Chapter Six - Dangerous whispers

It has become quiet in the cabin. Alas-Ramus is deeply and blissfully asleep, and Emi and Chiho have also gone to rest. Only Maou and Ashiya are keeping watch. Neither of them feels like sleeping. Ashiya sits on the couch, sipping a glass of wine and keeping a worried eye on his lord. In his humble opinion, Maou should be in bed, but he is careful not to call him on it. Knowing his king, he will hardly sleep at all tonight.

Maou stands at the window and stares out, as if he could summon the missing man with his mind alone.

"It's still snowing, Ashiya." Maou sighs deeply. "If it continues like this, soon we won't have any tracks to follow."

"If we don't find him, my lord, we will ask the local police for help." The words taste like ashes in Ashiya's mouth, but as much as they usually avoid contacting the authorities, the police are a good alternative when all other means have been exhausted.

It is the only sign of his own concern he is willing to show. After all, his king needs a strong loyalist at his side, someone to give him courage and hope.

"Maou-sama..." a small figure in pink flannel pajamas suddenly emerges from the shadows of the corridor.

Maou immediately puts a friendly smile on his face.

"What's wrong Chiho-chan? Can't you sleep?" he asks worriedly.

The teenager smiles wryly and shifts her weight from one foot to the other.

"Maou-sama... I..." she takes a deep breath and then it really bubbles out of her:

"Well, I just wanted to clarify that what Alas-Ramus said is not true. I have nothing against Urushihara. In fact, I like him very much. I consider him a friend... um, well, I just wanted you to know that."

"Thank you, Chiho-chan. I'm sure Urushihara will be happy if you tell him that. As soon as he's back with us," Maou adds more to himself.

But Chiho understands every word and she also hears the sad undertone. It sounds as if he's already given up. No, she shakes her head. This can't be.

"We'll find him. I'm sure we will," she assures him eagerly, then hesitates.

"Hm...Maou-sama," she clears her throat, suddenly very shy. "Well, I'd like to help you find Urushihara tomorrow, if I may."

"Of course, Chiho. Your help will be greatly appreciated. It's really very kind of you."

Pleased with the praise, she wishes them both a good night and then hurries back to her room with flushed cheeks.

Maou watches her for a long time and Ashiya gives him a worried look. He doesn't like the shadows that worry paints on the young face of his king, not to mention the grim tug at the corners of his mouth.

"My lord," he draws Maou's attention. "Please, sit with me for a moment."

Indeed, Maou follows his request, though somewhat hesitantly, and when he finally sits down next to him, Ashiya has refilled his glass and now hands it to him with an inviting smile.

And Maou, glad to be able to distract himself with something, anything, accepts it only too gladly.

Urushihara is awakened by an unusual sensation: someone is running their fingers through his hair. It's not the awkward stroking of small children's hands, so it's not Alas-Ramus, but the thoughtful sorting of individual strands of hair. It feels surprisingly good.

And then he hears a soft giggle. But there is no real amusement behind it.

"Well, you got yourself into some nice trouble again, hmmm?"

The sound of this voice makes Urushihara jump in surprise.

"Gabriel...?"

"Hm-hm," it comes back in that typical, slightly playful humming tone that suggests a false superficiality that has led many to make the mistake of underestimating the oldest of all Archangels.

Urushihara clutches his fingers in the cold snow in silent frustration. That his former mentor should find him in this position is beyond humiliating!

"Look at you Luci," Gabriel clicked his tongue reproachfully, and Urushihara could almost see his reproachful face before him: the aristocratic features so similar to Alciel's, in addition to the wine-red, serious eyes and the long silvery hair.

"Lying here all alone in the snow. All you had to do was tell them the truth. Then you'd be sitting in the warmth of your two square meters of private paradise instead of freezing to death here."

Two square meters of paradise. Yes, that's right, that's what he had called his computer corner in Maou's apartment, not knowing how soon he would be driven out of this paradise.

The corner of Urushihara's mouth twitches into a bitter smile.

Slowly, he opens his eyes, but of course, only the usual darkness awaits him.

He hears the typical rustling of the heavy fabric of a white toga and feels someone bending over him, spreading his great wings over him. Gabriel's wings graciously hold back the wind and falling snow; it is warm and dry under them, almost cozy.

"Tell me, Luci," Gabriel purrs in his ear, "which is worse? Freezing slowly to death in the snow or bleeding to death on a battlefield in the middle of nowhere?"

The battlefield. The memories flood back unbidden. His aerial battle with Emilia, how she plunged her sword straight through his chest, how he fell from fifty meters, how the pain overcame him just before he hit the ground, his impact punctuated by the bursting of his wing bones, on which he unfortunately landed, followed by more unspeakable pain and blood...

Reluctantly, Urushihara shakes his head - that is, he would if he still had the strength.

"How things repeat themselves, don't they? No one was looking for you then either."

That's right.

Urushihara felt the last spark of resistance dying inside him as he thought back to that unfortunate day when he realized that those he had considered his comrades for three hundred years, those he had allowed himself to like, turned their backs on him just like that.

That was far worse than all the blood and pain.

"It did hurt to see how quickly they had made friends with the humans, didn't it? How quickly they had forgotten you. They didn't even think about you anymore. You weren't even a footnote in their lives."

That's right. Everything inside him contracts painfully at this realization, and it's as if a great black hole is opening up to swallow him down. A blackness even darker than the darkness in front of his eyes.

"No one misses you."

No. Wait. Someone does. A small ray of hope flashes through him.

"Alas..."

"She's got Maou and everyone else, and she'll soon forget about you. She doesn't need you. In fact, she's much better off without you, because she's always fighting with her mom because of you."

Oh.

Yes, that's true.

"Poor Lucifer." Suddenly there are those gentle fingers in his hair again. "Was it really worth leaving home?"

Was it? He doesn't know. Right now he can't even remember why he left.

Exhausted, he closes his eyes again. He is so infinitely, terribly tired.

"I know." Gabriel's voice is a low, soothing murmur against his ear. And suddenly he changes from Japanese to the language of angels, and this secretly so missed melodious speech awakens in Urushihara such a great homesickness that for a moment his breath is caught.

"Quae omnia momento desinunt. Reviertere ad nos, Lucifer. Deus te exspetcant. Tu mama caret te".

But all this can end here and now. Come back to us, Lucifer. God is waiting for you. Your mama misses you.

Mama...

God...

Ignora ...

... misses him?

In one last great effort, Urushihara lifts himself to his knees and reaches for Gabriel's outstretched hand.