It was deep in the middle of the night when Jonas was stirred from his slumber.
“The seal has broken,” Pride whispered into his ear. Infinite darkness surrounded him as he opened his eyes and stared at the shadowy mannequin that haunted his mind, but it seemed Pride’s appearance had changed slightly, and his figure was more refined, and he had two blue slits where his eyes should have been.
“And yet I still can’t see you properly,” and Jonas began examining the room of blood. The only thing that seemed to change with the breaking of the seal was the red star in the sky was glowing much brighter.
“I have no face,” Pride lamented, “If Sin was the light shining down upon you, I would be nothing more than your shadow,” and judging from the silhouette that Pride had, it did indeed seem to be the same shape and size as Jonas.
“So the seal has broken,” Jonas shrugged, “I don’t feel any different since the last time we spoke. Which, by the way, has been a while,” and he gave Pride an accusatory glare.
“Don’t be stupid,” Pride spat, “Your ability to heal faster than anyone else, the ability to put on so much extra muscle, and even the way you’ve been quickly closing the gap between Ahmed and yourself, it’s all due to the seal being broken. I had my reasons why I didn’t contact you, as I needed you to focus on discovering your Sin on your own, and congratulations, you’ve done a great job so far.”
“Did you help me?” Jonas asked.
“I will always help you,” Pride whispered, “I’m you, I’m your power, and anything I do to help you is the same as you doing it to help yourself.”
“Is this the only reason you’ve summoned me?” Jonas asked, “Or was there more?”
“Why?” Pride sounded slightly irritated, “You’ve got somewhere to be?”
“If you enjoy my left hand being where it is as much as I do, you’ll let me sleep,” Jonas crossed his arms and wiggled the fingers of his left hand.
“Just a simple conversation would do,” Pride sighed, “Can you spare that much for an old friend?”
“Two questions,” Jonas said, “How do I control my powers and why do you call yourself my old friend?”
“The same way you’ve done it all along, by focusing on your Pride. Drake thought I was just an imaginary friend, but when you were young, I had escaped the seal for nearly a year before I was forced back in.”
“What does that mean though, focusing on my Pride? What is my Pride?” Jonas asked, “How come I don’t remember any of this?”
“It’s your Pride, Jonas. You get to decide what Pride means to you, and when you’ve discovered its meaning, you can use that to fuel your powers, it’s really simple,” Pride blinked his blue eyes, “As for the memories, you blacked out most of your childhood, I’ve already explained this. I’ve personally gone through the fragments of your memories and have been sorting them out and I could even show you when you're ready.”
“I’m ready,” Jonas said instantly, but Pride scoffed at him.
“You’re not even close to being ready,” he said, “You can barely stomach the traumas of other people and yet you wish to relive the terrible experiences you went through as a child, don’t be preposterous.”
“Is it that bad?” Jonas was starting to doubt himself. Although his childhood hadn’t been that great, he really couldn’t think of anything worse than starvation, loneliness, corporal punishment, and being completely unwanted.
“Some of the memories you kept because they were useful to you, but many others you threw away because they brought you nothing but pain and humiliation,” Pride added, “Yes, they are quite disturbing.”
“When can you show me the truth?” Jonas asked, “When can I finally understand?”
“When your Sin Scars are fully developed, when you’ve come into your power, and when you’ve finally accepted your fate as being chosen.”
“Oh that fucking nonsense again,” Jonas rolled his eyes, “I accept that my background is off, but I refuse to believe that I’ve been chosen for some greater purpose.”
“Believe it, or not,” Pride shook his head, “It’s the truth.”
“Oh, and it’s the truth that I’m a fucking Hellite, that my dead parents never existed, and that I wasn’t born on Earth?” Jonas’ voice was extremely sarcastic.
“It’s all true,” said Pride, “You’ll agree with me very soon, I know it. You’ll come into your powers, and then you’ll feel the difference between you and the rest of them, and you’ll see that the things that have happened to you your whole life were not random occurrences, but a long-winded plot from someone else.”
“Maybe I’ll agree to the first part,” Jonas smiled, “Maybe I’m built a bit different when compared to others, but I refuse to believe in some make-believe evil plot.”
“No one said the plot was evil,” Pride argued, “I only said that you are its central character, and perhaps your brother as well.”
“Prove it,” Jonas smirked.
“Very well,” Pride smirked back, and with a snap of his fingers, the world around Jonas began to change. They were back on Earth, and the night sky was just beginning to fade away as the sun broke across the horizon. Jonas and Pride stood atop a very large hill, and with them was one other person.
The person was cloaked from head to foot, and no matter how closely Jonas approached them, he couldn’t make out a single feature that would help him understand who it was underneath.
