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This story is based off of Alex Reynard's Hell, a story series that i immensely enjoy and endorse, and i hope i do it justice with my writing style.", "description_bbcode_parsed": "This is really a teaser and a placeholder, i'm trying my hardest to continue this story and give it the attention it deserves. This story is based off of Alex Reynard's Hell, a story series that i immensely enjoy and endorse, and i hope i do it justice with my writing style.", "writing": "“Urgh… you’ve gotta be kidding me…” the red fox had his eyes clenched shut as soon as he impacted the hard floor beneath him. He had wanted to get to Daemonum; apparently Damo had something to show him that was vastly important. Though, knowing the demon of Lust, chances were it was going to be some new sex toy of his invention. The fox grumbled in his mind about just why he thought it was imperative enough to quick cast the portal spell to the demon world, but the thoughts were jarred from his mind the moment his eyes opened.\n\nHe was sitting on a ship in the middle of an endless ocean. Well, ship was a bit of a polite term; it was more a dinghy of aged wood with even more worn oars jutting out from the sides. The waves lapped softly against the side, and gulls cried out in the distance, a pair of them even brave enough to light themselves onto the prow. The fox man looked down at himself curiously to find that his clothes had been removed by something, and instantly a feeling of nervousness shot into his mind. His nearly-apple-red fur was all that was covering him, though he still had the large golden ring locked around his arm. His clothes were gone, which probably meant that whatever had him brought here had the power to disarm him, too.\n\nHe was decently tall for his age, and of course he had the usual markings of a fox: white belly fur, white muzzle with an orange bridge, brown paws, bushy tail, fluffy ears… and long red hair which was currently getting in his eyes. He reached up to brush the hair out of the way, thinking to himself ‘just how did my braid fall out of place?’ when a feeling stopped his mind once more. Were those… horns?!\n\n“What the hell is going on here? I might be a demon, but this is just a stereotypical joke! Someone! Anyone! What’s going on here?!” he cried out to the empty sky all around him, the gulls on the prow rocketing off of the boat with an indignant squeal. His eyes scanned the horizon, trying to find land or a person or some sign of an answer when he suddenly heard a loud splash behind him. Jumping almost as high as a grasshopper on crack the man spun around and came face-to-face with another fox he recognized instantly.\n\n“… Jared?” He quickly shot a hand out to grab the now sputtering and soaked younger fox and drug him onto the boat. His light gray fur was matted and jutting out at odd angles, including the black headfur with purplish-red streaks in it. His right ear was almost completely blue, save for the inside which was white. His paws were also blue in coloration, and most people mistook them for colored gloves at a distance. He knew this fox as intimately as anyone could imagine, as they were brothers. Well, half-brothers to be precise.\n\n“Jared… thank god you’re okay…” he scooped the shocked and bedraggled little brother into a hug, taking note of the fact that he was naked as well. Was this a trick of Damo’s? He looked around impotently once more, trying to figure out just where they could be when he decided to rely on some of his own magic. Slowly he concentrated on the land of Daemonum, with its crumbling towers and bleak gray stone walkways and brought his hand up to his eyes, rubbing them as if he was weary or annoyed. He could feel the energy flowing through his body, the heat of the demon blood, and then all at once a searing pain flew through his body.\n\n “AGH!” he cut off the spell instantly, the younger brother shaking his arm quickly.\n\n“Cale! Brother, are you okay?” both fox’s ears were bent back, one in a show of worry, the other in a fit of pain.\n\n“… I’ll live…” Cale grunted heavily through his clenched muzzle, the pain already dying down. He was about to speak again when the world around them suddenly morphed from the middle of the sea to a… well, it couldn’t really be described as much of anything. Suffice to say it looked like it was made of crystal, hard as stone, and completely contained. There were no windows, no doors, nothing. It was a murky purple coloration all around them, and it seemed to glow with an unnatural light.\n\n“… Brother…?” Jared’s voice piped in quietly. “I-I’m scared… Where are we…?” Cale was cursing his luck. He had hoped that Jared wasn’t going to ask that.\n\n“… I… I don’t know, Jared… But you shouldn’t be afraid… We can take whatever comes at us. Remember, we’re the foremost demon bounty hunters earth will ever have the pleasure not to know about.” The older brother quipped quite dryly. And it was a fact. Because of those two several criminal circles and occult miscreants had been dealt with. As a matter of fact they had just been fresh off of a mission hunting down yet another demon dust dealer when Damo had contacted them, the black wolf frenzied about something of vast importance. He hugged his brother even closer, and neither noticed the sound of a door opening behind them with the sound of a rusty hinge. \n\n~~~~~\n\nA tall and rather intimidating looking jackal stalked down a semi-busy avenue, an air of impatience about his form. His red eyes shone with untold potential and energy, the orange flecks within forming a wild ring in the iris that made it reminiscent of flames. His dirty lime green fur was neatly thinned and he had a thick black band of fur around his left arm where his skin had once been tattooed. He was wearing a thick black leather jacket paired with dark gray pants of indeterminate fabric, and his somewhat larger ears were pierced seven times each, forming a bridge up the outside edges.\n\nHe tromped down the sidewalks of a rather pleasant neighborhood; the tall houses with their perfectly painted windowsills and well groomed lawns smiled on either side of him, but he was paying no heed to them. No, they were already dealt with by many others in his little group of tour guides. He had no interest in guiding those damned souls around; he was much more interested in honing his skills and to hell with those who were too weak to carry on. He smirked silently to himself. To hell with them – ha - They were already there, after all.\n\nHe was quickly approaching the room of the baptism, where newlydeads happened to grace the lower levels with their presence. He twisted his hand in midair and conjured a tightly bound book with blue covers and no title in a puff of smoke. He always hated the fact that their magic had to show outward signs of use, it was already bad enough that he had to show the puff of smoke, but one of his coworkers went so far as to make a damned laser show out of it. Snapping back to attention he thumbed through the first couple of pages until he found the names of his latest charges. Cale and Jared Elahi, aged 22 and 17 respectively, level of sin… Naughty (oh how he hated the foolish names…), greatest sin… Cale murder, Jared… The page was blank.\n\nFinally he had arrived at the crystal room of the baptism and reached into a pocket in his pants, pulling a bright white metal key forth and touching it to the side as if searching for a keyhole. Instantly a sharp black line cut its way through the thick walling and fell away, revealing the two foxes inside cradled together like the rest of the weaklings who recently found themselves dead. He stepped inside, his sneakered feet barely making a noise, though it still alerted the elder to the intrusion. This impressed him he had to admit.\n\n~~~~~\n\nIt wasn’t until the first few foot-falls that Cale jerked to life, leaping to his feet and attempting to summon forth his sword. The gold ring on Cale’s arm glowed with wicked red flames for a split second before another wave of pain flew through his form. He crumpled to the ground, clutching his head and letting out a low wail of agony, Jared rushing to his side. Confusingly enough, so did the figure that had been previously walking in on them. He was a rather oddly dressed green jackal, and his demeanor seemed rather cold. His ears were pierced seven times each, running up the outside edge of his rather large ears, and his eyes, a deep crimson, were flecked with orange and gave the impression of flickering flames.\n\n“Is he alright?” The jackal’s voice was deeper than one would expect. Jared shivered as he was torn between assisting his brother and repelling the stranger. His mind was a blur presently, and it still hadn’t hit him that the jackal couldn’t possibly mean harm if he was asking about the well-being of Cale. Finally his mind came to a conclusion and he scooped the older brother up, trying to drag him a little way away from the jackal. The jackal in turn held his arm out to stop him.