Beautiful Monster

A Warning And A Promise

Once all the seven rulers had gathered into what appeared to be their regular meeting room. The room was very large with huge bay windows that gave you an uninterrupted vies of the forest on one side of the building, and in the center of the room there was a large table surrounded by seven chairs. But no one used them, they were all too agitated. As one they turned and looked expectantly towards Satan and Lucifer for answers.

They were both pacing the floor, lost in their own thoughts, paying little attention to the other demons in the room waiting on them.

“Do you guys know what just happened?” Leviathan asked them after it became apparent that they weren’t going to start talking without promoting.

Satan and Lucifer stopped pacing and looked at each other.

“Yes we do.” Lucifer replied answering for both of them.

“Care to share?” Leviathan asked, clearly getting annoyed.

Another look was shared between the pair and this time Satan stepped forward to explain.

“The fire was a message.” Satan said, shooting a look at Leviathan as she opened her mouth to interrupt. She immediately closed her mouth and scowled. “The message was that are coming for us and we will fall.”

“Who was the message from?” Belphegor asked.

Lucifer shrugged. “We’re not sure. But we believe it’s from the rebels in the town.”

“But we haven’t heard from the rebels in days!” Leviathan protested.

“It looks as if they went into hiding and have been biding their time, and they have apparently decided now is the time to strike.”

“But why now?” Mammon asked.

“That we don’t know.” Satan said.

As the questions continued Evelyn looked around at everyone’s faces. They all had expressions ranging from tired to worried.

“How did you know what the message meant?” She heard Beelzebub ask, and quickly tuned back into the conversation as she heard the sudden ringing silence, the only response to his question.

Surprisingly, it was Asmodeus who answered the question and broke the silence. “They know because that fire was their calling card once upon a time.” He said.

More silence greeted his statement. Three demons stared at him shocked and confused, two merely stared at him in surprise, and Beelzebub simply looked at him in quiet expectation.

Lucifer grinned at Asmodeus. “Looks like someone knows their history.” He said to him. “And yes he is right.” He said to everyone else in the room.

“I’m confused, how and why was this your calling card? And why did no one else know about this?” Leviathan asked.

“Hell wasn’t always ruled the way it is now, with seven people who embody the seven deadly sins in power. It was run much differently before. Exactly how is not important, what is important was that nobody was happy with the way it was run before. Except for those in power, so we staged a coup d'état. We created the fire to serve as both a warning and a promise. Which the ruling body choose to ignore, to their detriment. There are very few demons still alive who remember the fire and those who do know better than to mention it.” Satan said.

“Which is why I am so curious as to know how you knew that little fact.” Lucifer said, looking at Asmodeus.

Asmodeus grinned a little. “Maybe it’s because I’m one of the few demons who take advantage of the wonderful library we have.”

“Interesting, I may have to take a look at some of those books in the near future.” Lucifer said.

“Have fun.” Asmodeus said to him.

“Wait.” Leviathan said, rubbing her head. “So you are telling me that the rebels want to get rid of us, and used the fire as a warning.”

“Yes.” Satan said.

“So what are we going to do about it?” Leviathan asked.

“There is not much we can do. We will have to marshal our forces, and send out a team to find them before they can put their plan into motion, whatever it is.” Lucifer said.

“That’s not the most fool proof plan.” Beelzebub pointed out.

“It’s the only one we’ve got.” Lucifer said.

“And it is the only one that will work.” Satan added.

“Are we still going to have the ball?”  Beelzebub asked.

“Yes.” Satan said.

“Is that wise?” Beelzebub asked.

“Yeah, such a large gathering would present an awfully tempting target.” Leviathan said.

“Maybe it would.” Lucifer said. “But if the people sense that there is something wrong it could sow unease and cause problems. Plus it gives them something to look forward to.”

“And a 10 story high bright blue wall of fire wouldn’t alert them to danger at all.” Leviathan retorted sarcastically.

Lucifer shot her a quelling look. “They have no idea what it meant, to them it could have simply been a pretty display in honor of the upcoming ball. So why should we destroy their illusions and tell them otherwise?”

“To keep them safe!”

“How would such knowledge keep them safe?” Lucifer asked. “They could nothing with it; it would only serve to cause panic, nothing more.”

Satan stepped between the bickering pair. “We have our plan and that’s final. There is no need for discussion.” He said, immediately turning around and leaving with Lucifer following soon after.

The remaining demons looked at each other helplessly, except for Beelzebub who left without a word, and filed out.

“So… interesting meeting huh.”Eveyln said to Asmodeus as they made their way back to their room.

Asmodeus chuckled mirthlessly. “Yes it was.”

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A/N: A coup d'état is a sudden action resulting in a change of government illegally or by force. Just incase you didn't know.