"Blegh!"

I wiped my mouth as I shuddered violently, reaching up to push the button to flush the toilet. "Shit, what the hell?" I stood up, wincing as my stomach decided to have an internal rollercoaster. This was the third time that I threw up in two days and I literally had no clue where it was coming from.

"Are you alright in there?" A voice called out from outside of the bathroom and I cursed, wishing that I had a mint to get this disgusting taste out of my mouth as I washed my hands. "Yeah," I grumbled, feeling extremely exhausted as I exited the bathroom, seeing Pazul standing there with a look of concern. "Oh my god, is that concern on your face?" I hissed, not wanting to see such a disgusting emotion on her face. 

"I'm just worried about you, Troy, is all," She said, pushing up her purple glasses as she stared up at me. It was odd how she took to calling me Troy instead of Mr. Morelli, not that I cared. "You've been acting...off," She narrowed her eyes as she knew something that I didn't and judging by her tone, she did. "It's been like this for the last week, right?" She asked and I nodded, leaning against the wall. "Yea," We didn't want to say it but we both knew that I was feeling off even before I came back here. "God, I'm hungry," I groaned, reaching into my bookbag and pulling out a bag of Hot Cheetos, shoving them into my mouth. Pazul watched me, tapering her eyes slightly as I sat down in the window seat, gazing at the sunny scenery of our city. 

"Since when do you eat Hot Cheetos?" She asked as if she knew me so well, taking a seat beside me. She was supposed to be teaching us but for some reason, all of the demon teachers were released from their duties, unable to go back to Hell and return to their post. It wasn't as if they didn't want to but like Natanya, they were unable to use their powers to go back to their home. They could transport anywhere else but Hell. It was kind of unnerving because they were all clearly worried about something.

"I don't know. I don't even like them," I shrugged, licking the red powder off of my lips. "But for some reason, I've been craving them since I first got back," I explained. Maybe it was because my body was subconsciously missing Maddox and it was weird, considering that there were times that I didn't see him at all when I was in Hell and I was completely fine. I missed him, sure enough, but I didn't crave him as much as I did now. I desperately craved his touch, his warmth, his gentleness. I craved it so much that I was even doing the things that he did just to make it seems as if he was here.

I remembered Natanya telling me that Jade was probably confused because she had her memories erased by Maddox. Some of the demons didn't, but they had their power to transport to Hell revoked. Those who were here had to stay and those in Hell had to stay. It bothered me because that had never become a thing, and I was worried. Extremely. I didn't know what the hell he was thinking?

"...do you know what is happening?" I questioned, pointing to the birds chirping and the sunshine gleaming through the glass. "Something is happening, I can feel it," I frowned, feeling such an intense bad feeling in my chest. 

"I don't know, Troy," Pazul seemed sad as if she was recalling something rather painful. "This is just bringing up all of those memories that I've been trying to keep repressed, zes zira," She whispered and I felt the weird urge to comfort her. "Walk with me," She murmured and so I did, watching the two pairs of feet take us to where they may. I threw the empty bag of the Hot Cheetos out, wishing that the man who typically ate them was with me, holding my hand. "When I was 216, four years ago, I met a guy. He wasn't from New Zealand like Availa's Leo or from Paris like Yara's Tyler. He was from a little town in Colorado and I was sent there to see how the humans were faring after Sir Alistair's rise," She sounded so sad and I felt for her.

"He was just a mere accountant, corny and funny. He was so plain and so boring, but he was the funniest man I knew. He didn't care about what I was or where I came from. He wanted to know about me," She chuckled to herself, her voice full of pain and grief. "He wanted to marry after six months but I knew that it was too early. Nevertheless, he managed to convince me because we both knew how much in love we were with each other. That's the crazy thing about love, it makes you lose rationale," She said but she didn't seem as if she regretted anything. Then her smile fell.

"I had to give him up because Tion would've caught onto us and Sir Alistair did not want me to have to go through that pain of him being killed because of me. It was either give him up and promise to see him again one day, or watch him be killed mercilessly at the hands of a man who knew no boundaries," She looked at me and I could see her green eyes watering. "You can understand why I made my choice." 

