I am Fire.

It was a simple thought, but was nothing short of a revelation.

I raised my hand, my flaming blackened skeleton of a hand and for the first time in some untold number of lifetimes, chuckled.

I remembered what it was to be human again, to exist. But something was different... the suffering I had experienced then and had experienced all this time, had become an illusion, something dismissible by thought.

I am Fire.

I stood up in the Lake of Fire, my home for the past millenia. It was the first time really looking at it. What did it remind me of? That's right, when I lived I played video games didn't I? Yes it was something out of one of those video games I played long ago.

Molten rock flowed around my ankles as I took my first steps. I stubbled clumsily, "like a toddler" I thought absentmindedly. The lava resisted my steps like a thick mud. Fire surged around me like a cloak.

On the bank of my Fire Lake stood a handful of devils. I sauntered towards them with all the confidence of a Fire powered Skeleton. They parted slightly with my approach, though one brave raised it's pitch fork.

"You're staying in there." It growled in a aetherial tongue with a low gutteral tone that no human had likely ever heard before.

I cocked my head sideways and grabbed the fork with a speed faster than what could be produced by flesh. I yanked the weapon from the fiend's greasy claws.

"Do you really think this can hurt me?" I asked, inspecting the weapon. The Devils only looked on, dumbfounded. I looked at them now, with such pity. Were these really my torturers, my tormentors all this time? I turned to the one that had raised it's weapon against me. The myths I remembered from my first days of existence had taught me these creatures use to be Angels. These current Devils gave off none of that supposed power Angels possessed. Perhaps in their long imprisonment here they had lost something of themselves.

"I want to help you and help all of those souls suffering in this Lake, but first you must guide me to... the first Angel to rebel against God. Does The Beast reign here?"

Another Devil spoke, voice no different than the first. "The Morning Star has always been a prisoner, not a king in this domain." It's shriveled crooked body lurched forward in a sickening fashion. It appeared to be knelling on its warped goat-like legs.

"Take me to it."

The Ninth Circle of Hell would probably be considerably cold for beings that didn't keep themselves cloaked in flames. I silently observed my guiding Devil struggle the against icy winds of this realm. The thought occurred that it could be lying, perhaps setting a trap for me deeper within this prison. Devils by definition did lie did they not? I reached within my being and summoned more flames to my cause. "Let him lie. I will burn a hole through this Hell before my resolve faulters."

The Lesser Devil turned back towards me. "We're close now. Continue on this path and you will receive your audience with The Adversary."

"No, you will take me straight to it. Do you take me for a fool?" I questioned, letting the rage seep into my tone. My Flames surged while the blizzard of this world wiped it's icy winds around us.

"Do you know what this place does to creatures like me? Would you have me imprisoned here too, Human? I am not one to go against prophecy. I do not take you for a fool. I know exactly what you are, even if the rest have forgotten."

"I... Prophecy?" I stood trying to make sense of the Devil's strange words. "What prophecy is that? Don't think that I'll trust you on the word of some prophecy"

"I will give you my horn as insurance then. I will not be able to escape you while you hold this piece of me. If I am unwhole, I am weak, and I will not last." It reached up and snapped off it's horn left horn at the base. It handed me the horn by it's curled tip. It was reminiscent of a goat horn, but upon touching it, it radiated an unspeakable energy. "Perhaps this will due..."

I took the horn. Lacking pockets I decided there was no better place for it than to hook it around my ribcage. It rattled there against my bones with every step. The Devil bowed and departed back the way we came. Just me now.

I walked forward for a time. It may have been weeks, or months, but the cold never troubled me, nor did my skeletal shell feel fatigued, so I continued. I passed many a soul trapped in the ice of this world. I could only gather this place was so large because of how many souls had earned a place here. Was mankind really so inherently evil?

I could never understand why God, creator of all, knower of all, would make mankind imperfect and then punish them and their kin for all eternity for the crime of what? Eating a fruit? From my vague memories of living I could remember always questioning this. We wouldn't punish a dog for a crime it didn't understand. A dog would only ever see the punishment and learn to fear its Master rather than figuring out why it had been punished. I remembered my Wife and all the strife and fear we had faced for the simple sin of loving one another. The World we had left behind had already been Hell. And here we both thought that the afterlife would be our salvation... We were wrong.

I almost bumped into The Beast with all my ruminating. It was a towering creature that stood in darker contrast to an already dark world. I reached down and placed my hand on the permafrost and found it melted away like butter in a frying pan.

"I know you can hear me, up there. I've come to make a deal with you." I could imagine my Mama rolling in her grave. "If I free you I want your help and the promise you're not to harm any living being ever again with this one exception. I will receive your horn as insurance if you agree with my terms."

A great rumble began, and the ground shook and fractured. At first I mistook the Hellquake for an angry gesture, but then a massive horn, much larger than my skeleton, impacted the ground with a hard thud. Was that... Laughter?

"Very well. I agree to your terms. What is it that you desire human?" The voice boomed in my skull. It was an ancient noise. Primal. This was the supposed first Evil, yet I felt no evil intent.

I stared into the abyss, trying to make eye contact with this pillar of darkness. "My goal is for us to work together.. to finally kill God."