"I know, why are you calling so late? Is everything alright?"

"I-uh-yeah. I just wanted to say… to say thank you. I've been thinking and I guess I really needed some closure. What you did to Olba was the best thing we could have done."

"Oh, ok. Well, I'm glad you're feeling better."

"Don't interrupt me!"

"Yes, ma'am."

"That's better. Anyway, I also wanted to tell you… sorry."

The word came out quiet, as if she could barely stomach the taste of it. Maou suddenly felt his tiredness fall away as he realized what just happened.

"Emi…"

"Yes," she sounded breathless, as if she couldn't believe what she'd just done either.

"What are you sorry for? You had every reason to hate me. If you had killed my father, I'd hate you too."

"But now that I know the truth…"

"I understand. I'm glad we were able to work together on this, you know? Figuring out the truth, dishing out justice where it's needed."

"Yeah…"

"And Emi?"

"Hmm, what is it?"

"I should apologize too, I know that Lucifer, Alciel and I haven't made things easy on you since we came here."

"True enough, but with all that's happened… let's just call it even, ok?"

"Sure thing," Maou smiled and slouched down against the door. Out the window of the porch, he could make out a few stars in the sky.

"Anyway, it's getting late. I'll see you tomorrow."

"No, it's actually early morning, you'll see me later today."

"Oh, God," Emi joked, yawning to punctuate the statement.

"Haha, it'll be nice to see everyone together again. We'll all be here around three-ish. Sound good?"

"Hmm, oh, yeah."

"What are you doing?"

"Hmm?"

"Why does it sound like you're falling asleep?"

"Because I'm tired… idiot."

"Well, in that case, I apologize for calling so late in the evening, I didn't realize we were so close we could fall asleep talking to each other on the phone," Maou mocked, knowing full well that Emi had called him.

"Shut up."

"It was nice talking to you too."

"Geez, I can't even talk on the phone without you antagonizing me," Emi complained, stretching as she lay on her bed.

"It's my job," Maou said tiredly.

"Yeah."

A long pause followed, leaving both pondering what they could possibly say to each other. In the end, they both settled with ending the conversation.

"Well, good night, Emi."

"Night, Maou, see you later."

"Bye."

"Buh-bye."

Maou hung up and looked out the window, his eyes far off as the stars were reflected in his gaze. The Hero had forgiven him… and asked for his forgiveness in return. A darker side of Maou knew that he could now easily take advantage of the Emi's trust, he could betray her and conquer the world. He could stockpile power until he was at his peak and use it to wash away the Hero and any who would oppose him. But why? Why should he? The fact that the Hero had forgiven him was astounding. Now that they had gone from mortal enemies to neutral parties, could there be more? Could they be friends? Maou felt a tugging in his gut as he thought of Emi. A strange pang of human emotion he couldn't comprehend, and in his heart he knew that when it came right down to it, he would never betray Emi. Never. After gazing at the stars and thinking about his human emotions for a time he stood and went back inside.

"My Lord, who was on the phone?"

"Emi."

"The Hero?"

"Yeah."

"What did she want? If she was bothering you to keep you from sleeping I'll have a talk with her-"

"No, she was just-uh-confirming that we're still getting everyone together today."

"That's all, sire?"

"Well, she also said that she was sorry for calling late. Honestly, Ashiya, you sound like my mother."

"It's my duty-"

"Yeah, yeah, yeah, good night, Ashiya."

"Goodnight, m'lord."

Maou fell asleep, and in his dreams a red haired woman danced before him. She was clad in what appeared to be a belly dancers dress with rips up the side to expose her long slender legs. Her blouse was see through with a white wrap obscuring her more feminine parts. She swung her hips and throbbed her bosom with the beat of the unheard music. When her eyes met Maou's, he woke in a cold sweat, his heart racing and his body shivering.

"Emi," Maou whispered to the darkness that surrounded him.

The following morning, Ashiya woke to find his King already awake and sitting at the table with a cup of strong tea cradled in his hands. Ashiya couldn't help but remember when Maou had just proclaimed himself to be the Demon King. He had often risen from his chambers and strode about his study, almost as if he had forgotten something important. In truth, his nerves had been on edge, as he was only then building his army for the assault on Enta Isla, and one wrong move would have catastrophic consequences.

"Is everything alright, sire?"

"Yes, Ashiya, thank you for asking," Maou replied, his voice little more than a hushed whisper and he didn't even look up to speak to his subordinate.

"Sire, I am most concerned for your health."

"Yeah, what's going on, man?"

Urushihara had deigned to join them, emerging from the closet.

"Oh, you're awake," Maou sighed, feigning interest.

"Surprisingly. I found it hard to sleep, I could hear you talking to Emi on the phone. These walls are super thin, you may want to think about that next time you have an intimate conversation."

"Intimate conversation? What is talking about, sire? Surely not about the Hero-"

"Her name," Maou said quietly, "is Emi."

"Er, right my lord, it's just-"

"Just that you've been acting weird. Even I'll admit that you not being here to support us would totally suck," Urushihara chimed in.

"Well, as much as I appreciate your concern, there's nothing wrong, in fact, things couldn't be better."

"So the Hero-"

"Emi."

"Right, she is… um… no longer hostile," Ashiya asked hesitantly.

"Not anymore, but we've actually been investigating some things. It turns out I'm not all the monster she thought I was. As such, she's decided to cut me some slack and we're now just sort of… indifferent towards one another."

"Sire, if the Hero no longer is in a constant state of distrust towards us, we could easily enact a plan to-"

"To what, Ashiya? To betray the Hero? To lure her into a false sense of security? No, I've thought of this, it won't work. She has Suzuno and the Church. But there is something else we can do…"

"And what's that," Urushihara said, his chin resting on the table, having fully emerged from his fortress of solitude.