\n\n“You shouldn’t move… a person who… might be injured…” His accent was nearly impossible to place, and his voice seemed to drag along as he spoke, making it seem like he was having issues speaking English. He blinked blearily a couple of times before continuing to talk to the boy who wouldn’t respond.\n\n“My name is… Kaldrik Haverstadt… People call me… Kald…” He tried his best to give a disarming smile, but the sudden revelation of massively long canines did little to calm Jared’s nerves. Slowly he moved into position to protect Cale, who was slowly recovering from his second wave of inexplicable pain.\n\n“L-Leave my brother alone…!” Kald’s eyes sank to the grown fox on the ground curiously.\n\n“… You aren’t meant… to see each-other… until after you’re… spoken to alone… I was meant… to tell you... both the news…” Jared screwed up his courage to speak once more.\n\n“Tell us what?” the words seemed to echo off of the crystal walls. It seemed to be the ‘million dollar question’ as it were. Slowly Kald pointed to both of them in turn and made a painfully universal and unmistakable gesture. He drew his finger slowly across his throat, and Jared’s face fell. A noticeable cracking noise rang through the room, announcing the appearance of an ugly looking line drawing its way through the walls around them. Jared’s eyes, usually a shining purple with gold flecks, seemed diminished and dull, and he looked down at Cale, who had now recovered only to hear the dreadful news.\n\n“But… we can’t have died… we can’t be dead…” Cale echoed himself a few more times before his mind resigned itself to the facts. Kald snapped his fingers and a large sheaf of paper slammed on the ground in front of him. It looked like it was loosely bound with three metal rings, and was easily larger than a phonebook; possibly even bigger than most of the ancient folios of magic that Cale kept in his room. Kneeling down, Kald ran his finger over page after page until finally he apparently found what he was looking for.\n\n“Elahi… Cale and Jared… ex viva…” the jackal’s jaw dropped and he quickly waved his hand, the list disappearing just as quickly as it had appeared; completely free of fanfare or flare.\n\n“You two must come with me.” Without awaiting an answer Kald leapt to his feet, and it looked like he was grabbing at the air until he yanked his arm downward, tearing a ragged hole in the middle of nothingness. Cale’s eyes widened and his heart started hammering in his chest, and Jared’s ears lowered in worry. He couldn’t feel the suction that Cale did, and he didn’t see from his point of view the screaming black void inside the tear. He was about to protest when the jackal’s hand clenched down remarkably hard on his wrist, wrenching him to his feet and making him let out a painful yip. Jared jumped to the offensive and threw a single punch at the back of Kald’s head, but without even looking or acknowledging the attack the man had quite easily ducked out of the path, grabbing hold of the arm and throwing him through the portal. With one last look at the room, taking note of the crack in the walls, Kald leapt through the portal, plunging he and his passenger into darkness.\n\nHe had to admit… These Elahi Brothers weren’t the usual tenants of Hell.\n\nChapter 2\n\nThe path through the darkness continued for a short while and the further they went the louder the wailing seemed to get to Cale. His mind focused on Jared and he opened his mouth to yell out to him, but the suction feeling on his fur told him it might not be a good idea. He had no clue what was going on, and he didn’t know what Kald was mumbling under his breath just a few seconds before their impromptu trip through solidified darkness. The jackal didn’t seem to want to volunteer any information either, and that was annoying enough for the fox.\n\n‘We can’t be dead… the portal to Daemonum doesn’t work that way… so something else must have happened.’ The fox assaulted his mind for answers. What could have happened to turn the magic awry? ‘Come on, think you overgrown furball, you’re demonkin, you must’ve read something about it!’ He was far too concerned with his recollections of his encyclopedias of magic to notice the stark white opening coming closer and closer. It wasn’t until it was just upon them that he faced the portal, flying through and falling rather unceremoniously in an inconvenient and less-than-flattering position.\n\nHe was sprawled out spread eagle on the ground. A few other fursons that happened to be milling around near their landing point all looked at him with smiles on their faces, giggling and catching the attention of their friends to see. Right as he had cleared the portal his eyes had clenched shut out of instinct, but slowly he opened them to find his muzzle inches from a sheath. It wasn’t just any sheath, either, as he slowly looked up into Jared’s eyes, which seemed to have a superior look broadcasted quite openly on them.\n\n“Enjoying the view, big brother?” he couldn’t help but utter the phrase. It may have been true that they were in an unfamiliar place, but the two of them were no strangers to awkward sexual moments. Cale almost instantly blushed; making it look like the fur was beginning to mimic the rest of his body. He was about to respond when his ears picked up the sound of loud low banging emanating from his right.\n\nHis eyes beheld the jackal from before standing in front of the largest doors he had ever seen in his life. They appeared to be hewn out of ancient moldering stone, several indecipherable glyphs engraved thereon. It had only been a couple seconds since the knock when a booming voice echoed from the other side of the door:\n\n“*OH WHAT NOW?!*” the large stone doors almost seemed to shudder on their hinges before they slammed open, large black hands reaching out and grasping both Kald and the brothers and pulling them in, slamming the doors behind them as if they had been made of plywood.\n\n~~~~~\n\nCale hardly had time to register the large bookshelves on either side of them, full to the brim with papers. The room was a blur as they approached a large table near the end. There was a golden desk lamp, a large stack of paper, and an even larger creature sitting behind it, absently reaching for a mug and taking a deep draught of whatever was held in it. He looked quite convincingly like a cross between several creatures, including a goat, a serpent, a wolf, a lion, and possibly a couple of other species thrown in just to stave off the creator’s boredom.\n\nThe large wall of a man’s eyes suddenly jerked upwards, and one of the most uncharacteristic voices issued forth. It almost sounded like a weathered old man who didn’t know the meaning of solemnity, and it had a sort of jauntiness to it that reminded Cale of a rather kind man that belied the beast before him.\n\n“… Oh! Kaldy!” The jackal cringed ever-so-slightly at the name. “It’s been a while since you had a charge… oh, charges I see, plural. Welcome! But why ever could you find it necessary to pay me a visit? Can’t you see all the paperwork I’m so ecstatic to continue?” the sarcasm was thick at the end of his speech as the rather silent jackal conjured up the single page from his list before and set it on the desk in front of the large red man. He scanned the page until he saw something that obviously shouldn’t have been there, and before he could control himself the words burst forth.\n\n“Ex Viva? Ex Viva?!” Result Alive. Cale’s heart leapt; were they talking about him and Jared?\n\n“You’re still alive… and yet somehow found your way into Hell? Well this changes everything.” He was interrupted by a small red creature with lanky arms and a squat body plopping a pile of papers on the table, inches from the big man’s hand.\n\n“Ah, perfect timing, l’il guy.” The little red thing looked up into his eyes and gave a jaunty salute.\n\n“Anytime, Beelzy.” Beelzy? Beelzebub?\n\n“e-excuse me…” Cale had finally found his voice, but this didn’t stop Jared from looking over at his older brother with concern. The red man paused, silently egging Cale on. “Correct me if I’m mistaken; please, lord, correct me if I’m mistaken… but… you’re… you’re Satan, aren’t you?”\n\nThe red man let out a booming laugh and slammed a rather meaty hand on the table. Kald stood stock still, no signs of mirth on his face, and the stark contrast between the two set a furson on edge. Were they supposed to be relaxed or on alert? Was this laughter happy or was it a warning that something was about to happen?\n\n“Y’know, not a lot of people get assigned to Kaldy here. Part of me wonders why you were as well, cuz I gotta tell ya, ya don’t seem like the straight to business type. But to answer your question, yes, I’m Satan, Old Scratch, Big Red, Saint Nicholas, Lucifer, yadda ya… But this isn’t about me. This is about you two. Namely, how in the name of here you got… well… here!” He let out another hearty guffaw, conjured up a full-body mirror, and gestured for Cale to step in front of it. Not being one to disobey an ageless being of untold power, he quickly stepped into place and stared at his reflection, which quickly warped and faded away to a familiar scene.