Satan, January 19th

In Takahiro’s mansion, Satan stood alone at a party, leaning against the wall. He watched as the other party goers talked, some even screaming too, with the smell of alcohol and other illegal goods wafting into his nose.

‘I could’ve been home, reading a nice book in my room, or talking with Arsene or Nico. But of course, I just had to go to this party for whatever bullshit reason, or else, next time, according to Katherina and Takahiro, Araya gets it,’ Satan clenched his hand around the flimsy red cup, spilling liquid. As it poured out of the cup, dripping onto his hand and the floor, he rolled his eyes. ‘You want to hold death over my head to keep me as a friend? Fine, but I can trash your shitty mansion,’ Satan carelessly dropped the cup on the floor. Various ideas on how else he could trash the mansion popped into his head, but he quickly shook them off.

He sighed, his eyes falling onto Eris and Takahiro talking. An awkward smile plastered her face as he led Eris around, an arm over her shoulder. ‘I wish I knew how to at least help you, but I’m not sure. I’m sorry,’ he thought, as if Eris would be able to hear it.

Out of the blue, Katherina raced over to Satan, her head slamming into his stomach. Satan groaned, pressing himself against the wall, avoiding her touch as much as possible.

“Uh, Kathy… what are you doing?”

“What do you think I’m doing?” Katherina said in a slurred voice as she rose her head to look up at him, while swaying.

Satan mentally vomited, only saying aloud, “Can you please not? This is not comfortable for me, like, at all…”

Katherina immediately frowned, and straightened herself. “Shut the fuck up. I don’t want your excuses.”

Satan raised an eyebrow, before she yanked on the collar of his robes, and pulled him down to her height, aggressively shoving her lips onto his. Satan pushed her back by the shoulders, frowning and furrowing his eyebrows at her. The taste of alcohol lingered, making him want to die inside.

“Katherina, stop!” Satan said in a quiet voice, attempting to not draw too much attention to them.

‘Magic: Transform to Blood!’ Satan thought, keeping a hand behind his back as he directed his chains off his waist.

Katherina only glared at him with crossed arms.

‘Blood Magic: Teleport!’ Satan said, racing off to the nearest bathroom.

The water in his hands splashed onto his lips and into his mouth

‘Gross, gross, gross…’ Satan repeated over and over again, briefly letting more water into his mouth before spitting it out again. He looked up at himself in the mirror, admiring the black eyeshadow, lipstick and eyeliner. Looking down at his clothes, he wore robes akin to a grim reaper’s, with batwing sleeves and silver skulls decorating it.

‘Maybe this is my fault, maybe Luce was right all those years ago, I just need to put away all the gothic makeup, right?’ Satan thought as he splashed the water against the rest of his face, his black makeup smudging and flowing down his face. Grabbing a wipe from a bathroom cabinet, he cleaned his face. He stared back in the mirror with a frown.

‘God I look so ugly without my makeup… But maybe she’ll fuck off if I’m ugly, right? She has to. Maybe I should cut my hair and wear a suit… Except that’s not happening, I can do without makeup, even if I can barely stand to look at myself, but I’d rather be shot in the face than cut my hair and start wearing suits on a regular basis. Besides, that just sounds like Takahiro, which, eugh…’ Satan thought as he turned to walk out the door.

Satan, January 29th

Satan entered Takahiro's mansion as usual, walking in through a back door with a hood over his head. He looked back and forth at the hallways, gold and black decorated each and every corner and crevice, before sighing, and taking off the hood. He stared down at Takahiro's earlier text for a moment on his phone. Putting his phone into his pants pocket, he walked, hunched over, constantly looking back and forth with every step he took.

"Hey," sounded a voice from behind as he looked ahead.

Satan jumped, and immediately turned around to see Katherina, wearing a long fuschia and black dress, with an extravagant fur over top.

Satan frowned. "Oh, it's you," he said. ‘Please don’t pull any weird stunts again,’ He thought as he turned back around in the direction he was walking in earlier. The halls were still empty. A pit formed in his stomach as he turned back around to Katherina. "Uh, where's Eris and Takahiro?"

"There's no reason they need to be here."

"Wait, what? But Takahiro was the one who invited me over-"

Katherina, despite her height, managed to slam Satan against the wall. She smirked up at him as she yanked his robes’ collar down to her height.

Memories of the party flooded in. Satan pushed her back, his heart beating. "Katherina, stop. I've told you no already."

"You wouldn't be saying that if your family’s lives were on the line, right?"

Instinctively, Satan thought, 'No,' as he weighed the options in his head, with nothing coming from his mouth.

"Alright then, you've left me no choice," Katherina whipped out a small bottle with a deep red liquid inside.

Satan raised an eyebrow as he began racking his brain, trying to figure out what the potion was for.

As Katherina drew her arm back, ready to slam the bottle into him, Satan tried to make a run for it, but the glass shattered upon his chest, with the deep red liquid flowing towards his hands and chains, as if it were a snake. The fluids spread over all him, as his chains slowly melted back into blood, seeping into his clothes. Satan's eyes widened. 'Blood: Transform into iron!' He thought, making a motion with his arms to try and get the blood off.

