Beautiful Revenge

It was an ambitious play, one Mastema would have been proud to be a part of had he not been so sure it would eat into his golfing time for the foreseeable future. With his role already discussed and the overall objective clear, the mystery was gone and Mastema soon lost interest in the meeting.

‘Give me some of those budget handouts,’ he whispered to Asteroth as Abaddon outlined the projected timeline for the venture.

‘Of course,’ the Treasurer replied. ‘At least someone besides Lucifer recognises the significance of my work. How many do you need?’

‘I’ll probably need the whole stack,’ said Mastema, patting his stomach. ‘The executive bathroom is out of toilet paper and I had a large breakfast.’

Chapter Three: The quickest way to a man’s heart

Deep in the bowels of Mastema’s grey stone mansion Nergal floated back and forth like a freshly caged tiger with ADD. The leader of Hell’s Secret Police and Bringer of Lucifer’s Divine Justice had been relegated to little more than a babysitter. Nergal knew that sentiment wasn’t entirely fair; the girl had potential, he could see that, and she was far easier to stomach that her brother had been. Damon had been arrogant and ignorant; he had thought himself greater than his father and that hubris had been his downfall.

Nergal decided it was the surroundings that were responsible for his foul mood; being in Kaarl’s old room hours on end every day for three weeks had begun to take its toll. Perdition’s most famous traitor, the boy who had thwarted Nergal’s mission to help Damon, had lived in that very room. The place had become a constant reminder of his failure and the fact that Nergal was stuck with the boy’s father made it even worse. Like almost all of Perdition he hated Mastema; the good-looking, arrogant, quick-witted and lucky fool who somehow had retained his position despite centuries of tardiness, half-assed work and hastily covered mistakes.

While Persephone examined Kaarl’s belongings the Cursed Accuser sat hunched over a glass panel. It served as a monitor and had been Kaarl’s only real link to the Mortal world before he had struck his deal with Lucifer.

‘This is another fine example,’ said Mastema. ‘Not quite related to our mission but –’

‘It’s a picture of a cat wearing shoes,’ said Nergal. ‘It is in no way whatsoever related to our mission.’

‘Well you haven’t asked me to look for new information for awhile,’ replied Mastema. ‘Seeing as we had some downtime I thought I might try and brighten our day a little. He does look rather dashing in his little shoes.’

‘That’s another thing,’ said Nergal. ‘You haven’t unravelled anything, all of your talk about hours of study and a formidable intellect was hot air. You just type whatever we ask into that “Google” thing and then click on the blue words. A monkey could do your job.’

‘I make it look that easy. You can’t do what I do.’

‘What was he like?’ asked Persephone. The question out of the blue stopped Nergal from solidifying and lacerating Mastema’s disgustingly handsome face.

‘I can’t say rightly,’ replied Mastema. ‘As far as cats go he is one of the better examples I’ve seen. It might just be the shoes though; I’ve developed a bit of a bias towards felines with good fashion sense.’

‘I meant Kaarl,’ said Persephone, putting a book back on its shelf. ‘We’ve spent a lot of time in this room but I’m still not getting a sense of the Demon he was.’

‘My favourite expression for him was “worthless waste of my seed”,’ said Mastema, ‘although “pansy” and “lily-livered Mortal lover” are close to the top spot.’

‘I didn’t ask what you thought of him,’ Persephone replied. ‘I asked what he was like. You hold your son in low regard yet he got the best of my father, my brother, Nergal and every other Demon sent up there to stop him.’

‘He had help in all that,’ said Mastema. ‘He had Gabriel and as if that weren’t enough, the Angel of Death and Destruction as well.’

‘Father believes most of it was because of Kaarl,’ replied Persephone. ‘He said Gabriel and Samkiel were little more than the muscle. I think he admires your son.’

‘That’s ridiculous, the boy is a traitor.’

‘Kaarl turned against the only master he had ever known and walked his own path. In spite of everything else that happened I’m sure my father can appreciate that, if only for the irony.’

Distractions and sidetracking during the meetings had worn thin with Nergal. Normally it was Mastema who was the cause of the delays; clicking on the myriad of colourful things that popped up as they were meant to be researching. The fool had spent hours trying to order erectile dysfunction pills for Abaddon. Persephone had often stayed silent; besides the odd comment or question she had spent an inordinate amount of time studying Kaarl’s personal effects. It was unusual for her to veer off-topic and it was something that needed to be corrected before it became a habit.

