As the portal closes before me the severity of my situation sinks in. From the outside in, it seemed a simple threshold to pass. That was far from the truth. With great strain, I look to the tentacle wrapped around my ankle. Both it and the portal stretch endlessly like an infinity mirror. I can see the other side but the opening remains the same distance away. The air is thicker and the weight of gravity feels stronger. It’s an intense struggle to move but I manage to take in my surroundings and spot Envy. The portal mirrored a tear in cloth from the outside but opens to a dark void. There’s no light, yet I can see. My only issue is struggling to move, but the human body Envy inhabits falls apart the further we drift. Chunks of flesh and oozing blood trail behind us.

It’s in the distance, but I hear terror and pain riddled screams that make hair stand on end echoing in the chamber. I wonder if they’re Envy, the human host he’s possessed, or something else. All around us the darkness adopts shapes. Visages in various states of anguish and floating bone appear and disappear as if in oil. Sweat beads on my head as the temperature rises in our free-fall. Time loses all meaning and I’m not sure how long we actually descend. The constant strain on my body and the anxiety of my newfound reality takes its toll. My mind is reeling, clouded in confusion and fragmented thoughts. A sliver of time that’s endless, eternal. I don’t even register the exit coming up until it’s too late and I’m flung into the air, body flailing helplessly as my brain catches up. Wings flutter as my mind, or the adrenaline, takes the reigns of my body once again.

Hovering there, high in this unfamiliar sky, the depth of just how much I didn’t know really hits. Like an ant staring up at an adult human, I’m face to face with a colossal creature whose torso alone is the size of a mountain. Large tentacles stretch from its head, falling down the back like dreadlocks. There’s no mouth or nose and its large, red, reptilian eyes rest on the portal, one tentacle still inside. In the next moment, the gory body flayed of skin that used to be Envy’s host is flung into the ground hard. Visible muscle ripples, oozing blood as he climbs to unsteady feet. He looks the body over, checking the damage. “Son of a bitch that hurts. Who the bloody hell pulled me in here. Do you know who I a—” His gaze flows over the giant being before us and releases a deep sigh, disappointment heavy on his face. “Fucking hell.”

As if the being weren’t large enough already, its body lengthens. A massive snake-like body under a fairly human looking torso with four arms. It continues so far I can’t see the tail at the end. A feminine voice hisses in my mind and my hands instinctively clutch my ears. “Envy, give me one reason I shouldn’t crush you like the pebble you are. You have the nerve to call my subjects beyond The Veil, ordering them as your own after what you did.”

Envy glances over his ever degrading body again and back to the creature. “I apologize for not clearing it with you first, your highness Abyzou. I meant no disrespect. The seals that keep the realms apart have degraded. I merely used all at my disposal in the fight above, so I made the call to rally forces.”

A sad fury rides her words. “When Baʿal Zebub and I created you using my own envy to mold. I saw you as the child I never had, I gave you everything. You were even made commander of my armies. Yet, you betrayed me and sided with HIM for your own power grab.”

The muscle of Envy’s human body had all but deteriorated. Leaving only a skeleton with pieces of meat hanging here and there. The skeletal jaw that should have fallen off, moves like a marionette with invisible strings as he speaks. “Mother, please. Baʿal Zebub is as much my father as you are my mother. He needed me and I answered his call. Now, I need you. This body isn’t going to work anymore. Allow me to overtake this kid you brought in with me and make his body my own. I’ll make everything right again and be the best commander in all of The Nether. I can make both you and Baʿal Zebub proud.”

Her blood red eyes slither over me. “What happened over there Envy? This child radiates pure Aeth and… his energy feels familiar.”

“It’s a long story I’ll tell you another time. Basically, he’s the conduit for the spirits of sin.” Through the corner of my eye I see his head whip toward me. Anger evident on his face. “Unfortunately, he doesn’t seem to understand his place.”

His accusation irks me more than it should. My eyes were opened, he’s the one that doesn’t understand. I don’t even justify him with a glance, holding eye contact with Abyzou. “I know my place and you should learn yours. You’re a part of me whether you like it or not. Just like the others.” With that, I simply raise my hand. Black energy swirls around my arm from my chest, pooling in my hand. It erupts into three streams that build shimmering forms of darkness beside me.

Each form condenses into a smoky humanoid shape. Each with a distinct eye color and frozen chaotic facial expression. The one with eyes of burning ember steps forward. “Ha! Is that you Envy? You really look like shit! Tell me, I’ve gotta know.” His burning eyes squint. “Are you… envious that I’ve got a host and you don’t? Ha! I crack myself up!”

A semi-translucent form shimmers around the husk of Envy’s host and sickly green eyes light up the skull. The skeleton crumples to the ground, leaving a similar black smoke with green eyes as he sheds the human carcass. “WRATH! Is this all your doing? Damien said you parted ways.”

The embers ignite for a moment then subside. “Oh don’t blow a gasket, that’s my thing. Obviously, he lied to you. We were always bound, the kid just happened to figure it out. None of us had a choice after that. Even Pride and Sloth here couldn’t resist the command once he began to awaken.”

Another of the shadows speaks up, her amethyst eyes shining like gems in sunlight. A haughty look paints her face as she sighs. “Did you really think I’d send him to you all? Honestly Envy, how stupid can you be. He assimilated us and used my connection to all of you to hunt you down.” She turns her head to me with what I can only assume to be a glare. “There was something we failed to consider when we struck that deal with intent to betray the witches.”

The third shadow, who’s eyes glimmer like light blue beryl, sits down, giving a long yawn. “Yeah, they didn’t tell us everything and boy are they efficient. We didn’t just feed the power for the barrier spell.”

Wraths eyes flare. “Don’t interrupt pride sloth!”

Sloth lays back and gets comfortable, head on his hands. “Fine, fine, this is too much of a drag. You explain. I’m tired.”

Pride looks to wrath. “You know I’m not the leader anymore. You can stop protecting my honor.”

He looks away, crossing his arms like a stubborn child. “Sorry, old habits and all that.”

She looks back to Envy. “As sloth said, the witches didn’t trust us so they didn’t reveal everything. The spell was designed to only allow us a predefined amount of growth so we couldn’t betray them. If we gained too much power, a secondary spell kicks in. One that feeds memories of his past life to the current host.” I’d never seen such a face before. If a demon could look puzzled, Envy had mastered it. A tinge of fear creeps into his voice. “What do you mean by ‘past life?’”

She gives a heavy sigh. “Well, since lust has been on a rampage in the human world and become even more powerful than me, the second spell unlocked memories.”

“The host of the seal isn’t just housing a source of power for the pocket dimension. They’re also host to a sleeping soul that’s reincarnated over and over. To keep that soul asleep they needed enough power to rival it’s own innate energy. Memories came flooding in of what he’s capable of when Lust began to become powerful. It took a while to learn more about who he was, but eventually Damien understood the truth. Once that happened, it was all over. He came seeking us out to become whole again. What we’ve set in motion by our power grab will have rippling effects across dimensions” She motions toward me with both hands. “You’re looking at the reincarnation of Kaiser Erebus, heir by blood to both Gyote and The Nether, and your true and rightful overlord.”