Artist Soul

The Devil is amused. Mephisto can hear the giggles echoing down the hallways of the Burning Palace. It's not a bad thing, but it's not good either. It keeps the Devil from throwing another one of the many denizens of Hell into the Inferno but it means all of the Devil's attention will be focused on the unlucky individual that has somehow aroused dwindling interest. He'll be called for any minute now.

"Mephistopheles!"

"Yes, D?"

"We have a deal to make."

It is a little boy who has caught the Devil's attention. He's covered in cuts and bruises, lashes and gashes. Mephisto cannot fathom how this wretched creature could even interest a dog, let alone his fiery Master.

"Boy. What is it that you want?"

The boy looks up, and his eyes send a thrill of excitement down Mephisto's spine. They're so dark and cold, hard as iron, but they're also shining with the tears that the child cannot prevent from welling up.

"I'll give you anything, just take away the pain."

"Then I suppose I'll take your heart. It is what's making you feel anyways."

"Do it."

oOo

It is with satisfaction that Henna wakes up with every morning. Almost. She has everything she could possibly want, riches, fame, influence, yet there's the tiny bit of her heart waiting for the right thing to come along. The eighteen year-old knows she's too lonely for her own good.

She gets showered, brushes her teeth, and swipes a bit of makeup on in a matter of a half hour. She dresses in a pair of skinny dark blue jeans and a gray cardigan with a white tank top underneath. Henna eats a quick breakfast, just a piece of toast slathered with lingonberry jam. Slipping on a pair of black Converses, she pats down her wavy red-and-orange-streaked black hair and heads out.

It is on her way to a meeting with her agent that she sees him. He's tall, dark haired, pale-skinned, amber-eyed, and he piques her interest, which is strange, because no one has ever really caught her eye. He is standing alone in front of the art gallery, the gallery which Henna's works are being featured in for the next two months. A thrill rushes through her when he looks up from perusing one of her best works, Artist Soul, and meets her eyes. It lasts only a second but a feeling she cannot name rises to the surface, and drifts back down after she breaks eye contact and rushes away.

oOo

It is emptiness that Xion feels every morning when he wakes up. He can feel close to nothing, he can create nothing, but he can destroy. It's the thing he's best at, which is why he has a job at the local mechanics shop, disassembling and melting down broken machinery. After graduating high school, he's spent the past two years becoming more and more dissatisfied with the state his life is in.

For reasons he can't explain, he's always felt jealousy whenever he walks by a display of art. He has no real opinion on it, but he has seen the awe they inspire and the respect artists have. He's seen that they have the ability to create, to make something, whereas he has none. He wishes he could be one. He has no real agenda when it comes to art, but when he sees the picture of the girl with flaming hair in the news, he knows he wants her to teach him.

Xion is in front of the art gallery showcasing Henna Ge's artwork when he actually catches sight of the girl walking on the opposite side of the road. He meets her black eyes, which spark with interest, before she wrenches her gaze away and speedwalks faster down the road.

oOo

Xion gets his chance to talk to her when she makes her rounds during the gallery's opening night. He doesn't have a lot of good clothes, but he has made the effort to clean up. He ends up wearing a thin black sweater and actually-clean-and-unstained skinny jeans with his Converse high-tops. He only gets a glance up and down before the people at the door let him in.