A loud splash sound was made while the devil ever so slowly walked until she reached the ledge, gently sitting down with her feet inside the river while Dominic finally emerged out with a deep inhale as he wiped the water off his face with his hands

"You know" She spoke with crossed arms and a raised eyebrow

"Shouldn't have gone in there with your clothes not dried yet, what are you going to wear after you come out from there hmmm?" She added on with stern narrowed eyes

"Oh, uh..." He didn't have any words to reply, only a nervous laughter accompanied his stuttering

"Mhm, don't worry about it" She then smiled as the guilt he had written over his face was enough for the devil

"You enjoy yourself in there" Dominic's face beamed warmly at the words given to him

Besides, his clothes were near the campfire they made, she was sure that they'd be dried after they were done exploring here after he'd get out of the clothes he was currently wearing, the same ones she stole just for him

The devil then looked away, although the fact that Dominic's clothes were around the campfire could leave some traces of their occupation in this cave to the people that she sensed earlier, the devil wasn't quite used to being chased, she made a mistake

She then looked at the child inside the river playing with the water, she didn't quite understand how one could have so much fun with this blue liquid of life but she didn't really want to, all that mattered is that he was smiling, and as she looked at that same smile she realized to herself that if push came to shove and those people were a threat to Dominic, she'd just have to stop them

She then looked around herself, towards the flow of the water that came from the old yet unfallen towers, standing tall in the darkness of the cave, shy only of the few scattered torches, illuminating what little they could

A huge metal gate was between those two towers, blocking the path and protecting what is as of now, a dead civilization

Yet it didn't matter for the cold steel as it would stay closed until its owner came back to reignite the fire that once burned bright

Although not exactly their owner, the devil would still try to go through them, trying her hardest not to face the people that seemingly were pursuing both her, and the child

A light chuckle brought her gaze back at Dominic, he seemed to be still ever so enjoying his time with the water he was in, maybe she should give him more time for fun, the devil thought

"Hey, lady angel" He spoke up, and then looked at her with his smile still unwavering

"Yes?" She replied alongside a slight tilt of her head

"Do you angels know how to swim?" He asked, bringing a gentle touch on her otherwise evil face

"Interesting question" She said and then looked away

Although as one would expect a deeper elaboration, the devil seemed to not do so any further, which prompted a snort out of the child that made his caretaker look at him with narrowed stern eyes

"How did you live for so long without knowing how to swim?" He asked while biting his lip to hold the accumulating laughter

"Well, my dear Dominic" The devil spoke with a haughty tone, less so out of actual pride and more so for the desire of protecting what was left of it, if there was any left at this point

"One doesn't require swimming if one doesn't need to breath" She said with a puffed chest and a lifted chin

"Uhm..." Though it didn't seem to quite impress him

"So do you just walk under the water then?" He asked a question that made the devil look away from his inquiring gaze, and with the expression she had on her face it was clear that it was out of fear of answering that same question

"Hahah!" A peal of childish laughter suddenly echoed throughout the cave, much at the expense of the devil's pride, but with the sigh she let out there didn't seem to be any left

Although she wanted to threaten him yet once more for what to the devil was a grave insult, for some odd reason she just couldn't bring herself to, that thin black line forming her mouth curved into a gentle smile at the sight of the child laughing with such emotion

"I could teach you if you want to" He said with his cheeks having a slight trace of blush, and his innocent offer to the devil made even evil have a gentle touch on its face

"That would be lovely, let's leave it for another day though" She finished her words with that same caring and ever so infectious smile that made the child nod slowly before he resumed enjoying his little swim in the little pond

The devil on the other hand gently swayed her feet in the water, giving Dominic glances when she wasn't contemplating the architecture of the ancient towers, this place that there were in was massive, and this was only the beginning

It didn't take much time for Dominic's little swim to have to end though, as both him and his caretaker decided to take a closer peek at what was deeper in the cave they took refuge in

