Cassie eventually calmed down. Arum's mother hadn't heard any of us thankfully and was out like a light in her room, so we were free to talk without question. We all sat inside of Arum’s now cramped bedroom and talked about the plan.

“So you did get the Purified Soul?” Arum asked Cassie.

“Either that or she didn't, why else would she be here?" I said. Arum chuckled.

“Oh, don’t give me that. I saw you two having your little romance scene straight out of a movie in the hallway. There could have been plenty of other reasons!” Cassie blushed a bit.

“Y-you saw that?” He chuckled.

“Don’t worry about it, maybe you could make me keep it a secret by giving me one?” His lips met his pillow as I shoved it over his face having him struggle under me.

“So, the soul?” I asked. Cassie nodded then out came what I was looking for. It was a lot less… Purified than I had assumed, but it was what I needed and I couldn’t have done it without Cassie. I let up off of Arum and spoke to Cassie over his yelling. “By the way… Joshua Wilkins?" She let out a sigh. "You seemed to have a problem with him, nothing serious happened did it?” She shook her head.

“No, I had to be very cautious around him and I nearly got stopped by him when I was trying to find the Purified Soul, but thanks to what you taught me about ‘extending the truth’ I managed to get away with no fingers pointed!”

“Looks like my Demon is rubbing off.” She let out a frustrated noise.

“Please, not you too. That is not a compliment!” Arum hummed.

“You sure he won’t try anything though Cassie? Maybe he’s watching us right now!” Cassie smiled to him.

“No, he’s told me several times he can’t watch over everyone in his unit. He’s my Captain so I report to him, but there’s lots of us out right now, so likely he isn’t looking out for me.” Arum nodded.

“Heaven’s got some complicated rules. How’s this Purified Soul even work?” Arum poked it as if it were some kind of new species.

“Well, Joshua explained it like this: it’s supposed to take any remnant of a Demon that’s incurable by Human medicine or Angel powers, this is what it’s used for. It’s mainly used on ones who have great importance both in Heaven and in the Human world. Like if they pray to our lord and savior and live their life according to the Bible, for example, but are going to be sent to Hell for some reason. Because they are meant to be in Heaven, we give them this to remove the impurity that is keeping them tied to Hell.” Cassie explained.

“Who’s in charge of that?" Arum said. "Cause' it sounds like I could get in Heaven if I just pray hard enough.” She nods to Arum.

“Well you’re right, so we leave that up to Hell.” I sigh, Arum looked to me.

“If Lucifer really, really wants a Human in Hell, then they’ll give them this soul for sure. Of course, Lucifer doesn’t care much about it since most Humans he wants living for as long as they can so they can die by his Demons hands, I just always thought this thing was a myth.” Arum nods.

“Wow, he sounds like a commercial salesmen.” I chuckle.

“Pretty accurate comparison.”

“But this is so you can get rid of that fiery bizz you had when you first came here?” I nod at his redundant comment, Cassie grunted.

“Who’s your father anyhow? And why did he do that to you?” Her voice seethed anger, which still didn't sound all too threatening, but I looked off.

“I can’t quite tell you who my father is… But I can tell you why he did it to me.” She looked as though it wasn’t a good enough answer, but it was as good as she was gonna get it. “Well, remember when I took you to Hell?” She nods while a faint blush rose on her cheeks. “Well, I guess since we were in Hell, my father could sense that I had an Angel there. He was trying to kill me, and since my father in particular can control the output of my power, he did what he needed to, to exhaust my physical body.” I was sure Cassie wasn't shocked by the means of my death, but just me dying.

“Is knowing an Angel really that bad?” She asked.

“Nope, not at all.” Arum was close to getting his head knocked off.

“Apparently it is.” I said. Cassie nodded.

“Then I’m glad I did this.” We both looked to her, “I know Angels and Demons will never get along, but I want some people to understand that just because we’re different doesn’t mean we should do something so drastic without probable cause.” I chuckle.

