“Lillian,” the angel said, still on his knees. “Gracious Mother of the Charis Realm. I’ve missed you.”

Tears spring to her eyes, the goddess’s emotions overwhelming her. Lillian takes over her body, wrapping her arms around the man. She holds Raven tightly, imprisoning him in an iron grip. He doesn’t flinch, allowing her to sob into his shoulder.

“I can’t believe you were here this whole time,” the goddess said, using Nicole’s vocal cords. “I’ve searched every corner of the realm for you, but everyone said you were dead.”

“It feels like I’ve been asleep for a long time,” he said. “I couldn’t wake up, no matter how hard I tried. Every time I thought I was awake, I ended up trapped in another dream. This isn’t a dream, right?”

“No,” the Fallen Mother said. “This is real. You are awake."

He touches her face, making sure that she was there in his arms. “I hope so. I can’t stand to lose you again.”

Lillian lets out a laugh between her sobs. “You won’t ever lose me. I promise.”

At this point, Nicole had surrendered all control of her body to the goddess. While she was happy to see Lillian reunite with her lover, she couldn’t help but feel like a third wheel in her own body. It was strange and embarrassing. Not to mention Raven was still naked. The only thing that would further her humiliation was if Cedric were to see her like this.

“Nicole,” the demon Lord said, stepping foot on the grass. “Could you tell me why there’s an angel in the garden of my manor?”

“I can explain,” she said, regaining control of her body. She pulls away from Raven, flustered, and nearly trips over her own feet trying to reach Cedric. The Lord’s eyes widened, realizing that the angel was naked.

“Can you? What possible explanation is there for a naked man with big, black wings in my garden?” He crosses his arms, tapping his foot impatiently.

“The naked man is Mr. Whiskers,” she said.

Cedric’s face reddens. “The cat? Do you really expect me to believe-”

“No,” she said, interrupting him. “I don’t expect you to believe it. But it is the truth. I accidentally turned that cat into an angel.” She takes his hands, imploring him to accept her story. When he doesn’t pull away, she continues.

“I came here to kill a demon for a goddess. I was told to use this dagger,” she takes off her bracelet, shifting it into a weapon, “to stab Aaron and take his life in exchange for his crime. Did he ever tell you what that crime was?”

The Lord shakes his head. “I’ve had glimpses of his life before he was summoned into the realm, but it’s all tortured souls and hellfire.”

“His crime was killing the goddess’s lover,” she explains, “who just so happens to be that naked man with the black wings.”

“That doesn’t make sense,” he said. “Is he supposed to be dead? What’s he doing in my garden?”

“I’m afraid that’s my fault,” Aaron said, joining them. “My apologies, my Lord. I’ve been hiding him here in this manor the whole time.”

At the sight of the demon butler, Lillian once again took over Nicole’s body, seething with godly rage. She tries to fight the Fallen Mother for control, but it was like struggling to swim with anchors tied to her legs. She drowns, her world fading to black as a strange sense of deja vu takes over her.

To Cedric, it looked like she had fainted. He tries to catch her before she hits the ground, but Raven steps in, cushioning her body in time.

“Asmodeus,” the angel said, greeting the butler as he cradled the girl’s body. “Fancy seeing you here, former Prince of Hell.”

“Raven,” the butler said. “You look well.” The Lord noticed that Aaron stood straighter than usual, stiffer than a board.

“You don’t seem surprised to see me here. I’ve been asleep for a while. Did you miss me?”

“More than you know.” The air fills with electricity, humming with danger. The Lord steps back from the pair. Although nothing had happened between them, something in his gut warned him that in a few moments, his life would be at risk.

“Is that so?” The angel gently sets Nicole’s body on the grass.

“Would I lie to you?” Aaron tucks a piece of his long hair behind his ear right ear.

“It wouldn’t be unusual for a demon such as yourself.” The electric hum in the air intensifies, becoming a loud buzz.

“ You’re special to me. I’ve always made an exception for you. You get nothing but my honesty.” The butler takes off his gloves, watching the angel glower at him.

“In my deep slumber, there’s one thing I remember that I can never erase from my head. Do you know what that thing is?”

“Your devotion to your dimensional Mother?” The butler unties his eyepatch, letting the piece of cloth fall to the ground.

“Your face,” Raven said. “Before I entered my slumber, the last thing I saw was your face.”