Back then, I responded in a callous manner because I knew nothing about the situation and I knew nothing about how far things went but now that I knew the truth, I had a better way of answering.

"I am sorry that you had to go through that but please keep your head up. It is true that Maddox did everything that he could to help you and it wasn't your fault or his that things turned out this way. The only thing that you can do is hope that he is somewhere out there," I pointed to the sky. "Waiting for you to come to him," She smiled softly, leading me into a dark and large room. "When Maddox fixes everything, I'll personally make sure that you're happy and you can go and tell him about who you are, about who Paula is," I blinked, wondering why it was so dark in this room and why I couldn't see anything. The smell was a bit nauseating, to say the least. "Where the hell is the light?" I asked myself, wondering why she brought me here and why I felt eyes on me as I searched for the switch on the wall.

"Troy."

I nearly jumped to the ceiling when a hand touched my shoulder, prompting me to go full-on karate chop on the owner of said hand. "Hey, hey!" I furrowed my eyebrows, realizing that I recognized that voice. "What?" I turned around, looking into bluish-white eyes. "Nya, what the hell are you doing here?" My eyes widened comically, wondering what in the world she was doing here.

"So if you're here and you remember me, it must not have been a dream then." She smiled softly, shaking her head as she revealed a whole clan of companions behind her. Out of the crowd, I could recognize Jexan, Lexica, Availa, Yara, Zero, Hannah and many others staring at me with hope in their eyes. I could even see Jade standing next to Jexan. "Uh, not that I didn't miss you guys," I took a step back, inquiring what was going on. Why were they here? Why did they look so defeated?

"Taen," Lexica stepped forward, making me curse her as she repeated that stupid nickname. "We don't have time to waste," She said in a matter-of-fact tone and I blinked, feeling cornered all of a sudden. Why were they staring at me like that for? What did they want from me? Why did they all come? Why?

"I'm lost," I muttered, backing up against the wall, rubbing my tummy. I was feeling a little dizzy, but it was probably because I was hungry. Probably thirsty as well, maybe even nauseous, I didn't fucking know and it was irritating me that they were staring at me as if I knew what they came here for. Nya took a deep breath, her eyes filled with so much worry and trepidation, a look that I had never seen before, her lips quivering slightly as she maintained her firm stature in front of everyone.

"Troy, please remain calm as I relay to you the events that transpired," Nya's voice cracked and I listened intently, wondering what she had to tell me. I could feel my gut squeezing as if it was preparing me to handle the news. I swallowed the air stuck in my throat as she nodded.

"A fortnight ago, or two weeks ago, Sir Alistair started acting differently, withdrawing from us. He relieved Jexan and I from our duties, telling us that we had free time to do what it was that we desired," She explained. "It wasn't until we noticed that his black wings were turning gray and his eyes were turning white. We didn't know why, but his generally nice persona turned into one of what you would say, an 'asshole'," I chuckled internally, nodding. "We thought that this was something that would pass, considering that he never talks about his feelings or his troubles to us, but we knew that wasn't the case when he began to act the same way to you."

I had a sharp intake of breath, a pain in my heart reminding me of how he treated me. "Then he sent you back, erasing your memories of you and your trusted companions. He tried to do the same to us, but he couldn't, so he took away our ability to transport. However, it didn't work, seeing as we are here," She motioned to herself and everyone else but I couldn't understand.

"What?" It wasn't making any sense. "What the hell are you talking about? Why would he do that?" I was extremely frustrated. I had told this man over and over that, we would all have his back, regardless of what he got himself into. I had told him countless times, even showed him, but he lacked that trust.

"A few hours after he sent you back, he sacrificed himself to Tion, the king of the paradise of Eden."

That was all she said and I could feel my heart racing, the blood thumping even harder than before. I couldn't stop the blinking of my eyes as traitorous tears brought themselves forth, unsure of how to deal with this news. "He, he did what now?" I didn't know why my voice cracked so pathetically, but it did. Nya nodded, letting her gaze fall to the floor. 

