Chapter Fourteen

An ice-cold breath escaped from Zia's lips as she and Elizabeth carefully sneaked toward the stairwell. The complex had been completely turned on its head. "This... this isn't right," she thought to herself as she tenderly coddled her aching face. In her rush to find Kashif a few segments of her mask had been left too thin, resulting in her current discomfort.

"Do you want to turn back, Ms. Lombardi?"

"No, Elizabeth, I'm fine. Trust me, it's actually better for us when I'm like this." In a way, this sensitive state almost gave her a third eye. Her view wasn't so detailed that it could discern the chaos that was happening in the lower floors, but she was at least able to figure out how many unwanted visitors she had on her doorstep. "This tempo and gait... Demons? Why would they be here?" Such a brazen move was unlike Satan. "Do they have insurance? No... this sort of operation wouldn't be possible unless Satan and her advisors were sure that it would succeed. There must be a reason that those cautious monsters decided to take this risk." And she knew exactly what that reason was. "You're in here somewhere, Aeron, I just know it."

As her employer trudged toward the main stairwell, Elizabeth bit her lip and grabbed Zia's shoulder. "Ms. Lombardi," she started, "you know that I should go first." It was her job as a bodyguard to ensure her safety.

"You know that I'm not the sort of woman to cower behind others, right?"

"I'm aware, but you know as well as I that your personal deposition doesn't matter in this situation. Let me do what you hired me to do."

Zia sighed and relented, "Fine, you win, just don't do anything foolish. Just because you're a bodyguard doesn't mean you're replaceable."

Elizabeth smiled, "I know. That's why you're doing all this to find Kashif, right?"

"You know it," she responded in her usual peppy tone before quickly quieting down. "Be careful," she started as she raised her index finger to her lips, "We aren't alone." A quick survey of their surroundings was all she needed to tell that something was amiss. It was a culmination of her observation skills and instincts, but they all led to the same conclusion: they were sharing these halls with a Demon. "Look out for the—"

"It's hiding over there, right? Behind that railing?" Elizabeth cut her off as she drew her weapon.

"Uh, yeah, but how did you know that?" It wasn't like Elizabeth had an ability like her heightened sensitivity.

"I can tell you're confused," she said with an oddly-gleeful grin. Before Zia even had the chance to ask her to elaborate, Elizabeth hoisted a small gadget from one of her many pockets. At a glance, it appeared to be nothing more than a slightly-modified transmitter; however, knowing Elizabeth's tenacity for engineering, Zia knew that the device was anything but normal. "It would be easier for me to show you than to explain," the girl continued before tossing her the bizarre contraption.

Without a moment's hesitation, Zia inserted Elizabeth's latest work into her right ear. "Ouch! The edges are a bit sharper than usual. Make sure you fix that in the future, okay?"

"I'm kind of shocked that you didn't even seem slightly cautious about using a machine that you've never seen before."

"I trust your inventions more than anything, Elizabeth." If she wasn't her bodyguard, Zia was certain that Jeremy and the Bureau's labs would've snatched her up the second she arrived at the Pearly Gates.

Elizabeth laughed, "Well, thanks, your praise means a lot."

"Don't mention it." As they shared this little moment, Elizabeth reached up to Zia's ear and flipped a small switch on the gadget's side. 

"Oho?" Zia thought as the machine whirred to life; a few moments with it was all she needed to confirm the reason for Elizabeth's earlier confidence. On constant intervals, the machine produced several batches of low hums. As she turned her attention around the hallway, the frequencies of the hums would change, shifting from a practically non-existent murmur to a sharp, guttural roar. "You made a radar to detect Demons?"

"Strictly speaking, it's a detector that analyzes the surrounding atmosphere for high concentrations of hellfire. That tone that you're hearing indicates the presence of a particularly dense cloud. Which, obviously, could only be produced by one specific species."

"Demons. I knew that Elizabeth was brilliant before, but this is something else." This gadget was crude and uneven, sure, but, considering the materials it was constructed from, it was obvious that this was something that Elizabeth had whipped up within the past few hours. "I wish you put this much effort into doing your rounds."

