Speak of the Devil

"Fire! Fire!"
"Start a chain! To the Governor's office!"
"Is he inside?"
"Don't open the door!"
"Kay! Was anyone inside?"
"Check the floor above!"
"Where's the Governor?"

"Here!" Rosamund shouted, running towards the door of his office. No one should've been inside, right? Right?! What if they are- they could be dying-

"My lord! You mustn't open the door! It will explode!"
"I know!" he snarled.

He stood in front of the door, staring down at the swirling darkness that was coming out from underneath. Nobody else seemed to see it.

The devil was back.

He had to be inside.

He looked around at servants who were preparing to put out the fire in his office. Ekliptik ran off to alert Nivelir about the barrier, while people nearby were already forming an emergency chain. The smoke was mixing with the darkness, irritating his throat. These people were all in danger and they didn't even know it. And he couldn't send them away either, his whole manor would burn down! Damn it all, he chased him away once, he can do it twice. He was after him, not his servants.

Hopefully.

The people were almost ready. Now or never. He checked his revolver and tightly held it in his hand, placing the other on the hot door handle of his office. "Stand back. I'm going in."
"My lord! No-!"

Too late to stop now.

The door slammed open from the rush of air into the room. The fire engulfing his cabinets and table grew all the way to the ceiling from the sudden rush of oxygen. It burned far too hot, and glowed far too little, churning out more smoke and darkness. Where was-

A hand grabbed his wrist, and another covered his mouth. He was forcefully pulled away from the door.

"Good afternoon, Nicholas," the devil cheerfully spoke in his ear. "I was just about to go look for you, and here you are. I appreciate it. Your home is quite a maze and I'd just waste my time. I do hope you didn't expect me to fall for the same trick twice-" His long claws dug into Rosamund's wrist, pain forcing him to drop the gun. The devil was as cold as ever, his painful touch freezing him on the spot even though he was standing in a burning room. He couldn't scream, he couldn't shout for the servants to run away. The men were rushing in, coughing and working hard to put out the fire.

Passing them by as if they weren't there.

"They don't see you, my love. Don't worry your pretty little head over it, they simply... forgot you are in this room. Oh, but I see it frightens you. How do you feel about dying with no one noticing, simply walking by your corpse?" He let out a frightening laugh and pulled out his claws out of his wrist. He tightly held him by the injury, blood dripping down his hand to the floor. "There. All better. I don't feel like healing you completely, Nicholas. You must understand, I do have a reputation to keep. But I am not allowed to leave a mark on you, so I must stop your bleeding. Quite a precarious position for me, considering you are freezing to death next to an open flame. Did I not warn you I might come and kill you one day?"
Rosamund tried to struggle out of his grip, but he couldn't. Elbowing the devil's stomach with his free arm left the monster unaffected, although undoubtedly entertained. He twisted his arm behind his back and pressed him against the wall. He was so close to the door- if only he could get away-

"Nicholas. Do you know what I need from you yet?"
Freedom? That was Adanita's guess, but they had no way of confirming it. They didn't even find his name yet! "N-no."
"What have you been doing since our last meeting, love? Aside from my sweet soul, I suppose. If you don't get to it, you will die, and it won't even be my fault. Get your act together, Nicholas."
"Why don't you just tell me?"

For a second, he got no answer. Then, he let out a scream when the devil dislocated his shoulder. A flash of pain came for the second time when he put it back.

"I hope that settles it. Now, onto business. Look me in the eyes, Nicholas."
Rosamund tightly closed his eyes. He didn't want to, the devil's eyes were terrifying. Sometimes he'd see them in his nightmares and wake up thinking he was near. He couldn't- he didn't want to-

"Nicholas. I am about to start killing."

Rosamund opened his eyes.

The devil smiled at him, staring him down. His red hair was glowing from the fire, while his skin looked more sickly than before.

His eyes. He couldn't look away from his eyes.

"See? That barely hurt at all. No need to kick up such a fuss every time," he said while tears were running down his face. "Now excuse me, I have a city to search. Worry not, you will live through this, my love. I just need you to sleep for a few hours."

Rosamund started coughing. His vision was growing darker. He could feel his consciousness slipping. Falling to the ground, he saw the devil smiling above him. His words echoed in his head.


"It's no fun if little Lily gets a warning beforehand, is it?"

~ ~ ~ ♠ ~ ~ ~

Lilac sipped his evening tea, relaxing on a small stone balcony with a book on his table. Ekliptik's people were very kind to provide him with a tiny, albeit clean, house to live in. Well, it was one room and a balcony, instead of the whole house, but he decided to take it in stride. It was quiet here. It was nice. His new neighbours picked exactly one fight with him before he dismantled their resolve and bodies enough for them to gain a new understanding. A friendship, so to speak. At least, those who could speak told that to Ekliptik's men. He will have to replace the bandages on his knuckles before bed...

A thud from inside caught his attention. A stack of books fell over from a shelf. It seemed he will have to reprimand whichever neighbour it was that was forced into the role of his cleaning man for today. How dare they do such a lousy job stacking his books? They will need to be properly scolded. He got up and went inside. Thankfully, nothing was damaged. These books were more valuable than half of this city, after all. They needed proper care and love.

Lilac went back outside, stretching his arms before sitting down. He realized his teacup was empty, but decided he'll get to it later. He didn't need more distractions. Tracing the lines with a finger, he continued reading. Why was this magic so difficult? Well, he supposed if it were easy, they'd have devils all over the place.

