The young Antichrist, Marcus Drago, paced his room. The school year was only two days into a, for him, hellishly long summer vacation and he was already bored stiff.
The next few months threatened to be a nightmare for the Angels and Demons, who more or less watched over him or did their best to keep him out of trouble. That alone was usually a hopeless task, as the little guy had the energy of ten and a brain that seemed to be preoccupied with only one thing: making mischief and having as much fun as possible in doing so. But a bored Antichrist promised an epidemic of headaches and thus a drain on Raphael's supply of painkillers. The Archangel and Heavens head healer always a good planner. He had already stocked up just in case because he had an inkling of what was coming. Some of the other Angels had noticed that the usually stolid, short-tempered healer had expanded his inventory of painkillers and calming tea's considerably with a sneaky smile as he hummed a tune with his deep baritone voice.
Laila, the Archangel of knowledge, knew how much her little cousin and favorite rascal loved books and reading. She made her rounds in the vast Hall of Wisdom. The place in Heaven that on the outside looked like the Notre Dame in Paris, but housed a pocket dimension where all the knowledge of Humans, Angels, and Demons was stored. She was looking for a book that would keep the restless Antichrist occupied and out of trouble for at least a few hours. If you would have asked her what her chances were achieving that goal she would probably say not all that big. Suddenly, a history book caught her eye.
You should know that Heaven and Hell are not at war. Okay, sometimes the Angels and the Demons aren't the best of friends, but that's because their jobs are opposite. Angels are supposed to help and protect Humans and especially the real innocent. The Demons have the punish to truly wicked. All in all both groups get along well and are often found in each other's company. Sometimes on the vast training fields and dojos where the Angels hone their fighting skills. There was always some sort of competition between the two species as to who was the best warrior. But in a lot of cases, they could also be found in one of the many waterholes Hell was blessed with. And yes, they served more than mere water. Many an Angel had woken up the next day in the middle of a training field with a boulder of a headache, wondering how the heck they got there.
The task of watching over the young Antichrist's welfare during the long summer vacation was usually neatly divided between them, and sometimes even done together in cases where a particular Angel and Demon got along remarkably well.. Something that always seemed to put Marcus in a particularly good mood when he saw a duo, consisting of a Demon and Angel appear at the house. For him, it was a guarantee for fun but for one member of the duo not so much. Either he sided with the Demon and went for the more hellish pursuits, but there was never any real evil or untoward behavior involved. Marcus may have been mischievous, but he was not malicious. He was usually good-humored, polite, and respectful. His parents had raised him well, and it just wasn't in his nature to do bad things. Even though he would feel itchy to do something that was a little over the line, all he had to do was think about the fact that he would have to face his mother later on. And her evil eye frightened him more than anything Hell could ever throw his way. In that respect she was a scary one, a trait that more mothers appear to have by nature. One of his favorite pranks, that he had learned from a general of his father, a Demon he called uncle Bearus since he could talk, was gluing coins to the sidewalk and then observing the mayhem from a distance. Or he sided with the Angel and annoyed the Demon for the rest of the day by going for the more pious works, things as going to help out at charities like food kitchens. Something his mom had made sure was high on Marcus agenda in life. Whatever he chose, fun was guaranteed for him, because one of the two was definitely not in his element. And the Angels and Demons never knew in advance with whom he would side on a particular day.
Even though he is the so-called Antichrist, Marcus is especially loved by both groups. His light, warmth, and energy are infectious. It is as if he can light up a space simply by being present. Because of this, there were sometimes almost literal fights over who would babysit him, because that is what they all and always wanted to do. This Antichrist also did not come into existence to destroy humanity or usher in the end of times. He came into life because his father, the Devil, had fallen head over heels with a beautiful woman, and she for the dashing, sometimes a bit of a snob and a bit eccentric Devil. They got married on a whim, and less than a year later they held a little Antichrist in their arms. The two still lived in bliss and were sometimes a little too handsy for the taste of the boy who enjoyed letting out a loud distinct "yucky" with a sneaky smile. Marcus's grandparents did not differ much from human grandparents either. Okay, they are the Goddess and God of the Universe but those titles disappear the moment they lay eyes on their grandson. They adored the boy and tried to spoil him rotten and would succeed in doing just that if it were not for his mom, Angelina, who firmly put her foot down.
