A Devil's Dealings

What awaited me on the other side of the door was everything I could have ever imagined. A city in the clouds, marble columns lined with gold, and angels roaming the streets. "Hello?" One of them asked, getting my attention by hitting a clipboard against a desk. They looked like a guard of some sort, with a badge on his chest and a small crossbow holstered at his hip. "Can I help you, miss?"

"Oh... Uhm... I don't know what I'm supposed to do." I said, walking up to him as he examined my face. "Where am I supposed to go?" He squinted, taking a few steps toward me as he placed his hand on top of my head.

"Oh, you're a demon. I haven't had one come here in a while. Go in and take a right once you reach the fountain. You'll see an oak door, knock and ask for the half-breed. She'll take care of you." He pointed into the city, opening the gates for me as I took a deep breath and started walking. "Enjoy your stay miss..." He seemed confused.

"Lilith. I'm Lilith." I said, giving him my name with a smile on my face. He put his hand to his chin, thinking about something as the gate shut behind me. It was odd, I felt welcomed here. Angels, mostly young ones, came up to me, looking at my demonic features curiously before waving me goodbye as they went about their day. I could have gone straight to where that angel pointed me, but I was curious.

Every step I took made me feel ecstatic like I was getting refreshed every time the soles of my feet touched the cloud that served as the floor. The sky was blue, a few clouds resting at higher altitudes than the one I was on. A familiar liquid flowed down from them, crashing onto the cloud I was on in waterfall-like cascades. Lekos...

I walked over, kneeling by a pool that collected on the cloud. I had never seen this much of it all in one place. I sat there, awestruck, as an angel walked up and sat beside me. "Hello there, you new around here?" They asked me, tapping my shoulder to get my attention. "My name is Andrew, what's yours?"

"Lilith..." I said, hiding my tail between my legs and covering my horns with my hands. "I... don't really fit in here..." Shuffling away slightly, I started pushing my body upright with my arms when I heard his voice again.

"Then why are you here? You don't seem like a bad demon, though I've never met a good demon before either." He stood up, following me as I walked away. "So, how did you get here?"

"I... died..." I mumbled, walking around aimlessly. "I turned into a human and died, then I was told to go here." It was strange. Why wasn't he judging me? Aren't the angels supposed to hate people like me? I stopped walking, turning around to face him. "Shouldn't you like, be angry with me? I'm a demon, I've killed people. How come nobody seems to be mad at me?" raising my voice garnered the attention of everyone nearby. I must have looked like a freak, wondering why nothing bad was happening to me.

"Why?" The question seemed to have stumped him since he put his hand to his chin and started tapping his foot. "If I were to say, I'd say that you don't feel evil." He said. "Maybe. I don't know. We've had murderers here before, but they all repented for their sins."

"Repent?" I asked, walking away while deep in thought. What could I do to repent? Why was I given this chance? Why was I here? I still didn't know, and now I'm even more confused. I walked up to an older-looking angel that looked slightly different from the others, she somehow looked familiar. "Excuse me, miss, uhh... what do people do around here?"

She turned around, taking a short glance behind me. "Oh, you're new here. Well, we usually just go about the day seeing what happens." She smiled before breaking eye-contact. She looked worried, frantically searching the area for something.

"Is something wrong?" I asked, walking closer to get her attention again. "Are you looking for something or someone?"

"I... my grandchildren. They were playing around here earlier, but I lost track of them." She said, looking up at me. "Can you help me?"

"I... okay. What are their names?" I asked, looking around at all of the angels flying around the place. They could be anywhere.

"Lucas and Liam. They're twins." She said, flapping her wings and flying off. "Thank you for your help, miss." With that, she vanished from my sight. I looked around for two angels that had the same face; they weren't where I was. After some searching on foot, I took to the skies as well, going from cloud to cloud and asking around to see if anyone caught sight of them.

"Hey there, little devil, how's the search going?" Andrew's voice reached my ears, getting me to turn around. He was flying up to the cloud I was on, looking around himself. "I heard you've been helping Elizabeth out. See, I told you, you don't seem evil. That must be why you're here." He smiled, landing beside me as he put his hand to his brow.

"Tch, a demon that isn't evil, I guess I'm just an anomaly," I mumbled, flying around the cloud as fast as I could. Try as I might, I found no sign of the two boys. I slowly walked back to Andrew, sitting down on the edge of the cloud. "Hey, Andrew."

"Yeah?"

"Thanks for talking to me," I mumbled, looking at the clouds below as he took a seat beside me. "I still have so many questions, so having someone actually come up to me is calming."

"Oh. I'm sure that if I didn't, somebody else would. We're angels, after all." He said, kicking his feet in the air. I chuckled, looking around absentmindedly as I slowed down to think. This place was gorgeous, a city floating on clouds, flying citizens, pearly white buildings, pillars of gold, streets paved with diamonds; one thing was missing though.

"Hey, where's... you know..." I asked, leaning back to look up at the endless sky. Before I could get the answer to my question, a shadow passed by and covered us in darkness, followed by another of similar size. "Do you think that's them?" I asked, pointing up at a pair of angels flying above us. I looked over at him in time to see him shrug, leaning forward to fall into the sky and take off flying after them. I followed him, the two of us going as fast as we could until we caught sight of two twin boys. "Lucas, Liam? Your grandmother is looking for you." I yelled the moment I thought they can hear me.

