
As they continued, the fires and lights around them dimmed to total blackness, yet he could stll see Lisrian beside him, lit by a light from ahead. But when he looked, he saw nothing. There was something odd, though, about they path they walked. He looked behind and saw nothing. If they were going up, the way felt flat anyway. If they were going down, he felt no change of the grade of their path. Still, it felt as if they were travelling in a direction not down, up, east or west. They were going somewhere by some different direction than those he knew.
“Don’t worry, X,” came Lisrian’s voice beside him. “You’ll learn how to walk this way, when you need to. If you ever need to again.” Her voice was sad, but X couldn’t help the excitement that was coming over him. ‘Ascended’, she had said. That sounded positive for his future – a future he had given up so recently. The only blemish was that the creature beside him didn’t want him to go, and that was going to hurt.
It wasn’t a long walk. The air around him began to lighten, the blackness turning into grey, then even to white. The palace didn’t appear out of a fog, it appeared as if it had always been there, but he had only just gotten the eyes to see it. They began to climb the stairs, and Lisrian released him. He didn’t need to be led anymore – the huge white doors of the palace were open to him, and they climbed the stairs together, but separately. As he approached the top, he realized he now had a robe on. Finally, he was no longer naked! He looked to Lisrian, but she stiil wore nothing but her fur. At the top, standing before the open doors, he took her in his arms.
“Lisrian, no matter what happens…”
Her eyes glistened, still looking down from a little above him, but somehow she looked smaller now. He didn’t finish the sentence, instead he hugged her tightly and she returned the embrace.
Finally they passed within the doors to a long hallway. The raised dais at the end was practically familiar, it was so expected. He could barely see the figure seated there, but what he could see didn’t look like any Satanic form he had ever known. It looked like a man, just a man. His robe was not dissimilar to the one X wore now. No one else was within, but light poured in through the stained-glass windows high on the walls. He glanced at one and, though he had no idea who the man depicted there was, it could have been any of a thousand Saints. This looked like no palace of Satan he could ever have imagined.
“Welcome, X,” came a voice, low and gentle. “Not what you expected?”
“No,” he said. “Not even close!”
“I’m afraid a lot of the afterlife is going to feel like that. There’s a lot of confusion surrounding it on Earth. A lot of confusion.”
By now they had reached the foot of the dais.
“You are known as the Father of Lies, you know,” X said, wondering if he would anger this being that had seen things he could literally not imagine.
“I am. I created this lie of Hell, you know. Lies need not always be evil though. Surely even you know this? But I am also Lucifer. Morning Star. Light Bringer.”
“Considering this place, that does seem an appropriate name. Lucifer, in all respect, why am I here?”
“She has told you, has she not? You are Ascended. Your debt has been paid. Your sins are forgiven, by all – yourself included, and her that they hurt most.”
“My wife. I know. Can I see her?”
The man on the throne laughed. Not an evil laugh, nor a hurtful one. Just a man’s laugh at something he finds funny. “See her? X, you’ve done more than see her! Excuse my language, but you’ve fucked her! A lot!”
X stood confused. Totally not understanding. “I… what?”
A hand touched his arm, if it could be called a hand. A paw. Something… and he looked beside him. Lisrian stood there, not bothering to stop the tears from flowing. They streaked down her eyes in the tracks many previous ones had recently followed.
“X.” was all she said.
“You? How can that be?”
The man on the throne did not move, but a light came from the sky then, and Lisrian was raised up towards it, spinning slowly, just like some bad Disney animation. The light bounced off her form until it was blinding, but just as quickly it faded away again as she came back to the cold marble floor. The eyes that looked up at him from the naked but quite human body were familiar. He helped her to her feet and he gazed at the body, so young now but so familiar.
She looked down at herself then back at him.
He looked back at her. With a barely perceptible movement, she shook her head and they both smiled. Together, they both turned to Lucifer.
“Naa.” they said together, and instantly Lisrian was back in her Demonic form.
“What, don’t like the human form? We worked very hard on that form I’ll have you know!” said the man on the throne.
“Well, from my perspective, you definitely got the important bits right!” X said, appraising his wife’s now-restored form.
“And, from a woman’s point of view, the cock and balls are nothing short of inspired, let alone the nice tight butt!” she joined in, her tears temporarily forgotten.
“But sometimes a little fur is nice too,” she continued, looking at X.
“Lis,” he started, now that they’d got that straightened out. “Or should I call you Sharon?”
“X, I’ve been going by Lisrian so long… I think I prefer it. I’ve made something of a name for myself down here you know. But now you’ll be leaving. I waited so long for you. Ten years you said. I can’t tell. We don’t keep track like that down here.”
“You’ve been in Hell all this time? I thought sure you’d be in Heaven!”
“Not everyone has been as good as you, X,” she said, looking down at her feet.
Lucifer spoke up then, “X, she is an adulteress. All must be revealed here.”
