Lucifer's Journey

I was banished from the Almightiest realm, and for what? Because I thought what gods were doing was wrong, just for that? What was even the point? I only expressed my opinion and got exiled?

Too many thoughts were running inside my head, too many emotions:anger, frustration, confusion, sadness, and the list could have go on for long.......

"Lucifer, you've been banished from the Almightiest realm for attempt of corruption, you will now be sent to the darkest pit where you'll suffer a fate worst than death"The All Seeing Hand said, although at this point I didn't care, I accepted my fate, as a portal sent me to the darkest pit, where I fell unconscious

When I woke up, I was in a gigantic city covered in flames, where screams of pain,laughs and fighting noises welcomed me. There was no doubt here,I was in the first layer of the darkest pit.

I looked around as people were running away, I heard noises that sounded like a mix of angry animals and deadly beasts. I quickly went towards a house that had one of it's walls torn apart, and so I hid in it. Just at that moment, one of the three person that was running fell, the two others didn't even try to help him as they kept running, only to be ambushed by hideous and deformed creatures, one of them slashing the two man, killing them, I was terrified and yet I was looking towards them, the third man who fell was brought by the other creatures which were chasing them, as he pleaded:

"Please! Please spare my life! I'll do anything!"the man shouted only to get ignored and interrupted by one of the creatures

"Ya heard this idiot guys? He wants us to spare him! Bahahah pathetic"the creature said as the others laughed and began to tear the man apart, his screams of pain chilling me up to my bones

"So who gets to eat his corpse?"one of them asked

"Me!"one of them replied

"No me!"another one said

"All of you go find someone else! This guy is mine!"another one screamed,only for everyone to shout at him, as he shouted back and everyone begun to fight.

I knew I had to get out of here, if they ever caught me I would be dead, but was there even a way out?

I didn't have time to think of that, I took advantage of the chaos that they created to escape, going from buildings to buildings, always sneaking out, while screams of pain could be heard all over the place, and as I could see what was left of the eaten people:a pile of bones with a bit of flesh left on it, or a head that was half devoured, things such as this that makes what people think of hell as a paradise compared to this place, I sometimes encountered the "humans" there as they were in their house, however I was still a human from the Almightiest realm, so I could still fight them if they were just one, and most of the time they were just sleeping or drunked

It was after progressing through a good portion of the city that I saw a letter next to a corpse, I tried to read it which was hard due to the blood and dust on it, but I still managed to read:

"If you're reading this, I didn't manage to escape. I managed to find the end of this realm, a pit at the north of the city, which is near this place, although it's located in the main part of the city, where those monsters feast a lot, I'm gonna try to get to it, but it's gonna be hard, I can already hear footsteps coming forward, I hope this message can help, and I wish anyone who finds this good luck"

This was it, my way out the first layer.

But the question was......how? How could I manage to sneak in around all these creatures? Even if I waited until they were drunked they would see me and attack me at one moment or another......

I sat down and thought for what felt like hours, I was sweating like I never did before, and then came to me the most logical choice:make them fall into a trap by destroying a building to make noise and attract them, this was the perfect plan, although I knew it wouldn't be so simple, so to get all the chances behind me I simply waited until they were drunk and concentrated some of the magic I had left, aimed for a building that was approximately 200 meters from me and shoot out a magic beam, causing the building to be destroyed. The moment the creatures heard it, which made most of them drop their bottles and go towards it, however with around ten staying.

It wasn't the full effect I wanted, but it still was something, so I sneaked in and rushed towards the center of the interrupted feast, one of them spotted me and reached towards me, I ran as fast as I could but he still managed to reach for my arm as the other grabbed my face and body. It was over, it was the end....they caught me...I was done for......

Or that was what I thought. At the last moment, I grabbed all the strength within me and got out of their grasp, however costing me a huge scar on my face and my right arm being half crushed and ripped, I didn't care about the pain, all I wanted was to survive, I jumped towards the pit and fell into it.