\n\n~~~~~\n\n“Come on, Jared, Damo’s got something to tell us. He’s going nuts down there in Daemonum, so it must be something important…” Cale watched himself walking into the middle of the living room, beckoning for Jared who quickly ran up to his side. The scene suddenly flickered over to a black wolf dressed quite scantily with a black leather collar around his neck, complete with a silver tag with a picture of a white cat man’s face. He was looking over a large and aged book, his brow knitted in fierce concentration. Suddenly he slammed his hands down on the table, a string of expletives leaving his mouth as he scrambled for his cell phone.\n\nDamo punched at the keypad of his phone frantically, he had to hurry. The sense of urgency was almost palpable to even Jared who was looking into the mirror from the side. The wolf growled and paced the small room he was standing in, coming close to knocking down the lectern which held the leather bound tome.\n\n“Come on, Cale… Answer, dammit…” The answering service responded and Damo practically chucked the phone across the room.\n\n“No! NO! … if only I had read it sooner… ” the mirror wavered and vanished from view, the big red man’s face a show of concern.\n\n“Well, I gotta say I never would have imagined something like this happening. Hell isn’t meant to be accessible by any living creature.” He scratched at his chin thoughtfully “We’re going to need a few days to figure out just what’s going on here. In the mean time-” he clapped his hands together once and two elegant scrolls unfurled from thin air in front of them. In looping grandiose lettering the brothers read the following:\n\n‘We the undersigned, of sound mind, do hereby bequeath our souls to the confines of Hell.’ Both Cale and Jared were about to protest when the lettering on the papers wriggled violently, flying across the plane of the paper and rearranging into a new format.\n\n‘We the undersigned, of sound mind, do hereby bequeath our souls temporarily to the confines of Hell. We understand that failure to do so would result in our dissolution and extrication from the fabric of being (hereby known as ‘The Immortal Coil’) and that in forfeiting our souls we will be given room, board, and amnesty here ever after from any harmful agent (hereby known as ‘God’).’ Cale blinked stupidly a couple of times.\n\n“Is God really the only harmful agent you could think of?” the Devil’s eyes shone and he let out a good chuckle.\n\n“You really know how ta focus on the small details, eh? Well, you have a point, bucko that God isn’t the only thing to be afraid of. Though if I can keep him at bay, you can rest assured that the others don’t even stand a chance.” Cale hummed to himself, his tail bristling lightly before he turned to Jared. He hated being thrust into situations like this. He had to make a decision for the both of them, something that could easily come back to bite them in the arse later. Then his thoughts traveled back; Dissolution and Extrication from ‘The Immortal Coil’ didn’t sound like a pleasant experience.\n\n“Jared, I – ”\n\n“Do it.” Cale’s face drew into a shocked expression as the younger fox grabbed an ink pen from the desk and quickly jotted his name on the first line. “After all, we don’t have a choice.” Cale could see the defeated look in his younger brother’s face. It was a painful pang in his heart, because he knew that look in his eyes. It was the same look he gave Cale when he thought he was dying. His hand shook as he slowly reached for the ink pen, wrapping a couple fingers around it and twiddling it in his usual habit before bringing it down on the paper.\n\n“Look, fellas, I can tell you’re nervous,” The Devil started, “But I’m really not that bad a guy. You can trust me. If you need convincing I could always bring one of my best friends up here to vouch for me. Lovable little tyke, that Bartleby.” Cale shook his head slightly. He was already in the thick of it, and there was no way to back out now.\n\n“No… that won’t be necessary. I know that tone of voice, the look in your eyes. I’ve seen it in King Regent’s face before.” He scratched the pen against the aged parchment of the contract, his name; a collection of lines given a specific meaning took shape. He set the pen down and stared at the quickly drying ink, his heart sinking. He honestly felt scared for the first time in many years, but he fought the feelings back. He didn’t want to make his brother nervous, didn’t want to hurt him.\n\nThe two looked at the contract for a couple more seconds, curious as to what was going to happen. It struck Jared first, a wave of cold swept through his form and his fur stood on end, his eyes wide open and his pupils dilated. Cale cried out and tried to approach his brother when it hit him as well, a feeling as if he was being forced apart raced through his body. His jaw dropped of its own accord and a thin wispy cloud of white light snaked its way out from between his teeth. Jared opened his mouth as well, and the same wispy light jutted out from his jaws. It simply looked like the two of them had been caught in a moment where their breath hung in cold air.\n\nThe Devil looked on in curiosity until his eyes beheld a peculiar sight. The souls of these two were typical for several seconds, but suddenly they began to change. What used to be white light changed colors, Cale’s becoming a combination of gold, red, and white, and Jared’s taking on a slight red hue wrapping around the base color. The two brothers were left unable to move as the light slid further from their mouths and into open air.\n\nThe magic of the contract continued to manifest itself in its own way. The magic of the underworld tended to meld itself to mimic the beliefs and imaginations of their targets, and this time was no different. Two thick clay jars materialized in front of each of the foxes suspended in the magic, ancient unreadable symbols lining the center. The lights pulling from their mouths shot into their respective urns and a large, thick cork stopper slammed into place on both. The two foxes’ bodies crumpled to the floor where they sat for several minutes.\n\nIt was Cale who was first to rise. Slowly, shakily, he found his footing and stood up, his body feeling lighter and somewhat cold. Jared stood soon after and the two looked at each other solemnly. Cale couldn’t put his finger on it but something seemed to be missing, other than the obvious fact that his soul had been taken. His brow knit in thought, but it was Jared that pointed out the answer.\n\n“… I can’t feel my heartbeat…” Satan sighed.\n\n“Of course, I forgot to tell ya. I have to keep your hearts as symbol of your acceptance of the… uh… situation. They’ll be returned to you as well, don’t you worry about that.” He cracked his knuckles and then his neck. “Well, I have to get back to work, so I’ll leave you two to learn the life yourselves. Don’t worry, you’ll only find caring people around here.” He flicked his wrist and a powerful gust of wind knocked the brothers off their feet, sending them sailing through the door which slammed shut behind them.\n\nRed continued to scrawl on papers at his desk for a second before he realized that Kald was still in the room. He looked over somewhat witheringly and cleared his throat with authority.\n\n“Look, buddy. There’s a reason I stopped assigning you to cases, but apparently the system itself found a reason for you to be theirs. I don’t trust you. Haven’t for ages, Kaldy. I know you won’t do anything to me, though.” Surprisingly enough there was a dark and wicked smile on his face. “Because you know exactly where it’ll land you. God might be bad, but fool with me… and I can be quite worse.” The smile became sickeningly sweet, like a person who was trying way too hard to look like he was being innocent.\n\nThe jackal remained silent, turned, and left the room of his own volition. The red man on the other side of the desk went back to his paperwork with reckless abandon, his hand a blur over multiple pages simultaneously. Jared and Cale… the two were interesting, to say the least. Live bodies in hell, two demonoids… and Cale had angel in his blood too. The boss could tell that there was going to be Hell to pay, no pun intended, now that the two of them were around.\n\n‘It might be a good idea to get my more elite hellguardians alerted. I’m sure Razzy’ll get a kick outta this. And knowing Bartleby he’ll end up wrapped up in this somehow… better make sure he’s well protected, too. I just can’t bring myself to ignore the little guy.’ With his free hand he gestured for an imp nearby and relayed his orders. Contact Razielphustar, Hanagad, Relist, Dorman, and Lyle, and tell them about the two new demons in hell… and make sure that Bartleby was kept out of it as long as possible. For his own protection of course.\n\n", "writing_bbcode_parsed": "“Urgh… you’ve gotta be kidding me…” the red fox had his eyes clenched shut as soon as he impacted the hard floor beneath him. He had wanted to get to Daemonum; apparently Damo had something to show him that was vastly important. Though, knowing the demon of Lust, chances were it was going to be some new sex toy of his invention. The fox grumbled in his mind about just why he thought it was imperative enough to quick cast the portal spell to the demon world, but the thoughts were jarred from his mind the moment his eyes opened.

