Author's note:

NEXT!

Chapter 24: Crimson Thief

He was running, sprinting as fast as he could to the shattered white door. The dirt road to his house was surrounded by giant fields of wheat, the countless hours he had spent in them slaving away, exploring, playing, hiding....running from his problems. Now he was desperately trying to enter the birth place of these problems; his doubts, his regrets, his mistakes. However, no matter how hard he tried, he could not reach the door, his legs unable to move him any faster, for every step he took he felt he had taken three backwards.

Whispers from the wheat fields were now beginning to become audible, some too quiet, some louder than others. "You will die here" he heard one say, "Please! You got to help me!" another called out to him. He tried harder to move towards the house, using his hands to drag himself forward, grabbing onto any object in reach. He saw a fence and moved as quick as he could towards it, he grabbed the sharp metal and began pulling himself along the barbed wire, he was now in closer proximity to the field, the choir of whispers becoming much louder.

"Ahh, so you do see it", "Holy shit, it's one of ours..", "You stupid man", "Forgive me", "I wish you had stayed in the abyss", "You fucking think you know everything about me huh?", "I'll break your damn fingers again", "You disgust me", "You think that this power gives you the right to change our lives?!", "Release him", "You stupid bitch", "Rot you bastard", "Take care of my daughters", "Infirmary now!", "Where is our family?!", "Thats why I COULDN'T FUCKING SLEEP", "Please", "Or you're going to wish I left you in the abyss", "What can I help you with sir?", "Well I'm allowed to bring my mentor or my guardian angel. But I wasn't assigned one..", "Once we have that mind of yours, the body and soul will follow"...

He was almost at the house now, his bloodied hands were being torn apart, his grip on the fence a fierce one in order to support his weight, pulling himself forward from being sucked back along the dirt path. The barbed metal had rended his flesh, now sinew and bone were beginning to show. He had been moving along the fence painfully slow, it was already too much for him. The whispers were becoming louder, more and more voices he recognised joining the others, some were his own. He collapsed on the wooden steps leading to the front porch, with his last morsel of energy, he pulled himself up the stairs, his body being heavily weighed down, it was as if gravity was incredibly strong.

He had to reach the heart of this evil, he had to kill it. He desperately stretched his destroyed hand to reach the door knob, using all of his might and remaining strength to twist the handle, the door was locked. There was no way in. Panic filled his mind, he pulled himself up to stand and began slamming his shoulder into the white door, not caring about how much it was hurting. He could feel the encroaching darkness, it was creeping up on him, flooding down the dirt path towards the remote house, the whispers were following it. He tried again, and again, and again, each time the door became a little more open.

"I do not answer to you mortal", "I was pregnant", "I can't believe you did that", "I didn't care about what happened after that", "I didn't care about living", "I didn't think my life would improve after that", "Just the two of us", "Now look into the abyss mortal, tell me what you see", "Never leave us", "I promise", "I love you", "I love you too", "I hate you!", "We are family after all, we have to stick together", "You are but one man, alone, you have no hope", "I can't look at you the same way", "T-t-taker?", "They called me names!", "I didn't mean to hurt you", "I knew he would come back!", "I don't want to live anymore!", "Stay behind me", "Are we romantically involved?", "Get moving private! We are not going to die here!", "I thought about you often". Please, make it stop.

The door was almost open, the overwhelming metallic smell and taste of blood was making him gag, he fought as hard as he could. His shoulder thudding into the door harder and faster, blood was starting to stain the white wood, the wood slowly splintering under his relentless attacks. The whispers behind him were turning into screams.

"YOU FUCKING CUNT!", "PUNISHMENT MUST BE MADE!", "I REPEAT WE HAVE BEEN AMBU-", "ENOUGH!", "GET A MEDIC IN HERE NOW!", "INSOLENCE", "YOU WILL SUBMIT!", "YOU ARE MY SLAVE, NOTHING MORE!", "YOU CHANGED OUR LIVES, YOU BENT A TIMELINE TO YOUR WILL, JUST TO HAVE EACH AND EVERY ONE OF US?!", "DO YOU KNOW THE AMOUNT OF TIMES I DIED TO GET WHERE I AM NOW?! The amount of times I died for you...", "I CAN'T DIE!"...

