Intertwined: love, fire and sacrifice

10. The Judgement day

 Laius

Today is a special day in Hell. It’s the judgement day. We receive many souls from all Realms, but mainly from the Human Realm since most beings in the supernatural realms are immortal. Immortal beings won’t age or die from natural causes, some of them are very hard to kill, but nothing that Hell-Fire can’t deal with. 

Some other supernatural beings can choose to leave the Realms Dimension and transcend to what they call ‘Ether’, The Other Dimension, or another whimsical bullshit. I don’t know what in no-hell happens there, it’s not within my Realm or my responsibilities. 

Most of the souls that come to Hell are an easy and clear case and we know where to allocate them, to which of the 6 Pits of Hell. But we do have some hard cases, especially involving Demons, political interest in Hell, and politicians that made deals with Demons, of course. For those cases, once a month we’ve ‘The Judgment’, then we can decide where to send them. 

The goody-goody boring souls go to the suburbs, Elysium Fields, the first pit of Hell. All the other 5 pits of Hell are located in Tartarus. The souls who were slightly naughty go to the 2nd Pit of Hell, what we like to call The Oops Vortex. It’s where they get what they want, but Oops, not quite. For example, if the soul wants ice cream, they only can get frozen yogurt, with no sugar, natural flavour, and no topping. They can listen to their favourite song over and over again, but only in a version sung by a cheesy boy band. 

The 3rd Pit is also quite funny, it’s the High Hills of the Ironies. There we send the souls of those who were more than slightly naughty. If a soul of an animal abuser is sent there, it will be put in a human zoo. The Demons visit the zoo for fun, to make fun of the lousy humans, take pictures and post them on Instahell. Demons can also pick those souls with sticks, and feed them animal food, fodder, and forage while they make the souls watch them eating their favourite foods. 

The 4th Pit of Hell is about fear, it’s located in the margin of the Styx River. Fear: The shadows that haunt you in the night, hiding under your bed or in front of your mirror. In this Pit, the souls have to face their worst fears over and over. It’s like being haunted by a masked murderer. He follows you, chases you for the whole day, and when he finally catches you and is about to break your neck, he takes his mask off and all you can see is your own face. But a different version of it, one could call it your ‘worst self’. A bald, older, cackled version of yourself.  

As most things in Hell it’s not real is pretend. The soul’s minds haunt them after they inhale the vapours of guilt that grow in Tartarus. It’s some kind of self-inflicted punishment. It makes the Demon’s work so easy, that they can spend most of their time in orgies and raves. Hell is a party place, the best one; unless you were a naughty soul, sent here to face your Karma. 

The 5th Pit of Hell is the Demon’s playroom. It’s the Pit that employs most of the Demons, which is where demons are to decide what to do with the souls. They can do almost everything, but it has to be related to the soul’s past faults. You can’t punish a child’s abuser by taking his food, what are the sense and the fun of it? 

The 6th Pit is the worst, located in the deepest hollow of Hell, where no light would dare to enter. No light, but lots of fire. There the souls are submersed into Hellfire. Burned, grilled from the inside out in a never-ending agony. Even Demons are afraid of Hellfire. 

We have a small Loophole that we rarely apply, not many know about it. A respawn, that we apply for those who committed suicide but haven’t done anything bad enough to be sent to the hard-core Pits. These souls wouldn’t have their game over but have a new life. Reborn again in the Realm they belonged to before. 

I was quite busy reading the files for the judgment and I couldn’t stay with my Sugar. But she wants to come later today and watch it. She seems a bit better, she is less dull than in the last days, maybe the distance is working, diminishing the pull. Hopefully. I also did my best to keep her distracted and satisfied. 

I hate seeing my female suffering. 

I was glad that Sugar is getting involved in the Hell business. My Queen is a natural and Hell is her true home, where she belongs, sat on the throne by my side, in my arms or with her thighs wrapped around me in our bed or at the Dungeon. 

My second in command, Lucius, is to be present in the judgment as well. He acts as the official prosecutor. However, all the Demons act as unofficial prosecutors, pushing for the damnation of the souls, because they want their playtime with the souls later. 

