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'Yeah, cursed!' nodded Lucien, as happily as though it were some sort of rare chocolate he was seeking instead. 'There's some key stuff in there that I think I will find very, very useful.'

Kuro groaned. 'Am I going to get anything to eat first or are you going to send me on an empty stomach?'

'Ha! As if you'd starve anywhere on Earth! People probably feed you all the time!' chuckled Lucien.

'Not really,' said Kuro. 'Many people get a bit unsettled by me for some reason – maybe it's my Hell energy! I have to scare them into feeding me!'

'Oh, now you have to show us!' grinned the demon.

The cat stared at him with piercing golden eyes that seemed to bore into his soul and question his very existence in the universe.

'All right, all right, that's enough!' said Lucien, raising his arms in mock surrender. 'Don't scare me like that!'

'He's still kind of cute in his own way,' said Grace affectionately.

'Hey, I'm not cute!' said Kuro, turning away with dignity, but he secretly liked the way she had said it.

'Yes, you are,' said Grace, tickling him behind the ears.

'Hey, excuse me, I'm not to be petted like this—'

'Our fluffball,' said Lucien, joining in, making Kuro look side to side in protest, almost dashing away, but he ended up staying and letting them pat him to their heart's content.

'Great,' said the cat, flopping on the ground and barely looking at them. 'I'd better be getting something to eat now!'

'On it, meow-meow,' said Lucien, getting up with his signature grin.

'Excuse me, I have a name!'

*  *  *

'What is this drink, anyway?' asked Grace, sipping the overly-sweetened tea Lucien had made. 'You gave it to me on the first day I came here! It tastes kind of like fruit tea to me!'

'It's a flower tea,' said Lucien. 'It's popular in this part of Hell.'

'Which flower?'

'I'm not sure. A whole bunch of them?'

Grace nodded, and looked at the slab of meat that Kuro was still nibbling at. 'Where does the meat come from? I don't see any chickens or large animals around here... and even if they are, what do they eat?'

'There are,' said Lucien. 'But not the kind you find on Earth; they're similar, but a kind of adapted species suited for Hell. They survive on what little they find in the wild plus the stuff they're fed – there's plenty of leaves and things for them.'

'You know, that's one thing that Hell has better,' commented Kuro. 'I've eaten a lot of food on Earth, and while the cooking style is supremely better and more exquisite, there's a distinct flavour of Hell-raised meat that's just unbeatable. A certain smoky, fiery texture and—'

'Kuro, stop acting like a stuck-up food critic in France and finish your meal, please,' said Lucien, rolling his eyes.

'How do you know about the food critics of France?' laughed Grace.

'The same way you know about Heaven's gardens and Pearly Gates!'

'You've got a point!'

'Lucien's nuts about Earth,' said Kuro slyly. 'He's going to bring Hell down trying to get there!'

The demon shrugged smugly. 'Well, they say everyone's got to have a passion...'

'Passion, not madness! There's a difference.'

'Wrong. They're one and the same. It's not passion if it doesn't border on madness.'

'So you do "border" on madness? Good to see you confess, but I beg to differ; I say you're in the middle of the place!'

'Keep your lame teasing to yourself and eat – oh, you've finished! Guess we can send you off now!'

'Right, so where do I have to go?'

'Ah! About that...' began Lucien with a sheepish grin. 'So, I may have left out a tiny important detail...'

Kuro looked at him suspiciously. 'The last time you mentioned tiny details, you sent me on the Siberian plains to get that ancient babushka thing! I'm NOT going there again!'

'Of course not!' said Lucien hurriedly. 'I'm only sending you in E...g....t'

'Huh? I didn't quite catch that?"

'Egypt!' said Lucien with an innocent smile, before he looked away casually.

Kuro stared at him. 'Did you just say Egypt?'

'Yeah,' said Lucien, whistling a tune as he looked out of the window. 'In one of the pyramids, there's a catacomb that's kind of sealed off, and you'll find the book there – hopefully.'

Kuro's pupils dilated as he looked at the demon. 'Pyramids? Catacombs?!'

'Tsk. It's not that bad, so don't have a fit. Ah, be careful though, there is a rather frightful mummy there, I think. The original owner of the book, you know...'

'Are you crazy?!!' yelled Kuro. 'I'm not going there!!'

'Oh, come on, Kuro, we had a deal,' said Lucien. 'You promised!'

'Yeah, well, I wasn't told that I'd have to go to ancient sandy underground graves with thousand-year-old dead people—'

'Thousands, Kuro! Earth's history goes a long way back—'

'I don't care!! I'm not going!'

'Come on, Kuro, look, there's a "cat" in catacomb...'

'Oh, seriously?! Sounds like walking into my own grave, then!'

'Nooooo, don't be like that!'

'The pyramids are quite famous,' said Grace. 'They're one of the wonders of the ancient world!'

'Exactly!' said Lucien. 'You're getting a chance to walk in a piece of ancient history, Kuro!'

'As if I care!' said the cat, walking away. 'I'm not going!'

'Wait, Kuro!' said Grace.

'What?' said the cat, still walking disinterestedly.

'In ancient Eygpt, cats were worshipped and considered sacred!'

Kuro stopped and looked around. 'Really?'

'Ha! That got you interested!' said Lucien. 'Should have known, you narcissist!'

'Well, I guess it wouldn't hurt to pay that place a visit...'

'That was ancient Egypt, Kuro!!'

'Even so, those people clearly have sense,' said the cat solemnly. 'I'll see you soon – hopefully! But if they start a cult for me I'll have to stay a little longer, of course!'

'You wish!' said Lucien, rolling his eyes, but Kuro had disappeared already.

Grace laughed.

'Thanks, human,' said Lucien with a grin and wink. 'Convincing Kuro is no small feat!'

'Hehe, anytime.'

'So, how are we going to pass time until Kuro returns?' said Lucien, looking at the hourglass. 'We've got the entire day to spend!'

'I think I'd like to see that stream again,' said Grace.

'The stream...' said the demon thoughtfully. 'Well, why not. We can even have a picnic in the shade unless it gets too hot!'

'Too bad the water there is hot, too,' said Grace. 'Still, at least it looks nice.'

'All right, let's go. But let's take this umbrella because I'd rather not roast on the way, thanks,' said Lucien, taking a white one off a rack Grace hadn't noticed before. 'I have a feeling the heat's going to be brutal today!'

'More brutal than last time?' said Grace.

'Believe it or not, that was a pleasant day.'

'Oh, God!'

'Having second thoughts? Wanna stay inside instead?'

'Nah, I think I'll imprint the bad experience in my mind so that I don't get these bad ideas again.'

'It's all right. We'll try and have a good time. Take a large bottle of cool water and keep it in this small basket – it'll stay out of the sun that way. And I'll hold the umbrella over us. Let's go!'