I stood under the warm water with Dark. I hugged him tightly as the water washed over us both. "I'm so glad you're not dead anymore." he chuckled. "Well that makes two of us." he replied. "What was it like...being dead?" "Awful...but I found out there's an afterlife...for demons. Still not sure about you." I shrugged. "It doesn't really matter to me anymore. I can't die." He laughed. "That much is true...as long as you don't enter a death match." "I'm a human, I can't do that." he looked at me sideways. "Don't be so sure. Look, I'm not getting into any death matches again...because if I die again, I am so fucked. I can't come back." I hugged him tighter. "If you're gonna hug me like that, at least get the soap off my back." he said. "Oh just turn around, idiot." I said, spinning him around. "Fine, be that way." he replied, rinsing off. I watched him for awhile. "Quit staring at me, creep." he said. "I'm sorry, I just missed you a lot." "I was joking.I missed you too. I missed everyone. I thought I'd never get out of there." "How did you?" he laughed. "There wasn't any way to escape, so I struck a deal. I had to navigate through hell without my demonic powers...I had to complete challenges...fight...it was craziness." I examined all of his scars and noted he looked way thinner than usual. "Yeah...I'm still a wreck. I have some fixing to do." He started healing his scars before my eyes. "God, it's so good to be able to do that again." he said. "It's so good to be able to do everything again." "How did you make it through?" I asked. "You're so full of questions. I just endured the physical and mental torment of hell for as long as possible...the blood, the monsters...it wasn't so bad." The thousand yard stare in his eyes told me it was awful. "Are you gonna be okay?" I asked, softly. "You're not okay right now." He looked at me. "That obvious, eh?" he asked. I just looked at him. "Are you trying to get me to cry or something?" he asked, giving me his famous half smile. "No." I replied. "But if you cry, I won't tell anyone." He looked away, chuckling. "I'm gonna be fine. No need for tears." I felt good hearing him say that, but in the back of my mind I still worried for him. Would he be okay? He seems a bit traumatized...like he's forcing himself to act like his usual self. "No (y/n)...I'm not forcing myself to act any type of way. I just had a rough last few days. I'm absorbing everything." I watched him wash his hair. "I still reek like death, don't I?" I hesitated, but nodded. "I'm gonna be in here awhile." he groaned. "So...are you on probation or something?" "Probation?" "Like...that deal you made...do you have to do certain things for awhile or go back?" "Nope. Just had to battle my way through hell in 48 hours or less. I also had to promise that I wouldn't enter a death match ever again. Hell, I did so well I got 3 wishes at the end...and one of them is for you. What are you gonna use it on?" "I dunno. What'd you use the other two on?" "Andromeda and Asmoday." he replied. "Elaborate." I said. "I wished for Asmoday to be restored to his former self, and for Andromeda to be tortured. I hope she winds up doing what Abraxas has to." "Which is?" "Push a boulder up a mountain only to have some hot chick push it back down." I made a face. "Yeah, sounds like a fun eternity. Seems fitting for Abraxas...dude was such a twat. He enjoyed smashing the accomplishments of others. He deserves every second of his punishment." I shook my head. "That's pretty intense torture." "It is though. Osiris is a creative fuck. I'm mean as hell and even I wouldn't have thought of some shit like that." "You aren't mean." I replied. "Not mean? Do I need to go over the list of shit I've done just because?" I cupped his face. "You're not mean. Face it." He stared at me. "I'm not mean to you." he replied. "I like you...love you even." I studied his face. "(Y/N), maybe it's hard for you to believe this, but I am not nice at all to most. You and a few others made it onto my good side." I kissed him softly. "Well, to me you're everything." I said. "Don't make me your everything. Put faith in other beings, too. Now come on, don't go getting all emotional and shit. Don't you wanna know how I killed two giant devils?" he winked. "Actually, I do." I said, handing him a bottle of body wash. "I used their size and stupidity against them." he talked about how they hurled spears that were ten feet long and could break anything at him. I got uncomfortable just thinking about it. He told me about climbing the high canyon walls all by himself. God, it made my body hurt just thinking about it. "How the fuck did you manage to do it?" "I don't know...I guess it was the desire to have moments like