Inferno: Chapter 14 (546 hits)
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Submitted by SoxSexSax (View user info) at 2005-04-27 01:01:26 EDT
(The astutue, or at least the astute who also care, may have noticed that I have effectively left Ubersite. However, I have recently gotten over the writer's block that was causing each new Inferno chapter to take months (I REALLY hope), so, in case anyone DOES in fact care, I'll post them here when they get finished for old times sake. Don't expect any review replies from me or non Inferno posts...although you never know...)
Chapter 13: http://www.ubersite.com/m/35192
Chapter 12: http://www.ubersite.com/m/34063
Chapter 11: http://www.ubersite.com/m/18528
Chapter 10: http://www.ubersite.com/cgi-bin/message_get.cgi?message=10676141967013473
Chapter 9: http://www.ubersite.com/cgi-bin/message_get.cgi?message=1066487978166723780
Chapter 8: http://www.ubersite.com/cgi-bin/message_get.cgi?message=106595175399835122
Chapter 7: http://www.ubersite.com/cgi-bin/message_get.cgi?message=106549765998947541
Chapter 6: http://www.ubersite.com/cgi-bin/message_get.cgi?message=1064957367793418459
Chapter 5: http://www.ubersite.com/cgi-bin/message_get.cgi?message=1064708642207119853
Chapter 4: http://www.ubersite.com/cgi-bin/message_get.cgi?message=106445883547967169
Chapter 3: http://www.ubersite.com/cgi-bin/message_get.cgi?message=1064345511408928163
Chapter 2: http://www.ubersite.com/cgi-bin/message_get.cgi?message=1064195167876012309
Chapter 1: http://www.ubersite.com/cgi-bin/message_get.cgi?message=10639441118252674
Chapter 14
John listened to Midnight explain how the battle with the minotaur had transpired in stunned silence. When the hero of the hour finally stopped speaking he asked, "So you really think God possessed your body to defeat the minotaur?"
Midnight had asked himself the same question ten times in his head while telling the story and was almost annoyed with himself for being totally unable to come up with any other plausible explanation. He cast his eyes over the vast area of lifeless desert they currently stood upon as if looking for inspiration. "Yes," he finally replied, in a weary tone. "That is what I believe."
"Well, surely that's good mate? If God be with us, who dare stand against us?"
"Yeah, maybe it's good," replied Midnight, without enthusiasm. "I just find it a little difficult to get excited by the prospect of having my body taken over by some supernatural power for its own purposes, that's all."
"Even when its purpose is to stop a ferocious minotaur cutting your head from its shoulders?" asked John.
Midnight's face indicated that he didn't really appreciate the sarcasm. "It's just strange, that's all. Yesterday morning I didn't believe in God, the devil, heaven or hell and today I'm standing in a desert in the middle of Inferno's domain, saying that I truly believe I have just been controlled by the creator of all mankind. It sounds too weird to be true. Maybe it was just a coincidence."
"You know, you flicker hot and cold on this God thing mate," said John, at least slightly annoyed. "Twenty minutes ago you're laying into me for suggesting that sixty-four-to-one odds at rock scissors paper could be luck, ten minutes ago you're turning a minotaur into salt without a clue how to do it and now your standing here telling me that maybe you still don't believe in God?"
Midnight sighed. "Yes...no...not quite. Ever since I was a teenager, I've rejected the idea of God. The suggestion that a supernatural, all-powerful being was watching over our every action seemed ludicrous to me, especially as I'd seen no hard evidence to prove his existence. In fact I used to have heated arguments about whether or not God existed with a kid in my class, Paul Farmer, who was a devout Roman Catholic. I could never understand how he could believe in a thing that he hadn't seen with his own eyes. I guess in a way I've got it easier than him really. I've seen now a number of things that make me believe that God must exist. But...damn it, I don't want him to exist! I don't want to have been wrong for all these years. I know that probably sounds nuts under the circumstances but I can't help the way I feel. I wish I'd never discovered the truth. Ignorance truly is bliss."
"Don't take this the wrong way 'cause I do like you, but you don't half moan mate," said John without humour. "People are dying on earth. Your mother is dying. My wife is dying. Children are dying. And you, one of the two people who can do something about it, are standing there idly whining on about the unfairness of God's existence."
John's words really stung Midnight. What could he say to rebuff them? They were true, all of them. He'd seen the destruction on earth with his own eyes. He knew deep in his heart that Inferno was the devil. He was still alive while millions all over the world had perished in horrifying ways, and he was whining on about it like it was in some way unfair that he had to believe in God.
I could have told you that hours ago, the little voice said. Now apologise to John and stop this petulance immediately.
