Devil Ash Deceit (Devil Ash Saga) (41 page)

Against even her own will, she couldn’t help but look across the yard to where her teammates stood. Her boys stared straight back at her, giving their leader their undying attention. The sadness in Ash’s eyes was still heavily present. Shiva, still feeling grateful, wanted to ease the boy’s mind like he had done for her. With a spark of brilliance she came up with a great way to finally stop feeling like she owed them something.

“My team is
the best
!” Shiva shouted, mustering up as much enthusiasm as she could. “No one has to worry about a thing as long as we’re around! Whether its demons or rebels, we’ll be there to smack’em all down! But the man everyone should really be thanking is our
chief
, you all know him as the Royal Advisor,
my man
, Goddard von Gosick!”

This, for some reason, got the crowd to cheer and applaud wildly. Goddard’s popularity skyrocketed that day. For a short while, Goddard would be known among the citizens of Hell as the man who effectively stopped a rebellion. The Royal Advisor took an embarrassed sort of half-bow, waving bashfully at the crowd.

“Goddard is
such
a great guy. Without him, who knows if we’d all be standing here now,” Shiva said. Her attempt at buttering up the Royal Advisor was working, as Goddard smiled and waved, drinking up every compliment. “And what a nice boss he is too! So generous! You all have no idea! In fact, only moments ago he
promised
to set my team up with a
luxurious
condo in West Hell!

Ash, Aura, and Goddard’s jaws all hit the ground.

“
Did she just say
…?” Aura murmured.

“I don’t know…” Ash replied.

“I
what
?!” Goddard whispered loudly, gripping Shiva by the shoulders and locking eyes. Shiva stared back boldly as if challenging him. After all that had happened that day, the last thing Goddard felt like doing was challenging Lady Shiva, especially with the entire Kingdom watching. The Royal Advisor admitted defeat just this once, forced a smile, and faced the people again.

“O-of course! My team deserves the best!” Goddard stated loudly, trying his best to look sincere. The rouse worked and the people cheered at his generosity. The man raised his arms in an effort to bring the volume down again. “At sun-up tomorrow, we will hold a public execution of the rebel leaders! Until then, everyone clear out of the courtyard and go home!”

The crowded courtyard slowly drained as the masses leaked out of the gate and into the streets. The Royal Guards that had been out chasing the escaping rebels returned to the castle empty-handed. There weren’t any more rebels captured that day, which must have meant their escape plan worked. Ash and Aura waited patiently as the crowds departed for Shiva and Goddard to make their way over to them. When the courtyard was mostly empty they reunited on the steps before the castle entrance.

“What’s all this about a nice condo in West Hell?” Aura asked immediately, not beating around the bush.

“I would like to know how that came about as well,” Goddard said with a snappy tone while arching an eyebrow at Shiva.

“I just wanted to make sure my team was adequately compensated for their contributions to the Kingdom,” Shiva said with crossed arms. “After all, you said it yourself: Our team deserves the
best
. Are you really gonna say that crappy tiny flat you have them set up with now is the best? Furthermore, you promised in front of the entire Kingdom that you’d do it. If you want help, I’m sure gramps can point you in the right direction.”

“Okay, okay!” Goddard said, getting fed up. “I’ll see what I can do. But I’m only doing it because I genuinely believe you deserve it. Now go home and try to get some rest, in what will hopefully be your last night in those beds.”

“Um, Goddard,” Shiva said, looking around the courtyard. “Have you seen gramps?”

“Lord Wilhelm?” Goddard asked, pausing to think. “He’s not back yet? The last time I saw him was inside the chapel. He stormed off in a hurry to chase off the rebels. I’m sure he’ll show up here soon.”

Goddard stormed away, shooing some of the Nobles that still hovered around the King, getting the ‘exclusive’ interview from him for tomorrow’s paper. As they moved into the castle followed by a throng of Royal Guards and a bored Prince Darko, Shiva joined her team.

“Thanks,” Ash was quick to say. “That was really nice of you.”

“Yeah, thanks,” Aura added politely, trying not to make a big deal out of it. “That was uncharacteristically nice of you.”

“Whatever,” Shiva said, reverting back to her old self. “I just wanted you to live in West Hell so you could be closer to gramps. I’m going to ask him to keep an eye on you two and make sure you aren’t slacking off in your free time! Anyway, isn’t this the part where you try to convince me to come party with you?”

“I don’t feel like partying right now,” Ash said with a sigh.

“Yeah, me neither,” said Aura.

“I think we’re just going to go home and sleep like Goddard said.”

