(The Night Before the King's Departure from the Dungeons)
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''I don't want a bloody mate,'' the king said firmly as he gazed at his reflection in the floor-length mirror.
The devil leaning on the doorframe of his room straightened his posture and stepped in, moving closer behind the tall form of his brother — the Prince of Wrath.
''Why?'' he asked, dark red eyes staring back at the gold-red reflection, curious as to why a demon — especially him — wouldn't want a mate.
''Because I will kill her.''
The devil looked at him as he continued to force his golden cuffs down his wrists and get prepared to leave this place for the Red Palace.
''And that will happen right after I have tortured and consumed her soul.''
''Are you mad because we — especially higher-ranked demons like us — get paired with the weakest race, humans? Is that why you've grown so much hatred towards the blessings of having a companion by your side for life?''
The king scoffed while meeting the devil's shadowy reflection behind him. Constant thunder and lightning continued to flash everywhere in the sky, making this mountain — in which the seven of them all dwell as gods of the underworld — much more terrible than it is.
''I'm not mad that we are being mocked by God again for having mostly humans as our mates. I just don't like the idea of being forced to love and accept only one person,'' he slowly turned around to lock eyes with the devil. Lucifer had always admired how those eyes had a secret life in them — changing colors and drawing whoever he wanted to himself no matter what. He is one of the reasons the seven of them don't really get along so well. The other five are angry that he fell from Heaven to become the most beautiful creature to ever exist, while most of them fell with numerous scars, anger issues, and long-term traumas to the face. He was the cleanest and most endowed — fit for a king, even the supreme god of the underworld, more than the devil himself.
Lucifer's frown deepened silently as his brother seemed to tower over him by a few inches, golden eyes with a seductive mist of red in them staring down at him as he made his next statement.
''I would rather have all the women in the underworld to my side than be stuck with one weak, wretched, and insignificant thing in the likeness of Adam for life.''
The devil grew silent as he watched his brother still pour out his hatred on the first consciousness that appeared in the garden. Adam and Eve caused his downfall and to be cast into Hell to be their seventh. This brother of theirs was never an angel in the first place, but an ancient, ageless being that has been roaming the earth, filled with wisdom and enough understanding to share to the foolish. He was never good or a product of light.
It only made it worse when he was cast away to the underworld to rot and perish alongside him — and he rose to be the seventh demon god of wrath and anger.
The devil moved down the steps with him of their unholy mountain to his horse, waiting and prepared for his journey back home. The dark clouds above them matched his mood, displaying how wrathful he could be if messed with.
The devil waited, clothed in a dark red robe as he stared down at his seventh brother from the steps and under the hood. His insidious eyes — blending perfectly with his red robe but sharper — observed the king leaving the dungeons after staying here for sixty days. They shone darkly with hidden hatred and envy for anything that might rival him or make him any less inferior than he was.
''So just so you know, it wasn't Adam's fault — or Eve's — that you are stuck here in the underworld,'' the Imperial King and god of the whole of the underworld dared say, regardless of how that might trigger him. His red eyes, haunting under the red hood, gazed down heavily on the stilled form of the other king. The clouds above them picked up their race of lightning and groaned heavily with thunder. ''Just like how it's not my fault the other one-third of the angels that fell as demons with me down to Hell all lost their heavenly light and charm. If you never wanted to sin, no one — no matter how good that person is at manipulating — could make you. All actions are either unconsciously or consciously decided in your mind. Manipulation and temptation are easier when the person is already subconsciously aware of his desire to sin. You desired Eve — Adam's second wife. Deep down, you loved her so much you screwed with their lives in the garden as a detestable abomination. But when she chose Adam still and you got the biggest punishment… you fell as a wrathful demon — the only demon I know who despises the human race down to the core. You dislike their women the most and are now scared of having one as your mate.''
The king just stared at the barren abyss before him, his dark red-gold gaze flickering with so many emotions in them as the devil continued to hurt him with the truth. If he wasn't the supreme god of this cursed world, he wouldn't have hesitated to send a thousand lightning bolts his way to end him for good.
His eyes darkened at the pleasurable thought.
How dare an angel he watched being made by the Creator thousands of years after he spawned into existence via a dark alchemy talk down on him and his terrible involvement with one of the arrogant creatures of the Creator?
If not for his sin with Eve and getting blamed mostly before the Creator, he would have metamorphosed long ago into a beast that would consume everything that did not tell of wisdom and be the only sole creature in existence — like he had always wanted.
But now, because of his past and first affections for a mortal, he is paying dearly by being bound to this godforsaken world — to be in charge of mindless, arrogant demons, forsaken witches, and damned humans who died and got reborn in Hell to pay for their sins.
He had always desired to know if Eve also got reincarnated into the world he dominated over. He would have her bound in chains and make sure her suffering in Hell was like no other — if possible, with the idiot she sided with.
''What a cruel fate,'' the devil interrupted his thoughts again and dared call his fate cruel. What does an angel he watched grow into God's favorite know about fate and wickedness? He turned slowly to lock eyes with that abomination that once caused Heaven to be divided. ''It's going to be a lucky day for you, because my oracle told me you are going to be meeting with your mate on the way. She would remind you so much of your past and would end up being your future — well, that is, if you grow up one day and stop hating mankind for your misdeeds.'' The devil concluded and vanished from his sight.
The silence that occurred after was the most intense ever. Even the rumbling dark clouds ahead paused for him to gather all his emotions.
'She would remind you so much of your past and would end up being your future.'
What in the hell does the devil mean by that?
The king mounted Apophis and rode hard and fast down the deserted road of the Great Abyss as one thought kept swirling non-stop in his head, fueling his rage and hate, stomping on every sign of life he came across except one.
My mate would be mortal, as expected. A bloody human.
And she was going to be dreadful enough to remind me of my past and bloody future.
''We are… nobles… we lost our dragon plaques… and we can't seem to find our way into the road of Red Ville…''
The king rode hard until he paused at the grand entrance of the Red Palace. All his subjects — regardless of whoever they were — all paused from whatever they were doing to bow down their heads at the foot of his horse.
The king, slightly disturbed and distracted, turned towards where he was coming from.
Those light blue eyes indeed reminded him of his past — those eyes he had once been headlessly captivated by and seduced out of his hiding place. The fleeting emotion of sympathy he felt for her — like he already knew her once and had lived this vicious cycle called fate with her as the villain of his unfortunate tale.
His eyes seemed to darken on the road he came from the more he thought of the golden possibility of the Creator also realizing that her sin was equally as great as his — and had her reborn into his world to suffer for it.
If that was the case, then with great pleasure would he teach her what it means to be reborn in Hell and not Heaven. Have her pay dearly for the sins she committed and did not commit for her time on Earth — and even in Hell.
A cruel smile played on his lips as a twisted kind of obsession resonated deep within him.
Eve.
You are mine now.