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They emerged from the forest in the dead of night; Jareth thought he would never see the sun again. The path stretched far and it was lined with small red flowers bloomed in a groomed and tended row. In the horizon he saw a large structure, it loomed over the landscape as if claiming it as it’s own. The path led strait toward the structure, their destination was clear. Ariel picked one of the small red flowers; examining it before making it burst into flames. The ashes blew into the cold night, toward the large structure. After this silent resting contemplation, they continued down the path. As they got closer, awkwardness rose in their chests. It was unsettling, the presence that loomed over them blocking out the moon. They had gotten very close now; the structure was clearly a large monastery. There was something different about it, there was a large pentagram stain-glass window showering moonlight down on them. It had been a while since any of them had spoken. Suddenly the silence was broken, “We are here… Lord Asmodeus awaits you…” Jareth swiftly stopped and looked back at Ariel looking up at the stained glass. “Waits for… Me?” Twig adjusted his cloak feeling uneasy by the statement. “Do you believe in devils?” Twig asked coughing up another small roach, Jareth looked at him uneasily before speaking. “I have… Read stories about magical creatures spawned from the abyss… Ones that refused to succumb to the will of chaos, they fought for a political system.” Twig stepped toward the monastery, “They aren’t all just fairy tales… Some of them are history, facts, events that happened and still occur.” He turned back to Jareth pointing a long bony dark finger at Ariel. “She has fiend blood in her… As do you.” His hand swayed now pointing at Jareth, “I… I am human, nothing more…” He felt severely uneasy now; he did not want to accept the fact that he was something unnatural. Twig chuckled, “I will prove to you that you are special, I know this monastery… And I know what we will find here.” Ariel walked up beside Jareth, “Don’t fear this place, you have a lot of power you just don’t know it yet.” She smiled sand walked up with Twig. They both stood at the steps leading to large black wood doors. Jareth took a deep breath as he walked to the bottom of the steps next to them. Twig looked at him, “You didn’t answer my question?” Jareth did not avert his eyes from the doors but answered solemnly, “Yes, I believe.” As he spoke he walked up to the door knocking on it three times, a dim red glow emanated from his side, it was the jewel of his dagger.

A tall man answered the door; his face well groomed, his hair black and well kept, he was draped in finery. The man gasped as Jareth looked up at him. “You… Have come back to us.” He gulped and nodded since he did not know how to respond. The man looked at the two others who accompanied him, “Ariel, where is Matthew?” She looked down and kicked at the stone steps shrugging awkwardly. The man sighed deeply looking over at Twig, “You are a vermin lord, and I can sense the skills of Raelic in you. He was a good man, it was a shame that he had to die.” Twig nodded thinking deeply about the man who was like a father to him. The man’s eyes finally fell upon Jareth, “We are expecting great things from you. Soon you will be tested, we have been prepared for this day for a long time.” Jareth was still confused and decided it was best to finally get some answers, “What is going on? Who am I? Why have I been brought here? How did my mother die?” The questions escaped quickly from his mouth followed by nervous shuffling. The man looked down at him smiling calmly, “Soon, everything will be illuminated to you. For now you must come in, and prepare.” The man moved out of the way ushering them into the dim lit hall.

As they entered they were swiftly separated. Ariel was taken by a group of giggling women dressed in less then appropriate clothing, looking a bit nervous she called out to Jareth. Twig was taken by a group of men of knowledge; they wore large glasses and carried many notebooks. As they walked away with him, Twig also called out to Jareth out of fear. Unsettled he looked up to his host, “Where did your assistants take my friends?” The man smiled, “Your friends will be fine, you will see them again at the time of judgment.” That word sent a shiver down his spine, what had he gotten into. The tall man took him into a beautifully decorated room, covered in gold and red rugs and soft cushioned chairs. His escort sat him down in one of the chairs. Two men entered the room holding long sheets of cloth and small sewing tools. “These men will dress you for your judgment, you can’t look like that for your father.” Before Jareth could ask the man was gone, and the two men assaulted him. Cloth flew into the air covering him, he felt warm and comfortable. But he couldn’t see anything that was going on, he herd snipping and cutting. Occasionally he felt something cold touch his skin. Not too long after it had begun it was over. Jareth staggered looking down upon what the men had done. He was draped in beautifully decorated finery just as the man, but his was more gregarious. His boots were now deep red suede, his pants were silk decorated with dark blue swirling designs. He was covered in a new robe, this one now with no hood, was red with gold cuffs. He felt something different about his head, he felt around his scalp. He felt that two groups of hair had been wrapped with cloth. He felt like a king. One of them men stepped forward handing him a long staff, it was made the same way as his dagger was. The shaft was obsidian; at the bottom was a gold tip. At the top was a golden pentagram orbiting around a small ruby by some unseen force. The man smiled as Jareth grasped it and slammed the pointed tip on the ground. A small shockwave emanated from it and shook the room. “Now… When can I get the answers I crave?” One of the men smiled, “Soon, come with us…” The men led him out of the room and to his next step into the abyss.