He was sitting on a ship in the middle of an endless ocean. Well, ship was a bit of a polite term; it was more a dinghy of aged wood with even more worn oars jutting out from the sides. The waves lapped softly against the side, and gulls cried out in the distance, a pair of them even brave enough to light themselves onto the prow. The fox man looked down at himself curiously to find that his clothes had been removed by something, and instantly a feeling of nervousness shot into his mind. His nearly-apple-red fur was all that was covering him, though he still had the large golden ring locked around his arm. His clothes were gone, which probably meant that whatever had him brought here had the power to disarm him, too.

He was decently tall for his age, and of course he had the usual markings of a fox: white belly fur, white muzzle with an orange bridge, brown paws, bushy tail, fluffy ears… and long red hair which was currently getting in his eyes. He reached up to brush the hair out of the way, thinking to himself ‘just how did my braid fall out of place?’ when a feeling stopped his mind once more. Were those… horns?!

“What the hell is going on here? I might be a demon, but this is just a stereotypical joke! Someone! Anyone! What’s going on here?!” he cried out to the empty sky all around him, the gulls on the prow rocketing off of the boat with an indignant squeal. His eyes scanned the horizon, trying to find land or a person or some sign of an answer when he suddenly heard a loud splash behind him. Jumping almost as high as a grasshopper on crack the man spun around and came face-to-face with another fox he recognized instantly.