She was standing in front of the metal gate that kept them away from proceeding further on, one arm across her stomach while her other hand was rubbing her chin as she was examining the gate with meticulous precision, so much so that she could notice faint traces of magic protruding from the iron of the bars, this was definitely not your average gate

"Whoah!" Her eyes widened at the child's voice she heard behind her, immediately taking a look over her shoulder as she could spot Dominic's hand going through the blue fire of one of the many torches that provided the only light in this dark place

"It doesn't hurt at all!" He exclaimed with a mixture of glee and alarmed curiosity, his shoulder was touched by the devil as she too inspected the blue flame that seemed hell-bent on not injuring the child

"Huh" She too seemed to desire the answer as to why this little flame was so pacifistic as her finger went on to touch the dancing fire

"Ouch" Although it looked as if the flame discriminated between the devil and the child as the former recoiled her finger out while the latter wasn't very happy with the outcome

"Hey! why did it hurt you?!" He exclaimed with furrowed eyebrows while the other was very curious as to why the flame differentiated between the two of them

"Hm" She inspected her finger, but it looked like rather than the flame giving so much heat to the point of hurting her, it did quite the opposite, stealing the force out of her very core

"I don't know" Her dimly lit purple eyes turned to the child, she had a theory in her mind about why the flame hurt a devil and not a human, but so far she didn't want to ruin her cover of an angel, though she could notice suddenly that Dominic became quite agitated and for the very first time for that matter

"Stupid torch" He grabbed it and threw it as far as he could, he lost all interest he had in the little blue flame on the wooden torch that was now flying in the air

"Heh" The devil gave quite the snicker at the sight of the child being aggressive for once

"Where did all the curiosity go?" She asked with a smirk and cunningly narrowed eyes while her hand was on her waist

"I won't be curious over something so rude to you" He replied to her with such a serious expression on his face that it made her chuckle

"How sweet of you" She said before moving on from that little incident as the both of them walked towards one problem that still had to be thrown with the same vigor and enthusiasm

"I'm not sure how we can get past this" She spoke up as she stood yet again in front of the cold iron bars of the gate, next to her was the child she was taking care of yet he too had no solution to the problem at hand

She could feel Dominic's gaze on her, waiting for her to use some semblance of divine power to open or at least brute force her way through the gate, yet she didn't want to scare him with any of her dark magic

"Did you try and pull it up?" He asked of her, a simple and amusing solution

"Heheh, unfortunately, brute strength isn't my forté" She replied alongside crossing her arms tightly

"Hm, maybe I can try" Dominic spoke as he walked closer to the huge gate while the other chuckled and looked at the child with much amusement

"WA!" A yelp resonated throughout the cave when the boy tried to push against the iron bars while the devil had a surprised expression with wide eyes as those same eyes could see Dominic phase through the iron like it didn't exist there to begin with, falling down hands first on the ground

"Dominic are you okay?!" She called out for him with many worries in her tone as she grabbed tightly onto the iron bars

"Yeah! don't worry I'm fine!" He slowly got up with a soft 'Ow' as he then smacked the dust off his clothes

"That's one way to do it huh?" Dominic then said with soft laughter as he approached his caretaker from the other side

"Right but I'd rather you not be on the other side" The devil answered as her hands clenched tightly to the iron bars

"Hm..." The child however, looked around him

"There must be a way to open this gate" He added on while his caretaker was looking behind him, for any signs of an entity that could remotely be threatening to his safety

"Aha!" He exclaimed with glee as his eyes could spot something on the wall, a lever

And with a small jump, the child grabbed tightly on the lever as he was hanging in the air, and even though he put all his weight to pull down on the interactable, it still wouldn't budge until he swayed down

A loud clack could be heard as the gate between the two finally groaned and was lifted by the intricate mechanism of these dead ruins, allowing the devil to finally be reunited with the child once again as the building up discomfort in the former finally subsided

"Well" The devil stood towering over the child who had his hands behind his back and his chin lifted proudly, so proudly in fact that it got a sigh of surrender from the devil