Nothing.

He repeated the spell to himself again and repeated the same motion.

Nothing.

A few more times, rapidly, he said the spell to himself.

Nothing.

"What the hell did you do?" Satan demanded, his fingers curling into to make fists.

Katherina crossed her arms. "Sealed your magic. Of course, there's worse I can do-"

"Alright, alright! Do what you want," Satan gave in.

"Good boy," Katherina grabbed at his collar again, and pulled him down to her height again, albeit more gently that time around.

'I'm disgusting. I'm just like Katherina. I need to die to repent for the hurt this would- no, not would, will, cause.' Satan thought, Katherina's lips against his as the demeaning words replayed in his head over and over again.

Satan, March 29th

He slammed open the door of the bar, scowling. Other patrons' heads turned to stare at him. They quickly turned back as Satan began walking in. He walked up to the brown bar, where the bartender zipped around.

"The usual, Mr. Morningstar?"

"Please," Satan sighed.

The bartender nodded, and walked off to grab some drinks. Satan lingered around the bar for a bit.

"Here you are, Mr. Morningstar."

"Thank you. I'm gonna be taking a seat in the back," Satan motioned to the right.

He walked down the way, going straight for a few paces until he had to take a right, where a booth was tucked into the corner. On the right side, a young woman in her twenties lazed over her table. His eyes widened with his eyebrows as he looked at her familiar golden eyes. He walked closer to her, her eyes widening in turn.

"Eris?"

"That's me. What are you doing here?" Eris moved off the table and sat up.

"Here to drink my worries away. Mind if I sit with you?"

"Yeah sure, better to drink with a friend than alone."

Satan pulled out the chair on the opposite end and put his glass on the table. "How the hell did you get into Hell?"

"The legal route, of course."

"You took the legal way to get into an illegal bar? What are your morals?"

"Fucked, that's what."

"Makes sense."

Satan held the tiny glass up to his mouth, and downed it. "I could use another glass... I'll wait for someone to come over though, if I go get it myself I’ll probably get more, then I’ll be too drunk to get home,” Satan laughed to himself.

“I don’t think that’s really a laughing matter, Satan.” Eris frowned.

“I know, I know, but if I get help, I’m afraid of the backlash, and then I’ll probably have to abdicate. Thus, I disappoint everyone for breaking an Ayuzumian rule, and nobody really wins. Could always try going to another planet, but still, I don’t think that fixes anything.”

“You can’t go on like this forever, you know.”

“I know.”

They sat, not talking for a few minutes, the sounds of patrons, glasses being shuffled around, and creaking floors filled their ears in lieu of talking.

"So... does Takahiro treat you as bad as Katherina treats me?" Satan twirled his glass around.

"I wouldn't say it's too bad, but maybe that's just the things I tell to comfort myself. He's hot and cold, one moment he'll be extremely affectionate and loving, another he'll act like I'm not even there. But it's not like he's ever hit me or anything."

"Ah, the bare minimum. That'd be nice to have, so I can pretend my relationship with her is good. Though at this rate I don’t think what I have with Katherina really counts anymore."

"Yeah... I've been doing some thinking lately. When we met, and he learned I was a deity, it was like a flip switch and suddenly, he wanted to get to know me better. So I’ve been wondering, what if he wanted me for immortality? But then… was our entire relationship a lie then, so I’m not really sure what to feel."

"Sounds on brand for him. God I just miss when he was a somewhat better person, now that you mention it I can't even pretend he used to be good. I feel like even back in the day he still sucked."

"Is anyone good? Are we good?"

Satan shook his head. "Can't really say we're good, but I think we're at least on a different level then them. That’s gotta count for something”

“I hope so. Cheers to us for… being better than them, I guess. When the waiter gets around to us, of course.” Eris proposed.

He nodded in return.

Almost as if waiting for that moment, a server walked by.

“Oh, Mr. Morningstar! Would you like another?”

“Yes, please. Just the usual.”

The waiter took his glass and walked away.

“Mr. Morningstar? Is Satanel not your real last name?”

“It’s a pseudonym. I can’t go around drinking as Satan Satanel like there’s no tomorrow, but Lucifer Morningstar can.”

“Huh. That’s smart.”

They sat, avoiding making eye contact with one another. As the waiter came back with a new drink for Satan, the two clinked their glasses together, and drank.

Satan, May 14th

About a year passed, making it 2011, and Satan was freaking out. He paced back and forth in Katherina’s bedroom, with upturned eyebrows. Katherina was sitting on her bed in a short fuschia dress, as Satan paced around.

“You’re pregnant?”

“Yes, you think I’d pull your leg?”

“With your track record, yeah!”

Katherina rolled her eyes and pulled out the pregnancy stick, putting it closer to his face. “Does this prove anything to you?”

Satan’s eyes widened. “So now what? What do we do?”

