C R A C K  I N  T H E  S K Y

———

THE SPARKLE IN Lucifer's eye caused a shiver to run down Dimitri's spine. It dripped with insanity, causing Lucifer's aquamarine eyes to darken along with the color of his heart. His flushed pink lips were crooked, bent into a handsome grin yet there was nothing warm about that smile.

It was filled with malice.

"So this is where you were hiding for the last few days?" Fabian asked nonchalantly, not quite noticing the intensity of the situation.

"The last few days and whenever I need some time alone." Lucifer nodded, "the energy here calms my mind."

"Hard to imagine since this is underground. You would think that working in the castle's rooms would be more comfortable."

"I once thought that too but recently, privacy isn't something so readily available."

With that said, Dimitri caught Lucifer's stare. There seemed to be a hidden message in there, a warning.

I'm sure you know what I'm about to say.

I know you're guilty.

You were the one snooping where you shouldn't have stuck your nose in.

Keep away. It's not good to know this much.

"That just means that you have something to hide." Dimitri bit down his fear and retorted, frowning. "And I thought we would rule beside each other."

"There can only be one king," came Lucifer's immediate reply.

The air was so tense that it was starting to get difficult to breathe. Fabian observed his two companions carefully, chewing on his bottom lip as he read in between the lines spoken. He knew that Dimitri must have broken into Lucifer's private study, a place where was specified no one else could enter.

So he decided to speak up, to make sure no blood was shed in a premature battle. Their plans of securing Hell in their own control was not yet finalized— it had not even properly begun! If Dimitri was to get expelled from Hell right now and cast into the world of mortals, the plan would be done for.

"Is there a reason you brought us here, then? If this place was your new secret room meant for your privacy, it seems contradictory for you to show it to us and let us know about its existence."

Lucifer shrugged. "I just wanted to share knowledge of this place's existence. After all, this place, the Heart of Hell, powers Hell. I knew that Dimitri would follow. His curiosity cannot be satiated by a simple box. Only death can empower this land, a sort that is both beautiful as it is painful. With that said, his training will take place here in the future. That's why he was brought here. As for you..."

"He just happened to be here," Dimitri supplied.

To that, Lucifer simply nodded once wordlessly.

Digging into his pockets, Lucifer pulled out a pendant. On it was two hands. They moved, one faster than the other. It was a strange item to own but Lucifer's eyes were trained on it. He was seemingly mesmerized by the object for a few seconds before he snapped out of it, shoving the item back into his pocket.

"Breakfast would be served soon back in the castle. Shall we return?"

♔ ♔ ♔

There was a shift in Hell's air ever since Dimitri and Fabian had returned from the Heart of Hell. It wasn't something that Dimitri could explicitly explain, yet, ever since he had been cursed with the powers of death, he knew the ongoings of Hell nearly as well as Lucifer did. The energy of the very realm itself crackled in Dimitri's bones and it was what kept his blood running. Not to mention, that pale green glow that his skin emitted was a haunting reminder that he was connected to Hell intricately.

"Something wrong?" Calvin asked just as he speared his fork into a slice of ham. "Your food has been there left untouched ever since you sat down."

"Lucifer brought us to a place he dubbed as the 'Heart of Hell'," Fabian answered for Dimitri. "It's in a cave below the castle right by the beach. Being in there must have triggered something in him."

"Why did he bring the both of you there anyway?" Wilhelm muttered under his breath, waving his utensils around as he spoke. "It's not like him to share so much. Even back in Heaven, Lucifer had always been a little too secretive. He never liked others knowing what he was up to or what he was thinking. And now he just shares the location of what is essential for the survival of his precious realm?"

"It does sound fishy when you put it that way," Calvin agreed.

There was a loud clink of silver against porcelain as Fabian laid his fork to rest. "He said it was because he plans to train Dimitri there. Cultivate the powers of death."

"Why do I not like the way that sounds?" Wilhelm's nose wrinkled, a single finger tapping against the wooden table anxiously. "Originally, we had the demons to factor in when planning for the war but now there's also the supposed powers that can be harvested from the Heart of Hell. Will we really be enough to defeat this evil? End what was started originally as the Battle of Heaven?"

"We will just have to keep an eye out for any turn of events." The legs of the chairs scraped loudly against the floor as Calvin stood up. He gently dabbed at his lips with a napkin before placing it back down on the table. "The tides will always turn with the change of the moon. What may be originally Lucifer's advantage could become ours."

It took three more days from then before Dimitri finally understood what Calvin had meant at the breakfast table.

Dimitri had just ended his practice for the day. True to his word, Lucifer had returned to train him every crack of dawn in the Heart of Hell. Every time they trained, Dimitri could feel himself getting stronger, the light that was emitted from his skin glowing brighter. Eventually, Lucifer even taught him how to detach his powers — the light — from his skin in order to create what they together dubbed as personifications. They took the forms of hooded humanoid figures that could float and fly, with a body made of bones and a faceless head. However, when used appropriately, they provided the sweetest form of death Dimitri had ever seen.

As the days went by, Dimitri also noticed a rise in the dead. Some people from the land of the living had breathed their last and were split into Heaven and Hell, one for the souls that had done good while the other for those that fared either mediocrely or had committed horrendous deeds against morality during their time alive.

The number of the deceased had risen above a thousand in total, counting from the very first time Dimitri ever recorded a mortal human death.

Abel.

The name was still fresh in his memory. Dimitri could still see that man's features crystal-clear in his mind and the thought of it haunted him. He didn't know if that was how he wanted to live the rest of his life— constantly having to see the faces of the dead and hear the cries of their respective families.

He hated it.

On his way back from training, Dimitri decided to loiter by the beachside. It was one of the most beautiful scenes of Hell, one that was seemingly untainted by the blood and evil of the demons that roamed the rest of the realm. On the beach, time stood to a still and it was peaceful.

Or so he thought.

Out of nowhere, the sky above cracked open with a thunderous boom. The scarlet clouds that painted the skies were split apart, allowing a beam of golden light to shine through. Immediately, Dimitri recognized that sunlight. It was the same that shone on the plains of Heaven and Paradise. That was the sacred light of the above world.

Before Dimitri even had the time to react, however, a single figure came plummeting down from the crack. It raced and fell, descending through the heavens in a way that reminded Dimitri of his own fall from grace. The body landed in the seas far away from shore with a reverberant splash, sending specks of seawater flying.

Following that, more and more bodies followed. They were all sent flying, plunging into the cold waters of the ocean like raindrops in a storm. The force of the impact was enough to rock the tempestuous seas, forming waves that rocked the water high above shore before receding completely, forming a seemingly-endless cycle. It formed a howling gale, the orchestra of the tumultuous ocean singing a choir of songs in Dimitri's ear as he struggled to even keep his eyes open in the strong winds.

When the final body had fallen, the clouds swirled back into their original positions, covering up any and every path that could've allowed golden sunlight to spill through. The winds also stilled, returning to the tranquil panorama from before. Just like that, the split connection between Heaven and Hell was gone.

All that was left was Dimitri standing by the beach, wide-eyed in the wake of a sea of bodies.

————

social media:

instagram: twelvewonderingstars (personal: aurorayeo)

twitter: aurorayeo (personal: aurorayyq)

facebook: twelvewonderingstars