Chapter 10

Yay! Chapter 10! And every chapter i get new followers which make me jump with joy :) Thank you all so much!

I hope you enjoy the Chapter and please review your opinions. They're all appreciated!

"We'll start from the bottom and make our way up the circles. It'll be a lot easier that way." We had left the King's residence, and started walking. Barliagus walked beside me while Cresil was taking the lead.

"Where do you think we should go first?" Barliagus asked.

Cresil was silently thinking, then he said, "I think we should go to Hekate's place first. Besides, I'm sure she'll want to see the newcomer." He chuckled.

"Right." Barliagus then turned to me, and smiled, "Hekate is the Queen of witchcraft in Hell. She can heal any wound, foretell the future, and well, basically anything. I'm sure you'll like her. She's very beautiful."

Cresil snorted, "that's 'cause you're in love with her, moron. Don't listen to him. She's a bitch. She poisoned me once, and it lasted for years before she decided to cure me. Plus, she's far from beautiful- well, she may look beautiful, but she's one of the oldest demons alive. She's basically a grandma." I tried to keep myself from giggling, and Barliagus was frowning at Cresil in disapproval.

"She's a wise woman. And the reason she poisoned you was because you put bugs and frogs in her dress at a party. She may be a witch, but she hates those kinds of things."

It was cute how Barliagus was trying to defend the witch Hekate. The two exchanged jokes, while I quietly listened and we continued walking.

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"Here we are. Let's go in." Cresil stretched his arms, and went into what seemed like a cave. I hesitated, not sure whether it would be safe for me to go in.

Barliagus seemed to notice my hesitance. "Don't be scared. It's perfectly safe. Actually, it's probably one of the most safest places in Hell."

Comforted by his words, I sighed and went in with Barliagus behind me.

It was dark at first when we walked into the cave, but as we kept walking, I could see flickers of light and low mumbles, as if there was someone else there, talking to the witch.

We finally reached the light, and my eyes immediately adjusted to the sudden brightness, and I could see three figures belonging to Cresil, a woman- who I'm guessing is Hekate, and… Samael.

He was sitting on a table and looked at me in surprise. I could see that there were no more wounds on his body now, and his skin had become flawless. His pants were still tattered, and his wings were no longer present. I somehow felt relieved, knowing that his wounds were taken care of.

"I don't remember inviting guests." The woman scowled after looking at Cresil.

"It's nice to see you too." He scowled back.

"If you have no business here, then leave. As you can see, I'm treating Samael's wounds at the moment and I cannot be bothered." She spat.

"I wouldn't come here if I didn't have any business. This is the last place-"

Cresil was about to talk back, but Barliagus stepped in, "This is not the time to be arguing. Hekate, it's been awhile." He smiled gently.

Immediately Hekate's face lightened, and glowed with an excited smile. "Barliagus! Darling, I've missed you!" She ran over, jumped and tightly hugged him, and Barliagus returned it with a kiss on the head. They looked happy, and were laughing and giggling with delight.

Cresil mock-gagged, and turned away, and fidgeted with whatever he found interesting. I on the other hand, felt awkward, and moved my eyes away from the couple. Unfortunately my eyes met Sebastian's, and I regretted it, for I couldn't look away. He was staring at me with a piercing gaze, and that made me blush. I felt something tighten in my chest, and butterflies in my stomach. 'Why was a man who I've just met, making me feel like this?'

I desperately tried to pry my eyes off of the man, and finally succeeded. By then Barliagus and Hekate were done with their intimate greeting and looked over at me.

"So this is the newborn demon?" In a flash Hekate was in front of me and tilted my head with her fingers, making me look directly at her black eyes. I felt uncomfortable with her touching me like this, but I felt that I shouldn't unless I wished to be on her bad side, which didn't seem too pleasant. "Hm… She's strong… Great potential…" She seemed to be talking to herself. Her eyes held a blank gaze, but suddenly they focused again.

"Interesting…" She mumbled.

"What's interesting?" Cresil asked, and came up behind Hekate and looked over her shoulder.

