Hi hi!

I'm happy, I've finally got this story working!

I don't know if other people do this, but when I write, I usually start off with major plot points and start going, only to be stuck on how to combine them all later on.

But, now that I've gotten over the basic stuff, I feel that writing will become a lot smoother from here on in.

Amy: Look at you, becoming your own little story critic over here. Giving yourself golden stars and everything.

Me: I feel that I deserve it. I've grown a lot since my first big story.

Lilith: Ah, yes, it feels like it was only yesterday that you allowed your angsty teenage mind to take over and write up characters to secretly represent yourself.

Erin: I could have sworn that it was just last week that you completed another chapter filled with typos and nothing more.

Me: Haha, very funny, but if it weren't for me, none of you would exist, so shove it and shush it.

ONWARDS!

After a rather nice yet small lunch with Arc, Kuro assumed that she'd have a whole lot of time to do nothing. She had planned to go to her room and take a nap, maybe even see if she could catch Vanth and help the tiny demon girl to just calm down and relax.

Heck, she wanted to send a message through Marax to Shax to ask about the riot.

But, the moment she arrived at her room, she knew that she had no chance of getting any of that.

She was confronted by two guards, both of which looking as if they were guarding her room, which made no sense since she wasn't in there and, as far as Kuro knew, Corvus was somewhere in the kingdom doing who knew what.

The moment they both watched her, she knew she was in it for something.

"Apologizes, Lady Lilim." Guard #1 said, bowing politely, "But the King has wished an audience with you."

"Maybe we could do this later on in the day?" Kuro offered, as she looked for a way to buy time. The last thing she wanted do was to be trapped in the throne room once again. The last time had been more than enough, just the memory of how it felt to have the King's full attention was enough to make her knees tremble ever so slightly.

"He requests your appearance now." The second guard spoke up, voice stern and commanding. It sounded like he was talking to an ignorant child rather than a soon-to-be princess.

But,then again, it wasn't like she and irritating children had much contrast.

It took a second to decide between the toss up of bolting and going along willingly. Could they really catch up to her with all that armor on? But, then again, when she was caught, she'd probably be in deeper shit than if she had just gone along now and silently suffered.

"Lead the way." Kuro finally decided, following the two guards. Even if the castle was a hell of a labyrinth, she didn't like that she knew her way to the throne room and back.

As they walked along, Kuro twisted the ruby ring like mad, unable to do anything else to help the escape of all of this nervous energy.

Had she done something fucked up and forgotten about it? Cause, in all honesty, she'd do a whole lot of stupid things and forget since it was all second nature at this point.

Or maybe they had found Yoru and her connection to them.

The very thought nearly made her still where she stood, unable to move or feel her legs. It maybe would have been a small chance, but there was no denying that it was there.

She couldn't help but spiral from there. What if she was being led to her execution? Should she try to fight? Or maybe she should go with it, pretend not to be in on it and see if anything could be done to get out of a most possible cruel and painful death.

It was hell, she'd expect nothing short of excruciating when it came to "capital punishment".

While it all felt as if she had been standing there for hours, this all happened within a split second, only looking as if she had almost tripped over her own feet, nothing big enough to catch guard's eyes, as the three continued on.

Kuro could do nothing but continue to walk and twist her ring, hoping it was just her imagination going crazy. Surely it was the usual, her mind was going out of control. There was too much to think about in such a short span of time, or something like that.

She honestly couldn't really remember exactly what Vale had said, but she knew that it was something along those lines.

Finally, the two guards stopped, right outside the throne room's doors. The both took a door, opening it for her, which gave her yet another choice.

Go through the doors or run for it?

Kuro grumbled, ignoring the choices before walking in, hearing the two guards close the doors behind her.

As if she had a choice either way.

The only thing that differed from last time was the fact that Marax was in the room.

He seemed to be doing something important, maybe giving some sort of report, only to stop when the doors closed, the sound echoing down the hallway-like room.

Marax bowed, the only article of armor off being his helmet, which he held under his arm, "Lady Kuro."

"Sup, Marax." Kuro said, shooting him a grin, before bowing to the King, "My Lord, I understand that you wanted to see me about something?"

To this, the figure on the throne nodded, "Marax, you may finish your report after this meeting. You are excused for now, please wait outside in order to escort Lady Kuro back to her quarters.."

To this, Marax bowed, before leaving, taking a door off to the side.

Meanwhile, just like last time, Legion stood off to the side of Satan while Belphegor, for some reason, was sitting/lying down on the side, looking as if he were about to fall asleep.

