To Take A Stand For Hell
Stolas stood beside Lucifer as he scanned his notes. Cain had listed every detail Stolas could've ever needed for the hellborn executed during Extermination Day. He had names, locations and dates.
Srolas couldn't help but smile. Several of his servants had doubted Cain's loyalty and devotion to his cause. The documentation of Heaven's wrongs in his hands made it clear, whose side Cain was on.
Adam, Lute and Sera stood in the courtroom representing Heaven while Lucifer and Stolas represented Hell.
"Charlie has recently told me that you have been breaking our agreement for centuries. Stolas, could you do the pleasure of listing their first victim and their background?" Lucifer began the meeting.
"Luke Gardens is the first documented imp killed on Extermination Day. Cain notes that a blast of angelic light was sent flying toward their house, resulting in the imp's death. The day this death occurred was 200 BCE. If you recall your demonic and angelic history, you would know that was the first Extermination Day," Stolas informed.
Stolas turned to his king. He made a gesture.
"You can resume, Prince Stolas of the Ars Goetia," Lucifer remarked.
Stolas looked at his notes. The next Extermination Day had a lot more casualties listed.
"Inferno Blaze was a Wrathian imp killed during the second Extermination Day. He appeared to be assisting his fellow imps in relocating from the crossfire when he was stabbed in the back with an exorcist's blade. There is no evidence this was a sinner. Not only was there a recklessness in the attacker's tactics but the attacker seemed terrified. Not the way sinners back then acted when killing a hellborn demon in the slightest," Stolas resumed.
Adam cut in by asking," And how is this breaking our little contract"?
Lucifer stepped forward as he appeared to be flashing between his demonic and civilian forms.
"HOW IS THIS BREAKING OUR LITTLE CONTRACT? YOU ASK? YOU AREN'T ALLOWED TO KILL HELLBORN DEMONS, ADAM. DID YOU FORGET THAT WHEN YOU SLAYED MY NATIVE PEOPLE WITHOUT A CARE IN THE WORLD? DO YOU THINK YOURSELF ABOVE HEAVEN? DO YOU THINK YOURSELF PERFECT? BECAUSE LET ME TELL YOU IF I CAN FALL. YOU CAN TOO," Lucifer yelled.
Adam grinned. He recalled seeing a group of imp assassins killing humans. He was fairly certain that was against Hell's laws.
"Perhaps you should be more concerned with the recent arrivals to Hell, your so-called natives are bringing you. Isn't that type of activity against the law down there?" Adam remarked, grinning ear to ear.
Lucifer turned to Stolas, hoping to receive an explanation from the Prince.
"I don't know what Adam is talking about, Your Majesty. To access Earth like that would require a grimoire and no imp has ever even been bestowed the honour of even handing one for a millisecond," Stolas replied.
Stolas would know. He imagined his father would've given him quite a beating back then if he knew what he had told his dear Bltizy.
"Still stands imps are doing that. Isn't that a more pressing concern than some so-called breaking of an agreement," Adam remarked.
"Hardly, Adam. If imps are doing as you say, it is unlikely they haven't already been executed. Hell's royalty has never bothered and never will bother to listen to someone of lower status," Lucifer informed.
"So, I think it would be best to focus on the reason, we are here. Does Cain have an estimated number of hellborn killed on each Extermination Day, Prince Stolas?" Lucifer asked.
"He doesn't have an estimate, unfortunately. Though I have counted at least a thousand that seemed to have occurred during the first five years. Afterwards, the numbers are in the tens of thousands. I would assume by the end of BCE, it had come up to hundreds of thousands. By the time CE started, it had come to at least a million. It is unlikely we have reached a trillion hellborn deaths but with the fact, that Cain stopped listing the name, cause and time of death, I wouldn't be surprised if the angels had managed it," Stolas answered.
Sera glared at Adam before turning her attention back to Lucifer.
"What do you wish us to do about this, Lucifer?" Sera asked.
"I want you to cancel Exterminations. You can't be trusted to spare hellborn demons that don't even resemble sinners. I don't see why you should be allowed or even trusted to enter my realm," Lucifer answered.
Sera turned back. Hell was a threat. They could...
"Eve told me something very wise recently. The people who rebel, the people who we fear turning against us. We only fear that because deep down, we know they have every right to. You fear Hell taking a stand against Heaven because you know deep down, we have a right to take a stand. And by breaking the contract you agreed to without a care in the world, you have shown Hell that you are no better than anyone in that pit," Stolas stated.
Adam longed to retort that ridiculous claim only he couldn't stop hearing the beginning of his speech," Eve told me something very wise recently".
"We won't cancel Exterminations, Lucifer. The reason it began occurring still stands. I am happy to...," Sera began saying.
"I'm not making deals with angels anymore. I learnt my lesson. My sinners have the decency to admit they deserve to fall. You can't dare even tolerate questioning. Perhaps that's why redemption isn't possible. Heaven couldn't survive it without the facade of a perfect paradise falling apart," Lucifer interrupted.