Hellv7 - Chapter 6
“Here,” Merci dropped two identical black leather bound journals on top of the paperwork Deceit had finally decided to do. It was nearly sunrise, and the library was just the way Deceit liked it: empty.
“Hm…?” Deceit didn’t look up, instead choosing to work around the volumes.
“They’re both empty, so use them,” Deceit gave Merci a quizzical look. “You are a mess of emotions, both during your waking hours and when you’re asleep. I wouldn’t care except I can feel it in my suite and it’s fucking with my sleep. So stop it.” Merci huffed, and then stalked to the bookcase hiding the staircase to the lower library- her library.
Deceit just pushed them to the side and continued her paperwork.
Merci insists I begin a journal, but I am at a loss for words. I have not had one of these since I was quite small- back when I could afford such luxuries. My journalism ended when a certain mutant experiment of Merci’s ate my journal. Yes, I did say ate. Freddy was a lot smaller back then.
I have to attend the High Council’s meeting tomorrow. The Sirens are at it again, trying to target the Northern Convent of Nagas this time. Sometimes I wonder if they are any better than Humans, the ones who start wars over such things as politics and never realizing how it will affect people down to the last man, woman and child in the end.
I’m not getting anywhere, I’ll try again later.
“Deceit! You witch!” Luciano cursed- well, as much as any Arkain could. Angels weren’t allowed to curse, it was a sin against Ra. Insults weren’t Luciano’s forte either, but when he was angry it showed. Besides, it was not exactly policy to call people a Race they weren’t. Lives had been lost over lesser things, and Deceit was the mastermind in several of those incidents.
Luciano was a mess- at least, to any other Angel. To everyone else, it was a completely different story. His pure white hair was carefully pinned back, and his robe was freshly pressed- even his wings were well kept.
“Oh shut up Luciano!” Etna growled. As a Chaos Demon, she had very little patience for any Messenger of Ra, especially Angels. Her patron God, Cete, had a long colorful history with Ra, and it affected the interaction of many Races.
“Where is she? Where?!” Luciano must have been more than angry; he was micromanaging again. Etna did not have the time or the patience to deal with Ra’s petty problems. ‘Deceit, it would be really nice if you dealt with him today.’
‘I’m coming, just give me a few moments.’ Etna had known Deceit for many years, but telepathy was not something she had ever gotten used to.
“She’s on her way. Now calm down and sit tight.” Etna took her leave.
“She better be…” Luciano muttered, taking a seat. He was a regular visitor to this particular property of Deceit's, stopping in every three weeks or so. In reality, he did not have too much of a choice. Deceit handled all diplomatic relations for the Races’ High Council, and to avoid her would be political suicide. As much as Luciano would love to avoid her, he couldn’t. Deceit had restored him to his position as the Arkain Prime Minister- even if it was only to get rid of his predecessor, Justice.
No matter how many times Luciano visited, he always had to catch his breath at the sheer size of the establishment. It had originally been a Human bed and breakfast until a new highway went through, and that was when Virtue and Wisdom had bought it. It was expanded when it came into Deceit's possession, and occasionally there would be a new build in the works.
The room he inhabited was one of the many rooms dedicated to a God or Goddess that were dotted throughout the establishment. This particular room, the White Room, was dedicated to his patron, and reflected those with the purest of hearts. Or so Luciano was told, but there were many myths surrounding each and every one of the rooms. After all, Gods and Goddesses would bestow gifts upon those who earned such gifts, but they would never speak to anyone other than their Demi-Gods.
“Alright, Luciano. I will see you now.” Deceit spoke from a landing twenty feet above him. Luciano’s anger had died out and professionalism took over.
“Permission to fly?” He eyed the only way up to the landing, a spiral staircase that edged along the wall, heatedly. There was about as much of a chance of him taking those stairs as him visiting the Lower Demon District in Hell. Still, this was Deceit's primary estate that she had made her home, and it was against his morals to disrespect a lady’s home. Even if that lady happened to be the scariest [witch] he had ever had the pleasure of meeting.
“Granted,” Deceit was joined just seconds later on the landing by Luciano, who then followed her through the Upper Library and into a conference room.
“So,” Luciano sat down after Deceit, like any real gentleman would. “I hear you’ve recently adopted an unidentified Hybrid.”
“What about it?” Deceit refused to meet his eyes, instead flipping through a large manila folder’s worth of notes. ‘Leave it to Luciano to cut to the chase and open up a can of worms at the same time,’ Deceit sighed.
“I’ve spoken to Ra,” He said simply. “Ra has asked that I look into the matter, seeing as adopting unidentifiables is not your usual.”
‘Fuck you too, Luciano. Ra can shove off, Sun God or not.’
“It’s none of your concern. Is there anything else you need?”
“Yes, actually, I believe you know Brendan and Cameron Dare?”
