"It all began a thousand years ago."
Tettia held a small burning torch, the flames casting shadows across her face as though she were narrating some ghost saga. The minions, though not interested in her ludicrous stories, found their ears perking up anyway. Tettia's conspiracy theories didn't make any sense more than half of the time, but she was a good storyteller - though she always argued it was the truth and not some figment of her imagination.
"This world was nothing but a barren waste of a land once upon a time. The Human and Demon Realms as we know now, didn't exist back then. The Gods couldn't decide what to do with it. The world was too unstable. Not a single tree could take root in the ground. Not a single bird could be born to take its flight in the sky. It was then that two young apprentices, twin brothers training to ascension - got banished from the Heavens."
Her eyes narrowed. "The other Gods, fearful of their growing powers, threw them to the mortal realm and challenged them that until they transformed this barren waste of a land to a world of life and sense, they'd never step back into the Heavens again."
Astaroth arched his brows. "So there's politics among the Gods too."
"Nobody can escape the sweet temptation of power," she whispered eerily.
"But back to the story. The elder twin brother was kind and poised by nature. He took it in all seriousness to transform the then barren world. He planted a seedling and tended to it everyday, but it'd never sprout. Yet he never once gave up and continued to water the seedling.
The younger twin, however, was impatient. He was quick to get angry. He contributed no efforts in helping the world transform. He was furious at the Gods for banishing them with an impossible task that was set for them to fail. He saw no point in working to the bones and wasting their time like this."
That younger twin was smart, he sneered inwardly.
"But one fateful day, a feud broke out between the two brothers. The younger brother had been destroying the saplings his elder brother planted. He had made a deal with the Gods to abandon him and ascend to Godhood alone. But the Gods betrayed the younger brother. Their entire plan was to divide the two brothers and drive them apart."
Or maybe not that smart, he changed his opinion in a heartbeat.
"This enraged the younger brother immensely. Falling for the Gods' deceptive tricks that led him to betray his kind brother shook him with guilt and remorse. The ground shook and tore apart with a thunderous roar and from it, leapt the tallest, brightest and fiercest pillars of fire in the sky one had ever witnessed. They consumed and burned everything in their path without mercy. Black smoke ravished the sky like a hungry wolf and soon it became cold. Terribly cold. The younger brother stood at the summit, crying and wailing."
The minions gulped down once, their attention wholly invested in the story. Tettia closed her eyes, holding her hand onto her chest.
"The kind elder brother's heart ached watching his brother's suffering. His rage was reducing the world into nothing but ashes but more than anything, it was consuming his own heart into darkness. But he didn't know how to reach him. He was too far and too high away. The flowing fire formed akin to an unbridgeable distance between them. A tear fell down his eye - onto the young sapling he had planted. And then…" she hushed, "a miracle happened."
"What miracle?" The left minion held in his breath.
Astaroth grimaced. He wanted her to reach the part about the forbidden entrance to Hell theory and its connection to Siri's disappearance. But the atmosphere had grown too thick and charged to disturb. Besides, he would rather kill himself than admit that he, too, was being pulled into the story. Tettia was indeed a good storyteller.
"The sapling grew. Taller and taller. Leaves sprouted from its stems and stems turned into branches. The branches grew taller and wider with the leaves and flowers blooming in all directions. The sapling blossomed into a towering, gigantic tree that seemed to cleave the very Heavens. The tree swept fresh air across the skies, drifting away the smoke-filled dark clouds, and its giant roots contained the fire within its ring."
Absolute silence ruled the air.
"Climbing the tree, the elder brother walked along the length of one long branch that stretched all the way to the Summit's peak. The two brothers reunited, and with his brother's forgiveness, the younger twin's ire finally calmed down."
The minions released a sigh of relief.
"But this wasn't the happy ending."
"..."
"The younger brother's destruction of the world made the Gods punish him. He was branded the 'Monster.' A lightning strike from the Heavens burned an ugly scar across his face. They cast him into the depths of Hell, never to return. The elder brother wailed and begged them for forgiveness, but his plea went to deaf ears. Eventually, the younger brother was banished to Hell while the elder brother, who stopped the world from its fate of destruction, ascended and became a God."
Tettia exhaled a breath, but her small body trembled with a hushed excitement and thrill.
"That is how Mount Lavos and the Aetherios Tree, as we know now, became the anchor of our world's balance. Mount Lavos became the symbol of death and destruction, and the Aetherios became the symbol of life and rebirth. And so!"
She slammed her palms against the ground zealously, her eyes sparkling like two lit stars.
"This hidden cave is the entrance to that very Hell! This was where the younger brother was banished to Hell and just like that, the royal family uses this gateway to give divine retribution to the most horrendous criminals! They're thrown into Hell for the sins they commit.
Or maybe it's the vengeful spirit of that God-turned-monster who pulls innocent demons into his vicious clutches for torture. The royal family knows it, which is why His Highness is trying to suppress the news! His Highness doesn't want to incur the monster's wrath!"
Astaroth was quick to discard the second theory. There was no God-turned-monster on a rampage and abducting innocent demons for torture. The first theory made half sense to him though. He didn't believe the royal family was randomly kidnapping its citizens and dumping them into the cave as a form of some divine retribution. Yet if Zerath was actively blocking the news from reaching out, it still reasonably implied some level of royal involvement.
A sneer curled his lips, and he threw a sharp look at his minions.
"That woman who disappeared from Nethermoor. Siri, was she? I want to know everything about her."