X looked back at his wife. Or ex-wife. Or… he wasn’t quite sure how to put it here! But he put an hand on her shoulder and she looked up at him.
“Was it Mike?” he asked – a name from a past life.
She nodded.
“I thought so. It must have been.”
“I regret it, X. But I’ll not make apologies beyond that. They always start with excuses. There are no excuses. I was weak and lonely, but those don’t justify it.”
“But… Borin and I…”
She shook her head. “Till death do us part, remember? You are under no such vow here. We make no vows. They can only lead to heartbreak. I am sorry, but Borin is no mitigating factor.”
“So, you’ve been in Hell, working off your punishment… as a Demon?”
“She requested it,” Lucifer said, and the impression was that he was smiling. “We assured her that you would be coming to Hell, and she wanted to be your Demon. It seemed appropriate enough. And she’s been quite resourceful too. She’s a good leader, and Heaven knows we need help keeping things running smoothly down here! We’ve quite a few Demons that used to be human actually. But we have to keep up appearances! She couldn’t be seen directing other Demons in Human form.”
“And… I like this body. I sort of made it myself!”
“It fits you,” X said, “and to say I like it would be an understatement – but you already know that!”
“Well, you always did like your Furry stuff,” she said, wiping a tear away. “And I loved you for it.”
“Now,” Lucifer said, interrupting. “Though I can manipulate time and am never in a hurry, shall we get on with it?”
“But, wait. I don’t understand! Saint Peter said I was… record breaking! How could I have completed my time so quickly?”
Suddenly another man appeared, bearded and looking sad. “I lied, X. Sorry about that. But you believed me, didn’t you? You thought you were a record-breaking sinner, though we all know that sin is a pretty mild one. I would have forgiven you, but you felt guilty of it. You needed to be punished, for your own sake. You condemned yourself.”
“Everyone goes to Hell, X,” Lucifer continued. “Thank you Peter. Thank you again. You always do a good job.”
Saint Peter began to fade. “Sometimes though… you know I hate this job sometimes!”
Then he was gone and the three were left alone again.
“So what now? I go to heaven, and wait for Lisrian to finish her penance?”
“That’s about the size of it,” Lucifer said, rising from the throne.
X looked at Lisrian, and she knelt before him. “You were a better human than me, X. Far better. But I’ll get there someday.”
“And I’ll be there, waiting for you, Lis,” and he kissed her betwen her horns.
“That will help, knowing that,” Lisrian said, and she turned her head up to him again. “Knowing I have a Blessed one waiting for me. It will make the time go faster. And slower.”
She kissed his hand, and he turned to Lucifer.
“You’re not only known as Lucifer, are you?” he said.
“I have many names,” he said gently, and took X’s hand to help him up onto the dais. “You know me best by another.”
“WAIT!” x said exclaimed unexpectedly.
“What is it?” the leader of Hell asked, with a smile in his voice that betrayed that he already knew what idea X had.
“She called me Blessed. Am I? Blessed?”
“All who enter Heaven are Blessed, X. Of course you are.”
“My God answers the prayers of the Blessed. He did so for Farnsworth once, long ago…”
“Yes,” the Light Bringer said, and for the first time X truly saw the face of the leader of Hell. And Heaven. At least his Heaven. The King continued, “but know this, she must serve out her penalty. She must forgive herself above all. She has not reached that point yet. She still feels the guilt.”
“Then I must help her over that,” X said, smiling himself now. “How long would you guess?”
The King looked at Lisrian, who stood at the foot of the platform, trembling, undeniable hope in her eyes. He looked at her a long time, as if he saw not the body before him, nor the body she had once occupied, but the soul within them. Then finally he looked away.
“Oh, maybe a year. Two at most. Then, why don’t you both come and visit me again?” he concluded, releasing X’s hand and letting him go back to her.
X took Lisrian’s hands in his own. Her face was radiant now. Suddenly though, the robe around him disappeared and he stood naked before her.
“What about you, Lis? I assume I can change this body into something more… interesting if you’d like!”
She looked X up and down, appraisingly. “No, I like you like that. Well… maybe one little change.”
The man on the Dais sighed. “Every time, it’s the same thing. I swear we made them just fine! You women are just never satisfied. Okay, okay. Now return to Hell the two of you! And remember, you’re supposed to be being punished! No parties when you get back. Parties in Hell can get out of hand easily.”
“We’ll remember,” X and Lisrian said in unison as they turned back towards the doors out of the palace.
“Oh, and Lisrian?” said the man that X could never again bring himself to call Satan.
“Yes?” she said, turning back with her face beaming with joy.
“The… souls in your little Paradise… they’d like you two to return. Regularly. They didn’t realize how much they missed sex until you two reminded them.
"Oh! Well, sure!”
“We’lll stop by on the way back" X added.
And then Lisrian led X back to Hell, though this time she had a slightly bigger leash.
The End





