A Second Chance at Death Ch. 8

“Well, that's not great.” Harry said as he stared at the tv screen, where the cameras were providing a nice, big close-up of the burning scroll that seemed to portend their imminent doom. 

“You're fucking telling me?! I almost didn't make it to see my grand-puppies be born!” Blitzø screamed from where he was laid out on the couch, arm over his forehead as he swooned dramatically. Angel Dust was standing over him, glaring at the little imp for taking his dedicated swooning spot. 

They were all there, the residents of the hotel along with Blitzø, Millie and Moxxie. They had all gathered together in the living room for what could potentially be their final hour.

“Oooh, brother Voldemort, whatever shall we do?” Pentious hissed he clung to his snake-buddy for dear life.

“Any ideas, Potter?” Voldemort looked towards Harry with narrowed eyes.

Harry grimaced. He was sandwiched between Loona and Charlie, with Niffty bouncing around giddily on his lap. “Besides just meeting them head-on? No. I was never the best at planning.”

Voldemort scoffed. 

“Vaggie, what do you think? About our chances against them?” Charlie asked her girlfriend, who grimaced.

“If Harry was able to do whatever it was he did to fight Adam, then I'd give us a better chance. But otherwise, the only thing that I for sure know can harm them are holy weapons.”

“Have you tried pumping them full of lead, though?” Loona asked.

Millie nodded sagely. “That is a good point, darlin’. We've never exactly fought back against them, maybe guns can work!”

“I wouldn't bet my ass on it.” Husk said from his spot behind the bar.

“We have to try.” Harry insisted. “Even if I don't have the elder wand with me, I should still be able to do something against them.”

“And I have my demon magic as well.” Charlie said with a hint of hope.

Moxxie let out a sigh of relief. “Oh! That is very comforting, your highness! When was the last time you used it?”

Charlie giggled nervously as she tapped her fingers together. “I… haven't really had a need to, up until now.” 

“Oh my fucking god! We're all dead!” 

“Blitzø!”

“New plan, let's all go back to the human world and let those angels raze hell down to the ground!” Blitzø suggested.

“Very courageous of you, sir.” Moxxie said.

Harry snapped his fingers. “Wait! That's a brilliant idea!”

“What?” 

“Harry?” Charlie looked at him with a hint of betrayal as everyone else shot him odd looks.

“What? it is a brilliant idea.”

“At least someone has some brains in this hotel.” Blitzø said.

“But instead of letting them do it, we should do it ourselves.”

Blitzø did a double take. “Huh? What the fuck are you talking about?” 

Harry blinked. “Do like you said, raise hell!”

Everyone was now looking at him as if he'd grown a second head.

Voldemort sighed. “Potter, I don't think doing the angel's job for them will make them more merc- wait...” His eyes narrowed as he inspected his rival. The former Dark Lord then smacked his forehead. “Potter, you do realize he said raze. As in, R-A-Z-E, to completely obliterate. He wasn't talking about lifting anything up.”

“Oh.” Harry deflated. “Still, it's a good idea.”

“I still don't understand what you even mean.” Husk said, “Like, you think we can physically move hell?”

Harry looked hopefully towards Charlie, who shook her head. “Doesn't sound possible.”

“Oh, but it is, my dear friends.”

Alastor's voice sent an involuntary shiver down all of their spines as they looked to the grinning demon, who had suddenly appeared in the middle of the room, both hands resting on his cane as he stood confidently before them.

“Alastor, what do you mean?” Charlie asked.

“Why, I'm saying that our dear friend Harold is on the right track. For you see, moving hell is not a fantasy, far from it, it is quite possible indeed.”

“Do you get paid by the word or something? Fuckin spill it already!” Blitzø yelled.

The warning look that Alastor sent Blitzø was enough to clamp shut the imp's sassy mouth. Alastor twirled his cane before bringing the microphone up to his lips. “You see, hell is shaped like a chestnut,” 

A helpful holographic visualization of a chestnut flickered into existence in front of them, “There are seven rings of hell, each stacked upon each other, narrowing down layer by layer.” 

Different parts of the chestnut lit up, from the topmost pride ring down to the narrowest, that of Sloth, near the bottom. But while Sloth was the final ring of hell, it wasn't the bottom of the chestnut.

“So what's in that little part at the bottom then?” Loona pointed out. “This isn't the same chart they used in back at Azazel High.”

