"The allure of the night," Parry said, speaking at last.
"All the things your kind longs for in the secrecy of darkness," she agreed. "No mortal or demon woman can match that."
He could only sigh acquiescence. It would be a long time before he forgot that sensation!
"Now we have to ask the Incarnations, who will laugh."
"Why ask them at all, then? If Chronos is the one—"
"Because we must tell him he is our last resort. If you succeed in holding the Office, your friendship with him should count for something. Chronos is not like the others."
"I don't understand."
"Chronos lives backwards."
"I don't see how—"
"Come on," she said impatiently. "We might as well tackle Thanatos first."
"Thanatos—Death!" he exclaimed. "I met him, long ago!"
"Not since I have known you."
"It was when Jolie died, over forty years ago. She was in balance, because of the evil associated with her manner of dying, though she had lived a righteous life. I must ask him about that."
"Ask," she agreed.
He saw that they were at Death's Mansion. He knocked at the imposing door, and a sepulchral gong sounded within. In a moment a servant opened it.
"I am the Incarnation of Evil, come to seek information of the Incarnation of Death," Parry said.
The servant closed the door in his face.
Parry stood there, outraged. "Since when does one Incarnation refuse even to talk to another?" he demanded rhetorically.
"Since the other Incarnation is Evil," Lilah answered with a wry smile.
"He wasn't this way forty years ago!"
"You were not Evil forty years ago."
Parry grimaced. "Still, the least he could do is talk to me. I am simply trying to find a way to do my job."
"All the others side with God."
Disgruntled, Parry departed. "I will not forget this snub," he muttered.
They followed a twisted path that led shortly to the abode of Fate. It resembled a giant spider web. "Fate assumes the form of a spider, and slides her threads to her destination," Lilah explained.
But Fate, too, refused even to meet him. Parry's mood darkened further.
They approached the Castle of War. This time the Incarnation himself came out to meet him. He was a crusader. "Begone, foul fiend!" War cried, brandishing his great red sword. "Ere I cut off thy hideous head!"
"I only want to ask—" Parry had to duck, for already the sword was swishing at his neck. So much for talk!
"These idiots are really asking for it!" he said as they departed. "I have come in peace, but—"
"What do you expect, from the Incarnation of War?" Lilah asked.
At that he had to smile. "Still, it ill behooves such powerful entities to operate with their minds closed," he said. "Even countries at war negotiate on occasion with their enemies. Otherwise there is chaos."
"Crusaders have never been known for their common sense."
At that he had to laugh. "True words, demoness!" Now they approached the treelike residence of Nature, perhaps the strongest of the regular Incarnations.
There was no door, just a thicket of brambles. He tried to make his way through it, but the prickles and thorns and nettles seemed to orient eagerly on his flesh. He might be immortal now; indeed, he had forgotten to eat since his ascension, without suffering any hunger or loss of vigor. But he felt exactly as he had in life, and the pain was just as uncomfortable. He surely could plow through this barrier, and the only harm done would be the immediate pain—but to what point? There had to be a legitimate entrance.
"It is her way," Lilah murmured. "The secrets of Nature are not readily discovered, but they are generally worthwhile."
"I shall play it her way, this time," Parry said. But privately he expected little; this was merely a gesture of amity, his straightforward effort to make contact with the other Incarnations. So far they had not even done him the courtesy of listening to his plea. In short, they were keeping him at arm's length, evidently hoping he would wash out.
They walked around the brambly region, seeking a path through. They came to a filthy sty where a huge sow wallowed. Beyond it the brambles grew up even worse, becoming truly impenetrable. This was a dead end.
The pig raised her snout. "Looking for something?" she inquired.
Gaea's sense of humor, evidently. But he replied with a straight face. "I am looking for an entrance to Gaea's estate, so that I may talk with her."
"Kiss my snout," the pig said.
Only his determination to maintain control of his temper kept Parry from showing his anger at being addressed in such manner by a pig. He turned away.
