The imperial city was the piece of Hell closest to the veil between worlds. As the first solid piece of reality since leaving the mortal world, it should have been a welcome experience.
It really wasn't. Stepping onto the luminescent ice docks was like stepping into a Northern Water Tribe harbor. Taking the path up to the city itself where it nestled in the bowl of something that wasn't a volcano sickeningly resembled the path from the harbor to Capital City of the Fire Nation. And the city itself...
The city itself was divided into four great rings. The outer ring belonged to the poorest of demons and most human shades, the middle ring to almost all other demons and the wealthiest of human shades, the upper ring to the Ministries and the businesses servicing their employees-
And the central ring held the Imperial Palace.
From here, at the edge of the high bone wall, Zhao could see the banners were still down. The Jade-Eyed Emperor was not in residence; he never had been for as long as Zhao had had dealings with Hell.
Zhao gritted his teeth. He and his patron in the Ministry of War needed to talk. He'd found something in Wan Shi Tong's spirit library that the Greater Lord Seven would be interested in.
***
The lobby of the Ministry of War was just as Brutalist as he remembered it being. For all the apparent refinement of demons, they never seemed to get it quite right. Everything was always too much with them.
Some sort of commotion caught his attention, and he turned to see a lust demon stepping out of an elevator. The gold-skinned male drew many eyes and hands reached out as if to touch cloth or skin.
The lust demon's wings flared in threat, and every hand drew back.
Zhao admired the demon as he crossed the lobby. The lust demon really was quite lovely, much more conventionally attractive than some of them. Of course, Greater Lord Seven had warned him that most lust-demons delighted in seducing the most unwilling, and what better way to make a person unwilling than to be grotesque?
Men would climb over themselves to fall into the Hell of that one's bed, which probably wasn't a bit of a challenge for the demon. Maybe he specialized in seducing priests.
His musings were interrupted by the arrival of Underling No, his usual liason with Greater Lord Seven.
"Greater Lord Seven is busy right now," she said with the appearance of genuine unhappiness at his misfortune. But she's had a lot of practice with humans. "Several of the Lesser Lords are available, however, if you wish to discuss your contract."
"No," he said politely. "I can wait for Greater Lord Seven to be free."
She frowned, and he wondered if he'd have to drop the tidbit about having been to the spirit library in order to get in to see his patron at all.
Ozai and Zhao, humans can stop demons (1/2)
The imperial city was the piece of Hell closest to the veil between worlds. As the first solid piece of reality since leaving the mortal world, it should have been a welcome experience.
It really wasn't. Stepping onto the luminescent ice docks was like stepping into a Northern Water Tribe harbor. Taking the path up to the city itself where it nestled in the bowl of something that wasn't a volcano sickeningly resembled the path from the harbor to Capital City of the Fire Nation. And the city itself...
The city itself was divided into four great rings. The outer ring belonged to the poorest of demons and most human shades, the middle ring to almost all other demons and the wealthiest of human shades, the upper ring to the Ministries and the businesses servicing their employees-
And the central ring held the Imperial Palace.
From here, at the edge of the high bone wall, Zhao could see the banners were still down. The Jade-Eyed Emperor was not in residence; he never had been for as long as Zhao had had dealings with Hell.
Zhao gritted his teeth. He and his patron in the Ministry of War needed to talk. He'd found something in Wan Shi Tong's spirit library that the Greater Lord Seven would be interested in.
***
The lobby of the Ministry of War was just as Brutalist as he remembered it being. For all the apparent refinement of demons, they never seemed to get it quite right. Everything was always too much with them.
Some sort of commotion caught his attention, and he turned to see a lust demon stepping out of an elevator. The gold-skinned male drew many eyes and hands reached out as if to touch cloth or skin.
The lust demon's wings flared in threat, and every hand drew back.
Zhao admired the demon as he crossed the lobby. The lust demon really was quite lovely, much more conventionally attractive than some of them. Of course, Greater Lord Seven had warned him that most lust-demons delighted in seducing the most unwilling, and what better way to make a person unwilling than to be grotesque?
Men would climb over themselves to fall into the Hell of that one's bed, which probably wasn't a bit of a challenge for the demon. Maybe he specialized in seducing priests.
His musings were interrupted by the arrival of Underling No, his usual liason with Greater Lord Seven.
"Greater Lord Seven is busy right now," she said with the appearance of genuine unhappiness at his misfortune. But she's had a lot of practice with humans. "Several of the Lesser Lords are available, however, if you wish to discuss your contract."
"No," he said politely. "I can wait for Greater Lord Seven to be free."
She frowned, and he wondered if he'd have to drop the tidbit about having been to the spirit library in order to get in to see his patron at all.