"Do you see how easily you mortals, demons and all the rest can be broken?", sudden silence filled the air, his own voice was the only thing he heard..."An eternal paradise?".

He finally broke the door down, running into his childhood home to find his worst nightmare waiting for him. Littered amoungst the ground floor of his old home, twelve female bodies lay covered in blood pilled into the lounge, they were all cold. Most of the bodies had signs of injury, signs of a struggle. Black demon blood was spilling from open wounds, some of their limbs had been twisted and broken...they must have died a brutal death. All of their faces were twisted in horror, fear, agony and pain. He collapsed to his knees, unable to look, he vomited on the ground, tears streaming down his face. He looked at his hands which were now covered in a black substance, their blood...

Lightning struck outside the house, illuminating the bodies momentarily, heavy rain instantly began battering the house as soon as the white light disappeared. He knelt looking at his hands and then bringing himself to look at the bodies.

Justice...Judgement...Cerberus...Pandemonica...

Malina...Zdrada...

Modeus...Beelzebub...

Azazel...

Lucifer...

The devil was the nearest one to him, her lifeless eyes staring straight through him. Her expression was that of betrayal, betrayed by the one she loved. He howled in despair, breaking down. As soon as he was breaking, black liquid began to fill the room, rising quickly up his knees, drowning the bodies in front of him. Drowning him. The liquid was now rising up to his shoulders, almost submerging him entirely.

He was alone again, he was all alone...So very lonely.

He awoke screaming, gripping the sheets intensely, his sweat had soaked the surrounding area. Modeus was already awake, she had heard him whimpering and had tried her best to wake him gently. Once he was cognitive, he fell quiet, staring around the room frantically, his breaths in quick short intakes. "Where, what?!" he spluttered, still gripping the sheets. Modeus didn't know what to do, "It's okay, we are in my room" she planted kisses along his shoulder and neck, she always struggled when trying to calm him.

He was hyperventilating, slowly relaxing when he felt Modeus's presence at his side. He gradually eased his breathing, wrapping his arms around his naked companion. "Thank god", his hands moving all over her, making sure she was there, that she was real. "Someone needs to eat less cheese" Modeus tried making a joke, it's what he would do to lighten the mood. The joke bounced right off of him, his arms desperately clinging to her body. They were sat up in a deep hug, his arms covering her nude body, his right hand was on the back of her head, his left hand was on her back. He rested his head on her shoulder, nuzzling his face into her hair. Modeus was purring at the attention.

"It felt so real..." he repeated what Modeus had said just a few hours earlier, the illusion that a dream could have been reality. "It was just a dream"..."I know". All of a sudden, Modeus's bedroom door burst open, an extremely concerned Justice entered the room. "Everything okay?!" she looked around the room rapidly, searching for danger. "I heard someone screaming!". She was wearing a fluffy red dressing gown and nothing else, her body hidden under the giant piece of cloth.

For a second, he thought he saw her eyes glowing a bright red before returning to their usual pale white. He definitely saw her clenched fists emanating Hell energy before she calmed down. A tired Judgement was yawning behind Justice wearing a black fluffy robe, she rubbed the sleep out of her white eyes and peered into the dark room. The grey demon flushed red upon seeing the two naked occupants, "S-sorry bad time!" she looked away embarrassed.

"Nothing to worry about J, just a nightmare" he began a smile to the former high prosecutor. "A nightmare? Didn't think you'd have nightmares, you aren't scared of anything!", the beaming demon turned to face Judgement. "What do you mean bad time?", Modeus was now covering herself with their red duvet. The Helltaker chuckled, swiveling his legs and standing up out of the bed , walking over to the door-frame where the two demons were stood. "I appreciate your concern Justice, but I'm fine. Go back to sleep you overcaring dope" he smirked at the blind demon, giving a quick glance and smirk to Judgement. The high prosecutor was trying not to stare, she was failing terribly.