“Knew. They died last weekend, and their bodies are downstairs in the morgue waiting to be sent to a funeral home.” Luciano lost his train of thought for a moment trying to figure out why Deceit had a morgue in her basement, before promptly giving up. It was Deceit after all; she probably had a pit hidden in some closet that went all the way down to the darkest circle of Hell or something. You just never knew what to expect with her.
“Know. They’re raising Hell in Heaven and Ra’s pissed.” Luciano informed her, and everything went downhill from there.
Deceit emerged an hour later, accompanied by a rather annoying, pounding headache. The political nightmare from within was over- for now. Luciano had teleported, one of the only clean ways to get into Heaven.
“That sounded… messy.” Newt informed her, stirring his tea with a purpose.
“What is my library now, a coffee shop?” She snapped. ‘So help me, if you get even one drop of coffee or whatever you’re drinking on my books, I will break every bone in your body one by one.’ Deceit had never been very vocal, so her conversations with Newt often switched between vocal and thought.
“It’s tea, Deceit. So was that messy or not?”
‘It was messy,’ Deceit assured him. ‘I thought I told you not to wear robes.’ Newt pulled his old style robe tighter around him. To a stranger, it would be hard to tell whether or not he was actually a boy.
‘But Deceit-’
‘No, Newt. It’s easy to tell Insanity Demons apart, sex wise. You couldn’t figure out what boxes you checked until you physically checked. Therefore, robes are off limits until you figure out your entire personality. You don't exist in a vacuum.’
‘Goddamnit. I hate you.’ Newt glared, stirring his tea with increasing violence.
‘Watch that word; it could get you in trouble.’ Deceit had switched the definitions of love and hate around on a whim long ago, and took a fair amount of pleasure reminding everyone of it.
‘Fuck off,’ Newt was visibly angry now, which would have been hard for anyone to accomplish, but Deceit had made it a person goal to push just the right buttons.
‘Gladly,’ Deceit vanished to some place unknown to Newt. The old teleporting without a spell trick was not anything new to him, and his anger began to subside. That was, until Mou jumped onto his arm, making him spill tea on one of the newer Magic books that Athena had just come to collect. ‘Fuck.’
“Name?”
“Deceit.”
“There is not a Deceit in existence, you cannot pass.” The Gargoyle informed her.
‘Sometimes it isn’t the best thing not to know your own last name, apparently.’ Deceit sighed angrily. ‘Ra, you sent Luciano with an invitation, so why in Hell can’t I get into Heaven alive? I didn’t even cross the river Styx yet.’ She didn’t know if that counted as a prayer or not, but either way, Ra must have heard.
“This way, Miss Deceit, an exception has been made.” Deceit nodded and followed the Gargoyle through the too bright landscape. ‘Why is everything always so bright in Heaven? It must not have been made for Vampires,’ She groaned. If she could have seen past the unpleasant brightness, she would have seen the total disarray that Heaven was really in. The tower of Babylon had been freshly poured only days before, and it was now covered with obscene images carved into the still drying cement. The Gates of Saint Peter were not spared, either. The once pearly white gates were now adorned with graffiti and words that no Angel was allowed to speak. Deceit received the mental image quite clearly from the Angelic clean up crew.
Heaven was in shambles, and it was entirely Cameron and Brendan’s fault. ‘How did the twins manage to get into Heaven anyway?’ Deceit was not sure. Adultery had always been against the Book of Ra and the Human’s Bible. ‘Fuck, that’s right. I still need to explain religion conversions to James. That’s going to be one interesting conversation, especially since he’s Protestant, and not too fond of Catholics. Ra being the God he worships without all the glory portrayed in that lovely book of lies is bound to be a huge blow to his pride. So will Purgatory existing, and the Virgin Mary never being a real virgin.’ Deceit couldn’t help but grin at her entertaining thought. Mary and Joseph’s relationship was a joking pastime of Merci’s when they were kids.
“I cannot go any farther that this point. You must follow this corridor until its end, and you should find yourself in Ra’s Eden. There will be someone there to guide you to Ra, and Osiris’s heathens.” Deceit nodded and continued on.
Those that made Heaven their home did not think too highly of Hell’s inhabitants, and the same was true for Hell’s residents. The two Realms rarely agreed on anything except that those stuck in Purgatory were lower than low. Purgatory only had one single ruling God, unlike the other two Realms, Heh was solely in charge. Hell and Heaven were both larger Realms and required tighter regulations. As such, Osiris and Ra had decided long ago to allow select lesser Gods and Goddesses to aid in governance. Osiris had picked a handful of Demons, along with the Chaos duo, Cete and Sekmet. Ra had chosen Knut, and his own daughter Bast for aid along with the higher Angels.
