Chaos

Chapter 1 : A Warm Welcome From Hell

Location : Hell, castle of infernum

"Father" the voice of a girl booms out as she kneeled down on one leg with an arm supporting her weight, while the other laid in a fist over her heart "you called for me".

"Thalassa" a man looking no more than 35, sitting on a throne in front of her, nodded in her direction in acknowledgement and went back to swirling his wine glass, wearing a bored expression. He just sat there with his legs crossed and his free hand resting on his temple. Thalassa knew better. The man she calls "father" has that look on whenever he is deep in thought. And the order that comes after, was never pleasant.

The young girl could never get used to the throne room. Columns of pillars were constructed on either side of the throne, holding up a ceiling you couldn't even see. The light of the torches only reach so far and the rest of the pillars fade from view into the dark.

The throne sits at the far end of the room and the place was shrouded by darkness except for the path leading to the throne. Red veins of lava run across the seat made of stone, meeting at the center where a jewel lies embedded. Thalassa recalls father telling her about it when she was young. A reverse scale of a past dragon king, killed by their ancestors, several centuries back. It was the battle of the century won. The pride and joy of the demon race. The war however, had failed to seize even after all those years had passed.

"I figured you would've heard the news by now?" Father's voice echoed down the hall.

"Yes, father. The momentary peace treaty proposed by the dragon race was disclosed to our people per your order. Although the agreements and conditions..."

"Ah...yes. I kept that to myself for the time being and is the same reason I asked for you" he put his wine glass aside and leaned forwards at-ease with his elbows on his thighs. His hands clasped together as he rested his chin on them.

Thalassa stayed still, without a movement or reply, beckoning for him to continue.

"The treaty was established to all the remaining races as well. Except for the humans of course, since they live under the protection of the respective region we reign. I've received word that the other two had accepted the proposal" he glanced down at the girl before him once before staring off straight ahead, no doubt carrying on with his thoughts.

The situation was skeptical. They had lived in a time of war and chaos, and had no reason to put their prides on the line to initiate suggesting peace. There's no doubt more to this than the dragons let on. Thalassa furrowed her eyebrows, staring at the floor. The dragons made things evident this was a distraction. She couldn't see a reason why the sorcerers and the shapeshifters would have agreed on the proposal. The kings, surely were ruthless, but none were idiots as far as she could recall.

"The conditions" he emphasized "is the reason you are here".

He made a hand gesture and a servant appeared from the unlighted corner beside the throne. The servant was a demon as well with no disguise and in his real form. Demons of the servant rank have a single horn resembling that of a cow on their right corner of the forehead, eyes pitch black void of emotion and their skin a shade of red. The servant walks with an almost 90 degree bow, anyone would worry he would gore the man on the throne someday. As much as the king of hell treats his underlings fair enough, his temper could get as hot as hell does, if he woke up on the wrong side of the bed.

He took the scroll the servant presented to him and threw it towards the youth on her knees. She caught it mid-air with the hand that was supporting her weight and raised her head to face up the throne.

"The treaty" he stated, staring straight down at her. His red eyes, gleam with amusement.

The girl had realized a few decades back that he no longer looked at her in a cold manner like he used to whenever he caught sight of her eyes.

Thalassa rose from kneeling, unrolling the scroll to scan the contents. The demon lord waited patiently, going back to twirling his wine in the glass without taking any sip.

"The competition. My attendance is compulsory, isn't it?" she dared question.

"Well I've got no other daughter, have I?" his lips curled into a lopsided smile. An emotion flashed in his eyes before he downed the wine in one gulp.

"Thalassa, on your command" she went back to her kneeling position as a knight.

"You'll be leaving once the next new moon starts" he dismissed "You shall be freed of all other missions"

Thalassa got up on her feet and turned around to walk towards the door as it creaked open. A demon, twice her size cladded in black armour walked in before taking her place behind she just left. The metal entrance slammed shut by itself with a bang. She bent her head sideways to gaze back at Bathym, the second-in-command of the demon race and nodded once before she strolled down the hall and proceeded to push the iron barrier open.

"Tess, could you get any stiffer? You've known me for more than a century" her father called out at that moment with a laughing tone in his voice, interrupting Bathym's report.

Thalassa's shoulders tensed at the name.

"I was being sarcastic" he muttered under his breath.

"Lord Zagan" Bathym started, wasting no time to get back to business.

"Alright" he sighed, telling him to continue as he slouched back in his seat, defeated as Thalassa walked out the door.

Hell, as some might think, is not a dark place. In fact its too bright in certain areas. Lava flows endlessly under the ground like veins of blood on a persons body. Hellfire ignites in certain locations like fireworks which could light up areas of miles around it.

You could hear the screams of souls being tortured in hell as soon as you step out of the castle. They only get louder as you depart further away from the castle. It was structured that way. The castle stands at the heart of hell, surrounded by torture chambers. The temperature was also bearable there, inside the castle. Although demons are made to withstand the heat of a few thousand degrees, the teenage girl just prefered the less scorching places.

Thalassa snapped back to reality as she slowed down in front of a familiar door. Her unconsciousness must've worked on its own while she got lost in thoughts. She chuckled bitterly as she entered her room.

A hell imp appears illuminating the dimly lit space. It resembles a lot to that of a rabbit, except it's just a ball of fire made for communication without a soul.

"Commander Ames, I've written a report on last nights operation. Souls totalled to 7529, no lives spared. Lord Zagan would be expecting for you to report in before tomorrow night" Alastair's voice sounded from the hell imp. "Also, every mission in progress has been transferred to the other departments and no orders shall be received for the time being by the command of the lord" the message paused for a while "Commander, why did you let the man live?" he questioned and the room returned to normal as the messenger vanished.