this one again." He's so sweet sometimes. I laid my head against his chest and felt him hug me tightly. "I have a confession." I said. "I'm listening." he replied. "I told Kobelle that you have parents." he tensed. "Um...what?" he asked putting distance between the two of us. "I'm sorry...you were dead and I thought that maybe she could get with your mom and they could bring you back." he looked at me sternly. "I told you...oh, Jesus, (y/n)..." "I'm sorry." He covered his mouth with his hand and swayed a bit. "It's alright. She's...she's slowly becoming one of my best demon friends.I mean she's no Circe, but she's hardcore. I like her." "She promised me she wouldn't say anything about it." "(Y/N)...people and demons have said things like that and said something anyway. I've gotta talk to her about this whole thing tomorrow...or maybe I should go tonight." My heart sank and he noticed. "I won't be long." he said. "I don't want you to go...I'm afraid you won't come back for me." "I'm not going anywhere. Remember how I said I can get myself out of anything? Well, it's true. I beat death. No one else has ever done that." He was telling the truth. "Alright." I said. He cupped my face and we shared a heated kiss. It was almost like the first one we shared. "Why don't you towel off and go lay on my bed? I'll be back before you know it." I looked at him before nodding and grabbing myself a towel. I heard him shaking like a dog. "Be right back. Text me if you start getting worried." I promised I would as I left the bathroom with my phone in my hand and one of his black robes over my shoulder.
DARK
Okay, okay, go find Kobelle...and just be honest. Hell, maybe she didn't even believe (y/n). "She believes (y/n) because (y/n) showed her photo evidence." I spun around and saw Kobelle standing right behind me. "Holy shit, do NOT do that." I said. "What? Scared?" she teased. "Yeah. I've had enough death and near death experiences as of late." "Now, what brings you down here? I figured you'd be in bed by now." "You read my mind, why don't you tell me?" "You parents are adorable, Arioch...and I think it's kinda cool. You've got something no one else down here can ever have." "Yeah...but please, don't tell anyone." "You don't trust me?" she asked, pretending to be offended. "Kobelle...Antie...come on...I like you, but this is some serious shit. You cannot tell anyone." She rolled her eyes. "As if I would. Look, your secret is safe with me. After seeing you beat death I'll admit I'm a bit intimidated by you." "I'm concerned about my mom more than anyone else. She can't live as a pariah. She's social...she loves kids...and flowers...and everything alive." "And your father?" I shrugged. "Not sure how he'd handle it." I replied. "I don't wanna find out though. The dude has been through more than too much." We were quiet. "I kinda thought he'd come over to your place with your mom. I was surprised he wasn't there." "He's been trapped without his demonic powers for about 28 thousand years. He should have gotten his powers back yesterday...and you can't simply teleport out of The Astral Plains...you've gotta swim most of the way, it's a horrible journey." her eyes lit up. "No way." I said. "No fucking way." "Come on, let's look for him. Another Kobelle and Arioch adventure. Sounds awesome to me." "Last time we had an adventure I fucking died. Besides, I have to go back to (y/n). She's scared shitless of me never coming back." Kobelle put her hands on her hips "Not intimidating." she wrapped her hands around my throat. "Come on, knock it off, that tickles." I said, pulling away. She gave me her best puppy dog eyes and I looked away. "Oh you're good at that. Too good at it." I looked back over at her. Yep, still making the face. "Alright, alright, I'll make you a deal since I've been making a shitload of deals lately: I'm going back to (y/n) tonight, and if by morning there's no signs of Asmoday, we'll go looking for him. Deal?" I asked. "Yes!" she said, wrapping me in a big hug. "Chill." I laughed. "Alright, goodnight Kobelle." "Night, Arioch." she replied. I disappeared home and found (y/n) curled up in my bed. "Are you awake?" she rolled over. "As if I would go to sleep without you here." she replied. I climbed into bed. "Come on." I said, patting the bed next to me. "If I don't invite you you'll just roll all over me all night." she rolled over to me and I hugged her tightly. "It's nice to not be dead." I muttered. "I like it when you're not dead, too....did you get buried alive?" I groaned. "No, now go to sleep. I just wanna put my mind at ease. I haven't slept well lately and I miss sleep...but wake me up in the morning. I wanna show you something else I've missed doing..."
