I don't want recognition

I don't want your praise

I don't want your reciprocation

I'm a liar

Everything I do

If only you knew

Everything I feel

If only you knew

Everything I want

If only you knew

The pair arrive at an apartment complex. Az remarks how strange it is that no one seems to notice Parametris but shrugs it off. Az buzzes the number for Lilith's apartment and waits what feels like an eternity for a response.

"Az? What are you doing here? How do you know where I live?"

Az nervously laughs "I brought you groceries a couple years ago when you were really sick, remember? I just want to talk to you for a minute"

The intercom shuts off for a moment, then is reactivated. "Alright Az, I'll talk to you for a couple minutes but after that you need to leave. I have company coming over."

The door unlocks and Az lets himself in, his hand freezing momentarily on the door handle. He and Parametris slowly walk up the stairs. Az looks back to make sure Parametris is following him, giving her a small smile when he sees her. She smiles back and gives him an excited thumbs up. Az knocks on the door.

Lilith stands in the doorway, arms crossed. "What's up, Az?"

"May I come in?"

Lilith signals for him to follow her as they enter her apartment. She sits down at one end of her dining room table. Az does the same on the other side. Noticing that Lilith can't see Parametris he relaxes. Parametris places her hands on Az's shoulders and whispers words of encouragement to him.

Az crosses his arms on the table before making eye contact with Lilith. "How's it going?"

She rubs her arm "I'm alright. What's up, why did you come all this way?"

Az shrinks down in his seat, unable to look at Lilith any longer. He opens his mouth but nothing comes out. Parametris whispers into his ear "It's alright, I'm here with you. You can do this, you can do anything. The worst she can say is no."

He looks around for a moment before lowering his head and glaring at his arms folded on the table "Look, Lilith, I have to confess something. I love you. I have since I first met you. You're everything to me. You are the singular reason I wake up in the morning. I have never met someone so perfect before."

She frowns and cuts him off "You barely know me, Az."

He shakes his head "No, I know enough. I know you're sweet and kind. I know you have a great heart and treat everyone with respect. I know you have an excited gleam in your eye when you see me walk through the door. Please, just give me a chance to prove how much I love you."

Lilith stands up and turns her back, placing her hands on her countertop. "Look, you're a nice person. You're really sweet to me. I'm not going to deny that." Az looks down at his wrist and produces the arrow. "But I don't love you. I don't have any feelings for you. I am in love with another man and he is amazing. I may be everything to you - I don't believe that but even so, he is everything to me." Az retracts the arrow and Parametris hugs him from behind.

"I'm so sorry Az, you made the right choice though" Parametris whispers into his ear.

"I understand Lilith, I'm sorry." Az shrinks back "I just couldn't live with myself if I didn't tell you all that before it's too late."

"I'm sorry too, Az. I know you're alone in life. Ellie and I are pretty much the only people you seriously interact with. I know you didn't have the best home life growing up. You don't really have the best social skills and I guess I was extra nice to compensate for that and that must have led you on a bit."

Az stands up "So you were only nice to me because," he pauses, trying not to cry "you felt bad for me?"

"Not entirely but I-" Lilith is interrupted by an arrow striking the back of her abdomen. She turns around, eyes wide filled with fear walking to the table as the arrow sinks in to her flesh. "What did you do? Oh God, what's happen-" she is interrupted again as a shard enters the base of her skull. She collapses on the table and the figure behind her becomes evident.

A tall man with long white hair and two red eyes stands behind Lilith, his index and middle finger pointed directly at her. Az immediately recognizes him as a member of Parametris' kind, and likely a higher ranking one judging from his elegant clothing.

"What did you do to her!?" Az yells, snapping his fingers sending a bolt of electricity through the room, passing through the man and burning the wall behind him. Az clutches his burned hand in pain. After a few seconds the wound starts to heal and he charges the man.

Az launches a punch towards the man's face only for it to pass through him. He tries again and the man catches his hand this time. "No, what did you do?" the man chuckles. "What you just did would be considered much worse."

"Fuck you" Az spat at the man.

Parametris rushed to them "Let him go! You know the rules, the game hasn't even started yet. You can't harm him!"

The man laughed again "I'm not hurting him, young Parametris. I'm merely holding his hand. This one can use the intimacy I think. Besides, technically he's free game. The chemical his arrow is secreting in my partner can be considered an attack."