"You and I both know that Kashif is more than willing to pick up my slack on that particular avenue. Hell, I'd bet he'd carry my entire shift if I offer him one of these babies."

Zia chortled, "Well, make sure you sand the edges a bit first before you giftwrap it."

"Of course."

"Now that that's out of the way..." Zia stepped forward, "Here, you can have this back," she continued as she passed Elizabeth the detector. "I don't need it."

"Hmph," she smirked as she placed the device back in her ear, "Everyone's a critic. You didn't even try out the other modes."

"I'll be more than willing to be your guinea pig after we bury that bastard."

"Do you think he knows that we're coming?"

"Do I think?" Zia forced down a nervous laugh as they carefully snuck behind the invisible Demon, "That idea's ridiculous. I know he can't see us right now." In an instant, Zia leaped up and buried the hilt of her firearm deep within what Elizabeth assumed was the Demon's neck; in a handful of seconds the lumbering mass was on the floor alongside a pool of its own drool and blood.

"This one wasn't very perceptive."

"Most Devils are like that," Zia spat out with a scowl, "They're used to mindlessly trampling over the living, so most of the army still lacks a firm grasp of basic tactics or caution. That's most likely the reason why this entire compound isn't up in flames."

"It is true. You can't win a war with strength alone."

"Exactly. That's a weakness that we need to exploit if we want to bring Satan and this whole charade down."

Elizabeth sighed, "If only the Bureau understood that."

"Well... Beurt is trying, I'll give him that, but he needs to be faster." They could only exploit the Demons' lack of experience for so long. "Grit your teeth, I've got a feeling that this grunt isn't the last of them."

Elizabeth nodded, "Understood!" Following that, the dubious duo fetched some chains from a nearby storage closet and—once they were certain that the Demon was nice and bound—headed for the lower levels.

"It's quiet," Zia thought with a frown. "I don't understand how we just now noticed the assault; those bastards aren't exactly subtle." Such a situation implied one of two possible scenarios: one, Satan only sent in a handful of elite troops—which was incredibly unlikely considering the makeup of her current army—or she sent in a team led by a trusted ally. Amongst those allies, there was only one soul that she was aware of that had the strength, knowledge, and experience necessary to command a legion on Jupiter.

"Aeron's here, isn't he?"

"You think so, too?" 

"There aren't any other possible candidates. Satan simply doesn't have personnel who have experience with the worlds outside of Hell besides him."

"I guess that means we should be on our guard."

"Indeed." Elizabeth furrowed her brow as she readied her weapon and carefully tiptoed down the ruined stairwell. A fetid scent of mold and sulfur clung to the walls like slime, the stench of which dripped into their nostrils with every reserved step.

"Careful now," Zia said as she waved for Elizabeth to find a place to hide. It didn't even take a minute before they heard a symphony of footsteps coming up from the floors below; it was a platoon, or at least most of one, that sounded a bit too light to be a menagerie of Giants. "Devils again..." Instantly, her hand shot to her gavel's holster, all too eager to bite back at the denizens of the universe's trash fire. 

"Ma'am," Elizabeth started as she grabbed her shoulder, "We need to keep moving. Even if we use your gavel, there's no guarantee that we won't catch the Buried Council in the crossfire."

Zia sighed, "You're right. Thanks for stopping me." They didn't need to add a diplomatic incident on top of this already-horrendous situation. "For now let's stick to the sidelines and follow them; I want to find out why they're here."

"They look like they're heading for the archives," Elizabeth mumbled as the hellspawn shambled past.

"Are they injured?" A few of the Devils weren't keeping pace with the head of the group. "I highly doubt that a bunch of bureaucrats managed to leave such lasting damage on Satan's professional soldiers. What could have happened?"

"Goddamn guard! I'm going to be feeling this when I get back!" one of the injured soldiers groaned.

"Stop your whining, Melin, it's embarrassing."

"Oh don't give me that crap. You all saw how that mortal moved, right? It wasn't natural."

"Well, not to be pedantic, but that guard couldn't be a mortal in the traditional sense. He wouldn't be on Jupiter if he was."