‘If I may, Princess,’ said Nergal. ‘Our task is to find away to incite violence across the Mortal realm, not learn more about Kaarl. I’m sure your father’s patience wears thin at our lack of progress.’

‘Fine,’ replied Persephone, taking a seat on the bed. ‘What do you think our best options are so far?’

‘Religion is one,’ said Nergal. ‘Mortals have been fighting for hundreds of years over which God or Gods are the correct ones. Some even fight over facets of the same deity.’

‘They are still doing it,’ added Mastema. ‘Perhaps with a little encouragement–’

‘Like you’ve said, they have been doing it for hundreds of years,’ replied Persephone, ‘and we aren’t exactly getting record numbers out of it anymore. Next.’

‘Racism,’ said Nergal, glancing at his list. ‘Some Mortals hate each other based on skin colour or ethnicity. Others fight to the death merely because they were born on different sides of the same country. Perhaps we could foster that animosity?’

‘It’s not all of them,’ replied Persephone. ‘And from what we’ve seen most of it boils down to stereotyping, derogatory jokes and snide comments between like-minded people. Racism is a lifestyle choice if anything and it very rarely results in enough deaths these days to be considered profitable. Next.’

As each option was discussed Persephone shot it down. Strategic political assassinations were a waste of the Horsemen’s talents and there was no guarantee they would work. Murderous riots weren’t a given and the next person to fill the power void might not be the right fit. Dictators tended to settle down after achieving the top spot, concentrating on maintaining their power rather than expanding beyond their borders. Surrounded by solid gold toilets, sex slaves and high definition TVs they often lost their appetite for war and that would not suit Perdition’s purposes.

Nergal felt a twist in the place where the pit of his stomach would have been with each idea dismissed. Three weeks’ worth of Mastema was more than enough for the enforcer and he was in danger of losing his sanity. He had already lost his temper on a few occasions and Nergal prized his self-control. The Tempter of Men and Cursed Accuser had seriously damaged his calm.

‘Perhaps we could look elsewhere for answers or ideas?’ said Mastema. ‘We have Stalin, Hitler, Pol Pot and all of their kind right here, maybe we could learn something from them. I’m sure they’d appreciate a short break from the torture.’

‘A singularly stupid idea.’ said Persephone. ‘There is a reason why they suffer while the rest of the Mortals get to drink themselves stupid down here; they killed more innocents than Damned with their shenanigans and inadvertently helped the Hated One. Following in their footsteps is the fast path to failure.’

‘I didn’t mean our whole plan should come from them verbatim,’ replied Mastema. ‘But perhaps we might get some inspiration. Whatever we come up with will no doubt be cobbled together from many ideas. It seems the only way to address the bigger issue underlying all of this.’

‘What bigger issue?’ asked Nergal.

Mastema stood and arched his back. Hours spent over the glass panel had begun to take its toll and he didn’t want to suffer any permanent damage. Nothing ruined the effect of a good suit like bad posture.

‘The way the Mortals fight these days is the bigger issue,’ replied Mastema, shooting his cuffs. ‘In the good old days it was all sword on sword. Two Mortals, one death, and either the loser or the victor was ours nine times out of ten. Now they have these nuclear weapons and flying murder robots. A small room of Mortals can be responsible for the death of hundreds or even millions of their own kind. It may be a more efficient way for them to do things but all those souls will count against us if we haven’t secured them first. We’ll be shooting ourselves in the foot if we go about this the wrong way.’

Mastema grinned at the silence that followed his explanation.

These idiots had not even considered the implications of innocents dying by our hands, he thought.

Insulting Lucifer’s daughter would not have been wise but someone needed their face rubbed in the obvious.

‘I realised this before our first meeting with the Board drew to a close,’ said Mastema. ‘Foresight is one of the many benefits of a formidable intellect.’

He turned to Nergal.

‘Do you mean to tell me the leader of Hell’s Secret Police, a Demon whose job apparently revolves around intelligence, didn’t take this rather important detail into account? Who is the monkey now, Nergal? ’

The smoke began to flicker and take shape.

‘That’s enough,’ said Persephone before things escalated further.