“I’m flattered,” Aaron said, putting a hand over his heart. “Truly. Have you really kept me in your head all this time?”

“More than you know, Asmodeus,” Raven said, throwing the demon’s line back at him. He grabs the demon’s jaw, the air sizzling. “Tell me, did you enjoy keeping me as your pet? Was this all some infernal game to you?”

Cedric moves towards the pair, ignoring the growing sense of danger in his gut. Aaron stares him in the eye, begging him to leave, but he ignores the warning.

“I did it for your own good,” the demon butler said calmly. “Lillian was going to destroy you.”

The angel tightens his grip on the demon’s jaw. “You should’ve let her. I would’ve died for my goddess if I had to.” His nails dig into Aaron’s skin, drawing blood.

“No, you would never die for her.”

Raven looked like he wanted to rip his head off. “I would never be so disloyal or weak.”

“Old friend, you were the one who told me to put you out of your misery when you heard the goddess’s plans for you,” he confessed.

"Liar," the angel said, though he sounded like he couldn't believe the word coming out of his own mouth.

“Do you know what she had planned to do to you? The things she was going to take? I can tell you everything, but only if you want me to,” he offered.

Raven hesitates, wondering what could’ve been so awful that he asked his closest friend to kill him. What did the love of his life want to do to him that made him cast away his honor?

“Don’t listen to the hell creature. He deceives you,” Lillian said, rising from the ground in Nicole’s body. Her eyes were white, like thick clouds on a foggy day. Hundreds of butterflies flew out of her palms, carrying her to the angel.

“Gracious Mother,” Raven said, “why would my dearest friend lie to me?”

The Fallen One touches his head, amused by his innocence. She takes a look at Aaron’s calm facade, delighting in the fact that the next words out of her mouth were going to shatter him.

“Asmodeus, kind as he was to you, is hiding something,” she said. “Does the former Prince of Hell wish to speak the truth or keep his sins hidden like the humans he pretends to be?”

Flames rise from the ground, licking Aaron’s flesh. His soft hands morph into claws, scorched by flame. Cedric had never seen his butler this angry.

“Did you think I would never notice?” The goddess sneers at him. “I live an existence beyond space and time. Did you really think you could hide anything from me?”

“Hide what? Asmodeus, what is our Gracious Mother talking about?”

The demon meets the angel’s bemused expression with a look of sorrow. “Forgive me, old friend. I never meant to taint you with sin.”

“The hell creature loves you,” Lillian said, turning to Raven.

“What’s so sinful about love?” He looks at the butler, hoping that the answer would miraculously appear the longer he stared. Aaron doesn’t meet his eyes, too ashamed to look at the angel. The flames still roared around him, this time more controlled as if he realized he couldn’t show the full extent of his fury.

Then, it dawns to the angel the kind of love the goddess was talking about. He takes a step away from the demon, unable to contain his revulsion. And that was all it took to shatter Aaron.

The former Prince of Hell fell to his knees. He had felt this kind of pain only once in his life, thousands of years ago when his father banished him from home. Losing control of his magic, his glamour peels away, revealing his true demon form for all to see.

“Aaron,” Cedric said, stepping into the fray. “Let’s go back to the manor.” He tries to take the butler’s hand, but the demon pulls away. The Lord sighs. Aaron was too wounded to see any sense. He walks towards Lillian and Raven, unafraid despite everything in him telling him to run away.

The angel stood in front of him, blocking his way to the goddess. “State your business.”

“I want to see Nicole,” he said.

“She’s not here,” the goddess said. “You can only speak to me.”

“I can hardly do that with you floating in the air,” he remarks. “Won’t you come down to grace us silly mortals with your divine presence?”

The goddess laughs. “I see why the girl likes you. You’re a wonderful charmer.” She descends from the sky, the butterflies departing.

“She likes me?” The Lord was baffled.

“Yes,” she said. “Anyone could see it. Even your butler knew.”

He made a mental note to confront Aaron about the revelation. “Then, can I have her back?”

The Fallen Mother giggles. It sounded unnatural coming from Nicole’s mouth, too ancient and devilish. Nothing like the girl he fell for.

“She was going to leave you,” the goddess said. “We were planning to return her to her home realm.”

“She would’ve told me,” the Lord said. “We would’ve wanted to say goodbye.”

