre.It relentlessly charges at him.Pierre is unable to shake off the unstoppable monster.Martine tosses a rock towards Pierre.He grabs it and noticed it had rune carvings.Pierre vanishes in a cloud of his crimson smoke.The giant is blindsided when Pierre jumps on its shoulders."See no evil motherfucker!"He shoves the rock into its eye.The giant cries out as Jacinto freezes it's legs,immobilizing the giant.Jaciel shoots an arrow at its feet.It's legs are shattered and the giant falls.The Professor runs up to the giant."Pierre,I need a hand!"she shouts to him."Hold it down ma!"he says.

Martine skids and grabs the giants head as her eyes turn white.Rumbling in the sky gets louder.Pierre scales a wall and jumps up high.As the lightning strikes,he grabs onto the bolt and hangs onto it.A trail of crimson lightning strikes the hand of Martine,who then redirects the bolt to the giant.Its body splatters leaving no trace except blood.They regroup and look across the street.From a distance,the Hellhunter and Genesis stand behind the burning cars.Hellhunter and Professor exchange glances.Martine and her company walk into a portal and disappear.

Genesis grabs his head looking at the carnage,"This is bad."

The Hellhunter sighs,"Come,the prince expects a report from our mission."

Daegal is later seen in the company of Nick walking into a courtyard.They enter a circle were dark flames engulf them.The pair then emerges onto another plane in their true forms.Daegal was the demon whilst Nick was clad in demonic armor.They walk towards a menacing figure seated on a throne.At a distance,they take a knee and bow.

"Rise,"the deep voice of the figures speaks.The figure gets up from his throne and walks up to them."You have found him?"he circles them slowly.The Hellhunter and Nick exchange glances before Nick clears his throat."Yes we have found him,"he says.The figure faces the two and grunts,"Then where is he?"the figure grabs Nick by his throat.The Hellhunter looks down and trembles in fear.Nick looks at the figure,"My Lord?"The demon Lord tightens his grip as Nick gasps desperately."This is what you are good at.Locating and capturing my son,isn't that so?"

Nick's eyes turn red and bulge,"He is not the same!"The demon lord tightens his grip on his neck and turns to the Hellhunter,"When I'm informed of the whereabouts of my son,I expect you to present yourselves before me with him besides you."

The Hellhunter dares to not look him in the eyes.He clears his throat,"He is stubborn.He has the support of the angels."The demon lord nearly grabs the Hellhunter who falls to his knees,"Mercy!"he pleads with his head on his master's feet.The demon lord steps on his head,"For every dawn without my son in my sight you will suffer my wrath.Do you understand?"By now Nick was nearly unconscious as the Hellhunter nods,"Yes my Lord."

The demon lord drops Nick who exhales and crawls to Hellhunter.The demon lord turns his back on them,"Get out of my sight!"The Hellhunter quickly helps up a coughing Nick and disappears from their master's hellish gaze.

The pair returns to the mortal realm.Whilst in the car,Daegal hesitates to engage in conversation with the angry Nick.He sighs,"This is not good."

Nick clutches the steering wheel and steps on the gas,"He sends us to hunt for his fucking son who does not value his attention and time."Daegal holds onto his seatbelt as Nick recklessly drives down the street."We are stuck babysitting and he expects us to contend with someone who refuses his honor,his gifts."Nick was driving at an extremely high speed which made Daegal sink into his seat,"Easy on the wheel boss!"Nick grunts,"And we are the one paying for it."He pulls the brake and drifts around the block as the car comes to a halt.Nick pants as Daegal was nearly out of breath.He exhales sharply and turns to Nick,"What are you planning sir?"

He hits the steering wheel and leans back rubbing his head,"If we go down,every one needs to.So that they may have a taste of what our benefactor does to failures."He sighs and turns to Daegal,"Get the fuck out.Go and find any sorcerers in the pits.Get as many as you can to try and locate them.If they are with that magic sorceress bitch,then we need to be fully prepared."

Daegal nods,"As you order sir,"he then quickly unbuckles his seat belt and opens the door."Daegal?"he stops when Nick says his name.He looks back at him,"Failure is not an option.We finish this task before dawn."

