Deep in hell

[laughing-mage.livejournal.com]

There's new scars on John now. The most easily noticed is the one across his cheek that meanders a half inch away from his left eye. He almost came out of that conversation with an eyepatch but the demon that had gotten all frisky on him was now keeping company with a pit of flesh eating worms so it was all good.

Spreading the word about the contest and the prize was just about done. Demons weren't good at delayed gratification, actually John wasn't either, so some of them were trying to cheat and capture the mage and make him tell. Typically he'd have let Ellie's minions do this, since they were expendable and he couldn't give a rat's ass how many of them died, but he had more than one objective being out here and this gave him the cover to do what he needed to do.

There was a few people here in hell he could go to and build alliances for Ellie on her new seat of power and he was making a point of visiting them, and he'd needed a few moments for a chat with his dearly departed father who was rotting here as well. That would normally raise eyebrows since is was pretty well known how he and his dear old pop got on like. Especially seeing as how it was his fathers hate for his own son that had locked him in hell. But if he was out doing other errands it would be totally in character to come by and mock his father to cause him pain.


His father was hanging from hooks this time, hooks made of thicker wire twisted from hangers instead of the sharp pointy kind. Must have been a bitch to have shoved the blunt ends through the skin.

"'Lo Pops. Hope I didn't catch you at a bad time an all." He hoped his father was in coherant mode, it's so hard to torture someone when they are in too much pain to understand what you're saying to them. "Got a little sommat t'tell you."

"Why would I want to hear anything from you? You killed your mother...you should never have been born at all." His father's voice was thick with pain and anger but he was damned lucid for someone hanging by hooks with his limbs slowly coming apart from the strain.

"Right, an we all know you did your best t'make sure I never saw the light a day don't we?" He flicked one of the wire hanger hooks sharply causing a fresh stream of blood. "Too bad all y'did was kill off mum an the good son instead." he let the smirk he knew drove his father completely ape shit cross his face. "Think that's probably the best torture they can come up with is to keep reminding you what a sorry shit you are that couldn't even kill off a fetus with no defenses. Helped you were too cowardly t'do it when you could actually see the offspring in front of you."

His father was pathetically easy to taunt somedays. It helped that he couldn't really effectively get under John's skin now that he knew the truth of everything. Made him pretty much invulnerable to counter attack.

John used some of his precious horde of magic to surround the two of them in a bubble no one could spy through. He shouldn't waste it, it was hard as fuck to get the energy back here in the Netherworld, course he had been supplimenting it with the death energy of various demons while he was here.

"Got some news Pops. I'm it, Cheryl's been topped by her asshat husband and I'm all you've got left." He watched his fathers expression move from disbelief to anger to despair and back to anger and gave him a shove to set him swaying on the hooks. "Must say you got the sorriest luck I've ever seen." His father would never believe that he cared a whit about Cheryl even though she was the only mum he ever had.

"You be nice an keep the family secrets to yourself down here or I'll make sure she gets the hooks right next to you." He pulled his father close so that the hooks strained and pulled leaving fresh rivers of blood down pale skin. "You start spoutin' off she's never gettin' out. You keep your damn lips sewn shut over your teeth an I'll see what I can do about gettin' your oldest and dearest out of here." John held him for another moment before letting go again leaving his father swaying.

"I should have killed you...should have killed you when I had the chance...didn't for Cheryl.."

Rolling his eyes impatiently and putting his silk cut out on his father's face . "Didn't ask you to give me shit, asked you t'keep your mouth shut."

"I will keep your secrets. Get Cheryl out of Hell and I will not tell them about your son and daughter." It was grudgingly given but it didn't matter, all he needed was the words, he knew his father would happily blab to anyone who would listen about it now that he knew John gave a damn.

But the blood of his father on his hands was a powerful binding spell. No matter who he wanted to tell now he couldn't, and if they used magics to make him speak they wouldn't believe anything he told them.

"Right, see you later Pops. love these little get togethers we should do it more'n once a decade." He dismissed the bubble of magic and left his father to his torture.