The Devil's table

The Devil sat at one end of the table. His son, Lucan, squirmed uncomfortably in the chair opposite him, and Sophia found herself in the middle glancing from one to the other. The situation cemented her belief that a bullet had in fact lodged itself into her brain matter, and all of this was just a coma-induced hallucination, experienced from the lonely confines of a hospital bed. It also told her she was more messed up than she thought if this is where her mind chose to take her! But, she went along with it. After all, Dinner with the Devil, what could possibly go wrong?

“You look lost in thought, Sophia dear. Is everything alright?” the Devil peered over the wide ebony table and straight into her eyes.

Sophia shook her head slowly and shrugged, “Yes, I mean, no. I don't know” she mumbled, “just how good can things be if I'm sitting at the Devil's table?” she looked to Lucan then, who sat stoically silent, eyes set like stone, watching his father's every move.

“Oh please, Sophia” the Devil replied with mock hurt, “I assure you, you have nothing to fear from me” he vowed in a reverent bow of the head.

“I never said I was afraid” she quipped back, unflinching.

The Devil broke out into a wide grin and turned to Lucan, “I see why you like her”.

Lucan's jaw clenched to the point of almost becoming dust, “is there a point to any of this?” he asked as the air whistled through his gritted teeth.

The Devil shot him a look that could freeze the whole place over if he so wished, and started drumming his fingers on the table, “the point, my son, is to sit down and have a nice family meal”.

Lucan scoffed coldly, “I find that hard to believe”. The only thing the man before him had ever fathered was the hate coursing through Lucan's veins.

“Oh Lucan, Lucan” the Devil shook his head in disappointment, “you of all people should know, the Truth cares not what you believe...But” he held his hands up in semi-surrender, “I will admit, it would be a shame not to take advantage of this unexpected visit” he looked poignantly towards Sophia, “and maybe settle this thing once and for all”.

“Sophia? I believe you have something that belongs to me, and I'm afraid I need to ask for it back” the Devil stated politely.

Lucan's anger coagulated, and boiled over as he stood up slamming his hands on the ebony table. Tiny splinters fractured from solid surface as his force caused a wave of destruction to pass through its core.

“Don't you dare!” Lucan's voice reverberated like thunder, warning of lightening about to strike.

“I don't know why you object so much. Is this not where you are headed anyway? Or are you afraid she may just not actually be the one you think she is? I mean, with all the multiple times, and effort you have put into this quest of yours, one would think you would have achieved it by now!” the Devil mocked, deliberately acting as a trigger to his son's inner fears.

“Oh I know she's the one, you wouldn't care so much otherwise. But it has to be her choice. Not mine, and certainly not yours!” Lucan bellowed back.

The Devil laughed whole-heartedly, “ha! That's a bit hypocritical of you, don't you think? If it's truly her choice, then why are you making her repeat it over and over and over again? It's like waiting for a broken record to miraculously fix itself”.

Lucan didn't want to hear any more, he bridged the gap between himself and Sophia with a few wide strides and took her by the hand, “come on, we're leaving” he stated, his tone leaving no room for argument.

As Lucan left his place at the table, the Devil noticed a smear of blood where his hand had been. He frowned, intrigued. The Devil's son did not bleed, which only meant one thing. He stood up in all his immeasurable might and screamed one word: STOP.

At that Lucan and Sophia found themselves frozen in mid escape, unable to move and barely able to breath. The Devil smiled to himself, “well would you look at that” he amazed, “looks like my son has managed to become vulnerable to the influence of my control!”. The Devil approached and inspected Lucan's hand where he saw a small cut refusing to heal.

Sophia shifted her eyeballs, the only part of her she seemed to still be able to move, and caught sight of Lucan's bleeding palm. She immediately thought to the crystallised marigold she had in her pocket, on which Lucan had cut himself earlier.

“How did this happen?” the Devil asked his son, who refused to speak a word on the matter. Lucan's stubbornness made the Devil turn his attentions on Sophia.

“I must say, today's unexpectedness has taken on a very pleasant turn. But first things first. The knife?” he asked politely whilst holding out his hand.

Sophia struggled to frown, the words were half way up her throat but refused to budge any further.

“Oh my apologies” the Devil offered before moving his finger over the edge of her lips, “you can speak now” he informed.

A string of curses and insults tumbled from her, all thought now free to vocalise themselves. Her final words being, “what knife?”.

The Devil stood amused, “Nice choice of language” he noted briefly before continuing, “I need you to think back to one special night in the pathetic tale that is your childhood. You know the one” he advised.