“Ah yes, the many failings of the public education system,” Alastor tapped his cane on the floor. “A subject for another day. No, you see, the current rings of hell were all constructed over this part. What sits at the base of our wonderful little system, is the hell that once was.”

“The hell that once was?” Harry asked.

Voldemort rolled his eyes as he noticed most everyone else was as clueless as Harry. “He means the underworlds of antiquity. Tartarus, Hades,”

“Don't forget about Yomi.” Alastor said cheerfully.

“Hold on a minute buddy. I was around when you were around, more or less. You died when they came out with technicolor. How do you know all this old shit?” Angel Dust asked him.

“I am simply well traveled, my good fellow.”

“But I still don't get how this bottom rung of hell will help us move it.” Moxxie said.

“Oh, well, you see, down there, in the farthest depths of despair, the means to move hell can be found. I've seen them, quite a striking sight.”

“The means?” Harry asked. “Could you be a bit less vague?”

Alastor cackled. “Where's the fun in that?”

They exchanged glances each of them thinking through Alastor's words.

“There's no fucking way I'm spending my last days in existence fuckin’ around in some underwold with Mr. Creepshow here.” Angel Dust said.

“Couldn't have said it better.” Blitzø said.

“I think its worth pursuing.” Harry said. “If there's even a sliver of a chance, we have to try.”

“Ooh!” Charlie squealed. “We can split off into cute little teams! Some of us go down with Alastor, and then the others stay up!”

“And wait to die?” Husk asked.

“And load up on guns.” Vaggie said. “In fact, arm as many people as you can, spread the word, have everyone ready with as much weaponry as possible.”

“Were you not doubtful that they would work on angels?” Voldemort questioned.

Vaggie shrugged. “Its worth a try, isn't it?”

“Do not go gently into that good night!” Sir Pentious struck a pose as he made his declaration.

“Right, sure, whatever. We'll figure something out. Who's staying then?” Blitzø asked.

Moxxie fixed up his suit. “It would be an honor to accompany-”

“You're not fucking leaving, Mox. You're still on the clock.”

Things were settled rather quickly. Harry, Loona, Charlie, Vaggie and Niffty chose to go with Alastor, while everyone else decided to stay behind. 

“So Fred and Daphnes one thru four go down to the big spooky place, and the rest of the Scooby Gang stay back and party. Nice!” Blitzø said before glaring at Harry. “You better bring my Loona back in one piece. If we're gonna die horribly, I'd prefer for her to hold my broken form in her arms and not the other way around.”

Harry blinked. “Errr, sure.”

“Alright then, no more preamble, it is time to go on our wonderful march down to the depths of hell!” Alastor proclaimed enthusiastically. 

“Well, when you put it that way…” Loona snarked.

“Yay! Field trip!” Niffty cackled gleefully.

…

In his short time in hell, Harry had never really ventured out of the city. He knew that hell had a countryside since Millie was from there, but he had no knowledge of the lower rings at all.

It seemed that the others weren't much better off. “I heard the sloth ring is just full of slime all over the place. Just nasty and dirty.” Loona said.

“It's not that bad.” Charlie said unconvincingly. “Its just… those people have a bit of a hard time getting up in the morning, much less cleaning up “

“Its positively rancid.” Alastor chirped.

“How long is it going to take to get down there anyways?” Harry asked, just now considering how long it would take to travel down every single ring of hell.

“Oh, not long at all. We'll be going by elevator, after all.” Alastor said.

Charlie's expression turned very uncertain. “The… is that really necessary, Alastor?”

“Necessary? Not at all! But oh is it ever so thrilling!”

“Ooooooh!” Niffty giggled excitedly.

They were walking through a barren desert, not a single sign of civilization for miles on end. It reminded Harry of when he'd visited Las Vegas that one time for a magical law enforcement convention, the endless sea of dried out bushes, with the occasional high mesa the only thing that broke the monotony.

This was like that, except the blood red sky really imparted an added measure of bleakness, making it feel like the surface of an alien world.

“Here we are.” Alastor said as they came up on one particular plateau. Harry had to crane his neck to get a good look at it, but it was when his head came back down that he saw why they'd headed this way.

It looked more like a mine-shaft than an elevator. There was a rough hole carved into the stone and a rusted out metal dolly dangling over a vast chasm, held up by threadbare ropes that looked ready to snap at any moment.

