The mark itched, Lily decided, absentmindedly rubbing at it. She had used the near-fluid shape of her current body to hide it, but that did not mean she could not feel it. She turned on the spot, molten eyes focused on the far-off citadel. Most others, including Panoptos, had already started down the various paths towards it. She wondered how much of the citadel would actually be in livable conditions. She doubted that this realm had a lot of visitors, considering just who and what resided here, so it would be very unlikely that their accommodations would be anything near what the humans’ hotels were like. Most likely they’ll be year one thousand standards, she mused.
She shrugged, glancing back at Fenn and Mary, motioning them to follow her. “Come on,” she said. “I don’t know about you, but I want to at least see what’s inside that big pile of rock over there.”
Fenn wrested his gaze from the lead Watcher, wordlessly turning to move. He had a deep scowl set in his features, but that could mean a number of things when it came to the old demon. Sometimes it felt as though the dog only had four separate expressions to describe his every mood.
Mary, too, looked unhappy. Her expression wasn't a scowl, but a deep tiredness prevaded from her, even though her thin lips didn't move in any meaningful way. Her hair was frizzed and messy, and her bonnet looked like it could fall off her head at any moment. Her recent branding seemed to make her skin more pink. Mary too, followed Lily without making much of a noise, probably hoping to find a bed or shower.
“You two look like the walking dead,” the demoness observed, moving backwards in a hover while facing her two companions. “Or, well, Fenn just looks like a big grumpy puppy, but Mary… Something the matter?” It hadn’t been that tiring of an ordeal, and while she was certain Mary felt hot, it couldn’t be so bad as to completely drain her of energy, right? She had seemed very lively just before the Watcher had met up with them just a handful of minutes earlier.
A small smile could be seen on Mary as Lily asked about her. The half-human seemed to have no apprehension when she said, "How odd, a demon asking of a human's health?" with a small chuckle. She wiped some sweat from her brow, and walked at a brisker pace to get closer to Lily. "Humans aren't built… I'm not built like a demon. I haven't had a chance to sleep in a day or more, and you two and the council are a lot to take in." She explained.
“‘A lot to take in’,” Fenn repeated with a distracted chuckle, as if only half-listening. “A good way to describe you, Imp.”
Lily all but snorted in response, playfully twirling in a circle even as she continued moving closer to the citadel. “She hasn’t even seen half of me, let alone a quarter.” She turned to Mary, an expression that could almost be described as amused. “And I mean that in the most literal sense there is.”
A more awkward smile replaced Mary's honest but strained one. "I'm not sure I like the sound of that…" She mumbled audibly. Her voice became more clear and loud as she stated, "Well, I hope we both get to know each other better either way. Even if you have no intention of doing so." After a brief pause, Mary seemed to have had an idea. "You seem to be on fire… what happened to the clothing I allowed you to borrow?" She asked, apprehension clear in her tone. It seemed even Mary knew she wasn't going to be getting her clothing back.
A thoughtful expression took the place of Lily’s amused one. Mary’s words made her think, wonder, what actually happened to the clothes when she transformed. She knew that whatever clothes she wore, were still intact when she used this particular form. She did not, however, know where they went. As if to answer Mary’s question, she shrugged, giving her an apologetic look. “I’m afraid they went up in flames,” she said. A lie, of course, but if Mary’s reaction to having seen her nude earlier was of any indication, this would prove entertaining. “Sorry about that.”
Mary moaned in anguish as her favorite pair of dress pants had been lost to her forever. She placed her hands on her face. "Even though some demons can be reasoned with, not many are nice," she muttered under her breath. She looked up from her palms again, only to have what seemed like a stunning revelation. "Does that mean that you're…" She drifted off, before face palming. "Fern, could please tell your partner to put some clothes on? I understand this is regular for demons, but humans wear clothes," she pleaded, her face becoming paler.
“Fenn,” he snapped. His tail lashed behind him, as if irritated by his inclusion in the conversation. The motion was feline enough to be jarring. “And why? They will go up in flames again.”
Lily beamed at him. Good boy! If there had ever been a time that Fenn deserved a treat, it was now. She turned back to Mary. “It’s not like it looks as if I’m wearing anything either way,” Lily pointed out, making a motion as if to indicate her entire body. “Not a problem, I hope?”