"Yes, you did good" And lifted her hand to put it on the child's head, his hair was soft and the devil's abyssal black hand gently patted the child who could only reply with a little laughter

"So, shall we?" Though that nice feeling had to end for both of the duo as she gestured towards the stairs that would then lead them further inside these ruins

"Yeah" And with the child's nod, both of them adventured deeper filled by curiosity over the origins of these abandoned buildings

They climbed up the stony stairs and could see a very long hallway ahead of them, a dark and ominous feeling surrounded the devil as they set their first foot in the shadowy tunnel, darkness broken only by the few blue flamed torches around

She could feel Dominic sticking close to her back, though she didn't mind as she was too busy admiring engraved plates that were on the walls around her, and each plate seemingly was describing the content of each room that split up from the hallway

The Devil came to a halt, and so did Dominic as the former read one of the plates that she chose randomly, and as she recognized the language her eyes widened slightly

"Uhm, can you read it?" Dominic asked her, the letters didn't resemble the ones he was used to seeing back in his village, but not like he could read anyways

"This is Nakian" She responded to his question while her eyes kept on reading

"And what's that?" He inquired further on

"The language that was used by demons long ago" though her answer merely added more to the child's confusion

"But..." And that same confusion brought the devil to finally break from her reading to look down at the child

"How can you read it then?" He asked with innocence and a slight tilt of his head

"Uh..." Though that kind of conundrum brought a stutter out of the devil since as of now, the child had to yet discover her true nature

"Oh, do they teach it in heaven so you can capture demons more easily?!" The child suddenly exclaimed in admiration while the devil furrowed her eyebrows in confusion and slowly nodded along

"Yes" And as she looked at the child's eyes she could see a glint that didn't make it easy for her to keep up this masquerade

"Then what does it say?" He gave yet another question to his caretaker, who then rubbed her chin as she looked at the engraved plate yet again

"It's talking about a demon that was buried in the room ahead" She spoke up

"Here rests Vazir, savior and helper to human folk, may the gods mercy him to Valhalla" Her head tilted from the contents she just read, it was confusing to see demon and human in the same sentence while also bearing nothing but good will

"Uhm, is Vazir a nice demon?" The child asked, prompting a snicker out of the devil as she merely shrugged

"Who knows, maybe" She then looked at him with a smile, a gentle one

"What do you think, Dominic?" She inquired him with much amusement on her face as seeing him work his brain so thoroughly was very much so enjoyable to see

"Uhm" It weirdly enough seemed as if the child was guilty of the words he was thinking

"I thought all demons were mean people" He replied to her with slightly furrowed eyebrows and a frown of pity for a race that wasn't here anymore

"But..." He was thinking hard as he narrowed his eyes

"Maybe they're not all mean?" His answer seemed to please his caretaker who had her arms crossed and that thin uncanny line on her face forming a small smile

"If only I met him, then I could tell" His gaze was then moved towards the dark room that was the resting place of the demon they were talking about

"That's a good answer" She responded to the child who looked back at her with much glee on his face to hear those words, in fact, it surprised the devil how logical his answer was for somebody that had no sense of self-preservation earlier on

"Alright, do you want to move forward?" She then asked while the only reply she would be given was quick nods in succession accompanied by a big smile

And move they did as they walked deeper into the hallway, passing by more different rooms and more plates with different names yet the only thing that was constant was that all the demons buried here were ones that helped mankind

But then they finally arrived at a dead end, a door that led to a huge room with light shinning down from seemingly nowhere, butterflies flew around while vegetation grew at the corners and on the ground unbothered by the state of their surroundings, it was a beautiful and more importantly, much more lively part of the ruins that they've explored so far

"Whoah" The child exclaimed in amazement while the devil by his side admired the scenery in front of them

She then noticed the child walk ahead of her, she didn't want to stop him though as she wanted to let him bask in the divine light ahead as particles of seemingly magic flying around the place, as white as that same godly light