“So we just plunge to our deaths, then?” Loona said.

“Well, some of us are already dead, so we have nothing to worry about!” Alastor said as he hopped onto the lift with the utmost confidence. Niffty scrambled on right after him.

Harry and Vaggie put a comforting hand on Charlie's shoulder as Loona stepped in with only the slightest bit of trepidation.

“It'll be fine, Charlie. I've been in situations like this before, they tend to have a way of working out.” Harry said.

“I'll make Alastor cushion our fall if I have to.” Was Vaggie's contribution.

With that, they managed to get Charlie onto the lift. Once everyone was inside, Alastor tapped his cane on the mesh, causing the lift to rattle. “Niffty, if you would do the honors.”

“Yaaaay!” Niffty bellowed with joy as she pulled out one of her favorite knives. With a confident swipe, she cut through the rope tethering the lift to ceiling. For a second, the floor vanished out from under them, and then they were all plummeting down to their doom.

“IS THIS REALLY THE BEST WAY DOWN?!” Harry screamed as he held on to the side of the cart for dear life. Loona had a death grip on his arm while Vaggie was cradling Charlie, who's face had turned a strange shade of green as she tried to fight down the lump in her throat.

The lift was wobbling every which way, and the only thing keeping it upright was just how narrow the shaft they were plummeting through was. Every so often, there was a hole on the side of the chasm, giving them a brief flash of a new layer of hell they were speeding past.

The bottom came up fast. The base was well lit, and so Harry was able to get a good look at the place where they would violently crash.

Suddenly, he remembered he had magic. Just as he prepared to slow down the cart, Alastor jabbed his staff out at the rockface.

The rest of the way down was a grind as Alastor's staff scraped against the stone wall, working as the most rudimentary of handbrakes.

When they finally touched down with a lurch and a clank, Charlie immediately ran off, making it to the entrance before she bent over and they all heard the tell-tale sounds of barfing.

“Lets go again!” Niffty screamed with joy.

“Eh, I've ridden worse at Hell Disney.” Loona said with a dismissive shrug.

“Wait, there's a Disneyland in hell?” Harry asked.

“I keep forgetting you haven't been here long. The one here's been around longer than the one in Florida. Disney built it himself.”

“Oh… wait, that means…”

“Yes, Harry, he went straight to hell.” Vaggie said. 

Charlie returned, her cheerful demeanor intact despite the little bit of spittle remaining on her chin. “Alright! I'm feeling way better now!”

“Splendid! Let's get on with the show!” Alastor twirled his staff as they followed him out of the shaft entrance.

The sight that met them on the other side was quite bizarre indeed. 

To Harry, it was like the picture of hell from all those old-timey cartoons brought to life. There was a lot of lava flowing everywhere, there were firepits, and there were huge bubbling cauldrons and imps with pitchforks.

Except the imps were sitting inside the cauldrons along with the sinners, and while boiling, the waters couldn't be that hot, seeing as the imps and sinners seemed quite relaxed, arms resting on the edges of the cauldrons as they exchanged casual conversation.

“It's like they're hot tubs!” Harry exclaimed.

“They basically are.” Vaggie said as they walked amongst the sea of cauldrons. Instead of prodding at wailing sinners, the imps were to be using their pitchforks to scratch at their backs.

“Hey, you from up high?” one of the imps asked as he saw them passing by.

Harry and Vaggie both gave Charlie's arms a firm squeeze to stop her from announcing to everyone who she was. Alastor gave a deep bow. “Greetings, good fellow, just passing through.”

The imp shrugged. “As long as you don't snitch on us to the people upstairs.”

“Yeah! I bet they'd want us to get back to all the spearing and torturing! That shit gets tiring after a few thousand years!”

“Your secret's safe with us!” Charlie chirped up.

They continued past, with Niffty snatching an unattended pitchfork and forcing Harry to grab her before she tried to impart some of the tortures of old hell herself.

Immediately adjacent to the sea of cauldrons they'd just passed was an area that looked completely different, its soil softer and sandier. Harry noted the strange rocks and sediment as they walked through it, his brow furrowing in confusion.

“Wait, is this a dried out riverbed?” Loona voiced the question that was in his head.

“Of course it is. It's the river Styx.” Alastor said. “Or, it used to be, anyways.”

