Elya Yalfre hadn't been seen in days. At this point, everyone had gotten so used to her unannounced absences that they answered Cobalt's inquiries with deep sighs and shrugged shoulders. The Applied Demonics teachers told him that they haven't been able to get treatment for students injured in their classes, and upon asking the Fallen's band of admirers, they all seemed pretty surprised by her sudden disappearance. Since their altercation in the courtyard, the school nurse had just dropped off the face of the planet.

Frowning, the Incubus checked his phone. Alison had sent him a text that morning.

Codebreaking taking longer than I thought. Still at it. You feeling okay bluebell?

The Incubus had deigned not to answer her, still annoyed at the human for what she put him through a few days ago.

Slipping his phone back into his pocket, Cobalt peered up at the teachers' apartment building looming before him. Normally, he would prefer to leave Elya by herself whenever she went off on her own, but now that he had all these questions burning a hole through him, he was desperate to ask the Fallen if she knew anything.

He frowned and dipped a hand into his satchel, feeling a heavy iron dagger clinking around within.

Besides, he had something of hers to return.

"Sure you don't wanna rethink this, kid?" Lilith asked carefully, sounding uncomfortable.

"I think I've thought about it enough," he said after a moment, heading towards the front door.

"She tried to kill you."

"That's... par for the course with Elya. I wish it wasn't, but..."

"Kid, don't give her that dagger back."

Stepping into the entrance hallway, the Incubus stopped in his tracks, perturbed by the Devil's insistence.

He pulled Immoderata from his satchel and weighed it in his hand, growing uneasy at the cold iron seemed to drain the very colour from his skin. This knife... he had no idea what it was or where Elya had gotten it from. His memory - as he was becoming more and more painfully aware - was completely shot, but he distinctly remembered the day she turned up at school with the blade in hand. First day of their third year, Elya showed up to homeroom with her hair slashed short and her posture completely changed. Cold-eyed. Flat-voiced. Twitchy and erratic.

Something had happened to her, and she had been attached to the dagger ever since. That day in the infirmary, at the start of the year, he had seen first-hand how she got whenever she wasn't holding it.

"Elya's got some sort of connection to this. I don't know if it's a comfort thing or something else, but if helps her feel more at ease, then I'm not about to deprive her of that," Cobalt said firmly, walking towards the stairs.

"Kid, seriously. That... thing... it's-"

"It's what, Lilith?"

The Devil went quiet for a moment.

"Cursed..." she mumbled in a low voice.

"What?"

"Never mind. Dig your own fucking grave, then you'll see my point."

Confused by the sudden outburst, the Incubus just shook his head and kept heading up, doing his best to ignore the uneasy feeling in his gut as those three names rang through his head, over and over.

Durnall Klarke. Harriet Mathers. Cherry Lattess.

Arriving at the top floor, Cobalt ventured through the corridors until he finally arrived at a door at the end of the hallway. Elya's name was inscribed upon a nameplate. Swallowing hard, he knocked upon it and listened for an answer.

But he received none. Instead, Cobalt heard a door click open behind him.

"Ugh. Had to be you," grumbled the voice of Martha Cain.

The grouchy Fallen was in a dressing-gown and was holding a bottle of vodka by the neck. Clearly she was winding down after a long day.

"I'm just here to see Elya, Martha," the Incubus sighed.

She snorted and took a swig from the bottle.

"Wouldn't advise it. This is the quietest she's ever been. Do you know how many nights that woman's kept me up with her screaming?"

Cobalt raised an eyebrow.

"What?"

"You heard me. Now hurry up and head home; I've got shows to catch up on," Martha sighed, stepping back into her apartment and shutting the door behind her.

He frowned. That didn't sound good.

Returning his attention to Elya's apartment door, the Incubus tried the handle. Surprisingly, it was unlocked. Growing nervous, he carefully stepped inside, closing the door behind him with his tail.

The Fallen's apartment was barren. The furniture, the décor, even the floorboards and wallpaper... all of it had been torn out, leaving bare concrete floors and stark grey walls. The curtains were drawn and the windows were open, allowing the freezing-cold wind to blow in. The radiators had all been dismantled off the walls as well.

"Elya? Are you in?" he called, slowly creeping around the dim apartment.

None of the light fixtures bore any lightbulbs, forcing him to feel his way around. He knew Elya wasn't one for creature comforts, but was she really comfortable in quarters that were this spartan...?

