they’ll come after me in thousands.
Nyx reluctantly let her mind circle outward once again, covering every inch of the plains of Hell, brushing over the millions of sinners tortured there, and the Angels and demons who stood over them, forcing new and brutal agonies onto each.
She spiraled farther outward, through the black rock valleys and the spiked, razor-sided mountains. Her mind went to the black pit of a prison where Lucifer had put the Angels who still fought against him, each broken and stuffed into a Hellstone chest as Nyx had been, then buried beneath tons of rock. Farther she went, circling ever outward, until she came to the Palace of Pleasure. And found Persephone.
What the fuck is she doing there?
Nyx looked closer and felt a surge of rage. Persephone was definitely in the Palace of Pleasure, and there was no way that Persephone should be there, unless…
She betrayed me. That bitch betrayed me. I’ll cut her to fucking ribbons! I’ll pull her guts out and make her eat them! I’ll…
What will I do?
Nyx pulled herself back to herself. There was no way to do anything as she was, and she still needed allies.
I will go to the Palace of Pleasure, and I will coax her back to my side, Nyx decided. Or I will cut her in two right there and toss her in the Lake of Fire myself.
Nyx began crawling forward, heedless of the pain of the spiked floors and whirling blades that hacked at her body. Blood flew as her flesh was torn open. The child-shaped demons capered and cavorted, begging for her help. Ahead of her was the one clear piece of floor in the entire room. Nyx had put it there deliberately, and now, just as deliberately, pulled her body onto it.
The floor, delicately counter-weighted, spun once her full weight was on it, and Nyx fell deep into a whirlpool of Hellfire.
She knew it was coming, of course, just as she knew what was going to happen to her once she fell in. She steeled her mind as all her sins came to revisit her, and the pain she’d inflicted on others roared through her mind. Babies torn from their mothers, orphans left to starve. She hadn’t done any of that on purpose, exactly—it had just been part of war. But that knowledge didn’t make the pain easier to bear. The Hellfire burned her flesh and threatened to rip Aleyd’s soul from her body. Nyx had a moment to wonder what the soul was learning of Nyx’s crimes before she clamped down on it and forced her body to heal as fast as it could to counter the pain of the whirling Hellfire. It responded faster than she could ever recall it doing, save when she had possessed Tribunal’s power.
Epiphenia, Nyx remembered. She is in me now. Her power is making me stronger.
The whirlpool spun Nyx faster and faster until it pulled her under and into the tunnel below.
She had spent a century carving the tunnel, making sure there was no way that any being—Angel, demon or soul—could get through it unscathed. Now, as the Hellfire rushed her down the pipe, she was lacerated half a hundred times in the first seconds. Her skull split open. Her guts ripped out, only to be tangled in the rocks and to hold her, briefly, against the rushing Hellfire before they tore in two and sent her spinning down the tunnel once more.
The pain was immeasurable, and her body was nearly destroyed a thousand times before the tunnel grew narrower and narrower and the Hellfire faster and faster. Nyx closed her eyes, knowing what was to come next.
The pain of the Hellfire abruptly vanished as she was spewed out the end of the tunnel and into darkness. Nyx had the briefest of moments to brace herself for what was to come next.
I really am an asshole sometimes…
She slammed into the spiked wall and hung, impaled for a fraction of a second before the spikes tilted at their hinges as they were meant to do, and Nyx slid down the razor-sharp rock that made up the side of the mountain. She managed not to scream as every single inch of flesh on her body was ripped to
Nyx reluctantly let her mind circle outward once again, covering every inch of the plains of Hell, brushing over the millions of sinners tortured there, and the Angels and demons who stood over them, forcing new and brutal agonies onto each.
She spiraled farther outward, through the black rock valleys and the spiked, razor-sided mountains. Her mind went to the black pit of a prison where Lucifer had put the Angels who still fought against him, each broken and stuffed into a Hellstone chest as Nyx had been, then buried beneath tons of rock. Farther she went, circling ever outward, until she came to the Palace of Pleasure. And found Persephone.
What the fuck is she doing there?
Nyx looked closer and felt a surge of rage. Persephone was definitely in the Palace of Pleasure, and there was no way that Persephone should be there, unless…
She betrayed me. That bitch betrayed me. I’ll cut her to fucking ribbons! I’ll pull her guts out and make her eat them! I’ll…
What will I do?
Nyx pulled herself back to herself. There was no way to do anything as she was, and she still needed allies.
I will go to the Palace of Pleasure, and I will coax her back to my side, Nyx decided. Or I will cut her in two right there and toss her in the Lake of Fire myself.
Nyx began crawling forward, heedless of the pain of the spiked floors and whirling blades that hacked at her body. Blood flew as her flesh was torn open. The child-shaped demons capered and cavorted, begging for her help. Ahead of her was the one clear piece of floor in the entire room. Nyx had put it there deliberately, and now, just as deliberately, pulled her body onto it.
The floor, delicately counter-weighted, spun once her full weight was on it, and Nyx fell deep into a whirlpool of Hellfire.
She knew it was coming, of course, just as she knew what was going to happen to her once she fell in. She steeled her mind as all her sins came to revisit her, and the pain she’d inflicted on others roared through her mind. Babies torn from their mothers, orphans left to starve. She hadn’t done any of that on purpose, exactly—it had just been part of war. But that knowledge didn’t make the pain easier to bear. The Hellfire burned her flesh and threatened to rip Aleyd’s soul from her body. Nyx had a moment to wonder what the soul was learning of Nyx’s crimes before she clamped down on it and forced her body to heal as fast as it could to counter the pain of the whirling Hellfire. It responded faster than she could ever recall it doing, save when she had possessed Tribunal’s power.
Epiphenia, Nyx remembered. She is in me now. Her power is making me stronger.
The whirlpool spun Nyx faster and faster until it pulled her under and into the tunnel below.
She had spent a century carving the tunnel, making sure there was no way that any being—Angel, demon or soul—could get through it unscathed. Now, as the Hellfire rushed her down the pipe, she was lacerated half a hundred times in the first seconds. Her skull split open. Her guts ripped out, only to be tangled in the rocks and to hold her, briefly, against the rushing Hellfire before they tore in two and sent her spinning down the tunnel once more.
The pain was immeasurable, and her body was nearly destroyed a thousand times before the tunnel grew narrower and narrower and the Hellfire faster and faster. Nyx closed her eyes, knowing what was to come next.
The pain of the Hellfire abruptly vanished as she was spewed out the end of the tunnel and into darkness. Nyx had the briefest of moments to brace herself for what was to come next.
I really am an asshole sometimes…
She slammed into the spiked wall and hung, impaled for a fraction of a second before the spikes tilted at their hinges as they were meant to do, and Nyx slid down the razor-sharp rock that made up the side of the mountain. She managed not to scream as every single inch of flesh on her body was ripped to
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