An ocean of blood red flowers as far as the eye could see, yet they were no flower he had ever seen before. The sky was a dull gray with a small hint of orange on the horizon, not a cloud to be found. No stars, no sun, not even the moon showed its face.
His name was Ephram, at least that's what he thought it was. It was the only thing he seemed to remember.
He wore a dark wide-brimmed hat, a long black trench coat, and sported a shiny gold pocket watch with a long chain in his left breast pocket. Ephram looked around trying to see if there was anything on the horizon, but no luck. He seemed to be completely alone in this place. Feeling hopeless, he sat down amongst the flowers.
Looking at one flower in particular, he felt the petals move gently between his fingers. However, something caused Ephram to stop moving. He stared down at his hands as if he were seeing them for the first time, noticing something peculiar.
They were pitch black, as was the rest of him. Not a feature could be found amidst the dark canvas of his body. Ephram slowly lifted his hands to his face, trying to feel any kind of facial features. As his hands moved about his face, they told him the truth. He had no features to speak of, no nose, mouth, eyes, ears, nothing at all where a face should be.
For a moment, his hands felt warm to the touch. He felt as if someone or something else had just touched his face moments ago, a warm embrace on the cold and smooth surface where his features should be. Something deep within him ached at the thought of this, yet he couldn't remember what it was exactly he was so pained over.
His featureless face did send quite the chill down his spine, but he was confused as to why he felt this way. He had no memory of ever having anything but this body, nor did he have memories of any other being different than him. As far as he knew, Ephram was the one and only living creature in existence.
Feeling overwhelmed, he decided to put these thoughts out of mind for a moment and sit with the flowers a bit more, staring up at the blank sky looming above. Reality didn't have to make sense at the moment, all he wanted to do was feel the flowers under his hands as they moved softly with the breeze. The petals felt very soft to the touch, almost like silk. It made him happy to know something so beautiful could feel just like how it looked, although he wasn't sure why he was so relieved to feel that way.
Somewhere deep inside his mind, a thought had welled up to tell him that not all beautiful things were as pretty on the inside as they were on the outside. These flowers, however, were most definitely the exception to that rule.
Ephram felt the breeze pick up a bit now, almost blowing his hat off his head. Seeing this as his sign to get up, he decided to pick a direction and begin walking. Trying not to step on the flowers as he moved, he took one step forward. One after another is all he could focus on, watching as his legs almost moved on their own, striding with confidence ever forwards.
"Who is the one who gave you your name?" A squeaky voice said from behind Ephram, and he turned to face it.
A small creature amongst the flowers was looking up at him, it seemed to be some kind of field mouse, yet it was just as featureless as Ephram himself. The only difference between this small mouse creature and himself, however, was the beady white eyes staring up at him.
"I'm sorry?" Ephram said, or at least he thought he had said it. He couldn't feel his face move whatsoever as he spoke, but was sure the words had escaped his mind and projected into the air around him.
"Your name? You do know who the one who named you is, right?" The field mouse repeated itself, sounding slightly frustrated as if this was not a normal occurrence.
Ephram stood in silence for a moment, thinking to himself what this mouse could possibly mean. He couldn't remember a single thing before waking up in the flowers just moments ago.
"I can't seem to remember anything... who are you exactly?" He asked the mouse.
"It's not normal to forget the one who gave you your name..." The mouse had trailed off for a moment as if it were trying to remember something, "the name you may know me by is Silo." Silo said, staring up at Ephram as he pondered what could be wrong with this tall dark figure.
"I know you must be confused, but luckily you've run into me. I'll try to explain everything the best I can." Silo said confidently, scurrying up atop one of the flowers to get a better view of Ephram.
Ephram sat down in front of the mouse, sitting with his legs crossed and hands in his lap, like a child about to hear an exciting fairytale. He looked down at Silo, noticing how small the creature was. He was no bigger than his hand, but was much larger than any field mouse he had envisioned. Now that he thought about it, he wasn't sure how he knew what a field mouse was in the first place, it just seemed to be something he already knew somehow.
