When the devil recieves his dues

Hell: Home of the Deciever



"Fine, take her! You win and now you can have your pound of flesh." He turns his back, a shabby leather coat dull in the firelight. A woman with a liquid silver curtain for hair crosses her arms, a smug expression across her petite face.

"I'm very surprised with you, willing to give your own child up so easily?" She laughs, the sound is like a trickle of water over smooth pebbles, "It is no wonder that you have no worshipers." She turned to leave, her pale hand upon the ornately carved door handle. "Do you wish to say goodbye?" The man clasped his hands behind his back, rough, scarred and burnt, had a single silver band on his smallest finger. He twisted this off and held it a moment.

"Give this to her, this is my goodbye." He set the ring on the edge of a table, there it glowed red for just a second before returning to its luminous silver gleam. "I'll be seeing you then." In a burst of flame and light, he disappeared.

The woman sighed, nothing could ever begin to explain her adversary's strange emotions. She retrieved the silver band, twirling it from one finger to the next, a large hoop in comparison to the tiny gold rings upon her own fingers. (What a useless thing...) Forgoing the door, the woman lifted her arms, disintegrating into shining particles of white light and then burst, all the particles fading from sight. The room was empty.

"What's going on?" She's laying up in her bedroom, walls covered in posters of bands and movie stars, at her dresser is that woman, arms crossed and frustration on her lips. "I'm not gonna go anywhere with you lady, this is *my* room, my dad's place, you know?" She stretched, shoulder blades curving wickedly against her decadently curved spine. "it ain't like you're all like, God or something." The girl under the covers curled back up, her long raven black hair spread like wings over her pillows.

"Actually, I am." God crossed the room in sweeping strides, a furious wind whipping posters around and random articles of clothing flapped through the air. Satan's daughter sat up, fire in her golden eyes, brows furrowed she bared fangs like those of a wolf, growling low in anger. Still God came closer, a fiery heat enveloped the woman, her robe swirling. "I won the latest contest, and I have come for my prize!" She snagged the girl by the wrist, the smell of burning flesh flew about the room in the Lord's whirlwind. The woman concentrated on her kingdom of light, willing to transport both her and the girl and found her vision clouded.

"I am not leaving!" The girl snarled and bite down on the pale arm that gripped her burning wrist. Deities don't feel pain, they don't bleed they don't scream of flail. That isn't what they do. But all the same, it took God by surprise. She let go, recoiling from the beast of a daughter Satan had begot.

"You demon! How dare you attack me?!" God rubbed the wound on her arm, the gash filling with light before disappearing altogether. The girl shrugged, wiping the ethereal substance off her face. God reached into the sleeve of her robe, pulling out the silver ring Beelzebub left for his daughter. They glared at each other from across the room for a  few minutes before the girl began to lay back down. (Maybe if I pretend to sleep, this chick'll leave...)

"Here, what does this mean to you demon?" She lobbed the hoop and the girl caught it in one hand. She twirled it expertly in that hand, over and under and round and round until it spun over her wrist, the burnt one, where it glowed red for  a second and became a bracelet of knots, twists and spikes. She sighed contently, like a release and threw back the covers.

"Okay God, let's get a move on. I'll race you there!" And in a flash, the girl disappeared just as her father had. Stunned for the sudden change of disposition, Lord couldn't think. She groaned in frustration, whirled about and disintegrated again. The room was a complete mess, and it was empty.



Heaven: Kingdom of Light



All around, warm sunlight shining down from no real source, just, shining. Soft, luxurious grass grew across the endless fields, dotted with small forests, hills and far off in the distance...

"My city." God looked on the distant buildings with nothing but the utmost pride glowing about her small face, but like all deities, her eyes were fathomless and empty. The raven haired daughter of Satan glanced around.

Open fields, no walls, no ceilings of any sort and definitely no one else around.

"What? Are you the only person here?" The girl blew a raspberry, blowing a stray skein of hair from her eyes, "That's way lame." 

The pride on the woman's face quickly changed to impassion. (How dare this demon child ridicule my kingdom!)

"I'll show you," God grabbed the nape of the teen's shirt, unwilling to experience her previous cloudiness from direct contact with the teen's skin, "My kingdom is all there could possibly be and more." With a rush of simmering air, God had traversed the enormous distance in the blink of an eye.

The girl looked all around, of course she was used to beauty, her father's palaces were all carved and chiseled to depict the finest artistry Hell could find. But it was of a rugged, wild beauty crafted from nature with hands that knew nothing but their work. Nothing like these majestically carved towers and walls of marble and crystal, this Heaven was a place made of gentle breezes and flowing waters.

"This, this is a nice place." her head swiveled and tilted and her feet had begun to carry her away, searching for more of this beauty. God huffed.

"Of course it is." The Lord's eyes clouded for an instant, the emptiness never leaving, before returning to the face of the demon child. "I'm much too busy to concern myself with you," She clapped her hands sharply, "Devaime!" A small cloud of bubbles burst, leaving an-angel?

"You called, my Love?" God didn't even glance towards the angel, she began to walk away even.