"Alright, if you're sure. I thought Beelzebub had got to you again" her voice was quieter now, more fragile. "See you in the morning dope" she gave him a playful punch to the chest, "Wait...why aren't you wearing any clothes" she became instantly embarrassed, blushing at the discovery. "Goodnight you two" he smirked shutting the door. He remained behind the door and listened, after a brief silence he heard their voices. "You could have told me he was naked?!" he heard Justice say to Judgement as they were still stood outside the door, "I told you it was a bad time!" their voices were fading away, "More like a good time", at least you got a nice view, god what I wouldn't give not to be blind in that moment", "Justice! He can probably still hear you!". Distant giggles is all he heard after that, he sighed, coming back over to Modeus, she was eagerly awaiting his return.

"Everything sorted?" she made room for him and instantly layed on his chest as soon as he was back in bed, looking at him with heart shaped pupils. "For now" the man smiled back, leaning in to kiss her, she held the kiss for a long while. "Sorry M, didn't mean to wake you like that. I should probably just stay on the sofa", he began moving out of the bed. "I don't think so!" Modeus used her weight to keep him trapped on the bed. "Alright, if you say so" he smiled back, reciprocating her affection with a kiss to her neck. "I want to go back to sleep, but now I'm afraid too" he whispered. "I know something that might help", her hands wandering down his chest slowly towards his crotch. "Oh alright then, you win" he succumbed to her lust. Another sleepless night, hopefully I can pass out afterwards he thought.

"I always do"

Azazel was the first one of the demonic household to wake, her curious mind had urged the angel to rise from her slumber. She had been up for a few hours now, making herself a small bowl of cereal since she wasn't overly hungry. She was reviewing what she had to do today, looking over the revision timetable. However, one thing that was clawing at her mind was the one place she had never been in the house; the garage. Azazel was curious by default, curiosity coursing through her veins. Over the duration of her three year cohabitation with the demons, it was the once place she hadn't explored yet, mostly cause he didn't want her to.

"You'll hurt yourself if you explore in there, besides nothing but dust in there anyway" he was lying mostly to hide his Mustang. Today was the day, she wanted to know what was in there. He had locked the garage ever since he had returned with Zdrada, there must be someway to unlock it, a key maybe? After her cereal, she searched for a key to open the garage door, looking in his jacket pockets and in the bowl of keys on the hallway countertop. After half an hour of searching she was confused, Where was this key?! She was just about to give up when she saw something sticking out from underneath the flowerpot sat near the bowl of keys, it was a piece of card, the yellow and blue colours caught her eye.

She lifted the flowerpot up and saw a set of keys hidden under the space at the bottom of the pot, the card that she had seen read "BLOCKBUSTER" in big yellow letters surrounded by a blue background. What's a Blockbuster? she thought. There were car keys and a single key marked with a blue marker connected to the key chain, that must be the key. She took the messy bundle of keys and exited the demonic household, opening and closing the door as quietly as she could. The morning was quiet, the weather was cloudy and overcast with barely any sunshine penetrating through.

She approached the huge white doors and inserted the key she thought would allow her entry, she turned it to the right, the lock clicked. Success! She struggled to lift the giant doors, deciding to only push one to allow her the space to squeeze in. Once she was inside, she was nervous to how dark the garage was. Her Halo being the only source of light. She took a step towards a large object covered in a grey tarpaulin, so that's why he had another set of car keys. She decided to leave it alone for now. Wandering over to the cardboard boxes stacked neatly ontop of one another in the right corner.

