Reforming Hell. Marilyn "Mattie" Brahen
a real river during the High Holidays to carry any troubles and wrong-doings we committed out to sea and away.”
Az smirked. “Like you know everything, right. Well, we had our share of trouble and sinning down here. But, Quatama, what will your method of rehabilitation be? Hair shirts? Praying to God on their knees morning, noon and night, which it’s hard to tell the difference between, here in Hell? Or perhaps leeches to bleed their sins away? Just how do you intend to reform the lost sinners of Hell?”
Quatama had pushed away all of the beef on his plate and was enjoying the potato, mixed with his salad greens. “We intend to use psychology.”
Lucifer nearly choked, coughing loudly, and then calmed himself. “Psychology?! Are you serious?!”
Quatama nodded. “And meditation. And perhaps some psychiatry thrown in. We will also determine if the earthly life traits were due to chemical imbalances in the brain and body.”
“Whoa,” Lucifer said. “I think we’ve got West Side Story here, complete with the equally useless social worker, shrink and job counselor. What’s that line?” He sang out: “We’re no good, we’re no good, we’re no good, we’re no good. The whole lot of us is no damn good!”
And Azmodeus said: “And don’t forget our own Romeo and Juliet.” He turned to Regan. “I forget the names of the couple in the Bernstein movie, not that the guy could dance as well as the Puerto Ricans.”
Bael drained his wine. “Tony and Cleopatra. And I also have my right-hand man.”
He flicked his glass at Ashtoreth, who put in, “But we’re not going to fight you.”
“Oh, man,” said Azmodeus, “no battle in the barrio?”
“No,” Ash told him, “this is about positive change, regardless of whether you think it’s possible.”
Az took Regan’s hand in his. “They want me to grow. Where shall I grow, my dear?”
She didn’t answer, but Leianna did: “Don’t be rude!” Her tone rang out sharply, regally, visibly startling Azmodeus. He let go of his concubine’s hand, saying nothing. Leianna felt certain that no other woman had ever shut his mouth in centuries.
Quatama said with a touch of ironic humor, “Behavioral therapy is also an effective tool.”
They could feel Az’s anger at being the butt of the joke. He now responded, his voice low, his words measured, laced with a subdued fury. “I’d forgotten how difficult it was for you to deal with conflicts, Leianna. Everything had to be proper and perfect. You should fear this Alliance you propose, but I fear that you do not know what fear is. We of Hell do. Tell her, Father, her and Quatama, what horrendous challenges waited for you and our people when you were first thrown down into Golgotha! I was spared from them, having beforehand been torn from my family and flung through the winds of the canyon into a mortal woman’s womb, to be born as a mortal on the Earth. But when my mortal body died, I found my way back to my father and my family in the hellish world our Creator had banished them to. And they told me of horrors which I’m sure would have cost you your mind, Leianna. You ought to know a good deal more about our world before you so blithely invade it! Tell her, Father, tell her and Quatama of your arrival in a world you eventually came to rule.”
Leianna had listened quietly and now addressed Lucifer. “Yes, I would like to know that.”
Lucifer broke a bit of roll to sop up the remains of the wine sauce on his plate, chewing slowly. Leianna slowly finished her own meal, surprised at how delicious everything had tasted, certain that the meat was an illusion, but not an evil, deliberate one. On the higher planes, a roast turkey dinner was created using a form of psychic tofu for any animal flesh. “It will help me to understand what you and your people underwent.”
Lucifer poured more wine for himself, sitting back. “Regan,” he commanded, “clear the table and serve dessert.”
The petite blonde complied. For the first time, Leianna noticed that she was dressed in the Eliomese style, a snug white gown that hugged her soft curves and resembled Affaeteres’s. Regan removed the used dishes and glasses, waited until the head waiters tasted the thick berry pie and chocolate mousse, and then served them to the dinner guests. The coffee and tea were also tasted, and steaming pots were placed onto the table for them to choose and help themselves.
“Very good, Regan,” Lucifer told her. “You may sit down and join us again.” His tone held a softened edge of weariness. He looked at Leianna. “The last you saw of me, my family and followers, we were being lifted into the roiling cloud of blinding light. Now you ask me what befell us afterwards. Didn’t Bael speak to you of this?”
“Only that you were blinded and buffeted about within that cloud, and that he fell unconscious until he arrived in a land that seemed devoid of light, except for the fiery glow of volcanoes and phosphorus pools.” She glanced at Bael. “He told me that hours later a dim, misty dawn broke, and that a dark grey sky rose over the world you were exiled into.”
Lucifer remembered, grimacing. “Exiled, yes! Our arrival point resembled a moonscape except that in the distance a volcano soon steamed rivers of lava flowing down its slopes, its smoke and ash obscuring the sky.”
Ashtoreth spoke up. “We were all afraid, especially the women, who began to wail and beseech my father to ask the Creator’s forgiveness. But it was too late for that. None of us knew this would happen.”
Affaeteres stood up. “I didn’t wail.” She sat down.
“No, you didn’t, Mother,” Ash said. “You were very afraid, but you acted bravely.”
“Yes, I did. When this world was at its worst, I could stomach it better.” She looked at Lucifer. “Well, my dear, tell Leianna and Quatama the tale of how we survived Hell.”
CHAPTER 5
Into the Abyss
In the utter darkness—(Lucifer recalled the terror of their arrival in Hell)—he heard screams, wails and calls by his followers to their friends and family and to him. Lucifer once again took command. He called back to them, his voice booming above their fearful babble. “Everyone be quiet! Everyone! This is Lucifer!”
He had chosen his people well. Their cries died down to silence. “I am going to call out the names of my leaders one by one, who must answer me and then call out the names of their own charges, who must answer them and alert us to their presence. And once we have done that, I will call for my family. In this way we will know if we have all arrived here intact, that none of us are missing.”
He started with Dagon, the only spirit master who had rebelled with Lucifer.
His eldest subcommander answered him, his voice hoarse as the gravel beneath their feet. “I am here!” Dagon called out the names of those under his command, who called out their presence in the darkness.
Lucifer then called out the names of Moloch, Adrammelech, Chemosh, of Behemoth, Mammon and Belial, of Thamuz, Phoenixious and Cimeries. All responded as did the folk under their guidance. Adrammelech complained of the suffering of his seven year old son Marech, and his mother, Maura, Adrammelech’s wife, called out shakily: “He will not speak sense to us! The child utters nonsense words, and shivers, as do I in this black void.”
Lucifer spoke soothingly to her. “We will find light, and we will ease your son’s shock, Maura. For now, let me continue to identify us all. I call for Naamah. Answer me, lady, if you be here.”
“I am here,” came her voice, faintly, from what seemed like a distance from him. “Those who are under me, I will call out your names for your acknowledgment. Answer me swiftly!”
Her charges did so quickly, trusting Lucifer’s only woman subcommander and voicing no complaint.
Lucifer continued: “Lothan, I know that you, your wife, Tia, and daughter, Sharlan, must be here.” They all three raggedly voiced their presences to him. “Now call out to those angelfolk who