As if reading his mind, Silo began to explain the situation.
"To be blunt, you're in Hell. This place is Hell. It isn't so bad here as some may think, just mind numbingly boring. You may have noticed as well that your memories are somewhat jumbled, yours more than most it seems. That's also more or less normal, although I've never heard of one of us forgetting the one who named you. You should have some memories of them. That intrigues me quite a bit." Silo was about to continue on, but a raised hand from Ephram made him pause.
"This doesn't seem too bad of a Hell to me, I quite like the flowers... and... what do you mean by my name? Who is the one who named me? I don't think I understand." Ephram said with confusion in his tone, hoping Silo would dumb it down a bit.
"Well... we are what humanity calls demons. We are at their beck and call, at any moment either of us could suddenly be taken from this realm and thrown into the other by the one who gave us our name. Me, you, and most other demons you may come across on this level of Hell is a named demon. We rank higher than most of the unnamed so it's a bit more peaceful here." Silo paused for a moment, slightly cringing at what he had just said.
"Correction... it's peaceful when our masters regularly call us to the human world. When too many demons are crowded into this place things can get a bit messy." He said with reassurance in his voice, it seemed he was happy it was just the two of them for the moment.
Ephram nodded and began to process what Silo was saying. Apparently he was a demon, trapped in Hell until whoever his master was decided to call upon him. This was quite a lot of information for him to process, but he accepted it quite well seeing as how he knew next to nothing else about the world at the moment. If this is what life was for him, he would try to take it with great strides.
Silo leapt off the flower suddenly, landing on Ephrams knee and hurriedly hid himself inside of a hidden pocket inside of the trench coat. Bewildered, he looked down to where Silo had hidden, not exactly sure as to what was going on.
"What's wrong?" He asked the mouse, who said nothing. The look in his small white eyes, however, were pleading to Ephram for some reason.
Suddenly, a freezing gust of cold wind sped throughout the air, something was coming.
Ephram slowly got to his feet, scanning his surroundings and looking for whatever it was that had scared Silo. He didn't feel the same kind of fear as the mouse, however, and had realized he was feeling more annoyed rather than afraid. Ephram was upset that his conversation was cut short, and wanted to find the quickest way possible to resolve the conflict.
As the wind slowly died down, Ephram saw what looked to be a young girl walking up to him, its features were just as dark and lifeless as his and Silos, it must have been another demon. This particular demon, however, did not give off welcoming vibes in Ephrams opinion.
As it got closer to him, Ephram could make out a few details. She wore a long black dress with ruffles, an enormous black sun hat, and her short shoulder length golden hair flowed in the chilling wind as she approached him.
"You're new here, are you not?" Her voice rang out, louder than Ephram had anticipated.
He stood as unmoving as a statue, only looking at the girl as she slowed to a halt a few feet away from him.
"Answer when spoken to. Since you're new I'll let it slide this once." The girl spoke with a superiority in her voice, as if she was commanding Ephram to listen to her.
"You shall refer to me by the name of May, I am one of the most powerful demons on this level. I sensed a new demon had been born a moment ago and had decided to see for myself, not many demons on this floor give off your kind of aura... what is your name?" May said with a sinister tone, as if she was prying for information rather than speaking to Ephram.
As he was about to answer her he felt a sharp pinch on his side, Silo had nipped at him through his pocket for some reason. Ephram took this as some kind of warning, but for what exactly? He had done nothing but hide up until she had asked for his name.
Suddenly it hit him, why she had asked for his name. Ephram didn't know much about demons, but felt as if he knew something about a demon's true name being their only weakness. If you knew a demon's true name you had complete control over them, and it dawned on him that Silo had never asked for his name to begin with. He referred to himself as Silo, but the way he had introduced himself made it seem as if Silo wasn't his real name. The same kind of introduction May had just given him, except this demon had asked for his name in return. He wasn't sure why he knew this, it seemed his mind held secrets even he couldn't reach.
