CODEX Part 3: Between Heaven and Hell
Succumbed

The leftover had no idea what he was facing. Zoe’s eyes were dark and empty, her face was blank but he could see how angry she was by the way her body was twitching. Since her control was turned off, her fingers and legs were twitching spontaneously.

“You have succumbed to Lucifer,” He spoke normally yet his voice sent vibrations through the whole room. Besides, he was speaking in Hebrew and only Zoe could understand what exactly he was saying.

Demons that were still half alive hurried out of there, not wanting to become collateral victims in a fight that wasn’t theirs.

“Heaven has locked you out, commander,” He continued, his voice coming from what was a black dot in the middle of his face.

It wasn’t the same leftover who brought Zoe down to Hell; this one had a dot instead of his mouth and didn’t seem to have anything remotely human about him. Unlike the other one, this one looked more like a demon so he was definitely a leftover thrown away by Belial and Lucifer.

“You have been banned from Hell,” She growled, knowing just how she could kneel him before her.

It seemed to work because he scowled and what looked like two eyes widened so much that she could see inside his head. He had a brain and the sticky substance coming down his temples was gross and reminded her of saliva.

The leftover didn’t move from his spot but she felt something come towards her and crawl up her legs. She only threw a swift glance at her ankle before she shrugged it off, like it was nothing. However, whatever the shehereeyocht was doing wasn’t over; he took one step towards her before more leeches begun crawling up her body, every time she would squish one, the same was dividing into two more.

Zoe wasn’t an idiot and knew she had to move in order to keep the creatures away. She ran towards the leftover and attacked. Her punches weren’t exactly hitting anything because he was fast enough to block her.

He took a few steps back and let her come to him while he only used quick hits in vital points. She was blocking them all but she still had to throw him away. The leftover was aiming for her head and she used that in her advantage. She bent and kicked his ankle but he didn’t lose his balance, only bent slightly.

Zoe was quick and powerful but she wasn’t thinking while fighting. She was feeling every blow and was enjoying herself in some twisted way. She kept blocking his attacks and getting out of his way when it was getting too intense. At some point, she used her energy in order to get his attention off her for a fraction of second; it worked only partially but it was enough for her to punch him straight in the middle of his chest.

Unlike what she intended to do, his chest absorbed her fist inside, making it hard for her to take it back. However, when she did, through that hole on his chest a dozen fireflies flew out, straight into her face. Zoe got pushed back and confused by the flies buzzing around her. She couldn’t hear nor see therefore, she decided to do something a bit risky. She was going to let the leftover catch her and then- well, then was a different moment and she was going to act on impulse.

When the leftover started to walk towards her, his heavy steps were thumping the ground, like every steps of his was waking up the dead. It was scary and his mere presence was strong enough to scare a lot of demons. Lucifer banned that demon and locked him somewhere with a reason and she was going to figure that reason on her skin.

When something wrapped around her waist, she already knew what that was. His arms elongated like they were made from rubber and brought her against his chest. She shuddered when she felt the same gross substance drip from the hole in his chest on her; it wasn’t because she was freaked out, it was because that substance was burning her skin like it was toxic. She squirmed, for facade, but even if it was genuine, the substance was burning her legs and her stomach so it was impossible to break out anyway.

When Mehrdir and Eneizar got inside the great hall, their eyes widened and froze for a moment. Right there, in the middle, was Zoe Lestrade, half of her skin dripping on the ground like it was water. Mehrdir could feel himself get scared because he knew if Zoe couldn’t fight a leftover, then he was doomed. The greed demon turned to Eneizar for support but even the great vanity demon was overwhelmed by the sight.

Suddenly, Zoe’s head turned towards the two demons and glared. Eneizar felt a chill shaken his whole body and took a step back out of reflex.

On the other side, Zoe felt their energies briefly because she had other problems to solve. She didn’t glare at them, she only noticed them but in her recent state it was the same thing. The leftover brought her in front of his face and much like she had seen before, the dot that represented his mouth enlarged by a lot, making it bigger than half of his face –which was actually very big, twice her head- and his tongue jumped out, licking the side of her face. It was very disturbing for more than one reason and that only amplified when the leftover brought her head into his mouth, ready to actually eat her.

“Zoe!” Mehrdir screamed, already losing every bit of brain he had and hurrying to her side.

The greed demon jumped on the leftover’s back but go quickly thrown away by the skin that sprang back like a ball. Eneizar watched as Mehrdir tried again and again to fight the leftover but was getting pushed aside, like he wasn’t worthy to even look at such a monster. In the end, the vanity demon interfered by jumping on his back, grabbing his mouth.

“We have to keep his mouth opened or else who knows what will happen!” Eneizar hissed, trying his best not to look in between his hands, where two black orbs were staring at him.