“Poor little Sophia, all scared and alone, in the big bad orphanage, waiting in trepidation for the inevitable heavy steps of the night guard to approach the end of her bed. But then, against all odds!” the Devil theatrically narrated it out, “she saw the glistering edge of a silver-coloured blade wedged between the slats of her headboard and the wall. It was as if the heavens were winking at her. Little Sophia, hearing those footsteps getting closer and closer, gripped the handle of that blade with her bony little fingers and”

“Enough!” Sophia stopped him, her eyes cast over with moisture, “I was there. No need for a recap” she spat.

The Devil put his finger in the air, “Yes, you were there. But what you don't know, is that knife was the first thing my dearest son here ever gave you. And, what you need to understand, is that it was never his to give away in the first place” he turned his eyes to Lucan, who he could see was about to burst a vessel if things went on much longer.

“Calm down Lucan, we are almost there” he assured.

“I need you to think about that knife Sophia” he commanded then.

As soon as his words were uttered, Sophia couldn't help but conjure up an image in her head. At which point the knife in question appeared in the Devil's hand.

“There” the Devil said pleased, “how hard was that?” he then asked rhetorically.

As quick as a flash, the Devil positioned himself behind Sophia, knife to her throat. He nodded to Lucan, “you know what you need to do” he stated.

Lucan found himself released from his frozen state, but still not dared move out of fear for Sophia's safety.

“Don't be shy son” the Devil encouraged.

Lucan slowly pulled the matching blade out of his pocket with his unscathed hand.

Sophia observed everything as if she was outside of herself, willing the situation to change through the sheer power of thought. It wasn't working. She kept telling herself all of this was in her head, a figment of a mind broken by a bullet. But the sharp cold steel currently pushing her skin to breaking point felt very physical, in a very real way. As was the Devil's hot breath blowing against her ear, “Let me tell you another story, my dear Sophia” he hissed, “It's the story of two of the oldest souls unknown to man. Two souls so devoted to each other that in their death they transmuted themselves into two objects. Two matching knives to be exact. So that one day, when held and bled upon by two matching souls, they could return to this world and resume their rightful place. I can't let that happen” he affirmed, “so hand it over Lucan”, he then demanded. One hand outstretched, whilst the other still close to Sophia's neck.

Lucan held the knife out to his side, “Oh come on dad, you're missing the best part of the story” he taunted whilst keeping his eyes solely focused on Sophia's.

“You forgot the part about how the two knives combined, creates a weapon powerful enough to kill you” he kept looking into Sophia's eyes, willing her to understand his unspoken words.

“Or you” his father threatened uneasy.

“I never wanted it to end this way” Lucan whispered to Sophia before drenching the blade of his knife in the blood of his already wounded hand. Sophia followed suit, with eyes clenched she pushed her weight into the sharp, steel edge held to her throat and drew blood.

A flash of green light emanated from both blades and converged into a point high in the molten red sky. The knives moved towards one another of their own accord, their energies morphing and creating one different thing out of two separate things. The beam of green light exploded out in a shock wave, knocking them all off their feet, before infusing itself equally into Lucan and Sophia.

A single sword dropped to the floor with a metallic thud, it's handle carved as two lovers entwined.

The Devil dashed forwards and wrapped his gnarly knuckles around it with a cry of triumph. He swiftly placed the tip of it onto his son's chest, “Well, at least that confirms she is the soul you've been looking for” he shrugged and lifted the blade, ready to strike, “I guess some things just aren't meant to work out” the Devil shrugged.

Sophia felt the wave of green light go through her, and with it memories of old flooded over and within. It was like a new soul had entered her body, but it was old. It was her true original soul. The part of her she been searching for her entire existence without even knowing it. For the first time in forever she understood who she was. She raised herself from the ground without effort, as if floating, feeling at one with all the energies surrounding her. She saw the tip of the sword in slow motion as it pierced Lucan's chest, and launched herself towards the Devil, knocking him off course. She huddled over Lucan, hand pressed down over his gapping wound.

“You can't leave me now” she pleaded, “not when we are finally so close to the end”.

Lucan placed a hand over hers, “you remember?” he questioned hopefully.

“Everything” she confirmed.

The Devil chuckled from his spot on the floor, which triggered the release of a long harboured anger from Sophia. She picked up her sword and stood up strong against him. All her hidden memories came flooding back. The time-loop Lucan had stuck her in, her previous incarnations, her first lifetime. She realised something the Devil could not see. He was the cause of his own demise.

“It's too late” the Devil smiled, still winded from her assault, “he's done for, now. One slice of that blade is enough to finish him. The kingdom will never be yours” he spat bitterly.

Sophia smiled, oddly peaceful, as she leant down to the Devil's level and whispered, “don't you know? The Truth cares not what you believe”.