She struggled to move one onto the floor for her to explore, slumping the box down at her feet, there was a loud metallic thud. Hope that was nothing fragile. She decided to open the box labelled "Work stuff" in black sharpie. The angel's Halo illuminated the box as she began rummaging through it's contents, there was an old military outfit, a large green beret and a bunch of old photos. She retrieved a photo frame, bringing it closer to her face. It was him alright, he was stood wearing the military outfit she had found in the box. Stood next to him, there was a ginger woman half his height wearing a similar outfit, they looked happy.

She carefully placed the framed photo back in the box, he looked like the angels in the Legion, militaristic. She heard the distant sound of pattering feet, three pairs of feet. However, for some reason they did not notice the garage door was open, Azazel heard the Triple Demon enter the house, shutting the door behind them. The angel payed no attention to the trio, returning to her search through the boxes. She went through a collection of polaroid photos, some were too faded and blurred to make any sense. Others, showed a young Helltaker wearing a similar outfit to the framed photo, the symbol on his shoulder was different. Another photo showed him with his two parents, they were posing next a blue tractor in a field.

The final photo she looked at was strange, the Helltaker had his back to the camera, you could tell it was him due to his giant physique. In front of him, a large crowd of hooded people stood, all looking at a wall. On the wall he was facing, a large black pentagram was drawn, in the centre of it, the opening of an orange portal was beginning to form. She squinted at the writing, it read "Church of Typhon, 2016". Strange, is this how he got to Hell?. She gently placed the stack of photos into the cardboard box, some questions were better left unanswered.

The final item she retrieved from the box was an even smaller box, there was a thin glass layer allowing a person to see the objects in question. There were two medals and a variety of ribbons within the box, Azazel had to squint even harder to read what the inscriptions said underneath the medals. "Bronze Star Medal- awarded for heroic or meritorious achievement or service". The inscription under the next medal read; "Global War on Terrorism Expeditionary Medal- awarded for serving or having served in military expeditions to combat terrorism". Huh, he was a hero after all. Another shining metal object caught her eye; it was another small box with a golden medal within. "Distinguished Service Cross- awarded for extraordinary heroism, risking ones life to save their comrades". Wow, he really-

"Excuse me, ma'am?" a male voice called into the garage to Azazel, she instantly made her Halo disappear, a talent he made all his demons master whenever someone caught them off-guard. He taught them how to lie, playing it off as if the person were imagining things, the easiest and simplest form of disguise. Azazel had been too absorbed in these mementos to realise the group of three that were now entering the garage. "Y-y-es?" Azazel stuttered, turning nervously to see the owner of the voice.

There were three people in the garage with her now, they had moved the doors so that they could enter easily. Two of them were men in tight black suits, the other was a woman dressed in a grey suit, she had her police ID in hand, "Police, we have some questions" she said sternly, Azazel squinted in the darkness and read the woman's name, "Detective Sasha Burn". The name seemed familiar to the angel, "Wha-a-at kind of questions?" the angel stuttered, "Relax kid we aren't here for you, sorry what was your name again?" the detective took a step closer to Azazel. The angel in question trying desperately to remember her human name, "Anna", praying that the detective didn't ask the family's fake last name, she could not remember it.

"Okay, Anna, where is your 'dad'?"

"Taker, wake up!" the devil was shaking him aggressively, "Wha?" he groaned, " I'm up, I'm up!" as Lucifer shook him harder, he sat up, looking around him quickly. "What's wrong?" the man looked at her puzzled, Modeus was gradually waking at his side. "Police! Outside! Azazel just woke me" Lucifer sounded worried, she always was whenever anyone threatened their household's integrity. The angel could also whisper telepathically. "Human forms now" he leapt out of the bed and threw on a red shirt and black shorts, leaving the shirt unbuttoned. "Tell the others".

