Adopted by the Abyss

Adopted by the Abyss

A dim light shone through the opaque blood-crusted window located at the apex of the Abyssal Spire. Within the large study sat Satan. His spiked tail lazily swished from side to side. At the moment, he wore ornate reading glasses forged from the finger bones of Genghis Khan. They were one of his most prized possessions. To his left were shelves that hosted a variety of books bound with human skin. Imps and low level demons would occasionally enter the room to dust these off, as the abyssal underlord read them often. Unbeknownst to most, Satan spent most of his time reading. After eons of running the Seven Hells, he had grown weary of the menial life and atmosphere in the underworld. As a result, he found himself reading books more and often to escape into the worlds within.

Presently, however, what he was reading was not a book, but a letter. The letter was written entirely in capital letters for some reason, and it read:

"DEAR SATAN,

FOR CRISMAS I WOULD LIKE A MOM AND DAD AND FRENDS. IT WOOD MAKE ME SUPER HAPPY.

LIZ"

Satan stared at the page for a long time, mulling over the two simple sentences that lay there. After tiring his eyes out, he put the page down and snapped at an imp nearby.

"You there!" he bellowed, "Send a message to Beelzebub for me!"

"Y-yes master!!" The imp snapped to attention. "What shall I tell him?"

Satan thought for a moment before turning his massive body to look at the imp. "Tell him that I will be leaving hell shortly, and will not be back for a while."

In the Shining Star Adoption Center, Liz sat on her bed, doing her best to read a grimy picture book that one of the other children had given to her after being taken away. She had recently turned nine, making her the oldest child at Shining Star. Her daily schedule consisted of, well, doing whatever she wanted. The rules in the center were simple:

One, no loud noises.

Two, no leaving the premises.

She didn't know what premises meant, but one time, after exploring in the backyard and wandering too far, she had been dragged back to her room and told that she wouldn't any dinner for the next two days. She had figured it was related to the second rule, and avoided going outside since.

She could hear shouting from the other children playing with each other nearby, but she didn't join them. The oldest after her was only seven years old, and the other children would often make fun of her for failing to be adopted after such a long time. She wanted to protest that it wasn't her fault, but whenever she tried, it only fueled their nastiness, and they teased her more.

And so, rain or shine, night or day, Liz sat on her bed and entertained herself in any way she could. On some days, one of the Shining Star caretakers would call for her and sit her down in a tidy room. When this happened, someone would walk in and ask her some questions, then leave. She had eventually come to realize that this process was related to adoption.

Unfortunately for her, people didn't want to adopt a child that was already so old, even if she seemed well behaved.

It should be noted, as well, although Liz had no way of knowing, that the caretakers were glad to have her around. She was stronger than the younger kids, and so she was often made to do the gritty chores that nobody else would do. The adults would even use her name to threaten the other kids, saying things like,

"Do you want to be like Elizabeth? No? Then pipe down!"

Or,

"Parents wouldn't possibly want a child like Elizabeth who can't even keep a clean appearance, so tidy up!"

Having stayed here for so long, Liz had run out of hope. This place must be hell, she thought.

As she was lost in her thoughts, she didn't realize that one of the caretakers, a nasty woman named Bethelda, had entered the room and was calling for her. Liz was startled out of her pondering by a sharp smack to the back of her head.

"Follow me." Bethelda said.

At the sound of Bethelda's curt tone, Liz shrunk into herself, but she obeyed the order.

To her surprise, she was taken to the clean room where she'd been rejected so often before. Nobody had called her here in a long time. Sitting in the chair, she realized she had given up all hope.

Her wait wasn't long, and soon a tall dark figure sat across from her, Bethelda standing next to him. Liz tried to get a good look at him, but found that whenever she did her eyes seemed to wander elsewhere. The man motioned for Bethelda to come close and whispered something in her ear. Whatever he had said caused Bethelda to frown, but she bowed her head to the man and saw herself out of the room.

"How have you been treated here?" the man asked as he turned to look at Liz.

"The caretakers have been very kind to me," she replied in a robotic tone.

"I suggest you not lie to me, child," came the calm voice.

Liz didn't know how to respond. None of the caretakers had prepared her for a statement like this. Before she could figure out what to say, the man continued.

"How about the other children?"

"They're also treated well. Shining Star allows us to all get along." This question was one of the rarer ones, but she had been through this process many times. None of the standard questions could faze her.

She was shocked to see the man shaking his head in her periphery. A moment later he stood up and turned to exit the room.

Liz felt her shoulders fall along with what little expectations she still held. This had been her last chance and, even though she had done everything the sisters told her to, it was already over. She could never leave like this. Many such thoughts ran through her young innocent brain, but soon only one remained. Don't give up!

"Wait!" she cried. "P-please don't make me stay here!"

"I'd hoped you'd say that." The man said, turning lazily towards her once more. "In return for your honesty, I'll show you something."

He took her hand and lead her towards one of the walls in the room. She was confused by this. There was nothing interesting on the wall to look at.

To her utter shock, however, in an instant most of the wall had disappeared, turning into nothing rubble. Dust shot up accompanied by a huge crashing sound. Liz thought her eyes would bulge out of her head if she kept looking at this inexplicable scene. Trying to look at the man again, her vision slipped off him towards the now-open door. There, she saw a furious Belinda who carried the riding crop often used to beat misbehaving children.

She instinctively moved behind the man, terrified of the caretaker's wrath. The man noticed this peculiar motion and turned to look at Belinda. Belinda seemed about to say something when, after hearing a snap from the man's fingers, the crop in her hands morphed into a python that lunged straight for her neck!

A terrified, blood-curdling scream came from the old hag, and both the man and Liz watched as she was executed. If one were to observe their reactions, on the man's face they would see only an impassive expression, while Liz's carried awe and admiration.

Liz walked out of the room, lead by this incredible man. Crossing the boundary of Shining Star's grounds at last, she felt as though heavy chains were being lifted from her body.

"What now, mister?" she asked, looking up at her saviour.

"Now, my dear, we go home," he began, "but there is one more thing to attend to."

With another snap of his fingers, the entire Shining Star Adoption Center bursted into a roaring inferno of black hell-fire.

Seeing this, Liz felt no fear. In fact, she thought she had seen nothing so beautiful in her life.

Two weeks later, a coronation was held for the first Princess of Purgatory, her Highness Elizabeth. She sat upon a gilded throne that looked to belong to Earth rather than Hell. Her new father, Lucifer, had insisted that it be made for her comfort.

The devil had initially been concerned about her integration into the seven hells, but was surprised to see that Liz had adapted to the scenery of the underworld with ease.

He was proud of this new daughter who had no trouble accepting all the creatures and denizens within his domain. There had not been the slightest hint of fear in her eyes when first seeing his true appearance. She had even become friends with many lower level demons, and they could often be found playing nearby the Abyssal Spire. To his absolute joy, he found that many of his underlings respected her not only because she was his daughter, but also because of her own disposition.

A fanfare of screams from tortured spirits rang out as the Crown of Bones was laid upon her tiny head, signifying her becoming the ruler-to-be of Hell.

The only regret Satan had was that he'd failed to provide her with a mother…