{ Chapter 43: Aftermath }
It was the day after the trial and all of Hell had mixed reactions. Many Imps were celebrating a victory over the law, but those closest to Danika were down in the dumps. At IMP, everyone was... well.
"Loona, you okay?" Millie asked the hellhound who was holding a Polaroid picture. It was of her and Danika after they completed their first job together.
"No, I just lost my best friend/sister figure, and Blitz is beating himself up for it," Loona exclaimed as she slammed her fists down on the desk, the picture flying to the ground. The picture lands at the door which opens to reveal Barbie Wire.
"Um, hi, is this IMP?" Barbie asks as she waves at the gang. Moxxie, however, glares at her.
"You?! Your Blitz's sister Barbie!!" Moxxie yelled, pointing at her.
"Yeah, hi again. Look I'm here to see my brother, do you know where he is?" Barbie asked again, rolling her eyes.
"Why do you care?" Moxxie demanded.
"I don't. I care for Danika, and for her sake, I need to talk to him."
"He's in his office, hiding under his desk to mourn." Loona informed her, pointing in the direction.
Barbie nodded in thanks before heading to the office door. She hesitated for a moment before knocking on the door and opened it to see Blitz's horns sticking out behind the desk she could guess that he was sitting on the ground.
"Hey, Blitzo." she greeted nonchalantly.
Blitz jumped to hear his biological sister again.
"Barbie? W-What are you doing here?" he asked, wiping away his tears.
"I sort of wanted to see how you were doing. I may hate you but it doesn't mean that I'm not completely heartless," Barbie said as she sat down next to him. That's when she noticed that on his phone was a picture of him and Danika with Seraphina. "So, how are you?" Barbie asked.
"I feel like shit," Blitz admitted.
"You know, when you came back from your last mission, Danika told me that you didn't mean for Mom to... you know, and that you were beating yourself up." Barbie admitted. "She also said that you viewed her as a sister and I agree, she is definitely the sister we need," Barbie said with a small smile, which Blitz weakly returned. Just then, Millie came in.
"Um sorry to bother you two, but we have visitors and they brought gifts," Millie said as the twins came out of the office to see Verosika, Tex, and the crew standing outside the office with coffee cups and bags of food.
"Hey, can we come in?" Verosika asked, holding a drink tray of four drinks.
"Why are you here?" Blitz asked, trying to hide the fact that he had been crying from the succubus.
"Just wanted to say congrats on not getting killed and talking a bit," Tex added, holding a bag of food.
"Thanks." Blitz said, looking down a bit and grabbing his own coffee.
"Barb." Verosika greeted Barbie Wire.
"Verosika." Barbie nodded to her.
"So... I'm gonna have a concert down in Gluttony in honor of Danika." Verosika said.
"Really?" Loona questioned a bit surprised.
"That's really sweet of you. She would like that." Millie smiled a bit.
But for some reason, this rubbed off Blitz the wrong way.
"Why? So that you could feel better and that everyone will like you even more?" he accused, shocking everyone.
"Sir!!" Moxxie scolded.
"What's that supposed to mean? Is there something wrong with singing for someone?" Verosika narrowed her eyes.
"Oh, don't act like you care already! You're just a famous popstar that everyone loves!" Blitz glared at her.
"I'm not always like that! Sure, they all love me because I sing good! But that's all they see me! Some even wanna fuck me!"
"You don't even care about Danika! I bet you're just using her just so you can have LOTS of friends to be around with!"
"I do care about Danika?!" Verosika yelled, shocking Blitz at her outburst. "Do you know how hard it is to find friends that actually give a shit about you? I have been in situations where I could have been hurt and Danika got me out of them. She is the only one who made me feel like more than a slut, she made me feel like I'm better..." Verosika choked up a bit, tears pouring out. "A...and I may never have or see my friend again because of that trial. So the least I can do is at least honor her in some way so that everyone knows who she truly is," Verosika finished as she wiped her eyes.
