As Lucien watched the final figments of his mother's past slowly fade before him, the once-bright room dimmed and he once again found himself in a dark abyss.

He realized he was no longer floating in midair but was standing straight up, face-to-face with the demon lord. 

"The moment your mother gained her fortune, it's a done deal," Mammon said after a long silence. "I had no hand in the events that followed. It was all up to her how she'd play the rest of the game."

For a split-second, Lucien thought he sounded remorseful and sentimental. But he was quickly reminded of what Mammon really is - a deceitful, lying, vile creature who treats others as mere pawns.

Lucien shot him an accusing look. The archdemon didn't seem the least bit agitated, but there was a baffled look on his face, as if something was troubling him.

Lucien didn't care to be inquisitive. He didn't want to add any more to his heap of unanswered questions.

"You... You could be lying about many things. In fact, I'm afraid you're still lying about everything."

Mammon looked vexed. "This again?"

"Mom told me that Louis Balfour is my father. I knew the guy from the pictures she'd shown me when I was a child. Even told me stories about him. She would never lie to me about that."

The Lord of Avarice was sizing him up but as always, he knows he has the upper-hand.

"Oh, come on. How in the world could she tell a boy that his father's a demon, without ruining his life? If you're still persistent, we can do this all day. And while I'm still being nice to you, would you care to see more proof? I can show you how we made you -"

Lucien groaned loudly. "No, thank you!"

If there's anything he didn't wish to see, that would be it. Truthfully, he was thankful they skipped that part of his mother's past.

Still, he was in denial. He was ashamed. He was overwhelmingly terrified to see the truth.

"If there's anyone here who's lying, that would be you," Mammon said, concealing his chagrin.

"You've always known, you just didn't care to admit it. All this time, you knew she lied to you. You were afraid at the thought that you might actually be the kid of some random guy she hooked up with. You've always had this delusion in your head that your mother's a saint - pure and innocent, veiled in white. Well, let me slap reality in your face, boy. She made so many  wrong choices in her life. She carved her own path and there's no turning back from it. And you know what? She enjoyed every step of the way."

Lucien could feel his heart tremble and his legs weaken. But despite all the shocking things he'd seen and heard, he settled to know the answer to one question.

"Did... Did Mom ever love me?"

There was a look of repulsion on Mammon's face when he mentioned that word: Love.

It's a vile word humans keep spouting carelessly that oftentimes, becomes hollow and meaningless. And for Mammon, who has devoured tainted souls for an immeasurable time, love is often a human's facade for greed.

But up until the end, Leticia Montgomery was full of surprises. One of the things the Lord of Avarice hadn't expected is that the woman, who used to only covet material wealth, actually knows how to give love.

Mammon's lips curled in disdain. He didn't want to answer such a mundane question but if he doesn't, the deal would be over before it even started.

"If it finds you solace," he said in a way one would if they're choking up blood, "then the answer is yes. Leticia did... love you. After all, you're the living testimony that there's still humanity in her."

It felt as though a heavy burden had been lifted off Lucien's chest. He was so horrified by his own indifference since the moment he laid eyes on his mother's cold, lifeless body. But for the first time, he felt immense grief. His eyes welled up with tears. It finally dawned on him that she was never coming back.

Mammon didn't speak for a moment. Somehow his words of comfort left a bad taste in his mouth.

"Where is she now?" Lucien asked, his voice shaking. 

He immediately regretted asking such a stupid question, but Mammon was quick to indulge him.

"Hell, of course. Where else could she be?" the archdemon replied, matter-of-fact. "Right now, she's probably in a place called Gehenna prior to her judgment."

And then, he flashed a smile. "Rest assured, she's destined for the Fourth Circle - my turf."

Lucien paused for a moment before opening his mouth.

"What... What are you planning to do to her soul?"

"Well, she will have to push a huge boulder up a steep hill, but one that would come crashing to her time and again. Leticia wouldn't mind this endless routine, right? Then again, she made a deal with me, so I might just spare her from eternal damnation and devour her soul instead."

Mammon smacked his lips with delight, like someone looking forward to a meal that could satisfy even the most jaded of appetites. It's disgusting and it horrified Lucien at the same time.

"When are you doing this?"

It was probably another stupid question, but it's worth a shot.

Mammon sighed. "Think of her as a meal being delivered to me by a rather sluggish food delivery service. In Hell time, that's about an hour. In human time, that would be... thirty years from now."

He wasn't kidding when he said it's sluggish.

