Tullus, his actions had led to his demise after laying his hand on what belonged to the Devil. For what she had shown him had been that very thing that kick started this vengeful chain of events. A slice of his future, one which ultimately led him to… Well…
What led him to me.
“Of course, my sweet little Pythia hadn’t known at the time what this vision would cause or that he would steal the gift I had made for her,” Lucifer mused, now grinning once more when thinking of his Chosen One. As for me, I frowned before asking,
“What gift?” This was when his grin turned cunning, and he spoke with satisfaction at being able to shock me to my core…
“Why, the gift you yourself recently had in your possession… The box, I created for her.”
“What the fuck!?” I shouted, before he added with satisfaction,
“Along with a blood-soaked map that would…”
“…Lead me to you.”
14
Saints and Sinners
“You created the fucking box?!” I shouted, before I could stop myself from giving Lucifer what he wanted, which was of course, my reaction. His sadistic grin told me as much.
“I created it for Pythia as a way for her to communicate with me should she ever need anything she couldn’t ask me for in her dreams. The origin of my blood is the only thing that can unlock the box, so I would leave it open for her and if she needed me, I would find it closed,” Lucifer explained.
“And how exactly was she to communicate with you, it’s not like paper was invented back then, and we all remember what papyrus was like to draw on?” Dariush asked, pointing out the first loophole.
“Yes, but as you know, the invention of paper didn’t exactly come from Cai Lun, who was about as original as he was human, for where do you think he discovered the modern-day necessity?” Lucifer reminded us, making me sigh,
“The desert marsh lands.”
This was a unique place in Hell where the land was a strange mix of wetland and dry barren desert. However, these swamp-like marshes were made from the demons that inhabited the land, known as Afreets. A demon that would eat continuously for months, then when all they needed was absorbed into their body, they then spent days vomiting vast amounts.
This meant that these marshes consisted of a vomited mixture of bark, a plant similar to hemp that grows in the desert, and its own skin that it sheds before eating. This is all mashed into a pulp from the three stomachs and then regurgitated in vast amounts. These giant Afreets were better known from Islamic mythology and in folklore, and were identified as powerful demons or spirits of the dead. Creatures who had the scaly torso of a man, head of a horned lizard and the tail of a snake that had the ability to split in two and become legs. Something that only occurred if they were strong enough after coming to the end of this feeding cycle.
If any of them ever managed to escape into the mortal realm, they were often found inhabiting desolate places such as ruins and temples, yet their true habitat was this desert marsh land in Hell, known as,
AzagKur, which translated meant, the great serpent land.
As for where the paper element came into it, this was discovered after the Afreets would drag the vomited pulp from the swamp. Then they would roll over it with their bodies until it was flat, and all the moisture was sucked from it and absorbed into their skin to keep from it from cracking. After that, it was then left to dry in the scorched heat of the ground before it was used as a nest for the Afreet to call home.
“So, you left your girl dry vomit to write on?” Dariush asked, making me smirk, for as I did, he too knew of these creatures, having killed his fair share of them.
“Well, I certainly didn’t leave it for her to fucking eat!” Lucifer growled, making me laugh this time, as pay back was fun when it meant watching Lucifer react to shit thrown his way.
“And Tullus… or Matthias, or whoever the fuck we are calling this guy?!” Dariush snapped, making me scoff.
“Tullus died that night with his family for his crimes against the Gods. After which, I did the same as with all my sons, I renamed him. This time Matthias, as a reminder of the King he had ripped into pieces… for I confess