“I want to keep it,” Katherina flopped back onto the bed.

“Why? You don’t even like the daughter you already have! What’s the point?”

Katherina stood up and drew in closer to Satan, pointing at him. “Having you suffer for being the worst person alive is worth it.”

“If you hate me so much why won’t you just let me break up with you already! And you have to go through all nine months of that, is that going to be worth it just to spite me?”

“Yes, I’ve done it before, I can do it again!”

“Just let me leave! I don’t like you, you don’t like me, there’s no point in trapping each other in this, whatever this even is anymore! Let me live my life, the way I want to, on my terms!”

Katherina scowled and narrowed her eyes, before getting up from her bed and kicking Satan to the floor. She crossed her arms as she stood over him, despite her short stature. “You’ll regret ever saying that.”

“I still don’t understand! What the hell is this all for?”

“None of your business,” Katherina dug a heel into Satan’s head.

“It is my business, we’re dating, even if this is your twisted version of dating!” Satan pushed away her heel.

“Just shut up. You’ll do better if you just shut up, and do what I want,” Katherina knelt down and aggressively gripped onto Satan’s collar.

Satan quieted down, as various thoughts, like, ‘You’re disgusting, Nico and Arsene could never forgive you now, your children will be disappointed, you’re better off dead at this rate,’ swirled around Satan like a dark cloud.

Satan, February 7th

A few minutes ago, Satan raced through the hospital.

Now, he sat near Katherina's hospital door. He tapped his foot as he held his head in one hand, hunched over, a hood obscuring his face, of course.

'Well, now that I’m officially having a child with Katherina there's no going back. Even if I tried to explain my reluctance to do.... that, plus Katherina being, well, Katherina. I don't think anything is saving my case. I guess I should just be prepared to lose everything at a moment's notice if anyone else finds out. Geez, this should be a happy day, I'm having a son again, which I never thought would happen. Still, it is with Katherina...' Satan pondered as he waited for someone, anyone, to let him in with what was going on.

The door suddenly opened. Satan turned towards it, a doctor peeking their head out of the door, with his and Katherina’s baby, who flailed around. The doctor began with: "Sir, your wife-"

"We're not married," Satan interrupted, while looking at the baby.

"Oh, apologizes, your partner is refusing to do skin-to-skin contact with your baby, can you convince her?"

Satan scoffed, thinking, 'Of fucking course she did!’' He rose from his chair and turned towards the doctor. "She's not gonna listen. Here let me do it."

As the doctor handed him the baby, he said, “it seems like she might also have postpartum depression, have you noticed any signs?”

“Not that I’m aware of.”

“I see. We’ll run some tests and see if that’s the case. If she turns out fine now, but later she has the symptoms, then come back to the hospital.”

When the doctor stopped talking for a minute, Satan finally had a moment to focus on the baby. The baby had Satan's light, reddish-brown skin, with Katherina's upside down triangular-like nose. Satan's eyes were especially drawn to the baby's tiny ears, in a pastel reddish-pink, that were shaped and colored just like a butterfly's. He also noticed a tiny demon tail as well, that matched the baby’s ears in color. Warmth filled his chest as he upturned his eyebrows. A rare smile appeared on his face, for the first time in awhile.

'I hope he doesn't expect me to just take my robes off and be shirtless- er, robeless around the hospital, gross,' Satan dreaded as he remembered the last time he got a good look at his self harm scars, finally taking a seat again, then maneuvering to get the baby down the front of his robes. "Did she at least give the baby a name?"

"No. I guess now's a good time to mention the baby's a boy."

Satan's eye twitched upon hearing she left the baby nameless, but tried to play it off, saying, "Man, she must really be out of it! Hm, what about... Phoenix? If she wants us to change it later it shouldn't be too much of a hassle, right?"

"You have thirty days to change it for free if you end up changing it."

"Okay, good, my last baby was a long time ago, it was so different back then."

"I see. Well, there's a few tests we want to run with your partner, make sure she's alright. Phoenix seems fine in his tests, so if she's good then Phoenix and your partner can be discharged soon. I'll be back in her room again. If you need something, just knock."

Satan nodded, as he stared at Phoenix, who was curled up on his chest, eyes closed. After the doctor shut the door, he looked around, but when realizing nobody else was down that area of the hallway, he sighed. "Hi Phoenix. I'm your dad. ...when I say it like that it sounds silly, huh? Your mom is... not a great person. I just hope that I'm enough for you. I won't be perfect, but I'll certainly try, for you."

Phoenix's eyes opened, revealing his irises, a dulled, less bright fuschia color, with some of Satan's red eyes mixed in. His heart dropped to his stomach. 'He looks so much like Katherina, way more than I thought he would've. That's not his fault though. It may be hard, but I'll take care of Phoenix as best as I can. I know I can't trust Katherina around Phoenix. so while I'm working I need to find someone else willing to help out...'

As Satan pondered, his eyes fluttered, as the sudden urge to sleep washed over him. He peered down at Phoenix, who seemed to think the same, as he curled up on his chest and closed his eyes again.