"My name... my name is not something I think I'll share with you at the moment." Ephram said with certainty in his voice, not wanting to reveal his name to this demon in case it turned out to be his true name.
He made a mental note to ask Silo about this once the conflict had been resolved, he didn't feel comfortable around this particular demon one bit.
May stood in silence for a moment, as if she was taken back from what Ephram had said. She stared deep into his void like face, her own looked no different. Something was toiling inside her mind, trying to think of what to say next to this enigma of a demon standing before her.
This tale has been pilfered from Royal Road. If found on Amazon, kindly file a report.
"You don't remember, do you? You've forgotten who named you, haven't you?" She said suddenly, trying not to giggle as she spoke.
"No way! You actually don't know a thing do you! I don't know of any demon not remembering their master... you seem to be one of a kind." May said abruptly, closing the distance between them as she stared up at him.
Ephram felt as if a powerful weight was crushing down upon him, the air began to feel thick, and the wind colder than ever before. This demon standing in front of him was not just looking up at him, but examining him and his capabilities. He could feel her gaze settle onto him like a sniper putting an enemy combatant in their crosshairs. He just couldn't shake the feeling that this being would attack him at any moment, so he took a few steps back.
"I woke up in the flowers not too long ago, I haven't met anyone else just yet, and I don't seem to remember much of anything..." Ephram stopped to think as something else caught his mind, "... you said you were one of the most powerful demons on this level, correct? What does that mean?"
May cocked her head to the side like a confused dog, and began to giggle under her breath.
"You're very lucky I found you this early, if it were any other demon, you may have not been so fortunate. They might not have been as kind hearted as myself." May laughed as she spoke, finding this entire situation profoundly amusing.
"There aren't as many human-like demons of your stature, believe it or not, it's quite rare to see someone with your power here. Most demons on this floor are quite weak, but we'll get to that soon. I'll explain everything in due time... but I'll need a favor from you if you'd like me to." May said with a commanding tone, her demeanor changing a bit from playful to serious.
"What might that be?" Ephram said hesitantly, curious as to what she was going to explain to him.
"I'll need that rat out of your pocket; I don't think any other demons accompanying us would be a good idea. You can't trust anyone here." May held out her hand, gesturing towards his coat pocket.
Ephram took a step back, covering Silo with his hand to protect him. It didn't shock him that a demon like May could sense the presence of another demon, but it did scare Ephram quite a bit as to why she wanted Silo.
"I don't think I can do that, May. I won't let you take him...what is it that you want from him?" He asked, preparing to fight if he had to. Ephram appreciated Silo for helping him and explaining as much as he could until May had shown up. He couldn't let that favor go unrewarded.
May seemed to be agitated by this, if she could scowl there would be one plastered to her face right about now.
"I don't think you understand. There are certain things you just don't get yet, you're like a newborn baby thrust upon the world, not every cute little creature is your friend. If you know what's good for you, hand over the field mouse." She said sternly, there was no way she would take no for an answer.
Ephram raised his hands defensively, trying to get her to calm down. He wasn't sure what she was capable of, but it most definitely was nothing good. As a matter of fact, he had no idea what he was capable of either, and was a bit nervous to find out. If he could avoid a fight, he'd try.
"I can't do that, I don't want you to hurt him." He said, starting to get annoyed with May's behavior. The first person to help him was not about to be hurt by this entitled brat standing before him.
May sighed quietly, obviously irritated with the way things were going. She didn't seem used to another demon not listening to her every order like an obedient dog. She slowly lifted both arms from her side, as if she were pulling something from the ground. The flowers around her began to violently whip about in the growing wind as the air grew ever so colder. She locked her gaze upon Ephram, and the air seemed to bite at him like a pack of angry hyenas.
Red flower petals filled the air as she glared at him, sending shockwave after shockwave of freezing wind at him.
"Stop this! I won't let you hurt him!" Ephram shouted at her as he withstood every cold hard crack of the whipping wind, it slashing at his skin relentlessly.
May suddenly bounded forward, reaching into his coat pocket as the wind died down and the petals dropped, to grab the fieldmouse. As her hand entered his pocket, however, nothing seemed to be there but a large hole.
