“So, Phelia. Right?”

I turned to the human to study her for the… I knew not the number.

Over the last four tendays, I watched her. Here, in the shockingly bright but cold halls of the morgue. It was just me and her, always. Performing live autopsy after autopsy on those who had long been dead.

She was frail like most humans, and more, short and lithe. Hers was a regally gaunt face of sun-kissed skin and eyes like Mournlode that burned with an innocence that belied her position.

“Yes.” I nodded, despite her being fully aware of my name. So strange, humans were.

“Where are you from?” She asked, then quickly recanted by shrugging. A crude gesture while her hands were plunged deep into her partner’s ribs. “I mean, Vagua is a big place.”

‘Big.’ I chuckled to myself and did the same with my partner- shrugged with my hands plunged deep into his innards. For the last month and tenday, I’ve been doing the same to the cold flesh of these otherworldly beings to try and piece together the cause of their second ‘demise.’ It was… unsettling at first. But after the first few exercises, I realized how invaluable the knowledge was. So strange, creatures were. Both inside and out.

“I am from the Metallic Metropolis,” I explained, and knew she would keep prying, so I chose to explain further. “I am what you would call a cousin to Zarzok if I understand human relations correctly. Because of our natures, he was always ambitious. I was not. He wanted what many in the city wanted. To rise in station above, and power in the Hells below. But, he didn’t want to join any of the twelve demon families. He wanted to make his own and usurp the throne from one of the existing families. So he came here to grow in knowledge and strength.”

“And you followed him,” she both asked and said.

“I came to the Bodhi Tree because I thought he needed someone to heal him.” I corrected. “That was until I realized he didn’t. After that, I didn’t know what to do. I had no dreams of returning home; at least not yet. Nor did I wish to continue following Zarzok wherever he went. I was confused,” I said. “And then Amun made his offer. Shortly after, I saw he was a much better teacher than our instructors. And he’s a much more capable leader than anyone I’ve met thus far. I have the greatest chance of finding my purpose here. But.” I turned to face her innocent eyes. “I’m surprised you joined, Scarlett Bombyx. A noble who, if I understand correctly, was born a Druid. Yet, you joined a Devil’s Legions? Will you fight for him?”

“I fight for nature.” She cheekily smirked. Then scoffed in apparent disbelief. “Honestly, I’m surprised you hold on to such ways of thinking, Phelia. What when you’re aspiring to be a Witch. As it is in Witchcraft, Druidic Spheres are the opposite of common stereotypes. Nature is a cruel mother.”

“As cruel as those who dwell in Paradise?” I found myself asking and quickly regretted it. So volatile people could be. But Scarlett paid it no mind. However, it was more than just that. Indeed, Scarlett Bombyx of the noble druidic spheres agreed with me.

“Few things are, I’m afraid,” she said, melancholia deep in her voice. “A baboon will often steal a lion’s cub and torture it. Which seems cruel, until you see a lioness playfully rip a troop apart and leave it for the vultures. Bears often maul people to death, but only because their cubs are threatened or their territories are encroached. Animals are cruel because that’s what nature demands for their survival.

“But people.” She looked at me almost apologetically. “Sentient creatures. Everything from goblins to dragons often behaves the way nature intended. But they also kill each other over differences in appearance or behavior, gold, or whatever else they can think of. Or, as Amun says, because of the Abstract and the Absolute.” She finished with a tap of her ectoplasm-covered finger against her temple, which both did and did not explain anything.

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The Abstract, according to Amun, was the things that existed only in the minds of sentient individuals. Things like wealth, social status, borders, laws, governments; even good and evil. Things that were made real, only because the collective decided they were. But if at any time the collective decided against such things, they would come crumbling down faster than they could have hoped to build them in the first place. That was how fickle such things were.