"Yes, I know that the bastard is from Heaven, Ue, you don't have to treat me like a moron."

"That's a first," another one of the soldiers chimed in. 

"Who said that?! Speak now and I'll let you off with a light warning!" the first Devil growled while sharpening his claws. "Ugh. That fight went and ruined my mood."

One of his friends laughed, "You better be prepared for it to get worse, then, because one of us is going to have to report this to the boss."

"Anyone care to volunteer?"

"That's a hilarious joke, Jern. I mean that. Absolutely stellar."

"I don't see why that's such a big problem; he didn't seem that awful when he chatted with us over lunch."

"One lunch isn't a good indicator of the bedrock of a person's character," Melin said as he rolled his eyes.

"Plus, you'd be blessed if telling the boss was the biggest of your worries," the first Demon said as they overheard a muffled screech coming from below.

"Yeesh. It sounds like the biggest problem of all is hard at work."

Ue sighed, "You know what she'd do to you if she heard that, right?"

"What? Am I not allowed to express my fear anymore?"

"I'm just saying you should be careful; Pereph is infamous for her tenacity at holding grudges."

"She wouldn't hold a grudge over one small altercation with a random mortal."

"And if that mortal really was a diplomat? What then? You think you can explain the platoon out of a court-martial by yourself?"

"Man with the way you guys are stringing me up about this I almost wish that she'd come and kill me right now!"

"What idiots," Zia thought from the shadows. She whispered, "I don't even think we'll need much in the way of strategy to take these blabbermouths out."

"Agreed. Though I am a bit concerned regarding that diplomat they mentioned."

"You don't think—"

Elizabeth cut her off, "That it's Kashif? Knowing our luck, probably." 

"Great. Of course this had to happen now of all times." As the pair of them contemplated this new information, another chorus of screams seeped through the floorboards. "My gut is telling me that that must be from that Pereph woman they mentioned, she sure sounds fierce." 

"We're following them, right?"

"We don't exactly have any other option," Zia sighed as she pinched the bridge of her nose. All this added stress had given her a massive headache. "Let's just get this over with." 

The more they watched the Demons meander deeper into the complex, the more certain Zia and Elizabeth were of their destination. Elizabeth whispered, "They're definitely heading for the Buried Council's archives. What could they possibly want there?"

Zia shook her head before saying, "I have no idea." Their earlier meeting exemplified just how secretive the upper echelon of the Giants' society was. They might be allies now, but Zia doubted that they'd ever garner enough trust to be privy to most of their state's dirty secrets. "Either way, we can't exactly let them run roughshod through this place any longer. I should contact the Bureau, let them know what's going on." 

"I wouldn't do that, miss," Elizabeth said as she stopped Zia from reaching for her transmitter. Instead of explaining her actions, all she did was point toward the platoon of Demons and said, "Look." Quickly, Zia noticed what had her aide so worried.

"That's a bizarre weapon. Is that how they've been stopping the Giants from calling for reinforcements?" Dangling off the belts of each of the Devils was a small, blinking bauble—no larger than a fist—that gave off strange pinging noises at seemingly random intervals. At first, Zia assumed that they were nothing more than the Devils' poor attempt at a modern explosive; however, upon further inspection, their behavior suggested something of a far more sinister nature. "Any guesses, Elizabeth?"

"Not at the moment, no, I'd need a closer look."

"Take what you can get now, we'll report this to the Bureau and the Buried Council later."

"Understood."

"Great. Now let's get this over with," Zia continued as she readied her gavel. "We'll split them up at the next junction."

Elizabeth nodded, "After this we'll make them spit out where they threw Kashif."

"Yup. Time to earn your pa—"

"Look alive! Just got a message from the neighboring platoon, the boss is on his way over."

"Already?! What are we going to tell him?!" The Devil from earlier complained.

The second Demon scoffed, "Better figure something out quick then, Jern, cause he's already here."

"What?" Zia thought as an all too familiar face flew up from the lower floors. "Crap. This just got more complicated."

Elizabeth bit her lip, "Aeron Weber."