Instead, she walked behind him, admiring her surroundings but also noticing the same thing that Dominic did, there was a sarcophagus built from stone, and behind it were walls that were engraved with the same language that they read earlier

Dominic walked until he stood in front of that same wall as he looked up at the different engraved words but also the drawings next to them, showing people gathering up and seemingly showing a noble sense of solidarity as they helped others that were on the ground

"Is this a story?" He asked, raising an eyebrow in curiosity at the words that were alien to him

"Hm..." His caretaker however, was very much familiar to that language

"It seems like it" She added on, rubbing her chin

"Can you read it for me?" Dominic further asked, bringing a soft snicker out of the devil

"Getting a bit demanding aren't we?" She said with a smirk and narrowed eyes that made him nervously laugh

"Could you read it for me, please?" He then replied with his hands behind his back and a meek expression written on his face, giving the devil a warm chuckle

"Alright alright, let me see" She cleared her throat and looked at the right most portion of the wall

"Once upon a time, lived a common demon, in her common village" The devil started with

"She was young and strong, her hair was of a pink-red color while her eyes were of a deep purple, she was born as the only daughter of her back then old parents" She continued

"She had quite a few friends, she was popular and likable, compassionate, selfless, and a helping hand all around her home village, she was very adept at using fire magic, able to fight alongside the guards of her village against any attacks from monsters that came with ill-will" Dominic looked at the devil's face with much enthusiasm at her telling of the tale

"And with that same strength, sprouted dreams of joining the legendary honor guard of her race, demons that were the strongest that their kind could be, bonded in battle and having camaraderie that was forged in the fires of war" The smile on the child's face couldn't be bigger from the joy he felt

"So she trained, every day, every single second of time she had this demon spent training with her magic, becoming stronger and more dependable than yesterday, developing a specialty in that fire talent she had, becoming as fiery as the fire she wielded, and just as deadly" The devil's eyes then narrowed

"And just like fire burns life into cinder and ash, so did the fire of her village burn those dreams down as one day, in one seemingly uneventful day, her village was pillaged and raided by humans with malevolent intentions" She crossed her arms and tilted her head to the side

"The race war between the two races was at its worst, and so the suffering had kept on spreading across the land, finally reaching the demon, taking away her friends, her mother, and her father away from her, right in front of her eyes, taking away her dreams and hopes and replacing them with a burning desire for vengeance, a thirst for human blood that pushed her to her limits, even further beyond" The devil suddenly stopped however as she looked to her side, at the very clearly discomforted child

"I can stop if you want me to" She reassured him

"No" His reply was gentle

"Please continue, I want to know more" So gentle and compassionate that it made the devil smile softly as she looked back at the engravings

"She became strong, one of the strongest of her kind and finally reached her dream of joining the honor guard" The devil resumed

"Yet it wasn't much of a dream to her anymore, it was more of a responsibility, an oath, a promise to herself and to her dead loved ones" She added on

"She soon joined the fight against the humans, fighting with such ferocity and brutality that it rallied many demons behind her, swearing her lives for her because they trusted her, respected her" The devil continued

"This demon that lays before you stole the lives of so many humans that it could turn seas crimson, paint fields of wheat red, yet why? was she evil? was it because of hatred?" Picturing his own kin getting slaughtered by a demon with so much hatred in her sent shivers down Dominic's spine

"Hatred kept brewing on and on, each side would commit horrible acts on the other, bringing them to do the same in turn, and the cycle would repeat, poisoning the minds of young humans and demons alike until one of them would go extinct" The devil crossed her arms and narrowed her eyes

"And even though this demon would swear that it would be the humans to go extinct, one day, she had a fateful encounter with a woman, a human woman" She continued softly

"So much anger and hatred stirred inside of the demon, she went on to immediately battle this woman that appeared from seemingly nowhere, she wanted to see her blood nurture the soil, yet..." The devil smirked

"This woman brought the demon and her entire army on their knees with her sorcery, not one of them could withstand the power of this frail mysterious woman" She added

