Hellbound
Hell was the worst place that anyone could imagine. The fallen angel, Sephaira knew about it, since the fallen had occurred a millennia ago. All damned souls were being taken away to each level of hell, which represents their mortal sins. One of them cried out in agony, saying that he didn't want to be here. But it was too late. Sinners and unbelievers had too much time on their hands, not thinking once about the consequences that may bring to their own damnation. Of course, Sephaira knew this as well. She had a soul slave, currently working for her. Even though it sounds erotic, the slave knew that if he had disobeyed Sephaira's orders, he would get whipped by her. Sometimes, those beatings took a toll on him, feeling the intense pain. And at other times, his skin gets torn off. And Sephaira had to wait for a couple of minutes for his soul slave to heal the wounds. His name was Tony Anthias.
Tony was an Italian crime lord who did his own dirty work back on Earth. He was once apprehended by Batman, putting him in jail, and then got the death sentence for killing innocent lives during the drug wars. There were often times, Tony kept wondering when Batman would ever kill a criminal, so that the caped crusader can be sent to Hell for his own punishment. He loved to see that. But Sephaira laughed about it, and said, "Batman never kills, you dope! On your fuc**** knees, human!" Tony knelt down, and Sephaira whipped his body over and over again. Tony reminded himself that this wasn't some BDSM game going on. But he heard that the souls of BDSM enthusiasts are willing to punish the sinners for their own dirty deeds. When Sephaira talked about this latest trend of punishment within the Hell Council, Lord Neron was pleased.
However, Etrigan the Demon didn't like this idea. He was a fiend all right, and never accepted new rules of hellish punishment. He told the council that this idea should get thrown out, and that they should stick with their old ways of punishing sinners. And not to mention, hiring soul slaves to do the hellish work.
"You must be mad, Sephaira!" Etrigan said to her. "We may be old and wise, but we can't change things to our own liking. We should always stick to the old rules. The Book of Hell says..."
"Oh, screw the book," Sephaira stopped him. "And screw you! Times are changing, Etrigan! We do get a kick out of it, once these new rules are established. That's what happens to sinners when they got kicked out of their own sins."
At hearing this, Etrigan sighed. He wished that he was back on Earth, saving innocent lives. But the rage within him got stronger that John Constantine had to bound him to Hell with a spell. This spell could never allow him to escape or get out. He was stuck here permanently.
Sephaira snickered at the thought. She knew this bad news had come from the higher ups of Hell hierarchy. She said, "Don't worry, Etrigan. Even though you don't like it here, I will see to it that you get your own soul slave. How about a woman? Eh?" She grinned.
Etrigan hadn't said anything. He left the council, and never came back for further discussions.
"Mistress..." Tony said, interrupting Sephaira's thoughts. "I had a thought about that demon named Etrigan. Ah... I think you should know."
"What do you know?" Sephaira said. She barely listened to his requests or discussions. But this time, it was different. Tony gathered his thoughts carefully and said, "I think you should speak with Etrigan on how to break this... Um... spell?"
"And how would you do that?" Sephaira asked the former crime lord. This should be interesting.
The crime lord knew this much. He had a former encounter with an old shaman, who helped him to heal after nearly being killed by his own enemies. It was that bad.
"Well, I know this shaman I've met before. He can work wonders, Mistress. I have seen him... Um... do things?"
Sephaira scratched her chin, and said, "Go on, I'm listening."
"Well... Apparently, this man..." He didn't know his name, because he never asked for it. But he can recall the facial description of the man himself. Now that the man was dead, the shaman must be in hell now. He told the rest of the story to Sephaira.
"I see," Sephaira said. "So you're telling me that if this shaman can break the spell, then I can go to Earth?"
"Yes, Mistress. Surely, you must know that being here isn't fun."
"But I'm having fun here. What the hell would I be doing on Earth?"
Tony sighed and said, "Taking control. Rein supreme. Things like that. You'll like it. I swear."
"Hmm..." Sephaira wondered. "And why you didn't mention this to me before?"
Tony didn't say anything. At first, he thought it would be a good idea to get out of Hell and help Sephaira rule Earth. It was the only thing that mattered to him. Freedom was his goal now.
"Speak up, human!" Sephaira said. "Or I will whip you into pieces."
"Well, mistress... I thought slaves hadn't anything to say on it. You know... Give advice?"
"Hmm, I see." Sephaira haven't thought about that. Maybe, she should discuss this matter with the Hell Council. But they certainly wouldn't agree upon it, not even Lord Neron.
"Alright, Tony. We will seek this shaman of yours." For the first time ever, Tony felt relieved that Sephaira had actually called his name. He smiled.
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The deepest bowls of Hell was worse than Tony could stomach himself in. Sephaira and Tony were going down through the cave, and entered an area, where demons were dragging the souls, torturing them. One of the demons was constantly crushing a soul's head. Then it said, "Next!" Tony looked away.
Sephaira had noticed him and said, "Oh come on, Tony. I'm sure you have done worse than this. Don't be a hypocrite." Tony didn't say anything about that. He tried to look down as he walked and followed her.
