The Beginning Of An End

Chapter 3

After my visit to the Devil's office, I had spent most of my time out of the spotlight as much as I could. That actually felt quite unnatural considering I was the type to always be in it. I spent most of my days in the casino, never leaving the castle walls in fear I'd meet Loki again. Maybe eventually he would give it up and I'd never have to come across him ever again.

I was sitting at one empty poker table in the corner and was drinking whiskey from a glass. I had my head leaned onto my hand while staring into the distance. Human alcohol was really good at going into the depths of your mind and wallowing in your despair. I was so lost in thought that I didn't even notice when someone sat at the chair near to me until they spoke, "You're really going to have to talk to me."

I got startled as I heard a sudden voice and then looked over to the source. It was Beelzebub. I sighed in relief as it wasn't someone with whom I had to pretend too much with. "What's up?" I almost slurred as it was almost the 15th shot of whiskey at this point.

"What do you mean what's up?" There was a bit of annoyance in his voice. Oh great, I was going to get a talking to. "You've been sinking more and more into depression! If that's even possible considering you're... well, you."

I slowly averted my gaze from nothing in particular to Beelzebub. "I can assure you, I'm not depressed." I could feel the temperature in the air rising which meant that he was getting more annoyed. If it weren't for all the other demons around, he would have grabbed me and smacked me across the face. And, honestly, maybe I deserved it.

"You've been drinking daily! Which isn't the problem, usually... But you reek of depression." He grabbed the glass from my hand and put it far away from me on the table. I remained silent as I didn't know what to tell him. There were many things happening yet it physically hurt me to open up. "Talk to me, please!" Beelzebub almost yelled out with a hint of an actual concern in his voice.

I exhaled sharply before I stood up, "Alright, come with me." Maybe sharing my troubles wouldn't be so bad. At least Beelzebub was the only demon who still had my back no matter what.

We both headed towards my office in the back rooms and I made sure to lock the door once we were both inside. The face that was usually quite stoic appeared to show some level of worry.

Beelzebub took a seat in one of the armchairs in the center of the room. I opened a liquor cabinet and offered him a drink and he readily agreed to it. I was guessing he expected this to be quite a serious talk - not that I wasn't showing hints of it.

I poured him a bourbon in a glass and gave it to him. There was another armchair across him with the table sitting between them. I took a seat and tried to find a way to begin. They said when you don't know where to begin from, it is always best to start from the beginning. But where was the beginning? So I started from the end.

I began explaining all about how Loki somehow barged through the veil in Hell and his surprise visit in my room. And then I mentioned our unexpected meetup in the fields in the human world and then I finally came to the part that had kicked me lower in the gutter.

During my ramblings, Beelzebub tried to keep a straight face but it seemed hard for him to contain the anger. And it was mostly because I didn't tell him sooner about it. Despite that, he didn't interrupt me at any point, he kept listening and pouring his glass with more brown liquid. This whole situation had me feeling the same so I understood him fully.

"..and I can't really grasp what these feelings are. I just feel utterly confused." I said as I finished the talk about the Devil situation. No one spoke for a bit after my last sentence and Beelzebub kept gulping down his drink.