Permission To Destroy

MICHAEL

And true to his words, it was that easy.

In seven days, the Prince of Hell helped me to achieve something that I thought would take me years if not impossible to do.

The ancient demon was right, many benefits surround being a king and having all that power under your control. The one I loved the most was my vengeance on those Avalorians. The very reason why I was motherless, hated, bullied, trafficked, and forced to please men.

Also among the reasons why I became king even if I never wanted to.

My dream was to make my mother happy. Anything but to make her happy. I dreamt of her and me fleeing to the mountains and away from those cruel humans. Most importantly, from my stepdad. He was her greatest oppressor.

In the mountains, she would be happy, wake up in peace, and sleep with a satisfied smile on her face. And I would always protect her from her nightmares.

''You can't. Stop lying to yourself.'' I turned around to find the Prince of Hell...magically beside me. Is it a demon thing that I lacked? Appearing out of thin air?

''The second thing I hate about humans is that they lie to themselves.''

Lie to themselves?

''What's the first?''

''They encourage it. They build up this dream fantasy that they can do, survive, achieve, and acquire everything. Every single thing can be in their possession and they can have it all. And when that fails them, they can be disappointed, angry, or even frustrated. And maybe... lose themselves in the process.''

Is that true? Do they do that?

''Then they come to us to conquer the whole world in exchange for something they can never have back; their soul. And when the consequences start to show up, they tag us as evil, vile, disgusting, and deceiving creatures. But they have forgotten that they are the main root of their problem.

We as demons are not innocent in matters like this...but, we are...opportunistic beings that come into your life to make you learn the hard way.

Michael, Humans blame us for every single bad thing that happens in their life. They have also forgotten that it is their life and they are in charge of it. We don't just barge into your life and destroy it.

But here comes the interesting part, we don't let you know that you are still in control or make you feel like you are still in control of your life, till we are done with you.

Can a stranger enter a person's house without the person's consent?''

I blinked at the weird question. Of course, a person can gain access to another person's house. That's why it is called breaking in.

He smiled as if he could read the answer that I had arrived at.

''Nothing happens without your consent. Some things do not need a no or a yes answer before they creep into your life and grow alongside you to either destroy or build on your life. A simple smile or cry could make a lot of things happen and so many things not happen to you. They are in control of themselves and can pretty much yell at us too...Get the fucking hell out of their life and shut the door, but we trap their hearts with fear and insecurity till we are done with them. Having a demon as a friend could be fun but when the consequences come knocking we have no share in it. It's all on you.

Humans are dreamers, ambitious, greedy, and emotional...something we demons lack or are not fortunate to have.

The commonest and clearest permission you can ever give a demon to come into your life and do as he pleases is...sin. Lust, greed, anger, gluttony, and...those other seven deadly sins. It is more like our friend request to you and once you embrace it...that's it.''

Deadly what?

''Especially Pride, it is the worst friend request you can ever receive from us. Every demon has its way of gaining permission from a human. Whichever friend request we use, we make it as inviting and irresistible as much as possible. We also make it feel right and something that you shouldn't do without until it destroys you completely.

Mine is jealousy.''

I raised an eyebrow at that. Jealousy?

''I don't understand why you are telling me all this. Have I...are you...am I also...why are you telling me this?''

He smiled, ''Relax, you are not my target. I just want you to know how these things work and you should be very careful in case you are tempted with a friend request. It is an invitation from a demon to destroy you.''

I licked my lips. ''So...Anytime I feel tempted to be jealous about...I don't know...it is your friend request to destroy my life?''

He laughed. ''Or to seek another round of vengeance on your enemies...or just to be another demon friend of yours in need.''

My heart...strangely warmed at his words. The only times I felt this way was whenever that annoying princess displayed her act of care towards me...but this..felt different. Like I have just earned myself a friend. Someone else I could turn to for help apart from My Mom.

''So...who does lust?''

''That would be Asmodeus. Though he is currently not in the mood for all those smutty goodies ...this brother of mine is on a little Sabbath. And we all agree that it is the most difficult friend request to resist.''

I gave him a knowing nod. How then is pride more deadly than lust?

''Okay. Who...erm...has greed?"

''Ah,'' He rolled his eyes as he shifted himself to get more comfortable on the wall he was leaning on, '' And that one goes to the youngest amongst us, brothers. He is very sassy and the one blessed with the razor kind of tongue. Mammon hates me...well, mostly all of them do.''

''Why?'' I had to ask because I am so curious to know more about them.

''Maybe because I am the one still with the right mind to differentiate between doing something smart and being stupid. I am not in support of their view of life and how things are supposed to be...their actions are always rebuked by me and that kinda makes me feel like a bully, sadist, and uptight bitch who just wants to tear at their neck and bone in every single thing they do.

So, they all see me as the bad one.''

Wow.

''They hate you for being responsible and just...wanting to look out for them and guide them on the right path?''

He shrugged.

''Especially that sneaky little brat that is the main reason why we fell as demons in the first place.'' He gritted. I have never seen Levi speak like that before. For him to clench his jaw with a hardened stare must mean that that person is terrible.

''Levi, why do you care so much about telling me all of this?''

His entire facial expression eased at what I asked.

''It is rare for a demon to care for other species. Maybe it is because you are half of what I am...Or just too special to fall into the wrong hands or council.''

Oh.