What Lurks in the Basement

Alric stared at the executioner blade with disdain. Even though by now he was healed pretty much healed up, looking at this weapon caused his side to twinge.

Nevertheless, after a long exhale, he activated the Enochian script around the hilt. As expected, a blade of light emerged, shining brighter than the dangling bulb from his ceiling.

"Really a pity it belongs to that rat," he muttered to himself and deactivated the blade again. As he was about to tuck it into his padded vest, he noticed something was off. Looking closer, Alric realized that no name had been inscribed on the hilt. Which meant that fool had never imprinted himself on this powerful weapon.

"No wonder he only used the initial form." Alric activated the weapon again. Even though every angel could handle any Enochian weapon, only their actual owners could use it to its full potential. As for executioner blades, every owner could shape the hilt into any weapon they were most adept in. His brother, for example, wielded a knightly sword straight out of a fairy tale.

Concentrating on the Enochian script, Alric tried to inscribe his own name onto it. Memories from his first few days at the academy flooded his mind. After what felt like ages, he finally remembered the class that talked about imprinting oneself onto a weapon. He chanted a few words until his name flashed up in Enochian, engraving itself onto the hilt. Satisfied, he deactivated the weapon and reactivated it, hoping for it to take whatever shape was in his heart.

But nothing happened. Alric still was staring at the same basic shape it had before he inscribed his name on it. Disappointed, he tried over and over again, but all he accomplished was feeling drained from having to tap into magic.

"Damn you!" He threw the hilt against the wall. The plaster crumbled from the wall, laying bare the ugly brickwork.

"Is everything okay?" Aodhan came rushing over from his room next door.

"Yeah, yeah." Alric sighed before picking up the weapon. "I guess I was hoping for a miracle."

"Don't beat yourself up over it," the fae said in an effort to comfort him. "I've heard you need years and years of training to be able to use it properly."

"I guess you're right," he said with a defeated look. "Well, at least it's better than nothing."

"That's the spirit!" Aodhan beamed at him.

There was a knock at their main door.

"Oh, I bet that's our working uniforms!" Excited, he rushed to open the door. Alric sighed and put the blade back in his pocket. Looking around, it seemed very daunting to live the rest of his life in this shithole. "I guess I should start fixing this place up instead of trashing it," he said as he examined the new hole in the wall.

"Just as expected, here they are!" Aodhan returned with two sets of clothes, one for him and another for Alric. Alric had been actually looking forward to getting new clothes. The ones he was currently wearing were merely borrowed, and the fae was both smaller and thinner than he was. He unfolded the top, expecting a nice shirt, only to realize it was merely a simple long-sleeve sweatshirt in white with the Pride mark printed on it. Alric furrowed his brows upon seeing the logo.

"Just do as the Romans do," Aodhan commented with a slightly worried look on his face.

"Doesn't mean I need to be happy about it, or?" He immediately stripped off the tight t-shirt and vest, revealing his muscular build. Aodhan could not help but stare. "What?"

"Oh, uh, sorry," he bashfully said, averting his gaze. "I was just wondering how somebody with that physique wasn't able to properly self-defend."

"I don't know it myself, to be honest." Alric paused to stare at the logo one more time before putting on the sweatshirt. "It's a pretty hazy memory but involves a lot of black feathers."

Aodhan grimaced. "Ouch. Even here, people tend to steer clear of Tengu. They almost always only mean trouble."

"Huh, that's it?" Alric had finished putting on the uniform and noticed there was only a key card left. "No obscuring device?" He tucked his executioner blade in one pocket and stuffed the key card in the other.

"We're here in The Underworld, Alric. There's no need to hide your race."

"But my wings?"

"You'll be surprised to hear this, but you're actually a dime in a dozen down here. Most Wingless settle around these parts. Though you're probably the first angelic pack member in history."

"That's an honor I would have loved to live without."

Aodhan shrugged. "Well, let me get changed too, and we can directly head to our workplace. Our Beta is going to take us personally there."

