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As soon as I’m truly alone, minus the tortured souls that make up Az’s Throne, I plane shift across Hell to the shores of Leviathan’s gross, muddy Sea.
Right away, I notice something’s off. I reach out with my infernal senses, scanning for nearby envy demons, but I can’t feel anything. No demons, no damned souls … the sea is empty as far as my magic can reach. That means one of two things: either there are more demons on the march to meet Az than His Kids thought, or I’m walking into a nasty trap.
Too late to back out now. I won’t get another chance like this. I take a deep, centering breath before casting the spells to transform myself like I did before. Most of Leviathan’s Territory is under water, so I’ll need the gills and webbing to get around. Because the water is so gross, I also improvise a new spell to create a protective film over my eyes. I didn’t get an infection from the gunk last time I dove in, but I’d rather not court disaster by not being prepared.
Once I’m seaworthy, I shed my outfit and conjure a sort of wetsuit. Rather than the neoprene used back on Earth, I form the suit from scales, cartilage, and bone, making a sort of armor for myself. Neoprene won’t stand up to demonic attack; this magic material might.
Might.
On impulse, right before I jump into the tepid waters, I conjure a crown of bones to match my outfit. It won’t protect me for shit, but it might be enough to intimidate some of the lesser envy demons I might come across. By now, word has spread that me and Az are an item, so I might be able to B.S. my way out of something hairy by faking a more formal relationship than what we actually have. If I can pull off pretending to be the Princess of Lust, there’s a chance some of the weaker demons will think twice before engaging me in magical combat.
With that done, I take a running dive into the churning waves. The water’s uncomfortably warm, like a sticky, humid summer day. My suit provides some protection from the slimy sensation, but I still shudder at how gross it feels.
I swim out slowly, keeping all my senses open and on alert. I don’t detect any envy, no little green trails to follow. That’s fucking ominous. Where are they all? Leviathan can’t have sentallHis Forces against Az; He’d be an idiot to leave His Domain unattended. Damned souls running around all willy-nilly, no one keeping order, not to mention He’d leave Himself exposed. No, something’s up. Something fishy.
God, that’s a terrible pun.
Even more suspicious than the lack of demons is the fact that I sense absolutely zero damned souls. This is Hell, and envy is one of the big seven no-nos that gets you banished down here for an eternity of torture. So … where the dead folks at?
The farther I swim, the more my nerves eat at me. There’s no sign of life or afterlife, just leagues and leagues of nothingness. I swim for minutes, hours, days, weeks, years … Hell’s twisted physics, combined with my growing paranoia, make it impossible to tell for sure just how long I’ve been down here. I may have been gone long enough for Az to get back to His Throne and notice me missing. If that’s the case, I’m in deep shit regardless of whether or not this is the trap I think it is.
Just when I’m about to turn tail and plane shift back home, I come across a huge, submerged structure. It’s not pretty, but from the tall coral turrets, spiked gates, and general warped-castle shape, I’m guessing this is Leviathan’s Seat of Power.
Time to make a decision. Either I stay and swim straight into Leviathan’s clutches, or I plane shift back to Az’s Throne and pretend I never left.
Well, Lena always did say my stubborn streak would get me killed one of these days.
As I drift closer to the twisted palace, the dark iron gates swing open. I don’t see anyone pushing them, but I do sense a twinge of magic energy around them. Either Leviathan or one of His goons must have opened them for me. I guess the element of surprise is out. He knows I’m here.
Okay, Cal. Gotta woman up and get shit done. This is my only chance to kill Leviathan and protect Asmodeus, so I can’t let the fact that it’s an obvious ambush stop me. I’ll just have to figure out a way to use it to my advantage.
The gates slam shut the moment I swim through, and infernal chains appear, wrapping around the metal bars and locking them. Above me, the water shimmers with demonic energy as a powerful shield surrounds the palace, forming an impenetrable dome that cuts off any exit I might attempt by swimming towards the surface.
No going back now.
I pause for a moment to consider the best point of entry. The massive front doors gape open, but there are also hundreds of openings in the coral all around the building, like pane-less windows. If Leviathan is expecting me to come from the front, it might be to my advantage to swim up and enter through one of the higher windows. Then again, He could have envy demons waiting in every crevice, makinganyapproach unwise.
Reaching out with my magical senses, I hit the motherload of jealousy. From the sheer volume, it’s clear now that Leviathan pulled most of His Forces inside the castle to await my arrival.
Shit.
My heart pounds beneath my conjured armor. I swam right into the proverbial lion’s den, and the whole damn pride is here, waiting to tear me to shreds.
Actually, getting torn to shreds is probably preferable to what Leviathan plans for me. I can’t let myself forget that He wants me in one piece, more or less, so He can try to breed me and repopulate Hell with new envy demons. The thought of Leviathan getting His slimy hands on me makes me gag, and I swallow back acrid bile as I picture myself swollen with His unholy Spawn.
Bracing myself for instant attack the second I pass through the doors, I swim for the main entrance. There’s no point in subtlety at this juncture.
The strength of the envy energy grows the closer I get, and when I enter the palace, thousands of beady yellow eyes follow my every move. The water has an eerie green glow about it here, illuminating the hundreds upon hundreds of demons lying in wait.
The weird thing about it, though, is that they’re not attacking. They’re not even moving. Just crouching along the walls, grinning and watching.
As I swim into the spacious front entryway, the water currents change, pulling me back a little bit, and when I turn to see why, I realize the doors just shut behind me, creating a strong back current in the still waters. Dozens of envy demons glide in to fill the space between me and the doors, blocking my exit. Looks like from here on out, it’s either continue forward towards Leviathan’s Seat of Power, or stay put like a sitting duck.
Since I’m stubborn, forward I go.
There’s not quite a red carpet laid out for me—more like a trail of mossy slime in the middle of the floor—but I get the feeling if I follow that, I’ll find Leviathan.
The castle’s halls are mazelike, with twists and turns and side hallways and random archways that lead nowhere. The slimy path doesn’t divert, though, and it has no offshoots to confuse me. When Leviathan laid this trap, He wanted to be sure I got where I was headed.
