Chapter 2

“You will let me keep my life?” 

Nocturne nodded and was bemused when Leo started sobbing. This was a very unpredictable human. 

“Why are you crying? I just gave you what you wanted.”

“I’m crying in relief,” the human explained. “When do you want to get married?”

Now that the question had been asked Nocturne was experiencing a lot of misgivings. He had just told Draven he would never let a human keep their life. His predecessor had also been punished for doing the same thing.

There had to be limits to his actions today. After all, he was interfering in the laws of the universe.

“If you can stay alive for another year, I will come and find you,” he told him tenderly. “Then we will discuss marriage.”

“I won’t take any risks and I will stay single,” Leo vowed with a tear streaked face. “Do I need to sign a contract or something like that?”

“No, I will simply mark you so you remember it and will not betray me,” Nocturne said.

He gently tugged down the collar of Leo’s shirt and used his nail to scratch in an ‘N’ for his name on his shoulder. It would remind Leo of their promise. The human watched him curiously.

“I didn’t feel anything.”

“You are dead,” Nocturne reminded him. “Now I need to sort out this accident. I cannot break all the universe’s rules. You will still have to be hit by the car, you just will not die.”

Leo winced. “Well, I guess I’ve got a month to recover before I go to university. Let it hit me.”

Nocturne stared at him. “You are one odd human. You are taking this very well. You are not crying anymore.”

“I’m very adaptable,” was the reply. “Is there anything else that needs to happen?”

“Not really,” Nocturne said and raised his arm to start work on resetting the accident. He was interrupted immediately.

“Can you kiss me before I get hit by the car again?” Leo requested.

Nocturne blinked in surprise. “You want me to kiss you?”

He wasn’t sure if he had heard right.

“On the lips this time. You’ve got to remember we’re going to get married later on,” the human reminded him.

That was admittedly a point. Nocturne just hadn’t kissed anyone for a very long time. The last person had been Draven and he wasn’t going to think about that mistake. He cupped Leo’s chin and gave him a soft kiss on the lips. He drew back seconds later.

“You can hit me with a car now,” Leo murmured. “I look forward to seeing you again.”

Leo was a very unique human to say the least. Nocturne got to work resetting time and in seconds the scene started again. This time the car hit Leo from the side and he wasn’t thrown in the air. His body was dragged along for a few seconds and hit the ground with the impact mostly on his shoulder.

Nocturne spent a few seconds there watching the cars in the road brake suddenly. The driver of the car that hit Leo rushed out to check on his prone body. He waved at his future husband even though he was now invisible and left the scene.

***

The ruler of the underworld returned to his throne room a long time later with a crossed off list in hand. To make up for his transgression earlier he had efficiently finished off the other souls on the list. Thankfully none of them had proposed to him.

The throne room was empty again and he slumped into his throne. Normally he felt grand sitting on his throne. It was intricately carved from black marble with the carvings along the border representing the underworld, hell and paradise. On the top were three small statues of the devil, the grim reaper and the archangel. They were known as the hallowed trio. His crown also depicted a similar theme. Now that he had broken the rules, the throne and his crown felt like a penance.

He clawed at his face with his black fingernails in frustration. Why had he broken the rules? Was he going to be caught now?

He did his best to remember how Azrael had been caught. He didn’t know too many details about it, he only knew that his predecessor had been caught and sentenced.  

The three of them, the devil, death and the archangel were ruled by an unnamed entity. They rarely had any contact with the entity. If one of them was summoned by the entity, they were in trouble.

On the other side of his throne room was a set of grand gold doors that led out to a short bridge that looked like it went into oblivion. Stepping out onto the bridge would teleport a person into the void which was occupied by the unknown entity.

So far nothing had happened. The throne room remained silent and he hadn’t been summoned to a white void. He could only guess that he was safe. If the entity really saw everything, he would have been caught by now.

He had crossed Leo’s name off the list earlier so everything would look fine on his end. The longer that he sat in his throne without anything happening, the more confident he felt.

