Chapter Thirty-Seven
Torture
Ah shit.
Why did his everything hurt? And why did it smell?
Naruto opened his eyes to get a look at his surroundings but there wasn't anything to really see. The very little light trickling into the room fix from the thick metal bars above his head. It only covered him, though, and it was enough to see that each of his hands were bound with an iron band and thick chains bolted into the wall.
He was wearing the clothes from his meeting with those angels in the embassy. But what happened after? He had made it back home only to find it surrounded by demons… and there was the King and Queen of Hell. His friends were there… but not all of them.
I went to save Helsa and Loona! He rubbed his face of the moisture dripping from the bars above and tried to sit up more.
He tried to tap into his powers, his chakra or his transformation, but something was suppressing it. He couldn't do anything as he is. He looked around for anything that could help him or even give him an idea of where he was.
Nothing. Fuck.
"Despairing yet, Promised Child?"
The voice gave a wretched smell to the air and Naruto's face scrunched up in disgust as he caught a whiff. He looked for where he thought it came from and found two glistening white eyes looking at him from the dark. They stared at him with an insistent focus despite their blind appearance.
"Who are you?" He asked as he tried to catch anything about this stranger's appearance.
"Ah," the being's rancid breath came again and he slowly crawled forward until he was in the light.
With bony arms and decaying bluish pale skin, this person was nothing but a corpse in every right. His hair, if it can be called that, is thin and like twine as it framed the decrepit face. The teeth are crooked and cracked, what few there were, and his saliva is black and thick like tar.
"I am Mortifer, but your people revered me as the Shinigami."
Naruto's eyes widened at that. The Shinigami? The being that was summoned by the Shiki Fujin and is said to be the one to ferry souls to the Pure Lands? This was it?
He's a demon. Naruto's features returned to as normal as they could and he gave a leisurely grin. "And I'm the Sage of Six Paths! Good to meet you."
"Ah, jokes and sarcasm," Mortifer chuckled as he shook his head, eliciting cracks from each turn. "I guess you still believe you're safe."
Mortifer gave a ghastly grin before the ground around him was covered in the same black tar that is in his mouth. He slowly began to descend into it, but Naruto just stared back at the manic blind eyes.
"We will break that spirit."
And the demonic being disappeared completely in the puddle, making Naruto breathe freely. He was holding his breath from the smell of decay the thing produced. It's just a good thing whatever that black stuff is it doesn't produce a smell.
Now, to figure out how to get out of here. He looked up and at the bolts holding the chain links.
Creak!
The long drawl of stone and rock grinding against each other filled the room and made Naruto wince as his enhanced hearing was overloaded. He flattened his ears down and growled before it stopped. It left him rubbing his ears with his hands to fry to soothe the ringing currently affecting his hearing.
"What the fuck was that?" Naruto asked aloud before looking up.
The barred grate had opened and revealed a large opening to his cell. He was about to question it when a shadow began to cover the opening. It moved weirdly, and the smacking of damp flesh on the ground seemed to plap its way over.
That's…not a shadow.
No, it was not. The shadow he thought he saw was actually a mound of flesh that was pulling itself to the hole. Then the mound slithered down the opening, revealing thick and thin tentacles made of black and red slimy skin.
Plap plap plaplaplaplap
Splat!
The thing literally rushed to shove itself through the hole and landed in a pile on the stone in front of Naruto. It pulsed as its tentacles moved around to lay more smoothly on the ground. It had no eyes, much to Naruto's interest, but then one of its tentacles touched him.
"Child."
He understood the word spoken into his mind using his own voice, knowing it had to be the communication from this… creature. Then more of the tentacles started crawling over his feet and legs while the same word was chanted in his head.
"Hey! Get off!" Naruto kicked his feet to get the thing off.
The tentacles began to wrap around his ankles as he tried to kick it away. Then it began to crawl up his body. He no longer got his voice screaming "Child" anymore but now he was seeing things from his time alive. One time when he scraped his knee. One time when he had to starve because he had no food.
"Pain. Child. Feel."
Then he felt the pain and saw the moment he was beaten by the caretaker of the orphanage. She was running a match over his skin as she smoked her cigarette. He cried out when he was young like he did now. Immediately, he was a child and not a young adult.