“Law and Order again?” She looked elsewhere to my comment.

“That’s Law and Order: SVU to you." I couldn't help but laugh. "I would have never thought T.V was interesting until then.” I chuckled to her before looking at the Purified Soul.

“But there is one more thing. I think we should talk about what’s going to happen once I get my power back. My father will notice it.” Cassie nods.

“Why don’t we just stay in the Human world then?” Arum began. "It’s not like being here hurts either of you two right?”

“Even if it doesn't, you must be out of your mind if you think I can stand one more second of being with other Humans. Being rude is one thing, but if I kill too many of them I might become a criminal.” Cassie sighed at my comment.

“As for me, I love the family I have in Heaven and I don’t think I’m ready to leave them just yet. Even if it is for Akuma.” Arum looked down as if his words didn’t mean anything. Cassie kept talking. “But I’m sure we both thought that at one point in time. There’s just more to staying here than that, I’m sure if we could stay we could all live together!”

“What?” I said. Arum stood up.

“Cassie… You really are an Angel!” He attempted to kiss her by pinning her body to his. Cassie yelled trying to get away from him, but they were both interrupted by my growing flame.

“Akuma!” They both yelled at the rising temperature.

“Sorry about this Arum, looks like our contract is done for.” Arum looked as if he didn’t understand I had said, but I took the Purified Soul.

“Wait… How did you end our contract?” I smirked to the more than confused male. “I made some other rules, you know those conditions I said you didn’t have to worry about?” He looked to the roof, like that could jog his lapsed memory.

“O-oh, yeah I remember now!” I sigh.

“Well one of those conditions was liking Cassie.” Her cheeks went pink. “Well, I couldn’t have you in love with her, so I just simply made it like a crush, guess you fell for her.” I chuckled, “Not that I blame you.” She didn’t take it as a compliment and her voice rose.

“That’s not something to play around with. What if Arum really liked me? Now he’ll never be able to see me normally… Love isn’t something you twist and bend to your will Akuma!” I narrowed my eyes.

“Like that’s something you knew about before we met?” She agreed with me and her mouth stayed closed. I quickly ate the soul as it was getting too hot now. It didn’t taste like anything, it was cold and slippery as it went down my throat. Maybe like a Zantac. The fire slowly burnt out, I looked to my hands and saw the flames receding back into my veins. They turned a bright red then went back to their normal blue color. I chuckled feeling that I was back in power! I wanted to test it out, I raised my hand and some formed fire there, it was a lot bigger than I was expecting. I wound up burning the roof and scaring them both. Looks like having some power while I was a Human must have added. I chuckled loving the feeling, Cassie shook me from my interlude of lust.

“Y-you’re back to normal?” I smile and nod to her.

“Wanna find out?” Arum cleared his throat, I turned to him. “Oh, by the way, all your power isn’t gone. You’re still a Demon at least.” Arum was a bit confused.

“Huh? But-” He brought up his hand and chuckled loudly as a small spark of fire popped out. I turned my head to both Cassie and Arum’s gaze.

“I made a stupid contract, giving you some my powers as your own… I should have done something to take that back…” Arum’s body was suddenly against mine.

“You’re the best!” I pushed him off and he fell back with a chuckle. “This is amazing! Now I’ll never be normal again!” He formed some fire in the palm of his hands as he played like a child on Christmas. I rolled my eyes and Cassie walked over to me giggling a bit.

“I’m glad your back, Akuma.”

…

I was going to go straight to Hell to take care of Lucifer. At this point, anyone else would be better as our ruler and my father. Me and Cassie could finally go back to normal and nothing Lucifer could do now could affect me as all his power was destroyed. I took Cassie back to the forest, we stayed there for a while, talking about what would happen now. I did think about what Arum had said, hoping to maybe ask her if she’s ever thought about leaving Heaven. How we could just go anywhere and we’d never have to be apart or bothered by anyone ever again. That’s something I wanted to say, but I never would. I sighed and leaned back against the tree, we sat together while the moon acted as our light, our shadows rested on the ground also enjoying each others proximity.

