Devil Ash Deceit (Devil Ash Saga) (32 page)

The priest then went into a super awkward speech about how they give many thanks to God. Looking around the room, Ash saw mixed results. Some devils nodded along in agreement while others appeared stone faced. The nobles hated it, but put up with it because of their ‘traditional values’ they were so proud of.

Ash couldn’t take much more of this, and they were only one hour in. The boy dug in his pockets looking for the hidden treasure he’d brought along. Tapping Aura on the shoulder, Ash handed his friend an earphone. “Put this in your ear,” Ash whispered. Aura wearily followed his instructions and mimicked his friend. Ash pushed ‘play’ on the mp3 player in his pocket, and Aura was blown away.

“Whoa! This is awesome!” Aura shouted over the music in his ear. All eyes were on him suddenly, and Ash was the one who got embarrassed. “This wedding sure is awesome!” Aura said, sheepishly trying to save face. Everyone focused on the bride and groom again.

“The music is only playing in our ears,” Ash whispered.

“It’s like carrying around a little band in your pocket!” Aura said with admiration.

“I never thought of it that way.”

The next few hours would have been tough without the mp3 player. Although they couldn’t hear a word of what was being said, they could tell by the crowd’s dead expressions that it wasn’t anything spectacular. The choir sang several more songs throughout the morning and Ash had a bit of fun pretending they were singing whatever song was playing through his earphones.

It was high noon when the bride and groom abruptly turned and walked out of the chapel. “Is that it?” Ash asked, turning his music off.

“Intermission,” Amos said from in front of them. “Take the opportunity to grab a snack or use the bathrooms.”

Ash and Aura hopped up and joined the crowd marching out of the chapel. The Royal Guards still formed a protective barrier around most of the castle, but they did leave the path to the cafeteria open. That’s where Ash and Aura found a buffet of delicious-looking food ready and waiting for them. They hopped in line with all the wedding guests and waited to get dished up.

Ash spaced out, staring into the distant empty corner of the cafeteria. Aura studied his friend, trying his best to guess what he was thinking. The entire morning Ash had looked distant and bothered. When they picked up their trays and began scooping up items ala Carte, Aura inquired how Ash was feeling.

“I’m fine,” Ash insisted. “I don’t think the battery on the mp3 player will last much longer, though. I kind of wanted to save it for as long as possible, too. So this next half will probably be even worse because we won’t have music.”

The boys picked and chose various plates of food and found an open table. “It doesn’t have to get worse,” Aura said as they sat. “I’ve got an idea for us to get out of here and have some fun.”

“And miss the rest of the wedding?”

“Believe me, you won’t be missing anything. Everyone talks and/or sings for six more hours. There’s even an hour-long portion coming up where the bride and groom go into a different room and recite their private vows to one another while the crowd just sits there in silence!”

“Wow, that does sound boring. What’s your idea then?”

“With security all ramped up around the castle, they must have made cutbacks to certain lower-priority areas. I’m betting at this exact moment, we could sneak down into the castle basement and get a peek at what Goddard didn’t want us to see down there!”

“No way,” Ash said. “We’ll get caught for sure.”

“Not if we sneak in through the air ducts.”

“What about the rebels?”

“They’re not going to attack! That was all big talk meant to scare us. You saw how guarded this place is. Besides, if the rebels do show up and try something, we’ll just come running to shut them up!”

The two finished their meals while Ash thought on Aura’s proposal. The plan sounded pretty good, actually. Skip a boring wedding ceremony that he was against anyway and snoop around the castle with his new best friend. He would have been a fool to say no, and so when their meals were gone Ash notified his friend. “I’m in.”

They waited until they were the last ones to leave the cafeteria. In the hall, the boys saw the wedding party lining up to enter the chapel. At least, they thought it was the wedding party… Shiva was barely recognizable in a suit of golden armor. The silver suit of armor standing next to her must have been Phoenix in a full body suit. Two more people in suits of armor stood behind them.

One of them was obviously Darko Satan, as the giant sword Infernos strapped to his back gave away his identity. The party marched forward, following the priest back down the chapel aisle. Ash and Aura ducked behind a corner in the hall as the doors were shut from inside.

“Let’s get going to the prison!” Aura whispered excitedly. Ash couldn’t help but feel a rush of playful joy carry him off to take part in some shenanigans with Aura.

* * * *

Inside the chapel the wedding party stepped to the front of the altar. The priest began to explain the next phase of the ceremony. The bride and groom, joined by their ‘confidants’ Darko and Dismas, would be entering the sacred chamber. The chamber door was on the far wall and led down a small set of stairs to the sacred chamber, where the couple would exchange vows to be observed by only their most trusted confidants. For the crowd seated outside, it wouldn’t be much of a show.

The bride and her brother were the first to enter the chamber, followed by Phoenix and Dismas. Once inside, the priest shut the chamber door and closed his eyes in concentration. Placing a hand on the door, the priest strained to muster up some soul power. When he removed his hand, there was a strange circular symbol of markings on the door.

“A seal?” someone in the crowd whispered.

“I don’t remember that part in the tradition…” someone else muttered.

“Ladies and gentlemen, our valued guests,” the priest said to the room. “I’m afraid you’ve all been deceived. For we are not here to witness a wedding, but an entirely different show: the beginning of a new regime here in Hell!”

With those words, several men jumped up from the audience clutching swords they must have smuggled in, hidden inside their festive robes. The weapons weren’t the only things smuggled in, as each rebel warrior covered their face with a colorful demon mask as well. People in the audience became scared and panicky.

“Very soon now, we will be taking control of the Kingdom,” the false priest said.

