Monarch of Darkness, Arsene

Settling within a Hell Pit filled with the souls of the damned, burning for all eternity. I parted my legs within the emerald lake as translucent as water. The abysmal screams of torment that went straight to the souls, gnawing at even my little humanity, resound like a vicious plague. But such screams were quelled by the coos of the twins on each end of my shoulder, nibbling on my ear.

I simply melted with contentment. As an unjudge and arbiter of this Hell. The Hell Pits did nothing to me nor my children. Bringing only the ultimate sense of enjoyment as I prepared to give them their first baptism.

Stripping her clothes off, Lilith grinned as she slipped in, taking Ves into her arms. She moaned, curling her fingers around his small beady frame. “For Heaven to exist in Hell is ridiculous. When was the last time we just chilled?”

Seeing her recover and happy after a mere few days of rest, I inched closer, twisting my foot around her waist as I pulled her closer. I planted her on my lap, enjoying her flesh alongside the pull of the Hell Pit.”I don’t think there was a time.” I pulled Iza closer as she gnawed on my ear like a big weirdo and leaned my head back. “Who do you think should go first?”

“Your serious?” She looked at me. ” Arsene, you realize that’s a weird tradition. Even if your mother did it to you and all her children.”

“She said her parents did it to her too. And so on. And so forth. All newborns are dunked into the seawater to celebrate their birth. Mother said it makes you strong.”

A/N: It’s a tradition in my family. You wait a week or two before you dunk them.

“… I don’t know about that.”

I smiled.” Same. But it’s a tradition I’d like to continue. What’s the harm?”

Lilith eyed me with a peculiar stare and pointed to the swirling vortex of ghoulish wails. ” This is a Hell Pit. You’re dunking our kids into a literal Pit of Torment. You don’t see anything wrong with that?”

I pointed at Ves, clapping his hands against the water in-between Lilith’s breasts… the lucky bastard. “Vesyrn seems to like it.”

“Yes, because kids know what is good and bad for them.” She sighed. ” Fine. But not too long. No wonder they said Iza went crazy.”

“Said the Mother of Crazy.”

“Excuse me.” She turned to me with a side eye that could cut.

“Nothin’, dear.” I hastily said, lifting Iza off of me as she failed her arms, giggling away: “BAA BAAAAA, BOOO!!!”

I kissed her fluffy cheeks, nibbled on it a little, and nodded. “Ready? 1, 2…” Dunking her head first for least then a breath. I lifted her up as she tilted her head and giggled as the souls within the emerald liquid glazed over her flesh wailed. Iza laughed.

“Excuse me, my Lord.” A Faceless said. But without looking back, I traded off with Ves. Before dunking him. Watching him show the same reaction as his big sis. I felt nothing but pride within the Hell Pit.

“What is it?” I finally said.

“Intel on Metatron is in. It seems he’s with a sly being known as Enoch.” Said the Faceless coldly.

“I see. And who is Enoch?”

“The Traitor of the Watchers. The Traitor of the Fallen, and the Angels.” He responded. “From what we can gather. Metatron may have sent him on a mission based on the fact he wasn’t outright killed. We suspect—”

“I don’t like assumptions,” I told him, arching my lips. I wiped the Hell Water from my son’s eyes. Pondering the implications of Enoch’s existence. He should be a peak existence like most first-generation Fallen. But—

Side glancing Gad resting outside the Pit. He opened one eye to me before closing them.

I could lay a trap. It has been a while since I acted strategically. I now have resources and followers. And despite being so weak. I have many Fallen on my side.

“What are you thinking?” Lilith interjected.

“A trap… One that isn’t meant to kill but rather delay.” I told her. “I want to see how important Enoch is to Metatron.”

“This could be a trap in itself.” She told me. ” Think about it. How hard is it for a Fallen to move in silence? A Watcher at that? They are literal angels meant to watch humanity, to record their existence. And yet he was sighted?”

‘Hmmm, Indeed he was.” I mused aloud, thinking for a bit. ” But do you think we were his target? I don’t think so. My thoughts are that he might be there to draw out another.”

“Like who?”

“It would be Mephisto, My Lord’s.” The Faceless answered. “The Intel is all here within this Eldrich Rune.” He handed me an obsidian shard, written in infernal, bringing a frown to my lips, but the moment it touched my flesh: Hundreds of images flashed behind my eyes. Revealing who Enoch was within the Nine Hells, his crime against his brethren, his betrayal of Mephisto, and his Sin. All of it flashed, engraving itself within my soul in but a second.

“That son of a bitch…” I spat, stepping out of the Hell Pit.

I didn’t care much for what Enoch did to Mephisto. That was between the two of them but that bastard… He was the cause of the Eternal conflict between the Demons and Devils and was the cause of the second war with the Angels.

Enoch was a high-ranking member of the Grigore but unlike his brethren that had fallen during the First War with Lucifer. Enoch never abandoned his post but rather played the fields. He was quite indecisive. He was not willing to join sides but more than willing to relay information to Heaven and Hell until he fell into the Sin of Greed.

His greatest Sin was drawing his sword directly against the Father. Stabbing him through the chest in hopes of stealing his power. As for why he did that. The Eldrich slab didn’t say. But they say he changed after a trip to the Abyss.

Nevertheless, in his fury, the Father, rather than kill Enoch. He banished him from Heaven and told Heaven and Hell of his crime so that he would be forever hunted like a dog. Unfortunately, the Hells merely offered a helping hand, believing that Enoch wasn’t evil but rather he was very much like Lucifer.

A mistake. A grave mistake… indeed. The Fallen had taken him. Had helped him recover from his wounds from being banished in a bolt of lightning and foolishly had him return to his post to gather information on Heaven.

Enoch grew greedier yet again. And began to falsify many documents. Leading to hundreds of angels being killed. Angels who had decided not to take sides but rather chose to side with Gabriel: One of the few Angels who didn’t join in the slaughter of his family.

It wasn’t until Gabriel barged into the Hells, into Lucifer’s court, that the truth was revealed, but by then… Lucifer had sent his templars out to slaughter a village that supposedly held a few squadrons of injured soldiers. Only to turn out it was the very place his pregnant wife resided.

At the time, Angels and Fallen were still in a cold war. so they rarely held a battle within the material plane unless they really needed to. But as a result of Enoch, Aurelia was nearly killed, suffering heavy damage within the womb. If it weren’t for Gabriel and Lucifer arriving in time, her life would have been permanently lost.

Blinded by rage, Lucifer believed that the Father had falsified his report on Enoch and that he was still on the side of Heaven. He began the second Great War Heavenly War that changed the Myriad Heavens into what it is today.

As for Enoch… half his soul was ripped out of his body by Lucifer and Mephisto and is currently being tormented. The other half escaped.𝙚𝙙𝙤𝒗𝒆𝒍．𝒄𝙤𝙢