Phantom Pain (trilogy)

One Regret

Chapter 33: One Regret

The first thing I saw was a set of stairs lead downwards, towards some lower layer of Hell.

The second thing was below us. Flames licked upwards, making me sweat.

Something plummeted by us, causing the air to ripple. I jumped, and one of the demons grabbed my arm.

"What was that?" I could hear how shaken I sounded and I hated it.

All I got in response was laughter.

Again, something fell past us, and this time I saw. It was an angel, wings broken, feathers left in a trail behind it as it plummeted towards the fire below us.

"An echo," said the third demon, who walked on four legs like a dog.

They began to drag me then, as I had frozen where I stood. More angels fell with each step we descended, originating from a tiny pinprick of light at the top of the chamber. They fell like rain, and my toes scraped over the stone steps as they practically carried me downwards. The air was thick with screams, and I felt tears beginning to form behind my eyes. My head was tilted as far back as it could go. I could not help myself, as I stared up into the air, thick with falling bodies.

"You did this," the ram horned demon snarled. "You and your brothers did this to us."

I watched in horror as the wings of the angels below us caught fire. They burned, and they fell.

"So few angels ever see it from this end," said the one with the bat wings. "Consider yourself fortunate, Ramiel."

There was laughter.

They took me to a cold place where the stone had been smoothed into something like black marble, covered in frost. Pillars in the style of ancient Greece lined the walls. Through a set of massive doors made of metal sat Lucifer. He was slumped forwards on his throne, seeming not to notice us as we entered. The seat itself was made of gold, too bright for the room that surrounded it. I recognized it, I realized. It appeared that my brother had gotten himself a souvenir, on visiting the Vatican. The devil sat on the Pope's throne. There was a sort of poetry to it, in the end of the world sense.

Lucifer's head shot up, and his eyes narrowed.

"What?" It was a scream, rocking the room to its foundations, and I could feel the fear of the demons beside me.

"I-I am so sorry master," the bat winged demon stuttered. "I just-I just thought you would not wish him to be wandering Hell unburdened."

Lucifer let a thin hiss of air out through his lips, like a snake. "Very good. Very good. Ramiel should be here now. Yes, this is right."

The demon bowed. "Thank you my lord."

"Now be gone." There was an edge in his voice, and I understood why the demons left as quickly as they did. He seemed close to falling back into the terrifying rage which had met us when we'd first entered the room.

This was not the Lucifer I remembered, not the one we'd bee taught to fear. Was he playing some game with me? I found that hard to believe. The figure, slumped haphazardly onto the golden throne was undeniably genuine.

"So." I took a step forwards, ignoring the fear that clawed at my stomach lining. "You brought him back?"

It was true that Lucifer had kept his promise, even though I had never joined him.

"Yes." He met my eyes, and I was immobilized by blue. "Even without the power of the Ark. I am more powerful than Gabriel, am I not?" He paused as if waiting for an answer to his rhetorical question, but when I said nothing he continued. "I am more powerful than God."