This left Blitz speechless, as he saw that she was actually serious about her friendship with Danika. Barbie comforted her by rubbing her back. Verosika sniffed and smiled appreciatively. Just then, a door was knocked, and everyone turned as it opened to reveal Fizzarolli with his Quieves, who looked real down in the dumps, as he had bags under his eyes.
"Oh, Fizz." Blitz frowned, approaching his best friend. "You doing alright? How's that rooster king?"
"I... I'm not doing well. Ozz isn't doing so well too. He's blaming himself for Danika being taken..." Fizz said, looking down while his Quieves were sad.
This made Vortex frown in sympathy.
"That's how Bee feels now. She looked really down and didn't eat or drink anything and... stares at the picture of herself and Danika from her phone for hours. It makes me worried for her and her health."
"Damn..." Loona frowned, surprised that the two sins care for Danika.
"At least, they tried." Millie assured.
"But not enough..." Blitz looked down.
"Me and Ozz gave Vassago something to... help us... at least communicate with her and hear her beautiful voice..." Fizz said.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Meanwhile, Vassago tried to calm his erratic heart as he stood in front of the doors of the King of Wrath's palace after arriving in the ring. The entrance was blistering hot, not surprising since it is next to a giant volcano. On his person were two pet carriers and behind him was Seraphina with all sorts of luggage on her back.
"Okay, the plan is simple: get in, give Danika her things, make sure she has some form of contact while also making her feel better in this horrible situation," Vassago said to himself, looking at Seraphina nervously. "You don't think that this will end badly do you?" Vassago asked in which Seraphina stomped her hoof a couple of times, and Vassago knew what she was trying to do. "That was a rhetorical question," Vassago clarified before knocking on the doors.
They opened to reveal Satan as he tower over Vassago, who gulped.
"Vassago? What brings you here?"
Vassago swallows down his nervousness and shows him Danika's stuff, along with her two pets.
"I-I'm here to bring her things into her room since she's living with you. I thought I'd help tidy up her new room to make her comfortable. Plus, she could use some company, too." he said, showing Aiden, Midnight, and Seraphina.
Satan stares down at Vassago, who sweats profoundly. He then gives a hum and moves his body to the side to give him room to go through the doors.
"Come in. You may go see her. Yogirt will guide her horse to her new home."
Vassago sighs in relief and uses his magic to grab all the luggages while Yogirt comes in view and grabs the reigns to lead Seraphina to a new stable while Satan watches them before closing the doors behind them.
"Her room is upstairs. Turn to the right. Oh, and you're more than welcome to join for dinner since you've came a long way to bring her things over."
"Thank you, Your Majesty."
Vassago managed to find the door to Danika's new room. Inside, Danika was resting in bed sad when she heard the door knocked.
"Who is it?"
"Vassago, dear." Vassago answered from outside the door and opened it. "I'd thought I'd see how you're doing, and bring you some company," Vassago said as he open the pet carriers to reveal Aiden and Midnight.
Danika gasped to see them again as the pig and the goat ran up to her open arms. She hugged them tightly as the two animals lick her face all over.
"Oh, Aiden, Midnight! I've missed you!"
Vassago smiles at the sight as he places the pet carrier to the side. Danika looks up to him and smiles.
"Thank you, Vassago."
"It's no problem. And if you're wondering about your horse, she's also here in her new stable." he informed her, making her sigh in relief. "Oh, and Asmodeus and Fizzarolli wanted me to give you these."
Hearing their name made her look up instantly as Vassago presented her a bright blue Asmodean crystal bracelet with some of Ozzie's fire in it and light green pink and purple gems surrounding it. Danika gently takes the bracelet from him and strokes the gem.
"Oh, Ozz... Fizz..."
"It's not just an ordinary bracelet. What it does is that when one side taps it, the other side will feel the tap and it works as a communicator. You can talk to them whenever you like." Vassago explained, helping her put on the bracelet around her wrist.
