Hell Hath No Fury Like the Devil's Daughter Scorned [NaNoWriMo 2013]

Chapter 9: Mother

Dedicated to GermanSam, one of my favorite authors on this site. I love mythology (especially Greek!) and since there's a reference (but only a slight one) to Greek mythology, I thought this was an apt dedication. :)

“Mother… Is that you?” I asked the woman that stood in front of me, not daring to believe it. What was she doing on Earth?

“Mistress!” Oria burst out, shock on her face.

“Kelafiel, Oria… It really is you,” the woman’s voice shook as she spoke, her eyes brimming with tears.

“Mistress, what are you doing on Earth?” Oria asked the question I had wanted to ask.

Instead of answering, she noticed my cold, shivering self. “Goodness, Kelafiel! Wearing so little during winter? Let’s get you warmed up first, and then we’ll talk.”

Minutes later, we found ourselves at her house, a few streets away from Jeremy’s house. I had changed into dry clothes, and we were sipping hot chocolate in front of the fireplace in the living room. Warmth was finally returning to my body.

“Before I tell you what happened, why don’t you tell me what happened? Why are you two on Earth?” Mother - it was still weird thinking of a woman that I had just met moments ago as my mother, though - asked.

Oria and I looked at each other, silently communicating with our eyes before deciding to tell her the truth. Her eyes clouded over as we related our story, and when we’d finished, tears were falling freely from her eyes. To my surprise, she reached over and embraced me tightly. That’s two hugs in a day, and from people that I barely know, I thought, which made me think of Jeremy and our goodbye, causing me to become teary-eyed as well.

“Oh, my child, I didn’t think that would happen when I left Hell,” she whispered. “I’m so, so sorry, Kelafiel, will you ever forgive me?”

“Mother… Why did you leave me? Why?” I asked her the question that I had wanted to ask for so many years. Unlike that time in Father’s study, this time I could finally obtain an answer.

“Sweetheart, understand that I never meant to abandon you. I didn’t mean for you to be left behind, but that was what happened.

“Perhaps I should start from the beginning. Centuries ago, long before you were born, there was a time when Lucifer roamed Earth freely. He consorted with women often, but none retained his fancy. But that changed one day when he met me.

“Perhaps this would sound egotistical, but I was the first woman that Lucifer even spared a second glance at, and that was because I rejected him. At that time, I was in love with someone else, a human boy, but of course Lucifer did not care about that. He took me, against my will, to Hell and made me his bride. Sounds a little like Persephone and Hades, right?

“Over time, likely due to the forced close proximity, I began to change my opinion of Lucifer. Then, I found out I was pregnant and soon gave birth to a baby girl, whom I named Belliah. Everything was fine at first, until I heard something I was not supposed to hear, and changed everyone’s fates, including yours, Kelafiel.

“One night, I overheard Lucifer talking to his right-hand demon, Beelzebub. The latter was reminding him of his promise made when they fought the angels in Heaven. Lucifer decided it was time to honor his promise, and told Beelzebub that Belliah would be given to him when she turned eighteen in human years to be his wife.

“I was horrified when I heard that. Beelzebub was a cruel demon; I knew that Belliah would not be happy if she married him. For all his faults, your father was kind to me, and honored me as one would honor his wife. But Beelzebub was not Lucifer, least of all his treatment towards women. And so, I decided to escape to Earth with Belliah. But at that time, I was pregnant with you, Kelafiel, and I knew I could not escape Hell in my state. Since Belliah’s eighteenth birthday was not due anytime soon, I decided to wait until you were born.