Santi: The Devil's Pioneer

Chapter 17 - A Chapter in Hell

Lucifer tramps the dead skeletons of trees and bushes. The glass breaks at his step. Lilith looked worried now more than ever. She had never seen him this distressed. He was the King of Hell. He was calm and destructive, not obsessed and impulsive.

“Lucifer, please calm down.” Lilith tries with her might to control the raging bull Lucifer was turning to by the minute.

“Calm down?!” His eyes turn to the color of fire. “You ask me to calm down?!” His hands sparked with embers. “My daughter is missing, Lilith, missing! And you ask me to calm down?” By now, his hands held balls of fire.

He throws a fireball to the pile of dead trees nearby causing it to burst into flames. The Immortuis surrounding the park run away from the scene, afraid to be a casualty hit.

Lucifer had never experienced such a furious fit as this one. He had been more intense before. He had been crueler before. But never this furious. His rage forms a ball inside him. A great big ball of bad energy.

“Who hath taken my daughter?!” He exclaims.

Surrounding him were several demons, terrified but enjoying the show. Lucifer continues to pace around the park, facing his magnificent kingdom. Lilith stands beside him, not knowing what to do.

It had been two days on Earth since Santi left Hell. It was merely hours of eternity in Hell. But Lucifer had only just noticed then.

Santi never returned from her field trip. Moreover, none of the other Immortuis could identify and determine the Immortui that went with her for the tour, saying none of them could even play any real game of cards.

Lucifer was anxious. He had been away from his daughter long before when he would leave for Earth. But he always left with the assurance that Santi was in Hell and safe. This time, he wasn’t so sure.

“Maybe she fell asleep somewhere during the tour. Or maybe the tour just hasn’t finished yet.” Lilith tries to reason.

“Oh, don’t be stupid Lilith. There was no tour. That was no Immortui that set foot among us in the chamber room. That was but a disguise.”

“Who could have taken her, Lucifer? The angels have no interest in her. They’ve banned her here in Hell. No Earthling could have crossed either.”

“No, this is a war between me and God.”

He raises his gaze to heaven, his eyes darkening, turning to black. The fire within him was gone, and he felt icy cold inside.

“Lucifer, don’t be stupid. You can’t take on the Creator. Besides, you shouldn’t jump to conclusions. Any other demon could have simply taken her hostage.”

“Santi is figging strong, Lilith. How can you not get that? She’s the Queen of Hell. She’s the She-Devil!” He brings his hands to his head, desperately trying to explain to everyone what has happened to her daughter while trying to keep sane and prevent himself from charging straight to Heaven.

“We’ll get to the bottom of this, Lucifer. But I need you to calm down, right now. We need to straighten this out before you go charging Heaven and Earth for sins they haven’t committed.”

“She couldn’t have gotten very far. It’s only been hours.” He utters to himself.

“Yes, only think positively. Darling, you know she’s strong. She can handle herself.” Lilith consoles him.

“But if she’s on Earth…” his thoughts make him quiver. “Days might have already passed. I might’ve already lost my daughter.”

Lilith’s eyes grow big, and just like a reflex, she slaps him straight across the face.

“Don’t you dare speak like that, Lucifer. Santi,” Lilith’s voice weakens at the thought of her step-daughter ceasing to exist.

“She can die on Earth, Lilith. However strong she is here on Hell; she is but a mortal on Earth.”

“What do you mean? She’s the She-Devil. She’s supposed to be immortal.”

“That’s what everybody thinks. But I know otherwise.” Lucifer mutters, beginning to calm down. He storms to his castle, making way to his private bedroom. With Lilith following close by, he shuts the door and windows closed.

“Darling, there aren’t that many dangerous creatures in Hell for you to fear about. You don’t have to shut the curtains.”

Lilith was confused. He was never one to hide secrets from her. Yes, she was nothing compared to his greatness, title, and power. But he respected her and has shown love and care since beginning the journey of building their kingdom together. He was the man opposite everyone feared him to be, and she knew he would never keep a secret from her. Not even women. She knew every Earthling he copulated with. They didn’t mean anything to him or her. To Lilith, those women were but semen disposals. A trash bin. A momentary fun to satisfy him.