He jumped in his seat when he felt something drop on his shoulder. A strange, thick liquid stained his shirt. It was black and shimmered in the light of his candle and the moons, but it had the texture of- blood. He looked up.

It stared back at him, with eyes made out of pure darkness. Like a sky without stars, with a curtain of red hair framing its face. It held onto the ceiling of the balcony with a bright smile, its head turned in an unnatural angle. It laughed at his shock and reached for him with a long, clawed hand, its body not turning but rather shifting around as if it were made of clay.

Lilac snapped his fingers, activating the circle on the underside of his table. Even he could see light purple chains bolting out of his table and wrapping around the devil, dragging it down and pinning him tightly. Lilac barely managed to grab the book before it fell on it. It shouted and struggled and cursed at him, but it didn't help. It couldn't free itself.

He decided to give it some time to calm down and flipped through the book. There had to be a red-haired curly-horned devil in here somewhere.

"How?!" it screamed at him.
"Rose warned me you have a flair for the dramatics," he said. "Let's see... Argentum? No. Ganarie... not even close. Protium? Andromeda? Ferric?"
"Keep guessing," it snarled.
"Even I can see it is a waste of time. You are either too pathetic or too powerful to be in this book. I bet on the former," he said. "Don't struggle now, you will only tire yourself out. I already told my new neighbours that if they ever hear screaming, I will lop their heads off if they come looking. Nobody will help you."
"Help me?!"

Lilac ignored its furious yelling and went inside to leave the book. He grabbed an enchanted pen and his notebook before coming back and letting it write what he dictated.

"First infernal subject, captured alive using Daneken's circle, augmented as per page seventy-five. The devil seems to have sustained injures, the bullet hole previously mentioned still bleeds albeit slowly. The scars on its back were caused by an unknown weapon, but if there is a will, there is a way. The long lines look similar to marks left by a whip. If there is such a holy weapon, it is unknown to me. Date of origin for injuries unknown. Proceeding with the first test."

He held the devil's head in place to stop it from struggling. Its body was cold, he could feel his hand freezing while he lifted the pen. He tried to stab it in its shoulder with all his strength, but he couldn't pierce its skin whatsoever. He let it go before his hand got a frostbite. He quite liked having fingers, after all.

"The devil appears to be made out of an unknown amorphous substance. Mundane or mildly enchanted objects do not affect it," he said, letting the pen continue writing while the devil tried to bite him. He was far out of its reach. This was just the act of a rabid dog. "It sheds what Rose colloquially named 'infernal glitter', a black, or anti-light substance that showed mildly corrosive and mana-draining properties. Next test, the subject's reaction to holy water-"
"YOU CAN'T DO THIS TO ME! RELEASE ME NOW! I WILL CLAW YOUR THROAT OUT AND MAKE YOU EAT YOUR TEETH AND FINGERS! I WILL PEEL YOUR SKIN WITH LAVA AND MAKE YOU ROLL IN ASH! I WILL- AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!!!"

Lilac recoiled from its screaming, dropping the empty vial to cover his ears. What a pathetic little bitch. The amount he poured on its back was barely enough to fill a finger-full of glass. The bare skin bubbled and popped like boils from a plague, oozing black liquid everywhere. How disgusting. Its screaming made his teeth hurt, he had to close his eyes from the pain. He felt as if there was a tight band on his head, heating up and burning into his skin.

"Very effective," he continued, despite the loud ringing in his ears rendering him mostly deaf. "Perhaps it can be used to kill it later. Next test, a tool created for combat, an alchemically altered sword..." he said. He dizzily stumbled inside, reaching for the zweihander by his bed. His bed-

The devil brightly smiled at him, making itself comfortable. "Enjoying the show outside, are we?"

Lilac tightly gripped the sword and stabbed at his bed, but it was gone already. He could feel blood dripping down his head- why was he-

"You missed, Lily~" Hands grabbed his elbows from behind, pulling his arms back and forcing him to let go of the sword. "Honestly, I was simply here to say hi and see how you're doing, but after what you've tried to do~ I don't think anyone in your family is getting out of this alive."
"Let me go-"
"Oh no. No, no, no. Absolutely not." The devil held him in a tight, freezing hug. Its claws were pressed against his throat, and all he had to do was pull his hand across-

The devil let out a scream.

It let him go, falling to its knees, held down by chains made of pure gold. Lilac fell to the floor nearby, unable to stand up, and watched it violently struggle to reach for him.

"No! NO! Let me kill him!" it yelled. The rage in its eyes quickly shifted to abject horror and despair. "Let me- no! NO!" The chains tugged at it, slamming it against the wall, breaking the couch, breaking some pots, hitting its head on the ceiling, and finally dragging it out onto the balcony. It tried to hold onto the handrail, but one last pull forced it to let go.

And just like that, it was gone.

Lilac could feel his head lying in the pool of his own blood. He needed to- he needed to get up. He could hear people banging on his door. He tried to stand up, but he only managed to crawl to the balcony to see his table split in two. A familiar voice shouted for the people outside to "stand back", and a swift kick broke his room's door in half. He didn't try to fight Captain Vervain from picking up his limp body, tears and blood mixing and staining her shirt.

The circle and the chains were gone.

He made a mistake.


And there was someone out there who didn't.