‘I agree,’ said Mastema with a nod. ‘I think I’ve contributed more than enough today to warrant a break. I could kill for a sandwich right about now.’

Persephone snapped her fingers.

‘That’s it!’

‘What’s “it”?’ asked Nergal.

‘Food,’ replied Persephone. ‘An army marches on its stomach and the common folk riot when theirs are empty. We’ll make the powerful “haves” trade places with the developing “have nots” and sit back and watch the fun. One side will have all the guns and the other will have all the food. Mortals will sin to fill their bellies and die in droves soon after.’

‘A fine plan,’ said Mastema. ‘A veritable recipe for disaster, if you’ll pardon the pun. If we do this right, people will be beating their neighbours to death over a loaf of bread and countries will be fighting wars over fields of wheat.’

‘Pestilence, Famine, War then Death,’ said Persephone, her pointed teeth glinting as she smirked. ‘Someone was even kind enough to name the Horsemen after the steps. You two can take a break, Nergal needs to cool off and I want you to send Deumos in here. When you get back we’ll figure out how to make this happen.’

‘What does my wife have to do with anything?’ asked Mastema, ‘and who will make my sandwich if she’s in here?’

‘You don’t question my father’s orders,’ replied Persephone, her black eyes narrowing. ‘If you want to keep breathing I suggest you extend me that same courtesy. Now go.’

While Mastema walked off to find something to eat and his better half, Nergal wavered in the doorway.

‘What is it now?’ asked Persephone, taking a seat at Kaarl’s desk.

‘Your brother made it his mission to make the traitors suffer,’ Nergal told her. ‘He ignored the bigger picture and it proved to be his undoing. If he had he focused on the task at hand he might still be alive.’

‘And I would still be stuck down here in my room.’ said Persephone. ‘Instead Damon is ash and I get to go to the Mortal realm and fight on the front lines. I can find a way to use Kaarl for our purposes and break him when I’m done, the twins too. I’m not my brother.’

You’re just worried about being outclassed by a girl, thought Persephone, leaning back in the chair as Nergal drifted out of the room.

Kaarl had proven himself too much for even the best of Lucifer’s forces to handle and it was a realm-wide embarrassment. Using him to further Perdition’s goals would be a master stroke and hurting him in the process would be icing on the cake. Because the trio had been accepted into Paradise killing either Kaarl or the twins was impossible, at least with any permanence, but there were other ways to do damage.

It was common knowledge that Kaarl had never been in a relationship; although not much could be learnt from his old room it was clear that the boy was no romantic. To most this would have signified another dead end but to Persephone it was an opportunity. If she could find a way to make him want her, to lift him up before breaking him down, it would leave a mark in a place not easily healed. The idea of Kaarl’s first taste of true love turning sour and choking him sent a chill down Persephone’s spine.

Deumos knocked on the doorway. With her long black hair, delicate features and svelte red figure she was proof to all young Demonettes that ageing could be accomplished gracefully.

‘You asked to see me?’

‘I did,’ replied Persephone with her warmest smile. ‘Please come in, sit.’

And while you’re at it, give me an opening so I can get inside your son and tear him apart.

***

A week after Persephone had unveiled her plan Lucifer looked down on the body of his daughter. The other Lords in the dimly lit chamber kept their distance, unsure of what their Master would make of the scene. The sheets around Persephone were drenched in her golden blood and the runes and symbols used in the rites were still glowing on her flesh.

‘And you say she didn’t scream?’ Lucifer asked Uphir.

The skeletal Demon physician finished drying his hands and removed his mask.

‘Not once, Master; she didn’t make a sound. You would have been proud.’

The Light Bearer and Son of Morning brushed a stray strand of hair from his daughter’s face.

‘How long will she be out for?’

‘An hour or two,’ Uphir replied, washing his tools. ‘No more. Recovery will take a few days though.’

‘And you’re sure these runes will work against Laylah?’

Asmoday the Deceiver stepped forward. A serpent in human form, his fangs dripped with venom and his tongue flickered as he spoke.

‘Persephone’s memories will match her story, Master,’ he said. ‘If the Hated One’s seer goes looking she will find nothing but what we want her to. The sigils will keep the rest hidden from her powers; pushing down anything we want to hide.’

Mastema managed to suppress a snigger. Asmoday’s lisp was a constant source of amusement to the Cursed Accuser.