All four of them stayed in silence, before the King spoke up, "What were your thoughts of yesterday, if I may ask?"

The question heightened her senses, the nervousness probably seen through her eyes and vigorous ring twisting, "Well, I never expected such an attack on the castle. They must have been very foolish."

"Or fairly brave."Legion murmured, but other than that, he stayed out of it. Kuro didn't know what it was, but there was something off about him. The way he stood, his whole posture and body language, it screamed nothing but victory, but to what Kuro had no idea.

"Indeed."The King seemed to muse, before turning his attention back to Kuro, a chill forcing its way down her spine,"Where were you during the attack?"

Each question felt like another nail in the coffin, "In the library. Arc and I were taken there by the guards during the attack."

"...Arc?"

"Oh, sorry, Prince Aranea." Kuro said, nearly forgetting his real name. Of course, the King wouldn't know the nickname, but after a while, it just became his name to her.

Once again, Legion seemed to grin for no real reason, before the King sighed, "I feared so."

"I'm sorry, my Lord?" Kuro said, now confused.

She took a step back when the King rose, two murky black wings rising behind him, "Do you know of how the capitol works, my dear?"

Kuro shivered, she thought she hated it when Corvus said it, but to hear it from the King in such a tone, she decided that Corvus wasn't too bad, "Not entirely."

"Then allow me to explain."Satan went on, now towering over her at the monstrous height of nearly 14 feet, his shadow casted down on what Kuro assumed was more than half of the throne room, "Here, we uphold tradition. One of these traditions is the bonding of demons, especially when it comes to demons of royal blood."

Kuro almost couldn't understand what she was hearing. Was this why Legion was laughing?

"More so, even if we are demons, it is strictly against the law for a soon-to-be bride to go around with another male. Specifically, when that other male just so happens to be the brother of your mate."

Kuro couldn't believe this. Both the fact that he thought that she and Arc had been...She didn't even want to think about it. And then, to top it off, he wanted to play the tradition card.

"Are you aware of the punishment for such a crime?"

"I do not." Kuro admitted, her ring nearly falling off her finger with how much she was twisting and pulling at it, "But you must know that-."

"The punishment is death, banishment, at best."

Kuro's eyes widened, as she was forced to gulp down her words, only able to utter a small "Woah".

"Indeed, child."While she was used to Vale and Shax calling her that from time to time, as well as Abraxas doing so just to see if he could get a rise out of her, the way that the King said it sent chills up her spine, a feeling that made it very hard to come up with any smart remarks.

"...I'm sorry to ask, but may I know what brought all of this up?" Kuro asked.

The low growl coming from the king was more than enough for Kuro to realize that now wasn't a good time to speak.

"You insolent child."

Just those words alone would have been enough to make Kuro thoroughly wet her pants.

"Such an action, if viewed by the public, would bring heavy amounts of shame to our royal heritage. While my chosen son has gifted you the chance of becoming his princess and queen, do not think that I'd ever easily allow a Rifter to overthrow how we work here. Am I made clear?"

"Yes sir." Kuro gulped. It took all of her willpower not to crumble before the powerful entity.

If she had a choice, she'd die, go to heaven, and go under God's wrath for the rest of her life rather than simply being before the angered king.

"I do hope that you understand what will happen if you are ever caught with Aranea again? While it would be a shame to find a replacement for my chosen son, it will be done if necessary."

"I understand." Kuro insisted.

Satan seemed pleased with this, as he sat back down, "I do believe that this concludes out meeting, Lady Kuro."

With that dismissal, Kuro quickly and calmly made her way for the door of the throne room, mind both busy and blank as she attempted to put that whole talk together.

This was going to be a rough day.

Once those doors closed, that's when Belphegor deemed it appropriate to be mentally present.

Even so, the entire time, the sin of sloth was easily catching on to how happy Legion looked, all the way up to when and how he was excused from the throne room.

"My Lord," Belphegor yawned, once the door behind the many closed, "What was the real meaning of this?"

It took a while for the king to formulate anything, looking as if he were thinking out his words almost too carefully, "...Do you not feel it?"

"It's hard to ignore." Belphegor admitted, stretching.

Ever since that first meeting, she had been a…peculiar specimen. Of course, he himself was too apathetic to question her, but he found that he didn't have to do much when all six other sins seemed to do what they needed in order for him to get the information that he needed.

She was like any other of his followers, almost sluggish. From the way she carried herself to that grin on her face, it all screamed inattentive.

But, something changed, no, more like snapped when she got angry.

Watching her defend the prince was such a jump from careless to sudden vigilant actions. It was as if someone had turned the light switch on for her, in more ways than one, "She does seem to have a certain... temperance to her."

