Shadows Between Stars

Three Of Hearts

How long had it been?

How many days had passed since Dain was sent here?

Surely, his punishment was almost over.

Would Dain even be allowed to return to Hell? Or would they send him back to Earth? Make her a bat once again and force her to live out the rest of his days in that form?

Did Dain even want to go back to Hell?

Thankfully, he got his answer sooner rather than later.

Mention that his punishment was only to last another year came in the form of a paper within the library, just like the one she saw on the day she arrived.

But Dain had grown so accustomed to the building she found herself in nowadays.

From the large study where he'd oftentimes have several books sprawled out on the desk, taking notes from each one.

To the tower at the very top laid his bedroom.

There were so many rooms for Dain to explore and adjust to suit his tastes...

After learning the building was an Observatory, used to admire the stars above, Dain had turned it into a home rather than just the building he was forced to live in as "divine punishment".

But part of him missed Hell, missed the routine of working for the Monarch.

But then again...

There was no more Monarch for him to work for.

That's why he was sent here in the first place, after all.

Dain pondered who the new leader was.

Was it someone she knew?

Perhaps it was the person who killed the Monarch in cold blood.

Dain shook his head at the thought, returning to the paper he was currently writing on.

'I find that my mind nowadays is crowded with nothing but wonder about the stars. Who created them? What was their purpose? When humans, demons, and such die...do they all become stars? Is the Monarch a star now? I want to know everything about the stars. I've spent these last few years doing nothing but studying all of the details about them, but I long for more information...so much more...I don't want to leave this Observatory. I wish to stay here for so, so much longer...Perhaps I could do something else deserving of divine punishment and end up here once again...or maybe I could talk to the gods and see if they'll grant me the chance to live here, call it my own...'

Dain's pen moved elegantly across the parchment as she precisely wrote each word.

Something he had grown overly used to doing, writing each and every one of his thoughts down oh so carefully...it eased his stress.

Granted, nowadays, there wasn't much for him to stress over...It's not like he had the crushing weight of expectations placed on his shoulders anymore...

He was just.

Existing within the Observatory.

It was the first time since the Monarch found him that he felt a sense of relaxation settle within his bones.

How long could Dain spend within the Observatory's walls until they began to drive him mad?

Somehow...

It was still better than being hauled up in the castle and forced to do the same routine repeatedly.

Granted, with every day that passed, the vampiric bat found himself missing the oddball demon he had grown acquainted with whilst he was working for the previous Monarch.