‘Who are… W-what are you? What do you want?’

Silence as he moved close. Closer than she cared to allow, and she could not move. Shiro still barked, but did not attack.

Mara saw the smoke that came off of the man become a tenuous but vivid red shimmer which embedded his shape like a protective shield. The red matched the red in his eyes. Mara was a moth attracted to the flame, knowing full well she could get burnt at any moment. Yet, she couldn't stop looking, couldn’t scream or run away. He had her completely in his grasp.

Then his red eyes changed into this thick luminous grey. The next second, grey smoke danced out of his hand and just as Mara was about to speak again, it projected into her face, forcing her eyes shut. She curled holding her head and trembled. Was this some kind of poison? A drug? Was he here to kill her?!

But nothing happened. He was still there when she looked up. However, his gaze had shifted to surprise; hesitation even.

‘How did you do that?’

A deep voice inside her mind.

Terrified, she recoiled, unable to think, her eyes now free from his stare.

‘Answer me! How were you able to resist the grey?’

It was a delayed realisation when it hit her. She had just heard him. Just like in her dream. And just like in her dream, she could only hear his voice. But that had just been a dream. How was any of this possible?

‘You must tell me!’ He insisted urgently.

Mara’s eyes filled with tears, her breathing became increasingly erratic, and her mind spun with panicked thoughts. She held and shook her head in confusion, as though forcing it to wake from this nightmare.

‘Damn it!’ He said, charged with frustration.

He moved towards her, and the protective red veil that enveloped him vanished. Instead, enormous black wings, as black as his hair, spread from his back and surrounded them both.

‘Calm down or you’ll pass out. You’ll need to come with me.’

‘W-wings… Wha-what do you want from me?!’

She shuddered when he touched her arms and, in instinctive resistance, she pushed her hands against his chest. He was too close and Mara’s heart all but stopped. She wasn’t sure whether it was out of fear, but the oppressing feeling she felt until now was dissipating. When she looked up at him, his eyes had changed again. This time to a natural blue shade. His gaze remained tense, but there was no more of the fiery aggression. In all the madness, a passing feeling of familiarity passed through her. Something about his presence. Along with it, her arms weakened against his chest. He must have taken that as the final consent to press even closer.

‘This will be hard on you since it’s your first time.’ His tone was slightly smoother.

He pressed her closer still. That shook her back to her panic and useless resistance. What was this? She was entirely in his arms now. He pulled and wrapped her; her arms folded in front of her, ignoring her every command to fight back, to just push. She froze, and her face felt hot. She was not used to being held.

His dark wings closed in tighter to wrap them both.

‘W-w-what is happening?’

‘We need physical contact to travel together. We cannot lose contact at any point. It’s too dangerous.’ His calm and detached tone heavily contrasted with her dread.

She had been panting, but now she found it difficult to breathe at all. His arms tightened, ignoring her silent and futile resistance. She wondered if he could feel her heart thumping away. His arms rested on her lower back. It was disconcerting how perfectly she fit in his arms. Her trembling, her heart, her everything slowed down. His warmth, his smell, even the chest motions of his breathing took over and lulled her into a doze. She felt herself letting go and her body no longer was not hers to control. All thought fled as she gave in.

A faint mist of green mixed with rays of black flowed around them and moved up, disappearing through the ceiling. She looked at him with some effort as he focused on whatever he was doing. His eyes had changed again and were a luminous green. Then she followed the line of his neck, how his hair fell down around his pointy ears. There was no doubt about it: he was not human.

A warm, comforting feeling enveloped her as if she was under a blanket scented sweetly with lotus flowers. Her gaze drifted into nothingness, and then everything was black.

Hell

Lucious was careful as he lowered Mara on the enormous bed. He sat on its edge and removed the scarf he had used as a mask; It was stifling. Then he watched her.

Up close, she was so different now. Her soul still burned bright and beautiful, as always, but it was stronger. It seemed so unreachable. He shook his head in frustration and wondered how it got to this. He had not planned for this.

‘You ended up bringing her here.’ Mammon said as he approached.

Lucious kept his eyes on Mara as he answered. ‘I did not mean to.’

‘Then why?’

Finally, Lucious looked at Mammon, but he didn’t have an immediate response. He seemed to measure his words as he spoke. ‘It got too complicated. I didn’t expect that she could… She’s different now.’

‘Different how?’ Mammon studied the unconscious Mara.

‘The grey, the red. They didn’t work on her. Her power is much stronger than we expected.’

Mammon’s eyes widened. ‘How do you mean? Is she no longer human?’

‘She is. But they just didn’t work. The intensity of the red alone should’ve caused her to black out, but she didn’t. I could tell she was frightened. I just looked like this winged thief in the night. So maybe the fear triggered her power, and she used it without realising. I also used the grey, up close, and even then, nothing happened. She just… stared at me.’ A flash of Mara’s fearful eyes came to him and he closed his hand into a fist. It wasn’t supposed to happen this way.

Mammon approached Mara. He removed his glove and touched her forehead with care.

‘It was her first journey through the corridor. She will be out of it for a while. Frankly, I’m surprised she’s not spewing her dinner right now.’

‘I don’t think she had dinner.’

‘Oh?’

‘Her stomach was rumbling a lot when I got there. She had been napping all evening.’

‘Ah. That would explain your own absence for all these hours?’ A teasing smile from Mammon.

‘I didn’t do…! Anyway, she’s here now. And I have to find out how she does it. How she resists the colours.’

‘We don’t know that she can resist them for sure. It could’ve been a fluke, out of fear as you’ve said.’

‘She does, Mammon. Flukes can happen between demons. For a human to resist the power, that’s something else entirely. I saw it with my own eyes.’

‘Lucious,’ Mammon spoke carefully. ‘You know I would die protecting you and your cause. But I feel compelled to ask: Have you thought this through?’

Lucious stared at Mammon with some contempt. Mammon continued.

‘You’ve always been overprotective of this human girl. The plan was only to retrieve a small portion of her soul essence and cast a shadow around it to keep her safe. Now you’ve brought her here. You’re talking about this power of hers, resisting the colours… involving her further may put her in more dang-’

‘Don’t you think I know that?!’ He said, harsher than he intended. Mammon lowered his head in deference.

Lucious sighed. ‘I’m sorry. I’m tired.’

‘I know you’ve not been sleeping well. Your father is also returning tomorrow. He may set up the Test soon.’ Mammon said, his head still lowered.

‘If you say you understand my cause, then you also know that Beel doesn’t have much time. I need to act now with or without a Test. If there is a way to harness this power, she had… Mammon, you’re the only one I can count on. I need you to understand. If I had a choice, I would’ve left her out of this.’

‘I understand.' I didn’t intend to question your decisions.’

Lucious looked down at Mara and added, ‘Can I also count on you to protect her?’

‘Of course.’ Mammon responded without hesitation.

‘Please raise your head.’

Mammon did.

‘Just help me see this through. Help me keep her out of harm’s way. Even from me if it comes to it.’