FWOOM

A fiery explosion blew in the doors of the White House. Pride sighed and sat back from his solitary game of chess at the Resolute Desk. Still in his mortal form, the Prince propped his arm on the desk and rested his chin in his hand.

Another fireball blasted through the walls, incinerating everything in its path. Dark smoke filled the halls as Pride listened to the destruction unfolding outside the Oval Office. There was another deafening explosion accompanied by the shattering of glass. The rampage continued for a few minutes more before the doors to the office blew open and flew off their hinges. Pride easily deflected them and they crashed through the windows behind him. Glass cascaded across the carpet like sand. One of the couches flew directly at Pride’s chessboard.

“Ah ah,” he tutted as he sat up. With a snap of his fingers, the couch vanished. The Prince of Wrath filled the doorway in his true form.

“Taunting me?” Wrath hissed. Pride rolled his eyes,

“Why do you ask?”

“Don’t play coy, Morning Star.”

Pride stood up and glared directly at the Prince of Wrath. Another fiery explosion blew out the walls and shards of wood cut through the Prince of Pride’s skin.

“Are you sure about that?” he asked. His low tone carried an implicit warning. Wrath ignored it and lobbed another fireball at the Prince. The skin of Pride’s mortal form incinerated leaving the muscles exposed.

“Ok.” Pride said quietly. There was a brilliant flash of white light that exploded out from the Prince as he released from the mortal form. It was as if a nuclear bomb detonated. The light incinerated all that it touched, reducing the room around them to dust. In its true form, the Morning Star struck fear into the Prince of Wrath.

Pride surrounded the Prince of Wrath and began to constrict around it. Wrath shrank as the Prince was slowly being crushed under the power of the eldest Vice.

“When I ask a question, Deceiver, you answer it.”

The Prince of Wrath relented and adopted its human form. He bowed his head in submission,

“Yes, Morning Star.” he muttered.

Pride released Wrath and returned to his mortal form. The room reformed around them with the walls materializing and all the objects returning to their rightful places. Pride sat back down at the desk and moved a pawn on the chess board from its starting position.

“So answer,” Pride commanded.

“You awoke the mortal bound to me and now it’s dead,” Wrath huffed.

“And?” Pride asked, scrutinizing the chess board.

“The mortal wasn’t yours to use.”

Pride looked up and laughed. Wrath sat quiet and sullen as Pride’s laughter filled the room. The laughter wasn’t hollow like it usually was for the Princes, there was genuine joy in it. Slowly the laughter tapered off and Pride looked at Wrath with a smile,

“All mortals are mine to use,” he replied. “You have others don’t you?”

“There aren’t many left,” Wrath complained. Pride shrugged,

“But there’s a few.”

“One.” Wrath replied flatly. Pride raised an eyebrow,

“Oh? Well that’s better than none. I’ll take this moment to remind you my dear sibling that you are the one who chose not to engage with mortals. How many have you killed since arriving here?”

Wrath remained silent. Pride clasped his hands together and leaned forward,

“Exactly.” Pride stood up and walked over to the edge of the desk where he perched himself up on it, looking down at Wrath.

“Why don’t you summon one of your demons?” Pride asked. An orb of light appeared and he tossed it between his hands like a ball.

“Mastemah was banished within the last century,’ Wrath grumbled. Pride tossed the orb into the air and it vanished as he jumped to the ground,

“Then what if I made it up to you for killing your little plaything?” he asked. Wrath looked at him quizzically,

“You would do that?” he asked. Pride shrugged,

“Just this time,” he replied.

“Deal.” Wrath said.

“Very well.” Pride said. He once again released from his true form but restrained his power. The room around the demon still began to warp as reality bent in the presence of the Morning Star.

“Mastemah, harbinger of calamity, father of destruction, flatterer of the Lord, I lend my power to bring thee back to the mortal plane. Heed the call of the Morning Star and take your place at the side of the Deceiver.”