“We were going to leave seconds before you came into the garden. That was until Raven appeared,” she said, grabbing the angel’s arm.

“And how were you going to do that?” Aaron joins Cedric, no longer appearing weighed down by his sorrow. The demon avoided Raven’s eyes, choosing instead to stare down the goddess.

“Simple. A blood sacrifice to the Gatekeepers.”

“A blood sacrifice,” he said, echoing her words. “Were you going to kill an entire army?”

“No,” she said, perplexed. “Just a small animal.”

“You’re an old, senile fool,” Aaron said. “No Gatekeeper will take such a measly sacrifice. The bounty on your head is greater than anything you could pay them.”

“The Gracious Mother could easily bribe them with ownership of a planet,” Raven interjects. “Moving the girl to another dimension would be no more difficult than lifting her finger.”

“There’s a small problem with that. Your Gracious Mother isn’t exactly who you think she is. Those powers are no longer available to her.”

“Impossible,” the angel said. “She created this realm. Everything, including you and I, were made by her design. She is the eternal Mother of the Charis Realm.”

“Not anymore. Now, she’s no more powerful than you or I. You’ve missed a lot in your slumber, dear friend.”

Raven turns toward Lillian. “Was it not you who freed me from my sleep?”

The goddess falters. Cedric could see the gears turning in her head as she debated whether or not to tell her newly awakened lover the truth. But her silence was all the angel needed to turn away in disgust. Without another word, he launched himself in the sky, letting his magnificent black wings take him wherever he pleased. The Fallen Mother tries to go after him, summoning the same cloud of butterflies, but Aaron grabs her leg.

“Where do you think you’re going?” The demon drags her back to earth, viciously slamming her to the grass.

“After my love, of course. He needs to understand why I’m no longer the dimensional Mother.” She tries to wiggle out of the demon’s grip.

“You’ve done enough,” Aaron said. “I’ve let you cause too much chaos.”

“Let me? Infernal creature, I am your creator. You don’t let me do anything,” the goddess sneers.

“You’re no creator. You’re just a worthless, power-hungry leech. Look at what you’re doing to the girl’s body,” he said, tracing the purple cracks on her limbs.

“I can remake her,” she said desperately. “I just need to regain my position. The Higher Order will listen to me. And then everything will fall into place!”

“If you’re so sure that they’ll listen, why have you been running away from them? Face it, Fallen One, you have no allies that will vouch for you.” He pins the girl down, creating a circle of fire around their two bodies.

“What are you doing?” The goddess spasms in his grip, trying to throw his body off.

“Something I should’ve done the moment I saw you.” He wraps his hand around her neck, chanting a spell to force the goddess out of the girl’s body.

The Lord stood to the side, observing the spectacle. It was like witnessing a violent exorcism. Foam came out of Nicole’s mouth, bubbling through her lips. He wonders briefly if she was going to make it out of the ritual alive.

After several agonizing minutes, the butler rose from the grass, holding something between his hands.

“What is that?” Cedric tries to peer through the butler’s fingers, but Aaron’s hands are clamped shut.

“The goddess’s spirit. Hand me that, will you?” The demon butler gestures to a glass lantern perched on the ledge of a flower bed. The Lord obeys, bringing over the unlit lantern. Slowly, Aaron gingerly places whatever had been trapped in his palms in the lantern. A white butterfly emerges from his fingers, trying to escape from its glass prison.

“Why don’t we just kill it?”

“As much as I would love to, it wouldn’t help the girl go home. I intend to use the goddess as a bargaining chip to negotiate with the Gatekeepers,” the butler said, swinging the handle of the lantern.

“When will you be bargaining with them?” Cedric stuffs his hands in his coat pocket, trying to stop fidgeting. He wasn’t ready to see his unofficial lady leave just yet.

“As soon as today. Ileana won’t be very pleased to find Nicole still in the Charis Realm. She and the Family still want her dead.”

“Aaron,” he said, “I know this is unreasonable, but could I have one more day with her?”

The butler regarded him coolly. “I thought you liked the girl. Don’t you want her to live?”

The Lord kept his eyes glued to his feet. “I want to apologize to her. We didn’t leave off on good terms.”

“Is that all you want to do?”

“No,” he said. “I also need to tell her how I feel. Before I never see her again.”