and grow with a sole purpose in mind. To become strong enough to hold a weapon in their hands and fight.
“So, he was a brutal tyrant, yeah, yeah, we get the picture, I still don't see how that brought him to you if he didn’t die in battle,” Dariush commented, making Lucifer grin, as after all, death was his favourite part.
“He sold his soul for a victory, which I granted him in defeating the Etruscan invasion. However, in his success he became cocky and snubbed the Gods even further, angering them by flaunting his alliance with me,” Lucifer said, running a finger along the length of a single black shard close to his carved armrest.
“Hmm… I bet they just loved that,” my brother said ironically, and he was right, for this inevitably sealed his fate. Because the God, Jupiter, brought forth a mighty storm after being disrespected for the last time and struck only one place with a bolt of lightning.
The home of one King Tullus.
“It was said that as his home burned to the ground and he was forced to watch all he cared for being destroyed as the flames consumed him, that he cursed the Gods. Cursed them even further, telling them with his last dying breath that he would rise again and challenge them, for his family were also the ones to suffer the wrath of these supposedly Heavenly Gods,” Lucifer said with a condescending grin, before adding,
“It was quite touching really.”
“Great, so he’s a bitter fucker who you thought would make a great addition to the fucked-up family tree,” I snapped with a roll of my eyes.
“I am the Devil, Lucius, therefore I am not exactly in the habit of coming into possession of fucking saints,” Lucifer replied and well, I guess he had a point. However, I couldn’t help but point out,
“Well, the joke was on you then, because he turned into one,” I said in a snide comment he laughed at. Because the obvious tale ended with Tullus becoming Matthias after Lucifer got his creative hands on him.
“So, once you turned this bitter bastard, what then?” Dariush asked.
“Simple really, his body rejected my blood and instead of creating what I did in the both of you, I ended up creating something more evil in its place,” Lucifer said with a shrug, as if this was an everyday fucking occurrence!
“Wonderful,” I muttered sarcastically, whilst my brother pointed out the obvious,
“And there it is… hence the fucked-up family grudge.” Lucifer laughed and said with mirth,
“Oh no, that came later, forty-one years later to be precise, and the reason I had him cast out, for he may have been evil, but he wasn’t bent on genocide, at least not back then,” Lucifer told us with a casual flick of his hand.
“Oh, I have a feeling I am going to regret asking this question, but where did you have him cast to?” Dariush asked, making me look towards the desk and sigh in response to my brother’s question. Because I too had a bad feeling I knew the answer.
“Tartarus.”
“But of course.” I then groaned with a rub of my forehead.
“Why?” Dariush asked, and for the first time during this explanation of historical events, Lucifer looked furious.
“Because in his continued quest for power, now leading his armies under a new name, he had heard of a way to foresee if his conquests would be victorious or not,” Lucifer said, gritting his teeth, and when I opened my mouth to say a single name, he stopped me with a hand held up and a clear demonic warning,
“Do not speak her name, for it is mine and mine alone.” Of course, he meant Pythia, who was known back then as the Oracle of Delphi. Which meant that the resurrected Tullus had made a fatal mistake, as, unbeknown to him, his father the Devil had long before staked his claim on Pythia. Which meant old daddy dearest didn’t take too kindly when, in a fit of rage, his new son had attacked Pythia and nearly killed her.
“Dumb fuck,” Dariush commented with a shake of his head after hearing this. And it was true, for even without knowing of her connection to Lucifer, you didn’t attack an Oracle. Of course, Lucifer responded to this by dragging him back down to Hell himself, imprisoning him in Tartarus for five hundred years and stripping him of his powers by taking his blood back. Something I hadn’t even thought possible.