Ariel growled at the women as the poked and picked at her clothes trying to size her up. She was brought into a harem like place, silk pillows littered the floor, and a beautiful woman occupied each. She felt out of place, she was never one for womanly things. One of the women smiled at her and pushed her down into the pillows, she shrieked loudly. The girls began removing her clothes swiftly wrapping her in a long velvet sheet and pushing her back up toward one woman sitting in a throne at the end of the room. The woman ran a finger across her lips scanning Ariel. “Take off the sheet.” She panicked and held the sheet tightly. Her precaution was useless; the sheet slipped through her hands and disappeared into the crowd of women. She covered herself trying to conjure a fire, but too panicked to concentrate. The woman now looked at her scared arm in intrigue. “You could be a very beautiful girl, why would you do such a thing to yourself?” Ariel sneered at her through the fire of her eyes, “I don’t need beauty, I have power.” The woman laughed lightly, “Foolish girl, beauty is power.” Ariel scoffed becoming cold and impatient. “Give me some clothes, and tell me why you have brought me here.” The woman pondered some more speaking, “You are here to become suitable to be a lord’s mistress, and Asmodeus would not have his son being with one so ugly and rebellious. We are here to reform you.” Ariel gasped, “I will be no ones mistress! I am only here to deliver his son and go back to my lord. Mephisto would never approve of Asmodeus making me into his son’s mistress!” The woman laughed again along with the rest of the women. “You did not find it odd that you, out of all the men in your cult were chosen to escort the young lord? It was Mephisto’s idea to have the both of you together because he believes that one day you will become his queen. Foolish as he is, you are not suitable to be a queen.” Ariel became very disturbed, she had never thought about becoming someone else’s lover. In fact she never acknowledged men as anything else other then different types of a race. What situation had her lord spiraled her into?

Twig struggled as the men strapped him down onto a cold iron table. They pricked and poked at him like a lab rat. Taking notes and samples, he yelled and struggled hoping for freedom. A small older man stepped forward laying a hand upon Twig’s shoulder. “Do not fear us, we will not hurt you. Your kind has diminished over the years, and we need to take as much information about you as we can before the practice of being a vermin lord has totally diminished.” Twig groaned coughing and slowly calming down, “What is going to happen to me? Are you just going to keep me in a jar?” The man chuckled deeply, “Of course not boy, you have a much more important job after this. There will be many people depending on you to keep the young lord safe in this perilous life he will surely lead. It is more your burden now that Matthew is missing.” Twig looked uneasily at the old man as his restraints were loosened and he was let up off of the slab. He lifted himself off and onto the cold stone floor holding himself up with his walking stick. “What do I do now…?” He looked down at the old man, “You will watch the judgment with the rest of us, and hope for the best. Now come with me we don’t have much time.” The man scuttled off as the other men continued to jot down notes. Twig staggered weakly behind into the dark arched hallway.

Jareth had been brought to a large worship room lined with pews; the ceiling was high, a decorated mosaic, stories of war, death, and fire. At the end of the long walkway that led between the pews there was a large statue of a devil standing confidently holding a staff similar to the one he was just given. He knew it would all be illuminated soon, he could pretty much discern his situation right now. At the base of the statue he noticed a man, his hair was dark brown, it hung limp from his head and was well kept. He was dressed in the same type of finery but layered with plates of gold armor. He sheathed a large mace along his back. He stood at the wooden pedestal at the head of the room studying a book. The tall man introduced Jareth to the man behind the pedestal, his name was Garred. Jareth felt like he knew him from somewhere, his presence alone kept him pondering. Garred closed his book and looked at Jareth, “It’s been a long time, it almost makes it sad that one of us has to die to the other.” He frowned as Jareth looked stunned at him and to the tall man. “Garred is the leader of this cult of Asmodeus, one of the highest ranked mortals among his cabinet. He participated in your birth, and helped raise you as a child. The trial of judgment is that you must show your dominance, ruthlessness, and dishonor by killing him in battle.” Jareth gasped and looked back at Garred who was still frowning down at him. “You will turn the tides of reality, my death is nothing more then a stepping stone along the road of victory for the Hells.” Jareth took a step back and shook his head, “I can’t… Kill him! He has done me no wrong, and he helped bring me into this plane of existence! Why must I be forced to kill him?” The tall man smiled sympathetically down at him, “You are destined to, and you must follow that destiny.” Jareth sighed at what he had gotten into; he had never taken a life before.