He nods,"I know sir."Daegal gets out of the car and Nick drives off.Daegal walks down the streets and walks into a shadow,vanishing.

Nick arrives at one of the guild's bases.He sees Madame Jezebel sitted at the bar.He charges and smacks the glass of whiskey in her hands.Madame Jezebel is shook and looks up at him,"What the hell?"Nick hits the counter,"Why are you sitting on your ass drinking?"

Madame Jezebel pours herself another drink and looks the other way,"Excuse you.We are both having bad nights.Allow me to enjoy myself."

Nick grabs her wrist to which she gives him a stern look."Unhand me mannerless child!"He smacks her across the face and grabs her jacket,"Listen you fucking bitch!There will be no enjoying until we fix this mess!

Madame Jezebel pushes him off of her,"Fix?Kiss my ass!It can wait!"As she brings the glass to her lips,Nick smacks it.

He grabs her face,"It can't!The Lord is getting irrational and impatient."

Madame Jezebel glares at him,"Did you meet the dark Lord?"

Nick nods,"We have till dawn to find his son.If we do not deliver you can kiss all of this goodbye."

She sighs,"Perhaps I should talk to him.Ease things and buy us some time."

Nick snickers,"I doubt your presence would matter right now."

Madame Jezebel crosses her arms,"May I remind you I had told you to not send that girl."

Nick shakes his head,"He would not have accepted a cum dumpster of a whore like her for assistance.He loathes that woman."

Madame Jezebel rolls her eyes,"Fucking hell!She would have led them right to us."

Nick sits back down and looks at Madame Jezebel,"Let me remind you.She is obsessed with him.Blinded,she is no better than the girl they took.If it were her,she would have diverted their attention and escaped instead."

Nick grabs the bottle of whiskey and takes a long sip."Shall I bring the girls to relieve you of stress?"she asks.Nick grabs the arm of Madame Jezebel before pulling her closer to him.The two engage in fierce,lustful kissing as he carries her to one of the private rooms.

Zeina sits at the edge of a fountain crying to herself after Raed rejected her.

"Bad night?"a voice startled her and looks up.From the shadows emerges Nick.Zeina wipes away her tears,"What do you want?"

Nick smiles and sits down,"Pardon me if I scared you.I couldn't help myself when I heard crying."

She sniffs and looks away,"I am in no mood for company.Leave me alone."Nick scoffs,"I'm afraid that would be unwise.Why should a lovely beauty like you be sad on a joyous day?"He looks the other way as well,"Do your tears have to do with the rejection from the General?"

She turns to him,"Who told you that?"He looks at her,"I stumbled on your little conversation.That man does not deserve your tears."Zeina looks down and shakes her head,"It is my fault.He would have taken care of me.I wanted the easy life and I ran.How foolish of me to think he would wait for me."

Nick crosses his arms and asks,"What is it that draws you to this man?"

She sighs as her dull face beams with an unexpected glow,"He is no ordinary man.He is special.If he were a god I would devote my life to him."

Nick snickers,"Wow that is quite the fucked up obsession you got there!"

She frowns at him,"Excuse me."

Nick moves closer to her,"Listen baby,face it alright.He will never fall for you.You broke his trust.He has seen you in action.Not once nor twice plus you are a famous whore.What man would take you seriously if not to fuck you?"

She hesitates and looks the other way,"For him I would mend my ways."

Nick scoffs,"Did you know the General has a lover.Whilst you are mending he is probably balls deep in the woman he plans on marrying."

She angrily springs to her feet,"Impossible.Lies.He will do no such thing whilst I am alive."

Nick grins,"Tell that to yourself.You are no match against the General.You could try to disrupt their wedding but I guess they would toss your ass out!"

Zeina is incensed and grabs Nick's cape,"As long as I breathe I will do whatever it takes to be with him.Anything!"

Nick is impressed by her determination,"If said given such authority,would you do it?"

She nods,"I would not think twice!I would kill any woman who looks at my General!"

He gently touches her hand,"In that case,pledge your allegiance to me.Unlike your unrequited lover,I can make your dreams come true."

She looks the other way,"Is that supposed to make me feel better?"

