A devil’s tale: Dante

“Wake up, Dante. Lucifer requires your presence in the meeting.” 1

“Fuck off” Dante murmured.2

“It is urgent Dante. I thought years of punishment for disobedience would have made you learn something.” Hadrian, Lucifer’s assistant said in a reproving voice. 3

Dante rolled over, wanting to block off the old devil’s voice. Then he jumped up like a bolt and looked at his watch. Hadrian was indeed right. He should have learned something about being punctual, especially to meetings headed by his cranky grandfather. 4

Someone touched his thighs. Startled he looked at the girl sleeping beside him. She was a pretty red head. With a frown he looked at his surroundings. There were naked limbs and arms every where. He then remembered the orgy he had started last night. Carefully, he got up, from where he was sandwiched between a blonde and the red head. 5

For a while he contemplated killing everyone. He was seriously pissed that he had to wake up to do his grandfather’s bidding. But then, the humans had been good entertainment for him. It wouldn’t be right to kill them all especially when they were sleeping. God forbid, he did something that could result in anyone going to heaven. Killing them while they were sleeping would make all of them innocents in the eyes of god. Well, technically not all of them, he amended his eyes running over the crowd. Some of them were serious sinners. 6

Stretching out like a cat, he summoned his clothes on his lean body and ran a hand through his hair that was seriously messed up. He needed a shower after the sex marathon he had last night, he thought grumpily. Only his mighty highness devil the grouchy grandfather might decide to call a war on him if he were late again. He didn’t have any problems with fighting though. He could handle himself against the most of them. But seriously, starting a fight over something like taking a bath was just not worth it. It made his bad mood even worse as he flashed himself into the nether realms of the devil’s den.7

Everything in the Devil’s den was in shades of black and red. The place was gloomy and worthy of its name. Devils of different ranks sat around the cave like tavern of the Devil’s den, their shadows dancing on the walls. Dante even hated the rank smell of the place. When Dante appeared in the tavern, devils near him respectfully moved away a far distance, giving him space. Dante Azazel Leviathan Lucifer was one of the few devils that scared them. Dante was known to kill or torture anyone who stood in his way when he was walking and by the pissed off look on his face they knew he would kill anyone who crossed him that night.8

Dante made his way purposefully towards the throne room of Lucifer, changing from his human form to his devil form. In his human form he looked an irresistibly handsome male with black hair and green blue eyes. In his devil form he still looked like his human form but he also had black horns on his head and four symmetrical black claw-like marks on both of his cheeks and a tail that he despised. Unlike other devils Dante hated his devil form and chose to be in black robes if he ever had to be in his devil form. He definitely had to be in his devils form if he was going into his grandfather’s presence.9

He wondered what was so important for Lucifer to call up a council meeting at this time of the year. The last council meeting was held hundred years ago when the head devils thought they had found a way for a mass break out from the devil’s den. In the fight that ensued, Dante lost both his parents. Not that he missed them. Even when they were there they hadn’t cared at all about him, so their loss was not a personal loss for Dante. 10

But one thing did bother him greatly. Since the beginning of time when god had casted them out of heaven, the devils had constantly tried to escape the hell they were forced to be in but not even once had they been able to even come close to a break out. The best of them could individually go out into the human realm and corrupt as many humans as they could. But, there was a limit on how many devils can get out at any one time. If there were too many devils coming out at any one time, Gabriel and his cavalry would come down from the heavens and kill as many devils as they could. 11

They couldn’t kill everyone though because of the challenge Lucifer made with god the day he and his sons were ousted from heaven for his belief that they were greater than humans. It was god’s belief that humans when posed with right and wrong would ultimately chose right. And as per the challenge Lucifer made with god, the devils like Dante’s work was to misguide as many humans as they could and prove that humans were scum, the way they thought. If they were going to rot in hell so are the humans who caused them to be cast out of heaven in the first place. 12

What made Dante most bitter was that he was punished for a crime he didn’t commit. Where was the justice in that? He was a devil because he was the grandson of Lucifer and Azazel. He hadn’t been among the original angels who had mutinied against gods commandments yet, just because he was a spawn of the devil, he was also in the hell called Devil’s den. For centuries he was confined in the prison until he became strong enough to fight the angels and committed enough sins to please Lucifer to send him into the human realm. He hated the humans for that. At least they had a choice. He never had one. In the end he was destined to go to hell anyway.13

Dante went through the gates of the throne room decorated with real human and demon skulls. He saw an agitated looking Hadrian breath a sigh of relief as he noticed Dante. Dante got his grandfather’s attention as well. He knelt before Lucifer as was expected of him and said “Your humble servant at your service your majesty.”14

“Ah, Dante” Lucifer stood up and came down to him. “Stand up, I have been waiting for you, son.”15

Surprised Dante stood up slowly wondering what had caused Lucifer to acknowledge him as his son. He hadn’t called him son, when he was first voted into the devil’s council the day he sent his millionth human to hell. 16

************17

Far above in the heavens Ezekiel, the archangel of death asked Gabriel “So what happened? Did god give us leave to claim the life of Dante?”18

Gabriel looked away a vacant look in his eyes “Only god sees what we don’t see. He says it’s still not time yet to claim the devil Dante’s life.”19

Harachel, known also as the angel of knowledge nodded at that and said “You are right. But you did tell that I saw Dante in a dream that I interpreted as him being the main cause of the next revolution. If he is removed now, we would be doing the world a favor.”20

Gabriel nodded too. “Yes, but we do as god wills and it’s not yet his command to end the devil Dante’s life.”21