“In your wildest dreams!” Commander Stryd barked, standing in opposition to the rebels. “Like my men and I would just sit back and watch!” The only men Stryd had were the two guards positioned in the rear of the chapel, by the door to the hallway. They were outnumbered by the rebels, who had at least ten men armed and on standby. “Let’s go boys! Just like we practiced!”

  Just like they practiced in their drills, one soldier remained at the door to keep any rebels from escaping while the other soldier joined his Commander. Stryd stood defiantly before the rebel priest, awaiting his enemy’s attack. When it came, it was from someone the Commander did not expect. The soldier he called to help him held a bloody dagger in his Commander’s side, a demonic mask attached to his face.

“No…” Stryd gasped and choked out. “The rebels have… infiltrated the Royal Guard?”

“Afraid so,” the priest said. “Sit tight and watch history unfold,” he said, pushing Stryd over. He stepped up to the King and gave him a quick once-over. “And as for you…”

“You know you’re as good as dead already,” King Satan said with a grin. “As soon as my son comes back out, your little game is over!”

“Oh yes, I’m sorry to inform you that your son and daughter will be encountering their own little trial inside. They’ll be lucky if they come out in one piece,” the rebel priest said, slapping the King with a movement seal. Al froze in place instantly, and just like that the rebels had captured the King of Hell.

* * * *

Inside the sacred chamber, immediately after being sealed in by the rebel priest, Shiva and Darko waited patiently to be joined by Phoenix and Dismas. The two lingered at the entrance for a moment, as Dismas placed a seal on the inside of the door as well. Darko made note of the small traces of soul power he felt as the two armored figures joined them.

“Has there been a change of plans?” Darko asked, grinning.

“What do you mean, brother?” Shiva asked. “This is when Phoenix and I recite our private vows. Tradition states that the groom should be the one who goes first,” Shiva said, turning to her husband-to-be in armor.

She was caught off guard by a sudden punch from her groom. She was surprised and hurt as her husband-to-be’s armored fist slammed into her cheek. As she tumbled to the floor, one word continued to run through her mind:
Why
?

She climbed to her feet and addressed her man. “This isn’t the best time for a sparring session, Phoenix…”

“This isn’t a sparring session,” Darko said stepping forward. “And that isn’t Phoenix.”

“What do you mean?” Shiva asked, unable to comprehend what was happening. “Phoenix, quit messing around! Why did you hit me?”

“Because I’m
not
Phoenix!”  said a very feminine voice. ‘Phoenix’ lifted his helmet’s facemask to reveal that ‘he’ was actually a ‘she’.

“
Leona
?” Shiva said in disbelief. “You want to marry me?”

“
Bwahahaha
!” Dismas burst into laughter. “No, its nothing like that! We’re just here to regretfully inform you that Phoenix couldn’t make it. He had a prior engagement – whoops, what an inappropriate expression given the circumstances!”

“So the wedding is off?” Shiva asked.

“The wedding was never on,” Leona replied. “This has all just been one big distraction to catch the Royal Family off guard. Right now, Phoenix and Lionel are on their way to discovering the Royal Family’s darkest secrets.”

“What!” Shiva said. “What secrets?”

“It’s not our job to tell you anything about that,” said Dismas. “Our job is just to hold you two here for as long as possible. Oh, and since you’ll no longer be needed in the new regime, we’re allowed to kill you if you get in our way!”

“Are you stupid? We won’t stand for that!” Shiva barked, standing beside her excited brother.

“We came prepared to face resistance,” Dismas said. As if to demonstrate that fact, Leona pulled the decorative chains off her suit of armor, revealing them to be much more than just decorations.

* * * *

In South Hell, a lone Royal Guard arrived at the watchtower post next to the southern gate. There was already a guard on duty there that stood idly watching the horizon outside of the Kingdom. He allowed a single yawn to escape his mouth as the arriving guard approached him.

“I’ve come to relieve you,” the arriving guard said.

“That so?” the other guard asked. “Wait, my shift isn’t over for another hour…”

The confused guard was then knocked unconscious by a blow to the back of his head from the rebel guard. As the man struggled to stay awake, he saw figures in the distance heading towards the Kingdom walls. He struggled to make sense of what he saw, until the other man threw him over the side of the wall. On the other side of the gate at the other watchtower, another rebel-in-disguise as a Royal Guard soldier was doing the same thing.

The two rebels, seizing control of the gate, were now free to open the Kingdom to their comrades. In a matter of minutes, the gates were wide open to the charging rebels, all wearing colorful demon masks to hide their faces. Some of the rebels burst in riding atop fast and ferocious demons. They had somehow managed to train the beasts, which resembled giant wolves but with short and stubby legs. The first wave of masked rebels invaded South Hell, inciting panic among the people and forcing the Royal Guard into a conflict that the fate of Hell now rested on.

* * * *

Ash followed Aura all the way around the castle, moving down various halls and up and down staircases all in an effort to avoid running into anyone. It took them longer than Ash had hoped, but finally they made it all the way to the basement and past the Royal Guard barracks, to their destination at the entrance to the prison.

“Why don’t we just go through the door?” Ash asked, seeing no one around to stop them.

“No way! Think, man! The guard’s not in this room, so that mean he’s probably inside the prison somewhere. That’s why we’ll use the vents and go right over him!” Aura browsed the wall for the telltale crack that opened into a secret hatch. “Grab that ladder, and let’s go!”

The boys moved the ladder into place and climbed up into the ventilation shaft, which was already in need of another good cleaning. Aura went in first, and Ash shut the hatch behind them. As the boys passed over the first couple of prison cells via the dusty shaft, they missed a key clue that something was not right. A Royal Guard entered the room behind them, followed by two other men.

“It’s already begun,” said the rebel disguised as a Royal Guard soldier. The rebel-guard opened the prison door, ushering his guests inside. “Hurry! Everything rides on what you may find down there!”