♱ •⋅ 1750 B.C. ⋅• ♱ The third territory was synonymous with different. Although the sky was still the same and the people still walked the streets with the black sun making the day darker - everything was different. There weren't as many smiles on their faces and even for a world that had been ravaged by demons, that place was too dark. "What happened here?" I muttered "I heard that..." Asmodeus held my shoulder. "That it was beautiful here?" I nodded. Even when Elaine went to the third territory, it was different. The place was alive with all Lucifer's affection. The third territory was the refuge of many mortals who still cherished what was once an ordinary life. It was a beautiful place. Undeniably beautiful. "How?" I questioned and the blond demon next to me shrugged. "Maybe it's because Lucifer doesn't wake up yet" he said and his words took me by surprise. "How? Lucifer hasn't... woken up?" my lips didn't even seem to want to move. Asmodeus was lying, right? He had to
♱ •⋅ 1750 B.C. ⋅• ♱ A part of Asmodeus seemed unable to believe what he had just heard, but another part seemed happy to see me finally changing my way of thinking. It was as if he was trying to decide if he wanted me as someone who needed protection, who sometimes seemed happy, and someone who clearly didn't know what love meant, but finally had individuality. "Asmodeus" I called out to him snapping him out of his trance "I'll be fine, even if I'm not with him." Those words didn't seem real, not least because a part of me - whether it was the reading part or a fragment of what Asra felt for Callisto -, still wanted to be by the king's side. "You..." he stopped "if you say so." He muttered as if he was trying to convince himself, as if he believed my words, even though they seemed surreal, and I knew they did. Callisto had been my addiction, my obsession. Whether it was as who I was before or as Asra. I could still remember all the times I had protected him in fan forums, in so
♱ •⋅ 1750 B.C. ⋅• ♱ •⋅ Calisto ⋅• ♱ Loren moved around inside the carriage, looking much more excited than usual. "We really are out here!" he said with a huge smile and I couldn't help but laugh. My sweet son was really surprised. It wasn't really something to be surprised about, after all... Loren had never left that place. He had never set foot outside the walls that protected the capital. He was not even allowed to go out in the small village. "Yes...we are" I spoke again extending one of my hands to support him. To make sure he didn't fall off the bench straight to the ground "but try to sit up, son...you might end up hurt." Like a good child, he just ignored me and continued to kneel on the bench with both hands on the carriage glass. I knew it was crazy and a part of me seriously wondered what sanity I had left. Had I really done all that to make sure Asra was okay? Or was the truth that I was jealous? I huffed. It couldn't be that. It was Asmodeus, even if he was the
♱ •⋅ 1750 B.C. ⋅• ♱ Somehow, Asmodeus and I managed to get to the palace in the third territory before Callisto. My eyes were still fixed on the blond man's wings that looked more like dragon wings. "What is it?" he asked me with a raised eyebrow. "Nothing" I spoke sketching a small smile "I'm just thinking that your wings are pretty." He smiled, a debauched smile. "I know they are. I am an albino dragon after all." He was right, that ironically made a lot of difference. Dragons were rare, but albino dragons were like one in a million. A divine answer, like a blessing given by ancient beings, and Asmodeus was the last albino dragon known to exist at the present time. "Right, right..." I grumbled "but we still need to get down." I had barely finished speaking and someone knocked on the door. Once and then twice. "Miss?" A familiar voice called out to me and I grunted as Asmodeus snapped his fingers and undid the spell that existed over us. "Yes?" I replied pulling on one of m
♱ •⋅ 1750 B.C. ⋅• ♱ Callisto was difficult to deal with, but he wasn't like Asra or Elaine used to describe him, he was just like a child who wasn't sure what he wanted or didn't want. He was probably a lot more childish than Loren and if that was true it wouldn't surprise me one bit. "What should I do, then?" I questioned with a raised eyebrow "stay in my room and do nothing?" He opened his mouth, but then closed it. He knew I was right. If it were up to him, that would be all I could do. "Not that... I..." he sighed and leaned back against the wall, "I just don't want you to get hurt. That pissed me off. "I'm not made of porcelain, Callisto" I growled and without noticing my eyes became bright, expanding my powers. For a moment it looked as if he was surprised. "Sorry" I heard him murmur softly "if you really want to do something to help Lucifer..." I denied with my head. "I don't want to help, I want to give back. I vaguely remember waking up while you were injured" I ha
♱ •⋅ 1750 B.C. ⋅• ♱ When I realized I was walking towards the lounge to have dinner with Calisto, even if that conversation had not been exactly what I wanted, it had still been good and there was no reason to lock myself in my room and eat alone. It would be childish and in a way, it would also be stupid. "Are you sure about that?" I heard Asmodeus say as I passed in front of his room in the hallway leading me to dinner, so he smiles. "Of what?" I couldn’t help but question and the demon raised one of his eyebrows as if trying to understand if I was dumb or naive. "Are you sure you want to be around him? You can always find a good excuse and you know... stay away?" It was a valid option, I realized, but I didn’t really want that, so I just briefly denied it while turning my back on it. "I want to be treated like an adult woman, Asmodeus," I said simply as I stared him over the shoulder "I won’t get that if I lock myself in my room because I don’t like what I’m told or what they