"And I will show you the way in," the pig concluded. He glanced at Lilah, and caught a fleeting smirk on her face.
Of course he was not going to kiss a pig! But if that was what Gaea believed... why not call her bluff. Parry set himself, then leaned over the rail. The sow raised her head. Her nose was smeared with mud and garbage from her last meal. He stifled his rising gorge and kissed her snout. "That way," the pig said, indicating a huge hole she had dug under the fence at the far side of the sty. It was so deep that its recesses were lost in darkness.
Parry climbed over the fence, slogged through the muck and got down on his hands and knees. He crawled into the hole. Lilah shrugged and followed. She had surely experienced worse than a little muck in the course of her centuries of service to the Incarnations of Evil. The hole descended, but was not totally dark. He could see the circular cross section of it, and the route ahead. Tree roots braced the top and sides; fish heads and wilted carrot tops lay at the bottom. He had no clearance, so plowed through it all.
The smell was intense.
The garbage at the bottom thickened. Now it was a virtual pool, containing oyster shells, moldy bread crusts, cheese rinds, spoiled wine, chicken legs and rotten tubers. "You mortals are messy folk," Lilah muttered behind him.
On it went, getting worse. The liquid appeared to have become urine, and feces floated in it. Lumps of brownish substance hobbled, perhaps blood clots. Sections seemed mostly like vomit. His hand, questing for a firm bottom, found something solid but loose. He brought it up—and it was a severed human foot.
But he plowed on, determined not to be defeated by Gaea's evident discouragements. Just about the time the sewer threatened to fill the passage, it debouched into a nether river, and he was able to stand in a gloomy cavern. They had made it through.
Both of them were sopping and stinking; their clothing dripped. Parry knew he could clean himself magically, but was too ornery to do it yet; he wanted to be sure he had completed the wretched course first.
A path showed the way on. They followed it—until it halted in a cul-de-sac. A blind cave.
No, this cave was artificial. There were ridges in the stone showing where the rock had been hewn away. It should not have been carved, unless there was a continuation.
"Very well." Parry said loudly. "What next?"
"I have seen this sort of thing before," Lilah said. "It probably requires a spell to open the rest."
Parry tried a spell, but knew immediately that it wasn't working; his magic was being damped out. It was evident that each Incarnation was supreme in his or her own bailiwick; others could not use magic without the proprietor's consent.
"Maybe if you just asked," Lilah said.
"I am the Incarnation of Evil," he said. "I ask to proceed on through this passage, so that I may talk to the Incarnation of Nature."
There was no response.
"Gaea is evidently trying to humiliate you," Lilah said. "Maybe she requires an obsequious request."
Parry gritted his teeth. "This is the Incarnation of Evil. I ask to be admitted to Gaea's presence."
Still no response.
"I beg to be admitted," Parry said.
Silence.
His jaw clenched. "I am the Lord of Feces, the lowest of the low,
humbly begging the indulgence of my betters," he said.
The stone slid aside. Gaea was satisfied.
But not quite. "No person may be admitted to the presence without a search for weapons or hostile substances," a voice said from a curtained alcove.
"A body search?" Parry asked, outraged. Then he realized that Gaea was getting to him. He had come this far; he might as well do the rest.
He entered the curtained alcove. It was completely dark within. Hands touched him, catching at his clothing, removing it. Parry submitted to this, knowing that weapons could most readily be concealed in clothing. Then the hands slid down his body, checking every part of it. Then—
He jumped. "What—?"
"A weapon may be concealed in a body cavity," the voice said. "Bend over."
Quivering with rage at this demand, Parry bent over. A rough finger poked into him, questing for the weapon Gaea had to know wasn't there.
Abruptly there was light. For a moment it blinded him. Then he heard laughter.
He gazed around, blinking. He was in a glass compartment.
Outside it were standing the other Incarnations: Death, Fate, War and Nature. All were staring at him with broad smiles.
