’’Ah. Here comes my foolish heir.’’

Grim came to a halt before an enormous crystal prison of ice. It caged a being with pure snow white hair, resting silver like eyebrows with matching brows that looks to be bitten by years of frostbite.

His dark pale lips rested in the faintest hint of amusement. His face so white and the beauty of it hard to resist.

His long, silver hair moved like restless finger-like projections inside the body of ice that seemed to have its roots from the water on top. The ancient being was dressed in a simple black robe, sitting in the ice in a criss-crossed position, eyes closed in what looked like a deep, long sleep.

His shoulder lifted proudly by the dress with pointy, golden dragon scales as his entire body swayed gently in the trapped body of water within the ice.

Grim knew what this was about and he didn’t know his father still practiced such a world overturning ritual on himself.

Even now, he still pursued the impossible dream of becoming a God—perhaps even overthrowing the ruler of the Divine Realm one day through this very ritual.

He stared at it and noticed how the corners of the devil’s would twitch slightly in amusement as he drowned further in the water and slept. Ichor stared above the frozen cage at the large, moving eye of the devil staring about restlessly, never letting his guard down with every blink it made.

It was attached to the ice wall behind the frozen cage with millions, almost uncountable webs of neurons, nerves and tissue, spreading all about sideways while converging to a single crack in the ice ceiling and touching the still water above.

Grim looked away briefly in disgust as he knew exactly what that water was.. All the more reason to fear his father and his sick obsession to being all-powerful and overtaking the divine realm one day.

Was it not enough that his mere existence already plunged Hell and Earth into chaos?

Why go this far to become a God, being the reason Hell is constantly shrouded in darkness and snow—the snow Ichor knows he uses to drain the demons of their essence and vitality just to become stronger.

When they are weak and always cold, they will always turn to him for deliverance out of this place and cry for vengeance against the divine.

When it has been very clear to Ichor since day one who was responsible for the Cursed Snow and why?

Dark lips mused further in amusement as he listened to the thoughts of his flesh and blood.

No one knows the devil was capable of reading minds now.

A new improvement to his growing abilities as he continued to feed on whatever the water above provided him after millions of lives sacrificed every day.

Turned out the backwater demons he sent to earth some years back to harvest enough chaos, pain, deaths, destruction, wars, famine, hopelessness which returns to this water as resentment and dark energy. One he feeds on day and night, every second and hour until he touches the divine and ascends to have his revenge.

The enigma sat still in the ice as he preyed on the fall of Adam.

’’Won’t you also kneel before me or your time on earth has given you a small sense of superiority?’’ The ancient being asked, his voice like the soothing call of an endless abyss.

Calm.

Beckoning.

Evil.

Predatory.

Ichor gasped as his father said without moving his lips, looking beyond and unreachable yet so close and near you could feel the cold breaths of his poisonous aura behind one’s ears.

Ever wonder why he remains the most beautiful of all beings ever created?

Grim moved and fell on his knees before his father.

That’s because the Creator wanted his children to know not all good things should appear beautiful.

He is still everything any living being could desire or wish to look like, but within is a colorless shell that houses a big family of maggots.

One is pride.

The sister is envy.

The mother is greed.

The father is wrath.

The brother is an empty space with love or feeling. An emotionless sibling that drives the whole family to a void that repeats without an end.

A simple family of five the creator tried its best to purge out of him until he was shamed and cast out to grow and be the monster he wants to become.

And at the end of it all, destroying himself, hating and loving what he has become while his closest family of five guides him to his final ruin.

One that has no redemption.

’’For you to return home and remember it’s been almost seven hundred years since you’ve thought of me, seen me and even pay me a visit tells me something terrible has gone wrong.’’

Ichor gulped, feeling weightless each time it felt like it was the walls around him that spoke. They suddenly felt alive and in perfect synchrony to the all-seeing eyes that moved above the devil. Having the mind of their own...or were all these illusions or more extensions of the odd existence of his nightmares.

