Debitum Infernalis Ch. 03

"I see, makes sense then, what will you do with Ahbramonias?"

"Well for one he would be a powerful slave, but also he's old, I need some of his ancient knowledge."

"I'm surprised with all that power he wasn't a better fighter, I mean during our fight I was close to killing him."

"Yes, he is a middle level demon, think of him like a manager, higher on the scale than the average person, but still a servant to the true bosses. Warlocks use these demons because they are powerful but not too much to be impossible to control like the greater demons."

"So we actually have a chance?"

"If we play our cards right yes we do."

That night Ryan was ready, to go to sleep. While he was still unnerved by magic he felt hopeful about the future. Then he heard a crash, something had clashed with the trash can, however what triggered his alarms was the sound of a cry of pain, someone had entered the house. With fast and efficient movements, he grabbed his shotgun and moved to the window. The trash can was just in front of his window, he pointed the weapon and shouted.

"Who's there?! Reveal yourself! Now!"

Luckily the street lights provided enough light to see two male figures, as his eyes got used to the dark he was able to identify them and was surprised. He recognized mister Andrews and Collin, his wife's boss and assistant. Collin was on the ground groaning, he was the one who clashed with the can. Surprised Ryan asked.

"Mister Andrews...? Why... what the hell are you doing here?!"

Collin gave Ryan an angry look and shouted losing control over himself.

"We know what you did to Alicia!"

"What?!" Asked Ryan confused.

"We know you were the one who killed her!"

Mister Andrews placed a hand on Collin's shoulder, trying to calm him since the young man didn't seem to realize Ryan was armed and technically they were the trespassers. With a modulated but firm, voice mister Andrews spoke.

"Well seems there's no point in hiding it, yes we know Alicia's death wasn't caused by a storm, we know everything about the case, and we also know her mother didn't die because of the storm either. The truth will be revealed we'll make sure it is."

Ryan felt his anger burn from his stomach, yes he had been a suspect of his in law death and Alicia's disappearance, but he thought that was already over, even worst he was as much a victim as them and was the only one doing something to actually save Alicia. Furious at the accusations Ryan considered actually shooting right there, after all they were the trespassers, the law would be on his side. Ryan breathed deeply, no, killing them would lead to nothing.

"Get away from there! I don't want to see you again!" Shouted Ryan.

"You won't evade justice forever Ryan! We'll make sure you don't!" Said mister Andrews before both men left.

Ryan watched as they left, he would call the police later, the security cameras of his house would provide enough proof. Ryan just wanted this nightmare to end.

The two weeks had passed, tonight was the ritual day, Ryan had prepared everything, the materials for the ritual had already been delivered. Luckily years as a hunter meant Ryan actually had some weaponry and fighting skills, he packed some knifes a gun and his shotgun he was wearing his hunting clothes, the dark brown shirt and pants were simple and comfortable. He put everything in his car and made sure he was ready. After finishing, he returned home to say goodnight to Jhonny. He found him in bed ready to sleep.

"Daddy why do you act weird?" Asked the boy.

"Huh, what do you mean buddy?"

"Since you meet Mariana you have been weird, like when you have important work, but this time you seem tired and sad." Explained the child worried. Ryan's heart warmed, obviously Jhonny was a smart child.

"Let's just say I have a very important job tonight and I'm just nervous, I need to do it right."

"Oh but you always do your job right, you are amazing." Said the child smiling.

"I hope so, thank you buddy, now time to sleep, good night."

"Good night daddy." Ryan was on the verge of tears when he left, but at least now he felt confident in what he was doing.

Ryan arrived at Mariana's house after leaving a sleeping Jhonny, as soon as he arrived he was received by Michael who had a serious face.

"Hi, Mariana is in the basement, she's ready, follow me."

The men arrived at the basement, Ryan was surprised by its size, it was under almost half the house surface. The room was mostly empty with a table containing some lab equipment and bookcases lined with tomes, the ceiling, floor and walls were made of clear grey stone. In the middle of it Mariana and Zaira had drawn a circle with many runes and symbols inside, they were dressed in simple comfortable clothes.

"Hi" Said Mariana while showing her true hellish form and dressed with tight black clothes meant for comfort "Everything's ready, I hope you are prepared." Ryan dropped his bag and showed her his weapons "Good, let's hope it is enough. Anyway, as I already said the plan is simple but not easy, we are going to enter hell and find Alicia, you and Michael will be the muscle in case it's needed."