“River Styx? But isn't that Greek?” Harry said.

“Hell has gone through many phases, my friend. This place is where all previous, discarded versions are left to slowly rot away. They've all melded together, you see.” Alastor said.

“What's that over there?” Vaggie pointed towards a steep hill.

At the base of the hill was a small crowd of sinners, some cheering, some just casually sipping on their drinks. Up near the top of the hill, a well-muscled man with a long beard was pushing a gigantic boulder up a hill.

As they drew nearer to the crowd, they began to hear their conversation.

“No way is he gonna do it! He hasn't done it in like two hundred years!”

“Wanna bet on it?”

“Bro, look at the stopwatch. Unless he fucks up, he's on pace!”

The rumblings grew louder as the man continued to push the boulder up the mountain, until finally, he reached the very top, throwing his hands up triumphantly as at the base, an imp clicked time on a stopwatch.

“Twenty three hours and fifteen minutes on the dot! That's a new PR!”

Everyone cheered as the man happily ran down the hill. The boulder her'd pushed rolled down after him, but he easily outran it before hopping off the hill, landing directly in front of the crowd.

“That's right! And you all thought I couldn't do it! What's my name, baby!!”

“Sisyphus! Sisyphus! Sisyphus!” The crowd cheered.

“He seems pretty happy.” Harry noted.

“Indeed. But, alas, we shall move on, we're drawing nearer to our goal.” Alastor said as he swept his staff towards a dark, broken down passage around the hill. 

“This better be good,” Vaggie said skeptically.

“Oh, believe me, it'll be more than worth the trip.”

…

Emily took careful, dainty steps through the streets of hell, holding the hem of her white gown up so as to not get it dirty.

Lute rolled her eyes as she walked along with her. She'd come along without her helmet, and that seemed to be enough for the scum here to not recognize her for what she was.

Or maybe they were just distracted, because all throughout the streets, there seemed to be nothing but raucous parties going on. People were drunk, they were loud and they were acting as if there was no tomorrow.

“Hey there, hot stuff. Wanna join in on our end-of-days orgy?” A bear demon wriggled his eyebrows at Emily, who cringed back.

“N-No thank you.”

“Suit yourself, honey. I'm all bear!”

Lute sneered at the bear as she grabbed Emily by the arm and dragged her away.

“How the fuck are supposed to find that donkey-cocked bastard in all this mess?”

Emily pulled herself away from Lute, brushing her arm off before putting on a hopeful smile. “We just need to trust in his divine providence. It will show us the way.”

Lute snorted. “Are you fucking serious?! You think things will just fall into our lap?!”

“CITIZEN'S OF HELL! YOUR SALVATION HAS ARRIVED!”

At that moment, a black, windowless van rolled through the streets. Standing atop the van where several figures brandishing guns, and at the forefront, holding a megaphone in one hand and brandishing an assault rifle with the other, was a small imp.

“WE'VE GOT ANGEL KILLER GUNS! GET THEM WHILE THEY LAST! PROTECT YOURSELF FROM THE APOCALYPSE! - for a small fee - COME RIGHT UP!”

“What is the point of charging money? It will all be useless when they kill us.” Voldemort said as he sat atop the van, feet dangling over the edge. Next to him, Angel Dust was striking poses, winking at nearby people in an inviting manner.

“It's the principle of the thing.” Blitzø said.

“Where have I seen that little imp before?” Lute scratched her chin as she focused on Blitzø.

Seeing her reaction, Emily's eyes lit up. She grabbed Lute by the arm and dragged the protesting exorcist towards the van.

They quickly caught Blitzø's eye. “Nice, chicks with guns! Always a good idea. Hey, Millie! Throw these gals a couple freebies!”

The passenger's side window rolled down and a pair of rifles were tossed at them. Emily caught hers and gave it a curious look, pointing the barrel straight at her face. Lute snatched it from her and shoved both guns over to a pair of nearby demons.

“Will this really kill an angel?” One of the demons asked hopefully.

“Won't know till you've tried, am I right?” Was Blitzø's response.

“Excuse me, sir!” Emily waved her hands to draw Blitzø's attention. “I think you know my friend here!”

Lute growled as Emily pulled her to the forefront so Blitzø could get a good look at her. Blitzø raised an eyebrow as he stared at the maskless Lute.