’’And it seems like a problem the one thing you hate the most in this life and the lives to come can make better, no?’’

The voice reverberated through his skull like invisible waves, pushing against every bone in his body. Blood spilled from his nose before gathering at the corner of his lips.

Ichor glanced towards the nearest wall of ice, where his own reflection stared back at him. A single golden tear rolled down his swollen face before disappearing into the still water below.

He should have come prepared for this next round of abuse.

But what could he have done in such a short time when Anais threatened to leave him soon?

He tried to hold on, his breathing heavy as he stared down weekly at his trembling hands. Even his heart was struggling to keep him alive before this oppressive force.

’’Since you have taken this much effort to see me, even daring to cause discord...’’

Lucifer tried not to laugh but the memory of his son using the only demon that has access to his resting place to threaten him was indeed memorable.

He didn’t know his own artist and pure hearted son could be this scary and know how to use fear and threat like weapons.

Hell, the King Of Hell didn’t know he inherited one good trait from him. He should have show it earlier, maybe it wouldn’t have taken this long to understand each other.

’’...you threatened to cause discord among the horned goats—’’

A fancy word for all demons from the Fallen Angel they worshipped.

’’...and reveal my deepest darkest secret if I do not make time to listen and solve your problems.’’

The devil’s smile widened an inch, showing a perfectly shaped dimpled against his pure, white skin.

’’I didn’t even know I had secrets or terrible deeds to hide. Maybe saving an injured dog from being eaten by a pack of hungry possessed wolves might be a very controversial thing to know about the devil...’’

Grim blinked as it grew harder to breathe and the pain in his chest reached an unbearable peak.

’’...but I have no wicked thing to hide. And I refuse to be blamed for those who have eyes to see but can’t.’’

Falak turned around slowly to the young prince suffering beside him.

He was trying his best to keep it together before this Great Demon, which only made Falak to wonder if whatever he came all the way here for was really worth it.

Grim forced himself to stand, only for his body to tremble violently beneath the crushing pressure. Every muscle screamed as he struggled to remain whole. Moments away from going through the pain of exploding into pieces again before him and spending terrible years piecing himself back up flesh by flesh, bone by bone while blocking waves and waves of his torments.

The pain was excruciating and in that moment he wished he didn’t have eternal life and died at that very moment.

It was an experience he wouldn’t even wish this monster before him to go through.

But he walked him through every moment of it and survived with the trauma of it sliding down his face at the corner of his eyes on the morning of his rebirth.

He even wished he never remembered who he was once and the detailed moments of his life up until his last moments.

Hell, he even came back with the same face and golden eyes.

And what was his crime that day?

He refused to transform large enough to swallow the earth and bring down the wrath of the divine on Hell, thereby ending all things like he wanted as well.

Falak didn’t want to say anything that will get him into more trouble apart from spending eternity in the Bone Chilling Cave simply for asking the young lord to be granted an audience with the King Of Hell.

But this poor demon was suffering. Going through the same pain Falak could no longer bear it as he raised his head enough to reveal a beautiful pair of silver eyes.

Grim tried and failed not to cry again in pain before him. He thought it was the pain he might have gotten used to or be able to endure after going through it once.

But it seems like there was no end to his father’s hatred and each dislike he had for him seemed to have all gathered about him to show him what the real hell looked like.

It was nothing like being confined and treated in the most inhumane way possible in a freezing cave.

Or being almost strangled to death at birth.

Or being burnt alive by his breath or whipped to shreds by lightning.

Or killed once to return to be killed again.

Grim closed his eyes, as a tear trickled down his left cheek as he looked up to the heavens once more in pain, wondering what exactly he did to deserve this.

Was it because of what I am?

But I didn’t choose to be this disgusting enough to be hated by everyone.

I have already accepted this kind of Hell as punishment for existing this way.

But...

When will this all come to an end?