*Y/N's POV*
"Ah, here we are, come in, come in, I'll pay for it all," Donovan holds the door open for me, and I step inside the small cafe that actually appears a respectable place, especially since we're in Hell.
The walls are painted a tan color with white trimming and black and white paintings of flowers hanging on the walls.
Donovan leads me to a table for two besides a small garden of flowers outside the window.
He pulls my chair out for me, pushing it in as I sit down, like a gentleman.
When he sits in front of me, he exhales a breath, hands tucked under his chin, eyes locked on me as he smiles. "So, how has your day been?"
"What do you know about Alastor?" I ask, changing the topic on purpose.
I didn't come here to chat mindlessly about how our days have been...I only accepted Donovan's offer because I need to see if he does know what's wrong with Alastor...
And if...I possibly can fix it.
Donovan sits up a little straighter, fixing his black bowtie. "Straight to the point, aren't we?"
"Just answer my question," I place my hands on the table, "tell me what you know."
"Very well," Donovan exhales, clasping his hands on the silver colored table we sit at. "Alastor has a reputation to hold, since he is the Radio Demon, as others like to call him. It's hard being an overlord, because even though Alastor is strong, there are overlords above him who could easily squash him like a bug."
Donovan presses his thumb down on the table, hard, rough, as if he's imagining a bug beneath his finger.
I gulp a little. "And?"
"And..." Donovan continues, "it must be challenging, not only protecting his position as overlord, but...trying to please his lover at the same time. I can't imagine how exhausting it must be. He seems like a protective man, does he not?"
I begin to feel a weight press down on my chest, my fingers curling into fists at my sides.
I bite my lip. "Yeah...he's protective."
"The answer could be simple, honestly. Or it could be a hundred reasons, one perhaps that he isn't as interested in you as you thought he was," Donovan raises a leg, crossing it over his other leg as he brings his fingers together, tilting his head.
I glare at him, feeling a rage burn inside of me.
No, Alastor would never feel that towards me. He loves me...I know he loves me.
"What could the other reasons be?" I ask through gritted teeth, getting tired of his round about answers that leave me with even more questions.
Donovan exhales, picking up a napkin. "There's been rumor, about this certain...force, that grows inside an overlord. Kind of like a disease. It takes centuries for it to fully conquer them, but initially, it can change there mindsets, there perspectives on others, drive them insane, before one day,"
The napkin in Donovan's hand begins to burn in black flames, before its ashes fall on the table like sprinkled sugar.
"It consumes them to the point where there existence is forever wiped off Hell's slate."
My eyes widen.
Could...that be what's happening to Alastor?
"They call it, 'an overlord's demise', it takes centuries for it to take place and its rare. But...there are no accounts of its victims being saved."
"Is that what's happening to Alastor?" I whisper, feeling my hands shake as I grip my kneecaps, my mouth going dry, and my heart pounding hard against my chest.
Donovan purses his lips. "Alastor is young still, he's merely been here since the 1930s. And...what is it now? 2024?"
I nod.
"Then, no, I do not think so," Donovan brings to fingers to his chin, glancing off to the side of the cafe, outside the window, a smirk on his face.
"I believe that Alastor is at war with himself."
"What do you mean?" I ask, before his grey and silver highlighted eyes lock on me with such intensity I lean back a little.
"He doesn't know whether to keep his reputation in check, which he has done for centuries, and the only thing he has ever cared about is his reputation. Or..." he leans in, whispering, "let his reputation be ruined...by marrying you."
"Are you saying that I'm the problem?" I ask, "you're being stupid. Alastor loves me."
"Of course. But does he love you like you deserved to be loved?" Donovan asks, "or will his first love always come before you?"
His first love...his power, his rank.
I rise from the chair. "I'm done here," I turn to leave, "I don't need to listen to your nonsense any longer."
He chuckles, raising his cup to his lips, "my nonsense, dearie, could be the truth you're looking for."
I walk to the door, my hand on its knob, twisting it.
But before I walk out, I hear Donovan speak behind me, something that makes me stop.
"Why stay with someone who won't give his heart fully to you?"
I stand there, my hand squeezing the doorknob so tight that my knuckles turn white.
Images of Alastor flash in my mind, one after the other.
Of Alastor's smile, his charm.
I see him singing and dancing for me when whenever I'm sad or upset. I see him intertwining our hands together before he tells me how he feels...
...I see him lifting me when I'm at my worst, shaping me into a strong, unbreakable woman.
I grip the doorknob, turning towards Donovan.
"Because the love I feel for him has waited centuries for his return. If it has overcome death, it can overcome this, too."
I shut the cafe door behind me.
★★★
*Twenty Minutes Earlier*
*Alastor's POV*
Such an annoying pest...luckily though, it didn't take too long for me to 'handle' Vox.
I didn't kill him, no, though I would absolutely adore too. I...didn't have the power today to kill him.
My powers have been draining at a rapid rate lately, so I've been trying to conserve as much as I can.
Vox was an inconvenience, though I shouldn't be surprised.
He always is.
Thankfully, I managed to have him crawling back to his lair of cables, cords, and wires in less then twenty minutes.
I have time to do what I wanted to today.
I feel a bit...embarrassed as to how I reacted last night, knowing that all Y/N was doing was trying to make me feel better.
So tonight, when she returns home, I'll make sure that I'll show her how grateful I am that someone like her is in my life.
She may not be able to help fix the problems I have at hand, but, her being there is enough to keep me strong.
I leave the florist shop, holding a bouquet of roses. Roses of her favorite color, to be precise.
I even managed to find some lovely scented candles for her, and I bought her a box of chocolate covered strawberries.
Yes, I know that these gifts do not make up for all the tension between us, but I tend to fix that with my words, and by showing her however way I can.
These gifts are just a piece of my plan to make her feel like she's still loved.
I walk down the streets of Hell, humming under my breath softly, planning exactly how I'm going to set this up, before I pass by a cafe window, which has me stopping dead in my tracks, turning my head in such a way that its unnatural.
Inside the small, quiet, cafe, is the man I've been discussing deals with.
Donovan.
Usually, I wouldn't have spared him a second glance, but in this situation...
A very familiar person has joined him at his table.
Y/N.
She sits across from him, hands clasped on her lap as she speaks words I cannot hear.
And he...he sits up, leans closer to her, smile on his face.
I clench a fist at my side, the loud crackling and static of a radio making anyone around me run away in fear.
Donovan glances out the window suddenly, and stares into my eyes.
Not in fear...but in pride.
He smirks, before turning his attention back to Y/N, who is clueless to me. Her eyes only on him.
Is this what's happening now? Is Donovan going to play hero and sweep my fiance off her feet?
Not while I'm here...
I turn away from the window, storming for home, a dark cloud of rage hovering over my head.
Tonight, when Y/N returns...
We're going to have a little...chat.
And then, no matter what it takes, I will make sure that Donovan is dead...for good.
Because no one...takes what's mine, and not face the consequences.