Chapter 2:

Emi blinked hard, waking from a daze, confused as to where she is. Everything felt cloudy and heavy. She glanced around and noticed something dark around her. First, she noticed her the debris scattered around. She scowled thinking of the hazards Alus=Ramus would have to deal with if she came over. She tried to adjust her shoulders but there was too much weight. She looked over her shoulder and noticed the wings. Her eyes widened, her mind went blank as her breathing picked up speed. Then the panic set in.

Maou woke from his daze, looking around and noticed Emi. He stumbled over pieces of his apartment wall and kneeled beside her, patting her shoulder to calm her down.

"Emi, are you okay?" He asked, concerned. His large body, even while kneeling, towering over her. His touch was gentle yet firm.

"...Where am I? What happened? Why are you in that stupid form?" She stumbled saying, confused and trying to blink the fog away. Her default sass defense kicked in hard.

"What do you remember last?" He asked, stoned face. She frowned, brows creasing and staring intently into the ground, eye's skirting over to the hand on her shoulder.

"The coffee shop… I was drinking my usual when I noticed it tasted off… That's it." She looked around, still seemingly in a fog. "What happened?" She asked quietly. Maou's faced remained stoned.

"You said your drink tasted off. Off, how?" He asked calmly, ignoring her question and pressing on. Emi concentrated, brows furrowing.

"I was drinking my ice coffee. It felt thicker and sweeter than usual. At first, I thought they switched up the syrup - but as it started to go down, my throat started to numb, and my hands felt like ice…" Emi trailed off, struggling to remember.

"What else, Emi? I need you to try and remember." He responded with a quiet yet irritated voice, moving his hand gently to her base where her neck met her shoulder.

"I am trying!" She snapped back, shrugging his hand off and swatting his arm away. She closed her eyes to concentrate again. "A little kid. A space boy? I'm not sure if it was a boy or a girl. I just remember panicking and seeing this space kid before my vision went red." She responded tiredly. She rubbed the bridge of her nose, frustrated.

"And you remember nothing past that point or how you are in this position?" He asked with a strained voice. His floating hand clenching and unclenching.

"Nothing." She responded, more confused than ever. Though Maou's face remained stoic, his eyes seemed sad before turning away from Emi and looking across the yard at Lucifer.

"Urushihara, you okay man?" Maou called out, voice monotoned.

"Now you ask if I'm okay! Thanks a lot, dude!" Lucifer yelled back.

"I'm sorry, I don't remember you being there. So mind my surprise to see I had an unwanted guest in the room…" Maou said, shooting a menacing look over his shoulder at Lucifer with death in his voice.

"Ah...ha….ha… about that…" Lucifer tried to justify, realizing he was just caught as a peeping tom. "I... I LIVE HERE TOO!" Lucifer yelled to no one.

"What's wrong with my hair?!" Emi shrieked out, noticing her oddly coloured locks as it fell over her shoulders. "Why is it silver? I'm not using holy magic right now- What the hell?! Why is it purple too!?" She yelled out, louder - pulling more hair down to see that though her ends were silver, her roots to her shoulder was the same purple as Lucifers. As Emi turned her head to see more of her hair, she noticed where all the weight on her back was coming from and let out a panicked scream.

"Emi! Calm down!" Maou yelled over her scream, trying to hide his panic in retaliation to hers. He placed his hands on both sides of her face, forcing her to look at him. Her eyes were darting rampant like a wild horse. He stroked her cheeks in an attempt to calm her down, gently so his claws wouldn't harm her.

"There are wings on my back, Maou! Angel wings! And it's like my hair, purple and white!"

"Shhhh…" He said, attempting to calm her, his features softening.

"What's happening, Maou? What's happening to me?" Emi continued, her voice volume rising drastically fast, tears forming as she spiraled emotionally out of control. Maou pulled her in, pushing her face in his hard chest and holding her there as he continued to hush her and soothe her.

"It's going to be okay, we'll figure it out, don't worry about it right now…" He mumbled to her, rubbing gentle circles on her back with one hand and holding her firm around the waist with the other.

"Maou…?" She mumbled in his chest, confused and lifting her head to try and see his face - but his large form did not allow it. "What happened…?" She felt his body heat up in response, and she flinched expecting anger. His looked to the sky to hide his sad and lonely expression that was obviously on his face, while his body was rigidly awkward, warm from embarrassment.

"I can tell you what happened!" Yelled Lucifer from across the yard, not even trying to hide the smile or the glee in his voice. "Better yet, I can show you! You see, I happened to be taking a video of a new discovery in my research when-" A dark power that felt like life draining his body swept across his body, and he silenced himself for his own safety. A moment later he sighed when the dark stare turned away, distracted by Emi - who groaned in pain and slumped over in Maou's arms.

"Emi?! What's wrong?" Maou asked, pulling her away enough for some air. Her face was pale, her eyes rolling back into her head every few moments.

"I feel like… I'm being torn apart…" She manages to squeeze out through laboured breaths, as Lucifer crawled over to them to get a better look at the half-angelic half-demonic Emilia the Hero crumpled in Maou's arms.

"It's probably because since she's human with Holy power, her body is trying to reject the demonic power. Right now she's a halfer, but that's probably not going to last long at this point. She needs to choose one or the other - or her body will tear itself apart…" Lucifer mused from the side, staring in wonder. "She should have revoked her Holy power if she was going to accept any kind of Demonic power into her body as she did. She'll continue to fade until she picks a side. Her body has now changed so much she can no longer go back to being human at all..." He continued, directing his comment to Maou with serious notes.

"Accepted demonic power? What do you mean? When did I do that?" Emi tried to snap at Lucifer, with no energy or bite to her words. Lucifer smiled his most demonic of smiles and pointed at Maou with his long slender fingers.

"My, dear Emilia, when you accepted our Demonic Lord Satan as your lover and shared the most passionate of moments in the exchange of power and submission to the Devil King." Lucifer said with excitement hooked on every word. Emi tried to laugh but coughed instead. paling from the pain.

"As if that would ever happen…" She quietly replied, absently looking at the small splat of blood in her hand from the coughing. She looked up and noticed Maou staring at her intently. She tried to hide her hand as inconspicuous as possible, but Maou caught her hand and frowned.

"Emi…" He said with annoyance, but his eyes remained sad. "Your Holy power is fading fast. Your power may make you stronger than me, but our enemies are in Heaven which your power is useless against. If you want to be strong and continue protecting Alus=Ramus with me, you'll need a new power source. Let me offer that to you, as one of my demon generals." Maou stated to Emi, staring straight into her eyes, every word ringing with how serious he was. Her eyes widened in response.

"I… I can't do that. I'm the Hero, protector of humanity. If I get my power from you, I will never be able to get revenge for the people of Ente Isla. I will betray all of humanity." Emi mumbled through her coughs and Maou looked at her sadly, yet sternly.

"You are no longer their Hero, Emi. They made that very clear. You are also no longer human. Please, you must decide fast or you will die and so will Alus=Ramus." Maou said, urgently.

"I can't let you do that, Demon King." The voice shook the yard with a laugh, the shadow enjoying the scene that was be folding.

TBC