‘Will Laylah be able to tell that the girl’s mind has been tampered with?’ asked Lucifer.

‘Some of the larger lies will be…fuzzy when she views them, Master. That is unavoidable.’

‘It was a tremendous undertaking,’ added Uphir. ‘Keeping the “old” Persephone but building entirely new memories in case she is examined in depth; nothing like this has been attempted before. There was a very real chance she could have died in the process.’

‘Then count yourselves lucky that wasn’t the case,’ replied Lucifer. ‘Clear this mess up and get my daughter back to her chambers. We begin as soon as she is ready to travel.’

Chapter Four: All work and no play

Gabriel, God’s Champion and the Bane of Demons, grimaced as he struggled with the portal. He was a giant etched from white granite and the work was better suited to smaller, more delicate hands. His eyes, balls of golden fire, flared briefly in frustration as the portal shimmered and closed for a fourth time. Most Angels would have been able to perform the weave on their first attempt but he had honed himself for battle rather than such mundane tasks.

The sound of young Angels laughing and fooling around drifted in as the door opened behind Gabriel.

‘How is it going?’ asked Kaarl, dropping his bag on the coffee table.

‘I’ve moved my stuff in,’ replied Gabriel, ‘not that there was much to move. Now there is just this to sort out.’

Gabriel pointed at the blank space in front of the sofas.

The student accommodations were plain but comfortable enough. Like the campus they were carved from sandstone and they had a magnificent view of the ocean. Normally the students were mixed; taken from their old social groups and housed with strangers so new bonds could be formed and new experiences had. The trio had been kept together, again because of their unique past. The last bed in their apartment had remained empty for almost week.

Verin and Vetis had hoped it would stay that way. They had assumed the Hall was waiting until another social outcast popped up to round out their quartet. Kaarl had taken offence at being put in that category; unlike the girls he was actually making a few friends. When the trio found it would be Gabriel taking the bed the twins relaxed. Not only did they know him but it would make things easier. He was their assigned observer in the Mortal realm so it saved time. Having to hunt him down whenever they needed to get to work would have been added hassle.

‘What’s it like being back here?’ asked Kaarl.

‘Strange,’ replied Gabriel. ‘It’s been centuries but the place hasn’t changed. It also makes me feel old, being around all these kids.’

Gabriel tried the weave again and again it shimmered and closed.

‘Is that a viewing portal?’ asked Kaarl. ‘We’ve just started learning about those.’

‘Supposed to be, it’s been so long since I’ve made one.’

Kaarl watched in silence as the massive Angel went through the motions. On the next attempt the portal held; a perfect rectangle. The image on the other side of it began to come into focus.

‘Hey, that’s our penthouse.’

Gabriel said nothing in reply. He flicked his hand to the left and the image panned. When he had it positioned just right, the Angel made a fist and the portal zoomed in.

‘That’s great,’ said Kaarl. ‘Now we can watch TV from here. Can you put the news on?’

‘Later,’ replied Gabriel. ‘I didn’t spend an hour on this thing so you could watch the news. This is more important.’

Gabriel vanished and reappeared in front of the TV in the Mortal realm.

‘I’ll have to do that each time we want to change the channel,’ he said when he returned, ‘but it’s better than nothing.’

‘The Arnold Schwarzenegger Marathon,’ said Kaarl as he read the screen.

God’s Champion dropped onto the sofa.

‘Like I said, important.’

The twins walked in and slammed the door behind them. Verin dumped her bag on the floor and Vetis made her way into the kitchen.

‘We found out what the hugging statues are for,’ said Verin. ‘It’s sensitivity training, as if we needed that. Worse still, Sasha is in that class. She’s in almost all of our classes.’

‘Hey, sweet,’ said Vetis as she walked back into the room. ‘We have TV.’

‘It’s our TV in the penthouse,’ Kaarl told them. ‘Gabriel set it up.’

‘He did set it up,’ the Angel said from the sofa. ‘He set it up so he could watch his action movies in peace. Your girly whinging is ruining said peace.’

‘Well why don’t you just go there and watch it?’ snapped Verin. ‘You’re not stuck here.’

‘That’s a good idea,’ Gabriel replied. ‘I’ll see you three when you’re ready for work.’

