Bryce

Malvoch was struggling to fight against Thea’s command. I had never heard a demon’s true name spoken, but there was a tangible power in the words and I could feel it lingering in the air. Almost as if Thea had just cast an extremely powerful spell. I subconsciously looked towards the wards that were inlaid on the perimeter of the room and wondered if they were going to be enough to conceal it.

“Thea, where did you learn Malvoch’s true name?” Lilith asked, somewhat dumbstruck.

She shrugged, as if it was no big deal. “I read it in the summoning circle Orrid used, and it seemed like a useful thing to have, so I just kind of memorized it.”

“I wish you had told me that earlier.”

“I didn’t exactly have much of a chance to tell you with me being basically dead, and you being in Tartarus when I woke up. Then we kind of just rushed over here without discussing a plan.”

“Thea, however effective you may be, it can be very frustrating to work with you sometimes.”

I mentally agreed with Lilith. Thea had a way of making life a lot more interesting. It was one of my favorite things about her. The devil in question just shrugged again. “Yeah, it’s something I’m working on. Did you want to question him now, or…?”

“Well, this simplifies things somewhat.” Lilith turned towards the prisoner. “Dae’Volmach etfia’Trilgemex verunom’Falrum Sub Umbras, you are not to hurt yourself or in any way hamper your ability to answer my questions. Now, let’s begin. Where is Persephone and who’s keeping her?”

“She’s being held in the obsidian keep by Aris.” Malvoch locked onto Thea with a sinister grin as she tensed.

Lilith only frowned as she continued her questioning. “What does Aris want with Persephone?”

“He requires the blood of a living god for a ritual.” Despite not having eyes, Malvoch continued to track Thea as she inched towards me to grab my hand. “Aris had planned on using Esme, but Persephone should do, despite her blood being less pure and far less potent. Of course, he’ll need to use all of it just to be safe.”

“What’s the purpose of this ritual?” Lilith seemed like she was getting angry, and I didn’t blame her. Malvoch was talking about killing her daughter ‘just to be safe.’

“Aris believes that it’s a resurrection spell. One that is capable of bringing back unwilling souls regardless of where their physical form is or how powerful they might have been.” Malvoch’s grin widened to display sharpened teeth. “Aris is trying to resurrect his father.”

“Bullshit! That’s not possible.” Thea shouted from beside me. “Anything that could kill dad wouldn’t let him come back from a resurrection ritual, no matter how powerful.”

I didn’t know enough about resurrection magic to be able to add anything, but I did know that blood magic was potent. If a ritual required the blood of a living god, then it was probably a pretty powerful one.

“Do you believe this ritual will work?” Lilith ignored Thea’s outburst to continue her questioning.

“It’ll work exactly as it was designed to.” Malvoch leaned back into his chair, seemingly done trying to torment Thea. “But miracle of miracles, the imp is right. Nemesis has too great a hold on Inim’s soul, bringing him back as he was is impossible.”

“Which means…” Lilith trailed off, and Malvoch started laughing.

“That’s right, the ritual will bring Inim to Aris as is.”

Lilith cursed as Malvoch continued to laugh, but I was just left there furrowing my brows. I had never heard of Nemesis before, and I had no idea what all this meant. “Lilith, what’s going on?”

“I’ll explain in a moment. Things are far worse than I expected,” she dismissed me to address Malvoch. “What’s left for Aris to gather in order to finish this ritual? How long do we have? And why in all the hells would you help him with it?”

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“Persephone was the final piece. Aris started the ritual days ago, and he’ll finish later tonight.” Malvoch stood from his chair and approached the inner edge of the binding circle. “Why, you ask? That’s simple. The nobility of the lower planes have lost touch with reality, and Orrid is just as guilty as the rest. We’ve spent the last forty-thousand years hiding from a war that will determine our fate just as much as that of the mortals and I’ve had enough of it. If the hells refuse to go to war, then I’ll bring the war to them.”

“Malvoch, you imbecile,” Lilith spat through clenched teeth, hardly able to control her anger. “You’re playing with forces that are beyond your ability to control.”

The greater demon smirked. “Maybe, but I’d rather lose playing now than patiently await my turn to die.”

