17

'Where's Kuro?' said Grace suddenly, looking behind her in a panic. 'We've lost him!'

'Don't worry,' laughed Lucien. 'He likes the marketplace; playing hide and seek, darting between stalls, getting in everyone's feet and then glaring at them, you know the works. He probably ran off somewhere to have fun, but he'll be back soon.'

'Oh! Thank Goodness!'

Half an hour later, they had gathered everything they needed, and the basket was quite full.

'Here, give it to me,' said Lucien, holding out his hand. 'It must be heavy!'

'It is, rather!' said Grace. 'But I don't want to bother you too much; I'll hold it until Kuro comes back and we see the place where these things grow, and then you can carry it home.'

'Don't be silly!' said Lucien, taking the basket from her and swinging it to and fro. 'Don't ever say you're a bother again; you're not. Besides, it's not that hard for me to lift things, so it's only fair that I do it.'

'Well, thank you!' said Grace with a sweet smile that made the demon look at her longer than he had intended.

'So, come on, let's see that place I told you about,' said Lucien.

'What about Kuro?'

'He knows the way home. He'll turn up somewhere; he always does.'

'Are you sure it's okay?'

'Absolutely!'

'Okay, then!'

They walked out of the marketplace and soon found themselves on an open, smooth slope. The ground here was more sandy and loose. In one place, a row of short trees stood, mostly dry, but with the slightest hint of green along their trunks and even some leaves on the branches. Weeds grew here and there, and they only increased as they went on.

On the whole, it wasn't much to look at, but considering the general landscape of Hell, it was the greenest part Grace had seen so far.

'Just this way,' said Lucien, walking forward and placing the basket below one of the trees. 'There! No one comes by this route, especially at this time, so it's quite safe, and it will also remain shaded and safe from the sun.'

'Good thinking!' said Grace.

'As always!' grinned Lucien, making Grace roll her eyes.

'It's getting greener and greener, as you can see,' said Lucien, stepping over a large weed.

'Yes, how come?' said Grace curiously, bending down and picking up a handful of dirt; it felt moist.

'Because there's a water source nearby,' said Lucien. 'You'll see it any time now!'

'Water source?!'

'That's right! Ah, here we are!'

Grace beheld ahead of her a slowly winding stream, shaded by a tall hill from the harsh afternoon sun, and bordered by tall leafy plants and weeds that made it look inviting and pleasant.

'I didn't expect to see a stream in Hell!' she exclaimed, and she ran forward until she reached its bank.

'Be careful, the water might be a little warm right now,' warned Lucien. 'All morning, the sun shines on it, you see.'

Grace ran a hand in the running water, before withdrawing it quickly. Even in the shade, it was uncomfortably hot!

'Oh well,' she sighed. 'This is Hell, after all; there had to be some drawback...'

'It gets cooler in the night because it's so cold then,' said Lucien. 'That's why the water you drank before was quite nice. And if you fill it at night and store it inside during the day, it stays that way. It's all about timing!'

'I'm glad about the cold nights,' said Grace. 'If it were hot all the time, things would get unpleasant!'

'It would,' agreed Lucien. 'You know, Azel gave me a lecture once about all this being God's mercy and all that. But while it's nice for sinning humans, I really think I deserve better than this, though...'

'Sometimes, we have to make do with what we have,' said Grace. 'And when we do, it's not all that bad...'

'Yeah,' said Lucien.

'There's one thing, though,' said Grace, as they walked alongside the stream. 'Considering there's a running stream here, shouldn't it be greener around here? Why is Hell so barren?'

'That's because the stream can only give so much moisture to the ground,' explained Lucien. 'For truly fertile, green soil, water is needed in abundance, and equally distributed, too.'

'That's what rain does,' said Grace.

'Exactly,' said Lucien. 'And it never rains in Hell. Hence, the barren ground.'

'Never rains?' said Grace, stopping in her footsteps.

'Not a drop. I've never seen rain in my entire life,' said Lucien sadly.

They walked on in silence, and Grace looked up at the blindingly blue-green sky occasionally, wondering. Wasn't it possible for rain to fall from this merciless sky? For clouds to form in its cruel monochrome?

'Look ahead,' said Lucien. 'You'll like this.'