The girl in her chamber threw herself onto the bed and closed her eyes before she snapped her fingers once. A purple flame glows in her hand as she hears a whoosh. "Alright. I'll take care of the rest. Thanks for your work" she croaked out and swallowed, hesitating for a split second before answering "He was an outsider. The city has nothing to do with him. I don't want unnecessary blood on my hands''.

She snapped her fingers the second time and the flame in her hand died out. That should send the message, she thought before falling into a slumber.

"Thalassa" a woman's voice carrying a soft soothing tone called out.

"Thalassa, wake up" haste and worry were evident in her tone and a blinding white light filled the view before it fades into the next picture. Fire raged in the background, houses burnt to the ground and the sound of fire crackling lulls softly.

A girl no more than six, weeps quietly amidst the scraps of a battlefield. Heavy footsteps approach the girl as she gazes up, trembling. The silhouette of a man, easily reaching 2 meters, lent out his hand to her. She reaches out with her small hands and wraps it around the pinky of the hand, the man extended towards her.

The vision blurred and shifted once again and the little girl cried out in a disturbing shriek. Her entire body turns red as if the blood itself from underneath her skin is boiling. Her excruiting wails continue for hours and her tears evaporate before they could fall from her face.

Back in the chamber, Thalassa tossed and turned with her eyebrows drawn tightly in a frown. Her breathing shallowed as she thrashed around on her bed. She suddenly opened her eyes wide and sat up, holding her head in one hand, as her breathing slowly returned back to normal. Her head throbbed as if someone was knocking on her head, prying it open.

She shut her eyes tightly and groaned as her vision spins, making her dizzy. Cold sweat drenched her body. Clenching the bed sheets she pushed down the bile rising up the back of her throat and looked out the window.

Hell, was the same old. You wouldn't know if it's day or night, since you can't see the sky from underground. The colors, yellow, orange and red glows, almost like a sunset and obsidian mountains can be seen in the distance.

That window was the only source of light in her room. She thought of it as a night lamp. Not too dark to the point that she couldn't see what she was doing and definitely not too bright. Just to her liking.

She sighed, pushing herself up from her bed. Her feet, touching the floor as if making sure it does not break into nothing. She stumbled slightly before making it to her adjoined bathroom to make herself presentable before reporting to her father.

She entered, once again to the throne room and repeated the same actions she did before. "Thalassa, reporting in on-"

"Thalassa" he held up his hand signaling her to stop "I've already received the written report which is in detail as always. I've told you many times this isn't necessary" he studied her face for any emotion, but was met with a monotonous expression.

"Then, I may take my leave" she excused herself "The souls wouldn't guide themselves into hell, would they?" she turned around and took her leave.

"You could try cracking a smile every now and then Thalassa" her father said softly as she turned her back to him "Look at your old man. The king of hell isn't even as scary as you" he chuckled.

"I'll keep that in mind, father" she said without turning back and stormed out the door.

"It really isn't easy raising a daughter" the demon lord said to himself as he was left laughing to himself, shaking his head.

On the other side of the door, the same purple flames Thalassa created the other night devoured her whole body and she disappeared from the castle, leaving no trace.

Teleportation. High-ranking demons can use it within their territory and places where they are permitted. Thalassa re-appear near the border of hell with a burst of flames. She pulled her hood over her head securely. Volcanic ashes cover the ground in this part of hell as far as your eyes could see and silence fill the air.

She crossed an invisible barrier and the scenery changed. A large group of souls awaited there, standing. She could hear a river running in the background. Thalassa stands in a cave in utter darkness with only a blue light glowing from beyond the souls.

The souls parted to make a path and a creature dressed in a black cloak from head to toe emerged into view. He stands on a boat that'd barely fit four and the only difference he had apart from the appearance of a grim reaper is that reapers carry a scythe whereas he carries a wooden stick. The boat was docked upon the banks of a river. Specifically, the river of styx.

"Thalassa" a raspy and thunderous sound, came from under the hood. "You, have given me quite the trouble. I'll be expecting the payments."

Time and space doesn't seem to work normal inside the barrier. Nor does the boat. The ferryman could carry the souls over in just one trip and he probably did. However, one coin per soul was the agreement. He couldn't take more, he couldn't take less. As the victims died suddenly and there were no other people to bury them, they did not have any coins to offer. The payment was always made BEFORE the souls were carried over.

Thalassa brought out a bag of coins she had in her cloak and walked towards the boat to pass it over.

The ferryman seemed content as he took the bag. "The payment is made" he said in a bone chilling voice and both his boat and him vanished, probably making his way back across the river.

Murmurs broke out amongst the souls. All of them confused, scared and uncertain.

"Where is this place?" "Where will she be taking us?" "Who is she?"

A question amid the chatter caught her attention. "Why are we dead?"

"You all would know the answer to that, won't you?" she said in a voice so icy it would send a chill back down anyone who heard it. The chatterings stopped dead.

"I've waited a century for this moment. I even fulfilled your last wishes. All of you had lived long enough. I'm just doing what should've been done a century ago" she whispered the last sentence, her voice laced with hatred.

The barrier wavered and faded as the scene around them changed. Infernos blazed and anguished screams surrounded the group. The chambers of torture.

"Every single one of you should be honored. I came in person to guide you to my place" she turned to face the crowd and spreads her arms open wide.

"I warmly welcome you" she curled her lips into an unsettling smile underneath her hood, head slightly tilted downwards "to hell".