And I will judge the case. 

The souls have to advocate for their own case, or they can appoint a lawyer, who they can choose among a bunch of unexpected options. 

Those small things make Hell almost like some reality shows, but we avoid going that low. Even Demons have standards. 

“Is everything ready? Is the line of lawyers already in place?” I asked Lucius. 

“Yes, but one of them is a biter. So, we had to take some extra measures.” He replied. I nodded to him. We always have this kind of problem when dogs are on the lawyers’ short-list. But how else bitches could serve each soul their karma? How else karma would be a b***h? 

 ~ * ~

Today among the cases, we have two very unconventional ones. The case of a Demon who used to work at the 5th Pit of Hell, the Playground, torturing souls. But he found out that one of the souls that he was supposed to torture was his mate. He freed her, and they tried to run away together to the Pixies’ Kingdom. However, they were caught after 5 minutes, Demons do enjoy a good chase and they are quite efficient in it. 

The second case surprisingly involves the soul of a human female. It is a very rare case of inter-Realms interaction. She was abducted and brought to Hell by a delirious vampire that swore he was her mate. 

That isn’t even possible, and she wasn’t very happy about her sudden change of address and marital status. The clever little human found a way and killed the bloodsucker. He was a very well-connected vamp with many Demon friends and a member of a shady kitsch club called Viper Blood. That is why she will be judged today; the Demons are insisting on sending her to the 6th Pit and have her eternally burning in Hellfire. 

Politics in Hell are no different than in any other Realms, it’s mainly about interests, influence, and power. This is upsetting for the Demon's politicians since corrupt politicians all around are putting a hell of a competition. So, Demons need to step up their game to be the worst ones, which means more bribes, nepotism, and interest games. It’s boring. 

The judgement room was quite large, to house as many demons as possible. These dorks enjoy watching a judgment, aka a condemnation, just as much as human folks liked to watch an execution in medieval times. It’s almost a party for them. 

Besides the area for the public, we have the stage, where a throne for me, and today one for my Sugar, is placed in the middle. Lucius sits on the left side, besides Scarlet (my main general), who normally works as his assistant in these cases. It isn’t her normal job description, but he always asks her to do it with him. That i***t is mad about his dominatrix, but pretends quite well that he is not, especially since Scar only does it casually. Or at least she always says so. 

Behind the stage, there is the `Pits Portal’ where we kick the souls into the designated Pit they are been sent to. 

* ~

The Judgement was about to start, and Sugar arrived and sat by my side, a took her soft hand in mine and explained the procedure to her.

“They will bring the hard-cases. The prosecutor, Lucius, will present the case and make his statement about it. After that, any demon can intervene in favour or against the accused soul. We’ve never had anyone saying anything in favour, tho. Then, the souls have few minutes to defend themselves or appoint a lawyer to do it. The lawyers sit on a roll, placed in the right corner of this room.” I turned my face to the lawyers‘ roll and Sugar followed my gaze and nodded. 

“Then, I’ll make my decision and determine to what Pit of Hell they will go. Normally they are sent to the 5th Pit, the Demons Playroom, or to the 6th one, the Hellfire hollow. Sometimes we send them to the 4th one, the Realm of Fear, but it’s quite rare in these kinds of judgment.” 

Sugar’s eyes widened a bit, “Damn! I read about the Pits thing. The 4th, 5th and 6th Pits are quite terrible.”

“It’s Hell, not a summer camp, doll.” A high-ranked demon that was sat next to Lucius interjected, and I threw a blast of electricity at him. His half-fried body flew bumping into the wall with the force of my strike. No one will speak to my Sugar like this. 

“Now he will go visiting the summer camp.” I chuckled. The demons around downed their head and gazes, but soon joined me laughing.  

“Laius!” my female gazed at me with a pointed look.

I inhaled sharply. Oh, Sugar! You are too good for Hell, but maybe that is all Hell needs. 

“I can’t let it go unpunished, Sugar. It would set the wrong example. They can’t do it!” I said those words in her mind. 

