"My name is Restavel, I'll see you to your quarters." The gray-haired maid said dully, her gaze never leaving that of the grotesque rat creature before her.
The first thing she noticed about it was the crescent bone through its skull, looking like someone had pierced his head with a curved javelin. The creature smiled at her with the remainder of its yellowed teeth, but there was something odd about the smile. It seemed far too joyful to be coming from a deformed monstrosity such as this.
"You may call me... Pestarrem. It's a pleasure to meet you, Restavel. Such a beautiful name..." He said, slightly bowing to the maid to show respect, "I wonder... how did you come to acquire it?"
"It was given to me by our lord." She said bluntly as she turned to face the palace doors, beckoning Pestarrem to follow.
The two of them made their way through the winding corridors of Palace Estella, passing through the hall next to Aberlain's study which overlooked the captive forest. Such beauty had never blessed the eyes of Pestarrem who had always been trapped within a city of rage and distress. The flowing colors of the trees and bushes lit up his milky white eyes, almost causing a small light to flicker within them. Whatever heart he possessed had been cut out long ago, but the beauty of this world was still not lost to him. He recognized the forest as a small portion of Hell untouched by the hands of demons such as himself, but soon after remembered exactly who owned the forest.
Stopping for a moment to overlook the trees below, he began to think back on his time in the sewers. The beauty of the world didn't matter in the slightest, it was simply just there. If he had to destroy everything beautiful in the world to exact his vengeance on those who took everything from him, so be it. He would do what's necessary to achieve his goal, taking victory into his own hands.
"Restavel, if I may?" He asked, looking towards the maid.
"What is it?"
"This forest... I'd like to get a closer look."
"Fine." She said, her voice never once wavering from its monotonous tone. Pestarrem found it peculiar how laid back and disinterested the maid was, but it didn't seem to just be a personality quirk to him. He decided to mention it later, not wanting to anger the maid in case she wouldn't show him the way into the forest below.
Following her once more through the hall, he noticed an interesting phenomenon. As they made their way through a different glass hallway overlooking the forest, several other maids were working on the marble floor. They each had a mop in one hand while towing behind a tiny yellow mop bucket full of dingy gray water. What caught his attention, however, was the fact each maid looked nearly identical to the one he was now following. The only key difference was that every other maid seemed to be significantly shorter than the one who'd introduced herself to him. As they passed each maid, they hid their faces from him as if they were afraid of him.
"I have... a question." Pestarrem said, his voice garbling a bit as he spoke. Ever since Aberlain had given him a name his voice had seemed much clearer, but his monstrous tone never quite left him completely.
"What." She said coldly, turning around a corner to reveal the large open archway leading into the forest. It was quite plain for an entrance, but what laid on the other side was much grander than any entrance could hope to achieve. The forest of Palace Estella stood tall and proud, its trees looming over the two demons with a certain nobility.
"Are you a... well, I thought they were extinct, but... are you what I think you are?" He asked, carefully choosing his words in case his suspicions proved to be true. If Restavel was what he thought she was, he was sorely outclassed. Aberlain too for that matter, so it was odd seeing a demon of her stature serving him.
"Yes. I am a hivemind. The maids you saw in the corridor are a part of me. Do you have any other questions? Relevant ones?" She said quickly, glancing at the rat creature from behind her gray hair.
Her bangs covered her face beside the lower portion below her nose, but Pestarrem could feel her stare nearly set him ablaze. Just being asked that question alone was enough to send a shiver down his spine, he could tell something about her just wasn't right. Hivemind demons were all killed a few millennia ago, entirely wiped out by the angels. They were nothing more than a legend now, only a scary story to tell around a campfire. He couldn't believe his eyes, this demon in front of him was one of the last remaining hiveminds in all of Yggdrasil, if not the last.
Fear was not something he felt often, but knowing what he knew now about the maid, a certain feeling began to course through his veins. A mixture of awe and horror settled upon his face, staring wide eyed at Restavel. The maid said nothing more as they continued into the forest, following a neat dirt path cutting straight through the center of the trees.
The sparkling colors of the bushes and trees around them were nearly blotted out by the flowers spanning the forest floor. Pink and blue tulips sprawled out across every surface of ground imaginable, along with multitudes of different colored assorted flowers. From white roses to yellow daffodils, every color and every flower Pestarrem could think of was present. Only one flower in particular was missing, however, that being the hellfire roses that only grew in the Garden. He half expected to see one here seeing as how Aberlain had the power to enslave a hivemind demon, something even more rare and unusual as those flowers. But it seemed even the Rootlord didn't have the means to uproot a hellfire rose. Doing so would cause it to wither immediately and effectively destroy the mind of the demon it was connected to.
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As the two demons continued walking through the forest, an odd breeze began to flow through the forest flora. A breeze he had never felt before. It was cold but warm at the same time, fast but slow, everywhere but nowhere at all. This odd sensation drawing breath through the trees began to tickle at the back of his mind, telling him something was amiss.
"Restavel... do you feel that wind?" He asked, holding his right hand up to feel the whipping yet calm breeze. He couldn't find the words to describe the nothingness he felt as they kept walking in silence, it felt as if this wind was the absence of a breeze more than being actual air.
His question was soon answered as they made their way into a large clearing, no vegetation in sight for miles. The trees stood tall around this near perfect circle, almost as if they were trying to hide the fact the clearing was there. In the center of this barren wasteland laid the most disturbing thing in all of Hell, something no Rootlord should possess. Something no demon in Hell should ever come across, let alone use. An enormous hole laid perfectly in the center of the clearing, its gaping maw inviting the demons to jump within. The ground warped and contorted itself to this black hole in the ground, falling into it like the ground itself was being swallowed up by the darkness of the void below.
