Beauty and the demon LuciferXRin

Chapter eight- the towns people

I was there once again, floating in a murky void. Breathing deeply and calmly and my senses adapted to this new realm.

It was a sensation nearly out of a dream, the steady awareness that this was not physical, yet a mental barrier separated my body from this place. With time I began to adapt and slowly I opened my eyes.

The realm was no different than before, the shades of grey and black defined the horizon out in the endless void. As I adapted I began to shift around, sitting up and getting a better sense of my surroundings. I began to realize that I was truly alone. Before Mephisto has been there to greet me, but now it was just me in this endless void.

I wasn't sure for how long I was alone, without a direct train of thought to follow time seemed almost irrelevant. It could have been months or even days, that I was alone.

Until a soft ticking set in around me. Tick after tick I could feel Mephisto return to this realm. His power set in around me and from the darkness, I could see a form arise.

At first, it appeared to be a humanoid figure, tall and slim but with a clock hand protruding from the neck, but slowly the metal spikes folded into the torso. Slowly the silhouette began to shift, with a hat and cloak appearing.

As he slowly approached his presence was undeniable. Mephisto was here and looking strangely pleased. It wasn't his scheming grin but instead, what appeared to be an honest smile or the closest thing he could be to honest.

It seemed well-rested and at least comfortable in his form. The longer I stared the sooner I began to realize something, there was no sign of rot on him. It was only logical that he wouldn't, after all, if my body wasn't here then how could his?

But that only left more questions to be asked...

"I'm glad to see you made it here by yourself, I was afraid you wouldn't be able to find your way back" He sat down next to me, watching me with interest. "I am ready to answer your questions.

Right, my questions.

"What is this place?" It felt weird to speak, my throat stayed still and no air entered my lungs. I was hollow and yet I could still communicate with him.

"A simple question yet it has many answers. For your sake, I will grossly simplify. Put in the smallest terms that one can, this is a realm beyond the grasp of space and time. The human mind cannot process its existence, because its existence is a dilemma. It is a space of true nothing which only demons can enter, and only higher beings like us can enter without driving ourselves mad."

I nod.

It seems simple enough, even if it doesn't make sense I don't feel it needs to. Any attempt to try and dissect his meaning would be useless, so the nonsense answer seems the most understandable in a roundabout sort of way.

"How is Yukio?

"Your brother," Mephisto paused for a moment. "He has been feeding himself, he has kept your old apartment clean, and has taken good care of Kuro... As for how he is feeling I cannot say that for certain. You know as well as I do that your brother isn't fond of letting others handle his problems, and I can tell that he misses you dearly. But I cannot know for sure how well he has been dealing with his emotions."

I nod, taking more time to ask my next question. It's a hard one, and I need to keep myself calm or else I will break away from this realm, and I need answers to this now.

"Did you know the order was planning on killing me?"

This question seems to surprise him. His eyes widen and he pauses. "So they told you about that." He pushed his lips together, letting the question sit as he formulated a response.