"No! You moron! He escaped!" May leapt back a few feet away from him as he fell to his knees, recovering from the painful slashes the freezing wind had given him.
He recognized this as the first time he had felt physical pain, the areas the wind had slashed at him felt like nothing he had ever felt before. His skin seemed to be unbroken, but felt as if someone had taken a sword to it.
He was glad, nonetheless, that Silo was able to escape this monster's clutches. He would find the field mouse another time, for now though he thought it best to distract May and lead her mind away from finding Silo. There was no telling what she would do to him.
"It's over, okay? He's gone, there's no reason to chase after him when he did nothing to you. Just say what you wanted to say and leave me alone." Ephram said angrily, surprising himself with how frustrated he sounded.
May groaned in defeat, thinking that he did have a point. There was no reason to chase after a scared little mouse who tucks tail and runs at the sight of conflict.
"Fine, whatever... however you seem to have one thing wrong. I'm not here to leave you alone. I'm here to bring you back with me. I have something I want to show you, I'll explain as we're on the way." She stopped for a moment, not wanting Ephram to weasel his way out of this.
"That is... unless you want me to track down your little rat friend?" She said slyly, knowing Ephram had no other option but to come with her.
He looked down at his chewed through pocket, putting his hand through it to inspect it further as he thought about what May could possibly want from him. The only way to find out was to go with her, but the aura she gave off still haunted Ephram quite a bit. He would have to make sure to stay on guard near her at all times.
"Alright... where are we going?" He questioned her, getting nothing but a small giggle as she turned to walk in the other direction, beckoning for him to follow.
"I would like for you to stay quiet as I speak, leave your questions for the end, I'd be happy to answer anything once I'm finished... deal?"
Ephram nodded, waiting for her to continue.
"Good... now then, we'll start from the very beginning I suppose. Several eons ago there was nothing but darkness and light, existing solely for the presence of the other. Without darkness, there is no light, and without light there is no darkness." She stopped speaking to fix her sunhat as she continued on walking, with Ephram trailing closely behind.
"Well, over the course of many years the light and dark became bored of each other, wanting something new. Thus, the universe itself was born along with us demons. Back then, there were only two races, those being the demons and the angels. Somewhere along the line though, things got a little... weird."
She paused for a moment, thinking of a way to explain this to Ephram so he could understand the complexity of their situation.
"The easiest explanation is to say there was a war between angels and demons that has never really been resolved. The only buffer to the war, so to speak, is humanity itself. To halt the war, humanity was put in between us demons and angels. We can now only interact with one another through our human masters calling us up to do whatever it is they want. Usually, it's some stupid little tasks they're too lazy to do themselves, them being humans and all... although... every once in a while, you do get an interesting human. Quite rare, however. Anyways, the only way for us demons to fight an angel is with the help of a human master, and most of them are quite lacking, sorry to say. The angels have a similar system forced upon them as well, however they are confined to holy areas and may only leave those places with the assistance of a human priest, or any other powerful church member. What I'm trying to say is, you've just gotten yourself wrapped up into a war pre-dating humanity itself and you can't even remember the human who named you, it's quite funny really." She giggled yet again, making Ephram a bit uneasy as to why she found this so funny.
He raised his hand a bit to signal that he had a question, but May shut him down quickly by smacking his hand down back to his side.
"No questions! I'm getting there, okay Mr. Impatient?" She said frustratedly as she continued on.
"The whole human naming thing is complicated honestly... most demons are born and raised in the depths of Hell where they slowly make their way up to the higher floors by... certain means," She said slowly, as if she was afraid to broach the topic, "... however, once in a while there are humans who create their own demons. Some demons are born through the pain and anguish of a single human being, they wake up here amongst the flowers, unable to remember anything about themselves, because... well... there's nothing to remember.