Soon the worshipping room was lined with people, they sat not in the pews, but in large rooms that looked down upon the room through arched openings that lined the high walls. There were close to a thousand people looking down upon Garred and Jareth who now stood on opposite sides of the walkway between the pews. Jareth stood beneath the large statue, while Garred stood at the large black oak doors that opened into the room. Garred spoke to him telepathically, no one else could hear their conversation. Jareth, I can feel your fear and doubt. Do not hold back, the cult needs you to succeed. If I win the world will be thrown into the hands of the demons. Either way I will die, one is a worse death then the other. Jareth knew he could respond, the link between their minds was still open. If I must do this, then I will. I… I don’t want to though. He saw Garred smirk from across the walkway. There is no choice, I must die and you must believe. Before Jareth could respond Garred cut the link between their minds. The booming voice of the tall man who led him earlier shook the room. “Welcome followers of Asmodeus! We are here today to watch the son of our lord ascend and take his place as a devil!” The room shook with cheer, Jareth looked around frantically for his friends.

Ariel itched her cheek, the make-up was irritating her face and she hated it. She thought the dress looked silly, she hated gold, and it was a gross color. She licked a little lipstick off and tried to push through the other women to see what was going on. She finally crawled underneath one of their dresses and saw down upon the two men standing across from each other. She recognized one of them it was Jareth. But he looked different; he had hair wraps and was now draped in a large red cloak. She thought to herself, I suppose if I have to be anyone’s mistress I might as well be his… It’s better then being the bug sac’s mistress. She cringed at the thought and began to get bored. She smiled looking at one of the girls who pushed her down earlier; she started a small fire at the end of her finger. She put her finger to the fringes of her dress and watched her dance around attempting to put it out. Feeling complete she decided to watch the two men.

Twig sat alone at the end of the spectator’s box. No one wanted to touch or be around him, he smelled of carrion and his skin crawled with creatures. Occasionally he would get glances from men at the other end of the spectator’s box, but most averted quickly. He didn’t mind, he just wanted to know that Jareth was going to be okay, this whole judgment thing had yet to reveal itself. He spotted Jareth beneath the statue standing nervously. He thought to himself, don’t give up Jareth… We’ve come too far now for you to die here… I wonder where the girl went? He removed his hood and attempted to search for Ariel, nothing, he couldn’t see a thing through the crowds of people. He decided that patience was the only skill that would help him now as he sat back in his seat.

The voice of the tall man boomed again, “Today will be forever marked in our books, and he will be awakened… Now let it begin.” The crowd cheered again, this time there were no more words to be exchanged. Jareth looked up at the statue nervously, what was he supposed to do he didn’t know how to fight. Garred sprinted down the walkway relentlessly, drawing his mace. Jareth’s eyes lowered from the statue, he had gotten some sort of twisted knowledge out of looking at it. Garred was getting closer and Jareth hadn’t made a move yet. Suddenly, his hand jolted forward holding the staff, as a long flash of lightning shot from the ruby down the walkway. The bolt sent Garred flying into a pew breaking the backboard and sending him tumbling into the foot room of the next pew. Jareth’s eyes glowed red, his forehead suddenly grew two small horns, and for the first time in a while he felt comfortable. Garred arose from the pew as he spat blood at the carpet of the walkway. Jareth smiled, and held his staff up again pointing it at Garred. Jareth now sent a cone of acid spraying forward eating through the pews, Garred jumped into the walkway out of harms way and began sprinting at Jareth. He raised his staff to defend himself against the man sprinting towards him. As they clashed dark sparks flew into the air, Garred had come down on the staff and Jareth had been holding it in place struggling to keep the mace from coming down. Jareth’s hand crackled with a dark light as he smiled and removed one hand from his staff still holding back Garred’s mace. He put the crackling palm to Garred’s chest as he shot him back all the way against to oak doors, his body slid lifelessly down to the carpet. A large burn mark covered his chest and his neck fell limp. The tall man’s voice arose again. “His power is undeniable, he is truly meant to take his place as king of the Hells. Now there is one final task that must be accomplished, you must sacrifice Garred to our Lord Asmodeus!” The crowd cheered as a jagged knife was thrown stabbing into a pedestal in front of Jareth. They continued to cheer as Jareth pulled the knife out raising it high above his head. He felt like he finally knew who he was, he knew the power that he held and he liked it. He would rule everyone, and he would not be stopped by anyone. He walked confidently down the walkway, his glowing red eyes averted by certain things as he passed them. Ariel smiled at him from underneath a group of women, she clapped nervously. He also saw Twig sitting alone in the darkness of the spectators box; he could feel Twig smiling down on him as he walked by. He had reached the end, Garred sat limply in front of him. Jareth proceeded by dragging him to the middle of the walkway so everyone could see; he laid him out flat facing up towards the mosaics. He raised the knife with two hands above his head. Before he came down Garred opened his eyes and spoke. “You have done well, you have learned who you are and you are accepting it. There is only one question left to ask… Do you believe?” Jareth thought to himself if this was really what he wished to become, a monster. If he killed him he would become the purest form of evil. The knife came down hard piercing his heart the blood pooled and ran down his chest. “Yes… I believe…” Garred smiled closing his eyes as blood ran from the corner of his trickling to the floor. The room fell silent as a man appeared at the head of the walkway everyone knew who he was. The man walked forward toward Jareth still kneeling next to his first kill. His robes were similar to Jareth’s and his staff was the same. His skin was red and his hands were clawed, the spectator boxes all kneeled. Jareth rose to his feet, “What is going on?” The question he knew would finally be answered.