Satan's eyes slowly opened. He looked down at Phoenix still sleeping on his chest and smiled. He leaned over as gently as possible, trying not to disturb Phoenix. Grabbing his phone, he turned it on with one hand.

'It's four... Shoot, I really need to be getting home soon. And seventeen missed calls from Eris, shit,' Satan thought as he maneuvered towards the phone app and went to call her. He put the phone towards his ear and tilted his elbow towards it to keep it in place.

"Satan?" Said Eris on the other end after a few moments of ringing.

Stolen story; please report.

"Hi, Eris," Satan said.

"Oh my god, oh my god! Is the baby finally here?"

"Yes. His name is Phoenix."

"Do I dare ask about... her?"

Satan scanned the hallway from his seat for a moment, before lowering his voice to just above a whisper. "She refused to do skin to skin contact, I can't say if she's just out of it after giving birth or if she's going to refuse doing anything for the baby. I mean, she hasn't set up a fu- I mean,” Satan paused, finding a word to replace the curse, “...freaking nursery at her palace or anything either! I had to do it all myself!"

"That sounds like bad news. I'm surprised your family hasn't called you or anything. How long have you been out?"

"A few hours, I just told them I'd be stepping away from work but not to expect me for a bit. I also said I might just not come back in time to do any more work."

"Oh, that's good. Are you telling them?"

"No. I know the more I wait to tell them, the worse the consequences will probably be, but I feel like I'll be like... cut off from everyone and everything I know if I tell them that I was stupid enough to get into a relationship- well, if you can even call it that, with Katherina, much less have a child with her. I feel like having a kid with her will be an unforgivable thing, I don't think any explanation of what happened will fix it. I just want to live as normally as possible before it all turns to shit. Maybe then I can just hand Phoenix over to someone and just die already-"

Eris interrupted him. "Satan, I get where you're coming from, but even if you lose everything else, you still have me! I want to help. Believe me, as someone who abdicated from the throne a long time ago and as goddess who's been on leave for the past... who even knows how long at this point, I'm painfully bored. Helping you out makes my life not boring, and I want Phoenix away from Katherina and Takahiro as much as you. Speaking of, what will you do with Phoenix while you go back to your palace with Arsene and Nico and everyone else?"

"No idea, didn't think about that. Definitely not staying with Katherina or Takahiro, I know that."

"Well, I know someone that has nothing better to do and can take care of him when you can't!"

"I know your relationship with your own daughter is sour, how do I know you won't sour your relationship with my son?"

"I've learned a lot of stuff I did wrong with Saori, trust me. I think I can raise Phoenix better than I did for Saori.”

“You’re not going to accidentally make Saori bitter towards Phoenix or anything, right?”

“Can’t say for sure. We don’t talk anymore, and I feel like our relationship is as good as dead at this point. No point trying to fix something we just might never be able to fix really, so that's the least of my worries. Can I come see you?”

“You’re gonna have to wait a bit. I’ll be heading over as soon as possible.”

“Finally! Can’t wait to meet Phoenix. Alright, see you later.”

“See you,” Satan smiled as he hung up.

He sighed as he looked down at Phoenix, who still laid on his bare chest, under his robes. Closing his eyes, he leaned back towards the wall and gently rubbed Phoenix’s back.

Satan, April 25th

For five years, Satan and Eris excitedly watched Phoenix grow up, as they each did their part to raise him, making sure he never saw Katherina.

But in that moment Satan fearfully wandered around with Takahiro, in Katherina’s palace. The pit in his stomach swirled around as he walked around the palace, bent over to grasp onto Phoenix’s hand as he followed them around.

“So, I can trust you?” Satan asked.

“Yes dude, I’m great with kids?”

“Are you sure? You and Eris did fu- ahem, mess up Saori quite a bit…”

“Listen, I know, I regret it, but it’s not like I can’t take from that and grow from it, can I?”

“It’s funny, Eris said something similar.”

“Ugh, don’t even say that name.”

“Alright. I’m still not really thrilled with you, you know. This is only out of desperation. And keep him away from Katherina, please.”

Phoenix looked up at Satan, with his big, beady eyes, and mumbled, “why can’t I see mommy?”

“It’s safer that way, trust me Fifi,” Satan said as he bent down to pick up Phoenix.

“Why?”

“Because, mommy is not a nice person.”

Satan caught Takahiro rolling his eyes. Immediately, Satan whipped his head around and furrowed his eyebrows.

“Alright, please show me I can trust you with Phoenix, at the very least.”

“I will,” Takahiro nodded as Satan hesitantly handed Phoenix off towards Takahiro. “Hi, Phoenix! Your dad’s a little swamped and Eris regrettably can’t help out, so today you’ll be with uncle Takahiro!”

Satan looked on for a moment before finally teleporting away. ‘I hope this wasn’t a huge mistake. Please tell me this isn’t a mistake…’

Despite the fact that Satan was supposed to be in a meeting with advisors, Satan stood outside the meeting room, pacing back and forth, Satan circled the hallway over and over again, as he kept opening his phone and staring at the time.

