Hell could be envisioned in various ways. It could take on the appearance of a shapeless cloud of demonic energy or be seen as a landscape of a melting inferno with lots of torture rooms across a field of lava. Demons could appear in the form and shape of every species or take a generic one. All of those aspects were decided upon by none other than the Demon King or Queen of that Kingdom.

In my case, my demon realm was rather medieval in aspect. There were castles where Demon Lords lived, villages and cities for the lower demons as well as numerous houses and torture rooms for the souls. Of course, each of those villages and cities were determined in shape and size by the mortal world from which it received its souls.

Throughout my entire existence as a demoness, thinking about love was nothing close but a taboo. Any attempt at harboring a positive feeling would result in pain and suffering for me. The reason for this was simple, as an angelion who chose the side of darkness and evil, for me, light was bad, and darkness was good. I felt at home surrounded by hate, destruction, sadism, and all sorts of sins, but the moment I stepped into the light, I would feel it burning all the way to my very core. It kept us demons in check and reminded us of our current path.

That was it, there was nothing else I could do to change my fate. No matter where I looked, left, right, down, or up, the result would be the same, my suffering and separation from my one true love. I could not bear the thought of it, but there was no other way.

The archangel would wait patiently for me to make up my mind, no matter how long it would take. Being in an area of near stopped time granted him the possibility to do so without worrying about returning to the heavens.

“I believe I can answer some of your questions, but I will let the demon answer the rest.” said Archangel Metatron, who appeared not that far away from us.

Light and love surrounded the angelic being from the High Heavens, calming down the demonic energies present in the world around us. The mortals would certainly resume their normal train of thought after our little scuffle was over, although, they would still have to bear the burden of the consequences of their actions while in they were in that state. A strong pure soul would never fall to the temptation of even the most cunning of demonic powers.

Looking up at him, I glared and then asked “Why are YOU here?”

“DIE!” shouted the rotten demon.

Alas, weakened, at the end of my breath, and with my host just a step away from actual death, there was nothing for me to do but go back quietly to the realm of demons. However, that very thought annoyed the hell out of me. It fueled me with rage and hate! I wanted to grab Severus by his smug face, sink my claws into his flesh and then bash him into the ground until there was nothing left of him!

But why didn’t I do this?

Because he won?

Because I had no more power left?

Power...

“Where are we?” I asked as fear rushed through every cell in my body.

I was afraid of the demon who appeared before me, I was afraid of what he might do to me. Unlike Syliar, there was something different about him, something scary.

“Outside.” Severus replied with a smirk on the tip of his lips.

As the dark fog cleared up around us, I found myself standing outside of the old apartment building. We were far away from the entrance, on the other side of the street, near the crossroads. Behind us and all around us were countless men dressed either in army suits, elegant black suits, or priest garbs.

Before I went to finish off those pathetic mortals who dared to interrupt my moment of pleasure, I checked back on Michael to see if he was safe. All I had to do was stretch my presence a little bit until I touched his, however, no matter how far I stretched it, I did not get a single reply back.

“What? No!” I shouted in absolute surprise and disbelief as I rushed back into the room.

There was no sign of him here. It was as if he had vanished from the face of the planet, but such a thing would have been impossible unless an angelion was involved, and I highly doubted it could have been a technologically advanced alien species that just so happened to drop by and kidnap him for their experiments. As for the mortals of this planet, there was absolutely no chance in a freezing Hell that they could get close enough to him without me knowing about it. Thus, what I wondered now was if I was dealing with an angel or a demon?

By nature, a demon should be unable to feel or share love. By pure definition, he was meant only to cause havoc, destruction, pain, and suffering to everyone around him. A demon was supposed to be the pure manifestation of evil, yet here I was, feeling nothing but love towards my Soul Mate and unable to take any sort of heinous actions against him.

If he were a normal human, I would have already begun to torment him in the most cruel and unpleasant of ways. Naturally, one would think of some sort of physical pain, but honestly, only a low type of demon could dare to think of something like that. Although capable of inflicting the most horrendous of physical injuries, nothing could compare to the pain and suffering caused by the pain of one’s soul.

As I stood there gazing upon the visage of a beautiful naked woman hidden behind only by the puffy fabric of a long bathing towel, her deep black eyes tempting me with a playful seductive gaze, I found myself unable to think, to move, or even say a single word. Was there even anything worthwhile to say?

That had to be a dream, a fantasy created by my weak soul and mind after being cast down on the very edge of insanity, yet it felt quite real. However, that was the first time in my life when I bared witness to such a gaze. The first time when instead of hate, disgust, and disapproval, I saw love.

“Michael?” she asked with a sweet honey-like voice.

Unfortunately, the pipes were clogged, the walls were smeared with dried blood and there was another unexpected sight. In the corner of the shower was another dead body, or at least what was left of it. It belonged to a middle-aged man who committed suicide by blowing up his brains with a gun. Guess his rotting corpse and disgusting sins were what added to the aroma of the place, but unlike his friend on the couch, he escaped my sight.

What’s wrong with me? I asked myself, seeing how I kept forgetting about various details.

Frankly speaking, it annoyed me.

