~Author's note~ Here, as promised is this Wednesday's update for all you cool cats that take the time to read the things that fall out of my head and land on a keyboard. And as cool cats I feel it my duty to tell you that we may have a bit of a problem with next Wednesday. Possibly even two bits of a problem, first being that I will be going camping. Yes, in a tent, with no electricity and therefore.....*tears in eyes*..... no wifi.
(ノಠ益ಠ)ノ彡┻━┻
Second is the fact that the way I write this story is about as organised as pigeons in a business meeting. I publish one chapter on a Wednesday, I start writing the next. And as it stands I am well and truly stuck.
But do not worry wonderful reader. Where there is a will, there is a way. And I'll be damned if I let my updates slip over writer's block and the eternally raining hell that is camping in dear old England...
*weeps quietly in a corner...we're all doomed....*
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"Are you mad?"
"Chill out Azeolar." I said to the small demon who was lying back in the middle of my bed, his little hand-paws thrown up in the air in frustration.
"It's gonna be fine."
"It most definitely is not going to be fine." He replied, rolling onto his front and pacing around the bed, leaving small dents in the covers with each step. "Do you have any idea how dangerous an angry Angel is?"
"I mean I've met two..."
"Two low ranking Angels who were in comparison, only mildly pissed. You have absolutely no idea what is coming for you, you should be running, like, right now. Not doing your god damn hair!"
The battle was just a little over a day away. It had been three weeks since I had appeared out of the table and since then it had been constant madness. I had been training all day, every day. And in this first moment to myself I just wanted to brush my hair and pretend that I wasn't about to go and get murdered by a hoard of angry Angels. Azeolar was not prepared to be so calm and had been pacing around my bed for the last fifty minutes, periodically reminding me that I was going to die.
"Allie can handle herself, right Allie?"
I spun away from the little demon doing perimeter walks on my bed to find Asmodeus standing in the doorway. He did not look happy.
"Uhmm..."
"She knows exactly what she is doing." His tone was accusatory and his ruby eyes smouldered with anger.
"Asmodeus look, I- I meant to tell you but I was actually kind of abducted."
"Oh, I know. You always have been extremely good at getting into trouble."
"Ok before you start getting all mad at me, I'm a grown ass woman. I can do whatever or whoever I want, you don't own me just cause we slept together." I turned my attention back to my reflection, trying to hide from his penetrating gaze. Admittedly I did feel a bit bad, but at the same time I doubted he would think twice before fucking someone else.
Quicker than I could blink I felt him come up behind me, placing one hand on my waist and another over my heart he pulled me strongly against him.
"Own you?" He questioned, his voice was low and smooth as silk. "I may not own you, but I could make you wish I did." He brought his lips down to my neck and kissed me gently. My insides melted and flames burst into my scarlet eye. My breath hitched in my throat and Asmodeus smiled against my skin.
As quickly as he was there he was gone, and I was left standing with only my reflection for company. Asmodeus leant casually against the bedpost, his white shirt was open slightly at the collar and his soft black hair fell unchecked over his forehead. Again I felt that familiar urge to push it back, but resisted as he watched me curiously, a slight smile dancing on his lips. He sighed quietly and closed his eyes before smoothly running a hand through it to push it back in line.
"I was so worried. When I heard they had taken you from the Palace I thought they had killed you already."
"Soooo... you're not mad at me?" I questioned.
"I am trying to be, but every time I look at your face I can feel nothing but relief. My brother however is another matter entirely."
I laughed lightly and walked over to where he stood, sitting on the bed beside him.
"Don't fight over it." I said calmly, what was done was done, and I'd had enough fighting in the last three weeks to last me a lifetime.
"Even if I wanted to it has been forbidden. There are much more important things to fight for right now." He spoke softly, looking down at me from where he stood.
"I wish we didn't have to." I sighed and lay back in the plush bedding, petting Azeolar lightly where he had curled up into a ball to watch us silently. He leant into my touch and laid his head down with a satisfied yawn.
"I know." Asmodeus said, watching me intently. "If they hurt you I will make every last one of them suffer a pain worse than death."
"Drama queen." I said sleepily, suddenly having a nap seemed like the best idea in the world. He smiled and drew a soft blanket up to my neck.
"Sleep well Allie."
My eyes fluttered shut and I greeted the darkness like an old friend.
A gentle knock sounded at the door.
"Did it work?" a familiar voice spoke as Leviathan walked into the room, followed closely by Belphegor.
"Yes." He replied.
"Father might actually kill us for this." Belphegor's soft voice drifted across the room and I shifted slightly.
All eyes instantly fell on me.
"We can't risk it." Leviathan spoke again as he walked over and gently wrapped the blanket around me before picking me up. "She has to be safe."
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I woke suddenly.
"Not agaiiin...." I groaned as I brought my hand to my face in the dark. I sat up.
How many fucking times am I gonna get knocked out because I am getting seriously sick of it.
Even I didn't see this one coming. Azeolar was back in my head again and was just as confused and annoyed as I was.