"To your right. Light," Lilith informed him.

Cobalt turned to face one of the only remaining doors in the apartment. It led to the master bedroom, and just as the Devil said, flickering firelight glimmered from beneath the gap. Taking a deep breath of frigid air, the Incubus carefully pushed it open.

It was clear to see where all the furniture went.

The bed, the kitchen table, the cabinets, chairs and side tables; everything had been moved into the master bedroom and smashed apart, whereupon the pieces of wood were nailed together into a bizarre, splinter-filled monstrosity that took up most of the room. Dozens of burning candles covered it, dripping their wax onto the walls and floor. Various random objects sat upon the snaking wooden eaves of the structure; items of clothing, stationary, and used tissues among other things.

"What the Hell...?" breathed the Incubus, gazing in wonderment at the strange wooden edifice.

"Is that a shrine?"

"I- I don't know..."

"Hey. There, on the floor."

Glancing down, Cobalt saw a tarp that had been draped over a large lump upon the cold floor. As he knelt down to inspect it, he was alarmed to see that it was gently moving, as though it were breathing.

"E- Elya...?!"

The Fallen was lying in a ball on the floor, her dirty coat wrapped tightly around her. She was asleep, but the erratic rise and fall of her chest told him that it was anything but peaceful. Concerned, he grabbed her shoulder and shook her awake.

"N- No, please..." she murmured, shivering at his touch.

"Elya, it's just me," he said softly.

Her eyes gradually peeled open, their emerald gleam intensified by the tears leaking down her face. Locking gazes with Cobalt for a moment, the Fallen gasped and scuttled out of his reach, knocking into the shrine behind her and scattering wax everywhere.

"Cobalt..." she breathed, drawing her coat tight around her.

"Elya, are you alright? You've been-"

"You brought it with you, didn't you?"

His eyes widened. Elya was staring right at his satchel, and the look in her eyes was nothing short of haunting. She looked exhausted. Shuddering, she held out her hand.

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"Just... Let's get this over with..." she said in a small, shaking voice.

Confused, Cobalt peered into his satchel. Immoderata lay within, handle facing upwards, as if it were asking to be drawn. He didn't know why, but he got an insidious vibe from the weapon.

"Don't do it, kid."

With shaking hands, the Incubus pulled out the heavy iron dagger and carefully placed it on the floor before the Fallen. She stared at it for a moment, the colour draining from her ashen-black skin as sweat began to bead on her forehead.

"I..."

The Fallen swallowed hard.

"... I'm sorry you had to see me like this..." she said after a moment, carefully picking it up.

Holding the dagger in both hands, she shut her eyes and took a deep breath. Straightening her back, a violent shudder suddenly rocked Elya's body, causing her cartilage feathers to rattle ominously. Taking another breath, she rose to her feet and stepped over to the shrine, kneeling before it with Immoderata grasped before her.

"I built this for you, my love," she said in her usual monotone.

She calmly gestured to the many objects lining the broken wooden displays.

"Your garb, your implements, even the refuse that you carelessly throw away... They're all here. Filling my chambers with your scent. With you."

Cobalt felt uncomfortable, but it wasn't because of what she was saying. It was how she was saying it. The change in posture, tone and attitude... he had seen it before. And when she turns to look at him...

Surely enough, Elya craned her head to stare at him with turbulent purple eyes.

Her eyes.

How...?

"And so you finally come to me of your own will, my love. That's good. I feared I would have to persuade you," the Fallen said, running a finger along her blade.

She took a step forward.

"Well, let's begin."

"B- Begin what?" asked Cobalt as he began to lose his nerve.

Elya slowly inclined her head.

"Making our child, of course. Today is not the ideal day of my cycle, but with enough effort, I'm sure we can ensure fertilisation."

The Incubus winced and shook his head.

"That's not why I'm here, Elya."

Her gaze darkened as her grip on Immoderata tightened.

"It was not a request, my love," she hissed.

The Incubus gritted his teeth. He knew how this was going to end; he had been through situations like this before. Elya would attempt to accost him, he would fight back, and he'd escape her advances by the skin of his teeth.

But he couldn't allow that to happen today. He needed answers.

He took a deep breath.

"Elya, I came here to talk," he said in the most confident voice he could muster.

She stopped in her tracks, her gaze burning into him. The Fallen frowned.