“Oh,” Shiva said. For a moment she appeared to be disappointed, but washed that look away with a wide smile. “Good! I don’t wanna do anything tonight either. I’ll see you both later. At the execution…”

The boys nodded and muttered a short goodbye, then turned to descend the steps to the courtyard. Standing at the bottom of the steps and blocking their path was Amos Draxler with his arms crossed patiently. Aura rolled his eyes before stepping up to face his father.

“I never thought I’d live to see the day when
you
step up to save the Kingdom,” said Amos with a smile. “You brought a lot of honor to our family today. I think… I
know
your mother would be very proud of you. And I know Nora will too. You can tell her all about it when you see her.”

“Thank you,” Aura said, unable to hold back his tears. Amos grabbed his boy, wrapping him up in a warm hug that was twenty years overdue. “I’ll come see you both whenever you want,” Aura said. “I’ve still gotta make things right with Nora. And I think I finally know how.”

For the first time in a long time, Amos felt something he thought he would never get to feel again: the love of his son. The two parted ways, and Ash and Aura waved goodbye. Amos noticed his son’s worn and wrecked metal gauntlet. The glove was really starting to show its age these days, covered in scratches, chips, and dents.

As they left the castle courtyard, Shiva came running down the stairs to speak with Amos. She had a special request to make of the weapons master, and after hearing Shiva out there was no way Amos could say no. He returned home to be with his daughter, and after an evening of recounting the rebel invasion for her, the proud father began his work.

* * * *

It took several hours for Ash and Aura to walk home. They were constantly being stopped and thanked and complimented and questioned by the various citizens that were still in the streets. At first the boys welcomed all the extra attention and adoration, but by the time their journey stretched into its second hour they had had enough.

When at last they got home, the boys closed the curtains to shut out the world and lay down on their beds. For a long time they just laid there quietly, lost in their own thoughts. Finally, the silence was broken.

“Did you see something weird down there too?” Aura asked.

The two swapped stories about how their fights went down and what they saw afterwards. Ash revealed how even though he was mad at Phoenix for hurting Shiva, he couldn’t help but feel that their former teacher wasn’t a bad guy. Aura agreed that his opponent Lionel seemed like a good guy too. The Satan family secrets that were stored away in the castle basement were as terrifying as they were dangerous. A mad man in a well and a fallen angel; the boys couldn’t even begin to speculate at what significance the two mysterious men held.

In very little time, the boys drifted off to sleep. Ash awoke suddenly when someone’s hand covered his mouth. He opened his eyes wide-awake and alert, attempting to scream. Greeting him and stifling his voice was the familiar face of Wilhelm Satan standing over his bedside. The old man raised a finger to his lips to signal that Ash should be quiet, and uncovered the boy’s mouth.

Wilhelm moved towards the door and beckoned Ash to follow. The boy jumped up and threw on some clothes and his coat, trying not to wake his conked out roommate. Stepping outside it was pitch dark now. Torches lit the main walkways, but Wilhelm led Ash through the shadowy side streets instead.

“What’s up?” Ash asked, trying not to yawn.

“
Phoenix needs to speak with you
,” Wilhelm whispered. “
One last time
.”

Ash followed Wilhelm through the back alleys of North Hell towards the castle. The boy could not understand what the old man meant. How did he know Phoenix needed to talk to him? Had he already been down to the bottom floor of the prison to visit with him? And most importantly,
why him
?

When Ash tried to make conversation, Wilhelm would only shush him. The Old Satan apparently wasn’t in the mood to elaborate on their trip. Once they arrived at the gates to the castle courtyard, their little game of stealth was over. They walked briskly across the courtyard and up to the castle entrance. Waiting patiently there for them was Archen.

“Thank you old friend for making this possible,” Wilhelm said in a hushed voice.

“Anything for you, Great Satan. But we must hurry and be out of there by the next shift change,” Archen said. The group entered the deserted castle lobby and headed for the basement.

No one spoke on the walk downstairs. Ash was lost in thought about his upcoming confrontation with the convict he himself had condemned. Common sense told the boy that Phoenix would be furious. Ash had ruined his former teacher’s well-constructed plans and cost him his life. If his movement seal wasn’t properly in place, he might even attack the boy.

Ash started to worry. Wilhelm and Phoenix were very close, and it wasn’t impossible to believe that the old man might even remove his pupil’s seal. Paranoia took hold of him, gripping his heart and feeding his suspicions. Would Wilhelm set Phoenix free? They would find out soon.

The walk to the bottom of the spiral prison used to last ten minutes. This time it felt to Ash like ten seconds. Going back down there was about the last thing he ever wanted to do, yet there he was. The boy was cold and sweaty as they approached the final two cells of the prison. In the distance at the end of the slope Ash could see the two doors that housed terrible secrets. He wouldn’t go back there again, even if Wilhelm tried to make him.