"I want to befriend Emi. I want us to get her on our side," Maou announced.

"But there is no way she would join our cause," Ashiya said quickly, stating the obvious.

"No, I don't want her to fight against her own kind, I want her to know about the problems we Demons face and help to fix them. Ashiya, you know what it was like before we united the demons, there was chaos and disorder and we never even had an actual language. After we began to use magic and we learned to speak, everything changed! A goblin class demon became a King among demons and he, together with his four trusted generals ushered in an age of prosperity and unity for the demons. We created a culture, a society, out of several separate wandering tribes! We did great things together, and I think that if we could show that to Emi and get her to see the progress demonkind has made since the days of old, she might be willing to go to the Church with our demands."

"But Emi in nothing more than a pawn to the high members of the Church," Urushihara stated blankly.

"Maybe not, but she holds a great sway in the hearts of the humans. She could easily unite the populace of Ente Isla against the Church. She is the Hero after all. She is destined to stop Satan, Ruler of Demons and end the war. But what if stopping me doesn't mean defeat, but an accord? What if Emilia the Hero was destined to be the one who saves humankind by asking them to join societies with demonkind and, together, advance more than either could separately?"

Tears came to Ashiya's eyes and he knelt before his lord.

"Even after all this time, my lord? Even now, with Ente Isla feeling farther away than it ever has, you still have love for the ones whom supported your rise to power."

"Always, Ashiya, I will always have love for them. I will always want what is best for my kin, even if I cannot be with them."

"Then I support whatever it is you plan to do sire, and I wish you luck in convincing Emi. Speaking of whom, today is the day everyone is gathering, correct?"

"Yeah, I was going to get up early and go to the store and grab some stuff, you know, soda, treats, things like that, but I was sorta mugged on the way home last night."

"How much did they take?"

"None," Maou said defensively.

"Then what is the issue," Ashiya demanded, sensing a disturbance in the finances.

"Well, I spent all the cash I had on me on groceries for the guy. He had kids and I told him to get a job."

"So you wasted valuable resources on a mugger? Why didn't you simply destroy him, you have the magic," Urushihara said lazily, turning back to the computer.

"No, if we are to live in peace with humans, we must first learn to exercise restraint and mercy. After all, as the superior beings-"

"No, no, no, Ashiya, we can't think of them as inferior, the humans will despise us for it, even if it were the truth. No, we must acknowledge the fact that here, we are barely above the normal humans with our limited magic supplies and we must be responsible and careful of anything that happens, otherwise we will be held accountable by Emi and Suzuno. Think of this as a test, they will be monitoring us very carefully, and if we don't slip up, we may earn the trust and support of the human race."

"I see, sire. You intend to completely merge with the humans, but is that wise? After all the bloodshed…."

"Bloodshed or no, we demons can't afford to revert back into our old ways, we must keep moving forward. As I said when we first arrived, the fact that we have reverted to human form upon our arrival makes me believe we may only be human at our most fundamental core. Demons and humans may be made from the same cores and simply have different exteriors. Who knows, perhaps someday, after we demons have shed our rough exteriors, our kind and the humans could even interbreed."

"That would be rather hazardous, don't you think?"

"Urushihara? What do you mean?"

"Think, if Emilia the Hero is born from an angel and a human, what do you think a human-demon hybrid would be capable of?"

"Yes, well, that is all riding upon us being model demons and showing Emi our best side. Remember, she is the one we need to convince, so try to be nice, ok?"

"I'm always nice, it's everyone else who's a jerk to me."

Maou drank his tea, thankful to be talking and thinking about something other than Emi and his wide range of emotions toward her. Meanwhile, Ashiya began digging in the knife drawer.

"What are you doing Ashiya, you're not still upset about the cash, right?"

"While I am displeased with your actions, I suppose it couldn't be helped. I will withdraw from my personal stash of emergency money to provide snacks and beverages for the party today, seeing as it is a step that will hopefully bring us closer to the humans."

"Where's this coming from?"

"Well, we paid off the trackers, but then I was able to return the smashed remains and the one from Suzuno's sandals. I got a seventy-five percent refund and I used the money to start an emergency fund separate from the 'preventing-the-King-of-demons-from-looking-like-a-transient-bum-fund.'"

"As much as that stung, I'm glad you set aside that money."

"Of course, and I do hope you'll talk to Suzuno about getting her to finance a new mode of transportation. Dulluhan will be missed, but we cannot afford not to get a replacement."

"You bet, I was planning on asking her about it today, hoping that the party would put her in a better mood."

Maou set to work straightening up while Ashiya left for the nearest store.

"Urushihara, you should help. We need to pick up this mess."

"Why should I help?"

"Because," Maou growled, "most of this mess is yours."

"Oh."

"Ugh. At least pick up your garbage from around the computer, ok? I think I can take care of the rest of it."

Maou spent the rest of the afternoon before the party both cleaning and motivating Urushihara, who became so frustrated that he slunk back into his closet and hid there. Ashiya returned as Mao finished picking up.

"Sire, I've returned."

"Good, no one's here yet."

Maou and Ashiya unpacked everything, which turned out to be quite a bit.

"Good haul, Ashiya. I think we'll be set for some time, I can even take some to work."

"My thoughts exactly, sire, I know the sugar will keep you on your feet during a tough shift."

A knock on the door punctuated that thought. Maou checked his phone. It was three on the dot meaning that the person behind the door was-

"Suzuno."

Maou opened the door and smiled, letting Suzuno slip past him. She kicked off her sandals and sat herself at the table, carrying a large covered platter.

Another chapter in this fanfic... sad to say I'm starting to lose track of it, and my motivation is running dry, let's hope I can recover it.