Chapter 15: In Unholy Matrimony

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A/N: Hi guys! I hope you're all doing well. We reached over 600 reads!! Thank you guys for the continual support and for still reading. This chapter almost didn't get posted with how busy my week has been, lol, but I pushed through. I felt like with this chapter, I was really given a lot of leeway with how I wanted it, which is a good and bad thing for me. It's a good thing because it gives me creative freedom to do whatever I want, but it makes me anxious because I don't want to create plot holes or go completely off the rails. It's also frustrating when something from the show wasn't explained in detail, so now I have to fill in the blanks, so hopefully, I didn't do a terrible job. Anyways, I hope you enjoy the chapter!

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Bane acts as my guide and leads me down to the next level of the Underworld. I decide to take the long way, which involves going down a couple of flights of stairs, dodging the random demons lurking around in shifty hallways, and sometimes traveling through barely lit caverns as we descend further into the abyss. He offered to shimmer us down there, but I declined. I need to familiarize myself with the layout down here in case I'm ever by myself. The Underworld in the show was vague regarding how vast it is and how it's structured. I wished the show explained it more than just saying it resembles Hell because it seems a lot more disorganized than I thought Hell would be. I asked Bane to describe the place, and he explained to me the Underworld is divided into three levels in total, each with its own characteristics.

The first level, or the very top, is where the low-level demons and warlocks like Bane reside. You're considered at the bottom of the barrel if you stay there, but most who stay there are lucky because they could end up like Kurzon and get exiled and rejected from the Underworld. The level we're heading to houses the upper-level demons, faction leaders and is considered the most densely populated of the three. The lowest level houses the most important underworld members, like the Source but includes oracles, deadly assassins, dark priests, and the one I'm looking for: the Seer. Unfortunately, that level is the most guarded and secure, and Bane isn't close to anyone who goes down there. The only way to get entry is to be someone of great importance, and I'm hoping I will find someone of great importance on the second level.

As Bane leads me further down, we could take different paths that either lead to nowhere or somewhere you don't want to go. Bane explained it's to confuse those who are not meant to be here. Beings of good like me or demons who don't belong on the level like him, but since he often visits to see this demon buddy of his, he's memorized the routes. I thought the Underworld would get a bit better as you head down, considering they treat the ones above them as if they're of the lowest class, but the scenery doesn't change much. Besides the rocks and the stone walls, the only thing changing about the landscape is that there are more torches to light the way than there were on the first level.

However, there is definitely more foot traffic here than on the first level. Bane and I have had to periodically mold ourselves against the wall or freeze because a pair of demons were coming our way. Luckily, I've cloaked Bane and I since, obviously, he's supposed to be dead. He also mentioned that upper-level demons don't like when the lower-level demons come to pay them a visit, resulting in their death. When we are alone, I've asked more about Mason.

"He's an upper-level demon known for his sociopathic tendencies," Bane tells me but remembers to keep his voice quiet. "Many demons, even his own men, fear him because he can appear calm and collected, but it's when you let your guard down that he strikes. Unlike me, I prefer to kill quickly. Mason likes to toy with his prey and make them suffer before killing them. He inspires fear in his men, which keeps them in line and afraid of ever betraying him as they have seen what happens when you cross him."

"What about his powers?" I ask him.

He takes a moment to think. "I don't know what powers he has as I've never met him, but my buddy did tell me he killed a guy with a fireball before."

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