♱ •⋅ 1750 B.C. ⋅• ♱ When I realized I was walking towards the lounge to have dinner with Calisto, even if that conversation had not been exactly what I wanted, it had still been good and there was no reason to lock myself in my room and eat alone. It would be childish and in a way, it would also be stupid. "Are you sure about that?" I heard Asmodeus say as I passed in front of his room in the hallway leading me to dinner, so he smiles. "Of what?" I couldn’t help but question and the demon raised one of his eyebrows as if trying to understand if I was dumb or naive. "Are you sure you want to be around him? You can always find a good excuse and you know... stay away?" It was a valid option, I realized, but I didn’t really want that, so I just briefly denied it while turning my back on it. "I want to be treated like an adult woman, Asmodeus," I said simply as I stared him over the shoulder "I won’t get that if I lock myself in my room because I don’t like what I’m told or what they
♱ •⋅ 3690 I.C ⋅• ♱ There was once an ancient king who fell in love with a being completely opposite to him and as the romance between them developed, a curious phoenix watched them. "What a fool" she once said as she snuggled into her nest "isn’t it obvious they won’t be able to be together? Look at them... they’re too different, they’re natural enemies." The mermaid, who has always been by the side of the phoenix since the day she was born, smiled. A weak, friendly smile. "If you think they’re so silly, why do you keep watching? Isn’t this the 16th time you’ve been here? Looking at them? What? Fell in love with her? Or maybe for him?" The mermaid provoked "no... did... fall in love with both?" The phoenix has snitched. "What the hell are you talking about? I’m a phoenix! I don’t fall in love unless I want to! And everyone knows that love is something questionable and made only for mortals to think that there is something beyond the basic motif of reproduction"the proud phoenix g
♱ •⋅ 1750 B.C ⋅• ♱ •⋅ Azrael ⋅• ♱I watched her without realizing it, watched until the sun was setting and the barrier surrounding Samael’s plan was thinner, until the rune fragment she sent me was strong enough to enter."Don’t be an idiot," I remembered as my wings throbbed, "there’s no room for kindness, not after all you’ve done, don’t be such a hypocrite".I swallowed hard and a smile easily appeared on my lips when I crossed. It was like a fog touching my skin, a comfortable cold, a feeling I had missed even without realizing it.What the hell was I thinking? What was going on with me?I closed my eyes tightly, but my wings just beat, just took me there, to that breathless breath and that smile that could be felt in her voice when she called me."Azrael!" His arms wrapped around my neck and... had they always been so warm?"I thought you couldn’t come..." whispered her face down to my neck, I could feel her lips arched into a smile "okay? Did you get hurt getting past the barri
♱ •⋅ 1750 B.C. ⋅• ♱ •⋅ Azrael ⋅• ♱The child began to be able to move gradually, in a way that was still a little time consuming and different from his usual, from the child who ran around and insisted so much to have his little body in that garden.His speech had returned too, his voice was less guttural, more understandable and a smile that was not painful could be seen, one that was not put on that face just because of the melancholy of Callisto."Look! You can move your arms better now" the quartz eyes were flickering as you said that as something equivalent to Loren’s first steps, as if that was some kind of novelty that should be celebrated with various gifts and a party "how is your breathing? Something still burns?" tried to caress that small face as if it was something that would break by any slip on his part.Loren was now like a valuable piece of porcelain, one that could not risk being damaged after being restored."I’m fine, Dad..." the child’s voice was still low when to
♱ •⋅ 1750 B.C. ⋅• ♱ •⋅ Elaine ⋅• ♱"I like stars," he said while playing with a pearl between my fingers "I like how they look, how they’re bright and beautiful. I like purple, I like how the sun in this world is red, even though here where Samael lives he looks different."Keir smiled, his hands still playing by my hair."What else?" asked me with her face resting on my thighs."I like salty foods, slightly spicy, bittersweet and especially the dessert that the boss of the mansion always makes." The one that looks like jelly with syrup."Pudding? ' She asked me smiling from the corner and I nodded."That’s right, pudding.""Um, um, uh...""I also like pretty dresses, braided hair, flat shoes, delicate swords..." I continued to list "I like hardcover books and slow songs.""And old scrolls? You live surrounded by them" Keir joked, his lips arched in a mischievous smile that made my heart beat."Silly" I hit with my fingertips on his nose."I know, I know" gave up "continue... what els