Grace did as he asked, and soon enough, she saw what he meant. She stopped in her footsteps once more, but this time, out of delight.

There was a patch of land ahead that was entirely green and thick with well-tended plants that grew high and beautifully. The dirt beneath was clearly crumbly and reddish-brown. It looked as though a portion of a country farm had been whisked away and placed here instead.

'This is amazing,' said Grace. 'If there's no rain though, how come...'

'Because it's blessed earth,' smiled Lucien.

'Huh?'

'More of "God's mercy" as Azel would put it,' grinned the demon. 'Because our ground is barren and cannot grow anything, there are some designated patches of "blessed earth" in which anything planted can grow easily. That way, we can still sustain ourselves.'

'That's so nice! That explains it!' said Grace, drawing closer and rejoicing in this rare green sighting. She took a deep, contented breath, and was sure she felt the sweet scent of strawberries. 'Lucien? Who tends these mini-farms? These blessed earth patches? Who plants these things?'

'Only select people are allowed to tend them,' said Lucien. 'Because not everyone knows farming, and some people are more dishonest than others and try all kinds of monkey business... so only some trusted people who have both the necessary knowledge and integrity are allowed to even touch that soil. The especially respected amongst them get to choose what to plant.'

'Oh! I should like to meet one of them, some time,' said Grace excitedly.

'You'll get to eventually, I'm sure,' said the demon with a shrug. 'You've got your entire life ahead of you.'

Grace glared at him. 'Don't say depressing stuff like that and ruin my good mood!'

Lucien raised his hands in mock surrender. 'Okay, whatever!'

'Listen, are demons allowed to farm?' said Grace suddenly.

Lucien cocked an eyebrow. 'Why would we? When the humans are more than enough?'

'I just thought... you might want to. Or someone else, maybe. And even at the marketplace... don't demons do any work around here?'

'Hey, excuse me, we're not the condemned here!' said Lucien indignantly. 'So I think just living here is more than enough work as it is! That said, some demons do like to help around or participate – needless to say, they're quite less, and I'm not one of them!'

'Oh, all right, whatever you like,' said Grace.

'Like I said before, I'm lazy,' said Lucien.

'No, you're not,' said Grace. 'You just have different interests, like reading. There are many humans like that, too.'

'Thanks,' said Lucien. 'Speaking of which, there is a library in Hell, too, maintained and visited by humans. Mine's better, though! Hehe!'

Grace laughed. 'I'll have to visit it sometime. Though yours was really something. I say, we should probably return home now – the sun's in the west already.'

'We should! But wait! There's one more thing I want to show you!' said Lucien.

Grace followed him towards a large structure that looked somewhat like a barn.

'Apart from the blessed earth patches,' said Lucien, 'there is one other supply of Hell's rations.'

'What is it?' said Grace in surprise.

'Heaven!' said Lucien. 'And, sometimes, other realms.'

Grace looked at him with widened eyes. 'That can't be!'

'But it is!' grinned Lucien. 'You could call it charity, I suppose.'

'Why would they send food to the condemned?'

'Because they're good, kind people over there who believe everyone deserves to smile, even the residents of Sheltered Hell. They have an abundance of everything, so they often gather supplies and bring them here. That's where we got the first strawberries and such things, which the head farmer wisely decided to plant here too.'

'That's very nice of them,' said Grace, touched.

'If you peek through the window here, you can see the supplies they sent us stored here safely,' said Lucien. 'Can you see them?'

'Yes,' said Grace, peering in. 'I can! Sacks and sacks of grain!'

'If you're lucky enough to come here at the right time, you can see the angels flying here to bring them. There's always a grand lighted trail behind them, and it's almost like a temporary portal – heavily guarded, of course,' said Lucien.

'Oh! I'd love to see that!' said Grace.

'Maybe you will, soon,' said Lucien. 'I bet you'd like it. Maybe you could even reason with them and get them to convince Azel to change his mind about letting you out.'

'I will. But I'm not leaving without you,' said Grace firmly.

'Don't be an idiot,' said Lucien earnestly. 'If you get the chance, go!'

'No,' said Grace with a cutely stubborn smile that caught him off guard. 'I've decided. Either I'm going with you, or I'm not going, so there!'

'W–what? W–why?!' said Lucien, going red.

Grace smiled mysteriously. 'Just because.'