Death's Embrace

Chapter Four

Every time Dez held the Game, his father would have a talk with him.

The man had many names. In the early days, some called him Hades. His street name- Dez snickered at the stupid human slang- was the Grim Reaper. Some religious groups called him Lucifer, while others referred to him as Satan.

But, when you name your son after yourself, that gets confusing to be known as Death, so Dez's father was called by the title The Underlord. Kind of like 'overlord, but...

"Are you even listening?" The Underlord sighed.

"Y-y-y-yes," Dez was startled out of his reverie.

"What did I last say?"

"Uh..."

The Underlord slammed his fist down on the throne's armrests. "You're really not helping with my reputation. All the humans say, 'Death is cruel, I wish Death didn't exist. IT DOESN'T HELP WHEN YOU TAKE TWELVE SOULS OF HUMAN CHILDREN FOR FUN!"

"Yes, Father," Dez mumbled. He had heard the lecture a million times- well, that was to be an exaggeration. He only had done it 1, 082 times before, once a year. Man, was the first millennium anniversary fun. That had been a great year for the game, with a few added twists...

Dez stared at the fire leaping from the decorative ponds.

"They're already dead, anyways. And for some of them, it's actually an improvement from their life."

"You don't think I noticed you changed some of their Numbers?"

Dez shrugged. "I'm bad at math."

"You're nearly two thousand years old. You'd think that would be long enough to learn long division!" The Underlord rolled his eyes.

Dez heard the light footsteps behind him.

"Hello, Mother," Dez turned around.

"Yes, Lilith?" The Underlord said. "Now isn't the time..."

"You're being too harsh on our son. Boys will be boys," Lilith smiled. She walked up to the throne, not bothering to bow, and seductively swayed her ample hips and bosom. Dez still winced at the behavior, even though she'd been doing this for millennia.

"In ancient times, people pitied you," The Underlord said.

"I was brought here against my will, but although it took me a few centuries, I like it here. I wasn't meant for springtime and flowers and all that bullshit. I was meant for Hell, dear. And so is Junior. Let him play with toys."

Dez smiled. Mother always came to his rescue.

"I'm the only one here who actually cares about reputation," The Underlord muttered.

"What was that?" Lilith narrowed her red eyes.

"N-n-nothing," The Underlord smiled.

"Can I go now?" Dez interrupted, his devil's tail swinging back and forth, like an irritated cat's.

"Dismissed," The Underlord grumbled.

"Mother, do you have any ideas for my game?" Dez asked as they walked out of the throneroom.

"Hmm..." Lilith thought.

"It's been fairly boring. No one has died yet. I mean, died again."

"You picked these people."

"No, they all died at the same time."

"You don't have to lie to me, Junior," Lilith smiled. "I know you changed their Numbers. And then there is that special case..."

"Don't announce it to everyone in the Underworld!" Dez hissed. "I like to keep things new and exciting."

"I'm just surprised your father hasn't noticed. And humans think women are dumb. And what do you say?"

"Thank you." Dez was fairly sure his mother just liked to hear him grumble those words over and over again.

"You know, I've been reading up on human mythology lately," Lilith's face lit up with a grin. "How about we make them become a reality in your game?"

"I don't see the point."

"I'm not talking about sending them to a demigod camp. What about if we draw the monsters on darker aspects of mythology?"

"What do you have in mind, Mother?"

"Oh, just you wait, hon..."