Chapter 3: The Devil and The Hero Talk
"So how has Alas Ramus been doing? Chi told me you worried about her so much that you couldn't work," Emi asked Satan as they waited out the heavy rainfall. Both of them were stuck in-front of a closed store with no umbrellas. Knowing such rain was bound to end soon, they decided to wait it out. Both of them knowing that they needed a conversation after what had transpired with Gabriel.
"Well, now she's fine and nothing's really changed, aside from her losing the Yesod symbol on her head and sharing a literal mind with your sword," Maou spoke without looking towards Emi. Both of them knew the question was meaningless as one can easily lie their way out of it or it was true and there was nothing remarkable to note; the question was merely to ease into the topic at hand between the both of them. That said, Maou's response was out of the ordinary but Emi preferred it.
"Actually, now that I think of it she may as well inherit and sword, a cool present waiting for her from her mother and a literal extension of herself," Maou chuckled as he watched the raindrops fall. Emi's emotions presented the opposite of a joke, skipping a beat and striking with pain as images flashed before her mind. The endless slaughters she fought, the people around her dead, one among a few survivors in a sea of blood; both demon and human. Slowly, the thought of a grown Alas Ramus appeared in her mind, one going through similar experiences of slaughter, survival and death with no one around, rejected by all and accepted by none. Alas Ramus' face being decorated with a readless despair as she stood amongst the dead much like her mother before, an inevitable parallel and the averted gazes of people as she walked through a human town, sword at her side and immense sadness washing over her.
"Y-Yeah… an awesome present from mom…" Emi's face dropped as the images and thoughts came back. Maou, having noticed the negativity, found a tear dropping from Emi's face along with a pain in his own heart. Maou, after some contemplation, realised when Emi hinted at and soon found himself thinking of similar thoughts; Alas Ramus: a being with no people to call her own, a being that is rejected by all.
-o-
In the now quiet Devil's castle; said castle now having a tarp act a wall due to a hole provided by the Archangel Gabriel, Crestia Bell, AKA "Suzuno Kamazuki," sat with the demon generals of Alciel; AKA "Shiro Ashiya" and Lucifer; AKA "Hanzo Urushihara." In Bell's hand was a cup of hot tea Ashiya (Alciel) has prepared before he starting washing the dishes while Lucifer (Urushihara) simply browsed away on the computer while keeping an eye on the sleeping Alas Ramus beside him. All of them minding their own business.
"Pardon me for the question Ashiya, but aren't you concerned about Maou's whereabouts? It's likely he is out in this ponderous rainfall and you mentioned that Maou had forgotten to bring his Umbrella," Suzano asked with Ashiya continuing to clean the dishes they used to eat off of, the rest waited on the table with food still in them. Urushihara continued clicking away on the computer.
"I'm not really concerned, no. Lord Satan is capable of adapting when needed and is likely waiting out the rain as we speak," Ashiya explained while focusing on the task at hand.
"I see… I guess that leaves us to discuss the matter at hand," Ashiya's hand stopped scrubbing the plate momentarily before continuing while Urushihara continued clicking away on the computer.
"And what would that matter be?" Ashiya asked with his usual neutral voice.
"Alas Ramus, more specifically, her future." Ashiya stopped his motions midway as he listened to Suzano.
"If she were to return to Ente Isla, I have little doubt in my mind that she would be an exile by the humans, angels and demons. Simply put, she will not be accepted and it will prove very troubling for her in the future," Suzuno sneaked a glance at the sleeping Alas Ramus and gave a small smile, remembering the name Alas called her: "Suzu-mi." Urushihara, having stopped clicking when Suzuno mentioned Alas Ramus, decided to listen in and slightly turned towards the former inqusitor.
"With what you mentioned, that leaves her best chances for a decent life to be here on Earth," Urushihara leaning back with his arms stretched behind him to support his waste.
"You are correct, given what we know about Ente Isla, Earth is Alas Ramus' best chance of living a successful, or at the very least, peaceful life," Suzano added while Ashiya, having finished washing the dishes, began to untie the apron on him.
"I agree as well but there's still a risk she may be hunted by anyone coming through the Gate for her potential or yet to be discovered abilities," Ashiya sat down adjacent of Suzuno and facing towards Urushihara's back.
"That is true, with the Church's interests as well, Alas Ramus is too valuable to ignore by any one faction in Ente Isla. They will certainly try to capture her," Suzuno concluded as she took a sip of tea from her cup. The rain outside finally calming down to mere drops from the sky.
-o-
The Devil and the Hero, the unexpected parents, walked down the empty wet streets together. Maou, holding his bike to the side, and Emi, carrying a pursue with all her belongings due to the ever annoying issue of women's pants lacking pockets; a problem Emi is constantly frustrated by and the reason she considered raiding the men's section of the clothing store.
Pocket problems aside, the walk started in silence with a sense of tension in the air. Maou's eyes darted between the road ahead and to Emi. Although he is not aware of his feelings, he nonetheless felt obligated to say something to her.
"Hey, Emi?" Maou's brain hoping for the best.
"What is it Satan?" Emi answered with her usual annoyance.
"I'm… I'm sorry for what happened, two years ago. I should've been more careful and-" Maou's words were interrupted at an annoyed but moreso frustrated Emi. Maou could've sworn there was also a little bit of nervousness and blushing but couldn't confirm with certainty.