Az struggles in vain to free his fist from the man's grasp. Amused, the man waves his hand around. He lets him go and walks to the table before taking a seat. He gestures for Az and Parametris to do the same. Parametris sits down immediately and bows her head, Az reluctantly follows suit.

"Now allow me to introduce myself, I am Klane. The head of the Elysium family and the runner up of the last few Athanual games."

Stolen from its original source, this story is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

Parametris begins to speak but is cut off by Klane "You are Parametris, of some low ranking family whose name is irrelevant."

"That's not-" she's again cut off

"I've heard of your exploits. You're a fine young lady with evidently a very discerning eye," Parametris instinctively covers her right eye "you would do better not to associate yourself with your family."

Parametris slams her fist on the table "Do not talk about my family like that!"

Klane laughs "I apologize, Parametris. Let's not get off on the wrong foot. It looks like we're allies for the foreseeable future after all." He gestures his open palm towards Az "And you are-"

Lilith stands up, eyes wide having awakened. "That's Az, the sweetest most loving man to ever live." she says with glee before walking over to Az and sitting on his lap. "Did you really mean all that stuff you said earlier? You love me? I'm your everything?"

Az frowns "Yeah."

Lilith giggles and hugs Az "I am so sorry I didn't mean all of that stuff I said earlier. The part about being extra nice to you because of you having just Ellie and I, it wasn't true. I just wanted to let you down gently. I don't know why I didn't love you before, I'm sorry. If only I knew. Klane, who is that girl?"

Klane raises his eyebrow, taken aback by the familiarity "That would be Parametris, she is to Az as I am to you."

"So she's been around him for however long this has been going on. I don't like that. You stay the fuck away from him you little bitch." Lilith snarls

Az stands up, pushing Lilith off of him. "This isn't you. Look, I shot you with an arrow that made you love me. I was stupid, I thought if you only knew how I felt you'd reciprocate. Please, just act normal again. This isn't the woman I fell in love with. The Lilith I know is sweet and kind and I don't think she's a jealous-"

Lilith puts her hands on Az's shoulders and stares him in the eyes "I wasn't lying about everything I said tonight. You don't know me entirely."

Az avoids eye contact "This isn't real. You don't actually love me."

Klane places a hand on each of their shoulders. "There's a reason Cupid's Arrow hasn't even been picked, much less used in the past few centuries. It relies on the target already having some form of attachment to the user. If there was no possibility for her to ever love you, she wouldn't."

"So if I only met you sooner." Az's eyes light up

"We'd probably be married by now" Lilith caresses Az's cheek before planting a kiss on his lips.

Parametris shrinks in her seat, avoiding looking at the pair. Klane gestures for everyone to sit down and stands at the head of the table. He snaps his fingers and a book manifests in his other hand. He opens the book and begins to speak.

"The games begin tomorrow, we should get comfortable with each other and plan our-" the room buzzes. Lilith rushes over to the intercom.

"Hey sweetie, I'm here to pick you up for dinner"

Lilith's eyes get wide for a few seconds, returning to normal she frowns and pauses for a few seconds, she looks back at Az "I should tell him face to face. It's the right thing to do. Is that fine with you, Az?"

Az nods his head. Lilith buzzes her former boyfriend in. Az nervously rubs his hands on the table while Lilith fidgets at the front door. For what feels like an eternity the group hears footsteps walking up the steps. Feeling someone approach the door, Lilith starts to unlock the door

BANG BANG

Bullet holes rip through the door and into Lilith's chest and shoulder. "There's two in there, keep firing!" Lilith jumps back before collapsing. Parametris starts to move but freezes as a bright light envelops her. Klane snaps his fingers and a translucent barrier forms over the door and surrounding wall. Bullet holes keep forming in the door but stop inside the barrier.

As the storm of bullets stop, Klane drops his barrier with a snap of his fingers. The door is kicked in and two men appear. One, a handgun-wielding normal human male with brown hair, a bloody jacket, and a scrawny build. The other is clearly a fallen angel and much more grotesque than Klane or Parametris, he has beady completely black eyes and lesions and burns cover most of his body.

"The games haven't even started yet!" Klane laughs "I think you two need to adjust your watches."

