Devil's Paint; A Fairytale

Day (9)

     "Put them on! Come on, Pretty-boy, we don't have all day."

      Icarus cast another look at the manacles that supposedly belonged across his wrists. "This isn't okay." He grumbled as he held up an arm, waiting for Nuri to clip the metal cuff. "Nothing is okay for you. News-flash; You're in Hell." After last night, Nuri had gone back to being his usual asinine self, and boy, was Icarus sick of it.

     He missed Letitia. He missed his siblings and his father, and heck, even his over-bearing mother. He missed everyone and everything he'd ever known.

     It was just as dark and smoggy in the streets below as it had been yesterday. Once again, Icarus was led through the darkness, Nuri keeping a firm hold on his chain. He felt like an animal, being led about on a leash.

     The street ended, letting out into a flat, empty space, asphalt and sand and ashes made to look like an open plain. Here there were no signs of life, only the howling wind. The occasional obsidian pillar erupted from the tar, some whole, most broken.

     There was a tinkling, clanking sound in the distance. It got louder and louder, reveberating over the plain. A figure emerged from the smoke, tall and gaunt. He approached slowly, dragging two creatures along behind him, thick chans tied around their necks. No, Icarus realized, his stomach churning, they were human women, dressed in rags, masks strapped around their faces.

     The man stopped walking, an amused smile twitching on his colorless lips as he eyes Nuri. "Hey little brother, I see you finally found a human. Isn't it great?" His black eyes gave a twitch, marbles rattling in his eyesockets.

      "Yeah Sol, sure." Nuri replied, his voice muted. "Can you get out of the way now?" Sol shook his head. "I'll never understand you." Tossing his ghostly white bangs out of his face, he continued on his way, dragging the women away.

     Icarus cleared his throat as soon as the man was out of earshot. "Were those women human? I feel like I would've remembered them if they were." Nuri laughed scornfully. "Don't you now anything, Pretty-boy? Yours is not the only human kingdom. There's a whole world beyond your broken city; Your people chose to ignore it. Anyway, that was my douche-bag brother. He's a demon too."

     Braziers began to appear alongside them, the pillars becoming more orderly. The two combined to form two straight lines flanking the path.

     The odor of rotten fruit grew stronger and stronger. Icarus' gut ached, but he knew it could be worse.Nuri could be forcing him to crawl, or wear his chains around his neck, or wear a mask. Maybe he was more humane than Icarus gave him credit for. He did feed him last night, and as of yet, he hadn't been physically harmed by the demon.

     The braziers alongside the path flared up. Something growled on the road ahead.

     A massive crimson bo sat between the last two pillars. Steps led up to it. A woman with long, black hair lay across them, her parchment skin darkened woth bruises like a rotting apple. "That's his current wife." Nuri said, pointing. "He goes through them pretty fast."

     Curtains on the front of the box shivered. A voice, neither male, nor female, neither child nor adult, drifted out into the stinking air. "Son, why are you here?"

     Icarus drew a sharp breath. This was the devil. Satan, the enemy of his god, was hardly fifteen feet away from where he stood.

     Nuri was calm; Cool and collected. There was next to no emotion on his face. "I need help. I've been found out in this human's settlement. They'll kill us both if I take him back. Will you kill him for me?" Icarus couldn't breath. He was about to die, he knew it. He began to wonder; If you died in Hell, would your soul still make it up to Heaven?

     The Devil laughed. "Ridiculous, child! He is your problem now, kill him yourself!"

     Nuri clenched a fist at his side. "I... I can't."

     "Of course you can! Now do it or go to your death, but leave my realm or I shall smite you myself!"

      Without another word, Nuri turned and left, dragging Icarus along behind him.

     Icarus didn't know what to think. What was happening? Should he be relieved? Frightened? He wanted to go home.

     "Dammit!" Icarus jumped. Nuri had dropped the chain, slamming the heel of his boot into a pillar. His hair had fallen over his face in a thick curtain. "Screw you Dad," The demon spat, "Just screw you!" Icarus was stunned.

     The demon boy leaned heavily aganst the pillar. "I can't do this Icarus, I can't kill you. I can't kill a human. I made up that stupid law. I just can't..." He raised his head. His makeup was smudged, running down his cheeks in an inky river. "Do you remember the little boy in the story? That was me. I'm a freak, Icarus."

     Icarus' heart thudded dully against hs ribs. This had to be some kind of trick. "How can I believe you?" He whispered, stepping closer.

     "I don't know, I just don't. I've always been this way, I've always had to be forced into everything, since the day I was born. Do you think tormenting you and your entire town was really what I wanted? It wasn't, and that's how it's always been. I don't know how the story ends. I'm just too..."

     "Different," Icarus finished for him. "I still don't believe you. You seemed like you were really loving everything you did. But if you're telling the truth, that's what you are. Different."