All he had to do was find Leo in a year and see how they felt about each other. He was looking forward to seeing him again. In fact he was already longing to see him again.

He snapped his fingers and one of his servants appeared. As the ruler of the underworld he had lots of people at his command. The servant waited silently for his instructions.

“Please prepare some tea and light refreshments,” he said. “For one person.”

“For two people please,” another voice added.

Nocturne was surprised to see the archangel herself appear in front of him. He didn’t see her very often. She was a busy person and he was sure the underworld was the opposite of the paradise she normally stayed in.

Celeste was short and had knee length blonde hair that bobbed as she walked. Her outfit of choice was always a variant on a floor length white dress. Her crown was a gold version of his.

“Why is everyone visiting me today?” he asked himself. “Draven was here earlier.”

“It’s been a quiet day,” she explained, her voice soft as it always was. 

She took a seat at the table next to the window and looked out at the view silently. Nocturne walked over to join her. She didn’t speak until they had been served tea and the servant had disappeared.

“I noticed there was a soul missing today,” she observed as she poured out the tea. “Don’t worry, I’ll keep your secret.”

Nocturne was shocked into silence again. Then he began to have a gnawing feeling in his stomach. He had been caught out. How much did Celeste know?

“Don’t you want to reveal the truth? You are supposed to be the epitome of virtue. I know previous rulers have been punished for the same thing.”

She poured out his tea before replying.

“I see no reason to. I like you the best and I don’t want to lose you over this. I don’t want someone else to rule the underworld.”

“I still don't understand why you would do this for me. We barely talk.”

Nocturne was confused. Of course he was glad that she wasn’t going to report him to the entity. He was just unclear as to her true motives. He knew that people didn’t cover things up without an ulterior motive.

“The person who reported Azrael to the entity was me,” she admitted. “The rumor that ended up spreading was that he spared a human’s life, that was an understatement. It was worse.”

“How was it an understatement?”

“He changed fates for at least five human women. He would date them and when they died, he would move onto another one. The worst part was that once the women hit 30, he would change their fate so they would die soon,” she explained. “I had enough of hoping he would change his ways and reported everything to the entity. The full facts have never been revealed in case it gives anyone inspiration on how to play with humans.”

Nocturne raised an eyebrow. He had never imagined that his predecessor had been that underhanded and willing to abuse his powers. It was also interesting that Azrael hadn’t been punished until Celeste had taken action.

“In comparison, you haven’t done much wrong,” she continued on. “I also like you the most out of all the underworld rulers I’ve worked with. I just want one thing in return.”

This was the time when he felt the most nervous. He couldn’t predict what was coming next.

“You are the one with the power here,” he said. “I will do anything you want in return. I also like you more than I like Draven.”

Celeste’s face showed the hint of amusement. That was odd. She didn’t normally have a range of facial expressions.

“When the time comes, I want you to forgive me no matter what you find out about me.”

That was a confusing request. She serenely stirred her tea and he wondered if she was going to disclose another bombshell piece of information that would explain her request. Instead she was silent.

“I will support you on this mysterious personal issue that I know nothing about,” he said. “Are we making a contract?”

She shook her head. “We’re not humans, there’s no need. I will take your secret until my end.”

“Thank you,” Nocturne replied and finally took a sip of tea. “I have been feeling guilty about it. Please know I do not intend to do this again. I am not like Azrael.”

“I will add Leo’s name to the list of souls I took to paradise today so everything looks like it’s in order,” Celeste said. “You can relax. The entity isn’t too perceptive.”

The angel stayed for a little longer and disappeared once she finished her tea. She didn’t touch the cake at all. Once she left Nocturne relaxed and felt the tension go from his muscles.

Everything should be fine from a technical standpoint. Celeste was going to keep his secret, she had falsified the records, the entity didn’t notice things like this.

The only thing to do now was to wait a year to see Leo again and talk about marriage.