(18th June, 05:50, Waning Gibbous Moon)

Beast and the Beast

Chapter Twenty Four – Unexpected Discovery

(Please note this story has vast similarities to Beauty and the Beast, yet I claim no ownership over Beauty and the Beast, only my inspiration is stolen from the movie/book.)

x.X.x

About a hundred meters from the demons Baal stopped and turned to Sakai, she stopped in turn and looked at him; he examined her features and it truly seemed she knew of nothing. "Where have you been?" He asked her; that was the most important question to get out of the way.

"Out towards the rivers side, I fell asleep there." She lied, she had seen a river of lava when she had walked that far before she transformed. "I saw something that might interest you." She continued and Baal stared at her for a long while before speaking.

"There is a mortal in the castle; you're a suspect in this." He said and immediately he saw her face turn to surprise, was this all just an act or could he believe her that she had actually fallen asleep at the river of lava?

"I daresay she isn't in the castle anymore." Sakai said and Baal felt his body ripple with shock, she knew about the human! So Diablo was right! To think he had hoped she didn't, to think he had felt relief at her innocent demeanor! It was all an act!

He felt his anger boil over and his eyes turn a dark gold color again, humans, they were all deceitful! How could she act so innocent when she knew of the human and apparently the whereabouts of the mortal as well!

"What do you mean, where is she?" He hissed out angrily; he would kill the mortal and deal with Sakai accordingly, he didn't know what yet though.

Sakai looked towards the direction of the river and pointed. "I found her remains over there." She said and now it was Baal's turn to be shocked.

"Excuse me?" He asked and Sakai sighed.

"When I came back from the river I stumbled upon human hair and clothing; that's what I wanted to show you. I'm assuming it's the one that you're talking about?" She enquired and Baal took hold of her arm.

"Show me." He said and she gave a nod as she started to walk in the direction where she had transformed, she just hoped it worked; so far it seemed that he did.

x.X.x

Baal and Sakai reached the area that she remembered transforming and the instant they were close enough for him to see the hair and clothing he ran towards it. Stopping in front of the remains and picking up a shirt; he pressed it to his nose and smelled it.

"It is her." He said as he looked towards the castle. "So she was killed." He said as he dropped the shirt to the ground and turned towards Sakai. "Did you see any demons close to her remains?" He asked and Sakai shook her head.

"No, I only saw the clothing from a distance, when I came to investigate I found this." She said and Baal growled as he started to walk towards the castle again; Sakai following him silently.

"It's peculiar that there is no blood though; I realize food hasn't exactly been abundant in Hell lately but there is usually a scrap of flesh left." He said and Sakai shivered at the possibility of actually being eaten. "I am rather upset though that they did this, I did inform all the demons to return her to me upon finding her." He said and Sakai could only nod as she continued to follow him.

x.X.x

Once they were in front of the castle Baal turned to her. "I need to have a word with someone, you will go to my room and stay there until I instruct otherwise." He said and Sakai didn't like being held prisoner within a room, but she needed to rest in any case; she was tired as Hell.

"Okay." She said as she headed for the stairs; what was the point in denying him anyway? She knew he only got angry if she did and then he might drag her to either Baal or Diablo; she didn't want to think about either. Especially Diablo, she could only imagine in what state of rage he was since the cleaning cabinet event.

Once she was out of sight Baal turned to the demons. "The remains of the human have been found; unfortunately I do not know which one of you idiotic traitors found her so delightful as to only leave clothing and hair." His eyes darkened once more. "Though I can assure you the day I found out death will not even be punishment enough." His eyes turned normal. "On a brighter note, you are no longer required to guard the castle, begone." He hissed and the demons happily dispersed.

Baal turned towards the castle, he needed to find Diablo to call off the hunt as well; Diablo would not be happy that he did not get his revenge.

x.X.x

Diablo was in the dungeons again, tearing the crates asunder with his rage. "Where are you!" He yelled into the empty confines of the dungeon; where the Hell was the human that did this to him! He heard footsteps by the stairs and immediately swung in that direction; disappointment took hold of him as he saw Baal descend from them.

"Oh, it's only you." He said angrily as he stared at his brother. "Any news?" He asked in mild irritation until Baal nodded.

"Yes, the human is dead and Sakai has been found." He said and Diablo exploded in a flurry of clothing and human skin; a red bulk appearing almost instantly with his rage. Baal said nothing at the transformation, though he was impressed with how quick it had occurred.

"What!" Diablo roared until the walls shook, his massive shoulders heaving with each attempt to breathe; he felt like his lungs were constricted as he took the information in. The girl was dead? The girl he wanted to find so badly and kill was dead? It couldn't be! He hadn't even seen exactly what she looked like! He hadn't seen any fear on her face!