The two of them stopped, turning around to look at us. The resemblance was uncanny between them; well, they were twins after all. Their faces looked oddly familiar, though. After some explaining, the four of us returned to the first cloud and met up with Elizabeth. She thanked me, inviting me to her home in order to thank me. I had no reason to refuse, so I went along with it, waving goodbye to Andrew as we approached one of the houses. "Hey, have you seen the kids?" A familiar male voice reached my ears as we knocked on the door.

"We're home." One of the twins said, running inside as a male angel walked out to meet us.

"Oh, it's you. The demon that helped the village." He smiled, waving my way as everyone turned their attention toward me. Village? I examined his face, taking a few steps toward him as things started falling into place. "How did you manage to get here?" He asked me, though I could sense to malice or prejudice in his voice.

"I died," I said, not knowing if I should add any other details. "I still don't know why I ended up here instead of my home, but..." I stopped talking before I could say anything that would ruin the mood. "Anyway, so these are your kids?" I asked, looking at the twins. "Sorry that we couldn't save you," I said, bending down to smile at the two of them. They smiled back before heading toward the kitchen and running into two women.

"I see. Well, if you managed to get here, there must be a reason. I hope you figure that out soon." My former master said, inviting me further into the house and introducing me to his wife and sister. They fed me, giving me a place to rest until I regained all the energy I lost in my search for the twins. After some time, he invited me outside to talk with me privately. "So, miss demon, can I ask you something about your previous life?"

I turned to him curiously, leaning against the wall of his house as he turned and looked toward me. "Why the sudden curiosity?"

"Mom always told us a story of dad since we never got to meet him. He was captured by a corrupt king while he was traveling, but when the castle was searched during the war, all they found were bodies and ashes. His name was Johnathan." He said, looking me straight in the eye. "Does your kind do this kind of thing? Were you responsible for..."

"I was." I stopped him before he continued his sentence, looking him in the eye with as serious of a face I could make. "And I was there, your father was the one that summoned me." There was no use hiding it, especially now that it was all behind me. "He's not here, is he?" I asked, looking around. There was his wife, his sister, his mother, and his kids; no sign of Johnathan.

"No, he's not." He said somberly. "He's in the other place. But I still don't understand why. What he asked for wasn't too far off from what I asked for, but I ended up here." He twiddled his thumbs, looking to the side in the direction of the gate. "I don't understand it."

"It's because you wanted me to help you save people," I answered him, placing a hand on his shoulder. "He wanted a slaughter, but you wanted to save lives. That's why. I don't always work with the best people; some are saints, others were monsters, it's a mixed bag." I explained, telling him what I know, even if it wasn't much.

"Then why didn't he survive after meeting you, but I did?"

"I don't know," I told him truthfully. "I think it was about the intensity of your emotions, but I'm not entirely sure. I know that I got stronger the more intense your emotions were." I pushed off the wall, walking toward the street. "Whether they died or not was out of my control, well... for the most part." I waved him goodbye, walking down the street and going to where I was supposed to go. "So that's what happened to them. They were sweet." I smiled, reaching a wooden door, and hearing an irritated voice from the other side.

"Ugh, she's late. Where is that new demon?" A woman grumbled, accompanied by furious footsteps that only stopped when I knocked on the door. "It's abou..." A demon with a halo met me at the door, looking at me slackjawed before pulling me into an embrace. "Lilith! You're finally here, sweetheart!" She said, pulling me closer and shutting the door behind us.

I took another look at her. Her face was familiar, and it shared some similarities to my own. "Mom?" I asked, uncertainty in my voice. "Are you really my mom?" I felt something in my gut, it just felt right to call her that.

"Yes. I'm sorry that I had to go away." She whispered into my ear before she finally let me go. "After your father... killed me..." She mumbled, feeling her neck with a hand. "I was given a chance to live a normal life, and when that ended, I found myself here. And it looks like you've been through the same." She smiled, gently stroking my wings and rubbing my horns.

"Why did we end up here? Why did I end up here?" I asked, hearing her chuckle slightly. She pointed upward, so I followed her with my eyes. "A halo... for me?"

"Have you ever been out in the human world and have been compelled to do good? Saving people, even when you didn't have to; thinking of people other than yourself, and doing what you can to help them; enjoying the happiness of others. Lilith, no normal demon would feel that way." She said as I started to piece everything together. "I'm a half-angel. And you are my kids."

"I..." It was overwhelming. That explained what Lucian and I were thinking about recently. "Then why... why did we have to come back to that place every day? Why am I only here now? Why?"

"You'll find your answers soon enough. But for now, have you adjusted well so far? I hope you haven't been too self-conscious here." She smiled, inviting me further into the building; her home, it appeared. It was a humble home, with sparse decorations save for some potted flowers.

"Is it really okay for me to be here?" I asked, taking a seat as the two of us stared out the window at the street. "I've killed people."

"But you've also helped people. If it wasn't atoned for, then you wouldn't have been here in the first place." She rebutted, taking one of the flower pots nearby and plucking some out to stick in my hair. "The only people that come here are good people, and you are a good person at heart, Lilith. There has to be someone that you'd be willing to save, no matter what the cost." She smiled as the entrance gates opened up again as a familiar demon boy walked through. I stood up excitedly, reaching the door before turning back to mom with a smile on my face.

"I think there is. I think I understand now... We'll be back." I said, rushing out the door to greet that very familiar demon.