Devil's Love

Presence (forty-one)

"How did you die?"

"Kicked in the head by a horse."

"What's the worst thing you did while you were alive?"

"Drowned a rat."

Marcellus gave the soul a deadpanned look as he let out a sigh.

"I know everything about you. I was making sure you were honest." He stood up, heading for the door.

"Wait. What happens now?"

"That's for me to know and you to, well, experience." He shrugged, giving the soul a glance over the shoulder before walking out of the room.

"Throw it in the stream." Marcellus said as he passed by the demon that had been waiting outside the door.

The soul had the qualities to be a damn good demon but it wasn't honest. He looked for honesty the most when interviewing souls. If he couldn't trust the demon, then what was the point? He could see into the life the soul had while it was alive. He could see everything it did, feel every emotion, hear every word. And so, lying to him was probably the dumbest thing to do.

It was similar when he was in human form too. He couldn't reach into their minds per se but he could reach into their emotions and feel what they were feeling. He had a very good lie detector within him.

He walked into another room and the same process happened all over again. There were a lot of souls to interview. He had been putting it off while he was... occupied with Arwyn. Just the thought of her made him grimace.

After interviewing no less than a hundred souls, he had enough. He retreated back into the large hall, a frown evident on his face as he paced back and forth in front of the throne.

A presence on his realm alerted him back to reality. He could feel someone was here. No one came here. He stared at the large, black marble doors as they flung open and in waltzed Thahgyn, the Goddess of Tranquility.

"What have you done?" The Goddess roared as she stalked toward him.

"I don't know what you're talking about." Marcellus replied simply with a shrug.

"Ever since that mortal girl came to my realm, there's been an unruly connection between her and I. And my realm... It is reacting harshly. Lashing out, even. You've done something, haven't you? What did you do to that poor girl?"

The look of guilt was evident on his face as he looked away from the Goddess, rolling his eyes.

"I'm always the bad guy, huh?"

"You're the Devil. It's in your nature." She spat harshly, folding her arms over her chest with a frown.

Ouch.

"Thahgyn, I've never seen you so angry. Goddess of Tranquility? More like Goddess of Fury." He said, arching his brow as he copied her actions, folding his arms over his chest.

"Going to be Goddess of Murder if you don't start explaining why my realm is... Hectic. It has to be peaceful. I have all sorts of creatures attacking each other, venturing off into unknown territories. Tsunamis, cyclones and the ocean is a constant tidal wave." She walked closer to him, threatening him in a way. Her beautiful, green eyes narrowing at him. "Whatever you have done, you must fix it."

"What if I can't fix it?"

"What exactly did you do?" She asked, her voice not as threatening as before, but more or less, calming.

Marcellus sat down on the throne before a chair formed out of thin air in front of him and he gestured toward it. His wings were slouched on either side of him so he could lean back.

"You may want to get comfortable. It's a long story."

He started from the beginning. From meeting Arwyn for the first time at the tavern, to going to the palace, on the adventure to Thahgyn's realm, to helping her get her memories back, everything.

A snort came from the Goddess as she listened to the last part.

"In love? The Devil is in love?" She let out a howling laughter, one arm around her stomach, the other holding onto the chair. "Never in my life..." Thahgyn wiped the tears from her eyes as she leaned back, trying to recover from the laughing fit. Her face turned serious, however, as she looked back toward the God.