And for the first time, the archdemon's face turned pensive. "Listen. Your mother's a lost cause. Not only did she trade her soul to a demon, she took her own life as well. That's two strikes. She's out."

"Hey. If that's a reference to baseball, then you need to rack up three strikes before you strikeout -"

"Whatever. My turf. My rules." Mammon interjected. This kid just knows how to tick him off. 

"Your mother's fate has been sealed a long time ago. Deal with it."

The thought of his mother's suffering even in the afterlife pains Lucien to a great extent. And the more he immersed himself in those morbid thoughts, the further he pushed his sanity to the edge.

It's time to make a decision.

"I'm aware that our meeting is not a coincidence. You appeared here because you need something from me, and you know I'll be needing something from you."

At this, Mammon's eyes lit up like fire. This was the right moment to use his trump card.

"Well... There's one more way to put her in a less hellish situation."

Everything the archdemon had shown him, it was all leading down to this moment. Lucien wondered what role he'd play in this sick game and now, Mammon is about to show it to him. He all had this planned from the very beginning. Push him to the brink of desperation until he thinks there's no other way but to strike up a deal with the devil.

 

---

 

Lucien was about to find out what was troubling the Lord of Avarice. He watched the archdemon as he fixed the hem of his suit and sat down on a chair that seemed to have appeared out of nowhere. At this point however, things like apparition no longer give him the heebie-jeebies. He was more surprised by the fact that he was quick to be desensitized from all these supernatural crap.

Mammon crossed his legs and rested his chin on one hand with graceful elegance. Lucien wondered if all demons look as deceivingly good-looking as he is.

The archdemon's voice quickly brought him back from the momentary trance.

"As you may already know, I'm a rather busy demon. Busier than the rest of my brothers, in fact."

Lucien raised his eyebrows like one would when they've heard something over-exaggerated.

"But among many things, your mother's case was very... peculiar. I simply couldn't resist wanting to get to the bottom of it."

Lucien hated how he keeps holding up information from him.

"Get on with it."

"Your mother losing all her fortune in such a short period of time was something that's never supposed to have happened."

Mammon wouldn't dare show an inkling of it but as the Lord of Avarice, this situation was a big blow to his ego.

Lucien gritted his teeth. "But it did anyway, didn't it? So then why? You must have had a hand in all this - just like what you did to Louis Balfour."

Mammon frowned. "Careful with your accusations, boy."

"You're an arch-fucking-demon. Lying and deception are your tricks of the trade."

"Well yes, that much is true," Mammon replied with no qualms, "but what I'm trying to say is, something had pulled your mother's little wheel of fortune in the opposite direction."

"Human language, please," Lucien demanded, not having the faintest idea what the other was talking about.

Mammon's nose flared. There must be a limit to a mortal's simple-mindedness. "Must I really spell everything out for you? What I'm saying is that someone put a hex on your mother!"

He pressed his fingers to his forehead, looking irked the more Lucien pressed him on.

"Wolfvision was a highly successful company that only had good things going for it - as long as your mother is alive and breathing. Even I invested a lot of time and effort on that shitty deal. But when things unexpectedly turned for the worst, and at such short notice, I realized there could only be one possibility. I can't imagine, for the life of me, who your mother has provoked in her mortal life for them to cast such a potent hex against her... It's unimaginable."

Lucien struggled to process everything Mammon had said. But one thing's for sure: Even the demon lord was gravely concerned.

Hex? What is this bastard on about?

Mammon rested his elbows on the armrests, lightly tapping the tips of his fingers together as he ruminated.

"Even worse is that whoever cast it on her is no ordinary fucker, since they slipped right under my radar. You can't possibly cast a powerful hex and use a concealment spell at the same time, unless you have a death wish. Shit like that drains a lot of life energy."

Lucien pulled a face. For a moment, he was at a loss for words.

"I won't be surprised if it's one of your underworld buddies, you know."

Mammon replied with a chuckle. "Well, you better bite your tongue now because not a single known demon can use life energy. We have none of it to begin with."

Lucien abhors how the archdemon speaks in riddles but finally, this shed a bit of light to the mystery.

"So... they're a mortal being."

"Well... yes and no."

Lucien clenched his jaw. "So to put it simply, someone got the better of you. The Lord of Avarice, bested by a not-so-ordinary mortal casting spells and hexes."

Lucien could see Mammon's face turning red with concealed rage, veins throbbing in his temples. He clearly touched a sore spot.