Deceit had come to the end of the corridor, and sure enough the Gargoyle had not lied. There was two prophets waiting in silence, at least Deceit assumed they were prophets. They lacked wings.
“You are Miss Deceit, correct?” The lady asked, earning a nod from Deceit in response. “I’m Sister Ann, and I have been asked to escort you to our Heavenly Father. This way, please.” Deceit followed Ann, but her attention was caught on Ann’s companion… until he vanished.
‘Whatthefuck. That’s probably against the rules, too. Not introducing yourself to a lady then vanishing randomly. You dick.’ Deceit vented silently.
[…]Crypt looked back to where Ann and that girl were still walking on the clouds. ‘Looks like Luciano was right, she’s got more Destiny Threads than I’ve ever seen.’ Sure enough, threads as fine as spider webs created a dark veil that only those with Fate’s blessing could see. Usually one or two was normal, but she had dozens.
“Oh Crypt, there you are—who’s the girl?” Titus came up behind Crypt and peered over his shoulder.
“Deceit, and she’s trouble. You best let Luciano know that he was right, Fate’s stirring the pot again.” Titus paled.
“Surely you’re mistaken, it’s been 1500 years since—“
“Time is only relevant in the Human Realms. She’s got enough Destiny Threads to hang herself with, and more.” Titus nodded and vanished, leaving his twin alone.
“Looks like Hope wasn’t the last one after all. It’s going to take more than just Heaven to stop him this time.” Crypt muttered with a shake of his head.
‘Maybe it’s time to invest in sunglasses…’ Deceit wondered, still squinting from the unnecessarily bright environment. ‘If being pure of heart and a clean soul means getting in here, Merci best be warned. Mur may clean souls but it does not help Vampires see though unnaturally bright places. It shouldn’t even be possible for it to be this bright. I wonder if they’re cheating and using light bulbs or something, because if there’s magic that makes shit this bright and doesn’t cause epileptic fits, I didn’t know it existed.’ Deceit was bored, but it was hard to create havoc in a preexisting disaster zone. If the Angels were not already in a state of being purely awestruck by now, the sight of Deceit would definitely throw them off a bit
.In a too bright Heaven with Roman and Egyptian architecture, Deceit was the white sink. Black jeans and a black turtleneck hugged her willowy frame, allowing no skin to be visible. Her neck was adorned with various necklaces, as was her wrists. Her gloves kept any thoughts of contact at bay, her custom knee high black boots and braided blue hair completed the look of a professional. Deceit stood out like a sore thumb, and she was well aware of it.
Sister Ann stopped beside a building of suspiciously Egyptian origins.
“Ra will see you now.” She said with a smile. “The Virgin Mary is also within, so I ask that you watch your tongue, for her sake at least.”
“Of course,” She would try, at least. Deceit entered the building, which turned out to be a single room. Ra sat upon a dais, with the Virgin beside him and her favorite twins- bound and gagged- occupied the space to his left.
“Miss Deceit, welcome. Please excuse the state of Heaven; I had not expected you for another hour at least.” Ra was in glamour, sipping on tea.
“It’s fine,” Deceit was trying to be polite, she really was. ‘I blame formalities for the excessive brightness. Why does it have to be so bright?
’“Luciano informed you, I presume?”
“Not exactly,” She confessed. Reading minds when people were vague didn’t really count, did it?
“Well then,” Ra did not need to know the details; he had already guessed most of it. “We need to get rid of these too, but they’ve already been through Hell as well. What do you propose?”
“Well…”
Death awoke as a mass of tangled bed sheets, alone. Had he gone to bed alone? He wasn’t sure. He remembered Deceit asking him for a favor, and then being tired. So very tired.
“Oh Eris,” His eyes opened wide at the recollection of what he had done. He had single handedly brought Cameron and Brendan Dare back into a questionable state of immortality. But why did he do it? He couldn’t remember.
“You’re awake,” Death hadn’t heard anyone enter, but sure enough Deceit stood in front of him with a stack of fresh clothes and piping hot coffee.
“Mmm, thank you.” He said, mentally kicking himself. ‘Who’s bright idea was it to sleep in such little clothing, anyway?’
“I’m not sure if Gods eat on a regular basis, but Etna’s making breakfast for all the daytime residents if you’re interested.” She paused, “Would you like me to wait for you?” A chance to walk with Deceit, no strings attached? He jumped at the opportunity, nodding. “I’ll wait for you outside, then.”
As soon as the door clicked shut, he was on his feet. He had to dress himself, one of the pitfalls of glamour forms he decided. Though Deceit did seem to approve of the look, which was a good sign- at least he thought it was. ‘I’ll have to ask Merc about that later…’
“Alright,” Death opened the door to find Deceit… talking to herself? She did not see him at first.
