Hell

Though it wasn’t something he was exactly fond of, Touya found himself having enlisted as a member of one of the first missions to Earth. The war that he had been training for was finally about to begin. Though he didn’t quite share the excitement some of his comrades felt about being able to take on their enemies, he did feel a passion for something: protection. Touya couldn’t help but look at the young demons and remember how he came about in this existence and how he found solace in his ‘family’. These were the ones who raised him, grew up with him, and look up to him. Needless to say, his drive to protect all this was second to none.

Currently, however, he was meandering about the library. Though it wasn’t much, a dusty old building had been cleared out and made to house books of both demon and human creation. He took one from the shelves and began flipping through its pages in a nervous flurry. It was obvious to anyone that knew him that this was unusual behavior...

Sleeeppp... That was all Aya could think of as she dragged her feet down the long hallway of the building that her and her brother lived in. It wasn't a very large building, but comfortable all the same. Especially since it mostly consisted of Aya's most favorite color; red. Since her brother had taken control of the organizing and placing of furnishing throughout the small, two story mansion, Aya had been allowed to make things whatever color she wanted. This being, of course, mostly scarlet red, dark purple, and most definitely black. The seemingly young girl reached the end of the red-carpeted hallway, passing a couple more black doors that mostly blended in with the walls and a few purple candles hanging from the walls. When she entered the room, after slipping off her boots, she first made her way to a black, silk couch that was set against the far right wall and plopped herself down onto it, quickly laying on her back and letting out a relieved sigh.

Right now, taking a nap was her first priority. She had gotten up super early to sign herself and, of course, her brother on the list of member who would be taking the first trip to Earth. It was finally something to pass the time with. Nowadays she'd do nothing but sleep or start arguments with some of the guards just for the heck of it. Though her brother didn't know of her signing him up as well, she knew it wouldn't be much of a problem. It was Aya's absolute goal that they did everything together. Some silly war wasn't about to change that. She let out a long, sloppy yawn before closing her eyes and, before she knew it, she drifted off into a deep sleep as the warmth of the candle lights flickered around the dark room.

Keito stood in front of the large, red wood rectangular table that stood in the middle of the kitchen, staring down at his masterpiece. A large, round plate of deep fried chicken legs covered in melted Swiss cheese. He'd been cooking all morning. For one, he had nothing better to do and he wasn't about to stand around the house doing nothing, and for two, he hadn't seen his sister all day and figured he might as well do something sweet for her. It wasn't normal for her to just leave the house without saying anything. He knew how much of a fan she was of deep fried meat, despite how unhealthy it was for her. The boy leaned over and switched off the fryer before hearing the sound of one of the doors in the hallway open and shut. Must be Aya, he thought to himself, placing a dirty spoon in the sink before leaving the kitchen and making his way down the candle lit hallway.

Once he came to her room, he first turned the nob to indicate he was entering, then slowly opened the door. He was surprised to see that she had fallen asleep on the couch across the room. Then again, Aya wasn't exactly a 'morning person' like Keito was and she had left pretty early this morning. If she fell asleep now, she wouldn't be able to sleep later. "Aya." He said, closing the door behind him and making his way over to her couch and letting out a sigh. "If you sleep now you won't get any sleep tonight, plus I just made some lunch so you should get up before it gets cold." He waited a moment, still no reply from her. "Aya?" He said, leaning down a little and poking his sister's cheek a couple of times with his index finger. "Come on, get up."

Aya was awakened by the feeling of soft skin pressed against her right cheek. For a moment she was going to ignore it, then the voice came. ""If you sleep now you won't get any sleep tonight, plus I just made some lunch so you should get up before it gets cold. Aya?" Another poke, "Come on, get up." She let a small moan escape from her lips and she slightly opened one of her eyes to look up at her brother. With a loud sigh, she sat up and rubbed her eyes. Instantly she could smell something amazing. The smell also lingered around her brother and with that she knew he must've been cooking. When she had left in the morning he had already been awake and she didn't bother telling him where she was going since she didn't want to have to explain that she was going to sign them up for the war. Keito wasn't much of a fighter. Well, she knew he could fight, but it would've been a pain trying to convince him to join her. They had to do everything together, no matter what. She was fully set on that whether he liked it or not.

"I was sleeping.." She mumbled, looking up at him. "Can't you give me a break? I was up early this morning so I could sign us up for the journey down to Earth..." A wide smile spread across the girls face and her eyes gleamed. "Oh yea I forgot to tell you, we're going together! Isn't that awesome?" Her drowsiness vanished in an instant. "We get to be one of the first! Cool right?" Aya jumped up off the couch and shot her fist forward in a punching motion, her eyes set forward on nothing. "Get to kick some little Angel butts and chow down on some human-made hamburgers!" She then walked past her brother and over to her door before spinning around on her heel to face him again. "By the way, what did you make? It smells tasty! My mouth is already watering!"

