You reeled as you realized he was holding Miki's decapitated head in his arms, like a precious treasure. Your feet stopped without you telling them to; you knew in your heart that this wasn't Akira anymore. He was too angry; too betrayed. But he could come back. You knew it in your heart. If only you were given a chance that you knew wouldn't come.

And then then the tears began. At first, you simply tried to blink them away, but this quickly evolved into sniffles. Sniffles led to trembling lips and trembling lips led to a leaking nose. A leaking nose quickly became hyperventilation and finally hyperventilation broke into true, heartfelt sobs.

"Don't cry, Persephone. Please, let me comfort you in his place." Satan looked over at you and frowned once again, unhappy with your emotions.

"DON'T FUCKING TOUCH ME!" You screamed out at him as Akira approached. "Aki... Aki, please! Talk to me! Hold me! We're going to have a baby, Aki! I have to know what you want to name them. I need you to tell me how happy you are about it!"

You stumbled towards him, holding your arms out to him. But he ignored you. He couldn't bring himself to even look at you.

"I thought you would come here." Ryo mentioned casually.

"Why did you betray the humans?" Akira asked as you fell to your knees beside him. "You drove them mad by making them scared."

"Humans are weak. Their extinction is inevitable. That's why I saved you and my precious 'little sister' who is, by the way, not that."

"Don't be ridiculous! You're human, too!" He squeezed Miki's disembodied head as he crouched over, still avoiding your eyes.

"I'm not, Akira." Suddenly, with a burst of light, all of Ryo's humanity flew away. He was indeed a fallen angel. Looking at him at least began to remind you of why you had ever even liked him in the first place. "I am Satan."

His beautiful white wings expanded meters from his body and his eyes became so blue, they rivaled the sky. His clothes were lost and his body, a mix of male and female, was put on display. He had lost all muscle definition that he had had prior to this... situation... but he was still lean and svelte. You collapsed onto yourself and resigned to sitting on the rock until you could get a word in.

"I challenged the icy cold God some time ago." Lucifer began to tell his story. "I was cast from Heaven, wandered the dark universe and came to Earth. Long before humans existed, this world was dominated by demons. Weakness meant death. Only the strong survived. It is the history of power. In order to survive this world of battle, demons gained a special ability. They gained the characteristics of other organisms by merging with them. Just as humans developed weapons, demons changed their own bodies into powerful weapons by this merging."

You laid on the ground now, tired and defeated. You realized that this story was going to take much longer than you expected. But maybe, just maybe, it would help Akira come back to himself. Maybe he would understand why.