Chapter 139: Enemy in the Past

As Adrian sat by the fire, he relunctantly began to tell a few key details about his journey, but decided to keep most of the story to himself, in fear of their reaction.

"Well, to make a long story short, a man murdered both my friend and my mother. My friends and the rest of my...family...didn't want me to chase after him because of how dangerous he is, so I wound up breaking my ties and persued him anyway." James handed Adrian a bottle of whiskey, which he took a small swig of, and began to cough from how strong it was,

"I take it that's how you lost an eye?" John inquired, with Adrian gently brushing the bandage with his fingertips, taking another drink of the whiskey,

"Yeah...among other things..."

"This sonuvabitch have a name?" Adrian scoffed, taking yet another drink,

"...Zeus...he calls himself Zeus...of all things..." Adrian then chuckled to himself, drinking some more, which began to make James concerned,

"Easy friend. We got to share that with the rest of the gang," he lied in a whisper, really just wanting Adrian to stay somewhat sober. The young devil hiccuped,

"Okay man...whatever you say..." Adrian then fell backwards, snoring loudly. John shook his head,

"Clearly someone can't handle their whiskey," he said sarcastically. James sighed,

"Help me get him to the tent." Both Marstons, one gripping Adrians' shoulders and one gripping the ankles, hauled Adrian to the tent, dropping him inside, "He's pretty heavy, ain't he?" Commented James.

"Yeah..." said John, digging through Adrians' pockets, "...he really is." He then drew out Adrians' wallet, keys and phone, looking at the latter with curiosity, "James, you ever see anything like this before?" James took the phone from John, unsure of what to make of it,

"I don't know..." He then turned the phone over, seeing a large black button on the back, and out of simple curiosity, he pressed his index finger against it. The screen lit up, making them both jump, yet James kept his grip on the futuristic device, and slowly turned the lit screen towards himself, squinting his eyes for the only thing he had ever seen as bright as the sun, and after a moment of squinting, his eyes adjusted, seeing a colorful picture of Adrian, with both eyes, in some sort of uniform, and a beautiful red haired girl hugging him from behind, wearing a similar uniform but in place of pants she had a skirt so short it made his eyes nearly pop from his head. John then joined James in looking at Adrians' phone background,

"Wha...is that Adrian? And a working girl?"

"Nah, not a working girl...if I didn't know any better, I'd say they were both a couple...and not from around here." John then placed a serious hand on James' shoulder,

"Do you think Adrian is a government agent?"

"Fancy clothes, fancy technology, and a beautiful woman, all sounds like he is. But if he were, why would he be wandering the mountain trails, half naked, and with an uncared for eye socket?" John mulled over his answer, until he looked over to the passed out Adrian,

"Maybe when Dutch takes the rest of the gang on that bank heist, you and I can stay here with him, get some good and proper answers."

Sometime later...

Adrian, now sober, opened his eye, finding himself tied to a tree in a seated position, with John standing in front of him, weilding a bowie knife, while James sat a good distance away, keeping watch of the situation.

"Uh, what's going on?" Adrian groaned, still feeling the effects of the whiskey.

"Right now the rest of our group is off doing a job," explained John, "and you are going to start telling us who you really are." Adrian blinked,

"I told you, my name is Adrian Michaels-."

"Are you a government agent?" John interrupted. Adrian looked at him in disbelief,

"Are you serious? Why would you think that I'm-?" John held up Adrians' phone, and the young devil kept silent.

"Found this fancy thing in your pocket, and one thing government boys have in common is that they are big on technology...even though I have to admit this looks advanced even for them." Adrian sighed,

"You wouldn't believe me if I told you," said Adrian.

"You see, that saying right there, is the exact thing someone would say when they have something to hide," said John, bringing the blade of his knife close to Adrians' remaining eye.

"Hey, let's take it easy John," said James, approaching the two.

"No, James," began John, "If he's with the government, he will go back and tell them where we're all hiding. Then all of us will be put behind bars. Or worse, in a hangmans' noose."

"I'm not going to do either of those things because I'm not a government agent!" Stressed Adrian, "I never have nor will I ever be an agent. Where I'm from, the government wanted me locked up in a cage to..." Adrian stopped himself, and calmly proceeded to lie to his ancestors, "...to keep me alive for information, until they are ready for me to fall with my own personal noose."

