See You in Hell

Hell and Earth

Ash reached over and took Christine's hand in his, intertwining their fingers together. Their connection spoke volumes beyond words; it was a testament to their unspoken love and understanding. They had built something strong—a sanctuary where they could be vulnerable and find refuge from the forces of Hell and Earth.

With a sigh, Christine leaned her head against Ash's shoulder, savoring the feeling of his warm embrace. Time seemed to slow down.

The quiet hum of the television gradually faded into the background as Ash pressed another kiss to Christine's forehead.

"I'm so grateful for you," Ash whispered, his voice sincere.

"Me, too," Christine replied softly. "I never thought I'd find someone to love me."

"I'm never going to talk to my father again after what he did," Ash said. Christine looked at him, and disappointment crossed his face, then resignment.

"You should." Christine surprised herself,

"You should explain to him that you're not coming back."

"He wouldn't listen. He doesn't... I mean, I don't think he understands what love is. Our family is very ceremonial. I only exist for Kerik's war training. I think when I decided on my gender, that's when he realized he liked me and wanted to keep me around. I think he always wanted a son."

Christine nodded. Ash never opened up about his experiences and his family's lore, so she was glad to hear it.

Ash smiled, "But they never needed me. I'm just the spare. I guess my mom liked me enough to bring me back when Kerik killed me."

"Killed you?"

"Here's something humans don't know," Ash started, "In Hell, you need to prove you're worthy of existing. You need to go through immense torture every few centuries. I think my surgery did that for them. Nothing phases me. Seriously, I can handle pain. At university, half my classmates were crucified in order to prove they had a right to be there."

"Oh," Christine tried not to gasp too loudly. She didn't want him to stop talking. "What about your sister?"

"She likes to kill," Ash shrugged, "That's why she's the head of the army."

"And she killed you?"

"Several times." Ash laughed, "My mom always had the healers bring me back, because I guess she liked having someone who could read. And she stopped because my mom had a vision that I was supposed to be on the throne. Only after she had that vision did everyone start treating me like I was worth anything."

"And your dad?"

"I'm scared." Ash admitted, "I'm scared that if I tell him I'm not going to do it, he'll let me be killed. And maybe my mom won't bring me back this time."

"Oh," Christine did gasp this time. The thought of Ash being killed was horrifying to her. She didn't even care about her own fate. She just didn't want Ash to be hurt.

"It's okay, mellilla," Ash embraced her, "I'm not going anywhere. And I won't let anyone hurt you."

_______________________________________________________________________________

"Father," Ash said, standing at the entrance to the throne room.

"Ah," Lucifer said, "Come in, my boy."

Ash tried not to roll his eyes. How could his father act so caring when he'd just tried to harm Christine?

"I want to make one thing very clear to you, Father."

Lucifer nodded. "And what's that?"

"Christine is not to be used as collateral. She's everything to me and I won't allow you to harm her again."