holy

xxiv

anger rolled off of eddy in strong, violent waves as he walked through the royal villages, feet stomping over cobblestones.

seeing his father again reminded him just how much he absolutely hated the man. and, it certainly didn't help that his father brought up brett.

he tried taking deep breaths to calm himself down, clenching and unclenching his fists, trying not to snap at bystanders.

it was easy to pick up on the whispered conversations around him, as people gaped in awe that the estranged brother of the king was in public, outside of the fire realm. the talk and gossip was the reason why eddy chose to isolate himself to one of the most secluded spheres of hell, to avoid judgement and torture humans in peace.

but unfortunately, in the aftermath of meeting with his father and lucifer, and without brett by his side, his temper was bound to be uncontrollable. so, when he heard a particularly loud snicker from the crowd as he approached the portals that would send him back to the fire realm, he couldn't not grab the man and snap his neck with a satisfying pop.

the sudden act of violence elicited a gasp from the people who had just barely seen eddy snatching the man from off the sidewalk and twisting his head between his hands. eddy was far from satiated, but figured that his brother wouldn't particularly appreciate him killing mass amounts of demon commoners, so he kicked the limp body to the side and stalked towards the portal, stepping through and leaving the scene.

•

when he arrived back at his house he was surprised to find that it was nearing midnight back in the city on earth, even though he'd promised brett that he would be home before nightfall.

guilt dragged at his heart and he scrambled to gather his belongings so that he could return to earth as quickly as possible. yet, it seemed as if there was a weight pressing itself painfully onto eddy's brain and pounding heart, throbbing with sadness and worry and something else. the anger had done a good job of masking it, but now that his temper had cooled, other emotions were taking hold.

this time, eddy could tell clearly that they weren't his. brett was hurting this way, he was just feeling the residual effects. it must have been far worse on the angel. as minutes went by, the pain got more and more unbearable, and eddy gritted his teeth to hold back tears as he threw his clothes in a bag.

packing had taken a lot longer than it should've, and it only made eddy feel worse since he'd be even later in returning to the angel. when he was done, his house looked more barren than ever, but he couldn't bring himself to care, at least not about that. he did, however, care about getting home, and soon.

•••

worry controlled the angel's mind all day, and when the sun sank behind the horizon, as did his heart. in a desperate attempt to fend off all of the darkness from the house, he turned on every light in hopes that it would make him feel safer. it didn't.

nothing was working, he tried playing music, turning on the tv, drinking water—it didn't matter what he was doing, his hands still shook and his heart still felt like it was going to jump out of his chest. anxiety clouded his brain, every movement of his shadow sent him flinching, and for some reason he was freezing cold.

eddy promised he'd be back by nightfall, but here brett was, alone, nearly three hours after sunset.

thankfully, the letters had ceased, as the pile of envelopes on the kitchen floor hadn't grown in a while. but brett couldn't bring himself to pick them up—there were far more important matters at hand.

where was eddy?

was he hurt? lost? had the devil done something to him?

no, right? eddy said that the devil was nice.