"Stop! No!" Naruto now tried to fight against the woman's hold but he was back in his five year old body again; he wasn't strong enough to fight back. "Please! I'll be good! I promise!"
The caretaker did not listen, striking another match to run it along the other arm, the orange flame burning his skin into a violent red line. His arm bubbled with blisters and fluid, his thin wrist that was in the shackle is now gripped within the woman's hand. He cried and sobbed, begging and whimpering with every second he had to feel.
As he went through that, the slimy creature had begun to cover his entire body from the neck down. The only thing that went above were two short tentacles and they suctioned to the side of his face. Their tips rested against his temples, connecting to his brain so that it may properly immerse him into the memories.
"Pain. Feel."
And he did feel the pain. He was reliving every trauma as if he was back there. He was his five year old self again, whimpering for the pain and hate to stop.
"No. Stop."
The von Eldritch household has always been modest compared to the other highborn demon families but that is just what made them unique among others. Their royal blood is easily traceable to their ancestor, Leviathan the Prince of Envy, and it's this blood that made them as they are today. And yet despite this modest home they have a monopoly on magical technology and distribution.
The Eldritch Arms division of their company has ties with Sinner Overlords like Carmilla Carmine, who they distribute the manufactured weapons for, and their Arcane Research division has been able to develop the staple technology with the help of Vox. If any demon has a hellphone, television, or other such object then they are using the product of this collaboration.
Naruto had never been here but thankfully Charlie had known and told him where they were. He carried Helsa in his arms carefully as she still rested from their trip out of Envy and he didn't want to rouse her. It was also going to give him a moment to talk to her parents about the truth about his situation without worrying her.
Ding! Dong!
Naruto stepped back after pressing the doorbell and waited all of ten seconds before the door opened. But it wasn't Bethesda or Frederick that opened the door; it was Seviathan, and he looked at them with narrowed eyes.
He glanced down at his sister in the Sinner's arms and sneered before stepping away. "Mom! Dad!"
The boy walked away without waiting for his parents or making sure the two of them made it inside. He was fully gone by the time their parents appeared around the corner to see Naruto and their daughter. Both of them immediately rushed down the stairs to get to their daughter and Bethesda was the first to touch her daughter.
She sobbed as she caressed the cheek of her daughter and began to laugh joyously. "You did it!"
Naruto nodded his head solemnly, looking at Frederick as the man stood back with a posture and look of relief. He gave a stern nod to him in thanks.
"Thank you," Bethesda kissed his forehead. "You kept your promise."
"I don't go back on my promises," Naruto said but gave a sigh. "But there is something you need to know before Helsa-chan wakes up. I'm just a clone, and so is the one who brought Loona-chan back. The original was unable to make it back."
It took a moment for the two of them to understand and all they could do was stare confused.
"Where did you go?" Bethesda hesitantly asked, almost fearing what he meant.
"Long story short, I didn't make it out of my fight with who I faced to get Helsa and Loona back." Naruto breathed deeply before looking at that. "I can give you the full story, but first let's put Helsa to bed."
Day 2
Sunday
Lucifer bit his nail as he anxiously fidgeted in his chair. He's been bothered ever since he had talked to Charlie about the identity of who organized the kidnapping. He never would have thought that those fallen angels would turn out like this, gaining back power and confidence. He was sure they were done for when their pantheons were destroyed!
And despite his warning to his daughter, she refused to give up on the boy. She made it clear her feelings and her intent to find him no matter how difficult and dangerous it seems. It scared him how similar her attitude was to him yet she had her mother's temper.
She's definitely our little girl. Lucifer sighed as he rubbed his neck. Sometimes I wonder if that's actually a good thing.
The door into the room opened and he looked up to see Barnabus, his imp servant, standing there.
"The Princes and King Bael are here, milord."
"Bring them in, Barny." Lucifer nodded his head and stood to his feet, straightening his vest before grabbing his jacket.
The imp left and a few moments later his guests began walking in. Other than Bael and Bee being among the group, there was the rest of the Seven Princes. Satan of Wrath, Leviathan of Envy, Asmodeus of Lust, Belphegor of Sloth, and Mammon of Greed.
"Lucifer!" Satan shouted as he ducked his head into the room. "How ya doin', buddy!"