Mehrdir nodded but he wasn’t sure what to do; truthfully, he didn’t get the chance because Abaddon suddenly barged in right through the front door.

“Mehrdir! What a pleasure!” One of the most insufferable demons announced his appearance with a big bang; literally. Abaddon actually stomped his feet on the ground, making everything around the leftover crack and fall into abyss.

Eneizar’s eyes widened when he realized that if he were to be pushed away or lose his strength, he was going right into nothingness. Abaddon laughed loudly and walked to Mehrdir who couldn’t move.

“Mehrdir, Mehrdir, haven’t seen your smug face in such a long time,” Abaddon started, swaying his hand, throwing the greed demon to the far end of another corridor. “Let’s not disturb the leftover from dinner now,” He continued, a wide smirk appearing on his face.

With Mehrdir literally out of the picture, Eneizar felt a sudden gust of panic rush over him. He was trying his best to keep the leftover from closing his mouth around Zoe’s head but it was getting harder to keep his legs wrapped around the monster. Something sticky rushed out of his skin, making it very hard for Eneizar not to slide.

On the other side, Zoe was very calm; shockingly calm and blank. Of course, half of her body was dripping like it was liquid not skin and it hurt like fucking worse than what Asmodeus have done to her but that was fine. She wanted to suffocate the monster so she was patiently waiting for the right moment. Her eyes wandered down his throat and noticed the fluid in his stomach flow back into his lower throat region, which suddenly gave her an idea. Usually, acid re-flux could be caused by a number of reasons but she had to block his lung with something; she used her fist.

With swift moves, she squirmed enough to get her right hand free and shove it down his throat. The acid came up again and reached her fist, burning her knuckles. It was really bad and from an outside point of view, she was half inside his mouth.

Suddenly, her left hand glowed brightly and she opened her fist, energy going down his throat.

The leftover’s eyes widened and spit Zoe out. Eneizar got pushed back, his whole body freezing when he realized he was going to fall into the abyss. Zoe took a step back and watched the leftover choke on his own gastric juice before he exploded.

“Zoe?!” Eneizar screamed, grabbing her attention quickly.

Eneizar had a lot of luck when she moved quick enough to grab his foot. Even though half of her body was in a very bad condition, she had enough power to pull her demon up.

The vanity demon sighed before he jumped and hugged her tightly. Zoe didn’t budge, only flinched when he touched her back, the serpent moving slightly. Once he let her go, he noticed just how bad her lower half looked.

“It’s alright. He’s dead now so your body will begin to reattach by itself.” He whispered, frowning at how blank her face was.

Another thing that was different about her was, well, everything but- he felt it; the serpent became part of her soul and the endless knot could only protect half of her soul while letting the other half drown in the darkness. Her eyes were a mix of vanity and gluttony yet above everything, she looked broken.

“I’m sorry for Ezekiel,” Eneizar mumbled, grabbing her right hand. Zoe’s face contorted into a look of anger, remembering what she originally wanted to do.

“Where is Lucifer?” She asked in the emptiest voice Eneizar has ever heard in Hell. He sighed heavily and leaned back.

“On the field,” He mumbled, hearing a high pitched scream come from outside the mansion.

Zoe rose and jumped over the crack on the ground, making her way to Lucifer’s chair. It wasn’t a throne, not like Mammon’s, but it seemed significant for the vanity prince so she snatched it. She spun around and sat, crossing one leg over the other elegantly. Her legs came back together quicker than any demon before but then again; she was signed by two princes.

“Lead him to me,” She ordered her lips quirking into a smug smirk.

Eneizar frowned and turned around, facing the front door. For some reason, his hands were trembling and he was sure it wasn’t Lucifer’s fault.

On the battlefield, Lucifer was not fighting at all; more like watching demons give their lives for a purpose they were more or less interested in. Beelzebub’s legion arrived right when Leviathan got thrown by a behemoth, falling right at Beelzebub’s feet. The redhead helped the envy prince up and nodded. Leviathan’s eyes widened at the supremacy of Beelzebub’s legion. It was going as far as he could see and even beyond.

“Where have you kept them unnoticed?” The dragon-like demon asked his partner.

“Right in front of you; in front of everyone and everything,” He responded in that classical way of his.

Beelzebub was not a stupid demon and always chose not to fight but to deal with what was thrown at him. However, Lucifer’s pride and impatience were leading him to make mistakes that were getting Hell in a disadvantage against Heaven. Lucifer was messing with old prophecies; older than him and his little fallen angel story.

“The hero arrived,” Lucifer exclaimed, though it wasn’t very loud.

The fight was still going on yet Lucifer was standing in the middle of it, glaring at the gluttony prince with so much hatred. Beelzebub chuckled and stopped, letting the rest of his legion go help their comrades.