“… Jared?” He quickly shot a hand out to grab the now sputtering and soaked younger fox and drug him onto the boat. His light gray fur was matted and jutting out at odd angles, including the black headfur with purplish-red streaks in it. His right ear was almost completely blue, save for the inside which was white. His paws were also blue in coloration, and most people mistook them for colored gloves at a distance. He knew this fox as intimately as anyone could imagine, as they were brothers. Well, half-brothers to be precise.

“Jared… thank god you’re okay…” he scooped the shocked and bedraggled little brother into a hug, taking note of the fact that he was naked as well. Was this a trick of Damo’s? He looked around impotently once more, trying to figure out just where they could be when he decided to rely on some of his own magic. Slowly he concentrated on the land of Daemonum, with its crumbling towers and bleak gray stone walkways and brought his hand up to his eyes, rubbing them as if he was weary or annoyed. He could feel the energy flowing through his body, the heat of the demon blood, and then all at once a searing pain flew through his body.

 “AGH!” he cut off the spell instantly, the younger brother shaking his arm quickly.

“Cale! Brother, are you okay?” both fox’s ears were bent back, one in a show of worry, the other in a fit of pain.

“… I’ll live…” Cale grunted heavily through his clenched muzzle, the pain already dying down. He was about to speak again when the world around them suddenly morphed from the middle of the sea to a… well, it couldn’t really be described as much of anything. Suffice to say it looked like it was made of crystal, hard as stone, and completely contained. There were no windows, no doors, nothing. It was a murky purple coloration all around them, and it seemed to glow with an unnatural light.

“… Brother…?” Jared’s voice piped in quietly. “I-I’m scared… Where are we…?” Cale was cursing his luck. He had hoped that Jared wasn’t going to ask that.

“… I… I don’t know, Jared… But you shouldn’t be afraid… We can take whatever comes at us. Remember, we’re the foremost demon bounty hunters earth will ever have the pleasure not to know about.” The older brother quipped quite dryly. And it was a fact. Because of those two several criminal circles and occult miscreants had been dealt with. As a matter of fact they had just been fresh off of a mission hunting down yet another demon dust dealer when Damo had contacted them, the black wolf frenzied about something of vast importance. He hugged his brother even closer, and neither noticed the sound of a door opening behind them with the sound of a rusty hinge.

~~~~~

A tall and rather intimidating looking jackal stalked down a semi-busy avenue, an air of impatience about his form. His red eyes shone with untold potential and energy, the orange flecks within forming a wild ring in the iris that made it reminiscent of flames. His dirty lime green fur was neatly thinned and he had a thick black band of fur around his left arm where his skin had once been tattooed. He was wearing a thick black leather jacket paired with dark gray pants of indeterminate fabric, and his somewhat larger ears were pierced seven times each, forming a bridge up the outside edges.

He tromped down the sidewalks of a rather pleasant neighborhood; the tall houses with their perfectly painted windowsills and well groomed lawns smiled on either side of him, but he was paying no heed to them. No, they were already dealt with by many others in his little group of tour guides. He had no interest in guiding those damned souls around; he was much more interested in honing his skills and to hell with those who were too weak to carry on. He smirked silently to himself. To hell with them – ha - They were already there, after all.

He was quickly approaching the room of the baptism, where newlydeads happened to grace the lower levels with their presence. He twisted his hand in midair and conjured a tightly bound book with blue covers and no title in a puff of smoke. He always hated the fact that their magic had to show outward signs of use, it was already bad enough that he had to show the puff of smoke, but one of his coworkers went so far as to make a damned laser show out of it. Snapping back to attention he thumbed through the first couple of pages until he found the names of his latest charges. Cale and Jared Elahi, aged 22 and 17 respectively, level of sin… Naughty (oh how he hated the foolish names…), greatest sin… Cale murder, Jared… The page was blank.

Finally he had arrived at the crystal room of the baptism and reached into a pocket in his pants, pulling a bright white metal key forth and touching it to the side as if searching for a keyhole. Instantly a sharp black line cut its way through the thick walling and fell away, revealing the two foxes inside cradled together like the rest of the weaklings who recently found themselves dead. He stepped inside, his sneakered feet barely making a noise, though it still alerted the elder to the intrusion. This impressed him he had to admit.