He barged past the devil and almost ran down the stairs, thundering through the house, stopping to check and adjust his appearance in the hallway mirror. He ruffled his hair more, adjusting his face to make him look more tired, as if he wasn't expecting this. "Well, here goes" he whispered, opening the door and peered round the corner to look into his opened garage. He stepped outside, walking over to the garage and peering inside, "Wooah, hey, what's going on here?!" his bare feet trudging along the gravel, the average morning reflected his mood. The two men and the detective exited his garage, the three standing to face him in a line. "Speak of the devil", Sasha's smirk grew across her face. "You breaking into my house now?" he asked, unaware of the angel in the garage.

"Oh no, we were just chatting to your daughter" she gestured as the angel in question exited the garage, she was looking down at the floor. "I'll take it from here A-Anna" he stuttered momentarily, the detective noticing this. The angel obeyed and walked past the barely dressed Helltaker and through the front door. "What is it?" his tone now threatening the law enforcement, "We have a few questions" the detective went to retrieve her notepad, "Always with these damn questions" he spat. "Well come on in, make yourself at home" he lead the three into the kitchen. Damn Police, what was it now?

The Helltaker seated himself on the circular kitchen table, the detective sitting opposite him. On the way into the kitchen she had peered into the lounge to see a human Malina gaming, not paying her any attention. The two suited men were now standing either side of their seated boss, "What's with the men in black?" he gestured at the two bodyguards. Sasha smirked, "They are new" she joked, it was a lie. "Yeah, whatever. Let's get this over with" he leant forward on one arm. "Ask away". "Ah detective, to what do we owe the pleasure?" a voice came from behind him, Lucifer came walking into the kitchen in a red dressing gown. She had understood that he wanted to maintain the illusion they weren't up to anything, awoken from sleep.

"Ah, Lucy, a pleasure as always" the devil already had a fake name to use. "Those three delinquents running riot again?" she smiled coming to stand at the Helltaker's side, leaning on his shoulder. "Yes as a matter of fact, they have" Sasha flipped through her notepad, beginning to read off of it. "Earlier this morning three identical 'triplets' were seen harassing and attacking a pedestrian a few miles from here. They received minimal injuries while trying to defend their Pit Bull Terrier, their dog on the other hand was left in a near vegetative state, despite receiving no injuries". She placed the notepad down on the table. "Any explanation for this attack?" the detective crossed her arms.

"Any underlying health problems the dog had?" he deflected the accusation, "Don't try that with me, your "daughters" attacked an innocent person" she gestured using her fingers as quote marks. "I'd like to think they were provoked, they wouldn't attack anyone unless it was in self-defence" his fists were beginning to clench. "It doesn't matter what they did, they are receiving a fine of five thousand dollars and a warning" Sasha began writing in her notepad again. "Five thousand dollars?! Are you crazy, you gonna at least give me proof it was them?" he protested, beginning to become uneasy.

"Witness described the three girls to have white ashen hair, dressed in red shirts and black suit blazers and suit pants, I don't think there is anyone quite like them in a three mile radius, do you?" the detective smiled. The Helltaker rubbed his brow, Lucifer sighed heavily, feigning the concern on her voice. That could have been much worse. "Those damn idiots, I'll see to it personally that they are punished. This type of behaviour won't be tolerated in this house" her fake motherly persona coming into play. "Is that everything?" the Helltaker drummed the table with his fingers.

"No, there is more. Like we said, we have questions" the detective was smirking, retrieving a phone from her inner pocket. "Then quit the bullshit and ask your damn questions", he was growing impatient. "Watch your tongue" one of the suited men took a step forward, he was stopped by the detective raising her hand. "Leave him be, it would be better if he cooperated...for now" her smirk was ever growing. She loaded some sort of video, handing the Helltaker the phone, "Take a look at this video". Already from the thumbnail he was worried, it was the diner's carpark.

The video starts with a normal recording of the diner's carpark, cars are going and coming as they please. Zdrada is seen parking terribly over two spaces in his black Mustang, exiting the car and then walking out of frame. The footage fast forwards and resumes at normal speed. The carpark is mostly empty, then a bright orange light blocks all footage and audio for a few moments, the footage resumes and the Helltaker himself is in the carpark walking over to the diner. The footage stops when he walks out of frame. "Care to explain?" the detective retrieved the phone from his giant hands. Lucifer was silently cursing, damn it.

