Very Important Person (Gomorrah)

When the raven was tilted forward, golden light sprang out of nowhere and began to draw an elaborate seal, Mikhainon's seal, above the painting. Now that the enchantment was made, the painting it was facing opened up like a door. Smoke and sulfur crawled out and spread around the room. Upon closer inspection, it was a staircase. The walls were more like shelves filled with various magical items Mikhainon picked up from his years of travel — there were charm stones, grimoires, colorful vials, swords and other such items.

The odd part was that it looked like it wasn't part of Gomorrah's architecture. If there were shelves and stairs this massive present, it would've shown in the second or third floor or even the outside. But there was nothing suggesting the stairs even existed. There were three sets of staircases that led to a locked, creaky wooden door at the very bottom.



The seal managed to do more than enchant the painting into a doorway, though.

Back at the ground floor, the seal flared up like a signal in Mikhainon's head. It was commonplace in Gomorrah. Bouncers would take troublemakers into the VIP Room to be dealt with but usually he would be alerted first.

This was very strange.



Janica was at the bar talking to the bartenders. She was gushing about her night with Ms. Black, how she really was as darling as Lord Mikhainon said. They asked her where she was now and Janica had to pause. Where was she?

It seems like she wasn't the only one wondering. Mikhainon sidled up to a seat next to her, wrapping a hand around her waist.

"Hey, Janica, sweetheart," Mikhainon said in a charming tone. He reached out to touch up her collar a bit.

Janica was not charmed. She felt her blood turn to ice as Lord Mikhainon used his sweet voice. She knew that voice. It was the voice that landed her in hell.

"Listen, have you seen my sweet Chloe? I've been meaning to tell her goodnight before she leaves."

Janica nodded, but from the look of her face, she wasn't sure. "Ah. I'm sorry m'lord, I think she went home with the cute wind nymph from earlier?"

Mikhainon smiled sweetly. He tilted his head to the dance floor railings. She didn't know what she was supposed to look at —

The wind nymph was near the dance floor, flirting with another girl.

It barely registered in her head before she suddenly exploded into a thousand pieces.

Mikhainon turned into a raven and flew to the upper floors.

[ HAPPY 666th POST. ]

Mikhainon arrived to the VIP Room in a flourish. The double doors swung open and let a huge gust of wind inside his bedroom, making his curtains flutter and his papers fly all over the room. The two bodyguards outside his bedroom exploded with a loud bang, which should alert Chloe that there was now someone inside the room.

As Mikhainon's talons made contact with the floor, a flurry of feathers exploded around the room and he returned to his default human shape but it was more ragged than usual. His hair was a mess and his suit was wrinkled. He didn't have time to change it properly. He was running down the stairs and, sure enough, his darling daughter was trying to open the creaky door.

"I wonder how you're going to talk yourself out of this one, sweetheart," he said, his voice as cold as ice. Firm. It was almost fatherly. "Janica warned you not to go up here. And now she's dead, thanks to you. I hope you're happy with yourself."

As soon as Chloe was at arm's reach, he pinned her against the wall. "But you know what? Fine. This wasn't the order I planned but whatever. I'll answer your questions. I just hope those answers don't drive you mad."

He pressed his thumb on her forehead without warning.

He burned his seal to the flesh there and it should be a pain that would shoot around her entire body, twisting even the tiniest of her nerves and making her blood boil. She would feel like she would be on the brink of dying because of the agonizing pain and, just before she could pass out, she would be rejuvenated with a new energy that would soothe the pain and make her stronger. It was but a temporary enchantment.

As she dealt with the pain, he pulled a nearby lever and opened the door. He grabbed Chloe by the back of her dress and pushed her in there.

At first, she would see nothing but black. An infinite void thick with the rotten smell of sulfur.

But when she recovers from Mikhainon's enchantment, her eyes would be able to see the immaterial realm form into discernible shapes. Her nose would be able to breathe in the sulfur like oxygen. Her skin would be able to handle the harsh temperatures, ranging from burning heat to biting cold. Her ears would be able to translate demon tongues into a language system she could understand.

Gabriel looked at the surrounding area with dead eyes. He had been here a multitude of times, but not as a solid, "organic" creature. He never wanted to go back here in this form around the real him. It was just redundant.

The place they were in looked like a massive black canyon. The ground below was dark rock sticky with crude oil and thick with dust. Up and down seemed to be relative concepts in this dimension, seeing that there were roads that would descend and ascend into infinity and even entire islands with castles or lakes or mountains hanging upside down, its creatures stuck to the island's own gravity. The sky was a dangerous blood red with thick, grey clouds. There was no sun, moon or stars to be seen in this sky.

This dimension was not devoid of "life." There were souls that would pass by, moaning in pain or chattering about their life's problems. Some of the more solid inhabitants were more like statues that looked like corpses with their skin rotten and clinging tightly to their bones, chanting Lord Mikhainon's name over and over. The more lively ones were demons. Hell hounds that roamed the domains and kept them safe and enforcers armed with whips that would herd slaves to their proper places.