“I understand. How about a lighter punishment? Maybe the second Pit could get a new resident, this tasteless frozen yogurt won’t eat itself, right?” she replied in the same way. 

“Send him to the 3rd pit,” I told the guards, as I enlaced my fingers with my female’s ones and looked at her beautiful eyes. 

“You see, we can always find a middle ground.” I heard her smile in my mind. 

I thought that she would be upset that I didn’t follow her suggestion completely. But for some reason, my Queen seems to understand how Hell’s matters work and she isn’t trying to force my hand or contradicting my authority in front of the whole Hell. She is being my partner, a true Queen. We are in tune even in this. 

“Thank you, your Majesty! Thank you!” The demon babbled. 

I waved a hand to dismiss the guards and they tugged the Demon away.

One of the classic unspoken rules of Hell, especially in these cases, is to never show mercy. But I guess things are changing in Hell and if these changes mean my Sugar reigning by my side, Hell could even freeze. 

I could see it clearly everywhere, in the way the landscape is changing and even in how the plants are reacting to her presence only. How she is making Hell a less dead and empty place. She is making it flourish. The old demons can hiss and fuss all they want, old Demons always grumble at the sight of changes, that is the only thing that never changes. 

* ~

The first hearing started, Lucius explained the case and said that the soul Natasha K. is a cunning evil human, qualities that we appreciate in Hell in general. But we do appreciate it better in Humans when they are being grilled in the 6th Realm, after all, we don’t want competition. 

We didn’t follow the procedure, and let the soul speak first since some of the short-listed lawyers were having biting issues.

“You may choose your lawyer among those in the lawyers’ roll or speak for you yourself,” I told her, as I looked at the Lawyers roll. 

“Today, we have some interesting options. Number 1, is your ex; number 2, is the guy that used to bully you at school; number 3 is a dog; number 4, a…dog again, but this time a Dalmatian. Make your choice.” Scarlet read the files as she looked at the lawyers’ roll.

Liv looked at me confused, “What? There is no real lawyer there?” she asked through the bond. 

“In Hell, everyone can be a crooked lawyer, Sugar. The better ones are too busy for this kind of event.” I explained to her. 

“We don’t have the whole time of Eternity,” Scarlet said impatiently. Actually, we do have it, but Scar has never been the patient type. 

“I...I will speak for myself.” The soul said shaking.  

“We are waiting.” Scar replied, stamping her foot. 

“I…I killed Vince, I did. But it wasn’t my plan, I just wanted to run away and go back home. He kidnapped me and…forced me to marry him somehow… I didn’t know that… that the silver would kill him… I just wanted to hit him hard, put him down to run away. I was… afraid and I…” Soul Natasha was sobbing. “It wasn’t my intention. I didn’t mean, I didn’t mean bad…”

“Hell is full of good meanings. Meaning is easy, Human Soul. What matters is what you do.” Scarlet said in her sharp and crude way, making the soul tremble even more. 

Liv gave me a worried look, I knew she was uncomfortable to see the soul like this. I squeezed her hand trying to reassure her.

“Your time is over, Human Soul. Now the demons present can contribute to this case, stating their opinion. Don’t throw rotten s**t at the soul until we finish the procedure! Are we clear?” Scarlet cast the demons her angry and strict look, the same she used to fright our enemies at War. 

Scar used to party around with Lucius and me quite often. She can drink a lot of whiskey, faster than Hell can produce it, but she isn’t the most vibrant and fun person to be around. Lucius is quite familiar with her tough side. 

“I’m Collier, the leader of the Vipers Blood club.”  Some demons cheered “And in our club, we watch the f*****g backs of ours and their kin! If you harm one, you harm all and the fury of the 6th pit of Hell will descend on you. Vipers!” Demons clapped their hands in a foolish way, this s**t makes Hell look like a kitsch motorbike gang. “That human, that insignificant wench killed our pal! Vince wasn’t a Demon, but we in the Vipers Blood club considered him one of our own. We hunted and tortured together, he was a leech, but he had it like a demon. That *cunt must pay in the only way that would be sufficient, through Hellfire!” 