Mary sighed again, this time in annoyance. Her face became just a tiny bit paler again. "I guess not," Mary responded, though to who was unclear. She deftly avoided staring at Lily's body for too long, and tried to make her way ahead to the rapidly approaching castle entrance. A mix of discomfort and annoyance emanated out of her. "And sorry for getting your name wrong, Fenn. If you spoke more, I'm sure I would remember." She mentioned, Her tone indicating she genuinely did want to hear him more.
The group was almost at the entrance. The door was already jarred open, most of those summoned there already in its interior. The three moved past it to gaze at the entrance hall. Plain, and rather… empty, it felt, but it was large enough to grant passage to even the largest of them unimpeded.
“What would you have me say, halfblood?” Fenn asked as they moved into the large room.
"Certainly not that…" Mary growled, her hand slowly reaching for her blade. But as quickly as she snapped, she seemed to regain her composure. "Could you just call me 'Mary' please?"
Fenn continued walking as though he had not noticed the momentary hostility in the woman’s posture, but his words seemed to suggest otherwise. “Are you ashamed of what you are?”
Mary completely stopped in her tracks for a moment, as if the question itself was a blade pierced through her heart. She looked down at her hands with an unreadable expression. It was clear she was pondering herself. "What's your opinion on humans, Fenn? Of Angels?...Demons?" she finally asked with a stoic look.
The demon paused in his walk, but the answer came surprisingly swiftly. “I suspect,” he said, “that if someone were to strip all of them into their basest components, what remained would be just as ugly.”
“Avarice, lust, pride, wrath, gluttony, sloth, envy…” Lily lazily hovered around the two of them, an unreadable expression on her face. “We’re all made of the same, Mary. Seven sins. Seven paths of life. Have you ever noticed how few differences there are between humans and us demons?” Her tone was solemn, her posture mirroring that. “Have you ever wondered why we demons are considered evil?”
Mary stared at the both of them, her stoic look forming slowly into one of thought, but also distrust. It seemed she was honestly considering them, but their natures as demons made it so even she wouldn't be persuaded so easily. "I am surprised by your level of maturity, both of you." She commented, with a tone that said she was unhappy, anxious, angry, sad, all in one. "It has always been a demon's nature to be evil, as is an angel's nature to bring judgement, and a human's nature to survive," she explained. But even as the words were coming out of her mouth, it was obvious her resolve wasn't made of steel.
Fenn grunted. “Were it that things were so simple.”
Lily nodded along with his words, quickly supplying her own. “If truly the purpose of demons is to sow chaos, and to be evil, then what is your purpose? And who decides what the purpose of anyone is?” She fixed Mary with a penetrating gaze, on that demanded attention. She wasn’t angry, but there was no doubt a gravity behind both her look and her words. “You are a half-blood, Mary, so according to you, you should be both someone who is evil and someone who survives. But you are not evil, are you? Am I?”
An orb of fire flashed into existence above Lily’s open palm. “You say that I, as a demon, am evil. So should I not turn you to ashes this instant?” The orb extinguished as Lily clenched her fist. “I am nearly three thousand years old, Little One. I have seen humans commit atrocities that would make even the cruelest of demons proud. Mass crucifixions two thousand years ago. Slaves pitted against each other in gladiatorial fights, two thousand years ago as well. Attempted genocide of jews, seventy years ago.” She paused, letting the words sink in, before continuing. “The Yangzhou massacre, China, in sixteen forty five. Eight hundred thousand lives lost.” Lily stopped moving, staring down Mary from her elevated position. “Can you truly call demons evil, when you humans commit atrocities like those?”
Mary stood in the middle of the room with a sneer mixed with a grimace planted firmly on her face. When Lily demanded Mary's attention, the human briefly thought of grinning and looking away, but that was immature, and surely what the demon wanted. Still, there was that hint of hesitation in her, some fear that she was wrong, before returning the steely gaze. A slight frown interrupted the grimace, but Mary quickly reset herself. "Your logic is flawed, demon. You stand to benefit once you've drained me dry of my vile blood, if you are as smart as you seem. And you forget the humans that stopped those atrocities. We may be good. Sparda is the only demon who has ever helped a human out of his own kindness, and you slaughtered him!" She exclaimed, her voice rising. "Besides, my form is proof enough that I am evil. This is a curse for wanting power. My own avarice." Now tears were forming in her eyes, and her face grew strained, close to snapping.