The trio passed by the cell containing Lionel. The man sat with his back against the wall, head drooped and focused on the floor. Ash felt a cold shiver run down his spine, imaging these last few hours of Lionel’s life spent knowing he was soon to die. Not surprisingly, the prisoner said nothing as Ash went by.

Next up was the cell that contained Phoenix. The once well-respected scholar sat with legs folded meditating in the center of the cell. His eyes were closed, and he didn’t seem to notice they’d arrived. After opening the cell door for them, Archen excused himself to go keep watch up top. Old Satan thanked him and directed Ash inside the cell. The terrified boy stood silently in front of his disgraced teacher.

“Thank you for coming,” Phoenix said politely. He exhaled deeply and opened his eyes. “I will be blunt with you, since we have much to discuss and very little time to do so. We believe Goddard intends on using you to achieve his own evil plot.”

There was still some leftover aggression towards the man, and his statement struck a chord with Ash. “Oh, kind of you like what you did to Shiva?” Ash replied, regretting the words as soon as they left his lips.

Phoenix sighed. “Look, I am not proud of my tactics, but I saw an opportunity and I took it. As I will explain, I believe my actions can be justified so long as you’re willing to listen. Will you please listen to me, just one last time?”

Ash hesitated. He turned back to Wilhelm and addressed the Old Satan instead. “What about you old man? Were you in on their plot the whole time too? Did you sell out your own granddaughter?”

Wilhelm had his back turned on the two and didn’t budge. “You should speak with Phoenix while you still can,” was all he said. So Ash turned back to Phoenix, attempting to listen with an open mind.

“Okay, you have my attention. Convince me you’re not crazy.”

“Goddard von Gosick must not be trusted. He brought you to Hell for a very specific purpose, as our spies discovered. Forgive me for not being able to show you the proof at this moment.”

“Okay,” Ash said. “So Goddard brought me here to help fight demons. I knew that.”

“There is so much more to it then that. Thanks to Lord Wilhelm, I was able to gain access to the Royal library in the castle. The books there are very old; some of them are even written by the original Lucifer Satan.”

“
Whoa
. That
is
old.”

“Wilhelm and I have been studying his works for a long time, and we’ve noticed one term in particular mentioned several times:
The Hand of God
,” said Phoenix. “He mentions it more and more in the days leading up to his rebellion against God. Some scholars have speculated that he meant the literal hand of God, as in one of God’s hands. But Wilhelm and I believe it to be a metaphor for something else. God does not have a physical body like us, so He wouldn’t have need for physical hands. We think the Hand of God that Lucifer was so concerned about is a
person
.”

“Uh… Why?”

“In the days when God was a little more interactive with your kind, He’d sometimes tap certain humans to do His work or spread His messages. We believe the Hand of God will be a human like that, but with a different kind of purpose.”

“What purpose?”

“In his final tome, Lucifer’s last words written were:
I will go to stop them now. If I fail here, the Hand of God will destroy everything.
After writing those words, Lucifer led his armies into war with all of Heaven, even going so far as to take his fight to God, knowing he would not win. We think Lucifer may have feared the Hand of God would be a human capable of destroying everything, even Heaven and Earth.”

“Wait, so Lucifer wanted to exterminate humanity because he
feared
us?”

“Clearly, he knew something we do not. In all his writings Lucifer was always careful to be as vague as possible on the matter. He had us all stumped for a very long time, until Goddard figured it out.”

“Wait a minute… you think
I’m
this Hand of God, don’t you?” Ash asked, puzzled.

“Goddard has access to the same information we do. Our spies have confirmed that he brought you to Hell because he suspects you are the Hand of God. That is reason enough for us to be cautious. We have no way to know for sure if you are the Hand of God or not, but based on my time spent with you I have changed my mind.”

“That’s a really big ‘if’ to go condemning someone on,” Ash said. “Wait, what do you mean you changed your mind?”

“Master Wilhelm was against including you in our plans from the very beginning. He wanted to leave you out of our affairs for now, until we could remove Goddard from the equation and analyze your potential. He wanted to deduce if you could help us, or inversely, if you would be a
threat
to us. I am sorry to admit I was of the opinion that we should have ended your life immediately. I was convinced we didn’t need you; that the world would be better off if we eliminated the Hand of God as soon as possible. Now I am sorry for that.”

“That’s crazy,” Ash said in a daze. “How could
I
destroy
everything
? I’m just… some kid.”

“During our battle, I sensed there is something very different about you. I believe you have a great amount of power, and could become much stronger than you are now. It’s up to you whether or not you want to ‘destroy everything’ with that power. However I would suggest using your power for good instead. I’d like you to pick up my mission where I am unfortunately leaving off. I want you to
save Hell
, Ash.”