"Those fucking demons I swear to god I am going to kill them. As soon as I can figure out where the hell I am..."
Azeolar materialized suddenly on my right shoulder and hopped down, sinking with a dull thud into a ridiculously squishy velvet cushion. The smell of dust and jasmine flowers curled up from the fabric and wrapped its comfortingly familiar scent around my head.
"I'm starting to think this was Belphegor's idea." I mused irritably as my every attempt at movement was thwarted by a million cushions and blankets that folded and squashed under me like wet clay. Finally righting myself I scanned my surroundings.
"Damn demons." I muttered as I spied a candle on a mantel piece. The room I was in was medium in size. The walls were painted a dark green and it was filled with intricately carved antique mahogany furniture. Gold framed paintings of unfamiliar faces hung from the walls and a large gilded mirror stared back at me as I walked toward the candle.
"They forgot matches." I declared irritably as I reached it.
"Just pick it up..." Azeolar sighed as he too rolled off the ginormous bed and trotted up to the mantel piece.
I did as I was told and instantly upon touching it a flame burst into life, it flickered and popped for a moment before settling into a steady glow that gently illuminated the whole room. By its light I could see other candles held in delicately crafted candelabras and walked round them, systematically lighting each one.
After doing so I returned to the bed, sinking down slowly into the excessive bedding like a spoon through cake mix.
"If they expect me to just sit here they must be a lot more stupid than I thought." I muttered, already frustrated. "I'm not a freakin' baby, why are they locking me up like I'm gonna break if I fall over? I'm supposed to be kicking ass...or at least trying not to get my ass kicked."
"I feel like you'd be doing a lot more of the second option. I have to say I'm not exactly unhappy with their decision. Seems like those stupid fancy-pants demons finally caught some common sense." Azeolar said, stretching out luxuriously on a rather large purple velvet cushion.
"Don't you fucking start. We're getting out of here whether you like it or not."
"Thought you might say that," He yawned. "The place most people would start is the door."
"Right." I nodded, looking around the forest green room again. "Wait..." I looked back to the demon that seemed to grin slyly at me from under his mask. "Azeolar I swear if you have anything to do with this I will kill you, I don't care how long we've known each other."
"What on earth would I want with a door?" Azeolar replied candidly, rolling onto his back and stretching out his limbs in the air.
I stared exasperatedly from him to the wall and back again. There was no door. Not one. Or a window. There was not a single fucking way in or out of the room. The bastards had stuck me in a box. And somebody was going to pay for it.
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"AGHHH!" I yelled as I punched the wall for what must have been the eightieth time in a row.
"Not that I'm an expert or anything but that doesn't actually look like it's working." Azeolar commented unhelpfully from where he had been lying since I decided it would be a good idea to try to punch my way out.
"Well, Azeolar." I turned, my breathing heavy. "MAYBE IT WOULD WORK A LITTLE BETTER IF YOU WOULD FUCKING HELP INSTEAD OF JUST LYING THERE."
"You kiss your mother with that mouth?"
I glared at him, boiling with rage.
"Right right, jeez hold on a second." He finally stood up on his hind legs, and with a flourish began to quickly rub his paws together like he was trying to warm them from the cold. Ever so slowly a faint glow grew from between them, getting brighter and brighter until it shone like a thousand watt bulb. The light began to push his paws apart and still he kept going, his hands now a blur of motion. My eyes widened slightly as he shifted, and in a split second I managed to move out of the way as he suddenly catapulted the seething ball of light into the wall. For a moment there was silence. And then an ear-splitting boom shook the air and sent me flying backwards into the opposite wall, followed instantly by a shower of rocks that clicked and scattered across the room after me.
I coughed as the dust settled thick in my lungs and scrabbled around in the darkness to find a candle to light after the explosion blew them all out.
What the fuck Azeolar. Was all I managed to think into the gloom as I finally found one and lit it.
"Oh I'm sorry, was that not helpful enough?" a sarcastic voice drifted back through the dust cloud that still hadn't settled.
"Ummm..." I said, stifling another cough "I don't know if that was even helpful at all."
"Ungrateful as always." I heard him huff. As visibility started to improve I looked back to where he had attacked the wall and yelled in disbelief. Before my eyes the massive crater that Azeolar had blown out of the wall began to reform itself, chunk by chunk. All the little bits of rock scrambled back across the floor and bedding before slotting themselves neatly back into place like an enormous 3D puzzle.
"You have got to be kidding..." I groaned.
"Oh wow would you look at that." Azeolar said as though this outcome had been inevitable from the start. "It's almost like they expected you to try to escape. Wonder why they would think that."
I was beyond words.
I had tried everything, just as they had thought of everything. No windows, no doors. The rock was completely dead to me, cursed with some weird demon magic to not respond. Nothing Azeolar could do would break it, and I didn't have nearly enough physical strength to even put a dent in the room. And then, to top it all off, it was fucking self-repairing.
Short of tearing the place in half I couldn't think of a single thing to do, and my urge to kill was steadily rising.