Queen of the Ashes

Chapter Twenty-Five

Ethan wasn't doing any better, the worry ate of his patience. He had begun to feel reckless as he spent his days mostly pacing the living-room floor while Ankai was seated on the sofa binge-watching the demon version of Game of Thrones on a little pad. He tried to convince Ethan to join him and allow his worries to be drowned out by bloody battle screams and moans of desire, but Ethan had no concentration left for anything other than Maze. He couldn't believe she had kept him in the dark like this. She was a demon but a rare one at that matter and even worse, she was at war. And Ethan had to hear it from Ankai who was basically just tossing rumors around like it was funny. Well, it wasn't. It was actually anything but funny. It was actually so not fucking funny Ethan was practically fuming in anger.

After pacing the living room floor for the thousandth time Ankai suddenly groaned loudly.

"Would you please stop that? You're making me anxious with all that pacing"

"O-Oh I'm sorry, is my walking drowning out the a-already spent volume limit on your precious demon i-iPad?"

«Oh cry me a river, calm your tits»

«Y-you grow a pair and deal with t-the issue i-instead of drowning it out with s-stupid shows on demon HBO!»

After a while of just staring at each other, they both sighed in unison.

"I-I'm sorry..."

"Nah, you have nothing to be sorry about, I started it»

"Y-yes I do, I yelled a-at you. I-I'm sorry"

"Stop apologizing, I said it was fine"

"N-no it's not!"

"For crying out loud! Why are you so set on disagreeing with everything I say?"

"Wh-why are you s-so set on disagreeing with everything I say or do!"

They hadn't even noticed that they were both standing screaming in each other's face until Ethan's breath hit Ankai in the nose and he cringed.

"Jeez, mate! You need to brush your teeth"

"A-at least I don't have crumbles a-all over my face like a hobo...» Ethan bit his lower lip after the words had fallen from his lips. He felt bad for being so mean, but he just couldn't help it. He was worried sick, drowning in his own anxiety. And he was hungry. Hell didn't have a big set of variations when it came to food. And he was growing sick of strawberries, but it seemed to be the only thing Maze had bought him.

"W-we can't go on like th-this..." he muttered quietly.

Ankai nodded his head in agreement. He had no idea the human could even raise his voice and now they were at each other's throats like hounds.

"We need to find a way to ease the tension somehow"

Ethan huffed "Y-yeah"

****

"Th-this isn't exactly what I had in mind..." Ethan muttered, sighting as his nose began to itch again, but he couldn't scratch it due to the fact that his face was smudged in a thick layer of mud.

"Well, I'm relaxed" Ankai exhaled, sinking further into the bathtub.

"I-I didn't know they had f-face-masks in hell"

"I've already told you we copy stuff from the human world. Then again, any idiot could come up with smearing mud in your face while taking a relaxing bath" Ethan laughed a little and just nodded.

The demon really didn't lie when he said demons copied ideas from the human world. If Ethan didn't know any better, he'd say the bathing suits, bath bombs, and facemasks were stolen from a common H&M store. They just lacked the price tags and logo.

After a while of silence, Ethan sighed again. "D-do you think they're o-ok?" He asked hesitantly. He knew he had promised Ankai not to mention it in the spa-zone, but he just couldn't help it. He knew Maze couldn't die but he had a bad feeling that despite her immortality she still wouldn't return.

"I don't know. War doesn't happen too often in hell, at least not after The Seven arrived»

Ankai could tell his words weren't helping by how Ethan's breath suddenly grew shallow and so he quickly shot in a reassuring: «But Maze is powerful, besides no one dares to touch her or Queen Ivraia for that matter. Even as they don't know who Maze really is they know how dangerous she can be when she is forced into a corner and believe you me, you do not want to stand in her way when she would rather hurry back home to her precious human"

Ethan couldn't help but smile at that. He finally felt the claw of worry release its grasp around his heart ever so slightly and exhaled as he too sank down in the tub. He closed his eyes, the warm water suddenly felt good on his skin and the face-mask tightening around his skin applied enough pressure to alleviate the headache biting at his temples. He finally felt relaxed for the first time in weeks and it didn't take long for him to be lulled into a peaceful slumber.

Too bad reality always has to come crashing down on you at the worst time.

Ankai shot up in the tub, water splashing everywhere as he jumped out, starling Ethan who had just successfully managed to fall asleep.

"A-A-Ankai w-what-"

The demon hurriedly grabbed a towel, his tail flickering anxiously behind him as he dried himself and the face-mask off.

"An-Ankai!" Ethan yelled after the demon as he ran out of the room, the human stumbling after him, grabbing a towel on the way and wrapping it around his waist. The purple demon was just about to head for the door when Ethan caught up and grabbed his arm.

"A-Ankai what's going on!"

Ankai's eyes were wide and it scared Ethan beyond belief at how much worry that swirled around in his green orbs.

"They're back"

****

Poor Ethan, life just can't give him a break. I feel like a jerk for tormenting him. But someone has to take the fall of the plot.

They're back, what do you think happened? Who do you think won?

If you liked the chapter please leave a vote and a comment!:)

Have an awsome day!
-B