"Understood let's don't waste time then." Answered Ryan.

Before the ritual Mariana placed some enchantments on the men's weapons, supposedly to make them more effective against supernatural beings, Ryan saw Michael had a pair of revolvers.

After everything was ready Mariana told them to enter the circle. Then she and Zaira started some chant in an unknown language, the circle started to shine with a purple light and soon Ryan felt some nausea, as if the ground was moving, then the light surrounded him making impossible to see anything, after some seconds the world seemed to stay still again. Ryan opened his eyes, it took him a minute to adjust to the darker conditions. They were in a room that seemed to be carved on the rock, it was lighted by ghostly green lights an opening leading to a corridor.

"Well here we are, stay alert and be ready for anything, there shouldn't be many demons in this area." Said Mariana "Michael and I will lead, Ryan you and Zaira will cover our backs."

"Understood" Said Ryan, they quickly accommodated as told.

Ryan felt his muscles tensing as they moved through the corridor. Mariana held Alicia's ring using some spell to help locate her. They walked in silence, Ryan tried to keep himself oriented but the labyrinth of corridors soon confused his sense of orientation. An anxious Ryan spoke.

"Are we close? It feels like an eternity."

"Yes and no, this place seems to have multiple levels we may have to find a way to climb, the spell indicates she's above us..."

A groaning sound interrupted Mariana, everyone readied themselves. From the corridors, many guttural voices came.

"Maybe we should hide until..." Michael was interrupted as a draconic figure emerged from a corridor followed by another four similar creatures, the beasts roared. Immediately both men jumped into action and shot at the demons, two of them fell. A ball of blue fire emerged from Mariana's hand burning another two, the last one flew away getting lost in the corridors before they could stop it.

"Shit!" Swore Michael "There goes the stealthy plan."

"We knew it wouldn't be easy." Sentenced Mariana "Stay close and pay attention, they will probably send reinforcements."

"If we move right away we may be able to avoid the reinforcements, at least for some time." Suggested Ryan.

"Good idea, let's move." Answered Mariana.

The group now more stressed than ever marched quickly.

Alicia was bored, giving audiences was the most tedious thing to her, of course she would do anything her master willed, but that didn't change her feelings. While they heard a petitioner, she heard some shouting outside, then saw the door open and a warrior entered the room.

"Master there are intruders on the palace!" Announced the warrior half panting. Everyone in the room started muttering worried.

"Silence!" Ordered Ahbramonias angry "What exactly happened?"

"We were patrolling the lower levels when we heard steps, we investigated and found the intruders, three humans and a demon, one of the humans can use magic, they killed the rest of the patrol and I came here."

"Captain put the guard on alert immediately, I want them dealt with NOW!"

"Yes, my lord." Said another warrior. The warriors reunited and after some talk left the room.

Alicia was curious, she had no memory of ever interacting with humans other than the damned souls of hell, a part of her was curious and somehow hopeful? She didn't know why, but she actually wanted to at least met the humans, maybe even interact with them.

"We will stay here, my dear, the guards will keep this room safe." Said Ahbramonias "The audiences are suspended, everyone who's not a guard or servant leave now!"

The petitioners left the room in silence and the door was sealed, Ahbramonias got outside to talk to the guards. Meanwhile, Alicia was alone with her maids.

"Humans? Like me?" Asked Alicia.

"So it seems mistress, this is really surprising." Said Miira.

"Why?"

"Well, it's really hard for a human to get in hell in the first place, whoever brought them here must be a really powerful warlock, especially if it was able to kill so many demons that easily."

"So are we in danger? What could they want?"

"I don't know, miss Alicia, let's just wait till the danger passes."

Miira looked Kiira in the eye, they did know why the humans were here, they just hoped this was the chance they wanted to save Alicia.

The four advanced through the corridors, on the bright side they found the stair, however it was plagued by demons. As they ascended Ryan kept shooting, luckily for them the demons only used melee weapons, making it easy to deal with them, also Mariana and Zaira used their spells to quickly dispatch multiple foes at once, as useful as that was, it made Ryan trust magic even less.

"We are getting close to it!" Announced Mariana, they moved to a corridor, here the number of demons seemed specially high, Ryan immediately noticed it.

