🎶 "When you want somebody gone and you don't wanna wait too long call the Immediate Murder Professionals!" 🎶
The commercial jingle briefly catches Mephisto's attention.
Three imps and one hellhound appears on the television screen, brutally murdering people on Earth. However, as far as Mephisto knows, only demons from the aristocracy, i.e. the Ars Goetia, the Seven Deadly Sins, and the Morningstar family, have access to the spells or artifacts that allow travel from Hell to Earth.
And yet there is no doubt that the people in the ad were real and that they had been murdered by the lowest tier of demons in Hell.
I wonder if these professionals have permission to do something like this.
He knows he should visit this I.M.P company and ask them a little, if they are doing their business legally. But Mephisto has neither the time nor is in the mood for that.
He arrived at the Pride Ring yesterday.
He is going to visit Lu Lu World at the Pentagram City again, for the first time in seven years.
He hates it here.
Pride Ring had always struck him as a hideous, corrupt, and overly busy. Mephisto always preferred the tranquility of the Sloth Ring and sometimes preferred the livelier and more playful atmosphere of the Gluttony Ring.
The only fond memories he has of the Pride Ring were those involving either his mother Lilith or his sister Charlie. Ideally both.
He remembers Lilith's concerts, where as children he and Charlie tried to imitate Lilith's dance in a backstage.
Their father, Lucifer, was also with them at these concerts. Concerts at Lu Lu World were the only place Lucifer spent time with Mephisto and Charlie.
It wasn't that their father didn't like them and didn't want to spend time with them. But Lucifer was always a very busy man. When he wasn't spending his time planning and building his projects in Lu Lu World, he was in the Wrath Ring, where he ruled alongside the other Deadly Sins as the King of Hell.
Mephisto never blamed his father and actually admired what he had achieved in Hell. However, seven years ago the situation changed considerably.
One day, for reasons unknown to Mephisto, Heaven decided that the sinners needed to be exterminated. He didn't mind that much, Mephisto never cared much for sinners, he actually despised them.
However, what bothered him about the whole affair, was the fact that Lucifer was too passive towards Heaven. Isn't Lucifer Morningstar the King of Hell? What gives angels the right to decide whether someone is to be exterminated or not?
Whatever...
Mephisto turned off the TV, got up lazily from the couch and went to change out of his pajamas.
He pulls out a neatly folded magenta shirt and black dress pants from the closet. After putting on his shirt and trousers, he stares at the black tie in the drawer for a while. His mother would tell him to wear it and help him tie it. Mephisto never learned how to properly tie a tie. And Lilith is not here. So he ends up leaving the tie in the drawer and grabs the comb instead.
In front of the mirror, he tries to conjure up at least a passable hairstyle from his messy average-length blond hair with thick honey-colored streaks and with long bangs hanging on the right side of his face.
When he finally thinks he looks decent, he picks up his cell phone from the nightstand.
The display shows:
7:00 a.m
December 30, 2023
He has a meeting with VoxTek Enterprises at 8 o'clock about a possible collaboration. While Mephisto has already made a name for himself in the other Rings, and is adored by hellborn demons from both the higher and lower ranks, he has never performed in the Pride Ring. Actually, Mephisto kept to the shadows all his life.
In truth, he was always interested in law. The Pride Ring has always been the most chaotic and dangerous Ring of Hell. Mephisto hoped that one day he could help either his father or his sister establish at least some order. His mother tried, but she wasn't very successful at it.
But that didn't matter anymore. His hopes that they could finally unite Hell and make it a less horrible place were dissipated the day Lilith left.
Therefore, Mephisto is now trying to get as close as possible to his parents in terms of power and authority. During his time in the other six Rings, in addition to fans, he also gained important allies among the Ars Goetia and the Seven Deadly Sins. The demon nobility are already gossiping about whether the heir to the throne is really Princess Charlotte Morningstar or whether Prince Mephistopheles Morningstar will decide to seize power.
Although Mephisto does not plan to deprive his older sister of the succession to the throne, he cannot completely rule out this possibility. Just as no one in the Pride Ring had heard of Lilith or Mephisto for seven years, so in the other six Rings no one had heard of Lucifer or Charlie for a long time.
This is one of the reasons why Mephisto also returned to the Pride Ring. He wants to know how his father and sister are doing. In addition, the question of where his mother actually is has been bothering him for a long time. He hadn't come across her in all the time he'd been traveling the Rings.
The more optimistic part of him would like to believe that Lilith has returned to Lucifer and that Mephisto will encounter her today in Lu Lu World. But the more cynical part of him told him, that she hadn't come back and is just good at hiding from her family.
I should hurry up. The V Tower is at the other side of Pentagram. Considering today's date, the sinners are going to be especially unhinged today, which means that the limousine and escort cars will take an especially long time to get to V Tower.