“Were you at that orgy with the bear guy?”

Lute's face twisted in disgust. “What the fuck?! You can't just say nasty shit like that you dirty little imp!”

Lute's screams were all Blitzø needed to unlock the deeply traumatic memories from just a few days prior. His eyes went wide as he stared at the fuming exterminator.

“Oh fuck! They're already here! Fucking floor it, Mox!”

The wheels of the van began to spin uncontrollably before it darted off. Voldemort and Angel Dust had to hold on for dear life as the van screamed down the street. People were forced to jump out of the way as they made a run for it.

And then, with a violent jerk, the van hit an invisible wall. Voldemort and Angel Dust were thrown off as the van was lifted up in the air with Blitzø hanging on for dear life.

Emily's eyes were full of blue flames as she calmly levitated the van towards her. 

“Oh fuck, they're here already!” Someone screamed as they saw her wings and her white gown. People began to scatter, a stampede forming as everyone desperately abandoned the scene.

“I'm sorry, but I wasn't done talking to you, sir.” Emily said, her voice warping near the end, a hint of something deeper creeping in.

Blitzø gulped as the van was unceremoniously dropped hood first. The van began to hiss as Millie, Moxxie and Sir Pentious crawled out.

“I'm looking for a demon. He's big, and handsome, and his… thing is really big.”

Sir Pentious stiffened. “Oh, well, this is quite a sssurprissse. But I'm already interested in some-”

“His name is Harry.” 

“Oh. Oh! Him. You're trying to go after him! Oh, what a relief!” Blitzø said.

“Sir, you do remember that Loona is with him, right?”

“Oh cram it, Mox. Anyways, yeah, that guy, he went on a suicide mission down into old hell, whatever that is.”

“Old… hell?” Emily asked.

Blitzø shrugged. “I know about as much as you do, toots.”

As a scratched Angel Dust and Voldemort approached the group, Emily sniffed the air.

“What are you, a fucking bloodhound now?” Lute snarked.

“Hah! You know, for being an unrepentant, evil fucking bitch, I kinda like you.” Blitzø said.

Emily looked at Voldemort and then glanced down at his wrist, which held a bracelet filled with multi-color beads.

“What is that?” 

“Huh?” Voldemort glanced down.

“That's our friendship bracelet!” Sir Pentious exclaimed. “We share it with brother Harry! I soaked in our combined scents.”

“Scents?!” Voldemort gawked in horror. “What do you mean by scents?!”

“May I have it?” Emily asked with a kind smile that was twitching on the verge of becoming manic.

“Here!” Voldemort practically tore the bracelet off and tossed it to her. Emily grabbed it. She brought it up to her nose and took a big whiff.

“Oh yesss! Even with those putrid smells surrounding it, its still so potent, so strong!”

“What the fuck are you talking about.” Lute said as she leaned over and sniffed the wristband. Her eyes rolled to back of her head as she shivered uncontrollably.

“We can track him with this.” Emily said as Lute shook her head violently to try to clear it. She closed her hand around the bracelet. “Come on, Lute! No time to lose.”

And with that, Emily pulled Lute away, running off in a seemingly random direction, leaving the others behind.

Blitzø Let out a heaving breath of relief. “Oh fuck… that was close.” 

“You know, they're going after Harry and Charlie and the others, isn't that a bad thing?” Angel Dust said.

Voldemort snorted. “Please, Potter will be fine. Believe me, killing him is not as easy at it seems.”

…

Deep cracks criss-crossed the soil of the barren land, a vast, empty desert with nary a soul in sight. A red sun bore down on them, its heat intense and unwavering, with not a single spot of shade to be found.

Niffty held onto Harry's fingertips as she happily skipped over the cracks. They were following behind Alastor, who was whistling as he trotted. Loona groaned, wiping a mass of sweat from her brow as she hunched over.

Harry reached out and cast as powerful a cooling charm as he could manage. Loona's ears perked up. For a moment, she was confused, until she looked over to Harry and gave him a thankful smile.

“Thanks, that's way better.” She said. “You wouldn't happen to have water, would you?”

Harry smiled. He snapped his fingers and bottles of ice cold water appeared in front of everyone.

“Oh, thank you so much, Harry.” Charlie said as she twisted the cap off and began gulping it down.

“Try to drink it slow, babe.” Vaggie said as she drank from her own bottle.

