God's Gone AWOL

[1] The 'It'

The hundred years of peace between Heaven and Hell was now in it's final quarter. Somehow both parties had stayed somewhat true to their word and neither the angels nor the demons ever did anything drastic enough to begin fighting again. Although the demise of Bentley had its role in the inspiration of the agreement, the true reason behind the kept peace was really just pride and honour.

By the last few years of the agreement, many people on both sides were eager to jump back into fighting and ruffle their feathers. Demons and angels alike were anxiously counting down the days until the ceasefire contract expired and they could resume wreaking havoc on each other. They didn't care if they accidentally started a World War again like last time, because they rarely gave much regard to the affairs of planet earth. It was just fighting to them.

Now that wasn't to say that neither side had learned any lessons surrounding the confusing and brutal psychology of war. Hell had taken quite a blow when they lost one of their most prized champions. Bentley, of course, became a martyr for the demonic people, but there was no denying that without her, Hell was much more afraid. Heaven, on the other hand, no longer could blame their problems on any one person in particular. There weren't any universal enemies of angelkind anymore, which had allowed for an uncomfortable time of self reflection among specific angels. Quite a few of them were not happy with what they saw.

Both sides had internal conflict, and both really just wanted to push it out of the way by distracting themselves with their old enemies again. But after eighty five years of peace, nobody was quite sure if the war would be the same one they had been fighting before. So much had changed across three of the four realms, nobody was quite sure what would come of it all.

It also didn't help that Hell had found something dangerous.

Something even more dangerous then their beloved martyr.

...

Shanghai, 2026.

Xander dodged his way through the busy streets of Shanghai.

Humans in small quantities were annoying enough for him. Being in a crowded city where the mortal smells of hair-products, body odour and car exhaust were so dense that even supernatural beings of great power found it difficult to breathe, was not exactly what Xander would have written down under his list of fun and exciting weekend plans.

But he had no choice in the matter this time. Because he was still working his day job as a co-manager of all of Hell, he had to finish what he had set out to do —even if it meant dealing with the realm of mortals.

As the thought of how miserable he was once again ran over his mind, Xander walked smack into a woman on the street. He muttered an apology and continued on his way, praying he said it in a human language at least. Unlike both of his sisters, Xander had never been all that great with the majority of languages across the four realms. His linguistics were mostly limited to Latin and the dialects of certain breeds of lizards, with whom he generally found the most interesting conversations.

After some more confused person-manoeuvring, he finally made it to his destination: an alleyway, which was thankfully empty. Well, thankfully empty of humans. The not-human he was supposed to meet in this alley seemed to be late, and for that he was not particularly thankful. Being alone didn't help the anxiety of the situation. Xander quickly checked his watch to make sure he had the right time.

It was 2:31am, China Standard Time.

He had arrived a minute late and Knox wasn't even there yet.

This realization alone sent prickles up Xander's arms. He cursed quietly. Where was that old mole?

As if on cue, the manhole beside him launched itself into the air before falling back to the concrete with a horrific clang. A clawed hand grasped the concrete at the awaiting demon's feet and the smell of human feces filled his nose. With a dignified breath, he turned his head and waited expectantly for the person he was meeting to crawl up from the disgusting tunnel below.

A nose appeared from within the darkness, sniffing the air above. Then came the head and body of Knox, a rather frightful looking creature with wide white eyes and a pointy pink nose that always seemed to be twitching. On his head, he wore a mining helmet, Around his waist was a belt packed with any and all kinds of tools a person could imagine. Looking at him, one would have a hard time figuring out what kind of species he was, exactly.

But such was the way of the demon.

"You've got it?" Xander asked.

Those wide beady eyes blinked at him as though they couldn't quite focus on his face.

"Right here." Knox retrieved a small glowing pouch from one of the seemingly infinite pockets in his belt.

He threw it to the demon above, who caught it quickly.

"I'll get it to Hell, don't worry," Xander told him.

"Right, right." Knox was already lowering himself back down into the sewer below, "Make sure you don't touch it. It'll kill you... Actually don't even open the bag,"

"I won't,"

"And if something happens to you, just send out a sigil. There'll be demons around somewhere who'll help you. And if they don't, I'll prolly get to you eventually,"

"Got it, thank you Knox." Xander offered a demonic salute.

"And make sure you're in Hell on time, otherwise Smythe will probably accidentally restart the war. You know Heaven will try to rip you to shreds as soon as they know you've got the... it."

"Tell her the 'it' is safe with me,"

With a clang, the lid of the manhole fit itself back into place.

Xander spread his black wings, and with the newly named 'it' tied around his belt, he took off.

As he finally got out of the crowded city below and into the cloud line, the demon suddenly started to think. This was an activity not commonly done by many demons on a particularly deep level, but like his sisters, Xander was often an exception to the rules. He was thinking about the little thing tied around his belt, and what exactly it represented. What it was capable of.

It had been discovered in a human silver mine in Bolivia. Thankfully, it wasn't found by said humans, or else there would have been a lot more issues than just the matter of getting it to Hell. Like Knox had said, the thing could kill. Even when it had been subdued by a hundred different spells and tied down into a binding pouch, Xander could feel the power radiating from it like a miniature version of the sun. If anything less powerful than an immortal were even to look directly at it, there might be some permanent damage.

He shook his head and gritted his teeth. Thinking about the 'it' would only make him more nervous and divide his focus from the more important task. But still the thought of what that thing was...

Heaven could never get ahold of it. Once they figured out how to use the thing, demonkind was facing a practical genocide. Though they were the ones who found it, Hell had no intention of wielding such a dangerous power. So it was being escorted to the Underworld, where it would remain hopefully until the end of time. Not used. Not touched. Perhaps not even mentioned. For the better of the four realms.

The likelihood of the angels knowing of it's existence was pretty high at this point. Lots of demons, in Xander's humble opinion, had no idea how to keep their mouths shut. But he couldn't be certain, so if he could transport it as quickly and as quietly as he could, hopefully there would be no trouble. Because it had the potential to restart the war.

The war his sister had unknowingly sacrificed herself to help end.

There was no way Xander was going let that happen.

...