"Take care of my prize, watch her. Or better yet, do what you want with the little demon." And God burst into light and was gone. The angel rose from its position on one knee, the girl was surprised to find it wearing pants.

It's wings to her, they were folded neatly against a special shirt that seemed to allow free movement of its feathery appendages. The color of clean ivory, each feather had a single eye on it, each eye individually different from its neighbors. Its feather's rustled and shifted, all the eyes were closing beneath her own gaze.

"You are the Lord's prize?" She jumped when the angel addressed her, partly due to her inspection of its wonderful wings, partly because the voice sounded very, tired. It turned to face the girl, feather eyes opening again and she couldn't believe her eyes.

The angel had punk rock logos plastered all over the halter top shirt, leaving its midriff completely exposed. A perfect caramel tone, fair and unflawed, it reached down, only coming to a stop at the top of black skinny jeans riddled with scrapes, holes and various pins and buttons. A chain belt fell to the side, the heavy loops a dull gray that she was familiar with.

"My face is up here," Its voice startled her again, making a tremor run down her spine. She looked away from the pants, traveling back up the angel's perfect body, its exquisitely curved neck, to the face of the angel Devaime. She gulped, body trembling. (Why do I...?) She clenched her fists, digging gnawed fingernails into her palms. Devaime's face had to be even more beautiful than the carvings that surrounded them...

Devaime began at the neck, a simply round chin with just the right amount of protrusion to make its lips stand out. Lips that were full, luscious and curved up slightly on one side creating a perpetual grin of mischief. Strong cheek bones, not jutting out but flowing with the rest of its face. Its short hair, just as dark as the girl's, was cropped short in the back and proceeded to be lengthier towards its jawline. A mid rise forehead, smooth with no lumps, lines or wrinkles of any sort, held up by two expressibly curved eyebrows. And Devaime's eyes...

"You found my face, thats good." The girl cursed herself silently for drifting off again. Devaime's brows furrowed, lips frowned. "You *do* have a name, I presume?" Devaime looked her right in the eye, the girl found that the tight knot of apprehension from traveling to Heaven with God as her prisoner, just vanished.

"My, name-" She stopped, her voice warbled like a young girl! She rolled her jaw and tried again, "My name is Malice Raizheem, what's yours?" She could have slapped herself for being so infantile! The angel nodded, closing its eyes was like watching a sun rise and set all at once with the way its lashes melded and turned up.

"My name is, as you may have heard, Devaime." It crossed its bare arms, Malice could see lines, thick and thin like stripes on a tiger, running short ways across Devaime's otherwise unflawed forearms that rippled with firm, but not bulgy, muscle. "The rest of my name comes with my duties, for now, I am Devaime, Guardian of Malice, but I will always be one of the Lord's children."

Malice hadn't caught everything right until Devaime had stopped talking. (child... Angel... Guardian? Lord? Wait a second...)

"EEEEWWW! Thats like, way gross!" Devaime looked genuinely puzzled by the sudden outburst from Malice, who was shaking her head wildly in typical teen fashion. "You were all up on your mom like 'Oh! My darling! Love me!' That is soo wrong!" Devaime raised its eyebrows in amusement.

"You actually think that she is my mother? And that I am in love with her?" It shook its head, the long strands of silky darkness shaking in time. "There is something wrong with you..." Devaime laughed, a short barking type, with closed eyes and white teeth and everything. "She isn't my mother, and we all give our undying love and devotion to our Lord God who is with us." Malice stopped gyrating, understanding what had occurred.

"Oh. My bad..." An awkward silence took hold of the two, standing in the hall of marble and pure crystals. Malice contenting herself with gazing about the room and Devaime with contemplation. Finally, Devaime broke in.

"I can't think of anywhere else where no one would try to kill you, so I suppose you and I can share a tree until one can be grown for you, unless you want to stay somewhere here in the city?" Malice hadn't seen or heard anyone else besides God and Devaime since arriving in Heaven, she had no clue to anything in this realm...

She mumbled, shuffling her bare feet, a dirt crust from Hell still clear. Devaime cupped its ear, several rings and studs shining there.

"I couldn't hear a word you just tried to say, speak clearly and preferably a little louder please?" Malice threw her hands in the air, suddenly over her former embarrassment.

"I said! I think it might be a good idea you know, to not leave me alone and get all killed and junk, so I think that maybe I'll go with you to you tree thing and hang out for a while." After a moment Malice threw in, "At least until God gets tired of me and I can go home to Hell." Devaime nodded, it knew God would keep her until the end of days, if only for the sole purpose of spiting Satan.

"Okay then," Devaime held out its hand, long fingers with a square palm, "take my hand, and we can go." Malice tightened her hand into a fist again, cutting into the flesh again. Devaime lowered its voice to almost a whisper, "Its okay, I won't hurt you, I'm your Guardian, remember?"

Malice loosened her fist, and placed her fingers into Devaime's warm palm. There was a fiery burst of bubbles, and then the hall was empty.





