Abaddon (Demonology III)

IV

IVY

I didn't witness the Great Cataclysm, no, I was unconscious. But when I awoke, I was married to Abaddon, the King of Hell. He was the one that I harbored inside my body very briefly. My stepmother, and aunt were enslaved, and my brother had disappeared. He had killed Azazel before he went away, but he took Lilith - the second most powerful being who wasn't aligned with Lucifer - with him.

  Being Abaddon's wife was luxurious, but it was a lonely life. I had only known my family for less than two weeks before they were all ripped away from me. Abaddon treated me like his queen - which I was, in fact - but it didn't fill any voids. Despite how uncomfortable I was around him, he never got angry with me. He even gave me permission to go out and be free, as long as I came back to him before night fell.

  Another thing that I hated about being Queen was how much humans feared me. Now that the whole world knew about demons, there was no hiding. Some people praised us like Gods, but most feared us. Some even hated us, but they rarely took up arms against us. What could they do? The Holy Shield was all gone, and there was no longer an army from Heaven. All of the angels were enslaved, either working as maids or prostitutes. Thankfully, my mother and aunt were on the latter side of forty, so they were just maids. I wouldn't have been able to live with myself if I knew that they were being sold for the pleasure of others.

  But what still troubled me was Finn's disappearance. Why did he go? Where did he go? Why didn't he stand and fight with our mother? From what I had heard, he was a Demi-God, so he should have stood a chance. Would he ever fight again?

  Coincidentally, I got my answer very quickly. I was in Times Square in New York, where there were multiple giant screens that broadcast the news. There was a report about a terror attack in Westminster, London. And apparently someone had stolen Cleopatra's Needle, the giant obelisk that sat near the Golden Jubilee Bridges. A bystander had captured a video of the incident. No one could make out the perpetrator, but the orange and black flames were all I needed. The news wouldn't report who the criminal was, even though they definitely knew, because they were probably being ordered by Abaddon and Lucifer not to do so. But I knew who it was, and the whole world knew who it was.

  Finn the Crusader, the Great Hero, had returned.

WYNNE

When Ivy returned to the palace, she looked strangely excited. The corner of her mouth twitched up into an uneasy smile, and she bounced from foot to foot as if she were waiting for something. Raven and I found out the source of her buzz when we finally got her alone.

  "Finn is alive, and he's fighting." The young redhead whispered. Despite how long she knew Ivy, I was still awed by how much the girl resembled Raven despite only being her adoptive daughter. They both had the same strong cheekbones and fiery hair, though Ivy had slightly fuller lips. Their family - which, depending on who you asked, I was maybe a part of - was far from perfect. But despite the lies and scandals, they had come together in a beautiful way before the Great Cataclysm. Finn had somewhat accepted Ivy as his half-sister, despite the hatred he held towards his father for his affair, and had also reconciled with Raven. 

  I was never one of sentiment, so I never felt like I belonged with them. Raven loved me unconditionally because of our sisterhood, and Ivy admired how I led Heaven in its final years before Abaddon took over. Finn, however, would never truly forgive me. I knew it, and I accepted it. I had not only lied to him, but I had used his already fragile heart and mind to my benefit. Now that he was the last thing we had that resembled God, I fully expected him to punish me as soon as I was within his grasp.

  "Leviathan told us yesterday." I said with a little more edge than I intended. "Information doesn't travel as fast as it used to, wouldn't you say?"

  "I wouldn't know." Ivy shrugged. "I was in a coma for most of my life, remember?" Though there was nothing harsh about Ivy's tone, I still felt that her remark was somehow aimed at Raven and I. I looked at my sister, and could see her reliving the moment when she pulled Ivy out of that cellar. The bond between Ivy and her was so strong because that moment gave Raven a chance to be the mother that she never was to Finn. 

  "Leviathan's going out to hunt for him." Raven said. Her voice shook and she cleared her throat. 

  "He can handle her. I'm sure he could handle anyone." Ivy said. There was a light in her eyes that was so childlike. She really was still a kid at heart. "He killed the other brother, uhh . . . "

  "Azazel. And he didn't necessarily kill him, he simply returned him to his dormancy." I filled in. Ivy nodded.

  "Right. But he's not a threat anymore. Finn can do it again, right?"

  "Don't forget he had some help, and we have no clue where she is right now." I was talking about Lilith, Lucifer's estranged daughter and Finn's lover. We had assumed that she fled when he did, but from what I gathered from Leviathan and Ivy, they had no clue where she was either.

  "And even though he's no longer mortal, his body isn't invulnerable." Raven interjected with dismay. "He would only be able to fight of Abaddon's army for so long, let alone fight him himself." Ivy looked between Raven and I with disgust. 

  "Have some faith in him. None of us can fight, so the most we can do is have faith." Ivy's fists balled at her sides and small black flames poked out from between her fingers. She had grown so weak living in the palace, though the demonic aura should have been making her stronger. It was because Finn was no longer human. When the two met for the first time, their shared human blood made them stronger when they were closer. Raven herself had witnessed the sudden burst of power that ensued when they engaged in battle in the Middle East. 

  "I have no doubt that Finn is arguably the most powerful being in existence at the moment." I shook my head. "But the problem is a lot of that power is untapped and can't be controlled. The amount of energy that it would take Finn to defeat Abaddon would surely destroy him in the process. In the past, when he was only a boy, he would easily lay his life down to save us all, but now . . . he's more reasonable. He won't fight a battle if he won't be able to enjoy its spoils.

  "I suppose I'm to blame for that." I shared a remorseful look with Raven. "Through my own actions, I pulled him out of his innocence and shoved him into a world full of terror he wasn't ready for. It's made him cold. The world has made him cold, so cold that he refuses to fight for said world. I hate to say it, but we're alone. All alone."