"Yes, her remains were found; it seems some of the demons disobeyed us and had a snack." He said and Diablo roared once more, Baal still said nothing; it was obvious Diablo was even angrier than when she had locked him in the closet.

Diablo continued to roar; he should've been pleased, being eaten was a horrible death and usually occurred while the victim was still alive so why was he so angry? Because he wasn't the one to kill her? No, it wasn't that either because he felt no pleasure at her death. He wanted to be able to see her and hold her captive; get information out of her and prolong her suffering until the end of time.

He roared once more as he realized the thing he had wanted most out of this was to look the woman in the eyes who had dared shove him into a closet and all he could recall was black hair. He wanted to see what had caused such bravery and destroy it.

"I'll leave you to vent." Baal said as he turned to leave, he would go check up on Sakai.

x.X.x

Sakai was in the room; debating whether she should sleep or wait for news from her companion, if she slept now and they decided to kill her she wouldn't be able to fight back; she would be a sitting duck.

Would they kill her though? Baal hadn't looked suspicious of her in any way, he had looked like he believed her and that was all that counted, he probably wouldn't consider that she was the mortal, not after the hair and clothing being found.

"Hello." She heard from the doorway and her head shot up immediately and she stood up from the bed where she had been sitting. Her companion was standing there, arms crossed and examining her from a distance; what was he trying to figure out?

She gave a nod instead of replying and Baal entered the room, walking to in front of her. "I thought you might've been asleep, I can't imagine you enjoyed seeing the remains of your own kind." He said and she gave a nod.

"There wasn't any blood or remains so I could stomach the idea." She said and Baal nodded as he went to sit on the bed as Sakai remained standing, too uneasy to follow suit.

"I know you do this in general, but try to avoid Diablo; he is quite upset about the death of the mortal and will, most likely, take it out on you." He said and Sakai gasped in surprise.

"Upset? Why? I would've thought he'd be thrilled." She said and Baal smirked as he nodded, leaning his back against the frame of the bed.

"He would've been if it was he who did it; she had embarrassed him in a way I don't think I should mention." Baal said as he sat upright again and now Sakai had the guts to sit down on the bed as well, though about a meter from where he sat.

"I see, I'll avoid Diablo." She said and now Baal got up and started to walk towards the door, before turning to her one last time.

"Good, though I would prefer if you remained in this room at all times; I will also be gone for a while on 'business' so the castle won't exactly be safe with the demons invading it again." He said and she gave a nod. "I'll probably see you one last time before I go." He said and then left.

Sakai sighed; great, so she was to be left alone in the castle with a bunch of demons, somehow that idea wasn't thrilling in the least.

x.X.x

Diablo had cooled down enough to have returned to his human form and had gone up to his room to get another cape; he would deal with it on his own time but he couldn't afford to get angry every five seconds because of a mortal that was dead and a demon that was a mortal sitting in Baal's room gloating about not being apprehended for her time missing that was very suspicious.

Baal had told him they were going to leave to find the portal on the outside world instead of in Hell as it was obviously nowhere they could see or find but it did exist.

x.X.x

It was about an hour later and Sakai saw as the door opened again and her companion stepped inside, for the first time in a few days did she get a good look at his once skeleton like face and was amazed; the white patches of flesh had now been covered with human skin or so it seemed; and there were more patches growing on his face. The hump on his back was barely visible and he looked more muscular or bigger; he didn't look like a skeleton anymore.

"We're leaving." He said and she gave a nod towards him as she stood up in greeting and farewell. "We'll probably be back in a few weeks." He finished and she gave another nod, that was a long time to be gone.

"Alright." She said as she lifted her hand to wave, but Baal cut her short by speaking again.

"I have arranged with Mephisto that you are permitted to leave Hell and find food to your liking once a week, I'm no longer holding you captive, if you wish to leave it's your choice; though if you do not return with 24 hours of leaving the portal you will never be able to return and Mephisto will kill you if you try." He said and she nodded.

"Thank you." She said and she lifted her hand and gave a wave now; Baal nodded as he exited the room, closing the door behind him and leaving Sakai to her own devices.

So he was allowing her to leave once a week, in hope she didn't escape? That was perfect; she could finally escape this Hell and find another place to live where she did not need to fear transformation. Though it would ruin her chances of becoming normal, she had a feeling she was growing attached to her companion and he must've also if he was letting her go, so what would she do with her newfound freedom?

"Oh my god!" She suddenly yelled as it struck her! She transforms once every second week! She could do it on the outside, go to a town, eat normal food and buy raw meat for her stay in Hell; well, probably steal it due to her lack of finances.

This would solve everything; she wouldn't need to conjure up excuses anymore!