(13th July, 07:00, Waning Gibbous Moon)

Beast and the Beast

Chapter Thirty – Discovery of his Identity

(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

Sakai was inside the temple, in the room with the portal while she looked around for Mephisto, he was usually right in her face when she returned but now she didn't see him anywhere. He was probably lurking in the shadows, the only question was why? Another question was why she was returning when she didn't really want to; she didn't like being scared of two higher powers. She didn't like it one bit and here she was walking right back into the possibility of dying.

"You may pass." The voice came from the shadows and Sakai nearly jumped out of her skin.

She muttered a quick thanks and then went through the portal, she didn't like sticking around, Mephisto was a bit too weird for her to want to converse with anymore than 5 seconds at a time, perhaps it would've been easier if he remained in the shadows all the time.

A few seconds later she arrived back in Hell and started to look around, she wondered whether her companion had returned or gone on business, she decided she would ignore his advice and ask. With that thought of defiance in mind she headed straight for the first demon she thought was capable of speech beyond gurgling sounds.

"Excuse me?" She asked the creature that looked a lot like the pit lord from her first day, she had gained more confidence around the demons now and she knew it was because they never touched her or spoke to her aggressively; probably due to the fact that she stayed in the castle and none of them were allowed inside. She was labeled 'important' to them.

The demon looked at her, a look of displeasure on his face. "Yes?" He asked in his unnaturally hoarse voice, it sounded like he swallowed a few reams of sandpaper.

"Have you seen my companion? Has he returned yet?" She asked and realized that must've sounded bizarre because when she 'left' yesterday to go and get food he was still here and she was still a demon. "Mephisto told me he had left as well today, escorting someone." She clarified with a lie and the demon seemed to understand what she was talking about all of the sudden.

"Yes, Baal returned about 4 hours ago." He said and Sakai gave a nod of approval as she turned to leave.

"Thanks, I'll be-" she stopped dead and turned back to the demon, feeling the hair on her body prickle that she no longer had; but the sensation remained. "—what did you call him?" She asked softly and the demon looked at her oddly.

"Baal? The Lord of Destruction? The King of Hell? What do you want me to call him?" He asked in annoyance and Sakai stood rooted to her spot, not moving and for the time not even daring to breathe in fear of falling over.

"The man that you've seen with me a lot, the one that looks like a human and left with a mortal this morning? Are you talking about him?" She asked and the demon rolled his eyes.

"Yes, Baal, like I said. The one who lives on the second floor, just below the room of his brother, the one who brought you here in the first place, that one. Are we done?" The demon asked angrily as he didn't wait for a reply, instead just started walking away when she didn't give one immediately.

Even if she wanted to she couldn't, what was the point of speaking when you didn't know what to say? There could be no mistake in identity when the demon explained it so vividly. The demon who she thought was a nobody was everything.

She took a step back and didn't know in which direction to run, out of Hell or into Hell. She didn't know whether she wanted to confront him about his split identity, truth was, she had never known his actual identity so she couldn't call it a split identity.

She took a step towards the portal again and in one vivid explosion off white light her vision went black and she felt herself hit the ground hard.

x.X.x

"Sakai! Wake up!" A voice she had come to know well penetrated her mind and she closely opened her eyes, only to have a stinging headache assault her; she squeezed her eyes shut instantly but the headache wouldn't subside without a fight it seemed.

"Where am I?" She muttered as she still didn't open her eyes or try to figure out anything at the moment, she preferred to have the answers told to her.

"In my room, the demons brought you in and then informed me that you passed out close to the portal." He said and within a second everything came back to her in unreal clarity and she felt her heart drop through her chest; she had never imagined this, she had never considered the possibility that he could be the most powerful demon alive.

Perhaps it had all been a hallucination, perhaps she had passed out when she came out of the portal, and perhaps a demon had hit her over the head. Even if she tried to convince herself of that she knew it wasn't true, the truth was that she had been wrong in everything she thought.

"Baal." She said as she opened her eyes, stars dancing in front of her vision, but she forced them open and kept them that way; looking into the shocked face of the ruler of Hell.

"What?" He asked in almost as much denial as she did, but she knew his was an act.

"I just thought I'd call you by your name, considering I recently discovered it, and not from you." She said and continued to look at him attentively, there was no point in avoiding the subject; she wanted to get it behind her and uncover the truth.

"Is that why you collapsed?" He asked, averting his gaze from hers; looking towards the ground and ceiling, only now noticing a thick layer of dust covering the place once more; but he was too placid at the moment from shock to care what Diablo did to his room.