"One that is both unnatural and unseen, for both your followers and demons alike."Satan finished, before holding his forehead with the arm resting on the armrest of his throne, "Something like that must be controlled and contained. She's a danger, whether she knows it or not."

"It doesn't help that we can't outright detain her for what she may see as no reason at all," Belphegor said, thinking aloud, "Is that the reason for our new blackmailing?"

"I'd prefer to think of it as damage control; or no, that's not the right word. Think of it as a sort of safety net."Satan insisted, "While Legion's little claim was something to be addressed, it was also a good masking for the real problem we now have on our hands."

"So, just to make sure that I'm on the same page of you, my lord," Belphegor said, yawning once more as he counted them out, "We use intimidation not only to make sure that she stays with Corvus, which is the least of our worries at the moment, but also to keep control over her?"

"As stated earlier, old friend, she has something no normal demon has. It is too early to tell, but I can feel a sort of force that comes from both her and her ring. Maybe it is possible that she holds an angelic artifact?"

To this, Belphegor nodded. It was not unheard of, ever since the war between demons and angels, there have been many cases when either a nobleman or a Rifter was found in possession of such an item.

The item was always different, but they all held the same power, the power of God himself. And even if they had been on the losing side, it did not mean that they had failed to defeat an angel or two.

Hence the appearance of angelic artifacts.

While there had not been too many sightings of such items and being how most if not all of them were locked away in the king's treasury, Belphegor was still humoring the idea. It did make the most sense.

"Or, and hear me out of this, my lord," Belphegor murmured, voicing his most ludicrous idea, "What if she is an angel?"

At the last word, Satan scowled, "You and I both know that would be impossible. It would be futile to try to sneak an angel into my domain, fore I can sense their kind. While there could be some traces on her, there is no way that she could be an angel."

"Furthermore, no angel can live down here for long periods of time. They'd go mad, especially one who has been alone for their entire stay here. If she were an angel, the only time that she could have gotten in would have been during the war."

"Which would mean that she's been here since." Belphegor finished, "Thus, no way that she is able to keep a level head."

"Exactly."

"...Well, whatever the case, we will be sure to keep a close eye on her." Belphegor insisted, looking around a bit, before whispering, "But, if I may press on sire, what do you plan to do with the traitor?"

"At the moment? All I plan to do is keep a close eye on Legion. He's been trying to overthrow me ever since we established a working system here, but where he lacks in loyalty, he makes up for in cunning and intelligence."

"And yet, he doesn't have enough intelligence to tell him that you've been on to him since day one." Belphegor sighed, shaking his head, "Makes me wonder why he's second in command while I'm simply your advisor."

"As I'm sure you're already aware, it is tradition."

To this, Belphegor nodded, before the King rose once more to his towering height.

"I am needed elsewhere; my queen calls out to me. I'm sure that you'll be able to keep yourself entertained?"

"There is no need to treat me as a child, your highness." Belphegor said, bowing politely as Satan went up in a vortex of black, leaving only ashes behind.

All the while, Belphegor shook his head. This follower of his, Kuro, made his head work overtime, which was something he did not enjoy.

Just what was this Rifter?

All the while during the walk back, Kuro had yet to speak a word.

This troubled Marax. Even if he didn't know her well, he knew enough to know that she didn't like silence. Every moment she'd spent around him, ignoring the moments when she needed to catch her breath, was spent with a flow of rather foul words spewing from her mouth.

So, to see her in such a state shook him, ever so slightly.

"...Are you alright?"

"Yeah."

Marax cringed. Even the way that she spoke sounded a bit dead.

It made him wonder, what exactly had happened to her during the talk?

The two walked on, Marax unsure if he should bring anything up. The last time he had to draw something out of someone was back when he was watching Lezabel, and that was a very long time ago.

Finally, it was Kuro to speak up, "When will you be able to go into the Rift?"

"The earliest will be tomorrow." Marax said, keeping his voice low, "Why do you ask?"

"I'd like for you to send a message to Vale for me."

Marax nodded, making sure that no one else was around, before asking, "And it is?"

"I would like a meeting set up and ready to go for some time this week," Kuro said, speaking quickly and quietly. It was such a deep contrast to what he was used to when it came to the younger demon, "It all depends on when I will be able to get out of the castle. Can all of that be arranged?"

"I'll see what I can do." Marax said, before finally coming to a stop in front of the door, "...If I may ask, why do you require a meeting?"

Marax was ready to hear that she just wanted someone to talk to. That she just wanted to have some comfort after going through such a meeting.

