Chapter Text
Gary, or rather Astaroth, as he was known by the demons, had been defeated by the priests. And, to make it worse, he had been defeated when one of the priests could not even stand on his own. What kind of a disgrace was he!? And with Miriam’s power combined with his, the two should have been unstoppable, but no. Miriam was sent back to hell along with Astaroth upon their miserable defeat. Lucky for them, most of their little host of demons had remained, and as Miriam’s repayment for being the first to willingly go through with the Second Death, she herself was capable of being summoned back to Earth just like any other well known demon could.
Alu caught wind of this the second that it happened, as he had, for the time being, taken to residing as he would in one of the many rings of Hell. One of the UNSPEAKABLE’s servants who had gone beyond informed him of the tragic fate of Miriam and Gary. Of course, Alu had laughed in their face. Defeated by a priest who could not stand nor breath! Hilarious ! The UNSPEAKABLE did have to get a bit more creative, though, that one was more shockingly laughable than truly funny. But once the servant had informed him that this was no joke, he was filled with unbridled rage. He took the servant by the neck and hurled them from the precipice on which he stood and into the flames below. He half-scoffed, half-growled, then released a cry foul enough and wretched enough to freeze all those close enough to hear it. Literally . Those who heard it and who were not associated with the Order were frozen in place, unmoving for the foreseeable future.
Alu took to the ever smoking skies of Hell, his rotting wings lifting him smoothly above the chaos and violence below.
Upon returning home from his little mission with Tiffany, Alu returned to his rightful place in Hell, amusing himself, for the most part, with those who feared sleep, and the creatures from the darkness. Up from the shadows he would crawl, a beast that smelled like mildew and dread, a creature that appeared wherever it pleased whenever it pleased, never here nor there, and a creature with eyes as plentiful as fireflies in the summer. A being that partook in the darkness of nightmares, and the vertigo-inducing paranoia of sleeplessness.
Alu flew up above the smoking and desecrated lands below, above the smoke itself until the bright red light of the unending eclipse was completely visible behind the smoke-gray clouds. He hovered in front of the eternally covered sun and screamed out, raising his clawed hands to the sky in a gesture of infuriated wrath. His voice harmonized with the wails of the wind and dying machinery below: a semi-mechanical landscape of industrialized suffering. The sound of his cry was like that of a bison’s roar, only amplified so that it echoed throughout the entire sky.
Hovering right above the Eclipse of Hell was a large plot of land belonging to the UNSPEAKABLE and his followers. Unlike the lands below, it had a few trees and wild animals that had yet to be burned to ashes or cremated by the sheer heat of the place. Of course, anything that survived more than two seconds up there was quickly caught by the thralls and executed in the name of the UNSPEAKABLE. These unfortunate souls were the results of previous sacrifices on Earth: whatever was sacrificed had its soul sent down into Hell for the thralls to chase and mutilate as they pleased, and only after that was its soul relinquished, and that was only if the poor beast was actually killed while it was in Hell. Some were taken by the thralls for their own personal enjoyment, which meant that absolutely anything could be done to them. The more tame (and not completely Satanic-cult-mania consumed) thralls would merely keep them as pets, doting over them and enjoying their company in a display of their remaining humanity, and Alu never did mind himself a good chase and kill. If it was not for the UNSPEAKABLE’s adoration of his followers, Alu surely would have killed one of the cultists' pets simply to watch them weep at least four times a week. Of course, this did not stop him from getting away with it on occasion, just not nearly as often as he would have preferred. Nevertheless, their hysterical and distraught faces never ceased to amuse him.
He landed lightly on the ashen dirt of Safehaven, as it was called, his horizontal eyes swiveling from left to right as he scanned his surroundings. Safehaven, despite its name, was not untouched by the agonies of Hell. It had no color whatsoever, and was constantly oozing a black liquid out of the sides of trees, buildings, and boulders alike. It was also devoid of any ambient sounds whatsoever: not even the industrialized world beneath them could be heard. The only sound was the whistling of the wind, and an old bell that rang every hour.
The only other creature out aside from Alu himself was a disgruntled gray cat that appeared to be lost. She meowed in a broken, howling sound. One of her eyes was gray and cloudy, while the other was a bright green that glowed in the dark, no matter whether it was reflecting the light or not. Alu grinned at her, flashing his half-rotten, graying teeth and cackling as the poor beast ran as fast as her old legs could go to get away from him. The animals that managed to survive Alu’s attacks seemed to learn that he was out to get them, and would run and hide each time he approached them, or even right before he showed up on Safehaven. Clever little shits they were.
He treaded softly through the yards of the cultists, taking in the decorations they filled their yards with: shrines to the UNSPEAKABLE, and plentiful demonic sigils, some even blooming from varieties of flowers planted in the ground. The flowers attracted flies, and thousands of them. They would envelope all of the flowers that bloomed as they would envelope any other foul-smelling thing they came across. He noticed his own blooming in a garden of rotting orange lilies and smiled. For how much shit he gave them, the cultists sure were devout.
And then, above it all, stood the Palace of Lucifer: an ordinary, three story house made out of wood like that of an old cottage. The front door always swung open in the wind, which never stopped whistling around the building. The hissing mountain winds, pertaining to nothing other than the void beyond, beat at Alu’s wings as he approached the palace, his head hanging low out of respect. The closer to the palace one got, the darker it became, and upon entering it there was no light at all: for the Palace of Lucifer was not a palace, but a hollow chasm of endless desolation. “Speak, Alu,” spoke a voice from within the abyss. “Have you come about the priests?”
Alu nodded, entering the building and going in until the light from outside was at least five meters away from him. “Astaroth has died,” he announced.
“I am aware. Fear not, Alu, we knew that this was a possibility. There is another plan, and you are at the forefront of it.”
Delight sparked through him when he heard this. “How so?”
“You, Sister Miriam, Malphas, and Astaroth are to return to Earth, collect your devout followers, and take them away from the city of Sterling. Resettle where it is safe, create a stronghold, and then wait for the priests to come. You are to bring the one Graced by God and the one who cares for him. Do not kill the one God’s child adores, for his power is too great, and his rage would consume you all. You may desecrate him and bring him to us as scarred as you wish, but you may not end his life, and you are to chain them up separately. Bring the priest Vessel at least moderately unharmed, for through him shall the UNSPEAKABLE return.
The residence of the priests is unknown. You will send out thralls to locate them before you leave Sterling. Once you have them you must tear from them their items of worship and destroy them by any means possible, and you are to bind their mouths so that they may not pray. And then there is another: the Vessel from New Haven. Bring her to us entirely unscathed. Through her Malphas shall be born. Do not let her know that the timid one is in our hands: if they know that they are imprisoned together it might bring them hope. You are to allow no light in the priests’ chambers, and no means of creating or imagining religious imagery of any sort shall be allowed within four-hundred feet of them. These are your instructions. Send word to Sister Miriam and Malphas once you have returned to Earth. Choose a meeting place in Sterling and discuss the plan. Once the priests have been located you are to summon Astaroth so that you may begin your journey.”