"Mariana!"

"I know, HE must be close."

They kept firing and trying to advance, but the enemies kept coming, eventually they reached a door with many symbols carved on it.

"This is it!" Said Mariana.

"They kept coming, we can't enter with all of them here!" Said Ryan.

"Michael, Zaira kept the ones here occupied we'll try to face Ahbramonias."

"Okay, but be quick we won't last too long." Said Zaira, with a hand gesture the succubus created a small tornado of blue fire roasting multiple foes in a moment, she seemed exhausted though.

Mariana placed her hand on the door, and after muttering some words, the many symbols on the door disappeared and the door opened by itself violently she and Ryan entered. Inside Ryan saw two thrones, on one of them he saw the familiar yet distorted figure of Alicia, she looked at him with curiosity and wonder as if he was some exotic animal she had never had seen, at her sides two succubi stood. Ryan tried to reach her, a cry from Mariana returned him to reality.

"Ryan!"

He barely turned in time to see Ahbramonias charging against him, he was tackled and thrown to the ground. The demons from outside had pushed Michael and Zaira into the room surrounded by enemies they could do nothing to help Ryan.

Alicia felt weird, many contradicting emotions fought on her chest. When she saw the human another feeling of deja vu appeared, but this one was even weirder, for one she felt some sympathy for him. The human had pulled a knife and wounded her master, and now they were fighting, as powerful as the master was the human seemed to be very athletic and an experienced warrior. For some reason she didn't want him hurt, though she didn't want her master hurt neither. With a feeling of angst she watched their fight, why did she care about this human? She should only care about her master, in fact she didn't care about the other humans, why him? Also his name, what did the witch called him? Ryan? Again, the deja vu and some warm feeling, she thought the name was pretty, why?

Then she heard the witch's voice amidst the commotion, she was in the air using her spells to deal with the master's warriors.

"Alicia! You have to remember! You aren't Ahbramonias slave! Your husband is trying to save you, you are the only one who can help him!"

Alicia's feelings became even more chaotic. She had a headache as many contradicting thoughts crossed her mind, she placed her hands on her head confused. Then she felt a hand on each of her shoulders she raised her gaze to see her maids tenderly smiling at her.

"Mistress Alicia, she's right." Said Kiira "You have to remember please."

"What...?"

"Remember mistress, remember what you told us about your family, about your husband who's here now, about your child who must be waiting for you." Said Miira.

Alicia was confused but a voice inside her urged her to help the human man, the words of her maids reinforced those feelings, they always cared for her, and yes she vaguely remembered telling them something she didn't want to forget, something important and valuable.

"Alicia I need to know Ahbramomias sigil it's the only way to defeat him." Claimed the witch. Ahbramonias laughed.

"It's useless she's been fully subdued, she would never help you!"

"Mistress you are the only one with enough free will to do that, we are bound by magic to not reveal the master's sigil, only you can save your husband." Said Kiira.

The voice inside Alicia trying to help the human was getting louder, then she heard a shout.

"Alicia!" cried Ryan unable to say more in the heat of battle. Alicia looked at him and their eyes locked on each other, a warm tender feeling crossed Alicia, in that moment he told her more than all the words the others had said. Their eye contact was broken by another attack from Ahbramonias. Alicia's heart filled with fear for his life, but also with resolution. Alicia stood from the throne her body shaking as she fought the spells meant to bind her, with a clumsy movement she grabbed her garment's chest area and with a brusque movement tore the fabric causing a loud sound as the cloth ripped revealing her chest area. With a strained voice, Alicia cried towards Mariana.

"This...t-this is...it, this...is...the s-s-sigil..." Alicia fought to keep Ahbramonias sigil visible for Mariana as the magic in her tried to force her to obey. On the other side of the room Mariana smiled triumphantly while looking at the symbol.

"Noooo!" Cried Ahbramonias fearful for once in his life, trying to reach Alicia to stop her.

Ryan took advantage of his distraction and stabbed him in the back making him kneel. Mariana fixed her eyes on the sigil and started the words of a spell, the words increased in tone until she was shouting, then Ahbramonias sigil appeared on his own chest as a shining purple light. The demon roared as if tortured then Mariana's powerful authoritative voice resounded in the room making the stomach of all the present resound.

"Quiet, NOW!"