‘Come on, come on! You said the doctor’s checkup or whatever should be finished by now, right?’

As he stressed himself out, he turned around and saw the millions of tiny wing-shaped particles. His eyes widened as he bit his lower lip. ‘Shit.’

Slowly, Nico and Arsene were revealed from the magical particles. Arsene waved them away as she greeted, “Hello! Oh, oops, I think we teleported to the wrong part of the house.”

“Hi,” Satan said.

“You seem nervous, like you're waiting on something, everything alright?

"Yup! Just waiting to be called into my meeting, they still have some stuff to sort out amongst themselves before I jump in," Satan said as the lie poured out of his mouth, smooth like butter. 'Great. I'm a liar too. I guess I'm just like Katherina now. I've become what I swore to never become. They'd never forgive you now if they found out...'

"Oh, alright then. I can handle dinner tonight if you want, just give me a bit to wind down."

Satan nodded. He watched Arsene and Nico stroll towards the hallway towards the door together, chatting and laughing together.

'If me being with Katherina is what Nico needs to have happiness and be left alone, then I guess it's worth it...'

Out of the blue, Satan's phone rang. He jumped as he grabbed it, racing to the farthest room from the advisors, He scanned for others before he accepted the call, finally seeing who was calling: Eris.

"Hello?"

"Hey, I'm done. All good health wise, in case you cared."

"Ugh, no, I hope you die," Satan said sarcastically in a shrill voice.

"Wow, what a great Katherina impression," Eris laughed, "Anyway, I'm on my way to get Phoenix."

"Would it be weird if I came with you? I'm just super anxious about something happening to Phoenix, I want to see if Takahiro can be trustworthy. Maybe you could get a bit of a break then."

"Would be nice, but I don't mind if I don't. It's nice to have some kind of purpose in life again."

"I don't get why you still don't do your godly duties anymore. How long have you been on leave?"

"Since I married Takahiro. It was meant to be so I could settle into my marriage, then get used to being royalty, then so I could raise Saori. Once I actually had control over those things I didn't have much of a desire to go back, and it's not like there's demand for strife and discord deities, they already have similar deities anyway, so I could easily not do my job."

"Are you still technically on leave?"

"Yup. I thought one day I'd have the desire to do my duties again, but it hasn't come back. Deities are all powerful but our powers aren't really chosen, and not everyone enjoys their godly duties, and I'm unfortunately one of them. Anyway, this got off topic, let's get Phoenix now, yes? Go wait outside of the palace, I'll join you in a bit."

"Oops, yeah, see you there," Satan sighed as he lowered his phone and hung up, quickly texting Arsene what he was up to as he slowly walked out of the palace and waited for Eris's text. Once he sent it, he began teleporting over.

Satan's eyes flitted back and forth from the palace to the sky, to the path, to the ground. He pulled out his phone and navigated to the phone app, hovering his quivering finger over the call button. Just as his clawed finger jammed into the button, a hand was placed upon his shoulder. Immediately, he turned around, chanting a spell in his mind to turn the chains around his waist into blood.

Eris smirked at him with a cocked head. "Do you wanna fight for fun or something?"

"No, sorry. I'm on extra high guard lately. Let's not waste anymore time, we already did that before" Satan said as he entered with Eris, pulling his hood over his head.

They sped walked together, trying to find Phoenix without drawing too much attention to themselves

"Where the hell is he?" Satan mumbled as he bit his finger.

"I'm sure he's fine. Let me call him..."

As they went through the motions, Satan felt his thoughts racing in rapid pace, like a dangerous wind carrying leaves to random destinations. 'Oh god, what if he did something? Is that why we can't find him? But he seemed so excited to have Phoenix for a bit... Was it all just some ruse?'

Eris' voice broke through all his anxieties, almost in a dream-like voice, saying, "Takahiro just called, he said he's down this hallway, first door to the left."

Eris took the lead as Satan followed from behind. Though his worries diminished a few notches, he couldn't shake the awful feelings still swirling.

They entered a small room, one with bright walls and toys, Takahiro smiled, seated on the floor with Phoenix as they played with action figures.

Phoenix moved in a stiffened way, and as they entered, he moved his head towards the door, revealing a large purple bruise on his right eye.

Satan's stomach sunk, as Satan dove towards Phoenix. "What happened, Fifi? Are you alright?" He cocked Phoenix's head upwards as Satan examined his face.

"I saw mommy," was all Phoenix could say.

Satan whipped his head to look at Takahiro, who raised his eyebrows and his lips curved into a line.

"Hey Fifi, why don't you come with me for a little while," Eris said as she entered, lifting Phoenix into her arms. She looked at Satan for a moment, as if to say, 'I have him now, do what you need to do,'

Satan smiled and waved at Phoenix one last time before she teleported off. Immediately, Satan got on his feet and glared down at Takahiro. "What the fuck? It was a few hours! And I thought I explicitly told you to keep him away from Katherina!"