“No, it’s alright,” She whispered, “I’ll see you then. Oasis, right? M’kay, bye.” It took Death several seconds to realize she had been on the phone, and only then did he realize that when she pulled out a small mirror. ‘Wait a second…’
That was one of his artifacts, one of thirteen identical Mirrors of Hell. Where did she get one? ‘More importantly, how did she get it to receive radio signals?’
“Magic,” Deceit replied with a grin. “And I own many of the Sacred Mirrors, for the record.”
“Oh?” ‘Fuck. Fuckfuckfuckfuck. Fucking telepaths. I hate you Deceit. It’s too early for this bullshit.” Was he… embarrassed? Deceit was suppressing laughter and he felt… funny. Emotions just weren’t his thing.
“Finish your coffee. All you Gods are the same; you’re dicks until the second cup. Now come on, or else breakfast’ll be cold.” She disappeared down the empty hall, and Death had to rush to catch up. He was not familiar with the layout of her home and he really didn’t want to be lost here of all places. Eris only knew who or what was lurking in the deserted rooms, she was probably employing them. Anything involving Deceit or Merci was always attracting Chaos it seemed, and their home was no exception. The highest Goddess of Chaos always had an eye on the events in this place, which was one thing he knew for sure.
Deceit walked too fast, he decided. As expected of a European Hybrid, especially one of her children.
Virtue. Her family and her were legends, though Deceit did not know just how much, and if Death had anything to do with it, she wouldn’t ever find out. It was better that way; all of the Gods had decided that. Besides, mortals involved with the Realms of Gods had always been a messy business, it was always best never to bring it back up.
Deceit was listening to his musings, careful not to allow her thoughts intrude. She would find out what he was hiding, it was just a matter of when and who’s face she had to punch in to do so. Deceit had a pretty good idea about who it was, too. She only needed to get rid of those Destiny Threads first.
Death entered the dining room cautiously. He hadn’t been in this room yet, and even though Deceit told him it was safe, he refused to believe her. After all, she wasn’t exactly the most truthful person he knew. However, she had been on this occasion, because nothing jumped out and tried to eat him. This room was not unlike the rest of the house, grand and tasteful in appearance.
Four boys sat at the head of a large oak table, an array of food and pitchers surrounding them. Death recognized Brendan and Cameron, the identical black hair and green eyed pain in the necks that had put him on talking terms with Deceit. The girl in question pushed the kitchen door open with her foot, drifting into the dining room with a plate in each hand. Deceit took a seat beside a blond haired boy, and motioned for Death to come join them. Death realized just how much Deceit resembled a shadow as he took a seat beside her.
“‘Ciet, why don’t you try some of this?” Brendan had a tomato in hand. That would have been completely normal, except that it was purple.
“What did you do, drop it in food coloring?” She asked jokingly, pushing a plate toward Death.
“No, I found it growing from some plant that didn’t try to eat me in Merci’s garden, so it should be safe.”
“I wouldn’t eat that if I were you,” The blond beside Deceit informed Brendan. “You’ll regret it later.”
“Shuddup, Luis, no one asked you.” Brendan threw the tomato at Luis, only to have Deceit intervene.
“Boys, I shouldn’t have to remind you of your table manners. Next one to throw food washes the entire house by hand.”
“Yes, ma’am.” Brendan replied, grinning.
“Good.”
“Hey, ‘Ciet, who’s your friend?” Cami asked, biting rather violently into an apple.
“Oh, Everyone, meet Death.” Cami began choking. “Death, meet David, Cami, Brendan and Luis.” She pointed around the table.
“You’re not…” David stopped, opened his mouth but shut it again, instead choosing a more direct route of giving Deceit a quizzical look. She only smiled that sweet smile that she never gave Death. He no longer liked this David guy.
Breakfast continued in a similar fashion, tension growing with each moment. Luis and Deceit were the only two that didn’t seem to notice, or chose to ignore the uneasy feeling growing in the room; Death couldn’t tell. That was, until five phones went off simultaneously.
“Well, ‘Ciet. It’s time for me and David to kick Brenda and Cami’s ass in drink mixing, so we best be going.” Brendan glared at Luis for the new nickname he had received. “I’ll see you later on tonight, alright?”
“That’s fine,” Deceit adopted formalities. The boys departed, leaving Deceit alone with Death. There was silence for several moments as they finished their meal. Various creatures came out of the kitchen and began collecting the soiled dishes. ‘Brownies,’ Death’s mind produced an answer to the question he had not even consciously thought of yet. Deceit's phone/mirror thing went off for a second time.
"I’m sorry,” She didn’t even look at it. “But would you mind terribly?”
“Go.” Death really did mind, but there was something about her, it just made him want to make her happy.
“Thank you,” She almost whispered, leaving through yet another door. Death stood there in silence for a few moments, letting the past events sink in.
Deceit had smiled for him.
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