Touya twitched slightly at the sudden break from his being lost in thought. Turning to see who it was that had come to visit him was unnecessary as by now he was fully capable of recognizing the tone of voice. Lucifer. Without a doubt it was the Head Demon himself. Touya’s ears twitched slightly as he once again brought up his smiling façade. “It’s nothing. Really.” He said in the blandest of possible manners. Why he had begun to try and mask every one of his emotions is unknown, but for a number of years it was a common practice for the demon to smile for no reason and cast aside anything that could possibly trouble his comrades. Foolish as trying to fool Lucifer was, Touya made no attempt at stopping his charade. “Anyways… The battle is quickly approaching, is it not? Are you prepared?” The change of subject was a bit forced, but Touya didn’t really care.

The snake gave a small hiss, but not in anger, nor agitation, but more as if it were laughing. "It isssssss approaching, and we are prepare, Touya. And you are not ssssssslipping out of this converssssssssation." The serpent morphed into a well-built man, with a body scarred with battle, hair of dirty white, eyes red as flame. On his back sat two wings; once white, they now were the color of the Void, seeming as crow's wings. It was Lucifer's distorted First Form, one which he rarely took to. As the Fallen Angel, the Rebellious of Heaven, the Lord's Failure.

"It is foolish to lie to the King of Lies. Something is wrong." The Demon placed his hand on Touya's shoulder, like a father did to a son. Lucifer knew that look, knew this behavior, knew the lies were hiding something. After all, he had made Touya, to an extent. Formed by Lucifer from the spirit of a young man, too young to know life but too old to be excused for not following his Maker, and never excused from his suicide. Things such as these fueled Lucifer's fury toward the God of All, and, using his own Angelic, yet tainted, blood, Lucifer formed the Demonic being known as Touya. Of course, the transition from human to spirit to Demon erased the few memories that Touya had held, placing him in a position to find a new life. Even in Hell, Lucifer managed to make a new start, and took responsibility for the boy, who was almost like a son. His own creation.

"What is the matter, Touya?"

He knew very little of the origins of his existence, but he had always seen Lucifer as someone to look up to. A father figure to take the place of the parents he never really had. Either way, it was obvious his lies were failing quite miserably and there was no possible way he’d be able to keep this up in front of the King of Lies. Giving in, his smile remained, but his tone changed to one of worry as opposed to the usual façade of happy indifference. “It’s…” He hesitates for a moment, as if in thought, before continuing. “I don’t want to lose…” He mutters slowly. It was technically true. Losing to their enemies, the angels, could indeed lead to the death of his fellow demons. However, Touya still didn’t feel comfortable revealing this information in its entirety. “I mean…” The young demon glances at his right hand… The dark gray serrated skin glinted slightly as he tightened it into a fist. “I want to win. I want to win for our kind. For the demons.” He glanced at Lucifer before letting his hand drop to his side once more.

Lucifer gave an understanding smile. "That is understandable. And I understand that there is more pressure than that of before to win. To survive." Lucifer nodded, knowing that these words were true. God would not put mercy upon His former creations, and Lucifer had no doubt that God would not be any easier upon Touya. If anything, he would be judged much harsher, being a creation not of His Own. "But I believe in our kind. I believe we can win. Mostly..." Lucifer got down Touya's level, looking him in the eye. "...I believe in you." A confident smile. "You were reared by the Root of Magic in your art, and its blood courses within you. I have no doubt that you will make us proud. That you will make me proud."

Lucifer knew that, when the Seven Years of Tribulation were over, he was to be cast into the lake of fire, destroyed and consumed by God's 'holy' judgment and fury. His intention was not to survive, himself. Moreover, his case was to destroy the very essence of good so that when God rebuilt the world to be 'perfect', the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit would find Himself alone. An eye for an eye, a hypocritical Being for His Creation.

But, as far as Lucifer was concerned, for the sake of his Army, the Legions of Hell would win.

Lucifer gave a small sound of Hellish attention, several imps flying to their Master. The Lord of Hades spoke in the Demonic tongue, the floating flaming skulls flying to the far circles of Hell to alert the High Demons of a meeting called by their Lord. Turning back to Touya, he noted the interruption of reading that he had done. Lucifer pointed to the book Touya had held. "What were you reading, there?"

Keito took a small step back to give Aya more room to get off the couch. How could she be sleeping in the middle of the afternoon? Taking naps like this wasn't normal for her, nor was getting up early. "I could see that you were sleeping but You--"

"Can't you give me a break? I was up early this morning so I could sign us up for the journey down to Earth..."

She had cut him off, which wasn't new to him. Almost 70% of the time he could never finish his sentences. Us? He wondered if he had heard her wrong. Why would she want to sign up for something that supported the war? Especially the trip to Earth!

"Oh yea I forgot to tell you, we're going together! Isn't that awesome? We get to be one of the first! Cool right?"

What was she saying? They're going together?

"Get to kick some little Angel butts and chow down on some human-made hamburgers!"

