*WIP* Pandemonium: Devourer of the Lost is a short dark fantasy with a satirical side to it. Tired of the same old cliched hero? You're in luck. You won't find many people, human or otherwise, that fill the bill of a hero in Pandemonium. You will fi...
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It was his own fault that things had turned out this way. If only he'd reclaimed all that'd been lost, this could have been avoided. But no, his incompetence ensured that his worst nightmare was brought to light. Lucy had taken her pound of flesh and then some. No one could argue that Gray hadn't paid in full for the losses incurred by Hell's Brigade.
Gray was enveloped in fiery light, not that he could see it. His eyes had long since been plucked from his head, but he could feel his skin burning and bubbling like a witch's cauldron. His appendages were stretched beyond human limits, twisted into a haphazard tangle that was meant to embody artistic flair. His tongue was sandpaper, and swallowing made the gritty sensation travel down his throat and into his stomach.
The sound of a blade being sharpened assaulted his ears, which invoked in him a familiar kind of terror. He couldn't hazard a guess at how long Lucy had been shaping him into a piece of fleshy artwork. All he knew was that she fancied him a canvas and that he didn't have a chance in hell of getting out alive.
"Gray, my darling... I think you're ready! My greatest masterpiece," Lucy cooed while stroking his charred flesh with the flat of her blade.
Some dark, shriveled part of him jumped with joy upon being praised by his torturer. He tried to speak and choked on the flakes of skin dislodged by Lucy's gentle ministrations. Lucy pressed a finger to his lips and shushed him.
"Hush my pet, I'm nearly done admiring my work. Aren't you ecstatic?" Lucy said.
"Glarrrgg," Gray said.
With the way Lucy saw him, he might as well have been an inanimate object. Lost to the light, Gray gazed into the abyss and fell into the embrace of darkness. When the final deathblow was delivered, he'd already offered his mind, body and soul to the dark. As the last of his strength was wrung from him in fitful dribbles, the abyss took him into its embrace like a babe in its mother's arms.
A familiar scream filled him with relief and brought him fully awake. His body coiled like a spring and he sat up ramrod straight Gray awoke bathed in sweat. The foul smell of overcooked meat assaulted him, and he wrinkled up his nose in disgust. Ambrosia's scream ended abruptly when she regained her senses. Gray spared the fallen goddess the barest glance; it was wrapped with disdain and steeped in annoyance.
"It was... a dream? It was only a dream," Ambrosia, her voice ranging from uncertain to wondering.
Her teddybear squeaked shrilly when she clutched it tightly to her breast. It caused yet more of its dwindling supply of stuffing to be expelled from the hole where one of its button eyes had once been. Although Gray had already been convinced that he was inextricably bound to Ambrosia, the shared dream confirmed it. He snorted and returned to his appraisal.
Pandemonium hadn't always been like this.
Gray bit his knuckle and faced the music. Despite his bitter suspicion that the fires would rage across the annals of time and forever pierce the endless night, most of the fires had burned themselves out. The flickering lights didn't sputter out without taking a goodly portion of the underworld city with them. A few stubborn patches of vibrant flame still burned, but it wouldn't be long before they extinguished themselves and Pandemonium would return to its dark slumber.
Ghouls swarmed over the corpse of the city, making a meal of citizens and despair alike. The broken remains of the White Tower no longer gleamed, its exterior surfaces had the appearance of a coarse, almost leathery texture. Shadows clung to it greedily, as if emboldened by weakness and eager to claim the monument for the Dark.
Lucy's face flashed through Gray's mind, and her curiously dissecting expression made him flinch away and raise his hands reflexively. He felt burning hands wrap around his throat almost seductively before squeezing once and fading away. Gray backpedalled and started walking around in circles, waving his hands erratically to focus his frantic mind on the task at hand.
"I'm sorry, Ari... it's him or me. Someone has to pay for this, and Jude fits the bill— that's all. It's all his fault anyways," Gray said, his voice ringing with condemnation.
On any other day, he would've ruthlessly squashed the emotions that swelled inside him then. But Pandemonium hadn't always been like this for Gray. Once the White and Dark Towers reigned supreme over the night sky, and beneath it hope and happiness sprung forth from the empty shell that he'd become in her absence.
