I, Devil (a love story)

Chapter Thirty Nine: Meresin

I began to restore Fairyland as much as I could, keeping true to my contract to Lilith. I sorted items I found by their signature. If I found one rock somewhere in the Void that belonged to Fairyland, it was likely I would find another that was taken from roughly the same place. I found a rock, tree, and gas lamp that belonged to the same small fairy town. It was like sorting puzzle pieces by color. Sometimes I would find an insect, sometimes a mountain. A small part of me continued to insistently and perhaps forever search for pieces of an entire dimension til the end of time.

Yet it was only a small part of me and not my entire focus. I was willing to make the sacrifice because it seemed worthwhile. As far as I knew, I was the only one in the universe that could do it. I felt in time I could perhaps teach someone else, if they were willing to use the knowledge for rebuilding instead of further destruction. But it was difficult to find a being worthy of such trust.

In either case, I received what I wanted. I understood Wendy a little better, having visited her 'mother.' Wendy did not contain all the traits that Lilith did, but it certainly was the source of her creativity and magic.

"Who're you?" someone asked.

Suddenly, I was somewhere. I went from being nowhere-- literally inside the Void-- to being somewhere not of my own choosing. This was an unusual occurrence to an angel. Normally, we are the ones in control of the universe's scaffolding. We can be summoned, but I did not feel summoned. I was pushed somewhere, through a portal or something. It didn't have Azazel's touch, either.

I felt like I was on the edges of Fairyland, somewhere inside the dreamworld. It was a solid place with an open sky and grass. I do not normally use human senses, so I did not 'see' what was in front of me, I only felt it. I felt I was somewhere personal. I sensed a small home in front of me.

The human who demanded to know my identity was small and had many fairy-like qualities, I recognized her immediately. It was Wendy. I did not sense that she was angry with me. I was still in shocked that she somehow summoned me without directly summoning me. I had never been directly pulled from the Void before. I was only now realizing it was even possible. There had to be some flaw in the system I had yet to understand.

"Well?" she asked, insisting on knowing my identity.

"I'm the Devil," I said.

"Oh, I've heard that before," said Wendy.

"Have you?" I wondered, deflecting.

"I asked you a question," she pressed. "I'm wondering who you are. You've been following me."

"Yes," I said, keeping true and answering honestly. "It's what we do, it's what the Devil does," I said, knowing it would be hard to explain.

"Oh, temping me and such?" asked Wendy. It was then I realized we were standing in her dream world. It was her home, the place she traveled to when she dreamed. It was a small cottage, not unlike a witch's hut. It was small and quaint, not unlike her.

"It's complicated," I said. "But I haven't tempted you with anything in particular."

"Oh? Why don't you? Why not?" asked Wendy flirtatiously. I wasn't sure if she was joking. Then, I perceived that she winked. She winked at me. I could not believe it. I sensed no duplicity, no maliciousness from her. "Am I not good enough for you to tempt me?"

"Because I'm not here for that," I answered coolly.

"So what are you here for?" she continued. "are you with the other guy? The one on my front lawn?"

"I beg your pardon?" I stammered, not understanding what she was saying.

"First there's this one guy, now there's you. So, yeah... there is a guy claiming to be the Devil. I dreamed of him a few days ago. This ridiculously big guy. I believed him, I believe he's the Devil, and you are, too. He showed up on my front lawn, just like you, and never left. I dreamed about it, and it was so real... It blurred when I woke up. Have you ever felt like that? You wake up from a dream and you can't distinguish what is dream and what isn't. I woke up from this vivid dream and I just had the sense... I had the sense that this guy was living on my front lawn. Like an ex-boyfriend. Then, I remembered that I dreamed about him coming to me in this golden carriage pulled by all these... crazy zoo animals. I had trouble realizing it was just a dream."