"Faulty cameras" the only excuse he could think of, the only advantage he had was that they had no explanation for such an event. "Faulty cameras" the detective laughed, her smile instantly vanishing. "How were you able to get there, the footage shows no cars entering or leaving the parking lot ten minutes before and after you appeared". Her icy glare moving from the Helltaker briefly to look at his partner. "Walked" he spat. "Course you did. When did your daughter learn to drive?". "Last year". "Does she have a licence? You know it's illegal to drive without one in this state". "You gonna fine me again?" his tone coated in venom.

"I see I've hit a nerve, I told you questions with him are useless" she addressed the two suited men. The detective moved to stand. "Know that you and your family have been placed on a watch-list" she glanced at her two bodyguards again and began to exit the room. "But we will be watching you, closely" yeah we have done this dance before detective" he jabbed, quoting what she had said to him at the hospital. He finally snapped, standing up and facing the detective as she went to exit the kitchen. "We will find out what you are hiding, one way or another" a cruel smile spreading along her face, both her bodyguards had their hands in their suit pockets, both grasping a holstered weapon. He eyed the woman, then the two men, this was definitely a battle he couldn't win, not now anyway. "Get out of my house" he demanded, "You too men in black".

"Fucking cops, when are they ever going to leave us alone?" he sat with his head in his hands, Lucifer and Justice were sat next to him, Justice was rubbing his back. "It's alright, what they gonna do, put us all in prison?" Justice's naivety was somewhat comforting. "Maybe you were right Lucy, perhaps Hell is the best place for us to live", he squeezed the hand of the devil. "Well too bad, we are staying here" she spoke defiantly.

"That's the spirit" Justice smiled, she stood up from the table and went to the fridge. Azazel had come down the stairs and was sat opposite him. "What were you doing in the garage Az?" he looked over at the angel, his face blank from the depressing thoughts running through his mind. "I-I, wa-" she began, "You're not in trouble, I was just worried they had hurt you" he smiled briefly at his angel. "I just wanted to explore it, I was looking through some old containers. There were some, what do you call them, mementos?" she looked at the floor. "My old work items, yeah, what did you find?". "Pictures, medals, an old uniform" her curiosity getting the better of her. "Items to remind me of my past", he stood finally, going over to the espresso machine.

As he turned on the machine, he leant against the counter-top wondering how they were going to get out of this mess, he rubbed his brow again, he sighed deeply. Justice now came over to him, holding her arms out, "My heart feels empty" she smiled, weaving her arms into the gaps between his arms and torso. "Me too J", he embraced her properly, her head nuzzling into his chest. He embraced her tightly, wrapping his arms around her back and shoulders. This made him feel better. He looked behind the former high prosecutor to see Cerberus creeping down the stairs, their heads hung low. "Cerberus..." the Helltaker scolded, "Come...here", he released Justice and walked over to the trio.

The three slowly walked over to him, all three looking down at the ground, sweating nervously. "Did you attack someone and their dog today?", he had his arms crossed. "Yes..." they said in unison. "Why?" he was confused at their motive. "The man said mean things to us, his dog wasn't friendly". "What did he say?", wishing he was there with them. "Here comes the freak show" they quoted. "Sounds like he deserved it then, but his dog?" he looked over each one to see if they were injured, one Cerberus had a cut under her right eye but that was probably inflicted by her sisters. "I'm guessing you didn't do that intentionally, you did a number on him".

"I don't want to do this, but I'm going to have to impose a curfew. You are not to leave the house without me Cerberus, we just can't risk it anymore", he received a nod of approval from the devil. "WHAT!" they all shouted in unison, "I mean, what were you doing so far away from the house! You are turning feral!" he countered. "Don't make me get the lead". The word made the three Cerberus swallow in unison. "You are only to go to the backyard from now on, understand? No more exploration" he demanded. Cerberus thought about attacking the Helltaker for imposing authority on their lives, why should he control where they can and can't go? However, they cared and loved him too much to do such a thing.