~~~~~

It wasn’t until the first few foot-falls that Cale jerked to life, leaping to his feet and attempting to summon forth his sword. The gold ring on Cale’s arm glowed with wicked red flames for a split second before another wave of pain flew through his form. He crumpled to the ground, clutching his head and letting out a low wail of agony, Jared rushing to his side. Confusingly enough, so did the figure that had been previously walking in on them. He was a rather oddly dressed green jackal, and his demeanor seemed rather cold. His ears were pierced seven times each, running up the outside edge of his rather large ears, and his eyes, a deep crimson, were flecked with orange and gave the impression of flickering flames.

“Is he alright?” The jackal’s voice was deeper than one would expect. Jared shivered as he was torn between assisting his brother and repelling the stranger. His mind was a blur presently, and it still hadn’t hit him that the jackal couldn’t possibly mean harm if he was asking about the well-being of Cale. Finally his mind came to a conclusion and he scooped the older brother up, trying to drag him a little way away from the jackal. The jackal in turn held his arm out to stop him.

“You shouldn’t move… a person who… might be injured…” His accent was nearly impossible to place, and his voice seemed to drag along as he spoke, making it seem like he was having issues speaking English. He blinked blearily a couple of times before continuing to talk to the boy who wouldn’t respond.

“My name is… Kaldrik Haverstadt… People call me… Kald…” He tried his best to give a disarming smile, but the sudden revelation of massively long canines did little to calm Jared’s nerves. Slowly he moved into position to protect Cale, who was slowly recovering from his second wave of inexplicable pain.

“L-Leave my brother alone…!” Kald’s eyes sank to the grown fox on the ground curiously.

“… You aren’t meant… to see each-other… until after you’re… spoken to alone… I was meant… to tell you... both the news…” Jared screwed up his courage to speak once more.

“Tell us what?” the words seemed to echo off of the crystal walls. It seemed to be the ‘million dollar question’ as it were. Slowly Kald pointed to both of them in turn and made a painfully universal and unmistakable gesture. He drew his finger slowly across his throat, and Jared’s face fell. A noticeable cracking noise rang through the room, announcing the appearance of an ugly looking line drawing its way through the walls around them. Jared’s eyes, usually a shining purple with gold flecks, seemed diminished and dull, and he looked down at Cale, who had now recovered only to hear the dreadful news.

“But… we can’t have died… we can’t be dead…” Cale echoed himself a few more times before his mind resigned itself to the facts. Kald snapped his fingers and a large sheaf of paper slammed on the ground in front of him. It looked like it was loosely bound with three metal rings, and was easily larger than a phonebook; possibly even bigger than most of the ancient folios of magic that Cale kept in his room. Kneeling down, Kald ran his finger over page after page until finally he apparently found what he was looking for.

“Elahi… Cale and Jared… ex viva…” the jackal’s jaw dropped and he quickly waved his hand, the list disappearing just as quickly as it had appeared; completely free of fanfare or flare.

“You two must come with me.” Without awaiting an answer Kald leapt to his feet, and it looked like he was grabbing at the air until he yanked his arm downward, tearing a ragged hole in the middle of nothingness. Cale’s eyes widened and his heart started hammering in his chest, and Jared’s ears lowered in worry. He couldn’t feel the suction that Cale did, and he didn’t see from his point of view the screaming black void inside the tear. He was about to protest when the jackal’s hand clenched down remarkably hard on his wrist, wrenching him to his feet and making him let out a painful yip. Jared jumped to the offensive and threw a single punch at the back of Kald’s head, but without even looking or acknowledging the attack the man had quite easily ducked out of the path, grabbing hold of the arm and throwing him through the portal. With one last look at the room, taking note of the crack in the walls, Kald leapt through the portal, plunging he and his passenger into darkness.

He had to admit… These Elahi Brothers weren’t the usual tenants of Hell.

Chapter 2

The path through the darkness continued for a short while and the further they went the louder the wailing seemed to get to Cale. His mind focused on Jared and he opened his mouth to yell out to him, but the suction feeling on his fur told him it might not be a good idea. He had no clue what was going on, and he didn’t know what Kald was mumbling under his breath just a few seconds before their impromptu trip through solidified darkness. The jackal didn’t seem to want to volunteer any information either, and that was annoying enough for the fox.

‘We can’t be dead… the portal to Daemonum doesn’t work that way… so something else must have happened.’ The fox assaulted his mind for answers. What could have happened to turn the magic awry? ‘Come on, think you overgrown furball, you’re demonkin, you must’ve read something about it!’ He was far too concerned with his recollections of his encyclopedias of magic to notice the stark white opening coming closer and closer. It wasn’t until it was just upon them that he faced the portal, flying through and falling rather unceremoniously in an inconvenient and less-than-flattering position.