He turned to John. "I'm sorry," he said, in a sincere tone. "You're right, I am whining when I should be acting and I've broken my number one life rule: always believe what you've seen. Well this is it. This is the moment I accept finally that God exists and that I am working for him against the forces of evil."
He dropped to his knees, never taking his eyes off John's face. "God, I Midnight ask that you protect John and me when we are in dire need, and ask for the strength to confront Inferno at the end of our journey without fear in my heart. I know I haven't exactly been a model follower all these years, but I swear now that I will do everything I can to triumph over the evil powers that relentlessly bombard your world. I believe in you."
He got back slowly to his feet. John silently nodded at him. "I know that wasn't easy mate, and I admire you for it."
Midnight smiled. "Don't get all sentimental and sissy on me now John. We've got a demon to kill."
"I take it we're going to pay a visit to the Channel Master, whoever he may be?" asked John. Midnight nodded in reply.
"I don't know what we're going to do when we get there, but I don't see any alternative. Like you said though, if God be with us, who dare stand against us?"
John grinned sheepishly. "It's a lot easier to say that when you're not face to face with a demon, isn't it mate?"
"Now don't you start having doubts, too! Let's go."
Midnight looked up. "We wish to see the Channel Master," he yelled into the dark, turbulent sky. They waited to see what would happen.
It didn't take long. Just a couple of seconds after he had shouted for it, a solid oak door fell at an alarming rate from the sky and landed just a few feet to Midnight's left. The crash it made as it hit the ground made both Midnight and John visibly jump.
"Wow, I'd never have believed it if I hadn't seen it," said John. "Did you see how fast that thing fell mate? It was like it had a rocket strapped to it!"
"If the public transport in London was anything like hell's, I for one would happily give up my car," Midnight replied flippantly. He approached the door. "OK, Mr Channel Master, prepare to be...well, killed or interrogated, depending on your attitude."
John chuckled at this. "Decisive," he said, approaching the door. "I admire that in a person."
Midnight grabbed the handle and turned it. As usual, the inside was pitch black, and neither Midnight or John gave it a second thought this time. They stepped through, and heard the door begin to swing closed on its own accord.
As soon as it had shut behind them, their surroundings became instantly visible. They were standing in a large stone chamber that had one giant wooden door leading out of it. The walls were somewhere between blue and grey in colour and formed a stalactite covered dome above their heads. The only thing in the chamber save them was the door through which they had arrived.
Suddenly this door shot upwards at tremendous speed. Midnight watched as it hurtled towards the solid stone ceiling, collided and then shattered into thousands of splinters above them. Now they couldn't go back even if they wanted to.
John opened his mouth to speak, but was cut off by a deep, rasping voice that echoed from behind the wooden door.
"Greeting humans, I have been expecting you. I am the Channel Master."
Midnight felt no fear this time. His mind was firmly focused on the fact that he was working for God. He called out "We have a demon ring in our possession, and we will use it if we need to. I just think it's fair we warn you of that"
"Fair indeed, Midnight, although I already knew that to be the case. Perhaps it would be fair of me to inform you that I too have a demon ring, a ring modified by the great Inferno himself to protect his most loyal and intelligent servant. Midnight, do you know what happens when two demon rings come together?"
"They sing songs, drink wine and make baby demon rings?" asked John loudly and with much sarcasm.
The voice had an irritated edge to it when it replied. "They fight, John, that's what they do. Each demon ring has its own mind. Your puny brain probably hasn't realised this yet, of course, but that ring you have is far more than a mere ruby sitting upon a simple band of gold. The soul of a demon resides within both our rings. While they are far from their brothers they channel their energies into defending their wearer. But when they come close to another of their kind, they will expend all of their energy locked in furious combat...and when they are so tired they can barely conjure, they will drain the life of their wearer to the point of death to achieve their opponent's destruction. If you enter this chamber with your demon ring uncovered, we will immediately be locked into combat from which neither of us shall be able to escape. Do you understand?"
"I understand but I think you're talking out of your arse," replied Midnight.
"Yeah," interjected John. "I bet you haven't even got a demon ring. You must think we're really dumb or something, mate."
They both heard the Channel Master sigh. "I see I shall have to prove myself," it said a moment later.
Immediately Midnight felt a burning sensation on his left hand. He looked down and saw that the ring was glowing bright red. His finger was beginning to hurt and the pain was rising steadily. He grabbed the ring with his right hand and tried to pull it from his finger. It was as if it had melted into place...it would not budge. Without warning a bolt of lightning shot out of the ring and smashed into the door, creating a shower of sparks and leaving a charred, black patch in the centre. Thick plumes of steam were rising from his finger. Midnight was in absolute agony now and opened his mouth to scream.