He gets up,"I can restore your dignity and honor.No one will look down on you or harass you for being a loose woman."

She shakes her head and scoffs,"That indeed sounds like a nice dream."

Nick then shapeshifts into Raed much to her shock.She attempts to run but he grabs her.Nick then pins her against the wall.She struggles in his grasp,"You are not him.Let me go!"Nick runs his nose down her nape,"Then why are you playing hard to get?"

Nick leans closer and then kisses her softly.Zeina is smitten and proceeds to wrap her arms around the imposter.The two spend the night together.On the day of invasion,Zeina runs to safety as the residents of the town are brutally killed.She hears an elderly woman crying out for help.Her grand son had been trapped inside their home.Zeina attempts to assist her when a large demon falls onto the house.It crushes to death the woman and her grand son.Zeina falls to her knees horrified.It takes her a while to realize that whilst everyone was being killed,she did not get touched by the demons.After the massacre had ended,she comes out of hiding.She witnesses Raed being killed

"No!"she cries out and runs towards him.She is unable to reach him in time as the demons drag him to Hell.A hand grabs her by the wrist.

"There you are!"she looks up at Nick.She tries to free herself from his tight grip."Unhand me!"she says to him.Nick smirks,"This how you thank me?"

Zeina continues to grunt,"You did this,you killed everyone."

Nick shakes his head,"I remember someone wishing that they didn't want any,any woman near their man.You didn't specify so I assumed every female.Old,young,hot,unborn were accounted for.You'll have to forgive my warriors.They tend to get carried away."

Zeina glares at the carnage,"I did this?"

Chains of fire spring out from a portal and wrap around her.Nick stands in front of her,"I kept the end of my bargain.Time for you to pay your debt.With your life!"

She begins to cry,"You tricked me!Bastard,cheater!"

Nick clicks his tongue and shakes his head,"We had a deal baby!Now you are mine.Forever!"He laughs as she is dragged into Hell by the demons.

Present.....

Madame Jezebel sits up and picks up her clothes which were scattered in the room and dresses herself.Genesis walks into the quarters of Nick.He runs into Madame Jezebel on her way out.He stands behind Nick who was in his robe.

"You called for me sir?"Genesis says.Nick sighs and turns to him,"Why have you not delivered your former comrade?"Nick sits down and looks at Genesis,"I have given you everything.You have all the latest resources and weapons at your disposal.And yet no results hmm."Nick gets up and walks up to Genesis,"You were able to capture angels using runes and custom sigils.I gave you the advantage of advancing this weapon."

Genesis sighs,"The runes and sigils are meant to negate the angelic genes in nephilims.Giving us the advantage in killing them."

Nick frowns,"Then how come your friend was able to run past the runes.He was not affected by the pulse energy."

Genesis scoffs,"You are talking about a guy who has evaded Hell.He is an extremist survivor.We don't know what the fuck he has been doing in the past century.Perhaps he figured a way to counter the effects of the runes."

Nick turns around and sighs,"We have till dawn to find him."

Genesis glares in surprise,"By now he has gone into hiding.Finding him that quick is going to be impossible."

Nick turns to Genesis,"I will tell you what is possible.We all go to Hell including you and your party.We all get exclusive torture for fucking up."

Genesis taps his chin when an idea comes to his mind,"We will go and get his family!"

Nick shakes his head,"They are useless.We cannot rely on them to have much impact."

Genesis smirks,"To him they matter."

Nick nods,"You have a point.His desperate need for familial ties sickens me.Have eyes on his family."

Genesis nods,"Yes sir."

Nicks sits back down,"And amplify the frequency on the dampeners.We can kill three birds with one stone."Genesis turns and walks out of Nick's room.

Pierre brushes aside the hair of Rita who had been sleeping soundly.He tries to get up when he feels a hand grab him.

"Where are you going?"Rita slowly sits up.She looks up at Pierre who sits besides her.

"Hey,"he smiles and strokes her cheek.

Rita smiles back at him,"Hey."

He holds her hand,"How are you feeling?"

Rita rubs the back of her neck,"Like I got my ass kicked."

Pierre smirks,"Want me to give you a rub?"

