Flip Side

Chapter 9: ECHO

Just finished this chapter up in time for posting. I've finally hit the end of my backlog of chapters for this story, but unlike with Blindsided you'll all probably get updates on time with no late updates since I have a much more lenient schedule this time around! :)

Song of the chapter is ECHO by GUMI

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  Selever shifted uncomfortably in a black suit. Millie stood to his left, prim in a tailored Dior suit in black wool and stockings with spike heels, her bob sharp and her eyes stern. In a twist of events, Julius stood to his right in a sleek black silk suit and dress shoes, his collar on his burgundy shirt unbuttoned and his medallion gleaming on his chest. Selever had been forced in the shower, which had run black with accumulated dirt and sweat and ash from cigarettes, and his hair was now clean if a bit limp and dull, his paleness and gauntness glamoured by Julius to avoid questions from his associates. Nothing could hide his fidgeting and anxiety, though.

He was jonesing for a fix, he knew it. But he also knew he needed to be clear-headed for this meeting.

He bounced slightly on the balls of his feet, jittery to Hell and back. He'd always gotten this way before anything important, even as a kid. He shook himself and felt the glamour ripple but not break, then cleared his throat.

"Okay, let's do this."

---

Rasazy was stalking the corridors of the palace, clearly agitated. Imps and demons gave the Queen a wide berth as she slammed open the doors of the throne room and flung herself into her throne, brooding eyes narrowed over her subjects as they bowed and scraped at her feet.

"Status report," she barked out, and a great figure with a haughty air stepped forward, dark feathered wings closed upon their back. They swept a deep bow, their curtain of dark hair shifting on marble shoulders, and their eyes carefully avoided their ruler as she glared down imperiously at them.

"Asherah, your majesty," they said, their voice many-layered and echoing. Rasazy tilted her head, and they began.

"The Pretender has breached the Gate of Gluttony, my liege. Many temptations were laid before him, but he was determined."

Rasazy cocked her head. "So it is a man then?"

Asherah lowered their head. "Yes."

"Tell me about him," Rasazy said as she crossed her legs and leaned on one arm of her throne, looking for all the Hells like an idle lord. Asherah fidgeted, but complied.

"Tall. Dark hair. Swarthy, well-built. I'd say bearlike, if I were so inclined. He wears naught but a suit of white and a pair of dark glasses. We know of no other details."

"Your Grace!"

Rasazy's eyes narrowed and Asherah visibly cringed as an imp scampered into the room, soot blackening their skin and armor. They hacked as the stopped before the throne, throwing themselves down at Rasazy's feet. She glared at them in annoyance, and beckoned for them to rise.

"My Queen, your Grace, the pretender has somehow made it through to the gate of Greed! We couldn't stop him!"

Rasazy had had enough.

The air around everyone became stifling, reeking of ozone and crackling with energy as she stood and stepped forward to the imp and Asherah.

"Must I be damned to be surrounded by incompetents," she said lowly, hair and hands crackling with pink and cyan lightning. Asherah scrambled back as she flung her hand out and destroyed a statue in an alcove nearby, the demons around it screeching as debris flew at them. The imp screamed as it was raised with unholy magic and was flung to the side, and Asherah grunted as they were lifted by the neck with their Queen's furious magic, her face like carved ice as she gestured with her dominant hand.

"You are lucky I need every prince, demon, and imp at my disposal right now. Or I would smite you where you stand, Asherah."

Asherah choked, their feet dangling and hands scrabbling at their neck, fighting for air. With a forceful thrust of her hand, Rasazy flung the Prince of Gluttony through the doors of her throne room and turned her gaze to her subjects.

"HEAR ME," she said, voice booming her true volume in a way she'd never have dared to speak in the Church of her childhood, shaking the foundations of the inner circle of Hell, "FIND THE PRETENDER AND DESTROY HIM OR FACE MY WRATH!"

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Selever smiled smugly at the investor before him as he backed his way out the door of the conference room. "Glad we could come to an agreement. You won't regret this."

He shut the door and made it as far as the elevator doors before Millicent and Julius caught his arms and he slumped, a thin sheen of sweat on his brow and whole body shivering. Millicent hustled him through the opening doors as Julius shoved a finger at the button for the ground floor and grasped his friend's face in both hands, wiping at the Antichrist's forehead with a frown.

"Sel? You gonna be okay?"

Selever shoved him off. "Yeah, Juls. It's just the withdrawals. Fuck, why is it so fucking cold!?"

Millicent glanced at Julius with a worried stare behind her narrow frames. "We need to get him back to the penthouse without anyone seeing him like this."

Julius cursed. "Fuck Sel, why do you get us into this shit all the time?"

They dragged him back to his feet as shivers wracked his body, the elevator doors dinging as the opened. Millicent kept watch as Julius pulled him out and they stuck to the edges as they made their way out, thankfully without attracting attention. Millicent had the town car pulled to the front and Julius gently put Selever in before sliding in after him and the trio made their way back to the penthouse.

Julius found himself deep in thought as they wound their way through the Los Angeles traffic towards Hollywood Boulevard. He hoped to the depths of Hell that Rasazy was doing okay on her own without him. He knew she was always emotional and possibly as impulsive as her brother, and with Sel battling his own demons and Julius topside on Earth there wasn't anyone there with her she could trust to keep her on an even keel.

The crown was a heavy burden, anyone close to its power knew that and Julius had seen it firsthand. Despite not being related to her by blood, Julius felt a brotherly bond with the cambion who had become Queen, a protective need to keep her safe in the cutthroat politics of Hell's court. He sighed to himself and pushed his bangs from his face.

Without him there to help her, he worried for Rasazy. But she had sent him away to help her brother, and he had to accept that. He just wished that he didn't have to be forced to choose which of the two people closest to him to help.

---

Rasazy sat staring over her domain from her private balcony, fuming.

She knew she shouldn't have lost her temper like that. A ruler had a longer reign by being magnanimous and fair, not by ruling through fear and an iron fist. But as she gazed upon her demesne, she couldn't help but scoff at the sheer idiocy on display at her court.

It seemed she could only rely on two people, in the end. Selever and Julius had never once let her down growing up, had always supported her and helped her. They kept her on an even keel, kept her sane and grounded. She sighed and let down her hair, staring idly at her nails as her rich lavender hair swung free. She wished she could rely on them both now.

Her mind turned back to the matter at hand. Who was the Pretender? What was his motive? Nothing he was doing made sense to her. She assumed he was a mortal, as she would have known earlier if a demon had become a turncoat due to Julius' extensive spy network as she had solidified her power in the early days and knew that no one in the court would dare defy her now. But what mere mortal man could withstand the apathy of Purgatory, the sensual delights of both Lust and Gluttony?

What in the Nine Hells would possibly be so important to a mortal that he would disregard every temptation of Hell? Even she had had to have a singular purpose, a one-track mind to avoid being deterred from her goal of the throne.

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See ya next week folks :)