Satan is a gigantic man of nine-foot-nine, over ten feet of you took into account his four horns. His skin is pitch black like cooled magma unlike the imps he has sired and created, and his eyes are completely orange like the burning embers of fires. His physique is absurd to an abnormal degree and his tail swung behind him lively.
The man is also a very joyful individual despite being the most experienced and strongest warrior. He is second only to Lucifer and his respect for the man kept any ambitions to be better in check despite his second personality.
"Calm down, you behemoth," Asmodeus emphasizes as he follows the man into the room. "Give Lucy some time to greet everyone."
Asmodeus is one of Bael's children who left the Goetia hierarchy behind to forge his own path. His flaming head with two smaller heads is something he gained from his father while the exuberant and eccentric style is more attributed to his mother.
He was always a mama's boy as well. He was always wanting to impress her with his choices in fashion, in partners, and in actions. He was the most devastated when his mother died.
"Fucking move your LAZY ASS, BEL-FAGGOT!"
Belphegor was thrown into the room where she landed on her back near an empty chair. She's a tall, slim demon with ram-like features. Her fur is a vibrant magenta with dark blue skin that can be seen on her nose, ears, and her tail. Her glasses, which she usually wore as she had trouble seeing, clattered on the floor the moment she landed.
And the man who threw her was none other than Mammon. A clown demon with a variety of green shaded clothing that matched his lime-colored eyes. He's an obese demon whose only use was his skills with anything of monetary value.
He is also the weakest of the Sins.
"Mammon," a whimsical voice cut through the air and made the Sin of Greed shiver with a scowl. "What have we talked about treating our friends this way? And such disgusting name-calling."
And the final person is the Sin of Envy, Leviathan herself. She is a smaller demon with a slim, fishlike appearance. Her webbed hands are more similar to a frog than a fish but her underside skin is a light blue while her thick scaly back is a dark gray almost black. From her forehead is an antenna with a luminous bulb that shines dimly.
"Ah, fuck," Mammon muttered before stalking to his seat. "Whatever."
Leviathan grabbed Belphegor easily as he still laid on the floor, lifting him up and patting his wrinkled clothes. She pulled out a chair and placed him in it with a smile. "There you go, my dear"
"Thanks, Levy," Belphegor thanks Leviathan before leaning her head back with her eyes closed.
Bee snickered with her father as this was a usual occurrence whenever they all got together. It was even funnier when the other Kings were here as the bickering would be almost never ending. Lucifer almost never calls them all together unless it was absolutely necessary.
Lucifer pinched and rubbed the bridge of his nose as he counted to five three times. I'm already getting a headache. "Thank you for coming under short notice, I know a lot of you are busy with your own things so I will make this quick. Mars is back in Hell."
Outside of Bee and Bael, the others were very surprised and were talking over each other with multiple questions. Even Belphegor was more awake than usual and was eyeing her King with half-lidded concern. Bee shared a look with her father, knowing just who could have brought this up to him.
"Quiet!" Lucifer raised his voice but was not yet shouting and the overlapping questions ceased immediately from his friends. "Thank you."
"Did you happen to hear this from your daughter?" Bael asked calmly as it was silent enough to speak.
Lucifer looked over in surprise and nodded his head. "Yes, how did you know?"
"Octavia came to us with the same questions about the fallen gods," Bee explained while pointing to her and her father. "She explained much of the situation to us so we had a feeling you may have known as well."
Lucifer made a noise in his throat before rubbing his face tiredly. "Yes, Charchar told me the name of who kidnapped her friends which led to Naruto being taken now."
"Tha's th' new Overlord I've heard abou'?" Satan asked and got a nod.
"Found hellborn too boring, sis?" Asmodeus asked Bee, who grinned back at him.
"What can I say, a ningen like him is everything a man should be," she laughed at her own words.
"What do the fallen gods want with a ningen Sinner?" Leviathan wondered to herself. "Is he special?"
"In terms to others, very much so," Lucifer nodded his head much to the surprise of everyone in the room.
Lucifer agreeing that a Sinner, the populace of Hell he despises deep down, is not just interesting but very? That wasn't on anyone's bingo cards!
