The Beginning Of An End

Chapter 21

Once I gathered myself off the ground and the remaining pieces of myself, I headed back to Hell. It took maybe several hours for me to even consider going back but I knew I had to. Abaddon could've only held off the Devil for so long until he too had to return to handle his own matters.

With a deep sigh and heaviness in my chest, I opened the portal and stepped through it. In a few seconds, I was back in the large hall of the castle and all I saw were cracked up stairs, and rubble of smashed up statues. It looked like a tornado went through the castle. I frowned as I looked around and noticed demons were beginning to return as well, all of them as shocked as I was. They really were searching everywhere for Loki.

"Hey..." I flinched as I heard a voice next to me and I glanced over only to see Beelzebub. "You're alive." He said through a small smile.

"Yeah." But at this point, I didn't even know if it was the best outcome for me. "Where's Mammon?" I asked.

"He's alright, thankfully. He recovered partially before the Norse gods arrived," he replied, and relief flickered through me. At least someone was recovering while everything else seemed to be falling apart.

"Loki's gone, by the way," I said, forcing as much stoicism into my voice as I could.

Beelzebub didn't buy it. He simply held my gaze and offered a small, knowing smile. It irritated me, being pitied like that, yet some part of me was strangely grateful he could see through the façade.

"I figured that's what would end up happening," he sighed. "Hopefully you'll see each other again. Maybe it won't—"

"You don't need to do this, Beelzebub," I cut in sharply, then exhaled. "We both knew where this was headed from the start." I swallowed the lump forming in my throat and quickly wiped the tears gathering in my eyes. I really couldn't hold them back any longer. "Anyway, I'm going to find the Devil before he finds me," I added, forcing a smile and a weak attempt at humor to keep myself from sinking further. "We'll talk more once this gets resolved. Wait for me in the casino."

Beelzebub nodded, and with that, I turned and headed toward the upper levels of the castle, where I assumed the Devil would be. There was nowhere else he'd be at a time like this except locked away in his office.

Nearly every step leading to the top floor was cracked, forcing me to watch my footing carefully to avoid tumbling back down. As if these peasants thought destroying everything would somehow help them locate Loki. I sighed, rolling my eyes. I used to hold a very different opinion of the Norse gods. Now, they were nothing more than unruly brutes in my eyes. I had no doubt the damage would be repaired quickly, but it still felt disgraceful for them to leave this place in such ruin.

Once I finally reached the top, I noticed the assistant was still gone from his usual seat so I just went straight towards the door and opened them. To my surprise, just as I stepped in, I noticed Abaddon was still there. Only he was standing next to the Devil who was seated at his desk while he had streaks of black fog wrapped around his body restraining him from any movement. Creative, I had to admit.

"Look who finally decided to return," Abaddon was first to comment through a grumble. "Is everything alright?"

"Not exactly." I responded and then locked my gaze with the Devil, "but Loki will no longer be a bother to you." I said before he could ask any questions. The Devil simply continued to stare at me as if he was restrained from talking as well. "What did you do to him?" I asked, confused and then chuckled a bit.

Abaddon sighed and then spoke, "come on, Devil, open your mouth."

I saw his face darken upon the question but then he did what he was told. His tongue was... tied. Literally. His tongue was tied in a knot. I gasped in shock and then grimaced, looking over at Abaddon who just smirked lightly, "can you believe this guy? He never shuts up."