All of Ahbramonias minions suddenly stopped as if invisible hands held them in place, their distressed faces and the occasional twitch in their muscles revealed they were trying to fight the influence. Mariana smiled, a cold victorious smile, she descended to the ground and slowly walked accompanied by the exhausted Michael and Zaira, Ryan was holding Ahbramonias in place with the last of his strength though there was no need to hold him. Alicia felt Mariana's influence on herself, before her master was the most important thing in the world, now she felt his place usurped by Mariana, her will to obey now redirected to the witch.

"Now release Alicia from the spells you placed on her." Ahbramonias groaned but a light appeared in his hand "Ryan, you no longer need to hold him, you need to rest."

As soon as he heard it Ryan's tense body relaxed, the sudden stop of his effort made him fall to the ground, Michael moved to catch him and held him, then helped him sit on the ground against a wall. The tattoos on Alicia's skin vanished as if absorbed by her skin then her memories returned suddenly like a tsunami breaking on her mind.

After some seconds overwhelmed and paralyzed, she recovered and reacted.

"Ryan!" Alicia cried and used her wings to fly quickly towards her husband, she arrived to see a battered Ryan trying to stand "Ryan! Oh my god." She threw her arms around him in a loving manner, tears falling from her eyes "Ryan, oh you are here I thought I would never see you again!" She buried her face in his chest trying to not hurt him more.

"It's okay, I'm alive." Said a happy Ryan with difficulty "I finally... found you... Alicia." In response Alicia raised her face to look at his eyes, then kissed him deeply in an almost possessive way. At first, Ryan was surprised by Alicia's altered tongue reaching deeper than a human tongue could, but his affection was heavier and he returned her kiss with equal enthusiasm ignoring her transformed anatomy.

After they broke the kiss, they realized Mariana and Zaira were talking with Alicia's maids.

"Ryan, I need to help them." Said Alicia.

"Why?"

"They took care of me all this time I can't leave them."

"Okay."

Alicia moved towards Mariana.

"Please! Don't hurt them they helped me." Asked Alicia.

"We weren't planning to." Answered Mariana "As you might have noticed I have a fondness for the succubi, I just asked them if more of them are enslaved. I plan on liberating the succubi and then force the warriors to serve the succubi once they are liberated."

"Thank you." Said Alicia "I want to ask another thing."

"What is it?" Asked Mariana curious.

"Can you let these two come with me to the human world?"

Mariana smiled.

"Yes, but you'll have to make sure they cause no trouble on earth."

"I will." Mariana looked at the defeated Ahbramonias "You heard her, release the succubi all the ones you have enslaved."

Ahbramonias groaned but obeyed casting the needed spell, the tattoos on the succubi disappeared. As soon as they were freed Kiira broke into tears and threw herself into Miira's arms.

"I-i-it's over...? It's f-finally over?" Asked Kiira as if fearing it was just a dream.

"Yes." Said miira sweetly "It's finally over." They embraced each other tenderly "Thank you miss Alicia." Alicia smiled.

"It's the least I could do."

"Now with your permission we have to reorganize this place." Said Mariana.

It took some minutes to talk to the succubi freed from their slavery and give the warriors their new orders, Ahbramonias face was distorted with rage, but he could do nothing. Meanwhile, Ryan and Alicia were in the throne room cuddling together on the steps before the throne. Alicia's maids were there keeping their distance to give them space.

"I'm sorry." Said Ryan "For letting this happen, for taking so long."

"It wasn't your fault, what you did was pretty much a miracle, and I love you for being capable of doing it." Said Alicia.

They hugged, then Ryan noticed Alicia's round belly, he'd already know she was pregnant, he placed a hand on her belly. Alicia looked down as if she did something shameful.

"I'm sorry." Said Alicia.

"It wasn't your fault." Responded Ryan.

"Pardon me for interrupting." Said Miira "But the baby isn't Ahbramonias' child, it's human, we presume mister Ryan is the father." Alicia looked at her with hope.

"Really? But, how?"

"Remember the night that monster appeared for the first time?" Said Ryan. Yes, Alicia now remembered, the last night she spent with Ryan before this nightmare. The couple smiled and both placed their hands on Alicia's belly tenderly, then kissed again.

After finishing reorganizing Ahbramonias realm, the group reunited to return home with Ahbramonias and Alicia's maids.