The Dive: Birth of a Wordsmith (29 page)

The succubus guiding us
looked back and grinned. “Correction, it’s
the
demon city. One could say it’s not even part of the world you
know. In other words, honored guests, welcome to Hell.”

I stopped in my tracks for
a moment, stunned by her sudden revelation. It took several seconds
before I was able to gain enough composure to make a joke. “Huh..
I always figured hell would be hotter.”

“
Of course not.
That’s just a show we put on for the tourists.” Her grin
widened as she returned my joke, before laughing. “Now, I
assume you both want to know why a beautiful woman like myself has
suddenly dragged you both into the pit of damnation.”

“
Of course.
Normally, people have to get married for that to happen.” I
chuckled, and Denise smacked the back of my head, though she was
smiling as well. I guess that jokes really do lighten the mood.

The succubus let out
another laugh, and shook her head. “Very true. Well, I’ll
be honest with you. There has always been a balance maintained in
this world. Light and Dark are meant to be equals, and thus a treaty
was formed eons ago that neither would attack the other directly.”

“
And let me guess,
some demons have been getting smited lately. Smited? Smitten?
Whatever.”

“
Well, not
precisely, though it is close. Across the land are entrances to Hell
like the one we came through. They are hidden among the landscape,
and the only way to enter them is with the permission of someone from
the demon race. However, lately any demons that have been leaving
through these entrances have been slain within moments by angels. As
you can imagine, that is quite the breach of treaty.”

I nodded, thinking it
over. “May I ask, were there sometimes other people
accompanying the angels? It might have seemed like they were
controlling them.”

She narrowed her eyes at
me, though really it was hard to see such a beautiful woman as
threatening. “Yes, many times such were spotted. I would like
to hear what you know of the subject.”

“
Directly? Not much,
but I would assume that this has all started within the last three
weeks or so?” When she slowly nodded her head I continued. “I
think that the people accompanying the angels formed contracts with
them in order to summon them to combat.”

“
To do so, one would
need direct contact with the angel in question, yes?”

“
As far as I know.
I’ve never managed to bind anything without meeting it.”
I nodded to her question.

“
So, they would have
had to gain entrance to the city of angels, and the angels would have
formed this contract… I see… if they are acting under
the control of a third party, it would explain how they avoided the
treaty. Though they do the damage themselves, the treaty ignores it
because they are not truly in control of their actions.”

“
That seems to be
the case.” I nodded again, and the succubus woman continued
along her train of thought.

“
But, to form such a
contract, they would have knowingly used it to attack demons. This is
proven by how many of our gates have been attacked in so short a
time. So, they are supplying both information and troops without
breaking the agreement’s law.” She let out a sigh, and
crossed her arms beneath her chest. Slowly, she walked across the
great room, sitting on a red throne at the far end. “This.. is
quite troublesome.”

“
Oh.. don’t
tell me… you are the queen of demons, aren’t you?”

“
Of course. This is
a time of war, so matters of importance must be handled directly.”
She smiled to me like it should have been obvious. “My name is
difficult for your human speech, so you may address me as you like.”

“
Hmm… well,
may I call you Lilith? It was the name of the first true demon from
my world’s legend.”

“
Your world?”
She perks up suddenly, as if hearing something interesting. “And
yes… that name sounds quite good. So, would you elaborate?”

“
Well, it seems
relevant to the certain situation, so okay. Myself, and I believe
those who formed the contracts with the angels, are travelers from
another world, who come here to explore a life in this land.”

“
I see, and your
companion? Is she one as well?”

“
No, Denise is from
this world. Or, well, the human’s world.” I smiled to
Denise sheepishly at the mistake.
Remember,
this is hell, not earth.

“
Right… and
would you tell me of your world’s Lilith? I admit to being
curious.” She crossed her legs and leaned forward, looking at
me with an expression of utter curiosity.

“
Okay… but I
beg you don’t get offended if some of the details seem
strange.” She nodded, so I continued. “One of the main
legends about Lilith in my world is that during the time of creation,
God formed two beings from clay. The first humans, Adam and his
partner Lilith. However, Adam wished for his wife to submit to his
rule, while Lilith believed they should be treated as equals since
they were made in the same way. As such, she was cast from the garden
and a new wife was made for Adam from one of his ribs.

“
After being cast
out, Lilith became an evil creature, thought in equal parts to be an
incarnation of lust, and a child-killing witch. Eventually, she came
to meet Asmodeus, the King of Demons, becoming his queen. Most people
in my world associate the term demon with evil and calamity.”

The succubus, well I guess
it’s fine to call her Lilith now, nodded. “Yes, that is
true for this world as well. Still, aside from the child-killing bit,
it’s quite an interesting story. Sure, there are demons that
would kill a child, but there are also mothers who would drown their
own infants. Simply because we are of the darkness does not mean we
are evil. We are simply free to live as we wish.” She taps her
chin in thought as though thinking it over. “If I had to put it
another way, we have the freedom to choose, making us too chaotic for
the angels that abide strictly by their laws.”

“
I see… so
rather than a battle of good and evil, it’s a fight between
order and chaos.” I let out a sight as I nodded.

Lilith snapped her fingers
and pointed to me with a smile. “Exactly! I knew you’d
get it. I admit, though, I’m impressed that those angels could
come up with such a roundabout way to attack us. They usually charge
in, halos blazing.”