“Who is this?” Jonas asked while looking around, “Hang on, this is Rutgers Outlook,” and the place where he and his brother had spent so much time together had finally come to his attention.
“This person is someone we saw with our own two eyes, and yet failed to notice because of their little tricks,” Pride said pointedly, “This person was with you and Drake the day you died, and you failed to notice.”
“Where are me and Drake then?” Jonas asked anxiously, while goosebumps crept up his arms.
“Watch this closely,” Pride didn’t answer the question, and instead he pointed at the figure who was just next to them. The cloaked person bent over and picked up a small rock from the ground, and then they began rolling it between their fingers.
With the force of a sniper rifle, that cloaked figure threw the rock down the side of the mountain, and Jonas watched as it pelted right through the tire of a black Mustang that had just begun to turn around a bend. The tire exploded and the vehicle was thrown from the side of the mountain and disappeared from view.
“See you in Hell, boys,” the cloaked person’s voice sounded neither male, nor female, and Jonas could only just make out the words as he watched the person disappear from the spot as if they had never been there.
“What…” Jonas was at a loss for words, “What the fuck just happened?”
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“You asked me to prove it,” Pride chuckled as they listened to the sounds of a crashing car in the background, “And I did,” and then the world began to change once more, and both Jonas and Pride were back in the room of infinite darkness. Jonas stood silent as his mind replayed the strange things he had just witnessed, he couldn’t believe that his and Drake’s deaths had been caused by someone else.
“Who was that?” Jonas asked quietly, his voice seemed to be lost in all the confusion.
“No idea,” said Pride, “But we don’t need to know their identity to understand that someone wanted you both to die,” he quoted, “Isn’t that strange, ‘See you in Hell, boys’.”
“Of course it’s strange,” Jonas nodded, “I don’t understand it though.”
“Then let me illuminate the truth,” Pride said rather aggressively, “Someone with otherworldly powers killed you, where did they come from?”
“Hell,” Jonas whispered.
“Why did they kill both of you, and not just one?”
“Considering what they said, they obviously wanted to kill us both.”
“Someone from Hell was sent to kill you and your brother, don’t you think that maybe I might be onto something when I say that maybe your background is a bit unique?”
“Why though?” Jonas asked, “Why would they do that?”
“What happened after you died?” Pride asked with a smirk, “Let’s go back and see if you can spot the problem,” and once again the world changed, and Jonas found himself in a large stone auditorium. At the center was a podium and seated behind the podium was the familiar ugly face of Judge Rosenthyme, and in front of him stood the memories of Jonas, Drake, and Duran Littlehorn.
“Why is this scene significant?” Jonas asked, “Was it something the judge said?”
“Don’t pay attention to their voices,” Pride twisted his fingers in midair as if he was turning down the volume, and then Jonas could no longer hear anything, “Watch the Judge,” and Jonas stared straight at Judge Rosenthyme and although the demon’s mouth was moving, no words came out.
For absolutely no reason at all the judge looked up at the wall behind where Jonas and Pride stood, and following his eyesight, Jonas saw that there was a small window in the wall just above them.
“What’s he looking at?” Jonas asked.
“Let’s find out,” Pride led him around the gathering and just behind where Judge Rosenthyme sat. It was hard to see at first, but eventually, Jonas’ eyes made out what he believed was a cloaked figure and in fact, Jonas was sure that it was the same cloaked person from before.
“It’s them,” he said with an astonished voice, “It’s the person who killed us.”
“Now why would they be here?” Pride knew that his little show had finally worked, and he couldn’t help but feel extremely proud of himself, “What significance does that cloaked figure have on this specific memory?”
For a moment Jonas was unsure. He looked at the familiar voiceless faces just across from him, and even though he couldn’t hear what was being said, he knew exactly what was about to happen. Jonas from the memory had just found out he was being sent to the first floor of Hell, and the real Jonas couldn’t help but admire his naivety thinking that his fate had been something to be relieved about.
Then the Judge was about to sentence Drake to the sixth floor, but before he did he once again peered up at the window and when he did, the cloaked figure gave a nod of its head. Jonas’ body shook as he finally realized the significance that Pride was trying to show him.
“The judge only sentenced Drake to the sixth floor because the cloaked figure forced him to?” Pride snapped his fingers, and the world transformed back to the infinite darkness, and the two of them stood within the bloody sea.
“Still don’t believe me?” Pride asked quietly, “One more memory, and you’ll see the truth,” but instead of the environment turning into Earth or Hell, only the infinite darkness remained. Pride pointed in a certain direction and Jonas’ eyes followed.
Jonas watched as a young man suddenly sunk into the darkness. It was himself and that memory was from when he had died, specifically the moment before he had awoken in the cell with his brother.
“I just died,” Jonas whispered, “That’s me floating, well, here.”