“No thank you.” Alastor pushed his away. “Ah! We've arrived!”

Everyone was forced to do a double take.

“The fuck? How did this hole just pop out of nowhere?!” Loona exclaimed.

Harry was sure there had been just the same endless stretch of cracked soil in front of him. But now, they were standing at the edge of a massive precipice. A big, fuck-off chasm that dissapeared into endless black. Up from the middle of the hole sprung a giant steel chain, and as Harry craned his neck, he could not make out where the chain could possibly end.

“This has always been here, my dear.” Alastor said.

Charlie mussed up her hair in frustration. “Jeez, dad, there's a lot of stuff I wish you would have told me.”

Alastor twirled his staff. “Creation, my dear friends, is like a canvas. Pick at the right thread, and the entire thing will unravel.” He pointed his staff towards the chain. 

“So if we break this chain, everything will come crashing down?” Vaggie said in a fearful tone.

Alastor wagged his finger. “Everything will come crashing up.” 

“Hyup!” 

Niffty flung her knife at the chain. The knife flew several feet before its trajectory flattened and it began to arch downward.

It fell into the abyss, well short of the chain.

“Nice try, Niffty.” Harry said encouragingly.

“THANK YOU!” 

“Well, I'm no help here either.”, Loona said. “Harry, could you conjure up some shade for us?”

“Sure thing.” Harry snapped his finger and a large, leafy tree appeared behind them. In less than a second, the tree's leaves burnt off from the top as its trunk withered away from the roots.

“Errrm, maybe if I-”

“Lets just focus on cutting this thing.” Vaggie said. “I'm guessing there's a reason you haven't done it before.” She shot Alastor a side-eye glance.

Alastor clutched his chest. “I haven't had a reason to!” he aimed his staff at the chain and shot off a tendril of green-black energy towards the chain.

The tendril struck the chain, powerful sparks of green electricity arcing off in every direction, but when the attack subsided, the chain did not even bear a scratch.

“And you can't.” Loona noted.

“Well,” Harry cracked his knuckles. “Lets get to it then.”

“I'll help.” Charlie said. She closed her eyes and let out a slow, controlled breath.

Harry's eyes widened as Charlie's body morphed. Her hair broke out from its plait and began floating around her. Her eyes grew bigger, sclera turning red as red horns sprouted from her head and a long, black, poker-tipped tail similar to Harry's emerged from her lower back.

The newly demonic looking Charlie looked bashfully between Harry and Vaggie. “T-This is my demon form. I-I know it looks-”

“You look incredible.” Harry and Vaggie found themselves saying in unison, causing her to blush. Charlie held her hand out, and a trident materialized in her hand.

“Let's get to it then.” She said as Vaggie produced her spear. Charlie floated up into the air, and with a little bit of work, Harry managed to do the same for himself and Vaggie, though his flight was nowhere near as secure as when he'd had the elder wand.

They flew closer to the chains. As they passed over the chasm, they could feel an otherworldly weight settle over them, a constant pressure that threatened to send them plummeting down into the depths.

They fought against it as they drew within range, and then, Charlie brandished her trident, sending a powerful blast of demonic energy to join Vaggie's angelic magic and Harry's demonic magic. All three blasts converged on the chains, colliding in a blast of pure energy that let off a blinding flash of light.

Harry groaned as the light subsided and he saw that the chains were not even scratched. He conjured a pair of giant scissors, which shattered the moment they clamped shut around the chains.

Explosions, more blasts, giant hammers and mallets and spikes, millions of tiny screws that were impossibly sharp, acid and every corrosive substance Harry's brain could conjure up, all of it supplemented by a steady diet of Charlie and Vaggie's attacks.

“I think you guys charred it a little bit! I think it got chipped!” Loona called as the three of them gasped for breath. They drifted back to the edge, the oppresive gravity of the chasm becoming too much in their tired state.

“What the fuck does it take to break that thing if even Charlie can't do anything?” Vaggie groaned.

“Wait, maybe we did do something. I can see it wobbling.” Harry said.

Indeed, the chain was wobbling. As it began to undulate more and more wildly, the ground below them began to rumble, and then, it shook.

“What now?!”

A mighty roar reverberated from inside the chasm, and as the deep, guttural sound rang off inside their ears, the chain began to clink.