The Prince of Pride spoke in the old language. The guttural intonation filled the room and darkness fell upon it, pierced by the brilliance of the Morning Star’s form. A pit formed beneath the demon Princes and sulfurous gas erupted from it accompanied by the shrieks of the damned.

“Breach the veil between Hell and the mortal plane, Mastemah. Rise from the depths and strike fear in the hearts of the mortals. Bring calamity upon humanity and show them the meaning of thy name. I, Lucifer, command it to be so.” The Prince of Pride continued.

This text was taken from Royal Road. Help the author by reading the original version there.

The earth groaned and shuddered. Shadow and fire poured out from the open portal to Hell. In the middle of it an inky mass took shape, the darkness ebbing and flowing into a singular form.

The sun became blotted out as if covered in an eclipse. The shrieks of the tortured souls continued to swell. Orange bolts of lightning cracked across the sky. A claw shot up from the center of the pit and grabbed the edge of the jagged ground. The black mass fed into it and another claw slammed into the ground, sending tremors through the earth. The creature pulled itself up with a piercing howl. Clouds of smoke erupted from beneath it.

“Master,” it hissed as it fully emerged from the portal. The ground resealed itself and the Prince of Pride retook his mortal form.

“Welcome back, Mastemah,” Pride said. “Go to your master.”

Mastemah assumed the form of a hellhound and stood beside the Prince of Wrath who remained in his mortal form.

“We’re even for now,” Wrath said and he vanished with the lesser demon. Pride moved a bishop on the chessboard and then looked to the corner of the room.

“Reveal yourself, Sonneillon,” he commanded.

The servant of Envy materialized from the shadows with its head bowed low to avoid meeting the gaze of the Prince of Pride. The demon had used the presence of two Princes of Hell as a cover to secretly observe both. It had gone undetected by Wrath but Pride was more perceptive than his sibling and his true form did not overwhelm his senses like it did for Wrath. Pride had sensed Sonneillon’s entrance the moment the demon had entered the room while Wrath blew apart the White House. On the chessboard, Sonneillon was represented by the first pawn that Pride moved.

Pride looked at the shamed demon with amusement. Envy had never been the type to directly engage and Pride knew that this encounter had been inevitable.

“I’m not going to banish you,” Pride said. Sonneillon raised its head,

“You aren’t?” it asked. Pride rolled his eyes, walking back to his chair behind the desk.

“No, you’re still useful to me.”

Sonneillon didn’t like the tone of the Prince’s voice. It was purposefully revealing an underlying motive and sense of deceit. Pride wasn’t even trying to obscure it from the lesser demon and that made Sonneillon very nervous.

“You and Envy encountered your corresponding Virtue, didn’t you?” the Prince asked. “The girl is the Virtue of Generosity. That’s why there was all that unnecessary emotion.”

Sonneillon remained silent. Pride sighed,

“Please don’t make me compel you to answer. I’ll only ask once,” he said. The lesser demon knew it was useless to resist but its loyalty to the Prince of Envy kept it silent. Pride’s mortal form began to glow and Sonneillon braced itself for the release of the Morning Star.

“Sonneillon” Pride warned.

“Yes,” the demon replied. The light surrounding the Prince of Pride faded.

“That wasn’t so hard was it?” he asked, “Your loyalty is admirable but you can’t serve your master if you no longer exist. Remember that.”

Of all the Princes, Sonneillon feared the Morning Star the most. It had only heard rumors of the power of the eldest sin but had never witnessed them until observing the clash between Pride and Wrath. Even then, Sonneillon knew that the Prince had shown great restraint.

“Where did Envy send the girl?” Pride asked.

“Russia,” Sonneillon answered, hoping that Pride wouldn’t connect the dots but knowing that the Prince was too clever not to. Pride laughed,

“You put her directly in the path of our sibling. How ingenious. Very close to breaking the rules but still within bounds. Incredible, I didn’t expect that from Envy,” Pride remarked and the lesser demon’s resentment for the Prince grew. “However, I need you to do something that runs counter to those plans.”

Sonneillon looked at the Prince warily but did not speak. Pride was once again scanning the chessboard, looking over each of its pieces and squares on the board.