"It's… It's fine, we were both making dumb decisions at the time and things were frustrating for the both of us. There's no need to make an apology. If anything, its the alcohol's fault, not ours," Emi explained with a calming neutral expression. Maou sighed in relief and thanked the world that Emi was still reasonable despite her disdain with him.
"Faults aside, our more pressing issue, that I feel we need to talk about, is how we're going to take care of Alas Ramus." Maou knew this subject was coming. They stopped safely aside the street and faced one another. Both of them clearly knowing the importance of the conversation at hand.
"Well, I don't think there's much to be said about how we're taking care of her. I just think we might need to step things up sooner than we realise," Maou opened as Emi looked at him with a brow raised.
"More than what we're already doing with Alas Ramus?" Both Emi and Maou knew she was alluding to the amusement park and the their sleep together.
"Yes, but we may have to do it more often as actual parents or figure out how to still be there for her as parents while we live separately, all the stuff that's happened now made that apparent." Emi understood what he meant. Alas Ramus often slept at Maou's place with Emi visiting on a semi-regular basis to see her. This arrangement created some problems with her safety; as the recent incident emphasized, and with her upbringing since they were treating each other akin to a divorced couple on decent terms with Alas Ramus calling out for Emi on more than one occasion, as Ashiya knows all too well.
"I know what you mean, after the fight with Gabriel and seeing how happy she was when we… you know… w-we'll need to do more for her as actual parents. Besides, we need to protect her for our sakes too. She's a target of Heaven and there's no telling what will happen to her or us if they get her, plus she's kind of grown on me and there's no guarantee we can properly protect her while living seperately." Emi grew nervous at the reminder of their time sleeping together but quickly regained her composure as her explanation went on. Only to realise she might have revealed something to Maou.
"Oh? Has the hero grown soft after having a child?" Maou chuckled with Emi developing a mruderous eye.
"Have you forgotten the hero can kill you with just her bare hands?" Emi threatened with knuckle cracks and a dangerous aura around her to boot.
"Hey… Hey… calm down, we can talk this out, no need for murder…" Maou nervously raised his hands in surrender at Emi's expression, knowing she won't kill him due to Alas Ramus but would certainly hurt him if need be.
"But could you kind of back off… You're in my personnal bubble." Emi yelped and leapt back when she realised what he meant, she was mere centimeters from his face and body. Heat rose in her checks. She quickly regained herself, still red faced, and watched as the Devil calmed himself down.
Both of them stood in awkward silence as they contemplated what had just occurred in the past few moments. Maou breaking said silence after taking a few breaths.
"Uuuhh, anyways, what do you plan to do next?" Maou asked as Emi looked away and up at the stars. Likely trying to hide her red face but also lost in her many thoughts and feelings.
"Despite my feeling towards you and your cronies, I feel like I'm obligated as a mother to take care of Alas Ramus or make sure she is well cared by you hellspawn. For now, I'll do my best to tolerate you guys but only for her sake, not yours. Otherwise, things will be worse if she doesn't have a mom or father to remember outside of stories by the other…" Emi, emphasizing her allegiance but growing somewhat quiet at the end, clarified as they continued their walk. Memories came back of the times her father spoke of her mother, and her wondering why she didn't have a mother while watching the other kids in the village. Of all the insecurities, this one was the most unexpected and painful one as she, now knowing her mother was an angel, wondered if she ever once tried visiting her or at least tried to contact her. That fact filled her with a deep rage and frustration but also sadness. But now, she has an oppurtunity to make sure Alas Ramus knows she has a mom to look up to and a mom that would be by her side.
"Besides, what kind of mother would I be if I didn't at least try to look after her? She's my daughter, it's my duty to be there for her." Emi gave a slight smile as she recalled their trip to the amusement park and how, despite her shock and focus on Maou, enjoyed the trip with Alas Ramus; she felt her heart filling with warmth and a deep satisfaction seeing her young daughter laugh and enjoy the world around her.
"I… I know what you mean. I kind of feel the same way too…" Maou could feel the hidden negative emotion Emi was radiating. Granted, it wasn't much but he could sense it nonetheless. Reading between the lines, Maou inferred that somepart of Emi was afraid of Alas Ramus following in her footsteps. From what he knows. It was safe to assume that the angel side, likely his mother since Lucifer never reported about fighting any Angels, left her early on. To some extent, he also shared similar feelings and experiences, recalling the two dead bodies that laid before him in the destroyed clan village: the fire all around him suffocating the very air, the stench of corpses littering his nose, the sight of blood over every piece of ground around him. The two familiar yet distant bodies of the people closest to him, taken away by death before he can even remember who they were.
"She… She won't go through what we've already been through. That's our duty as parents, to make sure she has a better life than us," Maou declared with a strange, resolved but sad confidence. The Devil king turned and continued to walk back to his castle. Emi, now regaining focus and realised she stopped in her tracks, looked over at the lone Maou walking away. That strange connection in her heart appeared once again. This time, she strangely welcomed the feeling and some of its thoughts; thoughts she'd never imagine having with him and Alas Ramus. Emi quickly dispersed said thoughts as she remember her duty as the hero, before failing as they kept reappearing. She started walking and quietly caught up with him, a red tinger decorating her cheeks as they quietly advanced towards the Devil's castle with a single thought echoing between them:
"A better life than us…"