"Listen, it sucks that he got hurt and all, but they happened to cross paths, She was supposed to be doing shopping or something, but I guess she finished early. As I was making food for Phoenix she saw him, and he annoyed her, he deserved it."

"Deserved it? Takahiro, he's five! He doesn't know any better, all he knows is that the mother that birthed him hasn't seen him, and he doesn't understand how dangerous she is. And you clearly don't either. You know what? I see why your relationship with Saori is so strained."

Takahiro rose from the ground, his eyebrows furrowing as he frowned. Shadows blanketed his bare skin, until the shadows fully encompassed him, becoming like a creature of shadows. "How dare you say that."

"And how dare you justify Katherina abusing my son! You know, if this went well, we could've built up trust. If our relationship would never be the same, ever again, then at least Phoenix would have another adult to care and look up to. Now, that's not happening again. You keep siding with her, not even thinking about the consequences of her actions or anything!"

Takahiro just stood there, staring at him, with his glowing, fully golden eyes.

Satan groaned, as he turned to storm out, but stopped in his tracks when he saw Katherina leaning against the wall, smirking.

In shock, he froze in place, staring between the two. As he began saying the spell in his head to get out of there, he heard Takahiro's gun and Katherina's daggers being brought out. His heart pounded as he tried to get out as quickly as possible, but Katherina charged at him with a dagger.

Satan huffed as he landed on the grass outside. He scanned the area until his eyes finally landed on Eris and Phoenix, seated at an outdoor table outside of an ice cream place.

Eris' eyes widened as she noticed him, and she made a waving motion.

"Geez, what the h- I mean, what happened? Also, sorry, I hope you don't mind the ice cream, it's the easiest thing I could think of while waiting. I got you something too. You still like cotton candy ice cream, right?" Eris explained as she handed him his cup of ice cream and a spoon that was huge, even in Satan's already abnormally large hands.

Satan sighed and he sat next to Phoenix. “Yeah, thanks.” Satan leaned over towards Eris and brought his voice down to a whisper, “I called them out on their… everything, I guess, and then they fought me because I said Katherina’s name in a way Takahiro disapproves of. I’m just so tired and angry. It’s like… when I comply with them to prevent anything else, they make my life a living nightmare. I try to stand up for myself when I can? Beaten, cut up, insulted. I make another attempt to stop being their quote unquote friend? Threats on myself and my loved ones. Seriously, any decision I make, I can never win.”

“I know… I wish there was some magical solution but I don’t think there’s any for us. We’re just stuck for now.”

“Yeah…” Satan frowned as he ate his ice cream, now a sorrowful purple.

Satan, November 1st

The year was 2019.

Satan wandered Takahiro’s mansion. Every few minutes he’d call Katherina, or Takahiro, and immediately the call would end. ‘Where the hell are they? I get swamped with my actual job for one day, and the threats come pouring in, once again, so here I am, ready to do the thing they need me for, now they’re nowhere to be found…’

Satan made his way up the stairs. ‘Maybe I should look in Takahiro’s room? But I have literally zero idea where to look.’

He looked down at his phone and called Takahiro, as expected, the call ended immediately. Satan’s eye twitched. ‘Now what?’

Stopping in his tracks, Satan’s ears picked up on some strange, breathy noises. ‘Please don’t be what I think it is.’

He heard Katherina’s voice, clear as day, cry out Takahiro’s name.

Immediately, Satan made his way downstairs and prepared to turn his chains into blood.

Back at the bar again, voices filled the room, as Satan furrowed his eyebrows as he leaned his head on his hand. Across the square table was Eris, looking at him with raised eyebrows in sympathy.

“Well? What happened?” Eris asked.

“As usual, Takahiro and Katherina wanted me to do something, but I was busy with work and I wasn’t able to get to it like they wanted me to. So of course, they sent threats, so I finished their thing, which was to print papers, for who fucking knows why, and give it to them. I was at Takahiro’s mansion trying to find them, and their phones weren’t working. But lo and behold, as I’m trying to find them, I make the mistake of going upstairs and hearing,” Satan hesistated as the contents of his stomach swirled, “do I even have to say it?”

“No. But did you even see anything? Maybe it’s some misunderstanding? I know, weird to play devil's advocate, but maybe there’s a sliver of a chance.”

“Potentially, but at this point I’m just so done. I really want out of the friendship we have with those two. For real this time. And if they choose to murder me for it, so fucking be it.”

“Me too. What I don’t get, is that she’s in a relationship with you, even if it sucks, and still has the balls to cheat on you. Allegedly.”

“I’ve never been a fulfilling partner for her, because I never wanted to be her partner in the first place. I used to be so stupid, at one point she made me think our relationship was love, even though she was never affectionate, never did anything with me unless she needed something, or whatever the other languages of love there are. Nothing. Just a boyfriend in name, and the only thing to do was to insult me, hit me, and whatever else. I guess that might be why.”

“Wow, I thought she’d keep this up way longer, but I guess there’s a limit to her stubbornness.”