The Lord of Avarice then let out a deep and audible breath, straightened his tie and smoothed his hair. If it were another human talking back to him the way Lucien did, he would have blown their head to bits a long time ago.

"So let me get this straight. You're here because you want me to fix this mess for you. Tell me I'm wrong."

'Well, this halfling isn't so dumb, after all,' Mammon thought to himself, smiling.

"Tell me again why we're wasting time over trivial things? You seem to already know what I'm here for."

Lucien shook his head weakly. "What if I say no? I don't have the time to roll in someone else's pile of shit. I already have enough of it as it is."

For the first time, Mammon had a morose expression on his face. He uncrossed his legs and fixed his eyes on Lucien. "You're no good to me dead, boy. My blood runs through your veins and it's not something that should be wasted on senseless death. Do you think killing yourself now would change anything?"

There was a long pause as he carefully thought what to say next.

"You seemed to be so desperate to save your mother's soul from damnation. But once you drag yourself to Hell, you're just going to end up in the pit of my stomach. The same goes for your mother."

"Then tell me what I should do to save her!"

"You can no longer save a soul that pledged itself to me willingly. However, there's still a way to ease her suffering. Strike a deal with me and you'll know."

Lucien couldn't believe he's falling for the words of a demon. But it only shows how desperate and utterly hopeless he was.

Slowly, he walked up to Mammon, casting away all the fears left in him.

"There's one more thing I need to know before I make this deal with you."

"I'm all ears."

Lucien took a deep breath and crossed his arms. It felt great to look down on the Lord of Avarice from where he stood.

"I'm well aware that whoever was behind this hex, definitely hurt your pride. You just couldn't accept the fact that they outwitted you," he said, at which the archdemon frowned. "I'm also aware that you couldn't care less about Mom's demise. I don't see any point why you need me to retaliate for what they've done to you. Why can't your vindictive ass just go and kill them now?"

"You really are your mother's son." Mammon countered, laughing mockingly. "'Why can't you just give me the money now? Why can't you just kill them now?' You lot are always so demanding yet brainless. Hey, if harvesting souls were as easy as killing humans before their time, then I would've wiped mankind off the face of the Earth eons ago."

Lucien's eyes widened in surprise. Who would have thought that there still are lines that should not be crossed, even among the vilest creatures?

"Huh. You can't do it yourself."

"There's no such thing as free lunch, boy. Especially in Hell. And with a mystic being involved, things are even more complicated. They're an especially elusive prey among us demons."

"If the Lord of Avarice couldn't handle something so untouchable, then what makes you think I can take them on? Besides being a pulseless, breathless freak in my first seven years of life, there's nothing particularly remarkable about me. If you want me to face some formidable, magic-casting foe, it would be like an ant fighting a spider. Why don't you just call your friend, Dr. Strange or Scarlet Witch?"

Lucien froze when the archdemon snarled like a wild beast, revealing razor-sharp teeth. That's how far he could test the demon lord's patience. 

"You. Are. A. Fucking. Cambion!" Mammon bellowed, clearly losing his temper now.

"Human language!"

"You are planetouched - half-human and half-demon. Only you lot can come into contact with mystic beings from this world." Mammon glared at him with sinister eyes. "Have I made myself clear now, boy? If you make this deal with me, you can exact revenge for what's happened to you and your mother. You get to regain what you've lost, in return for that being's soul."

"You make it sound so precious."

"Because it is. Such a rare and exceptional soul can satiate my hunger for a million years - the ultimate ambrosia for archdemons."

At this point, everything has been made crystal-clear to Lucien. This was his purpose all along. To be born in this world, only to be his own father's bait for a fish he wanted to catch. He had been bombarded with cruel truths in a single day that he could no longer tell which was the most painful.

"I don't care about the money or the fortune," Lucien said with a stoic voice. "If you help me get my revenge and I deliver this person to you, then you must agree to spare Mom's soul."

"All of this, for one measly soul..." Mammon mumbled. "The final judgment stands. But if you fulfill your end of the bargain, then I will make her part of my Legion. Consider it the safest place for her in my Circle. At the very least, there will be no steep hills and boulders for her to lift and get crushed on for eternity."

"So then... what do you want me to do, exactly?"

Mammon heaved a sigh of relief. He could almost see the end of this long tunnel.

"You can find the troublesome caster in that place your servant had mentioned. I suspect it's an old soul - an ancient one at that. So I expect they wouldn't be so easy to find. But they're cunning creatures. They could be hiding in plain sight."