I don't remember what happened when I fell, and that I remember was that when I woke up I was in what seemed a forest with a few houses nearby, but there was a mist so foggy I couldn't see anything, but I've felt it, there were other creatures there.

But unlike the other they seemed more human like, I knew that we couldn't see each other, yet I was scared.

That's when another person appeared as well, with (what seemed like) one of his arm gone and his torso being slashed. He was bleeding,and I could hear the droplets falling each after one, that's when one of the creatures stepped forward and said:

"**We know you're here**"

He wasn't talking about me but the sheer coldness in his voice made my whole body shake in fear, that's when the other person started to run, although it didn't last long as I heard the sound of a blade piercing and someone falling. He was killed in an instant, and it would be the same for me if I made any sound, I though my situation than anything, well I was wrong...this...was the second layer of the darkest pit.

I couldn’t make a sound, a breath, a mouvement, any sound produced by me would be my end, I had to wait and hope they go away.

That’s when the one who went to kill the other person who fell into the layer started to go towards the other creature,he was going to pass right towards me.

I had to make a decision. Running? Pointless, they’ll just catch me. Throw a rock to distract them? They would hear the sound of my arm moving. Fighting back? Impossible, there are two of them and they are in their natural habit, whereas I’m wounded and not used to this place.

I though about every possible plan as each step the creature was coming closer, I decided to just wait and accept my fate.

He was about to get right near me and feel my presence when suddenly a voice rang

“Every god and inhabitant of the second layer must come right now! An intruder has been spotted and has escaped the first layer!”

“That must be the one you killed, lucky you, you’ll have a reward, now let’s go telling them”One of them said, before they both retreated

I took a breath and tried to understand my environment, I felt what was like a house nearby and I went towards it, until I heard the sound of a portal and footsteps

“Going anywhere”A voice said,before two creatures grabbed me and another one hit me in the back of my neck, the only thing I heard before falling into unconsciousness was the sound of us going through the portal and what seemed to be the leader of these creatures saying:

“Hope you’ll have a nice sleep because you’re going to meet the leader of every being here, our lord Deimoros”he said as I fell unconscious

I woke up in what seemed like a void, I looked above and saw a massive black dragon, alongside a man in a red outfit with his face being torn appart

“Welcome to the sixth and last layer of the darkest pit, my name is Deimoros, and this is Dolius, also known as the mastermind”Deimoros said, not addint anything so I could analyze the situation.

My half torn appart arm was fixed, my face was covered in bandages, and I was in a sort of bubble protecting me from the nothingness here.

“Why……..did you…..let me live?”I asked, confused about what was happening to me

“Simple, it’s the first time in ages a human from the Almightiest Realm fell here, and since you live in a realm that is disconnected from the Darkest Pit, when one of your kind falls here it’s always a punishment, so tell me, what have you done to arrive here?”Deimoros asked

“I’m here because I was accused of “attempt of corruption” because I thought the doing of the gods of the Almightiest Realm were wrong, I thought them doing nothing to help the Lignum Forest and all it’s inhabitants”I said

“So you’re against the gods of the Almightiest Realm and you want a better world….why not join me?”Deimoros asked, which leaved me in shock and confusion, why would the ruler of one of the most horrible and darkest place in the world would ask me to join him? Before I could ask anything Dolius said:

“Lord Deimoros isn’t like you think, he’s not an absolute dictator of evil, a servent of darkness or a lord of tyranny, none of that. Lord Deimoros is someone who wants to change the world, not in the ways he views it should be like, but in a way that would benefit everyone, in a world where stupid and tyrannic gods won’t have all the power and everyone would be free to do what they want”

That answer to my questions alone was enough to convince me, and while lifting my head I said:

“I accept” which made a big smile appear on Deimoros face

“Great, but there is something you’ll have to do. You see right now you’re too weak to be a god of a layer, nonetheless one of my generals, luckily for you I have the solution to it”Deimoros said