"What info could be that important?" Asked John. Adrian shook his head,

"If I told you, they'll take you too." John stood up, turning to his twin, shaking his head skeptically. James shared his look, approached Adrian, and crouched down in front of him so they would be eye level,

"Adrian, I like you, but what you did right there lost you a little trust and respect," said James, indirectly telling Adrian that he saw through the lie. Adrian closed his eyes with a sigh in defeat,

"Okay...I'll tell you the truth, but you will most likely try to kill me once you do find out." John put away his knife, and replaced it with a revolver,

"I told you he was a government agent," John told his brother.

"Worse," said Adrian, "so much worse than any agent." This got both of the boys attention, and Adrian saw they were now both focused and listening intently, "...I'm from the year 2013, and I'm a devil." John and James both took a step back,

"You're the devil?!" Asked John in disbelief.

"No I'm a devil, not the devil," explained Adrian, "I'm just a lower class, the Devil King is...well, the king."

"Is there a real difference?" Asked James, more curious than afraid.

"Well, Sirzechs is the king of all devils, yet I am the lucky damn devil who...bedded his younger sister." James jaw practically hit the ground while John gave Adrian a look of skepticism.

"You did what?!" James asked, earning an elbow from John,

"C'mon James, you don't seriously believe this horse shit, do you?" There was a flash of red, and the two cowboys saw that Adrian had vanished from inside the ropes, and had reappeared next to the tree, rubbing his sore cold arms,

"Better believe it John, I'm as real as they come." The scared Marston then held up his revolver, ready to shoot, until James placed a hand on the gun, keeping it pointed away from Adrian.

"James, what the hell-?"

"Hold on John!" Said James, "He might be friendly."

"'Friendly?' James he said he is a devil!" Said John in concern.

"Yet we found him hurt, half naked and freezing in the snow. If he is a devil like many folks believed, wouldn't the snow just melt under him as a result of being in hell for so long?" Adrian then decided to cut in,

"Actually, I've never been to hell. I stayed on Earth my whole life, from birth to convertion to now." James raised an eyebrow,

"'Convertion?'"

"I started off Human, then when my friend was dying, I made a deal to save his life, turning me, him, and two of my friends into devil servants." James then looked to John, snatched Adrians' phone from his twin, pressed the same black button he had before, showing the photo of Adrian and the red haired girl,

"I take it this girl here is your master?"

"Was. Until she tried to stop me from killing the bastard who killed both my friend and my mom," said Adrian with a hint of distaste, "when that happened I had no choice but to leave, and that in itself is a crime for devils." John shook his head,

"Alright, that's enough! I've heard enough!" He turned to James, "You stay here with him," he said in a harsh whisper, making sure Adrian wasn't listening, "I'm going to get some help, and we are going to send him back to where he belongs." Then John stomped off without another word, leaving James behind with Adrian. The less scarred of the twins simply looked to Adrian, then gestured to a large tree stump, and the two took a seat,

"So...Adrian, care to tell me more about what your world is like?"

Two hours later...

Adrian and James were now heading back to camp to warm up, with the formentioned rubbing his arms hastily, not used to the cold.

"So this Zeus fella is just your dead friend from another time? And he killed your friend so there won't be another...Jessler?"

"Kessler."

"Kessler...which is also him...damn...this talk of time travel and world hoppin' is making my head spin."

"Tell me about it," said Adrian, "I damn near lost my mind in the last two worlds I was in..." Both of them stopped when they reached camp, seeing Dutch and his gang had returned, all bearing their guns and taking aim at Adrian,

"Dutch, what is this?" Asked James.

"John told us everything, about the Devil among us, bringing technology of the future to destroy the past," said Dutch, "and I can't allow it." The group then saw John walk up, closely followed by a man that sent chills down Adrians' spine, for he was dressed as a priest, complete with a black wide brimmed hat a familiar golden cross hanging from his neck,

"'Punish the wicked,' words to live by. Yes...wise advice to heed from a holy man." The world seemed to shrink around Adrian as the man tilted his head up just enough for his face to be barely visible; he saw the insane gleam in his eyes, and his tongue hanging out like a sick reptile, and Adrian spoke the priests' name,

"...Sellzen?"