43 Chapter 43 - A Time For A Confession and A Time For Action

Caroline

I felt the warmth from Dante's hand seep through the doubt and anxiety I had about my feelings. And here I was with my head on his shoulders thinking about the possibilities of what we had. I smiled, thinking of the things that I thought I knew about love. Writing about it was one thing but experiencing it in its full bloom was another.

"I think of us as butterflies." His voice shook me out of my reverie.

I looked at the butterflies that were flying everywhere in the garden, stopping by to drink nectar and then resume its flight.

"This moment, this happiness, this glimpse of heaven. We've taken flight from the cocoon where we keep ourselves and we find ourselves here. I find myself here holding your hand, and the happiness is overflowing." His voice had almost become a whisper. "They are only here for a moment and we are blessed to witness it. The ultimate swan song of beauty."

Whenever he said something no matter how trivial, I felt the honesty and the vulnerability. "Which is why we should treasure every moment of happiness that comes in our lives, because soon all of it will come to pass"

"And all that's left are memories."

I faced him and I could see the sad smile on his lips. "Why do you like to torture yourself?"

He turned to me. His gray eyes, a cloud of doubt and joy. "I've never had something like this before." He seemed to be searching for the right words. "Someone to hold my hand, someone I am willing to give everything and it scares me."

I grasped both of his hands and I could see the color rise on his cheeks. "I can't promise that everything will be alright but will you please stay here with me and not wander off in the edge of darkness?"

This time, he gave me a genuine smile.

I was about to give him a playful poke on his cheek when I felt a sudden wave of dizziness and then I was gone.

Dante

My first thought was that she was having a seizure but when I saw Mephisto appeared behind her, armed to the teeth and looking exhausted, I understood something was happening.

"She'll be alright." Mephisto told me while breathing heavily. "Help me get her out of here before it arrives."

"It?" I asked stupidly, gaping at him.

"There's no time for explanations. Just pick her up and get her somewhere safe." He looked around, tensed and when he saw I was still seated with Caroline unconscious on my lap, looking like the sleeping beauty that she was, he shook me and slapped me on the face. "MOVE IT YOU IDIOT!"

I picked up Caroline and carried and we started to move towards the exit. Once we got outside, Mephisto stopped at the entrance.

"I don't know whats't taking it so long but it's going to be here in a few." He looked anxiously inside the garden. "Aren't there any employees in there? Or other humans?"

"Not that I remember." If I had to guess, Caroline had probably reserved the place for the two of us or business was just poor.

"Well, doesn't matter." He exhaled sounding tired. "Keep moving and get her as far away from here as possible. This is going to get messy."

I felt like I was in a bad dream that I couldn't wake up from. "What's happening?"

Before Mephisto could answer, a massive sonic boom exploded inside the garden which shattered everything inside. Debris and broken glass flew everywhere. I instinctively shielded Caroline with my body and in the process the veil manifested itself, its first appearance in the real world and I was thankful for it.

"Heaven help us." I heard Mephisto mutter.

From the ruins I saw the thing appear. It looked like a cross between Frankenstein's creature and a chimera. It produced a loud roar that reverberated around us, it sounded like something that came out of a nightmare.

"What is that?" I asked Mephisto.

"I'll tell you later if I don't get eaten by that thing." He looked irritated. "Get her out of here."

I hesitated, not wanting to leave Mephisto to deal with the creature but I also had no intention of putting Caroline in danger. One look on Caroline and my resolve vanished. I picked her up again and started to run towards safety.

Mephisto

The damn thing didn't seem to notice me. As soon as Dante left with Caroline in his arms, it started to move towards their direction. I blocked its path, using my daggers to create massive blades of concentrated air cutting its legs, stopping the Tainted on its tracks. It was caught off balance and fell to the ground.

*Stay down.* I felt the strain in my powers and knew that it was a matter of time before the pool which I draw my strength from would run out.

I did the most sensible thing, concentrated and sent a distress call. A telepathic impulse that would reach every demons in the vicinity despite knowing that most demons that roam in this plane don't really answer distress calls. I was desperate.

The Tainted rose from the ground and began to move again with its unnatural speed but this time it went charging in my direction.

*Good, I got its attention. Now what?* I was standing in the middle of the pathway, intent on blocking it.

Before it could get ahold of me with its massive arms, I leaped towards the air as it swung intending to crush me with its fists. I dodged the first blow but it was quick enought to swing upwards and one of its massive limbs connected and I flew a couple of yards before falling to the ground, a raven with a broken wing.

"Fucking hell." It started to charge again at me, the ground vibrating with its giant strides.

The exhaustion was getting to me. I felt like I was fighting for hours. The previous battle with the enforcers earlier and now this. *So this is what happens when you don't answer call-to-arms and don't join campaigns.*

I braced myself preparing to dodge its attack. But before it could come into contact with me, it stopped on its tracks. It growled in frustration. It couldn't move. Upon closer inspection, I saw why. A chainwhip made of obsidian were wrapped around its limbs, the same whip that had restrained Dante when he went berserk the last time.

Asmodeus was standing behind the creature, dressed up in a suit, his long dark hair held in its place by a pencil. His eyes, azure and amber were glowing with mischief.

"You're out of shape." He seemed on the verge of laughing. And then on a more serious note. "Where's Dante?"

"I sent him away with his muse." I replied looking at the thing apprehensively. "You don't intend to hold on to it forever, do you?"

"Of course not." He grinned. "We should get this over with before heaven sends their own to rectify the situation."

I felt the shift in Asmodeus's power. The sudden surge reminded me of a tsunami. He gripped his whip and pulled. The chain which had wrapped itself around the Tainted began to cut through it like butter.

In a flash, it was shattered into a dozen little pieces, like meat perishing in a meat grinder. It also served as a reminder why Asmodeus is one of the Seven Princes of Hell. Their titles weren't just for show, they were the symbol of power on which every demons answer to.

"A Tainted in reality, unreal." His voice sounded bored.

The exhaustion hit me like a train and I felt the weariness in my veins. There are still things to be done though. "How do we fix this?" I gestured at the damage within the area. The broken glass, the remnants of flowers and butterflies that littered the ground.

"We don't."Asmodeus said simply.

"So this is just another unexplained event in the course of human history?" I almost laughed at the sheer simplicity of it all.

"Let them wonder, let them ponder, in the end it'll just perish in the depths of the water."

And I thought with bitterness how blind and self-indulgent humans are and I couldn't help but smile.