After a long silence, they agreed. "Fine" they all said, "But-" one of the Cerberus began, "What if-" a second said, "How can we-" the third whimpered. "No, I'm sorry girls but you have to listen to me this time" he went to retrieve his coffee. He took a sip and breathed out a sigh of relief, the brown liquid warming him and stimulating his senses. "Oh god, what is that smell?" he sniffed loudly, looking around the kitchen. He was looking directly at the trio, he walked over to them, coffee in hand and smelt the closest one's head receiving a playful giggle. "When was the last time you took a bath Cerberus?". He noticed that their pale faces were particularly grubby, their white hair small clumps of dirt in it.

"Last year?" they joked with him, unfortunately for them he wasn't in the mood to joke. He pointed to the stairs, "Bath now!". "No! We don't like the bath! It's cold and ruins our hair!" they protested, "That's because you don't keep filling it with hot water, you haven't washed your hair in weeks", he maintained his pointing to the stairs. "You have been a bad girl, this is your punishment which isn't even a punishment! Get up those stairs now, I'll be there in a second" he took another sip of coffee. Cerberus reluctantly obeyed, slowly trudging back up the stairs passing Beelzebub on the way up. The Queen of Crimson coming into the kitchen confused, "Did I miss something?" she looked at all the demons and then at the Helltaker.

"No, you're right on time actually. I think today is the day for getting answers" he drank the rest of his coffee and then placed the mug in the sink. "Everyone, leave us please" he spoke to the two demons and the angel. "Don't we have a right to know too?" Lucifer looked at him confused, "After I'm finished with her", his very being dripping malice. He took a step closer to Beelzebub, his fists clenched. The Great Fly swallowed nervously. "Now, everyone out". Lucifer was smirking at him approvingly but she followed Justice and Azazel, all three leaving the room, and going up the stairs.

As soon as there was no one around, the Helltaker eased up, returning to his normal posture. Beelzebub was confused by his aggressive then calm behaviour. "Sorry about that, I said that just to make them think I would get some answers. I know you would be more comfortable telling me first", he took her face in his hands, "Are you okay? You look exhausted", giving her a once over and then removing his hand. "I am, I haven't been able to sleep properly since you all returned", "Guilty conscious keeping you awake" he smiled. "Something like that".

He lead her to the kitchen table and sat down with her, pulling his chair closer. "Been having strange dreams too?", "How did you know?" she seemed mildly shocked. "Well, let's just say I've been having nightmares that even you couldn't have created, only this bad boy could do that" he tapped his temple. He received a shallow dry laugh from his demon. "What did you dream about?" he took her hand in his. "You'll think it's stupid" Beelzebub looked at the floor. "Hmmmm, you were trying to take over the world, the forces of Earth were fighting each other, your human disciples obeying every command. Me and Lucifer were involved somehow I bet" he was ranting, "What? No!" she scowled at his joke, this was a serious issue. "I'm sorry" he smiled, "Go on".

Beelzebub sighed, "I was pregnant-", the words being all too familiar to him from yesterday. "And I was the father" he finished her sentence. "How did you know?" the look of shock on her face again. "Modeus-"he paused, "Had the same dream" he chuckled. "How many children?". "A baby boy", tears were starting to fall. "A child of the abyss" he smiled, moving to wipe her tears away with his hand. "It felt so real, you thought it was reality". "Y-yes" she yearned for his embrace, receiving it a few seconds later.

He held her, realising this was probably the most affection she had received since he had returned from Hell. When she had composed herself, he needed to ask the question the entire household had all been itching to know:

"Are you ready to tell me, my crimson thief? What did you steal from Mantus?"

The payment for Sins can be delayed, but never avoided.