The man stopped a foot away from Jareth and spoke; his voice was ominous and intimidating. “You are my son, I once was drawn to the material plane to take care of some business. I met your mother in the hands of a demon of lust; she was only a child at the time. There was a large underground society of demons who were selling children off for sexual purposes; I with a large team of devils thwarted their plans. We slaughtered them all, killing even most of the slaves. Your mother was one of the survivors she was thirteen. When I saw her I had a connection, I took her back to the ninth layer with me. She grew as mortals do, and around the age of twenty-four she had become a beautiful woman. We made love as many creatures do, but at a point she wanted to go back. She left hell without my permission smuggled out with a group of Bel’s devils. From then on I searched for her relentlessly. She evaded me with you, until you chose to leave. Once that happened she had nowhere to run. Although I wanted to, I did not kill her. A group of demons that wanted to capture you had killed her trying to find you. You are destined to precede me as king of the nine Hells. You have been brought here by destiny, and you will do as I once did, and fight the demons that thwart us. You have realized your power, and now I will send you out to fulfill the rest of your destiny. You must slay Graz’zt as the first of your tasks. You also must choose a queen to take with you into the ninth. I have been informed that you have already been assigned a mistress, and that she is a disciple of Mephisto. One of the few females of his cult, we will see if she makes a suitable queen. For now, your path is set and it is now illuminated. You are my most beloved son. I wish only to see you succeed, may the darkness illuminate you always my son.” His father laid a large red hand upon his shoulder before phasing into the darkness.

The crowd arose and cheered loudly. Twig arose finally losing his patience; large spider legs broke out from his robe. He climbed down from the spectators box and walked toward Jareth, the spider legs retracting. Jareth nodded smiling at Twig, he did the same. Ariel got jealous that the bug sac was getting to be down there and she wasn’t. She jumped up shoving the other women out of the way creating brimstone slabs that functioned as steps, she ran down them holding up her dress. Jareth and Twig looked at her very womanly appearance snickering at it under their breath. When she reached Jareth she realized he was laughing at her and kicked him in the shin. “You hoar.” She said to him as he curled over in pain, “I… Wasn’t laughing at you…” Jareth said weakly as Twig smiled answering, “Yes you were, we both were.” She growled as Jareth rose back up from soothing his pain. She stopped growling as he looked into her eyes, she was beautiful, he thought. She blushed looking away quickly, “What are you looking at!” Jareth smiled laughing, “Nothing I guess…” He began to walk toward the oak doors, he was tired and it had been a long day. Twig followed suit petting a rat he had pulled from his sleeve. Ariel shook her head, I hope he doesn’t think he’s getting anything out of this; I am not having sex with that man! Just because I am his mistress does not mean that I have to do anything with him... Does it? She realized the two men had started walking away and scuttled holding her dress to catch up. Jareth reached the door staring into the ruby of his staff. He had already chosen his path, or was he given it from the beginning? He found no reason to question it. He could not turn back now.

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