章 31: Devilish connections
The loud bangs of the ships entering the atmosphere woke James with a start. He jumped out of his lying down position and went to bring out his sword. He froze in place and slowly turned his head towards his right arm. He tried to clench his fist but there was nothing there to clench. James looked around frantically as he saw visions and hallucinations of what happened. Images of bodies came and disappeared, recollections of slashing and torturing people flooded his sight, and the memory of Jack flying off persistently lingered in the centre of his vision.
Meanwhile, Cynthinia and William walked out to meet Liam and Izzy. They counted that there were over four hundred people exiting the transport ships. Izzy and Liam walked over to them out of the crowd.
"What's going on? Why are there all these people here?" asked William.
"All of their planets were destroyed by a rouge asteroid swarm, including ours. All the emergency immigration planets are full so we thought this place could house us." explained Liam.
"I don't know. I think there's enough space if families all sleep in the same room but food might be a problem. We have a self-sustaining farm but it can only sustain for a maximum of two people per room ... not four." said William.
"Plus, I don't think it's safe for them to be here. Something happened with James and he could be a threat to them and us." said Cynthinia. There was a slam of a door and they all turned around.
"What do you mean 'threat'?! Do you fear me?! I thought gods like you were supposed to be hundreds of times more powerful than us?!" shouted James. Liam and Izzy put on puzzled looks. Cynthinia slowly walked towards James as Liam and Izzy motioned for people to slowly move back.
"James, let us explain. Your blue flames are a danger to both mortals and gods alike. Until you can control them with certainty we can't exactly trust you won't combust and kill more innocent lives." said Cynthinia. James' face grew with anger.
"You are scared of me! If you don't want me around, then I'll leave!" shouted James. He activated blitz and launched himself into the sky and flew off into the distance. Cynthinia turned around and realised she had a lot of explaining to do.
"I'm not dangerous! Those people I killed were not innocent!" James said to himself as he sat by a fire. Night had fallen so he had gathered some sticks and logs and built himself a campfire and a small shelter.
"Are you sure they were innocent? Or are you just denying the fact you slaughtered hundreds of people because you enjoyed it? I know I enjoyed it when I killed for the first time." said a low, jestful voice. James looked around for the person who spoke.
"Who's there?" asked James.
"It's me, your great-grandfather ... Lucifer."
A tall, smiling man with sweptback, black hair, red irises, very short beard hair, and wore a black tuxedo and shoes. He sat down on the ground opposite James and the faces of the two were illuminated by the fire.
"I'm surprised you haven't reacted shocked or surprised!" said Lucifer.
"I've experienced much bigger plot twists than this. You're just a nuisance." replied James. He flicked his finger up and the fire roared upwards, blocking James' view of Lucifer. Suddenly, the fire turned blue and parted to show Lucifer with his eyes that had turned from red to blue.
"That isn't a nice way to treat your old gramps!" exclaimed Lucifer. He got up, walked through the fire and sat down next to James. "I know what your deepest desires are ... and I can help you make them a reality!"
"At what cost? Everybody knows not to make a deal with the devil ... he always wants something in return."
"You are right, but my idea is a win-win scenario. You want your arm back and to be able to control your new abilities so your friends don't discard you. I want somewhere to stay so I can hide."
"What are you hiding from?"
"I ditched my job as ruler of hell to come here. Dad's has been on a bit of a crazy spree and I don't want to get caught up in it. I'm already in a lot of trouble as it is. I'll just hide inside of you for the time being. Seeming as it may have been my fault your satanic powers activated, I'll manifest a new arm for you an teach you how to control your new powers. How does that sound?" James looked intently at the fire and then at his nonexistent arm. He put his left hand towards Lucifer.
"You have yourself a deal, grandfather. However, I don't think Cynthinia is going to like this."
"Cynthinia! She's here on earth!? How do I look? Devilishly handsome? Never mind, lets get on with this this!" Lucifer got suddenly flustered and shook James' hand.
Lucifer's energy quickly bonded with James' and James entered his mind. It had been awhile since he last came here. Ever since the last battle with Alice he feared coming back as it might trigger bad memories. The forest was as lively as it had been with animals and plants growing in all directions. Once James' reached the main tree though, he saw that it had blue ivy growing up it and three trees growing around it were supporting it.
"Quite the magnificent place you've got here! Very beautiful! And the unlimited alcohol is a nice bonus." said Lucifer as he walked out of the house Alice had stayed in. It hadn't changed a bit.
"There used to be another person living in here before you. That house was their's ... before..." started James but he was cut off by Lucifer.
"There's no need to dwell on the past! Come on, look at this." James walked up to Lucifer who pointed at the main tree. The blue ivy had fully covered a large branch and the leaves had wilted.
"What happened?" asked James, feeling the tree.
"The blue ivy is your satanic power. It's trying to work in harmony with your main fire abilities but they're so out of sync that your body took the toll and your arm probably wilted like this tree and had to be replaced. If I can try and sync the two a little bit then your arm should grow back but it'll be a slow process. In the mean time, I'll manifest a new arm for you like I said." Lucifer placed a hand on the ivy and pulses of blue light went through the ivy. It began to fuse with the tree but Lucifer quickly receded, gasping for air.
"Did it work?" asked James, guiding Lucifer to the ground to sit down.
"Why don't you go and see? I'll be fine. Lady whiskey and madame vodka will help with the recovery." said Lucifer. James walked back into the forest and exited his mind.
Once back outside, he quickly looked at his right arm and found a mesh of blue energy form an arm shape. Then veins, then muscles, then bones, and then final a couple layers of skin to form a brand new arm. James' new arm was just like his old one but now made out of light blue energy that he could wave his hand through but if he tried to go through it with enough force it acted solid.
"So? How's the new arm?" asked Lucifer. James picked up a rock with his new arm and threw it with all his might. The shock wave from it breaking the sound barrier instantly put the fire out and set James' shelter flying. The rock quickly burnt up from the friction.
"I like it, a lot!" replied James. He bent his knees, twisted his body slightly and launched himself into a spin. He stopped high up in the air and looked out across the horizon. A fire ball stood out in the pitch-black sky. James turned towards it propelled himself forward.
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