For My Deadly Sins

HELL

HELL

A pounding headache throbbed through my mind as I stirred in darkness. I was no more clad in blood soaked cloths. In its place a loose, billowing black dress was draped on me. Before me, was a wicked looking throne made of jagged black diamond and on it sat the most beautiful man I'd ever seen. Sparkling silver hair accented his striking, hypnotising blood-red eyes, l was certain he would have me under his grasp if he wanted to. His sensuous lips were twisted into an amused smirk but his face was cold, unreadable. He filled out the simple black suit he wore, in a way that made my mouth dry. Brutal, elegant, dangerous. His golden skin completed the look. He was so exquisitely crafted, I wondered why he wasn't god instead. But there was nothing that could hide the rumble of power that emanated from him, a solid force of nature.

Every instinct roared at me to run.

God's favourite angel was the most beautiful you'd ever see. But over the guise of beauty laid a monster of great power and trickery. With a flash of lightening, God banished the angel of enlightenment and knowledge, Sameal, to hell and hence, reincarnated, as the embodiment of pure evil, was born Lucifer.

I swallowed, fear spiked through me as 1 stood shakily before Satan. The Satan.

"Empress Petrah Katayoun Lynette." his voice was silky deep with an erudite appeal. I started in surprise as he used my name, my true name and I bowed in respect, lest I displeased him and he'd decide to torture me till he had me ruined to a point of no return. He placed a leg over the other, a slow deliberate movement and asked, "Empress Petrah Katayoun Lynette. Are you satisfied with God's judgement? Do you believe his voice had reason?"

"Keeping my head bowed, I replied, "I am merely God's lowly servant. I am no one to question his word." His brows rose. "Do you not feel the decision unfair? Biased?"

"I am no one to question God's word." I repeated simply.

He studied me, analysing me. Something told me he knew I was lying, he knew how displeased I was. But the burning rage had burnt out, leaving a cold nothingness in its wake. I didn't want to fight it, not anymore.

He leaned back, if he was surprised by my submission, he didn't show it. A wave of a hand and a stack of papers appeared beside him. He took the topmost document and read it out loud, "Commander Lynette leads Zorras from the brink of defeat to victory." News articles. That's what these were. News articles published by the common people of Zorras. Taking another page in hand, he read, "Commander turned Empress, Petrah Lynette dedicated royal funds towards rebuilding of war-torn provinces of Zorras." I remembered this article. After a period of instability and the tensions that arose in the council, with an incredible amount of threats and promises, I'd succeeded in diverting most of the funds to the common people. He took a third one, "Empress Petrah Lynette used veto power and cancelled a relaunch of war." This was when I'd successfully diverted another declaration of war superseding the Emperor's words and almost three-fourths of the war council, right after that blessed victory, we partied. We drank and danced from night to dawn, me, my cadre and... Aurin. I shook off the memory as my eyes blurred with the promise of another downpour.

He looked at me pointedly and repeated his question, his voice lowered, "Do you believe God's voice had reason?"

When I didn't answer, he asked me again, "Do you believe-"

And then something in me snapped. "No!" I yelled, cutting him mid-sentence. "No." I trembled as my tears came free and I rubbed my palms on my face. "No," I whispered:

There was no pity in his face when he asked me, with a voice cold as stone, "Then why did you not fight it, question it?"

I stiffed my hands together, "I didn't have much to say in the matter."

"Did you not?" he asked, inquisitively, "Did you not feel anger, resentment towards Him? Did you not want to rage and scream-"

"Only a fool would behave raucously against someone as powerful as God."

"Oh yes, only a fool, but you are no fool are you, Empress? After all you are where you have always dreamt to be, aren't you? Hell was your destination all along wasn't it? A place with no hope, no light, just a punishment to be burned in an everlasting fire." He growled, "If you were not a fool, then you would have gotten what you'd wanted."

I blinked once, twice, stunned by his outburst. A flicker of sadness and rage shadowed his eyes, but it vanished as fast as it appeared which made me wonder if id imagined it, that feeling, when I remembered that this was Lucifer Morningstar, evil incarnate. He had no feelings. And yet...

"Please...I can't. I just can't anymore." I closed my eyes. So much had happened so fast that I hadn't processed... I was dead. Gone. Finished. Over. There was nothing but unending torture left for me. My sister, my innocent, beautiful, sister whom I'd at times sang to sleep even when I was near exhaustion, stayed by her side when she faced was haunted by her nightmares. and problems, betrayed me, made my death wound and my lover, if Leanna's own words were to be believed, had not loved me, had never loved me. It was all just a big plan that had been set into motion for five years, waiting for the right time to strike. And now I was alone. All alone. Everything was a lie.

I wrapped my arms around myself, trying to make myself as small as possible. I'm dead. The thought rang in my mind repeatedly, like a mantra. I finally looked up, my voice tinny and small, "I've always, always believed in God. I always thought that..that He would heal me, save me."

"You and everybody else. But I thought at least you would..." he trailed off.

A small spark of curiosity lit up in me but it was overshadowed by exhaustion, such exhaustion and tiredness that I'd wanted nothing than to sleep forever and ever.

Something shifted in his ruby eyes as his expression changed to something more...human.

"There is nothing I can do for you now Petrah." He sighed. "It is up to you if you can recover from this. If God could save you, humanity would have been in a far better place. But he didn't and he can't. Only you can save yourself."

The darkness around us roiled and faded, revealing a...a city? A great big city of the highest levals of architectural perfection. Tall buildings arose from the ground and in the distance a great big castle with turrets reaching the sky, stood in all its grandeur. We stood by a sparkling coastline, the sea calm and rippling. There were distant sounds of serenading waves amid the the chatter of fishermen who were bringing their boats back to shore. Father down the coastline, garangutan merchant vessels were anchored awaiting their next voyage. I could feel the ocean calling out to me, pulling me to its to test its depths.

The coldness on his face completely ebbed away for a moment as he watched the ocean and the city. Such peace and..and happiness and love emanated from him in complete contrast to the being l'd met before. Realising that I had been staring, he stamped out the emotions and schooled his face into blank impassiveness.

With his tone anything but welcoming, he said, "Welcome to hell, Empress, your new home."