Pestarrem was frozen in place from terror as he watched Restavel continue to walk toward the hole, not an ounce of fear radiating from her. He knew what this was, and every instinct in his body told him to run away as fast as he could. This lake-sized hole in front of him seemed to beckon for him, the nothingness spewing from it brushing past him like a masked breeze. The air he felt before was emanating from this horrifying creation, trying to pull him into it with warm open arms. He knew where this hole led and was terrified of what would happen to him if he didn't obey every direction Aberlain would give him.
The Abyss, a place of nothingness. What laid beneath all of Yggdrasil was the stretching expanse of nothing. It had no end, yet no beginning. It was the one place every demon, human, and angel feared alike. The ultimate punishment. All humans who neither deserved Hell nor Heaven were sent straight to the dark floor below, cursed to wander for eternity through the darkness of nothing. Demons and angels alike were sent to the Abyss when they died, cursed to bear the same fate. Most angels were wary of this fact and tried everything in their power to stay in Heaven, but those who were unlucky enough to break the rules and get caught were stripped of their wings and cast down.
"Why... why is this here?" Pestarrem asked as he looked forward towards the gray-haired maid.
She turned to face him as she raised her arms to her sides. The wind of nothing blew her hair and uniform about, revealing her true face to the rat demon. She began to laugh as her bangs whipped around in the breeze, her cackles riding the wind like a witch upon a broom.
Pestarrem took a frightful step back as he realized just who he was staring at. Restavel's demeanor had entirely changed. Her monotonous lifestyle seemingly had vanished into the abyss behind her. As he watched the maid laugh with sinister joy, his horror grew upon the sight of her face. At first, she had the plain black face most demons possessed, but as her laugh grew, so did her features. Her skin split apart like an axe through wood, revealing several sets of bloodied shark-like teeth. Her eyelids popped open like a pimple ready to burst, pus and blood flying out of her face like bullets from a gun.
Her eyes opened slowly, and Pestarrem knew exactly how powerful Aberlain had become the second he made eye contact with the hivemind. Her eyes were yellow, shining upon him like cruel rays of the sun. The very same golden hue the Rootlord possessed, only this time it sat behind the eyes of Restavel the maid.
"Pestarrem! My servant! I hope you've figured it out by now, have you?" Restavel's mouth moved, but it was no longer her voice. The voice of Aberlain the Rootlord now boomed from the maid, sending waves of terror through the rat demons soul.
Pestarrem fell to his knees, bringing his head to the ground in both fear and admiration for his master. He would have never guessed how much power Aberlain truly commanded, it far exceeded his expectations.
"You... my lord! I believe I have!" He yelled, excitement filling his voice as his brain worked overtime to catch himself up to speed with what exactly the Rootlord was planning.
"I'd love to hear your thoughts, go ahead." Aberlain asked, curious to see how much the rat creature thought he knew.
"This hole leading into the Abyss, sir, is the key to it all! I don't know how, but you must've saved this hivemind demon from the void, and enslaved her by giving her a true name?" He asked, but was met with a snicker from the Rootlord in Restavels body.
"It's much more than that, you fool! I did save her from the Abyss, but she was much too powerful for me to control simply by her owing me a favor. My powers are far beyond anything a demon should possess, I'll have you know. I do not have just the ability to share my eyes with others, but to control the very minds and bodies of those who've allowed me to implant my sight within them. Mind control and possession, for lack of a better term." The Rootlord said, laughing cruelly as he watched Pestarrem quiver in fear before him.
"Then... lord, why bring me here? If you have this power, why use me at all?" He asked, curious as to what Aberlain could be planning. Whatever it was, it was far beyond the feeble brain within the rat demon.
"I must not be connected to the deaths of E and my own daughter, surely you can understand that much? I've been looking to expand my empire as well... therefore, Pestarrem, if you succeed in this job I've given you, you shall be rewarded beyond your wildest dreams. An estate of your own, and a title given to you be me... the soon to be king of Hell." Aberlain said smugly, basking in his own glorious ego.
As soon as Pestarrem was about to thank the Rootlord for his graciousness and generosity, a sudden presence coming from behind him caused him to stop. Emanating shockwaves of rage burst through the trees, causing both he and Aberlain to look over curiously at what could possibly be there. The two of them looked towards the forest from the clearing, watching someone step out from the dirt path and into view. A devilish smile crept to Pestarrem's face as he began laughing uncontrollably, not able to believe his own luck. The demon he was to search for had shown up on his own, like a lamb to the slaughter.
He thought to himself how lucky he must be to have fate on his side, watching as the demon in the hat waltzed towards him. Looking back towards the Rootlord for approval to attack, he was surprised to see that he had now vanished, leaving the broken body of Restavel behind as she slumped to the ground in exhaustion. Her face had seemed to slowly close up on its own as she laid within the cool grass, losing consciousness as the rat demon stood to face his enemy.
The only thing in his mind at the moment was the thousands of ways he could rip his enemy apart, torturing him slowly as he drained the life from him. Once he was satisfied, he thought it only fitting to throw him into the Abyss as soon as he had his fill of fun, essentially giving Aberlain the last laugh. After he'd finished with the demon E, he would go after May next. That thought alone was enough to give Pestarrem a surge of power, flowing through his veins like a raging riptide of blood.