He was naked, bent over, with that crudely exploring hand still violating his body. He looked back—and saw that it was an ape. He had been demeaned by an animal, in full view of the Incarnations. What a joke they had, at his expense!
Still he controlled his rage. Now was not the occasion to make a scene that would only make the joke richer.
He straightened and stepped away from the ape with what dignity he could muster. "Now will you talk to me, Gaea?"
"No," she replied. The light ceased, and he was left as he was.
Lilah came to him. "I was afraid of something like this," she murmured. "All the Incarnations of Evil learned early not to try to cooperate with the others."
"Let's just make our way out of here," he said with surprising calmness. He led the way back through the gruesome tunnel.
The Incarnations had their fun with him, instead of meeting him honorably. This was their day. But they would pay for it. Oh, yes, they would pay!
It was another two days before he went to tackle Chronos. Lilah took him to her nest in the tree, because he wanted nothing to do with Purgatory now. He had come to understand all too well why Lucifer had ignored the Mansion of Evil there. He was better off in Hell, where he belonged.
Except that he had not yet proven his ability to control it. The Incarnations, actually, had not treated him worse than Asmodeus had. They were all against him.
"Except me," Lilah said, divining his thoughts. "I am absolutely loyal to You, my Lord, and will always be, until You cast me off."
"I will never cast you off," he said, embracing her. Demoness she might be, but she seemed better than the mortal Incarnations now.
"Oh, You will, my Lord, eventually. It always happens. But it can be close while it lasts."
"It will last for centuries!" he said passionately. "It can—if it lasts out the month," she agreed. Sound point. He made love to her, seeking that intimacy no mortal woman could give him anymore, and tried to allay his own doubt about his chances of success.
Chronos' mansion was less pretentious than some, but it had its weird aspect, Lilah warned him. "It goes backwards, as does his life," she explained. "You will emerge from it before you enter it. Never forget that, lest there be paradox."
"Before I enter it? That's impossible!"
"Believe it, my Lord! Make allowance, lest you interfere with yourself."
"Lilah, I know this is not the normal mortal realm. But nothing will make me believe that—"
He broke off, for there, emerging from the door of the mansion, was himself, trailed by a duplicate demoness of stunning proportions.
The other Parry waved, and so did the other Lilah. Stunned, Parry waved back. Then the other two turned aside, and disappeared down an alternate path.
"As you were saying..." Lilah said, a trifle smugly.
"Illusion," he decided. But he did not take a step toward the door.
"It is really not complicated," she assured him. "When you share his backward travel, you come out earlier. When he is outside his mansion, he has to reverse himself in order to interact with others. He remembers what is in our future, and has not yet experienced what is in our past. It must be hard for him. On occasion, centuries ago, I—"
"You have been with him, too?" Parry asked, dismayed.
"My Lord, I have been with every man worth being with, and quite a number otherwise. When my masters tired of me, I would stray, for I have needs unlike those of real women. I have never deceived You in this, or in anything. I am Yours now, and for as long as You desire me."
"Sorry, Lilah. My mortal instincts keep getting the better of me. But if you have—with this man—"
"Once with this one, not long ago. He was especially lonely, and it seemed to be important to him, and my Lord Lucifer was having his fling with—well, never mind. Once I came to love you, I have been true to you, my Lord. In the past I have been with a prior officeholder, this one's successor. With several successors, actually. Chronos is a lonely Incarnation; it is almost impossible for him to have a meaningful relationship with a normal woman."
"But if you have always served Evil—"
"Good and Evil are not invariable antagonists. They are merely opposite poles of a spread of states. The one cannot exist without the other. All Incarnations are the enemy of Chaos, Nox's sire, and when cooperation is required to prevent Chaos's return, Incarnations cooperate. It is not to Your interest to quarrel with Chronos; remember, he could change your past life with barely an effort."