Marcus was called the Antichrist by ignorant people simply because he is the son of Lucifer, just as Jesus is the son of God. That and the stories made up by people about what the Antichrist is supposed to be annoyed his dad and grandpa immensely over and over again. At one point, after a rather firely lecture by a very orthodox cardinal in the Vatican about the Antichrist, Grandma had had to do her utmost to stop, a foaming at the mouth, God from razing the Vatican to the ground after what that cardinal had dared to say about his grandson. What she didn't stopped was God's decree that this cardinal would be entrusted to the care of Bearus for a while after his earthly existence. That general, who was quite fond of his nephew, had made his wish clear to his King and the Gods that he would like to exchange a few not so cordial words with that narrow-minded cardinal. The Goddess may be an extremely loving Mother Nature but you better not say a bad word about her grandson. That was the point that she, just as nature itself, could become very scary. She had time and liked her dessert served ice-cold so to speak.
This was one of the many things that humanity just doesn't seem to understand about Heaven and Hell, God and the Devil. There is no Devil, no Satan. Only Lucifer, and that about being the Devil is just his job, not who and what he is. Yes, God and his oldest son had a big fight and yes the first of the Archangels was sent to Hell but that was not so much a punishment. One could see it more as a time-out, a teaching moment for the impatient Angel. So Lucifer went to Hell, learned his lesson that ruling is not as easy as he thought it was and became the King of Hell. His parents called him back home when they saw that he had learned the lesson but Lucifer refused and stayed King of Hell. The Demons and the souls residing there needed a King and he had decided that he would be that King and make sure that the Demons stayed in line and did not run amok on Earth and that the depraved souls had their deserved punishment.
If Jesus is the thesis, then Marcus is the anti-thesis. People just don't seem to understand that thesis and anti-thesis can perfectly pursue the same goal but in completely different way's. In this case the goal was a better, more peaceful, more valuable way of life for man. But where Jesus wanted to guide humanity with silk gloves the Antichrist would not be a gentle teacher. Marcus's task, however, would be way more difficult than his uncle's 2000 years earlier. Mankind was on the verge of self-extinction, and a way had to be found to prevent it. As Lucifer called it: "an ant-fart away from annihilation..."
But that was a problem for later. Now everyone let him enjoy his childhood to the fullest. Especially Jesus, who had taken him under his wing, so to speak. Jesus was particularly fond of his nephew and was usually the instigator when the boy came up with an idea for a more complicated plan for mischief. Christ took a demonic, pardon the pun, pleasure in giving both his father and his favorite brother, Lucifer, a solid headache through the antics of Marcus.
Laia took the book off the shelf and looked at it intently. On the one hand, it would fit the Antichrist's sense of humor perfectly. It was a book about the dictators throughout history, written by a demon. The book told of the sometimes bizarre phobias some dictators had. Torturing the depraved souls of history's dictators in their cells had given the Demon a unique insight into their sometimes ridiculous phobias, and he had written a fun book about it. A book that had not only become a favorite among the other Demons but also charmed quite a few Angels. After making sure that Marcus would not cause too many headaches with this book, she sent it to him.
Marcus slumped back in his chair at his small desk in his bedroom and groaned. He was sure that he would die of boredom somewhere in the next few minutes, now that most of his friends had left the small town where he and his mother lived for some vacations or summer-camps. His father lived there as well, but he was only home on weekends. Think of him as a traveling salesman, except he spends his weekdays in Hell as its King. When a book suddenly appeared on his desk, he got a warm smile. One of his favorite aunts had obviously thought of him. He picked up the book, read the title and the preface, and concluded that this could be very interesting indeed. How interesting he could not know beforehand. He had retired on to his bed. His mom had come to check on him out of curiosity about an hour earlier. A silent Antichrist usually didn't mean much good. When she saw him absorbed in a book, she took a deep breath of relief. It was a well-known fact that the boy could be peaceful and quiet for hours if he had his nose in a book. Had she known he was just reading the chapter on Hitler, she probably would have started worrying. What did it turn out to be? Hitler had a huge phobia of cats, and wherever he went, his arrival was preceded by an SS unit. House cats had to stay inside and were luckier than feral cats, which often did not survive the SS visit. Marcus closed the book and threw it on the bed. He jumped into his sneakers and practically flew down the stairs. He had already manifested his wings, but he remembered his mother's stern words:
"No wings in the house."
His mom barely saw a streak of blood red, the color of his wings, as he ran into the yard and almost yelled:
"I'm going to see Dad!"
She sighed deeply, shook her head and muttered:
"Oh boy, what's that kid up to now?"
