It took me a couple of days, or at least what I assumed were days, to get used to the air constantly suffocating me down here. The thing about being a demon in Hell was that it didn't change how you breathed. Sure, I might've been dead, but I knew I could die once more. I haven't asked where you go when you die as a demon. I'm too afraid to. It seemed like a dark topic to discuss with someone who's only known you for two days. Hazu was already iffy to talk about when certain things came up and I really liked Hazu, so I didn't want to mess anything up between us. Everything felt peaceful between us.
Speaking of Hazu, I had an instant desire and fondness for him. The moment our eyes first locked, it felt like I'd known him for thousands upon thousands of years. I'm not saying I was in love quite yet, but something about him pulled me in hard. If there was such a thing as a love demon it would be Hazu. Everyone around him seemed attracted to his aura and the way he spoke. I knew that was the case for me.
Also, in the last two days, I'd met Juno, Exodus' best friend. They were really close. Juno was courteous but hushed. She had long, silver hair in a braid down her back, a black, old west style dress, and a brown wide-brim hat with black transparent silk hanging over her face. The silk made it so that no one could make out her facial features. At the time I met Juno, she had explained to me that only Exodus had ever seen her face. That's how I know Ex and Juno are genuinely best friends. I'd like to be that way with Hazu one day. Maybe even more.
"Meer," Hazu called out from across the yard, smirking at me. "Your head's in the clouds."
I chuckled softly, tapping the tip of my sandal on the hard ground gently. "There are no clouds down here." Hazu had his hair in a ponytail with some of his bangs hanging over his right eye. He was giving me a slight handicap for our upcoming spar, but we both knew that was unnecessary.
Hazu snorted quietly, grinning. "That's fair." He adjusted his body into a fighting stance. "I want you to pull your sword out this time. I'm thinking it'll help you figure out how to summon your demon form."
"I don't want to hurt you on accident." I bit my lip, gripping the hilt of my sword.
"But your body's itching for it, I can see it every time my face starts to change to its demon form."
I quickly shook my head, blinking up at him. "That's not why I reach for my sword."
Without warning, Hazu charged me in his full demonic state, growling at me. At first, all I felt was unreadiness, like I should've seen it coming but missed it completely. Then an overwhelming calm breezed across my body. I took a deep breath, closed my eyes, and listened. I listened to Hazu's arms slice through the air, attempting to snake around my shoulders in an iron grip. I listened to everything occurring around me before letting my mind take over. My feet kicked off the ground, front-flipping me elegantly through the air, right over his head.
A sharp gasp left Hazu's mouth. He whipped his body around, facing me as I practically glided to my feet behind him and whipped my sword out of its scabbard. When I slowly opened my eyes, Hazu was gazing into them in awe. He seemed frozen in time, lost in thought.
"Zu?" I leaned forward, reaching my hand out slightly. "Are you alri-"
Hazu charged again, completely formed out of darkness and smoke. His left hand swung at my face with his claws out. I dodged backward twice. Hazu followed twice, swinging strategically through the air. He was going for the hand that was holding my sword while taunting me. Eventually, he knicked my cheek with one of his claws but didn't let up, chasing me down whenever I dove or lunged out of his way. My lungs were suffocating again. My limbs were getting tired. This had gone on for about fifteen minutes now, and I was beginning to feel engulfed in Hazu's attacks.
So I swung my sword straight through his arm.
Hazu recoiled, his demonic form falling away from his body as he descended to the ground in a heap. I rushed to his side and dropped to my knees, gently wrapping my arms around him. "Hazu! Hazu, I'm so sorry. I got overwhelmed and swung." My hands found their way to his shoulders, sitting him up. "Are you okay?!"
Hazu's hand flashed up to my cheek, cupping it gently and running his thumb across the cut he gave me. That was the hand I should've completely cut off. There wasn't even blood running down his arm.
"I didn't mean to scratch you," Hazu whispered, lowering his head ever-so-slightly. My brain froze in place. I'd tried to cut his arm off, and he was worried about a tiny slit on my cheek? "I was just trying to push you a little hard and I went overboard. I'm so sorry, Meer." He bit his lip harshly.
As taken aback as I was by Hazu's concern for my well-being, I shook my head to refuse his apology. "This kind of stuff will probably happen when we're sparring. I know that, well, maybe I don't know..."
"What?"
"You've never taught someone before me, right?"
Hazu sighed softly, laying down next to me after pulling away. "I've never wanted to train someone to fight before you." I found myself laying next to him, turning my body to face his. Whenever Hazu spoke I could listen for hours. A little smirk dashed across his lips. "I guess that makes you one of a kind." He peeked at me out of the corner of his eye. "Let's go take a look at the rings."
"Really?" I shot up from the grass, balling my fists in excitement with a wide grin on my face. I hadn't been anywhere since first getting to Ex's house after I fell. She was kind enough to give me a room in her home considering I had nowhere else to go. Soon after I was given my room, Hazu informed me that he was the one right across the hall. It made the nightmares from the first night go away knowing he was so close.
"Yeah." Hazu rose slowly, a soft smile gracing his lips. "You should see the rest of Hell. You are a demon after all."
And so we made our way downtown. It was nice to see it again, but I was much less disoriented now. Hazu showed me the town hall, and all of the apartment buildings, and even pointed out Lucy's mansion from afar. 'If God's a woman, the Devil is too.', he had said with a smile while showing me the mansion.