Hekate glanced back, momentarily glaring at him, and looked back at me. Samael had approached as well, with a curious look. He was standing beside Barliagus, who stood behind Hekate's other shoulder. It felt incommodious with so many people focusing their attention to me, and I wanted to move away, but the hand that held my face were firm and I could not pull myself away from it.

"The girl's power is quite extraordinary, especially for a newborn. There's something that is giving her strength, but I know for certain that it's not the King's doing. So I'm guessing she has some natural power that she was born with when she was just human."

"And what could that be?" It was Barliagus asking this time.

"I'm not sure. It could be anything really. A powerful mind, musical or art talent. Like I said, it could be anything."

It was silent for a few moments, and Samael suddenly spoke, "Could it also be a unique soul that they had when they were human as well?"

Cresil and Barliagus had a look of surprise, as if they didn't know what he was talking about… like me. But Hekate only looked thoughtful, as if considering the possibility of whatever Samael had said.

"Yes… Even that's possible. But the chances of having a unique soul are one in every million years, and the chance that that soul becoming a demon is even rarer. Why do you ask?"

"Alice… had a soul that was similar to her father's, and that soul was nothing like I've ever had in my life. His name was Ciel, and his soul was filled with hatred and anger, yet they were pure of sin. Even newborn babies do not have such purity, yet he had a soul that seemed to have every right to be in heaven, even until his death. His child, Alice, had somehow inherited the same."

I looked at him in shock. 'He knew me while I was human? Not only that, he knows my father. He knows who I was.'

And it wasn't just me who was shocked to hear this, because the others had a look of surprise as well. Samael only look at Hekate, waiting for what she would say.

"A pure soul…" Hekate was mumbling again, "It's incredibly rare, but still possible. Even in my long life I've never seen a soul like yours. And now that I look at it carefully, your soul is different. You're a demon, yet your soul is full of life, and yes, it's still pure." She looked at me in wonder and fascination.

This whole situation made me feel like I was of a different species from them. And I didn't like it. "So what's going to happen?" I was starting to get frustrated. We had come here as a part of a tour, but now I'm here, being treated like an animal at a zoo.

"Well, that 'tour' you were having will have to stop. You want to gain your memories, yes?"

I nodded my head.

"But wouldn't you be punished to try to change the King's doing, Hekate?" Barliagus asked looking worried.

"*Hmph*. I'm not going to try to do it, I will, and he can't hurt me. In fact, he owes me his life. I'm the one who got him out of the seal after all." Hekate replied with confidence. "If he dares to lay a finger, I'll kill him."

"You're sure you can retrieve Alice's memories?" Samael stepped in, eyes full of hope. And again I felt my heart tighten.

'He cares about me, and he knows who I was. I really want to remember my relation with him.'

"Yes. As a matter of fact, why don't we start now? Barliagus, and you," she pointed at Cresil, "should leave. Since this doesn't involve you, I'd prefer it if you got out of the way."

"And what give you the right-"

Cresil tried to talk back, but Barliagus grabbed his shoulder and smiled. "Certainly. I'll contact you later then." He kissed her on the cheek which made her faintly blush, and walked out with Cresil behind him, who was mumbling words of protest.

"Now, Samael, really all you need to do it watch. It'd be more comforting with you here once the girl regains her memories. And you," She looked at me, "go stand in that circle." She pointed at a white circle that was drawn on the floor of the large cave.

I did as I was told and waited patiently. She proceeded to draw around the circle I was standing on, and soon enough the open space of the cave floor were covered in unfamiliar writing and intricate drawings. While she was doing so she was murmuring to herself, with things like 'haven't done this in a while', 'the King is a pain in the ass', and 'haven't had this much fun in ages'.

'Well, I'm glad she's having fun.' I thought sarcastically. Hekate was adding the finishing touches, and I felt nervous. I glanced at Samael, who stood at the exit tunnel of the cave. He looked at me and smiled reassuringly. I meekly smiled back.

"There, finished." Hekate smiled proudly. "Now, you must remain standing there, or it could get dangerous. Understood?"