He was sprawled out spread eagle on the ground. A few other fursons that happened to be milling around near their landing point all looked at him with smiles on their faces, giggling and catching the attention of their friends to see. Right as he had cleared the portal his eyes had clenched shut out of instinct, but slowly he opened them to find his muzzle inches from a sheath. It wasn’t just any sheath, either, as he slowly looked up into Jared’s eyes, which seemed to have a superior look broadcasted quite openly on them.

“Enjoying the view, big brother?” he couldn’t help but utter the phrase. It may have been true that they were in an unfamiliar place, but the two of them were no strangers to awkward sexual moments. Cale almost instantly blushed; making it look like the fur was beginning to mimic the rest of his body. He was about to respond when his ears picked up the sound of loud low banging emanating from his right.

His eyes beheld the jackal from before standing in front of the largest doors he had ever seen in his life. They appeared to be hewn out of ancient moldering stone, several indecipherable glyphs engraved thereon. It had only been a couple seconds since the knock when a booming voice echoed from the other side of the door:

“*OH WHAT NOW?!*” the large stone doors almost seemed to shudder on their hinges before they slammed open, large black hands reaching out and grasping both Kald and the brothers and pulling them in, slamming the doors behind them as if they had been made of plywood.

~~~~~

Cale hardly had time to register the large bookshelves on either side of them, full to the brim with papers. The room was a blur as they approached a large table near the end. There was a golden desk lamp, a large stack of paper, and an even larger creature sitting behind it, absently reaching for a mug and taking a deep draught of whatever was held in it. He looked quite convincingly like a cross between several creatures, including a goat, a serpent, a wolf, a lion, and possibly a couple of other species thrown in just to stave off the creator’s boredom.

The large wall of a man’s eyes suddenly jerked upwards, and one of the most uncharacteristic voices issued forth. It almost sounded like a weathered old man who didn’t know the meaning of solemnity, and it had a sort of jauntiness to it that reminded Cale of a rather kind man that belied the beast before him.

“… Oh! Kaldy!” The jackal cringed ever-so-slightly at the name. “It’s been a while since you had a charge… oh, charges I see, plural. Welcome! But why ever could you find it necessary to pay me a visit? Can’t you see all the paperwork I’m so ecstatic to continue?” the sarcasm was thick at the end of his speech as the rather silent jackal conjured up the single page from his list before and set it on the desk in front of the large red man. He scanned the page until he saw something that obviously shouldn’t have been there, and before he could control himself the words burst forth.

“Ex Viva? Ex Viva?!” Result Alive. Cale’s heart leapt; were they talking about him and Jared?

“You’re still alive… and yet somehow found your way into Hell? Well this changes everything.” He was interrupted by a small red creature with lanky arms and a squat body plopping a pile of papers on the table, inches from the big man’s hand.

“Ah, perfect timing, l’il guy.” The little red thing looked up into his eyes and gave a jaunty salute.

“Anytime, Beelzy.” Beelzy? Beelzebub?

“e-excuse me…” Cale had finally found his voice, but this didn’t stop Jared from looking over at his older brother with concern. The red man paused, silently egging Cale on. “Correct me if I’m mistaken; please, lord, correct me if I’m mistaken… but… you’re… you’re Satan, aren’t you?”

The red man let out a booming laugh and slammed a rather meaty hand on the table. Kald stood stock still, no signs of mirth on his face, and the stark contrast between the two set a furson on edge. Were they supposed to be relaxed or on alert? Was this laughter happy or was it a warning that something was about to happen?

“Y’know, not a lot of people get assigned to Kaldy here. Part of me wonders why you were as well, cuz I gotta tell ya, ya don’t seem like the straight to business type. But to answer your question, yes, I’m Satan, Old Scratch, Big Red, Saint Nicholas, Lucifer, yadda ya… But this isn’t about me. This is about you two. Namely, how in the name of here you got… well… here!” He let out another hearty guffaw, conjured up a full-body mirror, and gestured for Cale to step in front of it. Not being one to disobey an ageless being of untold power, he quickly stepped into place and stared at his reflection, which quickly warped and faded away to a familiar scene.

~~~~~

“Come on, Jared, Damo’s got something to tell us. He’s going nuts down there in Daemonum, so it must be something important…” Cale watched himself walking into the middle of the living room, beckoning for Jared who quickly ran up to his side. The scene suddenly flickered over to a black wolf dressed quite scantily with a black leather collar around his neck, complete with a silver tag with a picture of a white cat man’s face. He was looking over a large and aged book, his brow knitted in fierce concentration. Suddenly he slammed his hands down on the table, a string of expletives leaving his mouth as he scrambled for his cell phone.

Damo punched at the keypad of his phone frantically, he had to hurry. The sense of urgency was almost palpable to even Jared who was looking into the mirror from the side. The wolf growled and paced the small room he was standing in, coming close to knocking down the lectern which held the leather bound tome.

“Come on, Cale… Answer, dammit…” The answering service responded and Damo practically chucked the phone across the room.

“No! NO! … if only I had read it sooner… ” the mirror wavered and vanished from view, the big red man’s face a show of concern.

“Well, I gotta say I never would have imagined something like this happening. Hell isn’t meant to be accessible by any living creature.” He scratched at his chin thoughtfully “We’re going to need a few days to figure out just what’s going on here. In the mean time-” he clapped his hands together once and two elegant scrolls unfurled from thin air in front of them. In looping grandiose lettering the brothers read the following:

‘We the undersigned, of sound mind, do hereby bequeath our souls to the confines of Hell.’ Both Cale and Jared were about to protest when the lettering on the papers wriggled violently, flying across the plane of the paper and rearranging into a new format.