When we reached Ring A, I got lost in its beauty. It was the gigantic, stone Colosseum from Greece. "It's the same one that fell hundreds of years ago. Everything that goes falls to ruin and has been tainted by sin shows up in Hell eventually." Hazu explained, guiding me through the yellow stone walls. The inside wasn't like it had been all those years ago though. The center was completely flattened, but the seats, hallways, and arches surrounding it remained the same.
"Do people watch these fights, Hazu?" I glanced up at him to ask, quickly turning my head back to the environment around me.
"Well, yeah. We're demons. We like to watch chaos and war no matter how kind some of us can be. It's in our blood to enjoy a good fighting match."
After strolling about the Colosseum for a while, Hazu and I headed toward Ring B. He explained that both Ring A and B were owned by Exodus and that she had won them in her own matches a few millennia ago. He also told me about Exodus being the best ring fighter in existence until her retirement. Apparently, she was still extremely respected throughout the fighting community.
Finally, we made it to Ring B. Hazu took me a little ways past it before stopping at a rundown light pole. "Isn't the ring back there?" I tossed my thumb over my shoulder.
"I wanted to take you here first so you know when to stop walking."
"What do you mean?"
Hazu glared down the road ahead of us, and I followed his line of sight. Now that I was paying more attention, I noticed that after this light the town began to look much more decayed. "Past this pole is Shiru's domain." He turned to look over his shoulder and then back down the road in front of us. "Wait here a minute. I wanna see if I can't get us inside of Ring C and D."
I grabbed Hazu's arm as he took a step forward, halting him. "Aren't we supposed to not go over there?"
Hazu chuckled, lightly rapping his knuckles against me so I let him go. "I will be fine. You don't know anyone, and they don't know. Worst that happens to me is I get kicked out. Worst that happens to you is they beat the shit out of you because they don't know you're with Exodus." He ruffled my hair, strolling past the light pole with his arms out wide. "They're scared of her. They don't know you. But they will." With a wink, Hazu disappeared into the shadows.
"I guess I'll look around for a little bit then," I spoke to myself, spinning on my heel and beginning to stroll back toward Ring B. A hand abruptly snatched the collar of my robe and pulled me across the sidewalk past the rundown light pole.
"Well, well, well, who the hell are you?" The person slammed me into the building on my left, gripping my hair and smashing my head against the wall. They weren't trying to knock me out, but they were trying to make me bleed.
I winced, squinting my eyes open. "Who are you?"
The man, as I swiftly found out, snickered at my question. "Bael." Bael. I slid my hands behind my back and pushed myself off the wall, using both feet to kick him back a few inches. That's one of the demons Hazu told me to stay away from. I dropped to a crouched position, wiping the corner of my mouth and breathing heavily. Bael assumed the same position in the middle of the road, glowering at me before changing his tune with an evil grin. "I asked who you were." He stood up straight, fixing the dark red suit wore.
I narrowed my eyes in suspicion. "A friend of Hazu's."
"Hazu?" Bael laughed loudly as if he were looking down at an ant. "Oh, I'm thrilled! We're great friends, he and I." He sauntered a few feet closer to me, extending his arm for a handshake. "We should start over, so we can surprise him."
"Surprise him with what?" I raised an eyebrow, not moving. Under no circumstances was I going to trust this man.
Bael laughed again but quieter this time. He was trying to show me that I could be friends with him. Right after he smacked my head against a brick. "Our newfound friendship, of course." I grinned, but I saw the malevolence behind his act.
I shook my head slowly, furrowing my brows and standing up straighter. "I don't think-"
Bael stepped closer still, edging me on. "Come on, I'm sure Hazu wouldn't mind."
"Actually, I would mind, Bael," Hazu growled, appearing from the shadows behind me. His body slid around mine to stand in front and just barely to the left of me, holding his arm out.
My eyes popped out of their skull at the sight of him. How did he get here so quickly? And how did he know I'd be dealing with one of Shiru's demons? "H-Hazu..." I stammered, unable to get a full sentence out.
Hazu glanced back at me, shaking his head. "Wrong side of town, Meer. We need to leave. Right. Now."
"Our friendly conversation wasn't a problem with you, right Meer?" Bael scoffed, stopping Hazu and me from walking away.
Without warning, Hazu whipped his head around to glare at Bael. He took a few threatening steps forward. "Nothing about your actions or anything you say is friendly. Stay the fuck away from Meer." He jabbed his finger into Bael's chest, pushing him back a step.
Instead of being intimidated like I would've been, Bael just grinned at Hazu's behavior. It was like he enjoyed how much this bothered Hazu. "I see what this is." He pointed a finger back and forth between us. "Hazu's found his latest plaything; a brand new, ultra-powerful demon who doesn't know any better. How fitting." He sneered, watching Hazu become angrier with every word he spoke until his fingernails dug into his palms. "Poor, poor, innocent Meer." Bael made his way around Hazu, sighing with sarcasm. "You have no idea how used you really are."
A low growl rose from Hazu's throat before the scars on his face started to split open and reveal dark shadows and smoke. His canines grew in size, eyes glowing. "You know nothing, Bael."
I rapped my knuckles together with anxiety, waiting to see if Bael backed off or started to enjoy himself more. He chose the former and tossed his hands in the air with a step back. "I'll leave, I'll leave. Meer's been warned more than enough." Hazu reached out to grip Bael's neck, but Bael vanished before our eyes.
Hazu scoffed, returning to his natural state and smirking. "Coward."