He was less than a step out into the garden when he vanished from Earth and appeared before his father's throne in the throne room of the palace in Hell. The King of Hell saw his son almost trembling on his short legs and sighed. He asked wearily:
"What do you need, Marcus?"
"Uncle Bearus, I need Uncle Bearus' now Dad!"
The Antichrist said enthusiastically with a wide smile that did not promise anything good for whoever was his intended target. What the Devil had feared when he saw his son appear in the throne room, with every feather in his wings almost trembling with excitement came true. He felt the beginnings of a headache and hoped it would not get too bad. He didn't feel like arguing with Marcus or asking questions because that would only make his headache worse, and he knew damn well that he wouldn't be able to say no when the little Antichrist brought out his puppy dog eyes. Lucifer was a sucker when his son pulled that trick and the Antichrist knew it all too well. With a defeated sigh, he looked at his general and just made a hand gesture to signal him to help Marcus with whatever crazy plan he might have come up this time. It seemed as if a thousand stars appeared in the eyes of the tough, leather-clad general, who seemed to be built like a linebacker in his prime.
The Antichrist grabbed his hand and pulled him out of the throne room, and the general followed with a big smile. Behind him, he heard his fellow general, Belios, giggle and the king groan.
Bearus asked:
"Where are we going, Marcus?"
The latter answered briefly with fireworks in his eyes:
"The ninth circle!"
The general suddenly stopped. The ninth and final circle was no place for children, even if they were the Antichrist. For a moment he was in doubt. This circle was not only the final destination of the most despicable souls mankind had ever spawned. It was also the home and workplace of the most violent and dangerous demons in Hell. On the other hand, he couldn't wait to see what the little rascal was up to. He summoned Makaria, a powerful female demon and head of the king's personal bodyguard. When she appeared before them, a small smile appeared on her face. Makaria never smiled, but seeing Marcus always brought a trace of a smile to her face. She asked:
"How can I be of service, General?"
And at the same time she thought:
"This could be fun..."
Bearus replied, emphasizing his words so that they would not be misunderstood:
"The Prince wishes to go to the Ninth Circle. I want a double phalanx around him at all times, and the first of your people who doesn't pay attention will pay the price."
Makaria growled:
"The first one who does not watch over the little prince and guarantee his safety will not be around long enough to realize that he screwed up!"
In no time, Marcus was surrounded by twelve fearsome-looking demons who took his safety very seriously even without the extra threat of their commander. Arriving at the ninth circle, Bearus asked:
"And now?"
The Antichrist was so excited that when he spoke, his words seemed to be glued together:
"I need you to manifest a new cell. But not just any cell. It must resemble a medieval dungeon, dark, damp, and moldy, lit only by the occasional torch here and there. Most importantly, the cell must be an endless maze!"
Bearus's eyes widened in surprise because he didn't understand what the prince wanted with such a cell, but he did as he was asked. A few minutes later, the cell was a reality. Marcus pointed at Makaria and said with a dastardly grin:
"Would you please go get Hitler out of his cell for me?"
Now there were two of them looking at the Antichrist, not understanding what the kid was up to, but the demon did as she was told and made her way to drag Hitler's soul out of his cell.
Marcus entered the new cell and went to work; this last bit he could do himself. His powers were far from being fully developed; that would take some more years. But for what he manifested they were already strong enough. It was actually nothing more than a tangible hologram, but to someone who didn't know, it looked damn real. He manifested hundreds of cats, large and small. From an ordinary house cat to a tiger, and he made sure that they all wore collars with the Star of David very visible on them. Even in the semi-darkness of the new cell. The mark that Jews were forced to wear by the Nazis during their reign of terror. He made sure the cats were spread out neatly in the endless maze. No matter where Hitler would try to run or hide there would always be a cat nearby. Then he left the cell to wait for Hitler's soul.
A minute later, Makaria appeared and pulled the dictator by the neck. For a moment, the playfulness in Marcus's eyes disappeared and the fire of hell became visible in them in full intensity. The boy was a bit of a history buff and had developed a true distaste for figures like Hitler, Stalin and Mao. He spoke icily to Hitler:
"From today you have a new cell... have fun with your cell-mates..."
He kicked the dictator hard against the ribs, and this one flew with his phobia of cats into the new cell, after which Marcus slammed the door shut for all eternity as far as he was concerned. When Makaria and Bearus asked what this was all about, Marcus told them the story about the book with a big smile on his face. Announcing he would be working on some follow-ups for others but he just needed to get this one done first. When he was narrating his story and plans for the future, the two demons were lying on each other's shoulders roaring with laughter...