"I have not sought to quarrel with any of the Incarnations!" he exclaimed. "But they have quarreled with me! Except for Nox... and if she is the daughter of the true enemy, why didn't she do something to me?"
"No one quite understands Nox," she said. "She is her own creature. Perhaps she finds the current panoply more interesting."
Parry squared his shoulders. "We had better get on with it. I hope Chronos helps me."
"He was the only major earthly Incarnation not present at Gaea's outrage," she said. "That could be because he failed to get the news, being on the other side of events, but I prefer to think it is because he respects You."
"He doesn't even know me!"
"You forget, he could have known you for decades hence."
Parry sighed. "I did forget. This may be tricky."
"Nox did say Chronos would help," she reminded him.
Nox. Parry found himself being swept back into his memory of that experience. The stuff of dreams!
Lilah jogged him back to the present. "I know that look on a man's face. Keep her out of Your mind, my Lord, or You are lost before You begin."
Good advice! They went up to the door and knocked.
The Incarnation of Time himself opened it. He was a man of about Parry's age, with portly figure and gray hair. His suit appeared somewhat out of style, but not archaic; Parry realized that it probably would come into style in a later decade. The man lived backward; he had to keep that in mind!
Chronos took his hand. "You told me you would be calling, Satan," he said warmly. "I am sorry only that our acquaintance must end now."
"We—have had a long acquaintance?" Parry asked cautiously, hardly daring to rely on the significance of such a statement.
"Certainly!" Chronos agreed heartily. "You have always been kind to me, Satan, and I am not unmindful of past favors. You told me that you would have something important to ask me at this point, and certainly I shall answer to the best of my ability."
This was almost too easy! Parry hesitated to broach his question, as yet uncertain of the implications. If Chronos had known him long, then he must have survived the trial period and become the regular Incarnation of Evil. Must have maintained the name Satan. Could he trust that?
"And Lilah, you darling creature!" Chronos said, s
tepping up to embrace her warmly. She, too, seemed uncertain.
"Chronos, remember that this is new to us at the moment," Parry said. "We do not know what kind of relationship we shall be having with you. I should advise you that the other Incarnations—"
"Yes, that is awkward," Chronos said quickly. "I must not say too much, of course. But I can tell you that you and Lilah have always been true friends to me, for the entire thirty years I have held this office, though of course never intimate in the other sense." He glanced again at Lilah. "Not that I could not have wished otherwise, no affront intended."
Lilah smiled. "Perhaps, in three or four years, if you are in need, I will come to you one time." She glanced significantly at Parry, and her prior remarks to him fell into place. She had rewarded Chronos in the past for the favor Chronos was about to do now for Parry. She had not known it at the time, but the retrospective rationale seemed apt. Parry found he could not quite manage to be jealous of it; it was after all a special situation.
Even so, he could not stop himself from wondering which particular time that she had been absent from him she had done it. She had seemed wholly devoted to his corruption; why had she gone visiting with Chronos?
"You will be welcome, Lilah," Chronos said. It was evident that he understood her nature perfectly, and accepted it. "I will let you know, if such need occurs." And there was the answer; Chronos had asked for her, and she, knowing his nature, had elected to cooperate rather than question it. Now Parry was glad she had.
Chronos returned his attention to Parry. "But I would help you regardless, my friend. What is it you require?"
"The secret of the spell to banish demons," Parry said.
Chronos pursed his lips. "That, I regret, I do not know. Neither you nor any other creature has vouchsafed that information to me."
The disappointment was keen. "Nox said you might—" Parry shrugged. "I just assumed you knew."
"Nox." Chronos smiled reminiscently. "Now there is a creature to conjure with, if I may be excused the notion. She thought I knew it?"
"She said to ask you, and that you might help."
"Indeed I would help if I could." Chronos paced the floor. "Almost, I think, once long ago, you made reference—I thought it of no significance—to—to, let me think now. No, it was something I read in a book left by my predecessor. Let me see." He hurried from the room.