"Yes." She said truthfully as she looked at his half guilty expression. "When were you planning to tell me this?" She asked and Baal looked up at her, but once he caught the look of deceit in her eyes he looked away again, not sure why he was nervous of making eye contact.

"Never, to be honest." He said.

"Why?" She pushed and he shrugged his shoulders.

"I never wanted you to find out about this, but perhaps it is a good thing, you can at least rest in peace, knowing that my brothers won't harm you while you're under my supervision." He said and once more everything became clear to her.

Why he had been able to stop Diablo the other night and why he was never nearby when Diablo and 'Baal' got in an argument and flung out of the window; why all the demons had stayed away from them when they first arrived and why they still stayed away from her.

"That still doesn't explain why you didn't want to tell me." She pressed and he looked at her and shook his head.

"I don't know why, I just didn't want you to discover my stance in Hell; it's as simple as that." He said and it was the truth; he had never been able to convince himself of a rational reason beyond the fact that he didn't want her to know for a reason he still couldn't place.

"That's not good enough, but I guess I just have to accept your famous 'half-answers'." She muttered as she closed her eyes again, putting her head down on the pillow once more.

"Alright, but..." He stopped in mid sentence, wondering whether he should push the conversation further. "…but what are your feeling on this discovery?" He asked, deciding he might as well do it now instead of later.

She didn't open her eyes as she cracked a smile that he concluded wasn't friendly or positive in any way he could think of. "Feelings? Right, I'm a bit surprised, no, actually, I'm very surprised. I've been skulking around corners trying to avoid Diablo and the monster that I thought was Baal, the demon that made other demons turn sheet white and could control that colossal beast Diablo; even toss him from a window, twice." She said as took in a deep breath. "You should've noticed I was afraid of both of them, well, you and your brother; yet you fed that fear by keeping quiet about your identity." She opened her eyes and stared at him angrily now.

"How many times have I mentioned to you that I was afraid without using that exact word? How many times did I tell you that I didn't think you could protect me?" She asked and when he gave no answer she answered for him. "A lot of times; you know, I even kept quiet about Diablo coming into this room trying to kill me because I didn't want you to go and make trouble with the brother of 'Baal' for fear of your safety, while I put myself at risk of him coming after me again." She said with a disbelieving laugh.

Baal snapped his head up at her. "What? Diablo came in here? When?" He asked with a tint of anger in his voice that was only so miniscule because he was still in shock and suffering from slight shame at her accusations.

"Yes, when I was human he came in here and tried to kill me, or wanted to at least. I stood my ground and apparently that wouldn't have been a satisfying kill for him, so he left." She said and Baal was growing angrier with each passing second.

"You should've told me!" He snapped at her now and she gave him an icy glare that made him quiet down and look at her with anger that wasn't even directed at her.

"Yes, I wanted to, trust me. You were my only bloody life line down here, you were the only person protecting me while the rest wanted to kill me and I would've told you and I would've felt much safer if you had told me who you were. Because you had saved me from Diablo in the village I didn't want you to get yourself in danger again by confronting Diablo, the brother of the KING OF HELL, you!" She yelled at him and his gaze softened.

"You know, despite the fact that I didn't want you to know who I was for unknown reasons the feeling had enhanced once I got to know you better; I didn't want to tell you because I was afraid you would resent me for my stance in the mortal world, for my attacks on them and my power over everything you feared in Hell and loved in your world." He said as he looked her in the eyes again, her eyes looked less aggressive towards him.

"The only thing the absence of your name caused to me was fear of dying in this place because the only person willing to protect me was someone I thought was weaker than Diablo!" She yelled again, her anger was growing as well.

"And now with the discovery of who I am?" He asked calmly, trying to keep his own anger at bay, part of it was for her but most of It was for Diablo; he wanted to find him and confront him about the meeting he had with Sakai.

Sakai quieted down as she thought about that. "I don't know, I'm a bit angry and surprised still, just leave me alone for now." She muttered as she closed her eyes again, all the anger vanishing from her features with that action. "Let me rest and sleep on it." She said; when she closed her eyes again she felt the headache approach once more and found the idea of slumber very intriguing at the moment.

Baal stared at her and was a bit confused that the conversation ended so abruptly with his question but he wouldn't press it further, he had business with his brother that wouldn't be pleasing for either of them. "Rest well." He said as he left the room, heading straight up to Diablo's.