I nodded, anticipating what would happen.

"Alright. Let's begin."

Suddenly all the lights of the cave went out, and the drawings that Hekate drew glowed purple, illuminating me and her darkly in the shadows and I could still see Samael with my demonic senses.

Hekate closed her eyes and spoke in a language I could not understand. I wonder how many languages she knows. For every word she spoke, the drawings glowed even brightly, making me unable to see. I could only hear Hekate's incantation.

She said her finished chanting, and she spoke in English now, "Your memories shall awaken, and allow your path to brighten."

As soon as she said those words, I felt my head become heavy, and I heard many voices, whispering inside of my head. It was painful and almost unbearable. I fell down to my knees, and screamed in pain.

My head felt as if they were going to explode, every whisper being etched into my head leaving memories that I didn't know existed.

The drawings on the ground were now gleaming with purple light.

The whispers continued, but now they seemed to hurt less. My vision was black, yet I was perfectly aware of my surrounding. I saw different images, which I now knew were my memories and they flashed by in my head one by one.

'Alice!' I heard a voice shout.

'Leave her be. She'll wake up soon enough. Her mind is probably sorting out her memories. It's dangerous if you wake her now. Come child, let us wait.' A woman's voice said soothingly to the other.

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The flickering images now stopped, and I knew that I was going to wake up.

'Ah, she is waking up, Samael.'

"*Ugh*…" I slowly opened my eyes, and saw two blurry figures looming over me and I waited for my eyes to adjust.

It was Hekate and Samael…

"Did it work?" Samael asked. He looked worried, and I could see his body tensing up when I looked at him. I could see that his fingers were fiddling together in anxiety.

…

"Sebastian…" I whispered. Yes it worked. I remember everything now, including my feelings for him. My true feelings.

In a speed that even I could not see, Sebastian embraced me. But what shocked me most was that he then kissed me.

His kiss was gentle but passionate, with his tongue dancing with mine, his one hand on my waist and another at my cheek.

Soon after he slowly pulled away, much to my dismay, and his eyes were filled with so much happiness, something I've never seen before.

"*Ahem*, sorry to intrude on your intimate session, but I'd really appreciate it if you didn't do 'it' on my floor." Hekate chuckled.

I blushed a bright red, understanding what she meant. "I- We weren't…" I mumbled. Sebastian chuckled, and while he got up, he grabbed my waist and pulled me to him.

'Being in his arms feels so… Right.' I thought happily.

"I cannot thank you enough, Hekate. I owe you my life to you." Wow. Sebastian actually thanked someone, and he seemed to mean it.

"I-I thank you as well. If it weren't for you-" I too, thanked her, but I was cut off with Hekate's laughter.

"Don't be silly you two. This actually gained me new knowledge, and nowadays that's hard to find." She smiled with amusement. "But what will you do now? Confront your father?"

"No. It'll be too dangerous right now. Alice is still a newborn demon, which means she could lose control any second and Lucifer might use that as an advantage to make an attack." Sebastian replied thoughtfully.

"Then I suggest we train her. We can go beyond these caves to do so. Besides, I'm really curious on what kind of demon she will be." Hekate's eyes gleamed with excitement. "I've seen millions of different kinds, and I'm wondering if a unique soul would make a demon any different."

"I'm quite curious as well." Sebastian's eyes also gleamed.

"Well, let's find out! Oh, this is the most fun I've had in ages!" Hekate squealed in delight.

'She's kind of childish, in a cute way…' I thought to myself.

"Come, quickly now! My patience will draw to a close soon enough if we don't hurry up. Come on!" Hekate skipped ahead, leaving Sebastian and I to follow.

He turned to me and smiled gleefully. "This is also the most exciting thing I've had in ages, and also the best. You have no idea how long I've waited to let you know of my feelings, Alice." He whispered my name lovingly. And he gently kissed my forehead, and held my hand.

'Ah… There it is again. The butterflies and the tight feeling in my chest.' I smiled happily, and we walked together, going deeper into the caves.

Chapter 10 is finished! Please look forward to the next chapter :)

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