"I have to agree with our King," Bael spoke up much to the bemusement of his son and fellow demons. "This boy is no regular Sinner even when compared to other ningen. Something stirs within him which has manifested into his transformation. The fact that the fallen gods were targeting him means that even they acknowledge something about him."
"And if there's something they want from him, we should be concerned with making sure they don't," Bee supplied, getting a few agreements as they realized what the consequences could be.
"I've found that there was an event on Ninkai that resulted in countless deaths of ningen," Lucifer informed everyone. "The problem is that while their purgatory judgment was being organized within such short notice, all of the souls had disappeared back to Ninkai. They were all resurrected and it was done with divine approval."
Now that floored all of the Princes, even Bee and Bael as they had not heard of that yet and they were usually privy to these things. It was unheard of for a significant number of souls, enough that even Purgatory was reeling, to just suddenly appear. Purgatory wasn't used for humans when the atomic bombs were dropped during Earth's Second World War so they hadn't had to face such an influx.
For those souls to then be resurrected with the approval of God? Now that was something for the history books.
"The few that have remained dead were sent to Hades," Lucifer told them as that had been a rough moment.
He had collected the individuals and brought them to Hades before heading back home. He had spent barely five minutes with his wife before his dear daughter came home to talk to them about everything.
"Wha' do we do abou' Mars then?" Satan asked with narrowed eyes as his hand twitched. "A'e we huntin' him?"
"We have no idea where he is." Lucifer shook his head. "I want everyone to keep an eye out for any trace of him or the others that have been unaccounted for from the war. We need to find the Sinner and find out what their plans for him are."
"I'm not a demon. I'm not a demon. I'm not a demon."
The shaky words tumbled out through a quivering mouth with the intention to comfort himself. He's been repeating the same words for over an hour now as he was numbed from the memories he had to see.
"I'm not a demon. I'm not a demon. I'm not a demon."
Naruto stared into the dark corner of the room as his tears had long since dried away. He was left alone by the creature after reliving all of the trauma he faced in the orphanage. Nine hours just to see all of them once, to go through one year of trauma just in the orphanage.
The feelings and emotions he was too young to process but moved on from has resurfaced as he was brought back to those very moments. He was no longer the teen who learned to ignore and mask all of the things he faced. He was now that five year old boy that only wanted love and friends.
"I'm not a demon. I'm not a demon. I'm not a demon."
"My poor boy," a familiar voice spoke into the dark cell.
From the dark corner, an orange light slowly lit up the room and bathed it in a soothing light. It barely reached the traumatized boy but he whimpered at the new feeling enveloping him. It was unpleasant when all he could feel was a decaying void until this moment.
A hand reached out and rested against his cheek, lovingly caressing the whiskers slowly. "I'm sorry."
Naruto's eyes traveled over to look at the figure fading in and out between the cell and the orphanage. Why did he recognize the brunette hair? The soft, caring features? Stephen?
But Stephen was dead. And this one didn't have the squirrel features! He looked… normal? He definitely looked human yet something just felt off.
"Stephen?" Naruto's voice is weak, raspy, and his eyes glistened with new tears. "You can't be here. You're dead, aren't you?"
"Stephen" did not answer and his dark eyes took in every inch of his face that has been drained of all youth. "How are you, Naruto?"
"I'm just fine, I love this type of BDSM," Naruto sarcastically laughed but it came out more as a wheeze. "You're a hallucination. Stephen could never say my name."
"That's true," the hallucination nodded and sat down in front of him.
"How are you here if you're dead? Is this another trick?"
"No tricks," Stephen shook his head. "I'm not here, not really, but you already know that."
Naruto hung his head and exhaled, grinding his teeth. So Stephen was dead, this hallucination just confirmed it. Or, better yet, it was feeding on his own thoughts of the boy's fate since he did not really know.
"Great," he sighed and looked up at the closed ceiling. "Now I'm going to be haunted by the friends I've failed."
Stephen did not answer, only sitting there in the dull orange light.
Both of them were quiet as neither could decide on who should break the silence, much to Naruto's relief. He wanted the silence, wanted to deal with the resurfaced trauma, and Stephen's appearance was not doing him any favors.
The hallucination sighed before he began to fade. "If you need me, Naruto, just call for me."
Naruto was left alone in the dark with only the sound of water dripping to occupy his mind.