‘We the undersigned, of sound mind, do hereby bequeath our souls temporarily to the confines of Hell. We understand that failure to do so would result in our dissolution and extrication from the fabric of being (hereby known as ‘The Immortal Coil’) and that in forfeiting our souls we will be given room, board, and amnesty here ever after from any harmful agent (hereby known as ‘God’).’ Cale blinked stupidly a couple of times.

“Is God really the only harmful agent you could think of?” the Devil’s eyes shone and he let out a good chuckle.

“You really know how ta focus on the small details, eh? Well, you have a point, bucko that God isn’t the only thing to be afraid of. Though if I can keep him at bay, you can rest assured that the others don’t even stand a chance.” Cale hummed to himself, his tail bristling lightly before he turned to Jared. He hated being thrust into situations like this. He had to make a decision for the both of them, something that could easily come back to bite them in the arse later. Then his thoughts traveled back; Dissolution and Extrication from ‘The Immortal Coil’ didn’t sound like a pleasant experience.

“Jared, I – ”

“Do it.” Cale’s face drew into a shocked expression as the younger fox grabbed an ink pen from the desk and quickly jotted his name on the first line. “After all, we don’t have a choice.” Cale could see the defeated look in his younger brother’s face. It was a painful pang in his heart, because he knew that look in his eyes. It was the same look he gave Cale when he thought he was dying. His hand shook as he slowly reached for the ink pen, wrapping a couple fingers around it and twiddling it in his usual habit before bringing it down on the paper.

“Look, fellas, I can tell you’re nervous,” The Devil started, “But I’m really not that bad a guy. You can trust me. If you need convincing I could always bring one of my best friends up here to vouch for me. Lovable little tyke, that Bartleby.” Cale shook his head slightly. He was already in the thick of it, and there was no way to back out now.

“No… that won’t be necessary. I know that tone of voice, the look in your eyes. I’ve seen it in King Regent’s face before.” He scratched the pen against the aged parchment of the contract, his name; a collection of lines given a specific meaning took shape. He set the pen down and stared at the quickly drying ink, his heart sinking. He honestly felt scared for the first time in many years, but he fought the feelings back. He didn’t want to make his brother nervous, didn’t want to hurt him.

The two looked at the contract for a couple more seconds, curious as to what was going to happen. It struck Jared first, a wave of cold swept through his form and his fur stood on end, his eyes wide open and his pupils dilated. Cale cried out and tried to approach his brother when it hit him as well, a feeling as if he was being forced apart raced through his body. His jaw dropped of its own accord and a thin wispy cloud of white light snaked its way out from between his teeth. Jared opened his mouth as well, and the same wispy light jutted out from his jaws. It simply looked like the two of them had been caught in a moment where their breath hung in cold air.

The Devil looked on in curiosity until his eyes beheld a peculiar sight. The souls of these two were typical for several seconds, but suddenly they began to change. What used to be white light changed colors, Cale’s becoming a combination of gold, red, and white, and Jared’s taking on a slight red hue wrapping around the base color. The two brothers were left unable to move as the light slid further from their mouths and into open air.

The magic of the contract continued to manifest itself in its own way. The magic of the underworld tended to meld itself to mimic the beliefs and imaginations of their targets, and this time was no different. Two thick clay jars materialized in front of each of the foxes suspended in the magic, ancient unreadable symbols lining the center. The lights pulling from their mouths shot into their respective urns and a large, thick cork stopper slammed into place on both. The two foxes’ bodies crumpled to the floor where they sat for several minutes.

It was Cale who was first to rise. Slowly, shakily, he found his footing and stood up, his body feeling lighter and somewhat cold. Jared stood soon after and the two looked at each other solemnly. Cale couldn’t put his finger on it but something seemed to be missing, other than the obvious fact that his soul had been taken. His brow knit in thought, but it was Jared that pointed out the answer.

“… I can’t feel my heartbeat…” Satan sighed.

“Of course, I forgot to tell ya. I have to keep your hearts as symbol of your acceptance of the… uh… situation. They’ll be returned to you as well, don’t you worry about that.” He cracked his knuckles and then his neck. “Well, I have to get back to work, so I’ll leave you two to learn the life yourselves. Don’t worry, you’ll only find caring people around here.” He flicked his wrist and a powerful gust of wind knocked the brothers off their feet, sending them sailing through the door which slammed shut behind them.

Red continued to scrawl on papers at his desk for a second before he realized that Kald was still in the room. He looked over somewhat witheringly and cleared his throat with authority.

“Look, buddy. There’s a reason I stopped assigning you to cases, but apparently the system itself found a reason for you to be theirs. I don’t trust you. Haven’t for ages, Kaldy. I know you won’t do anything to me, though.” Surprisingly enough there was a dark and wicked smile on his face. “Because you know exactly where it’ll land you. God might be bad, but fool with me… and I can be quite worse.” The smile became sickeningly sweet, like a person who was trying way too hard to look like he was being innocent.

The jackal remained silent, turned, and left the room of his own volition. The red man on the other side of the desk went back to his paperwork with reckless abandon, his hand a blur over multiple pages simultaneously. Jared and Cale… the two were interesting, to say the least. Live bodies in hell, two demonoids… and Cale had angel in his blood too. The boss could tell that there was going to be Hell to pay, no pun intended, now that the two of them were around.

‘It might be a good idea to get my more elite hellguardians alerted. I’m sure Razzy’ll get a kick outta this. And knowing Bartleby he’ll end up wrapped up in this somehow… better make sure he’s well protected, too. I just can’t bring myself to ignore the little guy.’ With his free hand he gestured for an imp nearby and relayed his orders. Contact Razielphustar, Hanagad, Relist, Dorman, and Lyle, and tell them about the two new demons in hell… and make sure that Bartleby was kept out of it as long as possible. For his own protection of course.

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