Tree of Devaime-Kingdom of Light:





It occurred to Malice that, although she had been in Heaven for at least three days, that the sun never went down. Also that there were absolutely no shadows whatsoever. Light just seemed to permeate everywhere Malice went, even when she looked into the distance, there was no darkness. It made her shiver. Devaime didn't spend all of its time with Malice, it said that there are always duties of angels that didn't include lying about in a tree with a depressed girl...

Malice sat on the edge of Devaime's 'tree'. It was like a tree in truth, it grew from the soft field up and up with no branches until it suddenly burst outward into a pretty sizable living quarter. Inside was much larger than it seemed from the outside, Malice had been using Devaime's bed, Devaime had never been caught napping, nodding off or asleep.

(Whats the point of a bed if you're the only one who sleeps?) Malice watched Devaime all the time, the way it moved so gracefully, be it in the air or across the field. And Devaime was really strong too... She watched while Devaime had torn apart a stray spirit.

It was really scary, Devaime had let her down from the tree to get some outside light and exercise when a huge curtain of freezing fog enveloped her! Malice tried to hurt it with her father's ring but the spirit was insubstantial, leaving Malice suffocating in its thick, corporeal-ness. Devaime had launched into the air, its teeth bared and grabbed a hunk of the swirly mass, tearing it as easy as paper. Devaime roared and tore until nothing was left, then a new feather grew on Devaime's wings, one of the long flight feathers. Malice had noticed that the flight feathers had no eyes... Was it some sort of trophy system?

"Will you stop looking so depressed?" Devaime landed in the tree, a basket of various fruits over its arm. "Its getting to the point where I can't stand it anymore." Malice sighed and spun to face Devaime, dangling her feet over the short windowsill.

"I'd be less depressed if I were home..." Devaime stiffened. Malice noticed that when she told Devaime why she was sad and mentioned home, that the angel would visibly appear board like. "Or if I could have some fun?" Malice hated making the angel feel bad, it wasn't Devaime's fault...

"Well, what kind of fun are you suggesting?" Devaime set the basket on a tabletop, its hands working to unload its contents. Malice grinned, she had been waiting for a chance to do something extreme.

"How about... Skydiving?" Devaime swirled, its wings cutting through the air, its face one of the utmost shock as Malice leaned backwards out the window. Malice was in free fall. Air was rushing past her, whipping her dark hair around her face, pulling at her cloths, whispering in her ear... She opened her eyes, the ground was speeding towards her! much closer than it had looked from the tree! Malice felt the adrenaline in her veins, pumping along with the rapid beat of her heart. (Oh damn...)

"Gotcha!" Devaime grabbed Malice around her waist, jerking her out of free fall! Devaime leveled out, its wings straining against the sheer force and speed of the drop. They flew a while that way, Malice securely wrapped in Devaime's arms and Devaime gliding through the empty air. Malice felt the heat of the angel's body, she curled closer, closing her eyes and remembering the constant burn of Hell's air, so similar to Devaime's skin.

(I wonder if Devaime is a man or a woman?) Devaime swooped into the tree, landing gracefully as ever, but didn't set Malice down. The teen wiggled, sorely confused. Devaime held her until Malice looked her in the face. Devaime's eyes were a bright gold color, Malice just noticed, the same as hers...

"Were you..." No, there's no way! Devaime nodded, smiling sadly.

"I was a demon before I was an angel." The angel set Malice on the bed, sitting down beside her. It spread one fiery wing and held Malice close with each feathery eye rustling. "We are the ones from Hell here in Heaven. We have the chance to go back or to never have to return." Devaime was looking down at Malice, gold in gold.

"How do we do that? God won't let me go, I'm a 'prize', remember?" Malice crossed her arms, but leaned against Devaime's shoulder, the crook where the wing met its back. Devaime smiled again, the crooked edge staying lower than the rest.

"But I got permission to do what I want with you..." It ran one elegant finger down the length of Malice's nose, "And God gives all her children the power to choose, doesn't she?" Malice gasped, Devaime was right!

"But why have you stayed in Heaven all this time? Doesn't this place make you happy?" Devaime frowned, contemplative.

"Well, your father sent me. He knew the outcome of his bet, so he allowed me to be burnt clean before God and become an angel, awaiting the day for you to arrive so that I would watch over you." It laughed, "I suppose he didn't expect me to fall for his daughter though." It grabbed Malice's chin, so gentle, whispering, "Do you think I am a man?" Malice's brain was short circuiting, was Devaime telling her...?

"No," Malice pulled away a little, "I know you aren't a man..." She leaned back in, "But I don't mind that." Devaime smiled, entwined her fingers into Malice's long hair.

"Shall we depart?" Malice nodded, raising her father's ring, her bracelet, into the air. God thought it was a useless thing, junk. But it was the only thing other than God and Satan's own pure power than could transcend the worlds. The bracelet began the glow red, spinning all on its own.

"We can have Hell, Heaven can keep these feathers, this duty, this unrelenting watchfulness!" Devaime shook all over, a screech like metal and her wings tore off, replaced with the customary Demon back bones. Malice whispered to herself, wishing with all her heart, to go home. They were enveloped in a fiery globe of mercurial silver before it burst setting the tree and surrounding hills ablaze.

Their place in Heaven was Empty, they were gone to burn forever in Hell, together.