“You’re going to make sure the girl lives and that Wrath doesn’t lay a finger on her. Neither Wrath nor Envy must know you’re involved. If you’re discovered, you’re on your own. And I won’t give you a chance to betray me,” Pride said.

“No,” Sonneillon said defiantly. Pride looked up from the chessboard and smirked,

“Unfortunately for you, no isn’t an option. I wasn’t asking, I was telling you what you’re going to be doing. I will be fair though.”

Sonneillon remained silent.

“Stoic little demon. I imagine that Envy has already realized that Greed can be banished without identifying the Virtue of Selflessness?” Pride asked.

Sonneillon felt a jolt down its spine. The Prince either was planning the same thing as his master or offering information that he assumed Envy did not know.

“Your reaction tells me what I need. Good.” Pride said, standing once more. “I will extend this offer then. You follow through on what I have instructed you to do and you do it successfully. That part is important. If that Virtue dies, I will scatter your body across the circles of Hell and ensure they are never put back together.”

The lesser demon stepped back and hung its head. It knew that the Prince was not bluffing.

“But, assuming you follow through, I will put Greed’s little mortal in a position where Envy can dispatch her. And then we’ll both have one of our problems dealt with. Understood?” Pride finished, looking at Sonneillon with a steely glint in his eyes.

“Understood,” the lesser demon responded.

“Good, now the first part of our deal needs fulfilling. I suspect Wrath has detected our little Virtue.” Pride said.

Sonneillon bowed its head and vanished from the room. Pride walked over to the chessboard and grabbed the bishop, moving it to an open rank aimed at the opposing king.

“Check,” he said with a smirk.

Sonneillon glanced around the streets of Moscow, looking for some indication of the location of the Virtue . A loud crashing noise drew the demon’s attention and it vanished again before reappearing in front of a stately manor. The demon looked to its left and saw the lesser demon Destruction standing within the ruins of a house as flames rose around its legs.

Sonneillon paused and listened. From within the manor, the demon could hear the sounds of two separate heartbeats. The demon navigated through the shadows and into the home to find their source. Sonneillon could sense power radiating from both humans and it perplexed the demon. Was it possible that there were two of the Virtuous Seven within the house? The demon followed the sound of breathing into one room and found an old woman. A hazy golden glow appeared to surround her. Sonneillon left her sleeping in the bed and searched the other rooms before finding the girl that the Prince of Envy had banished from their chosen city. The same hazy golden glow that the old woman had surrounded the girl as well.

The house vibrated as the lesser demon Destruction crashed through the walls of the house, likely sensing the same thing that Sonneillon had. Sonneillon disappeared into the darkness as the girl awoke and scrambled out of the bedroom. The demon watched her find the old woman and the pair entered the basement.

Destruction was close behind, smashing through walls and sending a large chandelier crashing to the ground. Every step the servant of Wrath took seared into the ground and ignited the floor around it. There was a gnawing temptation to just allow the other demon to kill the Virtues and make it nearly impossible for Envy to be banished. But Sonneillon knew that the Morning Star’s threats were not empty. At least if Pride’s orders were followed, Sonneillon would be able to give its master the satisfaction of defeating the Prince of Greed.

Destruction blasted through the doors of the basement and Sonneillon knew that it would have to act quickly. It watched Wrath’s demon assume a humanoid form and begin walking down the stairs. The chosen form was nearly identical to Wrath’s mortal form, donning the same red suit and dark sunglasses. Sonneillon channeled its energy into a grandfather clock that was lying on its side in the hallway. The clock chimed three times and Sonneillon magnified the noise, drawing the attention of Destruction. The demon heard a door close and knew that the momentary distraction was enough. It searched through the shadows and saw the humans fleeing from the house. Sonneillon extended its powers once more to enhance the cover of night and shield them from Destruction’s view. Once it was satisfied that the humans were safe, Sonneillon returned to the Wei Chan province to its master. The first part of Pride’s bargain had been fulfilled.