Serris sat at Noth’s bedside, stroking the sleeping teen’s hair. She hummed occasionally, and sometimes laced her fingers through the now dark purple ends. A weary smile sat on her face, threatening to fall any moment. Sometimes it would grow bigger, but not for long. Her nonexistent heart was in absolute turmoil.

She wanted to break something. Anything. Sometimes she would look at her own long slender fingers and wish she could snap them. Perhaps if she was able to hurt herself then she already would have gone ahead and broken whatever bones she could reach, just to feel the satisfaction of them coming apart under her own hands. It was truly a blessing that she was tied to Noth right now, and wasn’t able to physically hurt humans, or maybe she would have already killed billions. She would have done it just like her beloved Noth used to before everything was reset, as the perfect homage to his memory. Maybe then she’d finally feel okay.

Serris knew the way the God-dess had broken and confined her; Give her this stupid and crazy body and then seal it where she can’t really do anything to settle her craziness down. The only way she could ever truly feel any satisfaction was to do exactly what the God-dess tasked her with. What a sick way to keep her in line... And since she had been so willing to tie herself to Noth, now she had no way to rebel if she wanted to keep her beloved boy safe and happy.

Ah, she really felt so pitiful.

~~~

It had been an hour since the two purple kids had left to solve the mystery. Serris was busy wallowing in her own regrets, when suddenly she felt herself being called. She sighed and vanished, rapidly reappearing amongst Noth’s graveyard in the greenhouse.

“You… You liar! I saw you!”

<...Huh? What? Yes?>

“I… Okay, I didn’t really see you, but I heard you for sure! I know you were there! You did something to Helt! I thought you said you couldn’t leave the greenhouse!”

It was strange for the little ashen girl to yell at someone like this. As far as Serris knew, the girl always acted like a doormat. How could someone who was always so sweet and mousey get so angry like this?

…This was a pain.

If she didn’t sort this out now, then all her time carefully getting closer to Ren would have been a waste.

And if Serris didn’t deliver with this girl, then the God-dess might just make her choose Noth instead.

A bitter taste filled the angel’s untasting mouth.

She’d do anything to win this little girl back if it meant protecting Noth… and she hated that it might have meant hurting her.

Maybe she was crazy and wanted to bring pain to everyone, but… not Ren.

What about the angel’s promise to her fallen sister?

What about making sure Ren was happy in the end?

Serris would have to grit her teeth and do what she always did.

It was time to talk around the issue once again.

This story has been stolen from Royal Road. If you read it on Amazon, please report it

Ren hesitated.

“Well I… Yeah, he was… But, but what about…! What about how you left the greenhouse?!”

Lies. Serris would lie through her teeth to Ren if that’s what it was going to take. It wasn’t the first time and it wouldn’t be the last. The little girl could only finally know the truth once it was already too late for her. It would all be as the uncaring and cruel God-dess above demanded. What hurt the most was that she was doing such a good job with her lies that the little naive girl was buying it all too easily. She immediately dropped all of her anger and looked absolutely ecstatic that she might have actually helped out her friends.

“Is it… Is it really true? This all happened because of me?”

Ren shyly looked down at her feet and beamed. The jubilant blush on her face made the angel’s heart wrench. She took hold of the girl and hugged her as if she were the most important thing in the world.

It amazed Serris that Ren couldn’t feel the way her hands were shaking. She would just have to count her blessings that this sweet little girl was just enough of a fool. Of course she was, she was a love-starved, insecure child. It wasn’t her fault at all that she was being bamboozled and used. Ren clearly didn’t deserve any of this.

Serris gently stroked her hand over the mark she was cultivating on Ren’s back.

She was almost halfway there.

All she had to do was endure until she’d finally collected them all.

If she was patient, then one day she would finally get free.

And if it meant the sacrifice of one small, innocent, forgettable girl, then so be it.

~~~

After sleeping for a while as Ren, Serris came back to Noth. She was like a magnet; Even if she tried to stay away, she would always come back to him. He was her bond, her other half. He was the anchor that kept her here, for better or for worse.

Noth.

Noth…

He was her everything.

She loved him no matter what, always.

She would never stop loving him.

In fact, the current her was made to love him.

No matter how much resentment she might grow over the fact that he was the reason she signed her soul away…

No matter how much she loathes this torturous life she’d been forced to undertake for him…

Serris’s love for him would outweigh all of it!

He would continue to be her lovable Noth, and she would continue to watch all of his struggles.

She wasn’t just doing all of this for her freedom, she was also doing it for Noth’s happiness.

All she could do was stick by his side, and hopefully when everything was all over... he could forgive her.

...That would be truly great.

Serris curled up next to Noth and went back to stroking his hair. It was finally purple instead of the dirty rusty colour that she’d disgustingly infected him with. As thrilled as she might once have been that she’d dyed him in her colours, the constant visual reminder of the God-dess’s shackles still hurt to see. At least he hadn’t been forced to drip blood from his hair tips all the time like she did. Now Noth had a beautiful and regal deep purple hue. It was working. It was finally working. With this old and ancient power in his body, Noth wouldn’t have anything to worry about should the God-dess decide that Serris was no longer any fun, and finally ended this stupid little mission. At least her lovely boy would be safe in the end, even without her... Even when the bracelet was finally taken away.

She laced her fingers with his, closed her eyes, and wished for sleep that wouldn’t come.

At least she’d gotten to get a little bit of sleep earlier with Ren.

Sleeping was so nice...

One day, when she finally got free, she would make sure to sleep for a long, long time.