“Yeah. Maybe this will give her the opportunity to finally fuck off and leave us alone now. I just hope she won’t treat Takahiro the same as she treated me. Well, still continues to treat me.”

“Well, okay, I’ve been noticing some stuff but I kept brushing it off, but with this it really does seem like… they like each other I guess? I catch them staring longingly at each other, they’re so affectionate with each other, and literally flirt now. I was convinced it was a joke, and when I asked they said the same thing, but now I realize it wasn’t a joke after all.”

“Okay, that’s good.” Satan sighed, leaning back in his chair.

“This is kinda changing the topic, but… do you miss how Takahiro used to be?”

“Yeah. Without Katherina he was fun to be around. I can’t not acknowledge him being a shitty husband to you, but he was a good friend to me. The whole fear of death stuff has spiraled way too far, but I don’t think he’ll ever get help for his genuine issues at this point unfortunately. Sucks how things have turned out, huh?” Satan’s voice cracked.

“Oh Satan…” Eris joined in, tears beginning to flow down her cheeks.

The pair hugged each other for a bit, before breaking away.

Satan sniffled and wiped away a tear, the liquid balancing on his long, black nails. “I just want to say, thanks for being my friend and everything. I’ve missed Araya a lot. I’ve been really lonely since she left to go look for my brother and her sister, and spending time with you is nice. Considering that I’m probably gonna finally cut them off for good I don’t know if we’ll see each other again, so, I guess I just wanted to get that out there.”

“Dude, I don’t do much. We’ll see each other, don’t worry. Probably a lot more considering how bored I’ll be. Plus, you still need someone to look after Phoenix while you can’t, right?” Eris smirked.

“I hope so. Let’s have one last little hurrah to the good old times, before I confront them, shall we?” Satan raised his drink.

“Hell yeah!” Eris cheered as she clinked her glass with his, and she downed hers in one gulp.

Satan, November 2nd

Despite being still slightly hung over, Satan headed over to the Black Palace. Before he entered from an open window, he looked at his text messages.

Satan

I need to meet you and Takahiro as soon as possible

It's urgent and you can't put it off

It needs to happen as soon as possible

8:19 AM

Katherina

what

8:19 AM

Satan

We'll discuss it when we meet

But for now just give me a time and a place to meet up

8:20 AM

Katherina

shit uh

how about two in the afternoon in conference room C?

8:20 AM

Satan

Works for me

I expect to see you AND Takahiro there

8:21 AM

Katherina

alright

8:22 AM

He sighed before he entered the palace. Falling onto the floor immediately as he entered, he shook his head as he stood up.

'Shit, I took the wrong window inside. You'd think after all these visits to Takahiro's mansion I'd know where to go.'

He glanced around, realizing he was lost. Walking around randomly, he'd peek into random rooms, until he caught Katherina and Takahiro in the same conference room they meant to meet up in soon. Annoyed, Satan leaned against the wall, peaking into the room as they talked.

"Alright, so really quick, before our next meeting, we want to discuss our plans to take over White. My current line of thinking is that we poison the citizens somehow to take the kingdom, but I don't know how that works. If anyone has tactics or ideas please think of them before our next meeting! Now please, we have another meeting, so please make your way out of here immediately."

As random people began filing out of the meeting room, Satan ducked into another conference room as he waited for them to make their way out. Takahiro's words replayed in his mind as his blood boiled underneath his skin.

'Oh now I really have to fucking cut them off. But first let's get the confrontation out the way today, and worry about that tomorrow. I need to talk to Eris later...' Satan thought as he peaked out of the door, before making his way into the right conference room that time. He forced his face into a more neutral expression as he entered and took a seat.

"Alright, let's not mince words. Are you cheating on me with Takahiro?"

Katherina did not react, while Takahiro widened his eyes and turned his gaze towards Katherina.

"Yes."

"Wow, absolutely no shame or guilt or anything?"

"Nope."

"Good then, we are finally fucking done," Satan smiled triumphantly as he raised his middle finger at Katherina.

"What? But-"

"Oh my god, shut up, all you've done is abuse and manipulate me. You don't even love me, what's the point anymore? And Hiro," Satan furrowed his eyebrows and turned to look at Takahiro, who's gaze was glued to the ground, "I hope this turns out well for you, in all seriousness, and Katherina treats you well."

Before either of the pair could butt in with anything else to say, Satan teleported off.

Satan, November 3rd

Satan tapped his foot as he stood against a wall. He was in a darkened corner of Eris’ cottage Eris rarely set foot in. He scanned the hallways on either side, waiting. Satan tensed up when he heard footsteps coming closer. He slid into the darkest corners of the area as he kept his eyes peeled for the person making the noise. As the figure neared, Satan realized it was Eris.

He raced out of the darkness and over to her.

“Ah!” Eris jumped.

“Sorry. I had something important to tell you, didn’t mean to scare you. You got my text, right?”

“Yeah, but that doesn’t sound good, what happened?”