“Hellfire!” many Demons, especially the ones from his little Club yelled, cheering their leader as a bunch of dumb cheerleaders. 

The soul was visibly trembling and had her gaze cast down, feeling the weight of the Demon’s rage and hate towards her. 

“You said that any demons could say anything against or in favour of the soul in this point, does it include me?” Sugar asked me, using the bond. 

“Of course, Sweets. You can say something whenever you want and even make a decision with me. I only thought that since it’s your first judgement you would rather only watch. But if you want to participate more, go ahead.” She squeezed my hand and smiled at me. “You should stand to make your statement, Sugar,” I added. 

My woman stood up, holding herself like a Queen, and looked at the public and the soul at the middle of the room, without showing any signs of hesitance or nerves. Even though I could sense through the bond that she was feeling a bit tense.

“This soul, Natasha K., acted in self-defense. It should also be considered in her sentence. She was taken from her home and everything that she knew, by Vince the vamp. Acting by instinct and trying to protect herself, she…” She looked intently at the soul, who for the first time turned her gaze up and met the eyes of my Queen. “she did what anyone would do in her place, tried to fight her kidnaper. It went out of hand and she killed him. Well, it was a fatality that she couldn’t predict. She didn’t have any experience fighting vampires or even with vampires, in general, to know that silver would immediately kill him in a painful way.” 

I heard the Demons present whisper and gasp, and I stared them a pointed look, silencing them immediately. “What would any of you do in her place? Would you only wait for a crazy vampire to decide to make you his next meal or fight back?” she asked gazing at the demons with her intense look. 

“This soul isn’t one of us, she killed our pal! She must pay, we don’t care if she didn’t know how to play with silver.” Collier intervened yelling and looking at my Sugar.

I stared at him a red look as smoke left my body, I was about to end his joke of an existence when I heard my Liv’s voice in my mind. “Let him speak, hottie. I can retort, don’t worry. Demons don’t scare me at all.”

I exhaled sharply but didn’t intervene. She could do it herself, even though it was very hard for me to watch anyone raising their voices or being aggressive towards her, without burning them with my Hellfire. 

“Vince the vamp was a member of your club, correct?” she asked Collier.

“Yes.” He answered in a duh tone, he did like to play with fire. f**k, I have to control myself. 

“And he was united in some sort of human marriage with Natasha K., right?” Liv asked and Collier only nodded. 

“Doesn’t it make her member of your club by association? Doesn’t it make her kin?” My Sugar asked raising a single brow and gazing that Demon her defiant stare.

“Yes, but…” he trailed off, looking confused. A grin stretched across my face; my Sharp Kitten was defeating these hell-gangsters in their own game. 

“Well, then she is one of yours. So, you have to watch her back instead of looking for revenge. So, everyone in your club should try to take Natasha out of the line of fire.”

“It isn’t the same.” Collier snapped infuriated. 

“Does anyone else has anything to say about this case? About where to send the soul?” I asked staring at the gangster-demon.  

“She is innocent and a member of the Viper Blood club. She should be sent to Elysium.” Sugar said. 

Some Demons dared to boo my Queen. I was about to set the room on fire, but Sugar squeezed my hand. 

“Let me win this battle, hottie.” She whispered only for me to hear. I was about to lose it for good, my fangs were itching to go down and my eyes were burning with the fire that was about to explode outside my veins. 

Apparently, I wasn’t the only one who heard Sugar’s words. Scarlet let out a chuckle, “Our Queen does have fire! Hell couldn’t have a Queen who lows her head or let others fight her battles, Laius.” She murmured. 

She was right, Scar is a good adviser, a bit explosive sometimes just like Lucius. But they were Demons, not angels. What should one expect? And anyway, on their worst day they both were MUCH less explosive than me. 

“That f*****g human must go to the 6th Pit!” A female demon yelled. The demons erupted in more noises, comments, and whispers. It was like a blasted* school class, they never shut up. 

