Gasoline | Final Destination | ✓

| s e v e n t e e n |

The air in Hell was thick with sulfur and despair, a choking miasma that clung to the jagged obsidian walls. Thana's boots echoed against the scorched stone as she descended the winding path to the throne room.

Her scythe, still slick with the blood of angels, hung loosely in her hand, its blade scraping the floor with a grating screech. Demons lined the corridor, their grotesque forms bowing low, their eyes averted. Trembling in her presence, for even Hell's denizens knew the wrath of Death. Her face was a mask of cold resolve, but her eyes burned with a fire that could consume worlds.

At the massive iron doors of the throne room, two low-level demons with glowing yellow eyes dropped to their knees, their heads bowed so low that their noses grazed the ground.

With a groan of ancient metal, they heaved the doors open, the hinges screaming as if protesting her arrival. Thana didn't spare them a glance, her stride unbroken, her gaze fixed ahead. The air grew heavier, charged with the weight of her intent.

Inside, the throne room on his obsidian throne at the chamber's heart. For a fleeting moment, confusion flickered across his face—his daughter, free, unscathed, and radiating a fury that made the air crackle. He masked it quickly, his lips curling into a familiar smile kept only for her.

"Thana," he purred, his voice smooth as molten glass. "My darling death drop. I didn't expect you so soon." He leaned forward. "I heard about your little... excursion to Heaven. Are you okay? How was it?"

Thana stopped at the center of the room, her scythe resting against her shoulder. The demons lining the walls shifted uneasily, their whispers hissing like steam.

She tilted her head, her smirk sharp enough to cut. "It was enlightening," she said, her voice low, dripping with menace. "I learned a great deal. About loyalty. About family."

Lucifer's smile tightened, his eyes narrowing. "Is that so?" He rose from the throne, his towering form casting a shadow that swallowed the light. "And what did my angelic *love* teach you? Some nonsense about redemption, I presume?"

Thana's smirk vanished, her eyes blazing with demonic fire. "She taught me nothing," she spat. "But you... you taught me everything." She took a step forward, her wings flaring, the air around her crackling with dark energy. "I know, Father. I know you betrayed me. You made a deal with Mother to trap me up there."

The throne room fell silent, the demons freezing, their breaths held. Lucifer's expression didn't change, but his fingers twitched, a faint spark of hellfire dancing at his fingertips. "Betrayed?" he said, his tone light, almost amused. "Thana, you wound me. I am your father. Everything I do is for your benefit."

"For my benefit?" Thana's laugh was a jagged blade, slicing through the tension. "You sold me out to Heaven. You handed me to the angels, to her, like I was nothing! Like a nuisance." Her voice rose, raw with pain and fury. "You thought they could cage me, fix me, make me something I'm not. But I'm not a fool, Father. Not anymore."

Lucifer's eyes darkened, his smile fading. "Careful, daughter," he warned, his voice a low growl. "You're treading dangerous ground. I am the King of Hell. You don't challenge me."

Thana's grip on her scythe tightened, her knuckles white. "You're not a king," she hissed. "You're a coward who traded his own blood. You told me I was perfect, that they misunderstood me. Well, I guess they weren't the only ones." Her eyes filled black, and the air shuddered as dark energy surged from her, a wave of raw demonic power that made the demons cower and tremble.

Shadows coiled around her like serpents, their forms twisting and writhing, infused with the essence of Death itself. "You forgot who I am," she said, her voice a chilling whisper. "I'm not just your daughter. I'm Death."

Lucifer's eyes widened, a flicker of fear breaking through his composure. He raised a hand, hellfire flaring, but Thana was faster. She lunged, her scythe slashing through the air, trailed by a torrent of black energy that screamed with the wails of the damned.

The blade struck true, slicing through Lucifer's chest, his blood spraying across the throne. He staggered, his eyes locked on hers in disbelief.

"You... dare..." he gasped, clutching the wound, his power flickering like a dying flame. "Thana... please... my daughter."

Thana leaned in, her face inches from his. "You made me," she whispered. "This is your legacy, no one betrays me." She whispers a black tear running down her cheek. With a final twist of her scythe, she unleashed a surge of demonic energy, a pulse of pure annihilation that consumed him.

Lucifer's scream echoed, then faded, his body dissolving into ash that scattered across the throne room floor. The demons gasped, their fear palpable, as the King of Hell fell.

Silence descended, broken only by the faint drip of molten embers. Thana stood over the throne, her chest heaving, her eyes still burning with rage and gut-wrenching grief. The demons didn't dare move, their heads bowed, their loyalty shifting to the new power in the room.

A slow clap echoed from the shadows. Belphegor emerged, his eyes glinting with cruel amusement. Behind him, two demons dragged a battered figure, chains rattling. Castiel, his face bruised and swollen, was thrown to the ground at Thana's feet.

His blue eyes, though clouded with pain, widened as he saw the ash where their father had stood.

"Thana," Castiel rasped, his voice hoarse from torture. "What have you done?"

Thana turned, her scythe still dripping with her father's blood. Her lips curled into a grin, full of malice, as she looked down at the angel who'd once called her sister. "What I was always meant to do," she said, her voice cold.

She stepped toward the throne, her wings casting a shadow that swallowed the room. With deliberate grace, she sank into the obsidian seat, her scythe resting across her lap, her eyes gleaming with dark promise.

Castiel struggled to his knees, his chains clanking. "You can't take Father's throne," he said, his voice trembling with defiance. "You're Death, you were supposed to be the balance. I was only trying to help!"

Thana's grin widened, her eyes narrowing. "I was Death," she said, her voice a velvet blade. "Now? I'm the Queen of Hell."

Castiel's face paled, his wings twitching weakly. "This isn't you," he said, his voice breaking. "You're not this... monster heaven thought you were. You're my sister, Thana. You're more than this."

Her grin faltered, a flicker of pain crossing her face, but it vanished as quickly as it came. "You're wrong, Castiel. This is exactly who I am." She leaned forward, her eyes boring into his. "And you... you're just another reminder."

"Hell is mine now," she declared, her voice echoing through the chamber. "And I'll reshape it in my image. No more games. No more betrayals." Her eyes flicked to Castiel, her grin returning, sharper than ever. "Let what's left of Heaven tremble. Let the world burn."

The demons roared, their voices a cacophony of devotion and dread. Castiel's head bowed in dread, his chains rattling, as Thana's shadow loomed over him.

The throne room pulsed with her presence, the air thick with the promise of chaos. She was no longer just Death—she was something more, something unstoppable.

And Hell was only the beginning.