You are the embodiment of pain from someone on Earth, you are deeply connected to them in every way imaginable. That person is your master, and you are their demon. When one like you wakes up, it doesn't take long for them to be summoned to Earth and speak with their master, but for you, the case seems to be a bit different... and I'm not sure why." May said with curiosity, she had begun to wander within her own thoughts, not sure what to make of the whole situation.
Her first thought was that Ephram's master had died, abandoning him in the pits of Hell. That was quite unlikely, however.
"Your master isn't dead; I know that much. Yet I'm curious as to how they could have created a powerful demon such as yourself and not be able to summon you. The only explanation is that they don't know how or are unable to at the moment. If they were dead, you'd be dead as well. That's how it works, actually, your lifespan is reliant upon your masters. If they die of unnatural causes, you die right along with them... except they go to Heaven or Hell, while you are sent straight into the abyss, nothingness. Quite terrifying when you think about it."
May stopped talking as she pointed towards the horizon.
"Look, over there... that's where I'm taking you." She said playfully.
Ephram scanned the horizon, not sure what she was pointing at, until it dawned on him. This gray blank sky was no sky at all, the horizon was no horizon either. The orange hue was nothing but fire, burning higher and brighter than what should be possible. The 'sky' itself was a dome of some kind, reaching up to unimaginable heights.
May seemed to be pointing at a large opening in the side of the dome, it seemed to be some kind of sideways canyon. Ephram could make out small flickering blue lights within it, it must be some kind of city resting within the canyon, that was the only possible explanation that came to mind when he saw it.
"That over there... what is it?" He asked in awe. Ephram thought to himself that he was glad he didn't have a mouth, because it would be embarrassing for May to see him with his jaw dropped to the floor.
She giggled childishly, knowing how exciting it was to see the city for the first time.
"That right there is the city of Ygdransi, named after the tree Yggdrasil. You can't see it from here, but the entire city rests upon one of the roots of the same tree. I'll show you a map when we get there. This large domed place is called the Garden, it also rests atop a root of Yggdrasil, the soil and flowers we walk upon right now is a small part of that root." She said matter of factly, as if she enjoyed explaining the infrastructure of Hell to him.
"This is... amazing..." Ephram managed to say. Just the thought itself of being so small in comparison to Yggdrasil was dumbfounding to him.
"Yes, quite. It's interesting to me how so many human religions are so right yet so wrong at the same time. Every religion seems to have only grasped one aspect of the whole picture, as the Norse have gotten Yggdrasil and some other aspects of the universe right, so have the Christians and Catholics, Muslims, and any other religion you can think of. Humanity itself is what makes us, in a sense. Without their ability to unknowingly create what they believe to already be true, us demons and angels would have nowhere to go. Amongst other creatures of course, but we'll get to that later on. I don't think you're ready to hear about any other beings at the moment, seeing as how you're just a newborn demon." May said as Ephram half paid attention, his focus was still directed towards the giant crevice in the wall, admiring the shining bluish glow of the city through it.
"We're almost there, just hold out a little longer... I think you get the general understanding of the situation now, so do you have any questions?" May said happily, and for once Ephram didn't feel put off by her.
It was as if her entire demeanor had changed around him, he thought to himself that maybe May was just a little standoffish with new people. There's no way a young girl like this was that evil and ruthless, she was obviously kind enough to show him the way to the city all the while explaining in great detail the situation he and many others were in.
"Listen... May, I want to apologize to you." Ephram said sadly, feeling a surge of regret course through his body.
"I appreciate your help and I'm sorry for being so cautious of you, I'm just not sure how to handle all of this information. It seems so... unreal? Yet, I feel like for some reason, I've heard it all before. It all seems so familiar to me." Ephram said, puzzled as to why he was feeling such a strong sense of deja vu.
May stayed quiet for a moment, not sure how to respond to Ephrams apology.
"I'd be more upset if you weren't cautious with me." She said after a few moments, but her tone of voice indicated no harm, it seemed more like a warning to him.
Ephram realized what she was saying, that it'd be better for him to be on guard with everyone he meets, and made a mental note to keep his head on a swivel once they reached the city. There was no telling what could happen once they got there.