At the distance, at the very center of the view, was a silhouette of a giant building that was more massive than anything Chloe could have ever seen on Earth. Upon closer inspection, it wasn't a building at all. It was a giant Eldritch monster with tendrils, massive wings and a golden armor that seemed to shine even from where it was "standing." Two red dots from the creature watched Gabriel and Chloe observantly, waiting for their next move.

Gabriel crossed his arms and looked at Chloe.

"Welcome to Hell."

Gabriel stared at the creature as it stared at them right back. He felt uneasy. It was like staring at your organs in pictures — a doctor could show you a picture of your kidney, but you would feel no attachment or familiarity to that picture of your kidney. It's inside you. It helps you function. But it wasn't who you are.

He knew him as 'Gabriel' was an entirely different creature from 'Mikhainon'. Mikhainon had created his consciousness thousands of years ago. His base characteristics and his memories were modeled from Mikhainon, but ever since he split off, he turned into his own entity, created memories, developed tastes and cultivated a personality of his own. He didn't even know how much Mikhainon was controlling him, but from his guess, it was barely.

Mikhainon would approve and disapprove and Gabriel would be influenced by that feedback, but Mikhainon cared little for Gabriel's debauchery and hedonism, preferring instead to rule his domains with an iron fist. If Gabriel had any opinion about it, he was just as stuck up and traditional as the other demon lords.

Currently, there was one thing they agreed on.

Gabriel's purpose was to lead his daughter into this path.

"It's difficult to explain in a way a human could understand but I'll try my best," he said, his normal baritone shaking with an almost inhuman growl underneath it. It was his real voice. It seemed less like a human voice and more of a lion's growl. "The 'monstrous' creature you're looking at is the real me. Your real father. That's confusing. I'm real, too. But think of it this way — I'm nothing but a vessel for that creature to experience the world. I'm a finger. That creature is the brain."

He smiled at Chloe. His organic form was cracking a little. There was a slight, noticeable crack across his face. Unlike Chloe, there was no enchantment keeping him together in the material realm. "Do you want to talk to your father?"

"More or less," Gabriel said, shrugging. It wasn't exactly right. It was more like Mikhainon had too much power and too many domains to rule that he couldn't really uproot himself from his position and experience the world. He only left when summoned by a powerful magician — that, he had no choice in.

Gabriel looked at Mikhainon. "Well?"

Mikhainon the tower, the monster, cracked its tendril in the air. The moaning sounds were immediately muted. They could hear the whistling of the wind and sounds of crows squawking in the distance.

"You're not expecting us to spend an hour just to walk over to you, are you?"

An escalator materialized in front of Chloe and Gabriel. Gabriel held Chloe's hand for safety reasons and stepped onto the escalator with her. The escalator constructed itself in front of them as it brought them up to a wide, football field sized platform right in front of Mikhainon's face.

Aside from two, giant red eyeballs that watched their every movement, the rest of his face wasn't visible underneath its giant, golden helmet. Gabriel decided to bring some class to this meeting, so he waved his hand and spawned two plush armchairs, a lush carpet underneath and a side table with a decanter full of brandy and two crystals.

Gabriel seated himself and tilted his head at the other chair to let Chloe know she can sit there, and then he poured himself some brandy.

"Chloe..." said the monstrous creature, its voice loud enough to rumble the platform. "Was this what you were looking for?"

Gabriel cleared his throat. "Here's how Gomorrah works, honey: We invite people to our temple to share in our bountiful wealth and power, but we expect them to follow a certain set of rules. They're guests. It's common courtesy.

"We remind them every time about these rules. As long as they follow them, they can partake in anything they want — eat, drink, sleep, fuck. Whatever. But the minute they start abusing our hospitality, they get punished... accordingly."

The moans of the suffering were muted, but now they could hear one in a loud volume. He said: "H-hey man! I'm sorry! I'm sorry I stole that elixir, it wasn't right, bring me back outside — aaaaaaah!

For a creature with only primal emotional reactions, Gabriel still had no idea what Mikhainon was thinking behind those giant eyes of his. He didn't seem mad. He'd seen Mikhainon mad before. Major demons quaked in terror. Minor lords had their kingdoms destroyed.

Compared to his usual, he was treating Chloe with utmost care.

"But with you... We..." Gabriel looked at Mikhainon with expectant eyebrows. It gave its closest equivalent of a nod. "...didn't intend to keep this room a secret. It's your kingdom, after all. Our plan was to show you when we've unlocked your demonic powers so you wouldn't get scared."

Gabriel tsked sympathetically, shaking his head. "But now you're shaking to your knees. As expected. Poor thing. This is what happens when you don't follow rules, darling."

"Enough."

Gabriel took a sip of his brandy.

"I hope this encounter didn't dissuade you from joining me, Chloe. Hell is nothing like you've experienced on Earth. It will bend to your fingertips. You will live as long as you want and create things you can only dream of. You will transcend mortality and find a place among gods."