At the top of a cliff, an old man cried out in pain. Tony looked up and recognized him to be the shaman. A flying creature was tearing his flesh off, piece by piece. There were others among them. All of them were nailed to their own crosses, upside down. These sinners were confined to their own punishment for dabbling with the occult and black magic.
The shaman somehow recognized the former crime lord as Sephaira and Tony climbed up the hill. He said, "Tony? Is that you?" He cried out painfully when the creature kept tearing his flesh.
"Enough!" Sephaira said. The creature stopped and went on to torture other magic performers.
"Oh thank you," the shaman said. "It's been ages that..." But Sephaira stopped him and said, "Don't thank me! You should thank him." The old man tried to lift his head up, and saw Tony himself. The former crime lord smiled and said, "Hi there. It's been a long time." The shaman was quite surprised to see him, following the female demon, and not being tortured at all.
"Ah yes, I remember you." The shaman closed his eyes. "You asked me to heal you. Yes, I remember..." He was sweating all over, and would love to walk on his feet. "What do you want?"
The former crime lord turned towards Sephaira. She nodded, urging him to have a say on things. Tony faces the shaman and said, "We need your help." He explained everything.
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Etrigan tried to sleep when he kept hearing cries of tortured souls. This was one reason that he didn't want to be here. He missed Earth that much. He got up from the bed, and opened the window from his hellish house. One of the souls was cleaning the demon crap on the ground. He threw up, and kept working. Etrigan shook his head, and came back to his bedroom. His soul slave, Anna Hillman was currently cooking a meal in the kitchen. He can smell it. When Etrigan came down to the kitchen, he gulped.
Anna was a seducer, who killed men in their sleep after having sex. She was a beautiful woman alright. There were times that Etrigan felt the urge to make love to her, and that Anna wanted it badly. But he feared that Anna might kill him in his sleep, which sounded silly, because she was entirely naked, and had no weapons on her. At least, Etrigan should be thankful for that.
"Um... Anna?" Etrigan said. He was quite shy when he hired her as his slave. Every demon in Hell Town had one. And God only knows what these demons were doing to their slaves. Anna turned around and saw Etrigan. She smiled and said, "Are you hungry, master?"
"Um..." Etrigan tried to look away from her gorgeous body. Such lustful thoughts couldn't run away from this heroic demon. He gulped again, and said, "What are you cooking?" Despite the fact that he knows what Anna was cooking, he just asked for the sake of it.
"Oh, the usual," Anna turned around, and continued cooking. Etrigan cried out loud in his head, "Jesus Christ! Why the hell did I hire her? I must control my lustful feelings. He was controlling alright, but failed miserably. He said, "Look Anna... I'm going to the library and do some... Um... Research. Okay? Call me when dinner's ready." Anna nodded and focused on her task. Etrigan thought, At least she knows how to cook.
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In the library, Etrigan tried to find ways to break the spell. Damn you, John, Etrigan thought. Yes, damn him. If only he could control his rage while he once fought a demonic enemy named Kalos, who got unleashed from Hell a couple of years ago. But it was the only way. If it wasn't for his uncontrollable rage, Kalos would have destroyed the entire planet. He was so angry with John, that he wanted to tear him apart. But it was wrong. Etrigan can do better than that. He only needed time to decipher the magic symbol, which was embedded on his right arm. He looked at it, and sighed. He thought, Maybe John was right. After all, I'm a demon. I couldn't control myself. He closed the book, and placed it back on the shelf.
There was a huge knock on the door. Etrigan shouted to Anna and said, "Get the door, Anna! I'll be right there." He came all the way downstairs, wondering who would come at this hour of hellish night.
The door opened and when Anna called out to Etrigan, the heroic demon said, "I'm coming!" He stopped and saw Sephaira and the two souls, standing beside her. One of them was an old man, a shaman who cursed his own land for killing his white lover. And then there was the crime lord named Tony Anthias.
"Um... What are they doing here?" Etrigan was supposed to ask her, what she was doing here. But the presence of these two souls was too surprising, even for the heroic demon. Sephaira said, "My slave here, Tony knows about the shaman. As you can see..." The shaman stepped closer. All his flesh was torn off by the creature. But they seemed to be healing now. Once the shaman does the job, he hoped that he could work as an advisor for the Hell Council. Such promises couldn't be kept as the saying goes, but Sephaira was willing to work it out. Working for the Hell Council was much better than the punishment.
"What's going on, Sephaira?" Etrigan couldn't believe his eyes. Sephaira shouldn't be releasing the shaman from his punishment. Not even without Lord Neron's permission. "Does Lord Neron knows about this?" Sephaira shook her head and said, "No. He doesn't have to know. Besides, he's too busy. I doubt he would want to speak to me at this point. Such matters couldn't be discussed. But I'm willing to help your problem. If you want to listen, that is." She grinned.