This made Danika tear up and grasp her wrist close to her chest where the bracelet is placed. She miss her boyfriends already. Vassago noticed her downed expression and comforted her, rubbing her back.
"You know, that was a very brave thing you did, my dear. I'm sure your family think so."
This made Danika look down at her animal companions with sadness again.
"But I've lost my father, my sister, my brother, my dreams, everything."
"Cheer up, child. It'll turn out all right in the end. You'll see." Vassago looks up, startled. "Ooh, listen to me... jabbering on while there's a supper to get on the table."
Danika stands and Vassago approaches the wardrobe.
"Well, now, what shall we dress you in for dinner? Let's see what they've got in the drawers." The doors fly open and demonic moths flutter out. He immediately slams them shut, his back against the door with his glasses tilted. Quickly fixing them he laughed embarrassed with Danika giggling. "Oh! How embarrassing. Here we are." One door opens, and the other serves as an arm. It pulls out a . "Ah! There, you'll look ravishing in this one!"
Danika gently push the dress away Vassago was handing out.
"That's very kind of you, but I'm not going to dinner."
"Oh, but you must!" Vassago said with worry.
Imp butler walks into Danika's room.
"Ahem, ahem, ahem. Dinner...is served."
Satan is pacing back and forth in front of fire, with Yogirt looking on.
"What's taking so long? I told her to come down. Why isn't she here yet?!?!" he demanded.
"Oh, try to be patient, sir. The girl has lost her father and her freedom all in one day." Yogirt assured her.
"It's no use. She's so beautiful, and I'm...well!" Satan said and sighed.
"Oh, you must help her to see past all that." Yogirt said.
"I don't know how." Satan said.
"Well, you can start by making yourself more presentable. Straighten up, try to act like a gentleman." Yogirt said in a soldier tone, Satan doing just that. "Oh, and when she comes in, give her a dashing, debonair smile. Come, come. Show me the smile."
Satan bears his fangs in a scary, and yet funny grin.
"But don't frighten the poor girl." Yogirt added. "And impress her with your rapier wit, but be gentle. Shower her with compliments, but be sincere."
Satan's head is spinning with all the information at once and gripped his head to ease himself as Yogirt finished his advice.
"And above all..." he paused dramatically before shouting, grabbing the dragon sins face. "You must control your temper!"
The door creaks open. Satan wipes the silly face off, and looks to the door expectantly.
"Here she is."
The imp butler enters with a nervous smile.
"G-Good evening."
Satan goes from expectant to mad, growling.
"Well, where is she?"
The imp butler buying time.
"Who? Oh, ha-ha-ha! The girl. Yes, the girl. Well, actually, she's in the process of, uh, um, circumstances being what they are, uh... she's not coming."
Cut to exterior of den with door slightly ajar.
"WHAT?!"
Door bangs open and Satan comes flying out, with Yogirt giving chase.
"Your grace! Your eminence! Let's not be hasty!"
Satan marches up to Danika's room and bangs on the door. Vassago's yelp could be heard behind the door.
"I thought I told you to come down to dinner!" he yelled, making Yogirt facepalmed himself.
"I'm not hungry!" Danika shouted back from behind the door.
"You'll come out or I'll...I'll...I'll break down the door!" Satan threatened.
Yogirt interrupted him.
"Satan, I could be wrong, but that may not be the best way to win the girl's affections."
Satan starts growing angrier.
"But she is being so...difficult!"
"Gently, gently." Yogirt adviced.
"Will you come down to dinner?" Satan asked in a very dejected tone.
"No!" Danika shouted again.
Satan looks at Yogirt, very frustrated.
"Eh-eh-eh-eh! Suave, genteel."
Satan tries to act formal, bowing at the door.
"It would give me great pleasure if you would join me for dinner."
"Ahem, ahem, we say 'please.'"
"...please." Satan finished in a once again dejected tone.
This made Danika mad at Satan.
"No, thank you."
Now Satan is furious at her refuse.
"You can't stay in there forever!"