“Earlier today I went to Takahiro’s mansion to break things off with Katherina and cut them off for good, and I caught a meeting I wasn’t supposed to, where they were planning to take White by harming the citizens.”

“I can’t even say I’m surprised.” Eris ran a hand down her face.

“Eris, you need to cut them off too,” Satan put his hands on Eris’ shoulders.

“But what if their threats are genuine?”

“We don’t know at this point. I can guess what they’ll probably do, though, so we’re prepared. I believe in you. I can come with too if you want.” Satan reassured her.

“Alright, I just hope seeing you again doesn’t piss them off more… Oh, speaking of, you ever get around to telling Arsene and Nico about… everything?”

“I’m terrified of telling them. I don’t know what their reaction is and I don’t want to find out. It’s funny, I’m more scared about telling them what’s been going on for the past, like, two hundred something years than I ever was of Katherina.” Satan subtly moved the chunk of his hair covering his right eye, showing a blackened eye.

Satan watched Eris’ eyes widen.

“And how’s Phoenix? Maybe I can come see him again once everything’s less crazy?” Satan spoke rapidly

“He’s good. Maybe let’s wait for things to die down before you come see him again.”

“Alright.”

Now at Takahiro’s mansion, they made their way to the room Takahiro and Katherina were in, Satan’s stomach twisted. The closer he got, the more knots formed.

“You seem worse off than me, and I’m the one coming to cut them off.” Eris commented.

“Don’t mention it.” Satan mumbled back.

Finally, they stood in front of the door. Satan took a deep breath. He wanted to step forward, but he couldn’t bring himself to do so. A hand touched his shoulder suddenly. He turned to see a softened face from Eris, a rarity for her. They walked into the room together. Satan masked his anxiety furrowed eyebrows and a frown.

Katherina and Takahiro were at the end of a long table, draping themselves over it lazily as they chatted with each other. Satan felt his blood boil just at the sight of the two.

‘Maybe I won’t have to mask that much after all,’ Satan thought.

As Satan and Eris arrived, Takahiro and Katherina turned their attention towards the two.

“Back for more?” Takahiro sat up in his chair.

“No. I know what you plan to do to the White Kingdom,” Eris said.

“You do? Perfect, saves us time. So, I was thinking-”

“No, I’m not helping you out anymore. Not at the expense of other people’s lives.”

“And neither am I. Yesterday was going to be the last day I’d interact with you, but I had to come too to make sure you know,” Satan added.

“Wait, what?” Takahiro sat up in his chair. “But that’s what we’ve been doing for over two hundred years!”

“And maybe that was a mistake. I don’t even understand how you can be so afraid of death, yet you are so eager to inflict it on others.”

Takahiro froze. Satan watched his eyes gloss over. He looked over at Katherina, who glared daggers at him, digging her hands into the table.

He turned around and made his way out the door with Eris, but not without saying: “We’re done. Goodbye.”

Satan and Eris exited and said the spell incantations. They teleported out of the palace for the last time.

They ended up in the northernmost part of Black, where it was mostly empty and the northern ocean was all to be seen. Satan and Eris took a seat on the grass. The beach and ocean were just ahead of them. They sat in silence for a few moments before Satan burst into tears. Eris joined him immediately and together they sobbed.

January 5th (Present)

As Satan finished up the last of his story, Reyes stroked their chin while looking down at the floor.

“Geez, anything else?”

“Oh, also, since I left Takahiro and Katherina, they were sending all these letters and texting threats, which is to be expected.”

“Do you have a few of those letters and threats I can look at?” Reyes stood up from his chair.

Satan nodded. He recited the spell and teleported to his room. He slipped his phone into his sweatpants pocket, and from the file organizer, Satan grabbed the box of letters and teleported back to Reyes.

When he arrived back in the interrogation room, he plopped the box on the table.

Reyes’ jaw dropped. “That’s all the letters they’ve sent you?”

“Yup.”

“Would you mind if I took all those letters with me to investigate further?”

“Sure. I don’t want to read them so…” Satan trailed off as he searched through his text messages for the threats. He showed them to Reyes, who took pictures of the texts. As he went through the motions, he shivered as he forced himself to reread the old texts.

“Alright, I’m gonna talk to Nico next, then hopefully in the next few days I’ll get to everyone else. Afterwards, I’m gonna investigate Katherina and Takahiro to see if it’s true that they were behind the attack itself. Did you have any specific courts in mind for if and when we get this case off the ground?”

“ Is there a possibility we can take this to The Martian Court of Hell?” Satan queried.

“Depends on how booked The Martian Court’s schedule is. You also know TMC’s main judge as well, so it’d have to be handled by another judge. Going to another court instead might be easier. You may have to wait months, maybe even years. If not, I can get some alternatives, plus I have some lawyers’ names as well.”

“If we get there, I think we should just go with whichever one has the closest open date.”

“Okay! Whenever I’ve collected all I need, I’ll let you know.” The Detective trailed off. She perked up as she gathered her things and exited, Satan following them from behind.