“This was the first time that you entered this realm of the abyss, your Sin,” Pride said, “Now watch who comes to visit us,” and a glowing white light appeared. At first, Jonas was confused, but his eyes widened as a man stepped out from within the light.
“I’ve seen him before!” Jonas whispered excitedly as an extremely handsome man with curtains of silver hair appeared before the dying Jonas’ body, “I thought I only dreamed of him, but to think he was real.”
“Oh he’s real alright,” Pride said rather begrudgingly, “Watch as he comes to check the seal,” and Jonas witnessed firsthand as the strange man touched the part on Jonas’ back where the supposed seal was located. Then the man whispered words that Jonas did not understand and then he disappeared into nothingness as if he had never existed in the first place.
“That cloaked figure, that man of light,” Jonas mumbled, “Are they together?”
“I don’t think so,” Pride replied, “If I had to guess though, the cloaked person was sent for your brother, while the man of light came for you.”
“How can you be sure?” Jonas asked.
“The cloaked figure forced Judge Rosenthyme to sentence your brother to the sixth floor. I’m almost sure of it,” Pride added, “The man of light came to check on your seal, which tells us that he was the one who put it there, to begin with.”
“Fuck,” was all Jonas could say because his mind was whirling with all of the new information that had been presented to him.
“I’m surprised that I can even tell you about him,” said Pride rather skeptically, “I’m surprised I was even allowed to show you that memory.”
“What do you mean, allowed?”
“Your master, the old quack who sold you into slavery,” said Pride, “I spoke with him just as you passed out from the booze, and it was a rather illuminating conversation that resulted in me being attacked.”
“Attacked?” Jonas looked shocked, “Old Louie attacked you?”
“No!” Pride shouted, “The man of light, he attacked me!”
“Why?” Jonas’ heart was beating a million miles per second.
“Jonas,” said Pride rather strongly, “The man of light does not mind if you and I see him, or if we speak about him. Then why would he care if I spoke about him to Old Louie?”
“Because we don’t know his identity…” Jonas trailed off, but then the answer hit him like a hammer, “But Old Louie does!”
“Exactly,” said Pride, “But this begs a new question. Why does an old sewer rat like Old Louie have anything to do with a powerful being like the man of light?”
“Did Old Louie say anything strange?” Jonas asked.
“Not really,” shrugged Pride, “He only wanted to know if I meant you any harm, and then he asked me questions about the seal. I tried to tell him about the man of light, but then I felt more pain than I had ever experienced in my life. It was so bad that I was knocked unconscious, and I couldn’t even recall the moment that the old rat sold you to the Hurts gang.”
“Then that man of light,” Jonas licked his lips, “He’s the one who put the seal on me, and he’s the one that’s been pulling the strings?”
“I believe so,” said Pride quietly, “He obviously has some greater plan for you, some big scheme that neither of us can understand at this point. We don’t need to understand his plotting though, all we need to take from this is the fact that you are important to him, and that he is the direct reason behind all the strange things that have ever happened to you.”
“I’m not sure what to say,” Jonas stared at the ground as he tried to come to terms with what he had just heard. It was one thing to be told that his fate was being played with by a strange being, but it was an entirely different concept to see that being with his own two eyes.
“Let’s end our conversation, for now,” said Pride, “I’m tired and need time to think.”
“But what about all of this?” Jonas wasn’t as eager as Pride to take a break.
“It will still be here the next time we talk. We’ve already gone over the important bits, there isn't much else to talk about. You and your brother were murdered by a cloaked figure who wanted you both in Hell and specifically wanted you on the first floor, and your brother on the sixth. This cloaked figure wanted you two as far as part as possible, though I’m not sure why. We also know that this strange man of light placed a seal on your body because he wanted to hide your powers. I believe he was the one who sent you to live among the mortals. We also know that this man of light knows Old Louie on an intimate level. Do you think it’s a random occurrence that it was Old Louie who had been called to heal you back at the auction?” Pride added, “Out of all the people who could have come to heal your body, it just so happened to be a person who was related to the man who sealed your powers. This is not a coincidence.”
“So, the man of light wanted me to meet Old Louie?”
“I believe so. I don’t know why, though. My only deduction is that the man of light wants you to Sin, so he sent you a teacher,” and Jonas found no flaw in that statement.
“But why does he want me to learn about Sin?” and Jonas instinctively looked to Pride for answers.
“I need more time, I need to see what happens to you. By understanding your experiences, I can get a better idea of what the man of light’s intention for you is.”
“Okay,” Jonas agreed, “When will I see you again?”
“Soon,” he replied, “Remember to focus on what Pride means to you and use it to fuel your Sin. Also, keep everything we’ve spoken about a secret, and do not tell anyone. Now sleep, Jonas.”