"Yes I can!" Danika provoked.
"Fine! Then go ahead and STARVE!!!!" Satan roared before turning to shaking Yogirt. "If she doesn't eat with me, then she doesn't eat at all!"
He marches back down the hall, slamming a door and causing a piece of the ceiling to fall on Yogirt.
"Oh, dear. That didn't go very well at all, did it?" Yogirt sighed, before fainting from the pain.
Inside Satan's room, Satan stomps inside, knocking the furniture and stones aside.
"I ask nicely, but she refuses. What a...what does she want me to do--beg?"
He looked at the flowing lava waterfall.
"Show me the girl."
The lava revealed Danika in her room with Vassago, who's pleading her.
"But Satan's not so bad once you get to know him. Why don't you give him a chance?"
Danika is still disturbed by the attack and her life being taken away from her.
"I don't want to get to know him. I don't want to have anything to do with him!"
Satan sighs and waves at the lava to remove the magic.
"I'm just fooling myself. She'll never see me as anything... but a monster." he looks at the old photo of someone he used to love, but it was taken away from him. "It's hopeless." Satan covers his face, dejected.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The door creaks open, and Danika carefully sneaks out of her room while Vassago is sleeping as they are having a sleepover. Her feet goes by as three bright spots shine through a curtain at floor level. Behind it is Yogirt seeing Danika walking down the hall.
"She has emerged!" Yogirt gasped and followed her.
Danika made it to the kitchen and opened the refrigerator to see some food when she was about to eat until Yogirt stopped her and caught her red-handed. Danika turned her head and met Yogirt for the first time.
"Oh, hello, little guy." Danika greeted him
"Hello, Danika." Yogirt greeted back. "I'm Yogirt, Satan's little voice, and I see you're still hungry."
"Well, I am a little hungry." Danika admitted, looking a bit embarrassed.
"Of course, you are. Let me show you to your table, Your Majesty."
Yogirt shows Danika to her table, as she sits down in her chair. Yogirt calls out the imp servants, who immediately comes up to him.
"Everyone! Make a wonderful dinner for the princess! And now It is with deepest pride pleasure and greatest pride that I welcome you tonight. And now, we invite you to relax. Let us pull up a chair as the dining room proudly presents... your dinner."
Danika was surprised to see all the delicious food as the servants were out even with desserts.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
After Danika ate her dinner and thanked him for the wonderful meal, Yogirt showed Danika around the castle for a tour. Aiden and Midnight had woken up to find their owner not in her room and managed to find her and meet up with her as they follow Danika and Yogirt.
"Please forgive me, but Satan's the one who kept me as his prisoner and took everything away from me." Danika said, angered.
"I understand, but please understand Satan, he's got a very hot temper of fire and lava, especially when it comes to demons who made him mad with no reason at all." Yogirt explained.
"...What is your job?" Danika asked curiously.
"Oh, I make sure that he doesn't cause another eruption on Earth."
"Really?"
"Yeah. Satan caused the biggest and deadliest explosions in history and all major volcanic eruptions that were considered natural disasters. Like he caused Pompeii due to Mammon dumping ash and pumas on Satan when he was asleep in Mount Vesuvius, causing him to sneeze."
"That sounds... deeply concerning."
"That is why he needs to learn to control his temper and his power. He takes his job seriously, even while being in charge."
They are now walking down a hall with the footstool as Yogirt continues lecturing after explaining about Satan.
"As you can see, the pseudo facade was stripped away to reveal a minimalist rococo design. Note the unusual inverted vaulted ceilings. This is yet another example of the neo-classic baroque period, and as I always say, if it's not baroque, don't fix it! Ha ha ha. Now then, where was I?"
He turns to find the heads of the suits of armor have turned to follow Danika.
"As you were!"
They all snap back to face forward.
"Now, if I may draw your attention to the flying buttresses above the-- uh mademoiselle??"
