Book 1: The Wrong Girl in the Devildom

Crossing Enemy Lines

(CW: Minor character death...Gore.)

Agatha looked around and her eyes followed a light trail of blood. She looked towards the kitchen and nodded. "I think she might have been thrown in the wastelands."

"Care to explain why you own a portal to the wasteland?" Diavolo asked, crossing his arms while Lucifer and the others ran to get the door open.

"Saphonya told Mammon we needed it for work."

"And Lucifer left me obligated to do whatever they wanted me to," Mammon shouted before he could get in any more trouble. While he worked the door, Agatha nervously pushed a hair behind her ear. She glanced at Belphegor and bit her lip.

"Are you really breaking up with me?"

"What do you think?" Belphie snapped. "We're already done."

"I didn't know," she whined. "I would never do something that would cause you pain, even if you did just try to kill me not too long ago." She got quiet when he glared at her, and she took a step back while he went to try and help with the door.

The boys pulled at the door handle as hard as they could, especially Beelzebub and Satan. It refused to budge. "It's stuck," Satan muttered, shaking out his hands. "We can't open it."

"Of course, you can't. It's sealed." The group turned around and found themselves staring at an eerily calm pair of witches. "You're all trespassing." Saphonya continued.

"Give us back the human, Saphonya," Lucifer demanded. "And maybe we'll let you live the rest of your days in the dungeon."

"No need to get nasty, Lucifer. You've always been very accommodating." Saphonya smiled softly and pulled out her wand. "You can have her back." Waiving it once, there was an audible click of the lock. The Lords and their company all rushed into the room, while she directed her attention to the witches left in the living room. As she stepped forward, Agatha stepped back, but Marcus didn't budge. "It's a very sad day when a couple of witches turn out to be race traitors." Her eyes focused on the sorcerer and she shook her head. "I imagine your father must be turning over in his grave right now."

"You wanna see a race traitor? I can show you a race traitor." Marcus snapped. He went to attack and Agatha grabbed his wrist.

"Don't let her bait you...It won't end well." She took a deep breath and shook her head. "You were wrong, Saphonya. Hazing, messing with Mammon, I can overlook all of that. I draw the line at messing with Belphegor." When Saphonya got too close for comfort, Marcus threw up a barrier to keep her at bay.

"That's close enough."

"Damn, are all of you Mallorys such pussies? Where's the offense? Isaiah really dropped the ball when he decided to mate with a human." The elder witch rolled her eyes and she looked at her sister. "I didn't mess with Belphegor. He willingly handed the girl over to us." Saphonya's voice slowly got colder, almost as cold as the room behind them. "Why am I the bad guy for doing what he wanted?"

"Wait, what? Belphie?" Beelzebub stopped in his tracks and looked at his twin. "You gave them Alicia?"

"I didn't know she was related to Lilith." The young demon snapped. "I wouldn't have if I knew."

"She was my friend, she cared about all of us."

"She's a human Beel, I wasn't thinking about all of that. I was thinking about getting rid of the pest that turned you all into excited puppies."

Lucifer took to the sky to look for Alicia, not that it helped much. The wastelands were designed for eternal loneliness and suffering. No visibility for miles, no chance for warmth, no chance for sustenance. He could see a handful of wandering souls, but nothing solid. He felt a pain in his chest, and despite keeping a calm demeanor, he felt heavy. This couldn't have happened again.

"Keep it together," Mammon called out from below. Lucifer raised an eyebrow and quickly landed on his feet.

"I'm fine."

"No, you're not. And it's fine not to be fine...but this isn't the time for it." There was no anger in Mammon's voice. They both had a role to play here, and they can sort out their feelings this time just like they did last time, but that would have to wait until after they found her.

While the boys looked for Alicia, Diavolo had Barbatos bind the elder witches' hands.

"I'd like to understand why you did all of this." Diavolo crossed his arms and looked down at the two women. "Even if you didn't like Alicia-"

"You think I did all of this because I didn't like her?" Saphonya laughed and shook her head. "This was a lesson. Originally, a lesson for Mammon, but then it became a lesson for all of you." As she spoke, Diavolo's eyes started to darken.

"All of you treat the Devildom like your own personal playground, you don't care what the rest of us have to say. You never did. So many Denizens against the program, and you and your merry men decided to go forward anyway. Do you think you're proving yourself to be a fine king? You're no better than your father." She hummed happily when she felt a pair of claws press to her jugular. Barbatos stared down at her with cold eyes, waiting for the word from his master.

Diavolo held his hand up to stop him. "Let's give the Lords some time to find her first. She has to be in here somewhere."

"I found her!" Mammon slid down a small hill with Lucifer on his tail. The two stopped when they saw Alicia's body. Mammon pulled her close and looked her over. "Alicia? Licia c'mon." He checked her pulse before he finally saw the giant bloodstain on her dress. Lucifer quickly took off his coat and threw it around her while Mammon searched for any sign of life, a movement in her chest, breath coming in and out of her nose. Something....nothing. "No...No...No!"

Hearing Mammon scream, Marcus quickly ran for the door, only to feel something wrap around his ankles, he looked back and saw the floor board wrap tighter and tighter around his ankles. He glared at the other witch in the room and swiped at her ankle with his hand. Agatha calmly stepped back and shook her head.

"You can't go in there. You'll freeze too," she explained. "I'll go see what's going on." She walked into the room and the minute she did, the door shut behind her.

"I fucking hate the Devildom." Marcus muttered, doing his best to destroy the wood that held him.

Saphonya's eyes glowed and she let out a content sigh. "Now that everyone's here..." She snapped her fingers, sending both Barbatos and Diavolo far into the room. "We can finally get started." The restraints on her and Angela's hands fell off, and the two got to their feet.

"We have means of dealing with traitors, not just to us but to the Denizens of the Devildom." Angela said, her voice flat and eyes empty. Squeezing her hands together, every demon in the room felt pressure on their bodies, as if they were mice caught by snakes.

"Starting with you." Saphonya turned her attention to Agatha. "You've pledged your allegiance to the demons you've come to love, you no longer serve any purpose to us."

The girl stepped back to try and protect herself, but in the end, all the Lords heard a very desperate, painfilled scream, followed by the sound of dead weight hitting the ground. Saphonya stared at the still-beating heart and smiled. She walked over to Belphie and dropped it in front of him. "I'm sure she wanted you to have this."

Belphegor stared at the organ in horror, growling once it stopped beating. He fought against the restraints, which made Saphonya sigh happily. 

"Don't worry dear, you'll all join her soon enough."