“Save Hell?!” Ash erupted. “What does that even mean! I’m already fighting demons on the daily, what more could I do?”

“You must never allow Goddard to free the man you saw in that room today.”

“That man…” Ash shuddered just thinking of him. “He was an angel, right?”

“You saw him. That means you must of
felt
him, just like I did. Just being in his presence was like experiencing a waking death.”

“Why would Goddard want to
free
him then?
Who is he
?”

“What I’m about to tell you, not a lot of devils know. It’s information that was primarily kept within the Royal Family, and not recorded in any of our history books. I bet Goddard failed to mention to you the real reason the first generation of devils picked this exact place to build their castle: this is where Lucifer landed when God banished him!”

“But the book I read said Lucifer was sent into the Negative Divide!” Ash countered, still utterly confused.

“Yes, his
soul
was sent to the Negative Divide. Everyone knows that. But what most devils don’t know is what happened to his
body
. For some reason we’ll probably never find out, God didn’t just simply
kill
Lucifer. Instead He split apart his body and soul, imprisoning the body inside of an indestructible substance. Lucifer’s body landed in Hell with so much force it split the ground and kept going. That is why they built the castle here! To search for their fallen leader, Lucifer!”

“Wait a minute, so that angel down there was…”

“Yes. That is the body of the original Lucifer Satan. After years of searching, Goddard finally found him!”

Ash dropped to his knees dripping with sweat. Just thinking about the way he felt back then in Lucifer’s presence made the boy tremble with fear. “W-why would he w-want to break him out?” Ash stammered.

“I don’t know, but I believe Goddard von Gosick is the man capable of finding a way to do it. After all, he found you, and you’re the Hand of God.”

“Stop calling me that! I don’t even know what it means! I don’t get it, you think Goddard wants me to somehow crack open that indestructible shell that’s containing Lucifer? That’ll never happen. I’m getting stronger, yeah, but I’m not
that
strong. He’d have a better shot with that raging psychopath Prince.”

“Darko is strong, but he is not the Hand of God. You will surpass even him in strength one day, just like you surpassed me.” Phoenix smiled and climbed to his feet, extending a hand to help pull Ash up. “I am happy my death will not be in vain. I can trust you with my mission, right?”

“Hey, you’re not really going to let them kill you, are you?” Ash said, growing concerned. If Phoenix could stand, that meant he could move. “The cell door is wide open, why don’t you just escape? I’ll even let you go if you promise to stop acting crazy and apologize to Shiva!”

“I cannot leave, we all agreed when we started,” Phoenix said.

“
We
? You mean you and Wilhelm?” Ash said, turning to face the Old Satan. “What are you anyway, old man? The new leader of the rebels or something? So that’s it: you want him dead so you can take his place! You want to overthrow and kill off your own family!?”

“Ash, please-” Phoenix began.

“It’s okay, Phoenix,” Wilhelm said, keeping his back turned to Ash. “Boy! Who do you think brought the rebels together? How are they all able to live outside of the Kingdom and not be consumed by demons? Who is the only person capable of making it all work out?”

“Wait a minute. You’re not saying…”

“The answer is..” Wilhelm turned around, jamming his thumb into his chest. “Me!”

“But
why
?”

“Because I know, better than anyone else, the Satan bloodline does not guarantee one will be a kind and just King. I saw it in my father before I took the throne, and now I see it in my own son and grandson. And if this whole situation with the Hand of God leads to the revival of Lucifer, we’ll have even more trouble on our plate. I just thought it was a good idea to have a backup plan and start an organization that wasn’t so
loyal
to the Satan bloodline.”

“That’s great and all, but you still allowed your crew to use your granddaughter like a pawn. I don’t think I can ever look at you the same way again. If Shiva ever found out…”

“You mustn’t tell Shiva!” Wilhelm said with passion. “I will bring her around to our cause when she’s ready to accept the truth, but that will take a while. In the meantime, you mustn’t mention any of this to her.” Wilhelm turned away once again, hiding his face. “I never wanted to use her. But Phoenix convinced me it was the only way.”

Ash remembered the argument he’d managed to catch a peek of. Wilhelm and Phoenix stood in the private courtyard just before they announced their trip to the Hellwood. Wilhelm was shouting at Phoenix. Ash remembered the look on Wilhelm’s face back then and he knew the old man meant what he said.

“Time out,” Ash said. “What’s the worst that could happen if Lucifer’s body is somehow freed? He’s just a corpse, so, what, will they just burry him or something?”

“Unfortunately, I don’t think that will be the case,” Phoenix said. “Some believe that if freed the body will call back his soul and return to life. Others say he doesn’t need a soul; that he will resurrect even without one. Our goal is to ensure that never happens.”

“Why? This is Hell… Isn’t Lucifer like a God to you people?”