What he didn't expect was for her to look him dead in the eye, her own almost glossed over, "I plan to meet with them to talk about my escape."

To this, Marax eyebrow rose. Of course, it was something that would be blatantly obvious, but at the same time, "...I'm sorry to press on, but how would you plan to do that? I doubt that there isn't anywhere, in both the Rift and Limbo, where you could hide from the King."

Kuro gave him a shadow of a smirk, which only served to make her look all the creepier, "Isn't it obvious?"

"I'm not only escaping the capitol, I plan to escape hell. I'm want to be surface smuggled."

Shax was about ready to close up when a knock came to the door.

Vale ignored it, going through his paperwork, before Abraxas finally answered the door. Shax watched him open it slightly, peeking out, before bending down to grab something, "No one's there now, but whoever it was, they left this." Abraxas said, dropping the bundle of papers before Shax.

Shax looked it over, as Zagan walked down the stairs, ignoring the irritating rat that followed him.

"Sarlea, please keep it down." Vale murmured, the bags under his eyes evident to Shax, "I know that no one else is here, but that doesn't mean that we stop working." Sarlea scowled, before plopping herself down on a barstool.

Shax blinked, he almost saw Kuro there instead, about to demand a glass, only to turn his attention back to the papers, "Vale."

"What?"

"It's an execution request."

"You make it sound so formal," Sarlea murmured, as Vale walked over to collect the bundle of papers, "Why can't you just say 'oh, Vale, it's a kill order. Maybe we could make more money off of it'."

"Don't paint yourself a saint." Abraxas shouted from his side of the room, before walking over, Zagan able to look over Vale's shoulder, "Who's our victim? Who's our victim?"

"Someone interesting." Vale murmured, reading the paper over once more, just to make sure that he wasn't getting this wrong.

Of course, he was the only one able to read it, it was written in code.

"Someone's willing to pay a good price for the head of the head scientist in the castle." Vale murmured, before turning to Shax, "Does a 'Cresil' ring a bell?"

Shax nodded, "A long time ago, if I do remember correctly. Worked for Winter for a short time. So that's where he managed to escape to."

"Oh, now I really wanna kill him." Abraxas said darkly, the playful tone he used not enough to cover the venom dripping out of his mouth.

"They have his schedule here and everything." Vale murmured, before shaking his head, "I don't like this job, Shax."

"But it's something," Zagan argued, picking at his nails with a knife, before slapping Sarlea's hand away from the stache in his jacket, "We could use a job, and if it's our Cresil…"

"I don't care if you guys are in or not." Abraxas said, rising from his stair, "As soon as possible, I'm heading down there, and I don't care how, but I'm going to kill the son of a bitch. I'll go with or without all of you."

All Shax could do was sigh. Abraxas didn't get angry often, but when he did, it was with good reason, "We depart at dawn, tomorrow."

"I'm telling you, this looks funny." Vale pressed, only to sigh when he realized that, once again, he was being ignored, "When we get caught, I hope that they hang Zagan separately."

"What's that supposed to mean?" Zagan scowled.

"Dude, you're BO could kill an angel, no sweat." Sarlea said, snickering.

"Well, in that case, I hope that they never find you, and that you're left somewhere all alone." Zagan scoffed, shooing off the tiny girl.

"Well, I hope that you get killed by a unicorn shoving it's horn through your chest."

Once again, Shax had to rub his eyes to make sure that it wasn't Kuro standing there instead of Dajjal's ass-wipe sister, before going to help Vale set up communications.

Tomorrow morning was sure to hold some interest.

Whenever I write Sarlea out, I always think of a sort of demon version of Sombra. Oh, a demon skin for Sombra for halloween.

Get on it, Blizzard.

So, what do you guys think? I try to be open to suggestions for my story, so if you've got any ideas, feel free to leave them in the reviews! While I can't promise that it'll show up, I do appreciate it when readers try to help me out along with a story.

In my own personal opinion, the best kind of story is the sort of interactive ones, which is why I enjoy a lot of immersive video games. If it can tell you your story how you want it to be told, that just makes it better.

Also, just for reference to rules (since I know I might slip up and forget later), when it comes to hell, angels:

1. Are impossible to go by undetected in hell, since Satan would be able to sense them.

2. Spending too much time in hell would slowly deteriorate an angel, mentally as well as physically, in some cases.

That's all I've got so far, but if anyone wants to add, feel free to leave suggestions!

That's all I've got for now, I hope you all enjoyed, and I'll cya next chappie.

Till then, bai bai!