41 Chapter 41 - Balance

I walked the streets of Cerulean City. The gloomy sky seemed to match my mood . I looked inside an appliance store nearby, the digital clock on the wall displayed it was 10:49 in the morning. There was a buzzing in the air, it was the summer festival after all and the city was famous for it. It lasted for a week and consisted of contests, parades and more. Events where they raffle expensive prices such as cars, gadgets, designer clothes, perfumes etc., these sort of things didn't really interest me, the sheep's indulgence to a world of vanity but they were one of the highlights of the whole thing.

Caroline wasn't going to meet me until two in the afternoon which meant I had time to kill. I thought about going back to the house but that didn't seem to be like a good idea. Asmodeus and Mephisto were always nowhere to be found in the morning. They've been busy as of late.

*Even hell must be celebrating the festival.* I thought.

Instead, I went to Caroline's fan cafe on mere impulse. The place was packed. Every table was occupied. I was about to go out when a familiar voice called my name.

"DANTE!"

A few tables away, I saw Angela waving at me, smiling. She went to me carrying a menu. "Are you here for lunch?"

"Yeah, but you seem to be pretty full at the moment." I gestured at the tables and the waiters who were busy going back and forth, taking and delivering orders.

"That's not a problem." She escorted me at the back of the cafe and towards the lounge. Inside I found Nica seated in one of the couches, typing away on her laptop.

She smiled when she saw me and it lightened my mood. "Hey Dante. It's been a while."

"Yeah, I've been busy."

"So I heard." Nica gave me a knowing smile, her pudgy hands was still on the keyboard. "Apparently, you were in the exclusive meet and greet with Caroline and Night Prowlers."

"I still can't believe it actually happened." I told her.

She chuckled. "Lady Luck was smiling on you a few weeks ago. Anyway, is the cafe still full?" She asked Angela.

"Not just full, we also have reservations lined up." Angela sounded exhausted. "At this rate, I won't be able to stream Caroline's album."

"I'm pretty sure others will make up for it." She pointed to the table in front of her and then at me. "You can eat here if you'd like Dante. I'm not a great conversationalist though so you'll have to pardon me for the awkward silence."

"That's fine." I replied and sat on the couch.

"What'll you have?" Angela asked me, notepad in hand.

"The regular." I told her at which she smiled.

"I guess you're still high with her eh?"

"You have no idea." I replied.

**

Nica wasn't kidding when she said she wasn't great with conversations. I wondered whether it was because I was of the opposite sex. She seemed to have no problem in talking with a large crowd when I first came here.

"I know what you're thinking." Her voice startled me. She was still focused on the screen of her laptop. "I just don't have anything interesting to talk about."

I kinda understood how she felt. "I understand. It's the same with me, or worst. There's just days that I don't feel like talking."

She took a break from her laptop and stretched her arms. "I always think it has something to do with my days in high school."

One look at Nica's size and I already knew what she meant. The world was cruel to people like her. "When I was in high school I used to think that the whole world was a playground. I just didn't give a fuck."

"You must've been one of the famous kids in high school." She sounded tired, probably not wanting to remember any of it.

"On the contrary, I was the outsider in the class. I never really wanted to fit in with the rest. I was the silent and rebellious kid. Nobody gave a fuck about me and I loved it that way." Thinking about my days as a high school student, I wondered how I even got to college.

"Words cut deeper. I remembered that much. They didn't hurt me physically, no. It was the writing on the walls, the whispers and the remarks." Her voice was strained, the sound caught in a river of unhappy memories.

"Yeah, well fuck them." That brought a smile on her face.

"Fuck them." She immediately covered her mouth as if someone might hear her.

"And here I thought you weren't up for talking."

"I guess I was wrong." We both laughed.

Angela came in a few moments later, carrying a tray of Caroline's Forevermore. When she had laid it on the table she left immediately. "No time for chitchat, this festival is going to wear me out."

I was halfway through my sandwich when my phone beeped. It was a text from Caroline.

*Meet me in front of the library at 2pm.*

That was all.

*Aren't you going to at least tell me what you're wearing?*

*I told you. It's a surprise.* She replied.

"A text from your girlfriend?" I heard Nica say. She was back on her laptop.

I smiled. "I wish she was."

**********************************************************

Mephisto

The fragrance in the air reminded me of a time not so long ago, the smell of one summer day. Caroline King walked out of the her mansion, wearing a disguise which would fool just about anyone who wasn't really looking. By the way she walked I could tell that she was happy and that was good news for Dante.

I had high hopes that he would succeed in his task. There are however a lot of complications with regards to the whole thing. Things that I'll have to deal with sooner or later but for now my job is to watch over Caroline King.

She rode in one of her company's unmarked cars which I presumed were use whenever their artists wanted to go out anonymously into the public.

I knew where she was going and I had no trouble getting there. Warping from one place to another had its uses.

I could sense that she was happy. There was something about the way she walked that made me think of a giddy kid going on a trip to a carnival fair.

She met with Dante in front of what looked like a glass castle in the suburbs. They talked for a bit, all the cliche things budding couples do. I recognized the place they were in, a butterfly garden filled with flowers. A little garden of Eden in a city of bright lights and apathy.

From my vantage point on a rooftop of the nearby food chain, I could see the genuine happiness etched on their faces. They were trapped in a world where only the other existed. This lack of awareness was also a wake-up call to me. They were both vulnerable.

**

They were eating their lunch when I felt it. A flicker of shadow at the back of my mind. I recognized it for what it was, someone repressing his presence.

*So Lucifer wasn't kidding.* It has been quite a long time since I've encountered agents of balance and none of those meetings went quite well. They were hidden enough that I couldn't get any vision of them, a skill they are renowned for throughout the centuries. But there was no need to find all of them. I wasn't intent on playing hide and seek.

I glanced at Dante and Caroline to check. They were happily lost in each other's eyes.

*Under normal circumstances, this would be easy.* I have to be fast, it's the most important factor. There was no time to guess their number, they felt my presence and I could tell that they would make their move.

And like a flash of lightning, the first enforcer appeared before my eyes. Wearing the traditional mask of anonymity along with the hooded cape evenly divided between darkness and light, and in his hands the trademark daggers of light and shadow.

He didn't pay any attention to me, despite knowing I was there, instead he rushed towards the butterly garden with determination.

I cut him off, having the advantage of being what I am, a demon, blocking his path. Without breaking a stride, he struck at me with his daggers, an overhead slash that meant to take me out in a single blow. Unfortunately for him, I was anything but human. His daggers struck my armor, breaking its edge and throwing him off balance. He landed gracefully on the rooftop I was standing on earlier. He gazed at me, a demon levitating in the air and I couldn't tell what he was thinking and I wasn't interested in what he had to say.

*It'd be troublesome if someone were to see this commotion.* Luckily, the festival had drawn most of the people away from this part of the city for now.

"I'm sorry I can't let you bother them." I knew it wasn't just him, I could sense there were other who were still hidden from my view. They were hesitating perhaps waiting for an opening.

"Fate has drawn that the girl should die." His voice was judgment personified. He brandished his dagger once more. "We shall live and kill and die in order to ensure it happens."

"Then you shall die in vain."