Yogirt turns around to realize Danika isn't here along with her pets. Meanwhile, Danika is wondering around the castle in awe with Aiden and Midnight by her side as they sniff around the place. She then noticed a light under one of the doors. Curious, she opened it and was met with a beautiful garden filled with all sorts of plants and clean waterways.
"Whoa... It's even bigger than my dad's garden."
Danika steps inside and admires the plants as she grazes them gently. Aiden and Midnight were smelling at the flowers while... eating some plants. As she looks around, she doesn't notice a vine reaching out to grab her ankle before she is lifted in the air.
"Whoa!! What the?!!"
Aiden and Midnight heard her shout and ran over to rescue her. At the same time, Satan is walking by when he hears Danika's shout and goes into the garden to see her almost being eaten as she struggles to get out of its grip with Aiden and Midnight biting at the vines. Satan blows fire at the plant, causing it to shriek and drop Danika before retreating. Danika dusted herself as Aiden and Midnight came up to her with relief. Though the shadow looms over them, and she looks up to see Satan staring down at Danika with his arms crossed, appearing disappointed and a bit mad.
"What are you doing out of your room?"
"Uh, to take a look around? Or that I'm bored?" Danika said sarcastically, getting up.
"You could've been eaten by a plant if it wasn't for me."
"I wouldn't be here if you kept me as your prisoner."
"You should have thought of that before coming to Hell."
"What!!! I'm sorry, do you think I had a choice? I was sold here by my now-dead parents." Danika exclaimed as she turned to face Satan angrily.
"Now-dead parents? What do you mean your parents are now dead?" Satan questioned.
"It's a long story, but they're the reason I came into Hell in the first place, and you wanna take everything for me when I made Hell my one true home!" Danika explained and yelled at Satan as he looked shocked.
"Or at least it was, but now I lost everything just like I lost everything on Earth." Danika sat on the ground as she was crying in tears, covering her face with her knees.
Noticing that, Satan frowns about what he had done to her freedom, her father, and everything. Aiden and Midnight looked at their owner feeling sad and bad for her, so Satan sat next to Danika, rubbing the back of his neck, and thinking about the mistakes he made back at the trial.
"Look, I'm sorry about what I did to your father, but I can't go against the law even though I am the law."
"Just because you are a law, it doesn't mean you have to follow and hurt demons, especially someone telling you like my uncle telling you Stolas' punishment," Danika said as she touched Satan's hand to comfort and make Satan blush a bit. "But there are good reasons why my father broke the law like adopting me after my parents sold me, it's because they never loved me, they just wanna get rid of me just like my mother and my uncle to get rid of me as well."
"So, Asmodeus and Beelzebub were telling the truth all along?"
She nodded.
"By the way, thank you, for saving me from the plant."
Satan looks surprised before he softens.
"You're welcome."
Satan and Danika leaned their heads forward a bit to touch their foreheads and they closed their eyes and smiled.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
In the concert, the crowd is cheering. Behind the stage was Verosika, who was facing the people.
"Hello, Sinners, today I want to pay homage to my best friend. Her name is Danika Nightingale, she was forced into a soul contract yesterday by Satan... and I miss her. I don't know if I'll ever see her again, but until then, please enjoy my new single. Danika, this is for you," Verosika said as the music started.
https://youtu.be/hZ4mOlzVDKA
I'm going through the same day
Same place, same way I always do
Then I saw you from the corner of my eye
And it hit me like a ton of bricks,
I can't lie
Oh you got to me
My life was alright living in black and white
But you changed my point of view
Verosika sang as she thought about when she first met Danika at the cafe. How she approached her to make her a friend. Behind Verosika, pictures of Danika were being shown of the two together.
Show me your colours
Show me your colours
'Cause without you I'm blue
(Without you I'm blue)
Hurry up and save me
Hurry up and save me
Hurry up and save me
Hurry up and save me
I just wanna feel alive
And I do when I'm with you
Verosika continued as she remembered Spring Break, how Danika took the stage and felt honored to be her friend. Behind her it showed Danika doing that same performance without sound.