He could see the look of dismay on Lucien's face the more he described what he was about to encounter. But of course, he's a master of persuasion.

"You are a Cambion. You are of age and soon, your powers will awaken. It may take time but once you discover them, you need to hone and use them to your advantage. If you put them into good use, you can even bring that company down to its knees."

It seemed incredulous. Even then, the fact that he's half-human and half-demon hasn't really sunk in yet, much more the possibility that he possesses preternatural powers. It's the stuff of fiction - or so he thought.

Mammon rose up from the chair and walked up to Lucien to give him a light pat on the shoulder. 

Lucien gently shruged off the archdemon's hand, trying to hide his contempt. If there's something one should trust the least, it would be a demon's words.  But what else can he hold on to at this point? If someone else could offer him a fighting chance, then surely he would take it at the drop of a hat.

"Once this deal is over, you know your soul will be bound to me," Mammon uttered. It was not a question, but a declaration.

"Whatever," Lucien replied dryly.

The fact is that Lucien didn't think much beyond fulfilling his revenge. He didn't care what would happen to him, as long as he could save his mother's soul. He failed to do so when she was still alive but now, he was given the chance to redeem himself and do what he was supposed to do a long time ago.

If only it's not yet too late...

Mammon smiled his usual sinister smile. "Don't worry, I'll treat you nicely. Rest assured, you won't end up on my plate. And who knows, you might even get to see Leticia again. We're going to be one big happy family."

For Lucien, every word that comes out of Mammon's mouth is demoralizing. He wished he would just shut up and get things over with.

"This is going to be the best decision you've made," the archdemon said in a business-like manner. "'Might as well do something with your life first, drag someone with you to Hell, and end it with a bang!"

Lucien bowed his head down, avoiding the piercing gaze of the other. He wasn't at his best, so surely this is not going to be his best decision, either. It's do or die.

"My precious ambrosia and your soul," Mammon proclaimed, making it clear to Lucien for the last time, what he wanted out of their contract.

"As long as you spare Mom's soul while I'm still here doing your dirty work, then you have a deal."

Once again, there was that fiery glint in the archdemon's eyes. The same ominous fervor Lucien had seen when his mother sealed that deal with him.

"So then, let's shake on it," Mammon said in a trembling voice, hardly able to contain his excitement.

A part of Lucien refused to take the hand that was reaching out to him, but a much stronger motive compelled him to do otherwise.

"From here on in, I will guide you along the way," the archdemon said, as Lucien took his hand.

The moment their hands touched, a symbol appeared on Lucien's right palm. It was the same sigil that appeared on his mother's hand.

The pain was excruciating, like skin being seared with a hot branding iron.

"Looking forward to our next meeting, my dear son..."

That was the Lord of Avarice's parting words to Lucien, who was crouched on the ground, waiting for the pain to subside.

Mammon disappeared like a gust of wind, bringing with him the miasmic darkness that enveloped Lucien. At first there was a ringing sound in his ears, followed by the familiar sound of water dripping from a faucet.

The next thing he knew, he was back in his own bathroom, lying sideways on the floor.

Lucien lay unmoving for god knows how long. He wanted to throw up, he wanted to cry, he wanted to lash out - all at the same time. But there was no time for any of those, because the cogs have started to turn on him.

 

---

 

Perhaps in the eyes of others, history has repeated itself. But Lucien refused to turn the cogs in the same tragic direction. If there was something he should thank Mammon for, it would be for indirectly saving his life. And while there's no question that one of his feet is already stuck in Hell, he promised to put on a show of a lifetime for the demon lord who claims to be his father.

It was on that fateful night when Lucien decided to press the reset button once and for all. From then on, it's a new lease on life and a renewed purpose. 

Naturally, one of the things he needed to put behind was his identity.

The truth is that he was not always a 'Lucien Salverson'. In fact, it's not even his real name. It's just one of the many questions he wanted to ask his mother once they reunite. But for now, he sought comfort with the thought that perhaps it was his mother's way of mocking and rebelling against Mammon. Because she named him after the Angel of Death and Safe Passage: Azrael.

And so, in order for his plans to work, Azrael Montgomery had to leave his past behind - or set it aside for now. After all, it's impossible to stab someone in the back when they know you are coming after them.

One thing's for sure: Come hell or high water, this man who is destined for Hell, is going to come out victorious. But revenge sounds nefarious, which is why he prefers to call it 'returning the favor'.

And boy, is it going to be sweet...