The grotesque figure wretches "Holy shit we need to get the fuck out of-" before he could finish his sentence and at a speed no one in the room could fathom Klane appeared in front of his human accomplice with his arm all the way through the human's chest, clutching a shard on the other end. In the next instant the rest of his body is completely disintegrated.

In another instant the grotesque figure is pinned to the ground. "Unluckily for you, I'm one of the only demons that can actually kill other members of our kind. We regenerate from any wound" he pulls the fallen angel's arm off and pauses as it starts to regrow "but complete obliteration tends to stick."

"Wait!" the pinned demon panicked "Don't kill me. I'll do anything."

Klane chuckled "I'll offer you a pact. I'll forgive you for forcing me to touch your disgusting wretched body if you give me information on at least three other players. Surely you didn't just attack the first two you came across. Do you accept the terms of my contract?"

"Alright, I hereby accept the terms of your contract.

A bright light emanates from both of them before fading into the air. "There are two players working together, their demons are friends. Both weak, no way they have any better than the base tier shard. They're going to jump this one girl the night the game starts, she'll be walking home from her job on Boise street when that happens. That's three!"

Klane raises his left hand.

The figure cries out "We had a pact Klane!"

"Our pact was that I forgive you for making me touch you. Not that I wouldn't kill you or forgive you for attacking my chevalier."

"Please I'll do anything. I'll make a pact and be your slave!"

"That forgiveness is the only salvation you'll ever receive." Klane solemnly lowers his head "Under the authority of the Third Princess of Hell I hereby command you." Klane snaps his fingers and places his other hand on the demon "Die." In an instant, the demon turns to crystal, and then in the next only dust.

In the next instant Klane appears in front of an unconscious Lilith.

Parametris waved towards Klane "She's bleeding out! Did you or her pick the juice thing?"

"Yes, I selected the Elixir of Life for her but she is not to ever use it. We'll reserve that for Az should he need it."

"Are you crazy? She's going to die!"

Klane reached down and removed the bullets from Lilith's shoulder and chest. He started applying pressure to the wounds. "Nothing vital was hit, she has two tiers of Resilience and one tier of Wound Healing. It's enough to keep her stable and heal her completely by morning. Take her to the bathroom and see if she has anything to bandage with"

Parametris grabs the wounded and unconscious Lilith and slowly drags her into the bathroom, taking great care not to aggravate her wounds. Az stares at Klane with wide eyes. He is completely frozen, unable to move. Az opens his mouth to try to speak but can't force any words out. Klane glances over and smirks when he sees Az's hands start to tremble. Klane starts to approach the boy.

"Impressed? Let that give you something to work towards. Once the game begins all of my kind's power will be dramatically decreased while we're on Earth. We'll practically be noncombatants"

Az tries to speak, but nothing comes out.

"You want to protect that girl you forced to love you, right?"

Az tries to speak, but nothing comes out.

"You don't want her to die a horrible death after you ruined her life and future marriage do you?"

Az tries to speak, but nothing comes out.

"After you force her to kiss you while she screams internally? After you force her to act like she loves you while her stomach churns? After you rape her?"

Az tries to speak, but nothing comes out.

"The only way you can make things right is if you win."

Az finally lets out a whisper "But you said."

"If you tell a lie that someone needs to believe, they'll accept it wholeheartedly." Klane says with a smirk before flicking Az in the stomach, causing him to collapse to his knees and vomit blood. Klane starts to walk away.

Az heaves for a few seconds "You're wrong," Az glares at Klane "you weren't completely lying. It said it only makes the target recognize your positive qualities more. That's why it only works on those who you have a close relationship with already"

Klane stops without looking at Az "Either way you took away her free will. You're no better than those holy cretins."

"I'll find a way to make her genuinely love me. I will. Parametris was so sure that she would if I just explained things properly to her, I can find a way. I know I can. I won't do anything with her until then. I just have to express myself better."

Klane laughs "Whatever helps you sleep tonight." and resumes walking

"Hey Klane," asked Az, staring him down with a smile "who's the Third Princess of Hell?"

Klane glares back "Help pack up anything the poor girl might need, we're going to need to move locations. Between the gunshots and the dead boyfriend at the bottom of the stairs the police will be here in less than five minutes."