"Lady, is that the reason you killed Bardock? For revenge?", I asked as we were returning home."That's different, Seraph. All the people responsible for that incident are already dead. Bloody Fall happened because people were careless. They underestimated what the enemy was capable of. That's the general story, anyway.""The general story?"She nodded, "Naturally, even the stratocracy needs to answer to the people sometimes. This is the story they gave out, weather conditions, bad luck, whatnot. Some officers were removed from their offices and laid off. I suppose that seemed enough to some. All those that died, like I said before, aren't coming back.""It seems to me that you think Iori was right", I looked sternly at her as we walked on."I do think so, in fact. Bloody Fall was a conspiracy.""Then, Lady, ", I asked, "Why did you kill Iori? You could have let him escape empty handed, couldn't you?""He killed the caretaker of that so-called bank, didn't you see? That person wasn't

"I felt alone all the time, there was nothing to turn to, no friends to listen...I thought I was drowning, stuck in an endless sea. On the very bottom...I found a friend. I met Lucifer." *****************"Ah, pardon me for my rudeness earlier", he went on as we we were led to our destination, "I assure you there isn't one aristocrat that speaks like that. I was told you'd be coming here but I needed to test things out to make sure you were who I thought you were."His explanation wasn't necessary. This familiarly named man, Benoit Valentine, led us out of that small inn and told us that he'd be leading us to where we were needed."I was told by your friend that you're a country kid, Seraph. Do you mind if I say that? I don't mean to be rude", his tone was entirely different now."This friend...how do you know him? And why are you helping us, anyway?", I asked, perplexed, although Prophet had confirmed earlier that

I can't remember how many years we wandered in that hell. We never slept, never ate, never drank anything. Knowing there was no death awaiting in this place, there was nothing to struggle for. Once in awhile, we'll come across something that looked bearable on the stomach and then we'd split it. But things like that were rather small and scarce, usually the carcass of a small animal, and a demonic animal at that. We'd cook it and share it between us. That would amount to one bite in months, and then we'd just move on from there.We encountered countless monsters and if this place wasn't what it was, we'd be dead a million times over by now. We had now grown used to things like that now though. We knew the right places, the right time to pass, to fight, to run. We were getting used to everything down there. We weren't aging, that's the only thing that wasn't happening down there. As the time passed, I felt like my skin was turning to the same rock that the whole place was made of. But

"Did you get into a fight?", the woman leaned down to check his wounds, "Again?!""Err...I...Mum...""Just stay where you are, I'm so sick of you", she went back in, leaving the little boy teary-eyed.He was clutching his muddy shirt, suppressing his voice, not to make a noise. Eventually the woman appeared, holding a box in her hand which she set down as she sat next to it."Come here", she grabbed the boy, "Why do you have to get in trouble all the time? You are always beat up like this, can't you understand how much of a bother that is? You need to learn to fend for yourself."She went on and on as she patched him up, "Goodness, how old are you already?! Do you think you can just hold someone's hand and go on? Grow up already, I get so tired, you have no idea. Why are you so weak?"Soon he was cleaned up, bandaged and in fresh new clothes."I...don't know...", he mumbled."What?""I...err...don't know...why I'm...um...I'm..."She sighed, "What am I going to do with you?"The woman

"If Lucifer doesn't want to go back, maybe he could just send the demons off and then come back to you, Prophet", I propose as we marched inside the castle."Impossible. Once I leave, there's no coming back", Lucy barely let Prophet speak anymore."Then...couldn't you just tell the demons to go away...there's gotta be a way, right?"She laughed."Yer like a kid!", she was all over Prophet...literally. He didn't seem to be bothered by it though."Well, I'm not saying anything", I retracted all my opinions, if it meant talking to her."Lucy, I think he's just trying to help", Prophet finally decided to step in, "Seraph, hell isn't close by, it could take an unending amount of time to lead all these demons back. That's why Lucy doesn't like her job. You can imagine just how boring things must get, doing the same thing over and over again."I nodded, uninterestingly. I was a lot more interested in the castle that we had just walked in. I had become used to the harsh environment in this he