“Do you think you’ll be alright if you go after Lucifer?” She asked. I nod.

“He may be stronger than me, but I’m way younger and I’m better at thinking, so if I can just get around him he won’t stand a chance against me.” Cassie giggled and turned to face me a bit more, she rose up her hand up sticking her pinky finger out.

“Will you promise me that even if you don’t defeat him that you’ll come back and we’ll go out together every time until you’re done?” I smirked to her.

“A pinky promise really?” She pouted.

“Yes, is that a problem?”

“Even though this is for kids…” I stuck my pinky out and took hers. “I’ll keep that promise, you can bet on that.” I went down to kiss her, but apparently the fireworks I felt weren't from her lips. I just heard Cassie gasping behind me as I was knocked away from her. What hit me was a long ranged energy burst, like a fist. How familiar was that? I got up, Cassie ran to my side and helped me to sit up. We both knew who it was.

“Well, Ren, this isn’t surprising.” I said. Ren walked out from the woods and ignored what I was saying looking over to Cassie who was pulling at her shirt covering up the exposed body she came here with.

“Cassie… Why are you with him?” She didn’t hesitate to answer.

“It won’t matter what I say to you… Me and Akuma are together and have been for a while, but I swear he’s not doing anything to me! He’s not forcing me to do anything bad! Please Ren… You understand right?” He looked down.

“I do but-” He seemed like he couldn't talk properly, but he let out a groan before yelling. His fist went towards the sky and the once dark starry night sky turned bright like the late morning. Ren ran over to us and spoke quickly. “I was supposed to bring you back to Heaven so I can have you arrested since you were with Akuma!” He paused, but spoke once more with a name I wasn’t expecting. “Orders by Joshua.”

“What?” The light was fading.

“I don’t have enough time to tell you everything!” I groaned out and quickly formed my void.

“Get in!” The light went away completely and we were inside before darkness came back. Perhaps my powers were stronger as my void space was even bigger than normal. Ren's voice took me from my thoughts.

“W-where are we? Hell!” Ren panicked, but was calmed by his sister.

“Calm down. Now explain Ren.” He sighed.

“Joshua told me I was suppose to arrest you for being with Akuma. He said it was because you took the Purified Soul, the word he used was stole though.” Cassie made a noise.

“I-I mean at first yes, it was going to wind up like that, but after he… H-he gave the Soul like it didn’t matter and he even said nothing would happen! Besides, I told him I was helping a Human. There’s no way he could have known about Akuma being a Demon, or just him over all.” Ren shook his head.

“I don’t know. No one knows anything…" Ren paused. "But Cassie?” He put his hands on her shoulders. “Me, mommy, daddy, everyone. No one is upset at you for being with him.” Cassie stared at him. “I’ll hate him forever, but you’re my sister before anything else!" Ren said. Cassie shook her head.

“I'm sorry I didn't tell any of you. I just thought you’d try something… I didn’t want Akuma being in danger.” Not like they could kill me or anything. “But… Truly, is no one is upset?” Ren shook his head.

"There’s no way I, or any of us, can just hate you because of your bad choices in men.” Ren said.

“I’m right here. Also might I add, inside of my void.” Ren ignored me and pushed Cassie’s head back to face him.

“I'm not going to turn you in. Daddy told me to come find you and either stop you from coming back home, or find some kind of way to help you. Mommy was trying to talk with Joshua but no one's seen him all morning. So we’re all trying to help as much as we can.” Ren explained.

“You all will get in trouble! If it’s just me I can live with it.” Ren grunted.

“But we can’t just let you go down like that!” I stepped toward them.

“Me either. Look the only way we can get out of this is to take out Joshua, so I’ll go and handle it.” Ren pushed my shoulder.