Moments like these made Alric glad to know he was not alone. Even if their meeting had always been brief, presenting himself in this sorry state was more than embarrassing for the angel.

A few minutes later, Aodhan returned, wearing the same uniform as him, albeit most of it hung loosely to his body. He folded his wings together. "While I did say that we don't need to hide your race, it's best for me to keep my wings as hidden as possible." He sighed. "Not even here, Fae are properly recognized."

"I'm sorry to hear that."

"Appreciated."

Again, a knock at the door. This time more fierce."Are you guys finally ready, or do you still need to complete your beauty routine?" Zan's muffled voice sounded very impatient.

"We're coming!" Aodhan responded loudly before turning to face Alric. "Come, let's go."

"So, where are we headed?" To Alric, it felt as if they had been walking for hours through a maze of various buildings connected by dark tunnels and dimly-lit alleyways.

"To our office building." Zan did not bother to look back. "So memorize your path as best as possible. We don't like it when people come late for their shifts."

"Shifts?!"

Zan stopped to turn around. With a condescending voice, he added, "what did you expect, son of Gabriel?! That we make you our poster boy, and you get to return to your party life?!"

"Well, no, but-"

"Remember, since no bodies were found, your 'assistant' is desperately looking for you. So it's best to put you somewhere where the sun doesn't shine."

"Not like the sun shines here anyway." Alric looked up. Indeed, The Underworld was eternally shrouded in darkness. Only the neon lights illuminated the underground megalopolis.

Aodhan chuckled quietly.

"Whatever." Clearly not amused, Zan returned to leading the way.

Eventually, they arrived at the entrance to a tall skyscraper connected to several smaller buildings in a hive-like shape. Alric looked up, but the top was shrouded in darkness. "How depressing."

"I see you are very keen on working here," Zan dryly commented.

Alric shrugged. "Let's get this over with."

"Alright." The Beta led the two inside, showing them how to identify themselves using their key cards and registering fingerprints and retinas for access. He then led them to the elevator.

"We'll be heading down to the lowest floor."

"How can this place get any deeper?!"

Zan sighed and shook his head. "Get on," he said, entering the elevator first. Once the two were inside, he added, "from here on, you will have to use your fingerprint and retina scans to get through. Here." He flipped a cover and pointed to a fingerprint scan before using it himself. The elevator began its descent, its steel wires creaking and squeaking on their entire way down.

Several moments passed before it came to a halt. Stuffy air swept into the cabin before being greeted by a long corridor with broken lights.

"Whew, someone needs to call maintenance on these things," Alric commented as he passed the blinking bulbs.

"This place gets regularly destroyed, so it's not worth the investment."

"Wait, what?"

Zan smiled devilishly and opened the door on the other end of the corridor. It was a large cavern hewn into the rock. Both candle and electric lights provided enough illumination for the group to see people fighting off smaller hellspawn creatures. In the middle of the cave, a magic portal was pulsating in deep red.

"What... is this place?"

"This, my friend, is a seal. Every succubus is in charge of keeping theirs intact. However," Zan casually tore a small imp in half with his bare hands. "As you can see, it works as some sort of portal through which lesser hellspawn creatures come through." And just as casually, he tossed the body parts aside. "So your job will be to prevent them from escaping into our world."

"Surely you can't be serious?! I don't have much combat training!" Alric exchanged glances with an equally terrified Aodhan.

"Well, Fiera only told me to give you an undercover job but not keep you from harm's way, so here we are." They could see that Zan was enjoying their terrified expressions. "So, all you got to do is stay alive, and you'll get paid at the end of every shift by that guy there." Grinning, he pointed at a bulky Feline watching the scenery. He resembled more an oversized tiger than a humanoid being. The Feline noticed he was being watched and turned his head to the group. Zan merrily waved at him, to which he merely nodded in greeting.

"Well then, you two, good luck on your endeavor! And may you live to see the next day!" He chuckled before waving the two goodbye and leaving them behind.