“And what’s that solution?”I asked

“I’ve discovered the very essence of magic”Deimoros said as he made a flame appear in his hand

“What is that flame? I feel something odd coming from it”I asked

“It goes by many names, but I prefer to call it the flame of Olympus, it’s the representation of will, fate, destiny and determination”Deimoros explained

“That’s the very essence of magic? A flamme”I asked, to which Deimoros looked at Dolius with a bored look, likely not wanting to explain everything by himself, Dolius noted and explained:

“Concepts are what you could call the very essence of magic, "could" being the key factor in this sentence. Concepts are the first thing that were born by magic, they are the embodiment of everything that exist and doesn’t exist tin he world, and magic is the very originator of all thing within this world, which is why concepts are basically the essence of magic”Dolius explained

“This flame is the embodiment of will, fate, destiny and determination as I said, it represents these and embodies them, touching it would mean touching the very concept of those things, and here is where the interesting part begins: if you touch that flamme, your mind, soul, body and entire being will burn, and you’ll have to endure it, if your will manages to stay strong, the flamme will make you stronger than what you could dream, however if you fail, you’ll be reduced to below nothing, and even I won’t be able to bring you back, the choice is yours”Deimoros said as he looked towards me

The dice were in my hands,I just had to throw them

While I was thinking, Deimoros reassured me by saying:

“I mean, you could just become a human in the darkest pit, you’ll be basically no more than a soldier that I will eventually forget but at least you’ll live for sure”

“No, I choose the flame option”I replied with determination in(what was left of)my eyes, which lead to Deimoros smiling, looking proud and satisfying

“Very well then, but don’t say I didn’t warn you, when a man picks a choice there’s no turning back, and if you end up having the concept of your existence being consumed by the flame you could only blame yourself”Deimoros as he picked up a tiny bit of the flame with his claw

“Here try with a small portion”Deimoros said as he flung it towards me, I was readying myself ,but when the flame touched me…..any word related to pain wouldn’t be enough to destroy the suffering I went through when it touched my body, my skin was completely burned and I was barely able to stand on my feet.

“Are you sure you want to continue?”Deimoros asked, unsure if I could survive, but to his surprise I started walking towards the flame.

“I…can still…continue”I said with my broken lungs, as I walked towards the flame and touched it, my screams of pain were covering the whole layer, as my body was burning and my soul and mind were being shattered….but my will didn’t vanish.

I kept enduring the pain for 5 minutes, but it felt like hours.

Eventually the flame disappeared and I felt knees to the ground, I succeeded, I’ve won.

“I’m honestly surprised, I though you would fail on the last part, but I guess I was wrong”Deimoros said, as he changed my body and clothes, my skin was as white and as glowing as the moon, and my wings were as black as darkness itself.

“How about you show us your new power?”Deimoros asked, as he transported me between the sixth and the fifth layer.

With a movement of a hand I created…nothingness. It’s a bit weird to write but yes, I created nothingness, a white void where nothing was there, this was nothingness in what you could say “all of its glory”, no sound, no structures, no beings, no atoms, no magic, nothing appart the concept of nothingness was here, after all its what it embodies.

“Impressive,you truly are a newfound being, I sense nothing similar with the being I stared at 5 minutes ago, even Dolius is getting weaker by being here”Deimoros said

“Shouldn’t he be equal to me because we both survived the flame?”I asked, to which Deimoros looked at Dolius who noted

“I didn’t fully survive the flame, at the end my will weakened a bit, hence why I didn’t get the full might and power of the flame”Dolius said, while I created a book and a pencil and started writing.

“What are you writing about?”Deimoros asked,to which I replied:

“My entire journey, I want to write a book about it so that people who will maybe read it would understand me better, the only thing I’m wondering about is the name”to which Deimoros smiled and proposed:

“How about Lucifer’s journey?”