“No fucking way!”

They all took several steps back as they could hear something rapidly rising, practically flying out of the chasm.

Images of a gigantic creature of truly biblical proportions ran through all of their minds. 

And so, when a creature that was barely five feet tall stepped out onto the cracked earth, they were all taken aback.

It was muscular, but much closer to an athletic frame than a thick, hulking one. It was hunched over, fists clenched as it took deep, sneering breaths. Its grey skin was cracked all over, piping hot magma flowing through each line. Large horns protruded from its brow, its forehead and its back as well. It was shirtless with long, flowing harem pants, and there was a thick metal collar around its neck. 

“Are you kidding me? Is that entire fucking chain tied to that little guy?” Loona screamed. Indeed, the length of chain tied around the collar seemed to grow in size the further it got from the creature.

The creature shifted its head. Its eye sockets were empty and black, with tiny red pupils floating in seeming nothingness.

It cocked its head towards Charlie. It lifted its foot, and Harry felt a wave of unrelenting power wash over him. 

Harry moved without thinking. His hand was outstretched as he cast the most powerful shield he could conjure up. The invisible barrier glinted blue, contrasting with the green-hued one Alastor had put up.

All Harry saw was a blur. There was a sonic boom, and by the time he felt his shield shatter like a thin sheet of glass, the creature was in front of Charlie, fist extended.

Charlie had managed to block with her trident, but the mere shockwave caused by the creature's fist meeting the hellish metal sent her flying at great speeds.

Harry made to turn and try and catch Charlie, but he made eye contact with Vaggie, who was going to intercept her, and he redirected himself towards the creature.

He sent a wall of concussive magic towards it only for the creature to dig its heels and headbut his attack, causing it to explode in a shower of sparks. Alastor had conjured up some tendrils to try and hold it down, but with a flex of its wiry muscles, they were easily torn to shreds like cheap cloth.

Once again Harry was saved by his instincts. He conjured a cushion, trying to make it as gummy, gooey and elastic as he could manage.

And that slowed down the punch that he hadn't even seen coming. The creature's fist slowed as it stretched Harry's gunky pillow to its limit, honeycombs lengthening until they finally tore.

Harry jumped back, and that coupled with the cushion was enough for the creature's fist to merely graze him.

Which sent him flying backwards, tumbling end over end until he crashed onto the ground, his body digging a trench in the hot earth.

“Harry!” Loona came rushing over to him as Harry propped himself up on his elbows. His chest was burning, as as he glanced down, he could see a deep red bruise imprinted on his bleeding chest.

“That thing's a fucking monster.” Loona said as she helped him up.

There was a loud crunch followed by a hiss. Harry's head snapped over to see Alastor had been gored in the stomach by the creature.

Vaggie was leaping towards it with her spear at the ready. The thing must have sensed it, because it turned, dislodging its horn from Alastor as it faced Vaggie's attack.

Vaggie's spear struck it smack dab in the forehead, and the little demon thrust his head forward to parry her attack.

Vaggie's heavenly spear wobbled and then it bent and then it broke, the spearhead shattering into tiny pieces.

“LET ME AT HIM!” Niffty screeched as Loona scooped her up before she did something stupid. Harry sent his girlfriend a thankful look before he held both hands out towards the creature.

His cushion hadn't been entirely successful, but it had worked.

The creature was suddenly covered in thick layers of sticky, rubbery gunk. It growled in anger as its movements were restricted and it fought to get itself free.

Charlie roared as she thrust her trident, striking it straight in the forehead. Her weapon did not break, but even as it struggled to move, the monster glared defiantly back at her, pushing back against the prongs as it stretched the gunk that tried to hold it down.

Alastor coughed blood, a hand over his wound, but he held his other hand out and sent more dark tendrils that wrapped around the creature and tried to apply pressure, their demonic energy attempting to leech away at the seemingly endless pool of power it held.

With a thought, Harry apparated next to Charlie. He placed his hand on Charlie's trident, and he sent a surge of electricity coursing through it.

The monster grit its teeth as sparks flew all across the trident. Harry helped Charlie push as Alastor poured all he had into his tendrils, trying to choke the little demon out.

Harry let out a triumphant gasp as one of the prongs on Charlie's trident broke skin, a small trickle of blood running down the monster's face.