"... the fire in your eyes is reigniting. Like how it used to burn, but not quite so bright. Why?" she asked cryptically.

Elya's gaze darkened.

"Maybe it's the shadow standing behind you. The hooks of another deceiver buried deep into your soul," she added in a threatening tone.

In the back of his mind, Cobalt heard Lilith stifle a gasp. Unwilling to falter before Elya's threatening words, however, he stood his ground and cleared his throat.

"Let's just talk over dinner or something, okay? I have some questions I need to ask you," he said, straightening his back.

Elya swooned for a moment. As much as he hated feeding her delusions, he felt as though he would need to lead her on just a little in order to learn what he needed. He didn't feel good about it, but... Cobalt needed know who those names belonged to.

"Dinner with you, my love? I... had no idea you were such a romantic..." Elya said, holding a hand to her chest.

Wings shuddering, she peered up at Cobalt and smiled. It was as though she was unused to moving her face; the expression was stilted and unnatural.

"Allow me a moment to procure a fitting meal. I'll return momentarily."

Pulling open one of the curtains, Elya kicked off the floor and leaped clean out the window, spreading her wings and swooping off into the rapidly-darkening sky. Feeling his heart hammer in his chest, Cobalt turned his attention onto the shrine she dedicated to him.

"Now's the time to run, kid," Lilith advised.

He shook his head and rolled up his sleeves.

"No. I'm not running. I'm getting answers one way or another."

-----

Despite Lilith's admonishments, Cobalt remained in Elya's apartment as he waited for her to return with their dinner. He managed to pry a table loose from her shrine without collapsing the entire thing, as well as a pair of stools for them to sit on. Dragging them out into what was once the kitchen, he set the broken furniture up in the centre of the room, arranging a few candles in the middle for ambience.

"You're really going for the candlelit dinner look? Really?" asked Lilith, her voice tinged with disapproval.

"I want Elya to trust me here. She... thinks we're married. If I go along with her for now, maybe she'll be more forthcoming with that I want," he explained, carefully protecting the flames from the wind blowing through the windows.

"These names you're after... what's so important about them? I thought you were looking forward from here on out."

With a sigh, Cobalt sat down on one of the stools, almost losing balance as the legs creaked threateningly.

"... So did I. But it's starting to keep me up at night. Since we saw all those chains in my head, I can't shake the feeling that something's deliberately messing with me."

"I knew Incubi were unstable, but that certainly was a shitshow."

"Yeah..."

He sat in silence, staring into the flickering candlelight as he tapped his fingers against the table. After a few minutes, Elya returned, carrying something beneath her arm. Stepping into the kitchen, she stared at the table with wide, unblinking eyes.

"My love. What is this?" she asked.

Cobalt forced on a smile.

"Can't have a civilised dinner on the floor, now, can we?"

"... I suppose not."

Awkwardly sitting herself opposite the Incubus, she planted a bag of white rice upon the table, alongside-

- a live pigeon?

"E- Elya, what is this?" Cobalt asked, pointing at the dazed bird as it hobbled about the table.

"Dinner," the Fallen responded simply, cutting upon the rice bag.

A sea of white grain spread all over the table, scattering onto the floor and mixing with the candlewax. As the pigeon began to peck at the rice, Elya drew her dagger.

"Allow me to prepare our meal, my love," she stated, raising the knife.

"Wait! What are you doing?!"

"Preparation, as I said. We cannot eat while it still lives."

"Elya, I am not eating a pigeon!"

She narrowed her eyes.

"Why not?" she asked.

"I- I'm just not! I came here for a civilised conversation, not a live butchering!"

The Fallen frowned and glanced at the bird.

"So... you would grant this bird your protection?" she murmured in a quiet voice.

"If it means you're not going to kill it in front of me, then yes!" he cried.

Stabbing Immoderata into the wood of the table, Elya sighed and nodded. She reached over to the pigeon and awkwardly patted its head, violet eyes glinting as it cooed at her touch. It looked remarkably unbothered.

"... then let us eat," she sighed.

With that, Elya began to calmly eat the dry rice right off the table, not caring for whether it had touched any of the candlewax or not. Cobalt reluctantly followed suit, but after a few of the dry, sticky grains got caught in his throat, he discretely spat them to the floor.

"Elya. Do you remember much of when we were at school?" he asked, flicking some of the rice towards the pigeon.