Etrigan wants to think more about this. What would happen if the spell is broken, and he comes to Earth at free will? Would John Constantine find out? Would he even try another spell or something entirely different? He wouldn't want to find out. This was his home. There were enough heroes to battle villains as the like. What would be the point of him being there? What good will it do? Hasn't he done enough saving lives? He looked at Anna and said, "Anna, will you please leave us? We have important matters to discuss." Anna nodded and went away. Tony looked at her, and felt a hard-on. But the shaman didn't take notice of the arousing situation. Etrigan waved his hand towards the chair for Sephaira to sit down. He sat down as well. The two souls just stood beside her, acting like cohorts. Sephaira told her plans on how to break the spell.
Etrigan listened carefully. He looked at the shaman and then back at Sephaira. He said, "Look Sephaira. I've changed my mind. I don't think it's a good idea to break out of Hell. I'm willing to stay here. Maybe, there's a place for me. Who knows? After all, time can only tell what else I can do here." Tony was astounded to hear this, even Sephaira herself.
"I see," Sephaira said. "I never thought you would like it here. You can bear the crying souls?"
Etrigan didn't want to lie. Of course, he didn't like it. But that's how it is. It's like a rooster telling everyone to wake up. He keeps waking up. But he had managed to sleep well by taking a magic potion. He just realized that they were all out, and needs to buy some more.
"Yes, I can bear it. So what? Others can stand it."
"But you use the sleeping potion, yes?" Sephaira knew this much. Damn her, Etrigan thought. How the hell does she know that? Of course, selling and buying these kind of potions was illegal in Hell. Even souls who had used them from escaping their painful punishment, was also against the law. But the effects of the potion was only temporary.
"Here's my proposal, Etrigan. If you don't let us help you, then I will let Lord Neron know that you've been buying sleeping potions. How's that sound?"
"Now, listen here!" Etrigan said angrily as he got up from the chair. "I don't like you, Sephaira. I will never allow you to do this thing to me. Do you hear?"
"Ah, such temper. Tony!" Tony raised a weapon, which he was given by the demon blacksmith, in case Etrigan refused help from them. Etrigan snarled at Tony, and plunged at him. Tony swirled the sharp sword at the heroic demon. The shaman stepped aside, and was being told by Sephaira to break the spell. The shaman nodded, and went far away from the battle, but Etrigan noticed of what the shaman was trying to do. He stopped fighting Tony, and came flying through the air. He grabbed the shaman, and crushed his neck.
Sephaira intervened and allowed herself to fight Etrigan. If Etrigan doesn't need our help, then I will force him! She took out her whips and whipped away at Etrigan, several times. Etrigan felt the sharp pain of pointy needles, embedded on the whip. It was even too painful for the heroic demon. He grabbed the whip, and pulled Sephaira towards him, and punched her on the face.
Anna came towards them, and saw the commotion. While Etrigan was still fighting the female demon, Tony was about to strike him with his sharp sword, again. Etrigan ducked and looked at Anna. He said, "Anna! The dagger! Go and get it!" Anna went away to some room, and found the dagger. She took it carefully. When she came back, she rushed towards the former crime lord, and stabbed him on the back. Tony said, "You fool! You can't kill a soul with that! I can come back!" But Etrigan said, "No, Tony. You're the fool. It's a soul dagger. It can kill souls!" Tony stared at Etrigan, and then fell on the floor. Sephaira was shocked to see this new event.
"Anna!" Etrigan said. He was thinking of killing the shaman. But then he thought, No, he deserves to be punished. "Go and tell Lord Neron of what has happened! Hurry!" Anna nodded and ran away from the house. The other souls were staring at her, and some of them moved away. Sephaira was angry.
"How dare you!" She unleashed her fury, and pounced on Etrigan. "I was offering your way out. And this is the thanks I get?!"
"It's not that!" Etrigan said as he moved away from her attacks. "You're planning to rule Earth, and didn't tell me that part. Did you really think I could let you do it? Why, Sephaira? Is Hell too much for you? I thought you loved it!"
"SHUT UP!" Sephaira whipped at the heroic demon again. Then Etrigan blew fire from his mouth. Sephaira was burning. Etrigan immediately took a weapon, hanging from the wall, that he had bought it from the Forbidden Archives of Hell, and stabbed her. Sephaira spurted out blood. Etrigan said, "I'm sorry, Sephaira. This is for the best." Sephaira looked at the heroic demon, and then closed her eyes.
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The Hell Council was too big and yet Etrigan had told his entire story to Lord Neron and the other demonic members, except for the part that he took the sleeping potion. He had to kill Sepharia to cover his hide. But the idea of keeping the shaman alive, would prove risky. But then who knows? Maybe, he should have killed him, when he had the chance.
Lord Neron said, "We have heard enough, Etrigan. Thank you for your work. And..." He stopped and decided to ask how Sepharia was killed. But he wished the thought away. Sephaira had broken the rule anyways. Releasing the souls from their punishment without permission, was wrong.
"You're welcome," Etrigan said and smiled. He decided to not to take the sleeping potions anymore. He can bear the crying souls as much as he wanted. After all, this was Hell.
The End
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