Illuminating the Dark Prince

The Heights of Hell

~Valarendrik~

The sound of William loudly slurping on his sweet-smelling drink disturbed the eerie and tense silence which suffocated the room like a miasma of apprehension. Meanwhile, Darrell apathetically prepared for the demonic summoning, having the sigil in place on the small table and the candle lit. It was strange being among them. I had heard many tales about both men and felt as though I already somewhat knew them. The erroneous familiarity created a nagging need to converse with them within my mind, yet I didn't really know what to say.

Not to mention I was growing more nervous by the second. Trepidation blossomed within my heart at the thought of facing Azathoth after all that had happened. There would be no hiding the fact that I shamefully deceived him to keep Lucilia a secret. That I'd intentionally avoided him, making him mad with worry and go off pointlessly searching around the deathly depths of the abyss for me.

...I just hope he won't be too angry.

"He will never forgive you..." The crown distantly whispered. 

Lucilia gently gave my forearm a comforting little squeeze from her place on my lap, with my arms woven loosely around her petite frame. Her bright blue eyes sparkled in the dim candlelight while she lovingly smiled up at me, assuaging away my gnawing anxiousness. The crown softly twitched and a smile graced my lips. I adoringly gazed back down at her, feeling a torrent of appreciation wash over me.

"Is that Azathoth's sigil?" She curiously asked while daintily pointing to the hellish design engraven into a slab of grey stone. 

There was a twinkle in Darrell's dark eyes as he nodded and pricked his dark finger with a needle, eliciting a small glistening bead of living crimson blood. "Sure is." He answered with a smile, then looked at me. "I'm honestly a little surprised you haven't already tried to summon him yourselves?"

My hair tumbled over my shoulder and tickled Lucilia's arm as I shook my head. "Sigils do not work in the abyss, so I don't bother keeping one with me. Not only have demons deemed it as a forsaken world, but the clouds of Hsarohpem swallow and destroy any energies that try to pass through their veil."

"Right!" William joyously nodded while plopping his feet on the table to get more comfortable. I curiously tilted my head, observing his strange fuzzy white shoes that looked like little creatures with long floppy ears. "I remember him mentioning once that the abyss was a dead zone in more ways than one." He loudly slurped on his drink again, making Lucilia giggle.

Darrell's leather jacket crinkled as he crouched down and pressed the single drop of red blood onto the sigil. The candle flame immediately roared to life, wildly flickering to cast dancing shadows over our gazing faces and throughout the earthly room. The familiar feeling of demonic energy suddenly seemed to palpate to life all around us with primeval power, making my hair stand on end and my black stagnate blood sizzle within my deathly veins. Lucilia's heartbeat thrummed all the faster and she subtly curled deeper into my side, holding Speedy close. Yet, the two human men remained completely unphased by the dramatic energy shift.

"I swear if you're summoning me to pick you fresh fucking mangos for your yogurt again, I will show up only to rip your head off." Azathoth's deep hellish voice disembodiedly boomed throughout the room. 

"Well, you shouldn't have spoiled me with the ones straight off the trees in India. The store-bought ones just don't cut it anymore." Darrell retorted with a scoff, forgoing any sense of solemnity.

"You can't blame me for being of the opinion that everyone should try a mango straight from the tree at least once in their lifetime." Azathoth growled with annoyance. "If that's all, I'm hanging up on you now."