He takes a white trench coat from the hanger, puts it on, and then walks out of his apartment.
....
As he suspected, the journey through Pentagram City takes an infinite amount of time. The sinners completely barricaded various neighborhoods and decided to throw firecrackers at each other. Fires have been set in other neighborhoods as well, although that's not a big deal considering that not a day goes by without some moron deciding to set something on fire somewhere.
Yeah, the good old Pride Ring. Nostalgic memories are already surfacing, that I would prefer to erase from my head with electroshock therapy...
Apart from his chauffeur, a tall hellhound, Mephisto was alone in the limousine. That's why he is currently scrolling through the posts on Sinstagram.
Vassago, one of the Goetic Princes and Mephisto's allies made a post making fun of the future ex-wife of Stolas, another Goetic Prince. It turned out that Stolas cheated on his wife with some imp during their anniversary celebration.
Angry comments from Stella, still Stolas's wife, and from Andrealphus, Marquis of the Ars Goetia, appeared shortly after under the post.
Mephisto just rolled his eyes. He didn't know whose side to be on, and most importantly, it wasn't even his problem.
Suddenly, a van crashes into one of his security cars. This leads to a series of other crashes, which would have ended with the limousine crashing into a pile of wrecked cars if Mephisto hadn't used his magic to stop the limousine in time.
Which imbecile...? Just now when I'm in a hurry!
Mephisto gets out of the limo and looks at the pile of wrecked cars. In addition to his cars with security and a couple of other cars, there is also the van that caused the whole accident. And Mephisto is sure he's already seen this particular van today in a certain commercial.
If three quarters of an hour ago I was at peace with letting those four run around the Earth illegally, because it didn't seem like a serious problem to me, well, now I'm determined to give them a hard time for this.
....
"No, you don't have to worry Your Highness, we can easily postpone today's meeting for another time. I understand that traffic in Pentagram City is really busy today. How about we meet next week, hmm? At the same time? At least the streets will be emptier. You know, thanks to the annual Extermination. You won't have to worry about someone making your journey here uncomfortable again. Hahaha! Next week then, Your Highness."
As soon as Mephisto hangs up on the other end of the call, Vox's fake smile and sympathetic voice instantly disappears.
Bloody blue-blooded fop.
Although Vox is greatly upset by the sudden change of plan, he decides to be patient and accommodate the Prince of Hell for now. He suspects, that his alliance with this whippersnapper could greatly strengthen his position as Overlord.
Suddenly, a call from Velvette appears on the display of the screen, that is both the TV and Vox's head.
"What the hell is that supposed to mean Vox? Why did Prince Morningstar decide not to come here at the last minute? Does that asshole even know how much time it took me to prepare everything?"
"Velvette, my dear, Prince Morningstar had an accident on the way here, probably due to the rampant pre-Extermination madness. We agreed that he would arrive here next week."
"Next week? The prince deigns to come with such an enormous delay, and we don't even know, if he will make a deal with us? That's really great Vox!"
Velvette is beside herself with rage. As the Overlord of Social Media, she's already started hinting that something big is afoot at V Tower. Some sinners are already debating that the Vees will soon have a new ally or even a new member, and a handful of sinners are already trying to guess who it might be.
By postponing the meeting and eventual agreement, there will now be room for unflattering gossip and questions.
"What if that person changed their mind?"
"And for what reason?"
"Who can afford to reject the Vees?"
"Are the Vees even as powerful as they claim?"
Possible intrusive questions from journalists begin to flood Velvette's mind. And with the increasing number of these questions, also rises her panic and anger.
"Screw him! We don't seem to be a priority for him, so why-?"
"Velvette, we can't just ignore the opportunity to make a contract with a member of the royal family. Be patient, sweetie."
"Ugh. Well, I guess I can distract journalists and people on social media from us to Extermination for a week... Which reminds me, thanks to the postponement of the meeting, we don't even know what the prince actually thinks about Extermination or if he plans to do anything about it."
"Well, I guess that will have to wait until after this year's Extermination. Or are you that much worried about our fellow citizens, Vel?"
"Oh fuck you Vox! Neither of us gives a damn about other sinners."
Velvette's rage couldn't hide the fear in her voice. Vox doesn't know if she's worried about herself or someone else, and he couldn't care less.
"Then next week's meeting won't be a problem, will it? We're safe from the exorcists and as for those poor souls out there... They really don't matter."
"In that case, I'll also let Val know that Prince Morningstar won't be arriving today."
"Sure, thanks."
As soon as the demoness hangs up, Vox leans against the back of his chair. He has no idea what the prince is up to, but he's sure he'll find out soon. And once he finds out, he'll hopefully be able to use the prince's goal to make a really lucrative deal.