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the feeling of relief hit everyone hard once escaping the hotel finally, they had been stuck in there for days with no sign of making it out alive.
but luckily denji had did what he said he would do; killing the eternity devil and surviving, though he didn't make it out unscathed. his body was littered with scratches and bruises from the fight and he was both mentally and physically exhausted.
"we made it out..." denji's face held the first happy expression that anyone had seen in days. "we got the gun devil fragment and everything's cleared up. it's like that feeling after you a real big shit... feels like i'm walking on sunshine"
the blond boy's body suddenly began to fall backwards with no sound from denji, the exhaustion of staying awake and fighting the eternity devil for days was finally catching up.
erity was quick to catch his falling body in her arms, ignoring how himeno tried to catch him before she could. she felt responsible for his exhaustion.
"himeno do you have aki? we should get these two to the hospital soon." erity adjusted her hold on the blond, somehow getting him onto her back and managing to balance out his weight. "the sooner the better." her voice was more quiet this time.
erity stood in front of the door leading into makima's office with a furrowed brows. she didn't want to make a sound while standing there, contemplating whether or not she should really go in there. she would rather stay with denji while he recovered in the hospital, again.
a soft sigh left her lips as she straightened out her posture and left three knocks against the wooden door,
"come in." makima's voice was muffled behind the door, but it was loud enough for her to properly hear the older woman.
the girl did as makima said and entered the door, lightly closing the door behind her and only taking a few steps further into the room, unsure of what to do.
"you wanted to see me?" erity's tone matched her facial expression which was confused.
the red haired woman nodded at the girl and she gestured for her to sit in the seat in front of her desk, "come take a seat."
the young girl quickly sat down in the seat, not wanting this to take longer than what it would have to. erity wanted to be there for whenever denji woke up.
it was uncomfortable silence between the two who sat there and just looked at each other intently, it wasn't long until erity cracked under makima's gaze and looked away. losing whatever staring contest they had going on during that moment.
"i heard some things about what happened inside the hotel." makima began with a small smile over her lips, still staring at the girl in front of her. "like denji being the main target of the devil, but it was also you, right?"
erity only nodded her head in agreement, still not looking back at her. "yes-"
the older woman cut her off swiftly, "though that's not what i wanted to talk about with you." she leaned forward in her chair, leaning onto her elbows to get a closer look at erity. "your devil, zankoku, is it? it's been quite some time since you've contracted him, tamed him even.. and word has quickly gotten out about that. zankoku, the nameless devil being tamed by a young female devil hunter."
erity grew even more confused the more erity spoke about zankoku, not understanding what she was getting at.
"how do people know about zan?"
makima's eerie smile never left her face as she continued to stare at erity, "has he not told you before?" her tone was all knowing.
the girl shook her head slowly with furrowed brows, her hands now fidgeting in her lap. she could feel the weight of something heavy on her shoulders. "i... zan?"
"your devil, the nameless devil— ...the cruelty devil being his actual name, and i thought he would have told you that by now." makima raised from her seat and began to walk around the desk slowly. "i know you've heard about the existence of him before, right?" she stopped right behind erity's chair with a soft squeeze of her shoulders. "my precious erity having claimed the infamous cruelty devil..."
"that can't be true, makima..." erity's voice was shaky and her mind was racing at that moment, not wanting to believe makima and zan who were both speaking to her at the same time. "zan- you being the cruelty devil?? why would you be contracted with me then?! that doesn't seem right!"
makima squeezed her shoulders once more, "why doesn't he come out? tell zankoku to come out."
erity stood up from the chair with a push of the arm rests, her heading looking towards the wall on her right. "come out, zan. please."
though the room was filled from light from the still rising sun peeking in through the window, the wall had became dark and curtain covering the window somehow. a chill ran down erity's spine as she shivered where she stood with her eyes still on the wall.
and just like the sun previously peeking through the sun, eyes had began to form in the darkness of the wall; a piercing orange colored eyes along with a similar pattern to makima's eyes almost.
it was something erity hadn't properly seen in ages.
"erity..." his voice brought a small smile to the young girls face, she didn't even notice it. "you don't need to listen to her." there was noticeable hatred in his tone, "let me explain and not her."
she took a few steps closer to the wall and a memory in her mind appeared as she remembered the time he contracted with her. it was one of her happiest memories, the time that she was freed.
"will you lie to me?" her grey eyes stared back at the devil standing in front of her, forgetting that makima still stood behind her, watching them. "please don't lie to me, zan."
his eyes never looked away from the girl who only seemed to get closer over time, almost to the point where she was at arm's length away.
"what do you want to hear?"
"everything."
makima's face held an eerie expression as she watched the two interact freely with no attention paid to herself, her ears intently listening into their conversation. "...my precious erity."