As for the Absolute, it was somewhat self-explanatory. Those who held on to the extremes of good and evil or order and chaos were far more dangerous than any creature nature- or any of the Planes- could conjure. Those were the ones who committed atrocities and saw themselves as benevolent for it; all because they were thrown so deep into their beliefs that it became impossible to think otherwise.

“Sentients kill each other for survival, sure.” Scarlett continued after the seconds of introspection. “But more often do we kill each other because we believe in the wrong gods or in no gods at all. Or one set of rules or beliefs or lifestyles over the other. So quickly do we turn to hate. Each other. Ourselves, even. How shamelessly do we use anything to justify our cruelty. And worse, believe ourselves to be at the center of the realms. Above all in both morals and might.”

“You speak as if you despise sentients- yourself.” I chided.

“I am a sentient, yes.” She nodded. “But I was raised as a Druid. And so a Druid I am, Phelia.” She looked deeply into my eyes, telling me far more than words ever could. “Honestly, this is the first time I’ve been around so many people. Around so many different species. It’s so exciting!” She nearly jumped in place, only to regress to the brink of melancholia a moment later. “But, I also see what my family told me about civilization. It makes sentient minds abandon nature, both in the realms and in themselves.”

“I suppose we are the same, in that regard.” I soft-heartedly laughed. “I met some people with ties to Paradise back home and thus heard stories. It is no exaggeration when they say it is beautiful but the denizens are not. Fiendish but not, they say. Still, though, I’m surprised. I imagined you eager to return to your home after your time here.”

“Well.” She shrugged, her wrists still neck-deep in ectoplasm. “My family never told me they wanted me to return. Or that they wanted me to do anything really.” She shrugged again. “And… well, I like Amun. Drow and Devils were more myth than anything else to me, but he still goes against the stereotypes of his labels. I mean, now we know why.” She meekly chuckled. “But even before then, I knew I could trust him. So, when he asked.”

“It was only natural to say yes.” I nodded. “I see. However, I can safely say that, while I’ve heard little of drow, I have heard everything about the Nox. I can say Amun is closer to a devil than anything else. That’s hardly a bad thing." I quickly reassured her. "Still, though, I’ve never heard of or seen a devil making deals without writing out a contract. No one has. Ever.”

“Yeah.” Scarlett quipped after a short pause. “In that way, he’s more like the Archfae.”

“Fae?” I asked, hoping to glean more about the eclectic word.

“Powerful creatures from the Faewoods.” She nodded. “It’s where faeries and sprites and hags and most familiars come from. It’s a… strange place. Beautiful. But really dangerous!” She suddenly snapped her finger from the undead corpse to point it at me, flicking a bit of ectoplasm onto my blouse in the process. “Like, super dangerous! Creepy dangerous!”

“I can deal with creepy.” I huffed.

“Not scary-creepy,” she said, unrelenting in her gaze. “It’s a beautiful place. A very beautiful place. So beautiful that it's weird. It makes your mind wander, making you lower your guard to the dangerous creatures lurking within. Archfae are the most powerful of them. You have to be extremely careful with your words around them. They’ll take not just your soul and use it as a plaything, they’ll take your body, your name, your sense of self; anything. I was always told to do my best to leave if I ever found myself there.”

“Devils live for souls," I said, more to myself than to her. "It's how they grow and mature. It increases their station. It makes them smarter and stronger. But they cannot just take them. They have to make deals, and the person who makes the deal has to know exactly what they are getting themselves into. They must abide by the contract or suffer grave consequences. But there are loopholes. And they, like him, are experts in exploiting them. However, as he implied, he plays by different rules than his kin. So." I shifted to face Scarlett. "He’s... like a Fae?”

“Kinda?" She tilted her head. "I mean, he is honest, and Fae are said to never lie. And he makes deals or pacts or whatever using only his words like them. But Fae, particularly Archfae, often trick or deceive mortals with convoluted words. So… both?”

“The Devil of the Fae.”

I found myself shuddering after spouting out the title. It didn’t seem so ridiculous to my ears anymore.