•Sinful and Sincere ~ Lucifer•

•4•

Robin's POV~

I sit at the bar, making small talk with Husk. He can't seem to shake the fact that I made a friend. He doesn't trust it. Though, he never trusts anything.

To be fair to him, this friend does so happen to be the King of Hell. Lucifer himself. But he doesn't need to know.

"No one in this pit is truely nice enough to just be friends." He argues.

"Yet here we are!" I counter. I've always seen Husk as a friend, when he lost his power the same way I did, we were there for eachother.

"I suppose, that's a point."

There has been something eating away at my brain. Ever since the meeting. Something I've never noticed before. I wonder if Husk is the same.

"Husk... you know your chain?" I begin.

"I know of it." He replies dryly, cleaning a glass.

"Does it have a key?" I ask.

He seems to think to himself, a hand on his chin in thought. "Do you mean in the chain itself? Because if that's the case, then no. Why'd you ask?"

I hesitate for a moment. Was I just seeing things? What if I'm wrong?... What if I'm right?

"I think my deal has a way out." I say bluntly before backtracking. "But no... surely not right?"

"Well, you're better off asking Alastor." He shrugs.

"Yeah, if I have a death wish." I scoff.

"It's worth a shot."

I finish my drink and I look to the cat opposite me. His eyes were full of sincerity like I've never seen from him before. I can see he has more to say, so I wait patiently until he decides to say it.

"Why do you care about your deal all of a sudden? You haven't since it first happened. " He asks.

"I don't know." I answer truthfully. "I saw a key in my chain when I was at the meeting and I suppose it refuelled the fire."

"Either way, there's no harm in asking. He likes you best. He knows you best." He suggests.

I nod, passing back the empty bottle and thanking him. I suppose that is the encouragement I need. I stand from the stool and wave a goodbye to my friend.

I begin my search for Alastor. I round every corner in my path and eventually, I bump into him.

"It's best you watch where you're going, my dear."

"Sorry, Alastor. While you're here, there was something I wanted to ask you."

"Ask away, dear, I'm sure I can answer any question you throw me."

I hesitate for a moment, I know he'll react badly to my words and I don't want to die... again. "I'm not sure if I'm remembering this right, but in the meeting today I saw a key in my chain. What does it mean?"

His smile widens unnaturally far and his dial eyes glow red. "What do you mean by that?" He asks, powers flaring making my chain fade in and out of being.

"See?" And clear as day, upon my chain is a key floating just outside of its respective keyhole.

He returns to normal, powers retreating and my chain disappearing. He straightens back up and seemingly thinks about his words.

"That is quite the conundrum, my dear. But there has always been a way out of our deal. I've never said there wasn't." He shrugs.

"And you never told me? You watched me have mental breakdowns over this, and you never told me?" I ask with aggressive sarcasm.

"If I did, there'd be no fun! I've had a decade of fun, you've had a decade of, well... torment."

"Sometimes I forget you're a cannibalistic sadist."