16. Minos

Zaphrael was yapping away in Minos' ear. The demon was particularly passionate about one of Adam's more creative punishments, and he was expounding upon the enthusiasm the demons had for the labyrinth as of late. Minos liked Zaphrael and enjoyed chatting with him—he liked all his demons. However, his Adam and Pandora had disappeared off to the old bar, and he was itching to get over to see them.

The old bar was much more his ambiance, as well. Quieter. Less people. Although still a little too crowded for his grumpy nature. He smirked a little at that thought.

"Exactly my point!" Zaphrael burst out, and Minos gave the demon his full attention. "Sire, you are like the Judge of olden days. It is such a glory to be working with you again. We all want you to know that. Not that it wasn't always a glory, of course," the demon quickly added, backpedaling.

Minos merely raised his eyebrows, at which point Zaphrael stuttered a bit before continuing. "We are merely saying that he has been quite the boost for all of us, and it is clear for you in particular. Diasmos was even grumbling about some type of party Adam was planning, and the complaining about it has brought the entire crew closer together. He mentioned ‘demon dodgeball,' but we all assured him he must have misheard."

Minos merely chuckled at that, and Zaphrael's blue skin paled a bit.

"Oh. He wasn't joking, then?" the demon muttered.

Minos rolled his eyes. "He was not. Yet I have every confidence that my demons will participate, complain endlessly, and that it will be the talk around the labyrinth for years. We will have to make sure to have shifts so everyone is forced to participate." Minos gleefully chuckled again, and Zaphrael grimaced.

"You are wonderfully devious, sire. The demons do love to have things to complain about, and this will give them endless fodder."

"They are a miserable bunch," Minos fondly said. Then, he felt something. A… pull. Like he was shifting forward just the tiniest bit, but not by his own volition.

Zaphrael must have seen or felt something as well, because his face became stricken and panicked. "Sire?" he asked.

"Something…" he started, but then he felt it again. A stronger pull. A tug, like someone was trying to move him through a portal. He let out a breath of air and centered himself, focusing on being here and now.

"Sire, is it a summoning?" Zaphrael asked, panic in his voice. "You cannot be summoned, Sire! Adam needs you here!"

"No," he stated. He had felt summonings before, and this was not it.

He took a moment to shore up his wards nevertheless. Something was very wrong. He stood, looking over to the old bar, and that was when panic hit.

Neither Pandora nor Adam were there.

They had been there mere moments ago. He had been periodically straining his head up to look over the crowds and make sure they stayed put. He knew he needed to give Adam some autonomy, yet he couldn't bear to have him too far. Staying here while they danced and then took a break had been his attempt to give his little human some space.

That would not happen again.

They were gone. The pulling sensation was also gone, but a faint taste of panic was on his tongue, and it was flavored of Adam.

Minos rose from his seat, and he unbent his form from its normal state, continuing to rise up until he grew taller than everyone, demon, angel, or human alike. He let himself nearly double in size, anger propelling his growth. His tail grew, lashing out. He let his infernal form loose upon Limbo, caring not of the panic and destruction it could cause.

He let out a low, deep growl that reverberated and echoed back through all of Limbo. People cleared the way with some overly dramatic screaming (and possibly a few bodily fluids), the music stopped, and demons came running toward him en masse.

One did not ignore the call of a king of hell.

"FIND HIM!" he roared, his voice guttural. Demons scattered, and he watched as they went in all directions to comb through Limbo.

He ignored the screaming, intent in his mind's eye of trying to place where the taste of panic was coming from. Which direction had his Adam gone? Who dared to cause him panic? His eyes glowed and his skin heated, even as he attempted to control the rage.

As he stalked toward the old bar, any stray humans ran screaming. The demons were all running to assist his search, and any angels had made themselves scarce. Then one human stepped in front of him. He almost lashed out, but he pulled himself back in time to realize that it was Pandora. She looked disheveled and panicked.

"He was in your care!" he ground out. "What happened to him! I can taste his panic!"

"I don't know!" she screamed up at him. "I was portaled out! I got back as fast as I could, but Minos, they portaled me to another part of Limbo!" her panic at that statement began to sink in.

"Minos," she cried out, placing her hands up in a placating way. "Minos, I am old. I cannot easily be portaled. You know who this must be. No one else could have given me such a concoction without me knowing."

Minos growled out his frustration, continuing to stalk to the old bar, which was in utter disarray. There was no sign of his Adam, either.

"He will be fine, Minos," she pleaded, running to keep up with him and reaching forward as if to touch him, but she thought better of the action. "They will not harm him. The Leadership Team merely thinks they're returning him to where he belongs. He will be fine, Minos," she repeated. "He will not be harmed upstairs."

Minos growled, but she continued. "Lucifer will put in the paperwork. Or go up there himself if he needs to, I'm sure. You will have your Adam back. They may not act quickly, but it will be set to rights, Minos."

Minos knew she was right, and yet… that taste of panic. He could not be separated from his Adam. He would not be separated from his Adam.

He could not portal upstairs. He did not have that capability. Not all angels could portal, however, and yet they were still here. He thought about that as he sniffed and tasted the air. The panic was fainter now, but he still felt it. His Adam was not close. The thought sent a spear of pain through him, but he focused on it, channeled it.

"There are passageways," he said, stopping and turning to look down at Pandora.

"What?" she asked, confused.

"There are passageways. To upstairs. And topside. And below. Scattered throughout Limbo. Not everyone can portal. There are passageways, Pandora."

She looked stricken at his statement, but she didn't deny it.

"One such passageway to hell exists in my chamber. There are others, however. The angels would have passageways as well."

Pandora slowly began to shake her head. She understood what Minos was asking.

"You are old," he continued, and he knew how disturbed she was because she did not even make a joke about him commenting on her age. "You are old, and you would know where these things are. You are the queen of Limbo, after all. You know all her secrets. All her rooms. They whisper that you helped create some of those places."

She was frantically shaking her head now, and her eyes were bright with tears. The demons around them had stopped, staring at the two of them. Minos folded his oversized form down, taking one of Pandora's hands in his. Her hands were half the size of his now. She let her hand rest limply in his, still shaking her head.

"Pandora, I need you to take me to an upstairs passageway."

"Minos," she gasped out. "They will file the paperwork. Lucifer will step in. They will fix it. Please, Minos," she breathed out. "Please don't ask this of me."

"I am sorry, Pandora, but I must. I cannot be separated from him. I can taste his panic, his anger. I am being ripped apart by being separated from him, and I must go to him now."

Pandora shook her head again, but Minos stated, "As Judge of the Damned, Infernal King of the Underworld, I command your mortal soul to show me to an upstairs passageway."

Minos watched as a tear leaked down Pandora's cheek, and she tightened her hand in his. "But Minos, you cannot go upstairs without dispensation."

Minos shook his head, but she continued on. "If you go through that passageway, you will be destroyed, Minos. Please, your Adam would not want that! Please!"

Minos merely repeated, "I command your mortal soul. Show me immediately,"

Pandora hung her head, let go of Minos' hand, and began walking with Minos following closely behind.