That was a very pleasant... neighborhood, but not one in which I would let my beloved roam around unguarded and unprotected by my power. If he even so much as stepped out of my shadow, Michael would get jumped on by all sorts of hooligans. They would stab him, shoot him, hurt him in any way they could think of just for the simple fact that he was alive. I could not afford to let that happen. For that reason alone, I extended my presence a little further, making it known up to their very subconscious level that we were not a group with whom they wanted to mess with. It kept most of those rascals at bay, but others still dared to shoot a glare at us. As long as they didn’t act foolishly, I saw no reason in ending their pathetic little mortal lives.

Syliar led me through the alleys of that part of Tokyo, and I followed her quietly. Once more, I found myself in the position of being unable to say a single word. The only thing I could do was watch her back and swaying hips. I found it hard to believe it myself, but with each moment I spent in her presence, the more I felt entranced by her very existence. I began to feel my heart swaying in her direction, beating fast every time she spoke to me, but not out of fear. No, I wasn’t afraid of her, I was captivated.

While the path towards my new home was as clear as day for me, I did not take into account the means of transportation for getting there. By foot, we would need at least an hour or two, maybe more and flying was out of the question, at least for now. That left us with only one choice. I had to understand and learn the way human transportation worked. Luckily for me, the woman whose body I forcefully possessed knew her way around this human settlement called Tokyo. Thanks to her, I knew that in order to reach my desired destination, I had to first find a metro station. According to her memory there was one not that far away from where we were. Thus, without any further ado, we headed towards it.

The last twinkle of life in the human soldier’s eyes in front me brought a smile to my lips. That sweet idiot claiming to protect his country, yet so easily swayed by darkness and corruption. In his years of service, he killed more than he could have saved and yet he still dared to think that he did great. I laughed at him for he was nothing but a bag of meat. My blades cut deep and rend his flesh. Blood gushed out like a so delicious fountain. I stood in its path and let the delicious liquid cover me.

With my eyes closed shut, I could not see what was happening around me, but I could hear them… their screams of agony and pain as they got struck down one after another, no matter if they were part of the Yakuza or the JSDF. It made me wonder why they did not just flee from this place or called for backup, but then again, maybe they wanted to but never had the chance to do so.

Rather than thinking that this person came to save me, I thought that I was just the tasty morsel left for the end, to experience a slow, painful, and agonizing death just how everyone else in this world desired. After all, why else would they risk becoming the target of such powerful organizations?

I clenched my teeth and hoped for the madness to come to an end. Everything that happened to me so far was beyond absurd, yet I continued to live through it. Even so, I had to wonder, for how much longer would I still be able to walk upon this world?

A long time ago, when I was still a young and weak demoness, my mother told me an old something I never dared to forget: No matter the situation or the location, an archangel will never dare to lie.

I was constantly reminded that they never had, have, or will have a reason to lie to anyone about anything. They were entities of the Light who lived in a constant bliss devoted only to good and kindness. While it was very possible for them to do so if ever was so that they wanted and needed to, since the beginning of existence, all those who wore the wings of an archangel spoke the truth and nothing but the truth. Their strength, wisdom, and the very meaning of their existence gave them no reason to even try to lie in the first place.

When I was little, I could never understand why people looked at me with such hateful eyes, why they wished to harm me, and why they put so much effort into making me cry. Each day that passed by was nothing but a living hell for me, but I continued to march forward, still hoping, deep down, in my heart, that someday, maybe, I would find a little bit of happiness.

Even a small smile would have been enough for me...

There were times when I dreamed of how it would be to see someone showing me kindness. To offer me a gentle friendly pat on the shoulder or a loving embrace. I dreamed of how it would be like to have a friend to play and share various thoughts with. Unfortunately, I always woke up alone and surrounded by glares and words filled with venom.

I often found myself wondering how many humans on Earth went through the same things I did. What sort of nightmares did they witnessed or experienced so far? Or was I the only one among all the souls found in this world subjected to such tormenting suffering?

However, I had yet to experience the worst of it until that moment when I stepped through the front door of my family’s apartment.

I took off my shoes and noticed there were three other unfamiliar pairs there. I blinked surprised and wondered if we had guests. My parents often brought coworkers and friends to enjoy together the sweet aroma of some freshly brewed tea and a pleasant conversation. They could afford to do so because their guests did not seem to be the type to see any wrongdoing with how I was treated. Actually, no one seemed to care about my wellbeing and even when my brother brought his friends over, they did not hesitate to pick on me.

Every step I took on the cold damp sidewalk felt like an eternity. The drizzle covered me with small drops of rain, soaking me to the bone. I was cold, I was hungry, and my body hurt after being pushed down the flight of stairs back at school.

They all laughed at me when I fell. The teachers didn’t even bother to give me helping hand or send me to the infirmary. I just hoped I didn’t suffer anything worse than a bruise; I couldn’t afford to go to a hospital, or rather I was afraid that going there could result in much more serious injuries.

With every step I took, I dragged my weight forward, and while doing so, I remembered what a random old man once told me: “People are born with a certain luck, sometimes good and sometimes bad.”

The archangel showed me a gentle smile and then using his angelion magic, he transported us to planet Earth, the closest sapient inhabited planet from our current location. There, rather than showing my real self to these fragile mortals, I decided to take possession over the body of one of them. My target had a fragile mind that had been ravaged by narcotic substances over the course of almost a decade now. These drugs, which slowly killed her, made it impossible for her to resist my possession, although, to be honest, it did not matter whether she was healthy or not, I could even possess a saint if I wanted to.