“
Well, I think the
bigger question is what you want to do about all of this? As you
said, they aren’t technically violating the treaty, so you
can’t attack them yourselves out of vengeance.”

“
Nor can we enter
their lands. We can either meet on the surface world, or act through
emissaries such as yourself. And taking a strategy from those stuck
up angels.. I’d rather not.”

“
I understand. So,
you don’t wish to form a summoning contract with me, what would
you like to do? I agree that the methods they’re using are
underhanded. To be honest, so far you seem pretty nice. Definitely
not what I expected when I identified your race.”

She let out another smile,
with just a hint of wickedness. “Oh, and just what did you
expect?”

“
Well, from what
I’ve heard, succubi are sex demons, who live for their carnal
desires and steal the souls of their lovers.” I shrugged
casually, and she scoffed, her eyebrows knitting together.

“
Men! It was
supposed to be
sexy
demons, not
sex
demons. Figures, one look at an attractive woman, and everyone
assumes we’re going to spread our legs at the first
opportunity. And to top it all off, they make us sound evil by taking
souls from our partners! Well, I might have stolen a soul or two in
my time, but never after a good lay.” She huffs in frustration,
and then glares at me when I start laughing uncontrollably.

“
Sorry! Sorry.. it’s
just… well.. I didn’t expect you to act so.. normal.”
I shook my head with a grin, and Denise just looked at me like I had
a deathwish.

Lilith smiled to me at my
comment, “You, human, seem quite amusing.” Her glance
swept across to Denise. “Can I keep him? I promise I’d
take really good care of him.” She winked playfully, and Denise
blushed.

“
No! And.. w-why are
you asking me?” She stuttered out, eyes glancing side to side.

“
Oh, relax. It was a
joke! I’d only hang onto him for a few days, a month at most~.”
She laughed, and then did her best to regain composure. “So,
there are a few ways that we can solve our problem. The first is to
change the location of all of Hell’s gates, the second is to
negate all summoning contracts with angels. And the third is to
change the treaty to include what they are doing as hostile actions.
The problem is, these are all equally impossible!”

“
Well… maybe…
I might be able to help, actually. I’ve no idea if it would
work mind you.” I thought out, and there was a new look in
Lilith’s eye, a predatory gaze that seemed to want to look
right through me.

“
Do speak, if you
believe you can achieve the impossible.”

“
I know a unique
form of magic, and if I apply it right… I could maybe alter a
magical contract? I’d have to see the contract myself for it to
work though.” I glanced towards Denise, worried about what
could happen next.

“
Would you be
willing to teach this magic to the demons?” She slowly broke
out a grin that covered her entire face.

I smirked to her,
“Absolutely not. The only thing that keeps you guys in check
are your contracts. I can’t just give you the power to rewrite
them whenever you feel like it.”

Her grin froze, and I felt
like she was about to crush me. Then, suddenly she began laughing
again, and it took her quite a while to stop. “Too true! Very
well, I won’t press you for it. It would be a convenient thing
to have, but you are right. Many of my kind require the rules imposed
by their contracts to maintain the balance.”

“
Like I said,
though, I’d need to see the contract myself in order to change
it.”

“
Ah, well…
that is both an easy task and a difficult one all at the same time.”
She sighed, straightening her legs as she shrugged.

“
How so?”

“
You see… the
contract was forged in two copies. One copy rests with the king of
angels, while the other rests with the queen of demons. But this is
no mere piece of parchment. The treaty between us is a magic as old
as the world, with the contract forged into our being. As long as I
am queen, and he king, all of our subjects are bound by its law.”

“
Okay.. so.. to put
it another way… you yourself are the contract? Well…
that makes it harder. Not impossible, but it’d take some time.
I’m curious, what would have happened if we kept going without
a demon to guide us here?”

“
Oh, you would have
fallen into a den of chimera, followed by a field of blood vines.”
She shrugs as if it is of no consequence, and I shudder. “Likewise,
if you had taken the wrong path at the entrance, the way out would
have collapsed and you would have been roasted in hellfire.”

“
I.. am really glad
you stopped me.” Denise looks to me with a pale face, and I nod
in response.

“
Okay.. so, in order
to modify the contract, I need a spell that allows me to view it.
Unfortunately, I don’t know any spells like that.”

“
Nor I, human. The
contract was designed to be irreversible, hence fusing it with both
parties in such a way that neither can read it.”

“
Oh, and you’re
going to keep us here until we solve this, aren’t you?” I
asked, smirking up to Lilith who let out another laugh.

“
Well, I would
certainly like to have you as guests here, but to force you to stay…
I do not believe it would be in either good taste nor would it aid
you in solving the issue. Though, I do grant both of you access to
the gates of Hell, to use as you wish and visit any time.”

Glancing over to Denise
again, I nodded. “Is it possible to use a communication spell
to talk to the outside world?”

“
Afraid not, though
if you step outside the gate, it will become so, and you may re-enter
when your message has been sent.”

“
Then… I
believe it would be best for us to stay for now.” As I said
this, Lilith’s face lit up. “Our original purpose in
coming here was to train the two of us. I assume that you have
someone that could help Denise master her sword while I work on the
contract?”