“RAAAAAAWR!” The little powerhouse screamed in fury. It thrust its chest out as the magma coursing through its body grew bright hot and then exploded outward in an explosion of energy.

“Fuck!” Harry grabbed onto Charlie's shoulder while looking at Alastor and trying to locate Vaggie through sound. He closed his eyes and concentrated, and he apparated all four of them back next to Loona.

There was an earth-shattering explosion as a shower of magma liquefied the area where they had just been. Ignoring the dull throb building in his head, Harry tried to ice over the molten rock, but no matter how much effort he poured into it, even the slightest sliver evaporated instantly.

When the magma subsided, the create was there, unharmed, its skin having turned an angry red.

“How the fuck can we beat this thing!?”

They braced themselves as the creature pushed off from the ground, its eyes filled with a manic, deranged glee.

Harry grimaced. He was very quickly running out of ideas for how to take the thing down. It didn't help that Vaggie's spear was gone and Alastor, as well as he tried to hide it, was panting as his body continued to bleed.

As the monster approached them, fist cocked back and a feral grin on its face, Harry held his hands out, racking his brain for anything that could at least slow the damn thing down.

Just as it was about to bear down on them, it suddenly froze in mid-air, a white aura surrounding its body.

The monster grimaced, trying to break through whatever was holding it in place.

“Oh my! What is this thing?!” 

They all looked up to see Lute and Emily hovering above them. Emily was holding her hands out, a strained look on her face. “Nothing should be able to resist a seraphim's powers.” Emily said.

“What the fuck are you two doing here?!” Vaggie hissed.

Harry, meanwhile, wasn't about to let the opportunity slip. “Charlie! Stab that thing with your trident, now!”

Charlie's eyes widened, but she quickly took heed. The monster was slowly gaining more and more movement as Emily gasped, needing to lean forward to try to keep it in place.

Charlie thrust her spear, and when it made contact with the white aura of Emily's angelic magic, instead of clashing with it, it merged. 

Emily's white aura wrapped around the prongs of Charlie's trident as she struck the monster in the forehead, and this time, the spear sank right into its flesh.

The monster screamed, body spasming as it tried desperately to unleash its power as Charlie's trident broke through its skull with a sickening crack and then sliced down its head like a hot knife through butter. The prongs were visible through its open mouth as they traveled down before finally piercing through its throat.

The ground trembled as the creature's death throes rang out. Emily had her eyes closed, the strain of keeping it contained slowly getting to her.

“Fuck all this.”

Lute went into a dive, headed directly for Charlie. Charlie saw her and sidestepped, and Lute gave the back of her trident a swift kick, a kick that made it pierce through the monster's chest.

Finally, the light fully faded from the creature's eyes. Emily released her control, and the monster's body fell backwards, collapsing onto the ground with a soft thud.

“Goodness. What was that thing?” Emily said.

“What are you doing here?” Harry asked the seraphim. With the immediate threat out of the way, they now had to contend with Lute and Emily, and he was quite grateful that the monster had sapped some of Emily's energy.

Emily looked up at him, and her eyes were big, wide, and worshipful.

Lute landed next to her, arms crossed. She ignored the glares she received as everyone squeezed in defensively around each other.

“We're here for you, numbnuts. I'm going to show you that last time was a fluke. Now come on, whip out that uncivilized monkey-cock so I can show it what's what.”

“Are you fucking serious?” Luna growled, putting a possessive hand over Harry's chest.

“We just want to talk!” Emily said. “Alone, with Harry.”

“Over our dead bodies!” Vaggie shouted back.

Lute smirked. “Don't tempt me with a good time.”

As Harry was thinking of what he could say to defuse the situation, they were all distracted by the sound of a chain clinking.

They turned to see the monster's body being dragged across the ground as if by an invisible force. It was pulled towards the abyss, and it very quickly reached the edge, where it fell over into the pit.

“Is that… is that a good thing?” 

“Look at the chain!” Charlie exclaimed.

One of the links of the chain was buckling. They could hear the way the metal was straining as the link began to shake uncontrollably.

And then, it snapped. The lower half of the chain fell down into the chasm, leaving a broken thread hanging there, swinging from side to side.

“Was that important?” Lute asked.

Alastor laughed, coughing as he kept a hand over his wound. “Very.”

There was a loud sound, akin to air escaping from a popped balloon, and then, the world around them began to fly upward.