Immediately the pain was gone and the ring had stopped glowing. He looked at John and saw his mouth gaping open in amazement. He looked down at his finger, which was completely unharmed.
"I uncovered my ring for just a second," the Channel Master said. "You saw what happened. Now, I suggest that when I open the door for you, you keep that ring completely covered at all times. Unless you would like to know how it feels to be melted alive?"
"OK, you've made your point," said Midnight. "I'll keep it covered, but remember that we have no other form of defence, and if provoked I shall have no alternative."
"I understand that Midnight, and can assure you that I will not directly be causing you harm. I shall open the door for you now."
"I don't like the use of the word directly there, mate," said John quietly. Midnight had been thinking precisely the same thing.
There was a bright flash of light that required them to shield their eyes. It lasted for only an instant and when they uncovered them the door had vanished and they could see the narrow ledge that led to the Channel Master's circular plateau. They exchanged a quick glance before venturing through the open doorway, Midnight clasping his hands together to keep the demon ring well covered.
The door reappeared with another brief flash as soon as they had passed through it. They carefully made their way along the thin, stone path that connected the door with the large stone cylinder upon which the Channel Master maintained the transport system. Midnight looked over the edge and could see no bottom to the large stone chamber. He shuffled behind John so they could walk right down the centre single file, to be absolutely safe.
Just don't be foolish and forget to keep your hand safely in your pocket, the little voice in his head said out of the blue. I know what you're like: forgetful and clumsy at the best of times...and this is far from being the best of times. So just remember: hand - pocket!
The other part of his mind thought about arguing over the clumsy and forgetful claims, before realising swiftly that it would lose due to an overwhelming amount of evidence in the little voice's favour. He would have to make sure that this time did not go down as another gaff in his gaff-filled life. It would beat even the time he had slipped and knocked a coffee out of a distinguished and well respected software entrepreneur's hand, whilst exiting what had been a very promising interview for a very lucrative job, firmly back into second place in his category of Midnight's Disastrous Mistakes.
It didn't take long to reach the Channel Master's rocky lair. They caught sight of the bulky, red demon almost immediately, sitting on its throne in the centre of the circle, and began to cautiously approach.
"So you two are the mortals that have almost every demon in hell worried to death," it said as they came into conversation range. "Midnight and John, slayers of demons and minotaurs alike, or so I have heard. I am almost honoured to have had a chance to meet you before my master."
"Let's cut the small talk eh, mate?" said John. "We need to know how to find Inferno. And we need to know how to get out of hell. Either you tell us, or he uncovers that ring and we take our chances."
"I will happily answer both of your questions John, there is no need to disturb our rings' peaceful slumber is there?" the Channel Master replied, a faint smile forming on its lips. "In fact, I can answer both of them at once. Simply step into that mirror and you will be back on earth, right beside my master."
The Channel Master was pointing at the one mirror that didn't seem to be accurately reflecting its surroundings. Midnight looked at it intently. The image was not that of the chamber but an office of some kind, and he thought it looked vaguely familiar. "What is that mirror showing?" he asked.
"It's the oval office in what you call the White House," it replied immediately. "That is where my master is using as a base to crush you mortals from."
"Are you telling us that if we step into that mirror we emerge straightaway in the White House?" asked John.
"More or less," replied the Channel Master. "What actually happens is that your body will fuse with that of my master's blood link to hell. Kyriss, I believe her name is, and a thoroughly evil demon she is turning out to be as well. Once you entangle yourself from the body meld, not an easy task for someone who's never tried before, you will emerge, exhausted and terrified from having briefly shared a mind with a demon, right at my master's feet, ready to be neatly and swiftly incinerated. Please, don't wait on my account. Go right ahead."
It chuckled to itself as if it had told an extremely amusing joke. "Forgive me, friends. I am just amused by your very presence here. May I ask, what are you planning to do when you finally face my master? You know your ring will be of no use against his might. You have no power. There exists no power that can stop him. What can you two tiny little mortals do against the lord of all evil?"
"We don't know yet mate," said John. "But God will let us know beforehand, I'm sure."
"Ah, God. Yes, of course, I forgot that you are working for Him. May I ask, has He helped you at any point so far?"
"Yes," John replied, almost triumphantly. "He killed a warlock who was refusing to let us through, and He helped us kill the minotaur..."
He tailed off as the Channel Master was chuckling once again. "You think God did that? That is also rather amusing. I almost regret to inform you that you are very wrong. Both of those acts were performed by a greater demon. The Harbinger, Inferno's oldest servant. You just don't understand the way things happen down here, do you, mortals? Inferno isn't going to allow some minor demon claim his prize. Rest assured that when you die it will be agonisingly at the hands of my master. You made doubly sure of that when you decided to refuse the exceptionally generous offer he made to you through the demon you knew as Richard. The only times in your journey so far in which you were in actual danger were when you nearly drowned in that rancid pool and when you fought the demon that held John captive. That was not part of the plan...but what happens happens. Everything worked out in the end."