No one could ever love and accept Lucifer the way Lilith did. Hence, she believed their bond was stronger than anything. And no secret could ruin something that strong.

“There’s something you should know about Santi. It’s time you know as it is essential to keep her safe if she is, indeed, on Earth. There’s no time to waste as she’s in danger, and you need to know this about her.” His voice quakes. He was genuinely terrified of what might happen to his daughter while on Earth.

“Lucifer, darling?” Lilith coaxes, “Say the damned thing already.” She snaps, and Lucifer flinches as if he was immersed in another world of thoughts.

“You know how she’s born half-human? Her human mother?” He starts, and Lilith nods at him to continue. “Well, she’s also just half-immortal.”

“What?”

“When she’s in celestial dimensions. Heaven and Hell, she is impenetrable. She can’t be hurt. But on Earth? Her body functions as a mortal. She’s vulnerable on Earth.”

“H-How do you know that?” Lilith stutters, struggling to absorb the concept of Santi’s unique existence.

“I took her up to Earth when she was younger. Barely a pre-teen. I had her meet her biological mother. The woman was sick with some type of cancer, and I just thought she’d maybe want to meet her at least once. She was very old by then, and Santi was too young to grasp the situation. She knew her as her human grandma. I took Santi to her at least twice a week on Earth for a month, I think. During that time, she scraped her knees. Once, she almost faced death after having cut the knife too close to important veins.”

“Veins? Scraped her knees? That’s impossible. How come I’ve never seen her injured. I pay close attention to your daughter, Lucifer, and I have never seen her once with any bruises or scrapes. Not once did I also feel her pulse or those bodily veins you’re talking about.” Lilith vocally doubts his story.

It was unbelievable. How could Santi’s frail little body be that vulnerable on Earth when not one scrape or hair out of place fell on her in Hell?

“You’re not listening to me, Lilith!” Lucifer’s voice raises again. He takes a second to inhale-exhale, calming himself down. “In Hell, her body is immortal. It doesn’t function as a normal human body. She has no pulse, no heartbeat. No blood. But on Earth,” his voice quivers. He approaches the enclosed windows, peaking to see nobody was near enough to hear even the faintest of whispers. “On Earth, she gets hurt. On Earth, she could die. On Earth, she’s alive, with a heartbeat, blood, and functioning veins. Every time I take her back up on Earth, she’s the loveliest girl. It’s like she’s a different person from who she is here in Hell. But she’s also the most vulnerable on Earth. And whenever I take her back to Hell, she turns icy cold like me.”

“Even so,” Lilith speaks but Lucifer cuts her off.

“Oh, how I love seeing that spark in her, Lilith. But I couldn’t risk it. It was better she grew up distant, cold, and cruel rather than lively and dead within days on Earth.” He says, with regret.

Lilith finally starts to see the whole picture. Santi always dreamed of escaping Hell even when she knew nothing of Earth, having ideas only from the bad situations broadcasted to review each tortured person.

It explained why speaks so vividly of getting hurt and being in pain even when she couldn’t experience any of those things in Hell.

It answered her questions on why the father-daughter tandem vanished for hours when she was younger. He had taken her to her mother.

It was sweet, but it was also stupid.

It developed an idea in Santi to long for a life on Earth. He had given her something to aspire and escape to.

“You stupid, stupid ass!” Lilith flicks the back of his head. Lucifer’s face scrunched up, irritated.

“Why?”

“Why did you have to involve your daughter at such a risky experiment, taking her to and from Hell. You’re the reason she had forever longed for a life on Earth even when she has seen all the impeccable evilness humans are capable of. She could have been genuinely content to live here, but you gave her another option at living. You just had to take her to her nutshell of a mother, did you? The woman was dying. There was nothing you could do.” Lilith rants, shaking her head constantly, displaying her disappointment in this huge secret Lucifer had kept from her.

She wasn’t Santi’s mother. She has never been a mother. But she had developed her maternal instincts after growing up with Santi as a child and taking part in raising her.

Lucifer shakes his head, craving for the approval of his partner, desperately trying to justify his previous actions which may or may not have led to this disaster of a missing daughter.