“What makes you think I can just let you walk into Heaven and kill one of our officials?” He paused pushing his finger into my chest. “I have to do this. I’ll probably be forced out of Heaven… But if it’ll help Cassie, then I’m willing to go any measure!” I knew something like this would happen if me and Cassie went out, but I guess you could say I was kind of hoping for it. I chuckled.

“What makes you think you can go up against anyone? You can barely handle me half of the time!” His rebuttal followed suit.

“We’re on par! You’re not better than me.” I chuckled.

“With the help of your baby sister, I’d say that’s no longer the case.” His teeth gritted at the grin I gave him. Cassie came and pushed us both apart, her palms colder than ice forced us to back away from each other.

“Why not work together then?” She faced Ren, “Ren you can go back to Heaven and tell everyone that I’m fine. If Joshua asks why I’m not with you, make up something plausible.” Ren looked as if he wanted to say something else, but he didn't and nodded instead. “Now, me and Akuma will have to confront Joshua in the meantime, but he could strike at any time and catch us off guard, since apparently he actually can see us.” I nodded.

“We could use Arum, he feels like a Demon, so you could use him as a distraction to get inside of Heaven and we can strike then.”

“Seems to be our only option," She said. "But Ren, we’ll need you to get him off his guard. Can you think of anytime he’s not really paying attention…? Or better yet, any time he leaves his gun away from him?” Ren though deep, he nodded shortly after.

“Yeah actually. Remember how he helps the little Angels?" Cassie nodded.

"Right, he leaves it so to not scare them.” She nods. “I remember that… Well do you know when he’s going to be helping them?” Ren nodded.

“Tomorrow. He took today off so we could look for you.” Ren said. I smirked.

“Then that’s when we’ll strike!" I began, "Using Arum, he’ll notice the two demons before you Cassie, that’s when we’ll both go after him.” Cassie stared at her hands.

“I’m not sure if I can take him… I mean he is very strong.” I smiled to her.

“Don’t worry, I’ll be there so you have nothing to worry about.” I kissed her forehead.

“Oh… Alright." She touched her forehead and fell a bit against me.

"Woah, are you alright?" She nods.

"Yeah, I think I just need something to drink." Ren sighed.

"I swear you never take care of yourself... and with him you'll die of hunger." I ignored him.

"I'll be fine." Cassie said. "But we’ll have to rest up anyways. Tomorrow is sure to be a tough fight and we'll need all of our energy.” She was to stand on her own and faced Ren once more. “Ren?” He nodded going out of his trance like state.

“I’ll stay here with Akuma okay? I promise I’ll be okay so you don’t have to worry about me.” He reluctantly nodded giving her a quick hug.

“Alright. I’ll tell mommy and daddy you’re okay, about the plan and what they should do if they wanna help us.” Cassie nods hugging him tightly once more.

"Be careful, Joshua can be very angry when he wants." Ren smiled.

"I will, but you better take care of her Akuma."

"Thanks, like I haven't this whole time." Ren grumbled and I opened the door for him to leave. He left promptly and now it was just me and Cassie.

“Ren really cares about you huh?” She shrugs.

“I guess so. I never really felt like he did and he’s told me that I don't care about him either.” I chuckle.

“You all are some strange people. I’m glad I don’t have any siblings.” Cassie looked up to me.

“Akuma?” I looked down to her. “Do you think everything will be alright?” I nod to her.

“I’m here, so of course it will be!” Of course that was just my way of telling her that she had nothing to worry about because I’d gladly give up my life for hers.

“... I just have a bad feeling.” I rubbed her shoulders.

“It’s probably this room, must give you bad memories huh?” She shook her head and touched her burnt wrist.

“No, it actually makes me think that we must really have a strong bond for me to still be with you even after all that.” I smirked and lifted her chin.

“You think so?” Her answer was swallowed by my lips, but I could tell she was going to say yes.