"And even so, not one droplet of blood was spilled on that day as that woman was looking for nobody other than the demon that led that army, that one demon who had so much anger, so much hatred and rage for the woman's race, although she couldn't resist her, and that human woman abducted her away from her army" She narrated

"She treated her fairly, even though the demon kept threatening her and looking for any way to murder that woman in a brutal fashion, the woman still treated her fairly in their way to the place she wanted the demon to see, a village in the middle of a place that none knew existed, a green land with beautiful bountiful harvests, but the fact that shocked that demon was that the village was inhabited by both humans and her own kin, living in pure harmony and solidarity, that is what the woman wanted to show the demon" The devil had a smirk as she spoke, she quite enjoyed where this little story was heading to

"Yet it was unbelievable for the demon, an insult even, to her whole race, how could her kinsmen ever be friendly with humans, let alone co-exist, she pleaded with her kin to listen to her, that humans were nothing more than evil creatures that would want them nothing good, but no matter how hard she tried or how loud she spoke her own brothers and sisters still thought differently" She continued

"And for her at that moment, it seemed that being tied to a tree while sitting down was going to be the last thing she would ever do, that same mysterious woman who bested her and her army came often to talk to the captured demon and to even feed her, but the demon usually refused both offers" The devil chuckled

"Days passed and she was still stuck to that tree, her time was filled with nothing more than seeing demons and humans co-exist together, laugh together, eat together and go hunt together, if it wasn't for the horns that the demons had, one wouldn't even think they were from two different races" She crossed her arms and then carried on

"The demon grew weaker and weaker with each passing day, and each day that mysterious woman came to talk her with her more and more, offering her food and water no matter how much the demon refused, even if it seemed that changing her mind was fruitless" Dominic was still as attentive as he was in the beginning

"Yet one day, the demon finally spoke to her kidnapper, asking for her name in a weak tone, and the woman was more than happy to answer her inquiry" The devil then noticed the next word was engraved in a different style than the rest of the story

"Cassidy" She continued

"That was the human woman's name, the demon then asked her what was her intention of kidnapping a demon of such a high rank, and Cassidy would say then that her desire was no more than to show her what her eyes have been witnessing for the past week, and when the demon asked what it truly was, Cassidy only replied with a single word" The devil said

"Peace" She gently added

"But the demon couldn't believe Cassidy's words for her mind was plagued with memories of suffering, her heart burdened with the guilt of surviving what her loved ones couldn't, and her senses warped by hatred and vengeance, yet Cassidy didn't give up on her as she could see that even though her mind hasn't changed, something else did" Dominic's eyes then noticed the engraved drawing of a hooded woman offering a hand that was seemingly refused

"The demon was still stuck in that village that it didn't want to acknowledge it's existence, but no matter what she wanted, this was the truth and it was laid right in front of her eyes, she could even see Cassidy coming back with more victims of the war that had no other place to go, but what mattered was that no matter whether they were humans or demons, they were warmly welcomed by the inhabitants of the village, and that sight brought tremors upon her heart" She crossed her arms and carried on with the tale

"Until one day, when Cassidy came to talk with her just like she did each day, the demon started crying" The devil then snickered as she could hear a soft 'aw' coming from the child next to her

"That's when Cassidy knew that the demon's hatred, turned into sadness, and that sadness in itself granted her self-reflection, she cut the ropes that tied her to that tree and unsealed her magic, the woman then sat down next to the crying demon and comforted her" The child that was listening attentively to the tale now had a growing smile on his face

"The demon didn't know of it back then, but that was the beginning of a friendship that would bloom to save thousands of lives between the two races, both were known and highly respected in their race, and now that they were together they both worked hard to stop the needless war, exchange prisoners between each other's faction and give a home to those who's home was stolen" The devil had her head tilted to the side as she was reading

"And for that, we are eternally thankful, may you and everyone who hungered for fairness and thirsted for righteousness no matter the race rest here in peace" The devil then smiled