Lily frowned, crossing her arms. A form? One bestowed upon her by her blood, no doubt. An appearance she is not proud of, it would seem.. “You blame me of faulty logic,” she mused, “and yet present the appalling argument that beauty is somehow tied to morality? Fenn must be patron saint of all evils in your eyes.” Her musing expression turned into a mask of neutrality. “Fairy tales love playing on that theme. The princess is always beautiful and pure, nothing like the evil witch with her green skin, patchy hair, crooked nose and assorted warts. But this is no fairy tale, and to think of the world in such terms shows astounding ignorance.”
"My form is not evil for its appearance. Only a fool would believe that." Mary mocked, a fake grin on her face. It was becoming paler now, like she was going to explode into light. "My form is made to kill, to destroy. It does not offer me much but new toys to slay people like you with! Do not regard someone with so much knowledge as a child, idiot!" she commanded.
Lily rolled her eyes. She mused at that, wondering how that would look in her current form. A mirror was in order. But first, she regarded Fenn. “I thought there was hope for her yet, but then she goes and mistakes capacity for intent. As if the one behind the tool was a different person. I would be offended if I were you, Fenn. You are built for the things she abhors, it seems, so you must be abhorring.”
“It is the same for you. Or anyone who gathers power. Such is its nature. If her form thrives on death and destruction, she found exactly what she set out to look for.” The dog rolled his shoulders, the chains on his arms rattling. “Let her believe what she will, then,” he said, before turning to Mary, “but heed this advice, halfblood. If the shame of being is too much, make it into a banner. Bear it like a standard. To do anything else is to drag with you an open wound for all to exploit. It is… unsightly.”
Mary's teary eyed face scrunched and glared at him, as if deeply offended by his words. "As if you'd know anything about shame, hellhound! You know nothing of humanity!" she yelled, gesturing wildly. Her breathing was becoming erratic, and it seemed as though she might grab her blade at any moment.
“Show me one who knows no shame, and you will show me a corpse,” the large demon growled. He shook one arm, gazing coldly at the woman, and the metal links clinked, as if in answer. “I was not born with these, whelp. They are my standard. Calm yourself, and do not presume to know me.”
Mary's face softened as her eyes were directed towards Fenn's chains. Her mouth opened, as if to mumble something after he finished, but she quickly closed it, and looked down at her hands again. Her expression was not unreadable this time, it was one of pain. Pity and sympathy for the both of them. She began walking out of the room, head held low and dropping occasional tears. Her breath hitched once, but she managed to mumble something. "I… I'm just so tired…"
Lily’s gaze followed Mary as she left, unblinking. “Reflect on this, Mary,” she said, speaking loud enough that Mary could hear her even from a few metres away, “what have you done with your evil form, as you call it? Have you drenched your hands in blood? Or have you chosen not to commit evil with it?”
Silence answered her as Mary left the foyer.
After a moment, Fenn grunted, muzzle twisting with distaste. “We have turned self-righteous with age.”
“You can’t really say that we’re wrong, can you?” Lily countered, hovering idly at his side. She turned her attention forwards, down the hallway leading further inside the citadel.
The dog followed in her wake. “We would not admit it were it so.”
Mary wandered the halls of the citadel aimlessly, absorbed in thought and sadness. Why had she even made the deal with those demons anyways? They clearly had no respect or any some such for her. Why should they? Mary was a frail being compared to full-fledged demons. Still, even if she tried to push them out of her head, the two's words came up again and again. She couldn't help but go over them and try to rationalize, try to argue, try to do something. Fenn especially, she thought of. Though she wasn't sure exactly what he went through, she couldn't get the image of his chains out of her mind. Something had happened, and the devil beast was ashamed.
She turned another corner and found herself in some sort of mineshaft. It ran deep into whatever realm they were housed in. Still, it looked as if the place wouldn't be able to effectively harvest much ore. It was rusted and broken, and there seemed to be no tools at all. She passed over the room, it being useless currently. Both her feet and her mind ached for rest, but she walked a roundabout path until, eventually, she had made it to a small room. There was nothing there, no people or tools to speak of. It seemed a fairly useless room as well, but for Mary it was a savior. She would rest here, for now.
Her blades and gun quickly fell onto the floor, dropped recklessly by their master. Mary also took her bonnet off, allowing her beautiful hair to fall to her shoulders. She sat down on the brimstone and rested her head against a wall with a relieved sigh. It was uncomfortable and hot, but she was just glad to be away from everything and everyone. Normally this would be Mary's time to reflect on the day, but so much had happened, and she refused to think on the matter. She simply sat there, trying to become ready for whatever lay next.