He had to take another step to the side to avoid Aya as she jumped up off the couch and thrusted her fist forward, aiming for nothing. ..She's thinking of the hamburgers.. He gave her a worried look, trying to take everything in at once, something he wasn't really all that good at. It seemed, from what he could make of her rambling, that Aya got up early to sign not only herself, but him as well for the journey to the place he hated even talking about. He was lost for words as his sister walked over to the door and twirled around to face him.

"By the way, what did you make? It smells tasty! My mouth is already watering!"

"I made, uh, chicken. But wait a minute. Are you saying that you signed both of us up? You didn't ask me about this at all!"
As he spoke, he started reciting a long list in his head of what he could add into her lecture when out of the corner of his eye he noticed the light of a flame come through the window. He was a little confused for a moment, but then realized it must've been from Lucifur. A call about the journey I'm guessing. He looked over at his sister, the lecture he was about to give disappearing into the back of his mind. If he got mad at her now for signing him up, then there wouldn't be much point. Seemed he was in it already. "Do you know what that's for?"

Touya blinked slowly as Lucifer spoke. It was rather relaxing to know that even the Head Demon himself understood that the pressure to keep the demon race alive made this fight itself much more difficult than those that had preceded it. However, it was the next line that really got to Touya. ‘…I believe in you.’ Touya acknowledged this with a smile. Of course, to the untrained eye this smile would be impossible to differ from his usual. However, this was a real smile.

Noting the demonic beings summoned by Lucifer for a moment, He turned to the book he held once more and flipped to its cover. He hadn’t really noticed which book it was. After all, he was far too distracted to even read the text to begin with. At most, he had just been staring at a random page. Of course, he had spent a good deal of time in this library as he grew up and had read just about every one of the texts there. This one in particular, was of Human origins: A worn textbook on ancient human history. Blinking slowly, he speaks “This part’s about languages. It describes the various languages that came about over the course of human development. Hm…” His hand fervently scrolled down the page as he talked, pausing at portions where the text is too faded to read. “But it seems to be missing sections.”

Aya's mouth watered even more as her brother answered her last question. Chicken legs were the third favorite thing on her list underneath of corn dogs and pretzels. As Keito went on about not asking him to sign him up, she had already started imagining what the crispy chicken would sound like as she crunched into it. Oh the crispiness.... Her thoughts were interrupted by a light in the corner of her eye. As she turned her head and looked at the little floating skull, she couldn't help to think that it was kind of cute. It was small, on fire, had horns; what wasn't cute about it?

A wide smile spread across her face and her eyes widened. "Kawaaiiii!!!" She said, her tone of voice clearly indicating she was about to go into puppy mode. She skipped over to the little floating skull and poked its smooth cheek, the flames not bothering her at all, and she turned her head to her brother as she poked it. "Isn't it cuuuuuute?"

"Do you know what that's for?"

Aya pulled her hand away and glanced over at it for a moment before looking at her brother with a small smile. "It's Lucifurs. He always sends the cutest little things! Seems he's in the library right now." When she had touched it, she knew right away that he was calling them in for a meeting, most likely about the Earth journey. Sadly, the chicken legs that Keito made would have to wait until later. "Let's head out Jun!" She said happily, calling her brother by his first name. Which was actually something she did quite often. She grabbed her brothers wrist before he could refuse taking part and dragged him out of the house and towards the library.

"It's Lucifurs. He always sends the cutest little things! Seems he's in the library right now."

She thinks it's cute? That was Keito's first thought after watching Aya give the little floating skull a few pokes as her face lit up like she'd gotten a new present for her birthday. So he was right then. The head demon was calling in a meeting, probably about the war. No, it was about the war, and now, thanks to his sister, he'd be in it.

"Let's head out Jun!"

He let out a small hmph! as his sister grabbed his wrist and practically yanked him out of her room. They left the little mansion and made their way down a long, stone pathway, at this point Aya continued pulling on his wrist. She was supposed to be the older twin, but it didn't make much of a difference. 305 years old and she still acts like she's 12, he moaned to himself, looking at the back of her head. He smiled slightly. She was his sister and no matter how childish she acted, he still loved her all the same. She was so carefree and playful, he almost envied her.

They reached the library; a pretty large, antique looking building. As they entered, it took him a moment to spot Lucifur standing next to another demon who was holding a book. He recognized the man, but didn't know his name. He'd seen him around the library a few times when he came to read. If anything, Aya would probably know who he was, since she was far more talkative than he was.

Touya took a moment to absorb the words of Lucifer, placing the book he held gently back on the shelf before going to fetch the text Lucifer had asked of him. It was an old tome which Touya had seen many times, yet always felt slightly taken aback about handling. Either way, as it was an request, he collected the book and brought it to Lucifer.

He stood alongside his fellow demon kind. His comrades, his family. The words of Lucifer seemed to echo throughout his mind as he listened. The time to finally put this ancient war to rest was finally approaching, and Touya had absolutely no plans on losing. He smiled broadly as the speech went on. The fake smile, that is. Once more it was an easy means of masking his nervousness from the eyes of his comrades.