The Channel Master paused for a second to allow Midnight and John to process this information. When it continued, it sounded as if it sympathised with them.
"Now, let me give you my humble opinion on your current situation, which you can take or leave as you wish. If you go through the mirror back to the White House, you WILL die at the hands of my master. Believe me or not, but I swear that I speak the truth. If you were to use the vortex however, you could get back to earth at a place of your own choosing...and using the vortex is a far easier way to travel than a channel, believe me."
"We need a key to use the vortex mate," said John. "The yellow demon told us so."
The Channel Master reached into its robe and pulled out a large, bronze key. "You mean this key?"
"We were told that only a greater demon can have the vortex key," said Midnight. "And unless I am mistaken, you aren't a greater demon."
"The usual rules, of which you have been correctly informed, do not always apply in extreme circumstances," it replied immediately. "And a champion being on the loose while most of our powerful warriors are up on earth is about as extreme as circumstances get down here in hell. Inferno himself gave it to me, as its normal keeper was busy killing warlocks and minotaurs for your benefit."
"If Inferno gave it to you, why would you give it to us unless it was what he wanted?" asked John.
"It is what he wants, John. Or, at least, he doesn't care. Use the channel, emerge before him tired and scared, then be killed. Use the vortex, emerge before him fresh and ready to fight...then be killed. He will end your life when he chooses and how he chooses and there is nothing you will be able to do to stop him. Why should he care which method of transport you use to die?"
Neither Midnight or John could think of anything to say. After a few seconds, the demon continued. "As I see it, you die either way. The vortex is simply the easier route to arrive at your final resting place. From what I've heard, body melding is a thoroughly unpleasant experience unless you're a greater demon. I've never had to do it myself thankfully. Of course, you could just use the vortex to go somewhere other than the White House..."
"No," Midnight interjected with venom. "I am going to face Inferno, no matter what. If I die, so be it. There will be little left worth living for anyway if we can't somehow beat him. Going elsewhere is not an option. However, my instinct tells me that what you say is at least partially true, so we will take that key from you and use the vortex. How do we activate it?"
"It is very simple. Step into the pool you will find in the vortex chamber. Call out your desired destination loudly and, like always, a door will arrive for you. The door will be locked and that is where the key comes into play. Use it to open the door, but do not try and take it with you. The key will not leave hell, and anyone who tries to remove it will face an agonising death. That is really all there is to it."
It tossed the key towards Midnight and it landed just in front of his feet. "I remind you once more, the only thing awaiting you is death. Don't say you weren't warned when the time comes."
"Almost everything we've encountered down here has warned us we're going to die," said John as Midnight bent down to retrieve the key, "and yet we keep on living. Perhaps we're just too smart for you, mate?"
The Channel Master smiled at John's bravado. "As I have said, you live only because my master wishes to kill you personally, but you are of course free to believe whatever you choose. In your situation I would probably cling on to any faint hope I could concoct as well."
Midnight clicked his tongue in annoyance. "There's no point in continuing this conversation," he said to John. "It hasn't anything else to tell us. It's just Inferno's puppet, a worthless slave." He raised his eyes towards the cavern roof. "To the vortex," he shouted upwards.
Barely two seconds after he had called for it, a door hurtled through the cavern roof and thundered towards the trio. It crashed down right in front of Midnight's face, perfectly straight and completely undamaged from its colossal fall.
"Goodbye mortals," said the Channel Master as Midnight reached out unhesitatingly for the door handle. "I'm sure I'll be seeing you...well, bits of you, again shortly."
Midnight had already stepped through the door into the predictable blackness, completely ignorant to the Channel Master. John paused on his way through. "You know something, mate? I can truly say without any shadow of doubt that you are the ugliest, most repugnant thing I have ever laid my eyes on. I just thought you should know that."
He pulled the door shut quickly, not allowing the Channel Master a chance to respond. If he had shot it a backwards glance, he would have been gratified to see visible anger upon its face.
User Reviews
Submitted by Yes (user info) at 2005-04-27 12:05:26 EDT (#)
Ranking: 2
WOOHOO! Good stuff, SSS, keep it up.
Submitted by MickGinny (user info) at 2005-04-27 11:23:54 EDT (#)
Ranking: 0
although I consider myself astute, my aesthete pursuit of a series where bubbly osteitis is bound to occur never directed me toward this particular series.
Submitted by Hairsphincter (user info) at 2005-04-27 01:16:32 EDT (#)
Ranking: 2
I'll print this and read it later. I'm sure it's up to usual standards.