♱ •⋅ 1750 B.C. ⋅• ♱ •⋅ Quinn ⋅• ♱His arms wrapped around my body and then everything seemed to be fine.I no longer felt the blood, nor the weight of the souls that I plucked, that I hurt."Everything will be fine" he repeated as a melodic song and if it was Calisto who told me those things... I naturally believed."How can you not like it here?" I asked as I stared at that landscape, the sky, the grass that resembled a red foliage. The stars that always shone in the sky almost always cloudy.Calisto snorted."I don’t know..." he said sincerely "maybe... I just can’t see the beauty of hell when I didn’t have you by my side."A twinge struck my chest, a twinge of happiness and hope."Fool" I mocked wrapping my arms around his neck.I loved that being.He loved his color-changing eyes, loved his foolish way of thinking that the world was more beautiful outside of hell. He loved the way the rebellious waves of black hair he had struggled to unravel around his delicate face.I loved the
♱ •⋅ 1750 B.C. ⋅• ♱ •⋅ Calisto ⋅• ♱I could not sleep.My eyes weighed and weighed, but I could not sleep - because there, in my arms -, there was a fragile being who did not seem able to open his eyes again.Whenever everything was cloudy and sleep pulled me down, I saw myself awakening in fright and looking at him.Checking.Checking to see if he was still alive, if he was still breathing.It was every day, every second - more complicated to watch, to watch."You should rest," Azrael told me one night, his eyes sharply in pain as he stared at the child, my child."How?" I heard myself ask, Loren’s sleeping face was so pale I had to put my fingers close to her nostrils to make sure he was still alive."Samael is good" he said hoping to console me, but it didn’t work.How would it work?"Then why haven’t we heard from you?" I practically growled, my hands closed in fists, tears burning in my eyes "I sent letters and more letters... I... I did everything I could... I DEMANDED answers a
♱ •⋅ 1750 B.C. ⋅• ♱ •⋅ Asmodeus ⋅• ♱"Asmodeus is a great...""This time it’s going to work," I said ignoring the voice of that damn demon in my earring as I focused on that crystal, that crystal I was able to form from Quinn’s blood."You’ve been repeating this since...""Shut up" growled tearing the earring from my ear and throwing it at the wall.I wasn’t in the mood to be careful about whether or not I could hurt him or even break his prison.I was just tired.I wanted to see her."It needs to work" I muttered as I imbued more and more magic in that little crystal "work, work..." I kept repeating, as if somehow that was a stupid mantra - strong enough to make everything work; but nothing could be easy when it was for me, right?Nothing worked as it should.I bit my mouth hard, the fangs thrust into my lip until a sliver of blood came down my chin.I couldn’t see her, I couldn’t be with her or protect her. I couldn’t go to her even though time was passing and yet, the least I was a
♱ •⋅ 1750 B.C. ⋅• ♱ •⋅ Loren ⋅• ♱My eyes weighed, my belly looked strange and at times it was like floating in my own body.I could feel my father’s affection as he tried to talk and distract me, but now even opening his mouth was a complicated task."It’s going to be okay" he repeated and at that point I already knew he was saying it more to himself than to me."I know" I wanted to answer while smiling, but my mouth did not move, in fact, opening my eyes was already a gigantic effort, so I was content to grunt and hold her hand.It wasn’t a squeeze, I couldn’t even call it anything but touch. A soft, almost nonexistent touch that my father should be questioning if it was real.He was sad, wasn’t he? Abbadon should also be, but after I started sleeping more than 17 hours a day, she was no longer there, just Dad.A version of Dad who stared at me with a red face from crying."Do you want to hear a story?" He asked me with a broken voice and I forced myself to smile, forced my face to
♱ •⋅ 1750 B.C. ⋅• ♱ •⋅ Samael ⋅• ♱I blinked."What was it?" she asked me as she sat in the armchair and the red-eyed duchess stared at me with an raised eyebrow."I did not expect... the two" I spoke sincerely, after all the agreement I had made with Elaine was already a clear way to make the duchess calmer with all that; even so, the sharp gaze of Asra shot me as if my mere mention of her being there was an offense. Maybe it was the result of years on the battlefield, but I knew when I wasn’t able to win a war, so I sighed winning "but since you’re here..." I muttered indicating with one hand to the armchairs - sit down."Where will you start?" Asra questioned, the red hair falling with perfectly braided waves on her back, the sharp eyes staring at me and looking for any sign of flickering in my attitudes or decisions."I’ve been thinking about tears..." I said remembering Quinn, the way he had acted.Since that day, the bastard did not even give me a mere sign of life and Callisto’
♱ •⋅ 1750 B.C. ⋅• ♱ •⋅ Elaine ⋅• ♱Samael did as he said he would, but from the day we arrived at the camellia mansion - a name given by Keir, since the garden was full of camellias -, I did not even see the slightest sign of the priest’s existence, but now, when morning came by the door of our house.The huge smile on his face made me question my own sanity as he said - what was sweet? If you keep looking at me like that, I’m gonna think you don’t like my presence.I opened my mouth to confirm that assumption, but I chose not to."Just... I thought it was too early for you to be here," I lied and apparently that wasn’t one of my best lies, as he just smiled as he drank his tea."Early? We have a lot to study, especially if we want the child to experience one of my theses before dying."I swallowed it hard."Is he... very ill?"Samael laughed quietly."Does it really matter to you?"'No' I realized as I pressed the skirt of my dress between my fingers.My concern for Loren... was mini