Rita gives him a nudge,"Shut up."She sighs,"I'm sorry.It was not my intention to betray you."

Pierre nods,"Forget about it.At least I know I have people I can trust."He then quickly gets up,"I will be right back."Rita is left puzzled and wonders where he was going.Pierre goes into the hallway.He dials his father's number and waits for his answer.

Travis opens an eye and picks up his phone,"Hello,son."

Pierre sighs,"Hey dad!"

Travis gets out of bed and leaves his bedroom,"Why are you calling at this hour?"

"Sorry dad.I'll be home a little later,"he says.

Travis walks into the kitchen and pours himself a glass of water,"How did your date go?"

Pierre smiles,"More than I expected."

Travis leans on the sink and takes a sip,"You have been holding out on us for a while son.So when are we going to meet this girl?"

Pierre grins,"Sooner pops!"

Travis nods,"Great."

Pierre sighs once more,"I lost track of time.Just wanted to check in.You can go back to sleep."

The two are silent on both ends when Pierre begins,"Listen dad.I know earlier we had a heated argument.I didn't want you to find out in that manner.But I can assure you that my intentions are honest and I'm not into anything illegal."Travis sighs,"Pierre,I'm not mad at you.Tell you what,I don't want you to think about this too much.Let us talk about it later alright."

Pierre sighs in relief,"I hear you dad.Goodnight."

"Alright,later then,"says Travis.

Pierre hangs up the call.He turns around and is startled by the presence of Martine."Goodness.How long have you been standing there?"he exhales sharply."Long enough for your coffee to get cold,"she hands to him a steaming cup.He hesitates to take the cup,"Is this poisoned?"Martine scoffs,"If I wanted you dead,you would be."

Pierre puts his cup down,"You came back for us.Something tells me it's not because you have taken a liking to us."

Martine takes a sip,"I want to make sure after all of this is over I alone will be the one to kill you."

Pierre looks the other way and scoffs,"Good luck with that.I have angels on my side."She shakes her head,"Another group willing to sacrifice themselves for your blind cause."Pierre sets down the cup,"Thank you for the coffee."

He walks around the giant place and finds the angels.He walks up to them,"How are you guys doing?"Celestiel smiles,"Much better.We are good to go."

Pierre nods,"Great.We cannot wait for them to come looking for us.We are taking the fight to them."Martine walks in on their conversation and sits next to Celestiel.

Jaciel turns to him,"What do you have in mind?"Martine openly scoffs,"Probably a dumbass idea!"Pierre grunts,"Excuse us we are having a private discussion."She crosses her arms and raises a brow,"Not under my roof it's not private.So tell us oh wise leader,What is your grand plan huh?"She turns to the angels,"Firstly you can no longer rely on them.Remember you helped create a way to capture their kind."

Celestiel sighs and looks at Pierre,"She does have a valid point.It seems like they want to take us out."Jaciel nods,"They know we are your powerhouse back up!"They all clamor to themselves.Martine turns her attention back to Pierre,"If you want to win,unravel your ace up your sleeve."They all turn their attention to Pierre.He takes a long sigh."Is that a good sigh or bad sigh?"asks Jaciel."I do have a nasty surprise for that asshole Daegal."

Jaciel gets up,"Well let's go and get it.Ready when you are."

Pierre shakes his head,"You are going to sit this one out.The location is ground zero.If you are intercepted,you might get injured."

Martine sits up,"You marked the place,didn't you?"

He nods,"Its quite the weapon.I didn't want it tampered with.I took some extreme precautions."

Martine gets up,"Worry not.I will accompany him."The angels exchange glances of concern.She smiles,"I'm still biologically his,her mother.I will take good care of them!"Pierre laughs awkwardly uncertain of her intentions.Rita who had been listening in on their planning runs to Pierre.She hugs him tightly,"Come back to me."Pierre hugs her back,much to the annoyance of Martine.She rolls her eyes and grunts,"For fucksake,we don't have all night."

Pierre let's go of her and goes to Martine."Where are we headed?"Pierre sighs,"To the Motherland!"He conjures a portal and the pair walks in.The time was a minute to midnight.