Hurry up and save me
Hurry up and save me
Hurry up and save me
Hurry up and save me
I just wanna feel alive
And I do when I'm with you
(Show me your colours
Show me your colours)
I have to have control of myself
My thoughts, my mind
Cause the way it's going down
In my life I feel like a prisoner
In a light
Are you feeling me
'Cause the way you make my
Break my ,shake my, walls around
I feel like I'm breaking out
Show me your colours
Show me your colours
'Cause without you I'm blue
(Without you I'm blue)
Hurry up and save me
Hurry up and save me
Hurry up and save me
Hurry up and save me
I just wanna feel alive
And I do when I'm with you
(Hurry hurry up)
Hurry up and save me (Save me)
Hurry up and save me (Save you)
Hurry up and save me (Save me)
Hurry up and save me
I just wanna feel alive
And I do when I'm with you
Pictures, videos, and memories of Verosika hanging out with Danika, acting silly and having fun.
My window's opened up
Tonight I'm crawling out
Will you be there are you waiting
Will you be there will you save me
Suddenly the memory of her best friend struggling to get away, her palm cut open, and a red chain around her neck.
You can save me
(Save me, save me) I know you can save me
So just, so just save me
Without you I'm blue
Verosika bellowed out as she remembered feeling helpless to help Danika.
Hurry up and save me
Hurry up and save me
Hurry up and save me
Hurry up and save me
I just wanna feel alive
And I do when I'm with you
Hurry up and save me (I'm blue)
Hurry up and save me (Are you)
Hurry up and save me (Are you)
Hurry up and save me (Are you)
I just wanna feel alive
And I do when I'm with you
Hurry up and save me (Save me)
Hurry up and save me (Save me)
Hurry up and save me (Save me)
Hurry up and save me (Save me)
I just wanna feel alive
And I do when I'm with you
Hurry up and save me (Save you)
Hurry up and save me (Save me)
Hurry up and save me (Save you)
Hurry up and save me (Save me)
I just wanna feel alive
And I do when I'm with you (Save you)
Save me, save me
The crowd applause as they looked sad at the same time, Verosika walked off the stage and sat down on the chair and shed a tear at missing her best friend since they met and showing the memories they had together.
"Danika, I hope you're okay and please..... Come back to us."
Verosika looks up at the sky to see the stars that have been connected to show the image of Danika and it winks at her, Verosika smiles and places her hand on her heart.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Meanwhile the next day at the castle, Danika is playing in the garden with Seraphina, Aiden, and Midnight. Vassago had to leave to do his royal duties, but he promised her that he will visit again to let her know about her friends and family, especially her boyfriends. Satan and Yogirt watch from the balcony.
"I've never felt this way about anyone." Satan said as he felt strange from the moment Danika touched his hand. "I want to do something for her. But what?"
"Well, it has to be something very special. Something that sparks her inter--wait a minute." Yogirt said, thinking until he had an idea.
In the hallway leading to the library. Satan and Danika are alone.
"Danika, there's something I want to show you." Satan begins to open the door, then stops. "But first, you have to close your eyes."
Danika looks at him questioningly.
"It's a surprise."
Danika closes her eyes, and Satan waves his hand in front of her. Then he opens the door. He leads her in.
"Can I open them?" Danika asked just as she entered the room
"No, no. Not yet. Wait here."
Satan walks away to draw back the curtains. He does, and brilliant sunlight spills into the room. Danika flinches reflexively as the light hits her face.
"Now can I open them?"
"All right. Now."
Danika opens her eyes and reveals the gigantic library filled with books.
"I can't believe it. I've never seen so many books in all my life!"
"You--you like it?" Satan asked.
"It's wonderful." Danika said honestly.
"Then it's yours."
"Oh, thank you so much."
Yogirt watches them slowly bond with each other.
"Still got it." he chuckled and gave them some space.
Bạn đang đọc truyện trên: AzTruyen.Top