Hell's Consort

[A/N: Author not slacking. Author busy editing chapters I made in advance. It's a headache because sometimes I get confused in what scenes I need to include or delete to wrap this up. The word counts are longer this time. 1500+ words)

Newest Chapter for Highest Tier (May 2022)

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Archdemon Empress Luna

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She swallowed the syrup that tasted like ambrosia and savoured the calming coolness flowing inside her mouth.

The juices from the pulp she had beeen fed with was delicious to the core that it held her in a happy trance.

Ever since Luna turned into a vampire, she had forgotten how her favorite fruit--oranges and raspberries-- had tasted like.

And, she had already given up in discovering that again a long time ago since any food except for blood held no appeal to her.

But, this golden sweetness in her tongue just reminded her of the summer wildflowers and fruits she usually gathered in the Goddess Temple where she came from.

Its sweet, fruity aroma permeated inside this cold room and she had never smelled a fragrance so divine. Unfortunately, her current reality had started to sink in.

She felt groggy, nauseous and sore while her stiff fingers itch to scratch her lower abdomen.

It felt like someone had cut her stomach into half.

"Finally." Someone murmured in her ears and Luna's eyelashes flickered open. "You are awake."

The voice was unfamiliar yet pleasant that it beguiled her to talk to him.

Unfortunately, she had to find herself from the deepest recess of her own mind to drag her consciousness forward and return to the present, use her voice and open her eyes.

It had taken a couple of minutes to adjust yet she had already lost the ability to respond.

The best thing she could do was to convert her current thoughts into inarticulate sounds that even she was confused of.

She winced, disoriented from the constant spinning of her vision, so she tried to relax and shut her eyes again.

When she tried to stretch her muscles, she realized that her wrists were tied to the bedpost and her limbs had gone numb.

"What's going on?" Her question sounded like a croak in her ears.

Her throat was parched so she chewed on the remaining soft smush in her mouth and swallowed the remaining juices stuck in her throat in desperation.

"I need... blood." Lune caught herself saying as she breathed hard.

She had no idea what the stranger had forced her to drink but the sweet ambrosia had quickly turned into a trail of liquid fire from her tongue down to her esophagus only to settle heavily at the pit of her stomach.

She could barely remember what happened before this after losing her consciousness from the labor contractions.

It was as unbearable as her Archdemon soul being tortured in Hell.

Lilith must have possessed her body earlier and returned immediately since she couldn't deal with it either.

Luna attempted to shift in her bed from the discomfort and her frustration caused her to whimper she could barely lift her fingers.

Did the fruit she just eat paralyzed her from the waist down like what Sloth had done to Princess Ourania?

Was this her karmic backlash for ordering her Archdemon Familiar to punish her when she actually deserve it?

When Luna opened her eyes to face the Angel looming over her, the corner of her lips curved into a frown.

The tall, androgynous-looking, muscular man with wavy, long, blond hair, blue eyes that were so deep they seemed black, prominent cheekbones and the ivory skin decorated with golden tattoos, seemed familiar... but she couldn't quite place him in her memories.

Not when she felt like she was sick to the stomach, cold, and confused at the same time.

Her fearful eyes glanced around what she could see in her angle, looking for something familiar to hold her gaze unto aside from these five winged Angels but there was no one to be found.

The birth attendant doing strange things on the other side of the blankets draped over her bent knees didn't count since it didn't make her feel safe and secure.

"Where is Sloth?"

Never in a million years had Luna come to expect that she would rely on that lazy Archdemon and think of him as her rock--her solid foundation to keep her from spiraling out of control.

"Outside. Eating his fellow demons so that he can fight and win against me." The Archangel smiled as he pulled the dark sleeve of his robes back with his free hand so that it wouldn't drop on her forehead when he began caressing her hair the way a father would do to his child. "Your Familiar doesn't like me that much."

The abundant feathers on his stormy-grey wings made him look like a Fallen Angel but his cream-colored aura had told exactly the opposite.

Perhaps, this was Archangel Azrael.

The Archangel of Death.

Standing next to him, was another Archangel with a pink, feminine aura.

A woman who looked youthful and attractive with long, brown hair, hazel eyes, full lips and light olive skin.

It was the Archangel in Princess Ourania's painting and the caretaker of the Garden of the Four Seasons.

"Are you in pain?" Archangel Azrael inquired softly, his large hand never leaving the side of her face.

She didn't tell him that the agony hadn't arrived in waves but the numb parts of her body was starting to feel again.

As the time went by, the throbbing pain gets worse that her chest hurts from breathing.

From the look in his eyes, it seemed like he knew the answer without even asking her.

"Although you might feel a slight pressure, you shouldn't feel anything." His tone was a matter-of-fact.

Archangel Azrael straightened up without leaving his gaze off her face.

His fingers lightly trailed from her left shoulder down to the skin on her forearm and stopped on the snakebite.

Archangel Azrael caressed her hand before lifting it up to inspect it up close.

Squinting up at him, Luna saw him nod when his dark eyes laid his eyes on it. "The puncture wound from the emerald python's had healed faster than expected. The Archdemon's blood must have helped you recover fast."

For some reason, Archangel Azrael didn't sound relieved.

"Isn't that good for me?" Luna asked nervously and she had a feeling that it wasn't.

Her body was slightly shivering from the coldness inside this freezing green chamber but weirdly enough, the entire expanse of her dry skin felt hot and clammy.

Her cheeks were flushed, too.

"It's not good." He said bluntly. "I shouldn't have allowed him to do it."

When Luna suddenly remembered the love of her life, she gasped and demanded to see him no matter what.

"Where is he?" Luna tried to get up and about but Archangel Azrael pushed her back down to the bed. "Where is my husband?"

"Do not panic. He is here in this room with you."

Her lips had quivered when she asked, "Alive?"

"Unconscious." He clarified.

She stared at him with resigned terror. "Is some thing wrong with him?"

"Nothing is wrong with him. He is weak from his fight with an Archdemon so he needed time to recover." The Archangel's tone was sincere but it had a ring of finality to it as if he didn't want her to question him about Apollyon any further.

"I want to see him. I need to make sure he is alright." Luna insisted as she moved to get up from the bed but the cloth tied to her wrists had stopped her.

"My husband. Please, Archangel!" She begged without caring how desperate she seemed. "My husband must wake up."

"You forget that you are giving birth. Focus on that and care for the Vampire King, afterwards. You could barely take care of yourself."

She was already giving birth?

How come she just figured it out right at this moment?

As if on cue, intense pain had dominated Luna's entire being.

"It hurts, Archangel!" She screamed as if she had been stabbed by multiple Archangel Blades at the same time.

The vertical incision in her stomach was the thing that made her whimper.

"You move too much when you shouldn't have, My Lady." Archangel Azrael said gently as he settled his palm over her eyes, preventing her from seeing through his plans. "Don't push yourself too hard or we are not going to finish this. I apologize but we have to do this again."

These few seconds felt like minutes and the minutes had turned to infinity until there was nothing else.

It was hard to pay attention to these strangers who tried to talk and soothe her with their touches when she was unwilling to re-engage with anything outside what her own body felt.

Then, sharp tiny fangs bit her in the forearm and she was aware that those didn't belong to vampire.

As Archangel Azrael squeezed her weak, slender fingers that clutched his, he asked her name but she couldn't reply anymore.

Luna's eyes became hooded as she fell into deep sedation.

She was on the verge of falling asleep and losing the memories of this event but she fought it.

Even if she couldn't move, Luna was determined to be awake and see this through.