"What does the past matter? It is our future that you should be concerned with, my love. We must begin to plan for future additions," she said calmly, swallowing a handful of dry rice like it was nothing.

No wonder she was so thin, if this was the only thing she ate.

"It's just that... some things are coming back to me. Names, mostly," Cobalt sighed.

"Names?"

"Yeah. Durnall. Harriet. Cherry. Do they ring a bell?"

Elya stopped eating. Swallowing hard, she slowly looked up at Cobalt.

"Tormentors, one and all. Each one made it their mission to ruin our lives, my love. And one by one, they were dealt with."

Cobalt blanched.

"Wh- What?"

"A meatheaded oaf. A pampered child of nepotism. And a woman claiming to be your friend. They were all rotten to the core. But they're gone now. There is no sense in discussing them further, my love," she continued, picking up another handful of rice.

The Incubus began to feel sick.

"Elya... what did you do...?" he asked carefully.

She shook her head, her violet gaze not leaving his face for a moment.

"I did nothing, my love. It was you who saved us from their clutches."

"What?!

"Durnall left the school on life support. Harriet threw herself from the Science building. And Cherry... she burned for her transgressions."

A cold sweat began to run down Cobalt's back.

"W- What are you talking about...?" he asked.

"Oh, but you were so gallant back then, my love! You were my knight! My faithful guardian! An inspiration! Even as they broke you in body and spirit, you found a way to deliver their hate back upon them tenfold! Eyes ablaze and teeth gleaming in the firelight!"

"I don't remember any of this!" Cobalt suddenly cried, growing rather distressed.

Elya looked him in the eyes. She looked... sad...?

"I know. I know you can't. Your fires were doused for your own good," she sighed, pulling Immoderata from the table.

A strange, terrified sensation washed over him.

"M- My what...? What do you mean? What happened?" he asked breathily.

"I cannot say."

Her words mirrored the very same thing she told him during the Summer Festival, last year. What was she hiding from him? What happened to him at the end of his third year at B.I.D.?

Clenching his fists, Cobalt stared down at the ground.

"I- I don't understand. Durnall and Harriet and Cherry... you say I hurt them?" he asked, voice tinged with disbelief.

She nodded.

"They got what they deserved. Durnall was simple; you broke his bones down into powder, just as he did yours. Harriet was more nuance - it took me time to discover your work myself. You took that harpy's poisoned words and turned them against her, and she couldn't live with the truths you told. Cherry..."

A cruel grin spread across the Fallen's face.

"... her punishment was a thing of beauty. Her torture left you broken down, like an animal. I did what I could, but she was a sly fox. What you had planned for her... oh, I only wish you could have fully carried it out, my love. It would have been glorious..." she mused, sighing dreamily as her disturbing words left her throat.

Cobalt clutched his stomach with a shaking hand. Nausea was beginning to set in.

"You took the collars and chains that she adored so much and you tangled her within her own fetters."

"E- Elya, stop..."

"You lured her out to the Sports Building, where I hid to witness your triumph."

"Elya...!"

"And once you had that bitch where you wanted her, you-!"

"I said stop! I- I don't want to hear this!" Cobalt suddenly cried, slamming his fists down upon the table.

Rice was scattered everywhere as the pigeon flapped about the room in a panic. Elya stared at Cobalt with her constant, unblinking stare, her grin still wide and gleaming.

"I fell in love with you all over again, that night. Even as the flames died and you were dragged away, kicking and screaming. I vowed to be yours. In body and soul," she sighed, clutching her face.

"I- I- I... I have to go," Cobalt gasped, staggering out of his stool.

"No! Can't you feel your passion reigniting, my love?! I can see it in your eyes!" Elya cried, grabbing his shirt.

Grasping the Fallen's wrists, he bared his teeth and pried her hands away. Surprisingly, he succeeded.

As she was pushed back, Elya sighed and sat back down, one hand raised to pat the pigeon's head.

"... very well. I can see you're working through it, my love. The shadow at your back. The deceptive whores all around you. But one look in your eyes confirms it to me..."

She grinned again.

"You will be mine forever, just as you promised me."

Shaking his head, Cobalt stormed out of Elya's apartment, gasping to catch his breath with every step. Lilith tried to get his attention as he ran, but he ignored her.

Maybe Elya was lying. Maybe she was saying all of that just to wind him up.

But why couldn't he shake the feeling that there was truth to her words?

Just what the Hell happened back then?