Flames of Blue and Green

Chapter 1: Turned Around and Upside-Down

I don't know how I got here, but suddenly I'm standing in a large, elegant-looking hallway. I look around in confusion, wondering where I am and exactly how I got here. My thoughts are disrupted when a man with snow-white hair rounds the corner and spots me.

"Who the Hell are you?" he barks at me.

I narrow my eyes at his rudeness and lash out a smart-ass reply, "I could ask you the same Snowy."

"Snowy? Do you know who I am?!" he shouts.

"If I did I wouldn't be asking, now would I?"

"I don't know! You could just be stupid!"

"YOU WANNA SAY THAT AGAIN SNOWY?!"

"WHAT'RE YOU GONNA DO ABOUT IT IF I DO?!"

We're basically nose to nose now, faces red with anger and him surrounded by blue flames. I can almost feel the electricity crackling through the air between us. Just as I'm about to yell another insult, a boy that looks about a year or two older than me walks in. He has green hair that's up in one big spike at the top of his head.

"What's going on in here?" he asks with a look of boredom. His eyes then spot me and his face turns into one of confusion. "Who's she?"

"I DON'T FUCKING KNOW! I JUST WANT HER OUT OF HERE!"

"AND YOU THINK I WANNA BE HERE, SNOWY?!" I yell with a glare. "I DON'T EVEN KNOW HOW I GOT HERE!"

A man rounds the corner as I finish my outburst, a very annoyed look on his face. He has odd purple hair and is dressed in a white getup.

"What in the world is going on in here?" he asks irritably, looking at Snowy.

"THE HELL IF I KNOW! THIS GIRL JUST APPEARS IN MY CASTLE AND STARTS BAD MOUTHING ME!"

"You started it," I grumble, earning a glare that could kill.

Purple-haired guy raises an eyebrow at me, "You bad mouthed Satan?"

My eyes widen at his question. "You're telling me this asshole is Satan?"

"HELL YEAH I AM! NOW GET THE HELL OUT OF HERE BEFORE I SLAUGHTER YOU!" yells Sn-I mean Satan.

My anger begins to rise again and I yell back, "SHUT THE HELL UP ALREADY! I DON'T CARE WHO THE HELL YOU ARE! YOU HAVE NO RIGHT TO SPEAK LIKE THAT TO ME YOU JACKASS!" I can see him visibly beginning to shrink away from me. "AND HOW THE HELL AM I SUPPOSED TO 'GET THE HELL OUT' WHEN I DON'T EVEN KNOW WHERE THE FUCK I AM?!"

By now I've basically pushed him up against a wall and he's staring at me with wide eyes. His flames have receded and he looks genuinely frightened. I back away from him and smirk, crossing my arms in victory. How's that for ya? I just scared Satan. Suddenly he just starts smiling in amusement. I cock my head in question and he starts to shake with laughter.

"Nobody's ever stood up to me like that before! I like you, kid!" he says between fits of laughter. "What's your name?"

I smile slightly and say, "Brie. Brie Tenors."

"Well then, Brie, I'll have my two idiot sons over there take care of you. They'll help you figure out what happened to you. Goodbye," he says with a small salute while walking away. I watch him until he rounds a corner and is out of my sight.

"He's a strange one," I say to myself. I then look to the two others in the room in question. They both still have wide eyes and looks of surprise on their faces, which makes me giggle a bit. My laughter seems to bring them back to reality and they wipe the looks of surprise off.

The one with purple hair smirks at me and says, "Hello Ms. Brie, I'm Mephisto Pheles. It's quite the pleasure to meet you."

"And I'm Amaimon," says the green-haired boy as he pulls a lollipop out of his pocket and sticks it in his mouth.

I look at Amaimon with longing before I speak up, "Hello, nice to meet you too." I glance at Amaimon again. "Um, can I, uh, have one of those?"

He looks at me for a moment in thought, and then reaches into his pocket for a lollipop, tossing it to me. I catch it with ease and quickly tear off the wrapping, popping it into my mouth. Mmm, watermelon. My favorite. I suck on the treat happily while Mephisto begins to talk.

"Anyway, Ms. Brie, do you remember how you got here?" he asks.

I think hard for a minute and say, "I was walking down the street, and then it got dark. But not like night dark, just pitch black unnatural dark. And so I was walking through the dark...and..." I try to think harder but get a sharp pain in my head. "That's all I can remember."

Mephisto looks at me in a calculating way before saying, "Well, you're definitely human. I'll have to do some research to figure this out." He places his head in his hands. "Great, more work for me."

Amaimon, I notice, is staring at me with a look of curiosity. He then looks to Mephisto and says, "Will you have to go back to the academy?"

Mephisto nods, "Yes, I can't leave it on its own or else it will fall into chaos." He smirks before continuing. "That might not be too bad though."

"What about her?" asks Amaimon, gesturing to me.

"Well, she can either stay here or come to the academy. Either way you'll have to stay by her side to keep an eye on her." He then turns to me. "It's your choice Ms. Brie. Stay here, or go back to Assiah."

I think for a moment and say, "I think I'd like to go back, not that it wouldn't be fun to stay here and pester Satan."

Mephisto smiles in amusement and nods, "It's decided then. Let's go."

He leads us out of the castle and to a large gate outside of what I now know is a city. Once at the gate, Mephisto speaks to the guards at the door and they open it. Mephisto looks over his shoulder at us and then walks through the gate.

Amaimon looks at me and gestures to the gate, "You next."

I look at the gate in fear and then back at him. "Are you sure it's safe?" I ask.

He rolls his eyes and then pushes me into the gate, following behind. I fall through with a yelp and mutter a quick 'fuck' under my breath.