‘Seriously, Sasha is everywhere,’ Verin said once Gabriel had left. ‘Every time we turn around her and her little gang of sycophants are there.’

‘It’s annoying more than anything,’ added Vetis. ‘She makes some snide comment, which isn’t really that hurtful, then her stupid friends snigger and we just have to take it. It’s not like we can just punch them.’

‘No you can’t,’ replied Kaarl, ‘at least not without conforming to the “Demon” stereotype. You probably aren’t doing yourselves any favours though by coming across as hostile and not making friends.’

‘We are making friends.’ said Verin. ‘But they’re all guys so it just makes things worse. Sasha keeps spreading rumours that we steal people’s boyfriends so when we’re seen talking to them it’s like proof or something.’

‘You two do steal people’s boyfriends, you did it all the time in Perdition. You’re relationship looters; you take anything shiny that isn’t nailed down.’

‘You’re supposed to be on our side,’ said Vetis, jumping onto one of the sofas.

‘And I am,’ replied Kaarl, ‘but you can’t call something a rumour if it’s the truth.’

‘I just don’t know if I can take three years of this,’ said Verin, joining her sister in the lounge. ‘It’s only been a week and I’m already in massacre mode. I hate girls.’

‘You’ll just have to ignore them,’ Kaarl told the sisters. ‘Best thing for everyone.’

The twins turned and glared at him.

‘I know that’s not what you want to hear but I don’t see another way around it.’

Kaarl left the girls to their sulking and started unpacking his text books. Unlike Verin and Vetis he was thoroughly enjoying his time in the Halls. Kaarl had studied the Mortals in his own time in Perdition, much to the disappointment of his father. Like all Demons, Mastema had seen the humans as mere chips in the poker game between God and Lucifer; unworthy of understanding and almost below contempt.

It had been their freedom that had initially intrigued Kaarl. Demons were expected to act a certain way, to be a certain way, and it just wasn’t in Kaarl’s nature to comply. The Mortals had no such restraints and it made them and their world diverse and interesting. It made it a place Kaarl wanted to live in. Lucifer had a stranglehold on Perdition and all were required to conform to his plan, to his way of thinking. The closest thing the Mortals had to those shackles were the expectations of their parents and society. By comparison they were easy enough to cast off.

Kaarl’s classes in the Halls delved deeper into the Mortal’s and their history; further than he would ever have got with just the Internet and conversations with the Damned he had been forced to rely on Perdition. The Mortals’ history on Earth was often written by the victor; opinions became fact and the truth was changed and diluted with time. In Paradise it had been penned by neutral observers. There were no politics to obscure it or agendas to alter it. Some of it was brutal, far worse than Kaarl could have imagined and other parts were beautiful beyond words. If there was one thing Kaarl craved it was knowledge and the Halls and its libraries did not disappoint.

It was a shame the sisters were having such a hard time but in truth it was mostly their fault. Petty vendettas aside, the important thing was that all of them graduated when the time came. Kaarl did not want to be separated from the twins; Synergy was as much theirs as his. They had started the journey together and it seemed only right that they took each step together as well.

‘Besides the whole “All the other girls hate us” scenario how are things going?’ Kaarl asked.

‘It’s all right I guess,’ replied Verin. ‘Like I said, the boys still talk to us and some of them are pretty hot.’

‘That’s not what I meant.’

‘She knows what you meant,’ said Vetis, elbowing her sister. ‘We just have to think in exactly the opposite way to how we were raised. That makes most of the classes a bit easier.’

‘That’s something at least,’ said Kaarl. ‘Just remember, if things change we have to tell Sophie straight away. I don’t want you two falling behind and I don’t want this business with Sasha to affect your studies.’

‘Don’t worry,’ replied Verin. ‘Those finals are our ticket out of this mess. We’ve got our eyes on the prize.’

‘Glad to hear it. Let’s go check on our “other” lives.’

‘About time,’ said Vetis, ‘we need to get something to eat while we’re down there as well. Gabriel went to town on our fridge.’

***

Kaarl hit the white-oak panelled floor of the trio’s penthouse in L.A. His first ever experience with a realm change, the one from Perdition to Earth on Lucifer’s behalf, had been jolting. He no longer experienced the loss of vision, coordination or muscle control. A mild headache for a few minutes was the only side-effect of shifting realms for a frequent-flyer.