The room shook when someone said my name.
"LUCIFER!"
Akiras voice no longer resembled a tone. It carried hints of rage, treachery and something more menacing—hesitating to make a definitive choice. I gazed at him with my eyes partly shut, a grin present, on my lips barely registering his words. I had known it all along. Humans believe their choices happen abruptly. I have observed them develop like gangrene beneath the flesh.
This was not an inquiry born out of fear.
It was a desperation demand.
Desperation creates the favorable agreements.
He stood motionless like a statue his hands curled into fists the shadow wrapping around him, as though the darkness aimed to claim him. His eyes blazed—not with fear—. With resolve.
"Could you " he spoke calmly and firmly "grant me your strength, for the duration of my life—if we remain separate?"
Ah.
I'm afraid it was that.
My response was a burst of laughter.
Not at all. Not gently.
The laughter I experienced resembled a tempest erupting within a coffin of the ancient and horrifying sort; it was terrifying in nature and resounded strongly. It arose from within my chest from depths even the fire itself shies away, from entering.
"I believed " I spoke deliberately savoring the moment "that you would be the person to pose this question to me "
I shifted to his side the air turning thick and oppressive. The rooms hue darkened to black as did the elongated and eerie shadows.
"Well… well… well " I continued speaking my gaze resembling fading stars yet gleaming intensely. "I have the ability to infuse your frame with infernal energy. I can ensure that hell courses, through your blood."
I was very close to his ear.
"But in exchange " I murmured softly "I require five years of your life."
Akira had already arrived before anyone could utter a word.
In a flash his hand grabbed the chain draped around my neck yanking me closer. The metal groaned loudly as it constricted. His presence was charged with rage and sorrow. A faint tremor was evident, within it.
"Isn't it false " he muttered between clenched jaws "that you would become my servant?"
Ah—rage performs a task, in transforming a person.
I didn't oppose. I didn't fall back. I allowed him to think he held the reins.
"We fallen angels adhere to rules " I stated serenely. "Each requirement reveals an aspect of the cost. Every present supports us. Your lifetime—your agony—your offering… these elements fortify us."
My smile grew wider.
"Ultimately " I murmured "this is a pact, with the devil."
His grip did not grow firmer. As though the chain caused him pain he released it.
Spinning around Akira looked towards the direction.
The coffee table appeared to be the piece unaffected, by the chaos scattered across the center of the room—glasses, cups, plates and other remnants of a life that no longer suited him. With a cry that felt as if it had been torn from his soul he swept his arm sending everything crashing down.
Shards of a cup scattered everywhere. The noise of shattering glass echoed. Coffee spread across the floor like the victim's blood.
I resembled a child with the Christmas stocking brimming with myrrh raisins—overjoyed to the extent of being amazed.
Human emotions are excellent things—weak, volatile, and always entertaining.
Amid the debris his tone fell to a murmur. Soft. Chilly. Definitive.
"Seize them... Take five years from my life. Yet offer me all that you possess."
I had my eyes shut.
That is exactly the response I anticipated.
In one move I was next, to him and clutched his neck. My left hand rested on his chest above the heart.
"Focus on me!" I commanded, my tone brimming with power "and witness the flames of hell gradually consuming your form."
He shouted.
Not like a man.
More like something, on the verge of falling.
All my force was directed at him— severe and unforgiving. It rapidly penetrated the bone, the soul and even the recollection. His past was completely incinerated. His suffering intensified twofold. The humanity, within him was fracturing.
I witnessed his essence warp.
I witnessed a demon being created.
As I released him Akira was kneeling on the ground his hands bracing him up. Red and black energy spiraled around him furious, against the surrounding air ripping apart the earth underneath. The floor cracked open beneath his knees. He sank down onto them.
"Mortal " I whispered softly "Allow me to welcome you to hell."
I raised a finger.
His assets.
FEAR : The power to terrify and thus to corrupt human hearts.
WHISPERS:The sound that sways the vulnerable, into allegiance.
REALITY: The form of compelling individuals to choke on their own anguish until death is seen as a release.
VOID: The power to disappear, to show up, to be outside the space between two points.
"I have one thing to mention " I said.
Darkness appeared before him. Began transforming into a suit of armor.
Hellish symbols were stitched into the leather. A hood shredded by the horns emerging from it. Fragments of hellsteel metal. A titanium mask shaped to resemble the devil's face. An enormous dark cloak, heavy, with shadow.
Beneath the weight of his veins brimming with strength, which was gradually consistently moving Akira stood up one after another. He observed his reflection, in the mirror mounted on the wall and then.
He struck it with his hand.
The mirror shattered loudly into fragments. The shards of glass began to drop onto the floor.
"Excellent " he murmured quietly.
The tone he employed was no longer that of the boy I had known before.
"I'm finished escaping " he declared, ". Thats final. I'll create a new world.A world filled with love. A world of peace. A world based on equality. A world free of deceit."
When he spoke he had slightly shifted. The blazing eyes stared at the face concealed by the mask.
"I will build that kind of world " he stated, "in my manner by my own rules."
Outside the window the sun was gleaming.
Yet than delivering light it was ushering in something far more dreadful—the dawn of a new age the emergence of a new epoch.
ANERA OF GENESIS...