"We did not know, but it appeared to be that Tion was making his move to come and kill us all," She fixed me with a stare. "Even the people on Earth. I guess he found out that Maddox didn't keep true to his promise," His promise to never love, I assumed. I guess it was my fault then. "So he sacrificed himself."

I let out a shaky breath, feeling my hands getting clammy and my bones getting stiff. "O-oh," I managed to choke out. He really did what I thought he would do. He really had no faith in us, or was he just too afraid to get us caught up in the mess?

Nya continued, obviously sensing my pain. "He thought that removing your memories would make things better for you, for him," She shook her head. "It obviously didn't work because you have his DNA inside of you, so you remember everything," She frowned and I thought she was referencing the mark on my neck. I could feel my stomach lurching as she continued to talk, forcing myself to swallow down the bile that threatened to rise. 

"S-so why are you telling me?" I gritted my teeth, clenching my hands. I hated that I couldn't keep my cool like I normally did. I never used to be this way. I normally had a calm and collected disposition about things like this, but like this, I couldn't. This was what love did to me, it seemed. "We need your help," Jexan spoke up, startling me. "Help? For what?" I asked, tilting my head. "We need for someone to lead us in order to get our Sir back and the only one suitable for that role is you, Taen," He stated and I understood what he was asking of me.

"You will have Jexan and I to help aid you in creating a plan to retrieving him back," I nodded, knowing that there was no way that I could abandon my love when he needed me. "You must understand that this will be very risky and very dangerous," Nya's eyes trailed down to my stomach and back so fast, I would've missed it if I didn't pay attention. 

"Yup."

She didn't stop there. "We're not asking you because you're our last resort. We're asking you because we trust your judgment. You were the closest of us to Maddox and we know that you'll have his best interest at heart. We know that you'll make the right call. So please," I let out a sigh, knowing the amount of pressure that was being placed on me. I couldn't say no, I wouldn't say no, not with Nya and every other god damn demon looking at me as if I was their last hope. Not when I remembered seeing that pained look in Maddox's eyes just before he rendered me unconscious. Hell, he was practically begging me to help him.

"I already said I would, didn't I?" I snapped and Nya looked so relieved, a small smile on her lips. "Thank you," She whispered and I pushed off of the wall. "Don't thank me yet. We still have to save him. First, you must gather seven troops of your best fighters," I said, shifting into fight mode. I remembered all of the things Hannah had told me about her home and I planned to use that to my advantage. "Have them practice hand-to-hand combat with each other. Tion doesn't know and hasn't experienced that type of fighting skill. We can have the one-up over him on that," I said and they saluted me and I rolled my eyes with a cringe. "Yes, Taen!" From the burning feeling in my chest and the throbbing of the neck mark, I'd say we had to work fast because Maddox needed us.

I fought the urge to vomit once more as I thought about how we were going to fight in this war. Nya would soon tell me everything I needed to know, but I knew that this was going to be a fight between the demons and the angels. We needed more power because Tion knew about the demons. He knew everything, so we needed more. 

"But Troy, your plan has to be elaborate, so elaborate that we can follow it without you telling us," Availa said and I frowned. "What? Why? I'll be there with you, so it shouldn't matter," I shrugged, not understanding what she was trying to tell me. She looked at me and then at my stomach and then to the demons around her. "You cannot fight in this war, Troy," Nya muttered adamantly and I looked at her, wondering where all of this nerve was coming from because she had to stifle it. "And why the hell not?" I stood, feeling a wave of dizziness. I stumbled back and they all looked at each other, sharing a secret that I wasn't privy to,

"So? Anyone gonna share? If not, then I guess you'll just have to deal with it," I stated, ending that discussion and returning back to thinking about our game plan. "Because they can smell what I can smell inside of you," A voice spoke up as the door to the big room opened, enticing all of our attention. I narrowed my eyes, wondering what Natanya wanted from me and what she was going on about.

"And that's a baby Satan."