The Devil and The Divine

Part - 1

Once Upon a Time, in Hell...

It was a cold day, the days were always cold. People are often surprised to not see fire and Brimstone or hear the sound of thousands of screaming souls when they first arrive in hell. They expect giant pits, burning damned souls in greater numbers than one could count, large tables where the guilty are tortured for the cost of every sin, the red-skinned devil lording over them. But in reality, Hell is far worse than anyone would have ever expected. 

The sun never shines, birds never sing, its residents meander through the gutters of concrete edifices, hating everything and everyone around them. It is Hell's intended purpose to engrave the feeling of hopelessness to those who were unfortunate enough to find themselves stuck here. Those who do, live out their eternity in endless despair.  They are given the worst version of life and are forced to live it, day after day. Imagine living life without any of the things that made it worth living. No innocent loves, no next episodes, no old companions, no new games, no random acts of kindness, no cute animals, nothing. All things that could supply you with one ounce of happiness is gone. Life without living, a hellish nightmare that you can never wake from.

"Any trouble here at the gate?" The Inspector asked sternly. The Gates was the last place on their list of inspection. Unfortunately, it meant dealing with the one person in hell they found the most unpleasant. Wich for this place is saying quite a lot.

"Of course not," the small woman said, clearly annoyed. Her face was strange. It didn't show her true age, but that's not uncommon down here. It was strange in the way that that it didn't show the misery that one would expect from a long-time resident like herself. "No one ever tries to leave, which is why we don't need a guard," The woman spoke calmly, but it was clear that she was more than ready to start a violent argument.

"We don't need a guard?" The inspector asked rhetorically, "Of course we need a guard!" The inspector shouted, beating her to it. "This gate has been under guard since the beginning of Hell. Who knows what will happen if it's left alone. Do you want Beelzebub, or who knows what trouncing around Earth?" They asked rhetorically. The inspector; a demon whose whole purpose is to make sure that Hell runs efficiently. They take their job very seriously, it is important to make sure that as many souls are as miserable as possible.

"I know what will happen. nothing!" the woman shouted back. Her name is Eve, an ancient yet youthful woman, known to many as the first of them all. "And do you want to know how I know that? I've been the one guarding it since the beginning. And in all that time only one person has tried to escape, just one." The inspector just stared at her, clearly understanding that this situation was going nowhere.

"Just do your job," they groaned, in the frustrated tone of someone who has had this conversation one too many times before. "You sinned your sin, this is your responsibility."  Then they walked away leaving Eve alone. Eve knew that there was no point in rebelling, but it wouldn't sit well with her if she didn't at least try. She always was such strongly willed. 

Like you would expect, Eve has been a resident of Hell since the moment of her death. Years ago without her knowledge, her soul had been charged with the responsibility of guarding the gates of Hell. The reasoning being that she; the one who brought evil into the world when she bit into the apple at the centre of the Garden of Eden, it was deemed her responsibility to make sure the large reserves didn't get out as well. Eve, of course, was never pleased with the idea, extremely surprised to find herself in Hell as she opened her eyes. Humans, for all their achievements they never were able to see the big picture, call it a design flaw. 

On the moment of his death her husband, Adam was sent to Heaven, there was no claim put on his soul. She hasn't seen him since, not that she has ever cared, a relationship like that is never quite as nice as it is portrayed. In their case, like many others, there was always someone else... Her name was Lilith, the mother of all demons, leader of the knights of hell, and the true first woman. She was Adam's first wife, birthed from the earth alongside him. She saw them as equals, she being birthed from the same dirt as he. Adam, on the other hand, saw himself as her better. He could never let it go and so their fighting never stopped, ultimately leading to Lilith leaving. Eve was created soon after to take her place, and even though they fought Adam could never forget Lilith. He always said she was the one woman who could challenge him, and Eve with all of her differences could never be as good as her in his eyes. After Lilith left Eden, she was offered refuge in Hell. in that time, it was still new and contained creatures who needed someone to look after them. She accepted the offer, becoming a surrogate mother to the demons. Not in charge of them, just respected by them, if you consider those to be different. And for the last two-hundred thousand years more or less that's where she's stayed... more or less.

"Oh Eve...," said a woman, her voice emitting from the shadows that cover a vast majority of this plane. "Why do you let that pencil pusher boss you around?" She said coming into view, flashing Eve her best smile. She was dressed in the armour of the Knights of Hell, it's intricate patterns and colours almost seeming more regal than hellish. Towering over Eve, she gave off an aura of confidence and might that would intimidate even the strongest of men.

"Hi Lili," Eve said as Lilith approached. For a long time, Eve and Lilith were the only two people in Hell, and In some odd yet unsurprising twist of fate, she became the closest thing Eve had to a friend. And friends aren't supposed to exist in Hell. "I'm not quite sure what you're talking about, I think I handled that rather well." She said trying to defend herself.

"Yes, I could see that by the way you just stood there as they walked away having the final word."  

"Well, it's not like I have a lot of other choices."

"Of course you do darling, you have the key to the gate," she said pointing to the dagger around Eve's neck. "The only key, if you don't like this job, and I know you don't. What's stopping you from just leaving?" 

"Nothing," and it was the truth, trying to lie was too exhausting. There was nothing stopping her from leaving. She could have used the knife any time in the last two hundred thousand years, unlock the gate and leave this place for good, but she didn't. 

"That's exactly my point, you've stayed down here for too long. What do you say we take a trip up topside? Raise a little Hell." Eve just stared at her for a few seconds, as if genuinely considering her offer. But her fear stopped her from giving the answer she really wanted to give.

"You know we can't." 

"No, I know you won't. Come on, it might be fun, you remember fun right before you were cursed to guard a glorified train car." Yes, the gate itself wasn't a giant ornate door as some would expect, instead it was just a normal-looking subway car in a normal-looking subway station. What People really don't expect from Hell is how utterly ordinary it really is. It is just a city like any other, except that its main purpose is to torment souls in very efficient and organized ways. The aforementioned train is the only way in and out of Hell, it's how souls enter and certain privileged demons leave. Without it or something else much like it, all the corrupt souls would be left to wander and scatter around the world.

"We can't," Eve said sternly. But she grew uneasy as a smirk she knew all too well, formed on Liliths face.

"Okay... I didn't want to do this, I honestly didn't, but you left me no choice," she walked closer to Eve, " honey, I want you to know that I'm doing this for your own good." Eve looked at her cautiously. That look quickly turned to fear as Lilith whispered in her ear.

"She's alive?" she said, moving away from the taller woman. It took her a minute to process what Lilith had told her, finding the information hard to swallow. "Are you sure it's her?" She said regaining control of her thoughts.

"Some of the landrunners have seen her up top, apparently she's been there for years." 

"And they were sure it was her?"

"She's a hard one to miss."

"I was sure they killed her."

"Guess not," Lilith said turning Eve toward the gate doors. Eve stared at the door, she knew exactly what Lilith was doing. Like most things she did, the motives fell between actually trying to help someone else, and forwarding her own self-interest. But right now Eve couldn't care less about her reasons, she now had a few of her own.

"Fuck it, " she mumbled taking the knife and placing it in the slot next to the turnstile.

"Yes! You are so sexy right now."

"Yes alright, let's not make a big deal about it," they walked past the gate into what looked like any other subway station, the only difference being that it was cleaner. "Besides, I doubt there not going to notice we're gone." She said as a single train car pulled in front of them. It's doors opened and they both stepped inside. Leaving Hell for what they sincerely hoped was the first and last time.