“How about no Pit?” Liv suggested, looking around the room and then looking at me. Some of the Demons stopped whispering and looked at Sugar as if they were trying to understand what she meant.

“What do you mean?” Lucius asked her, looking very confused.

I smirked at my Sugar and she smirked back. This clever feline! 

“Apparently the 1st and 2nd Pits are too good for Natasha; she isn’t exactly a good girl. But the other Pits also don’t seem like her place. What’s the irony of killing your kidnapper? Fear? She already faced hers and she pretty much was killing it. The 5th and 6th Pits also seemed too much for her, she is a Blood Viper after all. How about let her start her game again?”

“Do you mean reincarnate?” Lucius asked. 

“Yes, I mean the loophole that is used sometimes for suicidal souls. She would reborn in the Human Realm and started it all again. That would be punishment enough, imagine how exhausting starting it all again as a baby, going to school, homework.” 

“How do you know about the loophole?” I asked Sugar, I was amazed by her quick-witted ways and her knowledge of Hell law. 

“I did my research. I wouldn’t come here unprepared; I want to be a good Queen. Medeia helped me to go through a HUGE pile of books in the last days.” She answered using the bond.

“It seems a good punishment,” Lucius concluded, flashing me a knowing grin. 

I decided the case using Sugar’s suggestion and the Demons around didn’t seem unsatisfied, only the minority. Not that I cared about pleasing the audience, I’m the King of Hell, not a reality show host. But I was proud of her, of how she convinced them. 

“You know that next time you can only decide with me. You don’t need to argue or convince anyone. You are their Queen; your word is the law.” I told my woman.

“What is the fun of it? Besides that, it’s a great way to practice my diplomatic skills, I mean my skills to not simply tell the people to jump off of a cliff.” She grinned and I chuckled. 

She is even hotter when she doesn’t tell people to jump off of a cliff than when she does it. 

“I watched that Law and Order show to be able to use it one day… I am just waiting for the day I can use my Grey’s Anatomy medical skills.” She added, making me laugh harder. 

“For the next case, you can also decide with me,” I said, as I ran my hand through her soft silver waves and took her in my arms. 

* ~

The second case started, the 2 demons to be judged entered the room and the public jeered and hissed. 

Lucius explained, “Here we have 2 demons. Fergus, a medium ranked Demon, whose work and pastime were to torture those sent to the 5th Pit of Hell.” he said motioned to a black-haired demon. “and Zarah, who was condemned to eternity at the 5th Pit of Hell. Fergus disregarded the rules and his position and freed Zarah, his newly founded mate. They both were captured while attempting to run away to the Pixie Kingdom. His behaviour can’t be tolerated. In Hell disregard to the King and his rules are punished by Hellfire and so shall it be. For the both of them. By running away, he didn’t help his mate, he condemned her to Hellfire instead of the 5th Pit. And in Hellfire shall them burn!” 

“In Hellfire shall them burn!” The public stood up in ovation. 

I heard Liv swallow hard at it, she flashed me a sad look.

“Don’t worry, Sugar. We will figure this case out.” I reassured her. 

“Why was this Demon lady sent to the 5th Pit in the first place?” Liv asked.

“According to the files, she stole potions, and talismans from General Proctor, an Elite demon. She also stole an old demoniac talisman from Captain Gunner and sold them into the Pixie’s Underground Market. It’s a serious crime to take demoniac talismans from Hell, they can hold great power, as to allow someone to develop powers.” I explained to her. It was a load of new information for her, but she is doing a hell of a good job of understanding everything quite quickly. 

“Isn’t it insane to send a thief to the 5th Pit?” she asked.

“It isn’t when the case involves demoniac Talismans and Elite demons, they are very touchy.” I chuckled lowly. I should have already fried or burned all those shitbags, they’ve drained my patience more than once.  

“Laius, don’t fry them!” Liv apparently caught my little murderous thought through our bond. An intense emotion or incisive, recurring thought flows through the mate bond involuntarily much more easily than a random idea or feeling. 

“I won’t Sweets. Don’t worry.” I grinned.