“That’s enough,” Lilith ordered. “You are to wait here until either Orrid or myself comes to get you. If it’s Orrid, then you will tell him everything you’ve told me.”

“Good luck.” Malvoch waved as the three of us turned to leave. “You’re going to need it.”

We left the basement and entered into a dust-covered, utilitarian kitchen that likely hadn’t been used in the last hundred years. Figuring that we were out of earshot from the basement, I stopped Lilith for an explanation. “What’s going on? I didn’t understand half of what Malvoch said in there.”

“We really should hurry, and it’s a complicated subject.” Lilith ran a hand through her hair. “But it’s not exactly a secret and your mantle, or rather potential mantle, gives you something of a right to know.” She nodded to herself after what seemed like an internal debate and started towards the exit. “I need to get back to Tartarus, and having the extra help won’t hurt. If you’re interested in joining me, then I can explain on the way.”

I looked to Thea for an answer. She didn’t even hesitate to nod and follow after Lilith. “Bryce and I will help, but you’ve got a lot of explaining to do.”

“Alright, in that case, I suppose I’ll start from the top, but don’t expect every detail. I don’t know everything, and we don’t have time to go over all that I do know.” Lilith marched through the streets of Hades all the while explaining over her shoulder. “Nemesis is an ongoing, existential threat to all life everywhere. There are maybe a handful of people still alive that know who or what Nemesis actually is, and I’m not one of them. What I do know is that it’s capable of mass killing on an unprecedented level, and it keeps whatever it kills.”

“Is that what happened to dad?” Thea asked with obvious concern in her voice.

“Your father was instrumental in the war against Nemesis ever since his ascension.” Lilith paused her march to face Thea. “He saved countless lives, and if not for him, we would likely all be dead long ago.”

“What happened to him?” Thea’s voice sounded uncharacteristically small as she looked up at Lilith.

“I… don’t know.” Lilith shook her head as a way of apology. “The official stance of the hells since Orrid ascended has been to stay out of the war. I argued against it, but lost in the end. Ever since then, my information has been secondhand from Chorus. All I can tell you for sure is that your father was a great man and no matter what happens tonight, that will never change.”

Thea swallowed audibly as she nodded her head, but didn’t otherwise respond. Lilith took that as a sign to continue walking. “Nemesis isn’t unstoppable, and it’s possible to prevent incursions, but once it gets a stronghold, the only option is to contain it as best as possible. I’m not aware of anybody ever managing to push it back after it managed to dig itself into a position.”

“Which is why we need to get to Tartarus as soon as possible,” I pointed out.

Thea pushed ahead as she switched to a sprint. “Which means we need to get to Hel first.”

~~~~~

We arrived at the gate to Hel in record time. Once we were there, Lilith grabbed an official-looking demon with blue skin and long horns to act as a messenger. She wrote everything down in a letter and sealed it before sending the demon off to Orrid. The poor guy looked terrified.

Immediately after that, she displayed some sort of badge or something that signified her as nobility and let us cut in line. Which meant we were walking through the portal to Hel a mere forty-five minutes after Malvoch’s interrogation, and around ten minutes later, we were standing in front of the portal to Tartarus.

“This is probably going to be the last chance for you two to turn back,” Lilith warned. “If Aris manages to succeed in summoning Inim, then we’ll be forced to seal the gate. Even if he doesn’t, fighting Aris by himself will be no small feat, and I doubt he’ll be alone.”

Thea stood a little taller to respond with a frown. “Which is exactly why you need our help. Besides, Aris is my brother. If somebody is going to kill him, then it really should be me.”

“Bryce, what about you? This isn’t your battle. Nobody could blame you if you left it to us.”

I shook my head with a sardonic smile. “I’m a part of your household now, and even if you only did it to protect me from Orrid, that still means something. Besides, there’s no world in which I let Thea do this alone.” Thea reached out to grab my hand, and I took hers in mine with a cocky grin.

“As romantic a gesture as that may be, I pray that it doesn’t get the two of you killed.” Lilith frowned as she turned back to step into the portal. Thea and I followed, hand-in-hand.