"Here rests Avalynn, helper and savior of human folk, may the gods mercy her to Valhalla" She took a deep breath as she finally read the last words engraved on the timeless wall

"That was so sweet" The child softly whispered but his caretaker still heard him as she gave him a smiling side look

"Did you like it?" She asked and as she looked at his softened brown gaze, she could see his eyes well up with tears

"Yeah, it was beautiful" He replied with a small smile while the devil turned her sight to the wall again, she didn't feel the same way but she didn't care about what she felt nearly as much as how he felt

"I wish it was a book so I can take it home" He added just to prove his love for the words engraved, the devil chuckled

"Right, I don't think we can take the wall, unfortunately" She then looked back at the child who then smiled at her

"But maybe it's better like that" Dominic answered, though she didn't quite understand as she gave him a raised eyebrow and a slight tilt of her head

"So more people can come here and read it too" He told her, prompting a gentle touch out of her uncanny face as she formed a small yet ever so warm smile, this child of man's selflessness surprised her every time

"You're right" She then looked at the engraved wall, at the drawing of that same woman that she assumed was Cassidy handing a hand to that demon in the story, and she wondered just what kind of memories they made together, barring away the pride of one's race for the greater good of all

After that, the duo walked back on the path they took to arrive here as the child kept thinking about the story the devil read for him, while she was too busy trying to sense the same people that pushed her and the child to venture deeper into this cave, she suddenly smiled however as she thought that maybe, she should thank those people after all

"So that's your village huh?" The devil stood with the child on the outskirts as they both admired the village that was his home

"Yup" His reply wasn't said with the same enthusiasm he had previously, and that ticked the devil off as she raised an eyebrow and then looked at him

"Is something wrong?" She asked with a gentle tone as she then saw Dominic look down at his feet

The devil got down to one knee and lifted the child's chin

"You know you can tell me if something's wrong, right?" She finished it with a tilt of her head while her voice was softened by the worry she felt as she looked at those saddened brown eyes

"Are we going to see each other tomorrow?" He asked her, bringing her frown to turn into half a smile as she desperately wanted to say 'Was that all?'

"Of course" But she didn't, she patted his head and shooed away his doubts

"We can meet here first thing in the morning, how about that?" As soon as she spoke those words, the child's expression turned gleeful yet again

"You won't be busy?" He asked her to make sure, the devil rubbed her chin

"Let me think" She won't be busy but she didn't want to tell him outright

"Hm, I'm sure I can spare some time, what do you think?" She asked him with a small smile while she could swear that she was being blinded by his own

"I'd love to!" He exclaimed with joy while the devil nodded to him

"So tomorrow morning, at this hill, okay?" He gave her nods in quick successions just to prove his eagerness

"Oh and also!" He responded, catching her attention as she arched an eyebrow

"Remember when you asked me what I thought about that demon?" He asked her, she slowly nodded as she recalled the name of Vazir that she read from that engraved plate

"I think he was a nice person because he did good things" He told her

"Just like that woman Cassidy, and that demon Avalynn, they were all good people because of what they did, not what they were" He continued with slightly furrowed eyebrows that showed how serious he was, prompting an ever so gentle smile from his caretaker

"So you think goodness can be in everybody?" She asked him with narrowed eyes and that same unwavering smile

"Yes" He responded, accompanied by a slow nod

"Even the devil?" She asked

"He can be if he wants to" He responded to her question with the same enthusiasm and seriousness as before, she looked at him for a silent second with a smile before she got up

"Alright then, I'll see you here tomorrow morning" The child nodded

"I'll come as soon as I can!" he exclaimed as he walked away, waving to his caretaker who immediately waved back with a soft and gentle smile

She watched him walkway with that smile still plastered on her face while her chest felt like it tightened and a lump suddenly appeared in her throat, she didn't know what she was feeling or where did this feeling even come from

Until she realized that this is how beings of life cry, she didn't know of this for her whole existence ever since life itself formed, but now she did

Yet did she cry? she wouldn't want anybody to know