9 Chapter 9: Mirrors of the Moon

"Let's have a deal then."

"What deal?"

"I can help her escape within three days and you can also see her multiple times, but in one condition."

"Tell me."

"I will place a curse on you. You can touch her, but you will feel the pain you can never imagine. It will also cause your physical body's death if you are careless. Don't worry, even if you die, I won't take your soul, not until I confirm your identity."

"It's a deal then."

---

Sebastian paced back and forth inside the mansion, the ghost butler and maids watched him worriedly. This has been going on for almost an hour now, but no one dared to utter a single word.

"Why is he taking so long?! Don't tell me he is dead already!" Sebastian raged in frustration. Half of him was worried about Remiel's condition, the other half was worried that the couple is being lovey-dovey.

"Argh! I'm going to check them!" He was about to leave but the ghosts blocked his way. "Move!"

As the Grim Reaper and the master of the mansion, ghosts can make physical contact with him. They would feel cold, dead, but solid once he touches them. Sebastian is not used to these creepy things, so he decided not to dare touch them.

"But you ordered us not to let you leave when the guest left. We are only doing what we are told, master." They bowed apologetically but kept their ground.

He sighed hopelessly and slumped down the sofa. He is in the living room, nearest to the main door. Massaging his temples, he tried to calm his demon who is rampaging inside him.

"Let me out! I need to go to them and take my mate away! I can't let that filthy angel stay with my princess any longer!" His demon argued with him. Sebastian was frustrated and stressed, not knowing why his demon is acting like this. He should only love Felisha and no one else!

Feeling confused, he slammed his own head on the wall in the hope to calm himself. Still confused about his feelings, he kept banging his head until it bled.

Remiel opened the door slightly, panting lightly. He stopped in his tracks when he caught a glimpse of Sebastian, bleeding, and busy hitting himself.

He immediately rushed to his side and stopped him. "What the hell are you doing?" He asked, holding each arm of his, shaking him slightly. "Are you crazy?! You're bleeding!"

"Oh, you're back..." Sebastian said, his tone was like a drunk man.

"Yes, I'm back and saw the devil slamming himself with no apparent reason." He helped Sebastian sit on the couch while the ghost handed the first-aid kit. Remiel sat beside him and starts wiping the blood away from his head, as the cut heals slowly.

"How is she?" Sebastian asked, making Remiel stop.

"Not in a good state. It will probably take her a day to wake up and another day to fully recover. She went on a rampage after eating a human's heart. For her to go to such extent, she must be heavily injured, or worse, on the brink of her death..." His voice is full of worry, fear, and hesitance. Remiel felt devastated, knowing Lareia's condition and not being able to stay by her side.

"What did you do?" Sebastian asked curiously, deep inside, he is afraid of the possible answers.

"I managed to calm her down and she called me an idiot. I admit that I was late, but at least I still came, right? She always treats me like that, as if I was the most annoying person she met, but cared deeply. She is indeed an angel under that demon's body. What worries me is the events that turned her into something like that." While he explains, Remiel's eyes are sparkling with great admiration and a strong feeling of protecting someone, that Sebastian never felt. Or should I say, never knew.

Sebastian can feel it, but refuses to accept it and kept denying it even if it's the most obvious thing. He felt a pang of jealousy, as his demon fought against him to come out and kill the angel in front of him. "Such a possessive demon, but isn't he protecting the wrong lady? He better know who the real lady of my life, or he won't continue to exist in this body," he thought to himself.

"Aren't you worried about yourself? Your arms are burned, " Sebastian said, trying to change the topic, but his chosen one is a mistake.

"It doesn't matter, at least, I got to hold her for even a while. She felt light and soft, but she was quite cold..." he trailed off, thinking back to the earlier event. Sebastian tried his best not to let his demon overcome him, as he felt his heart tighten. He was confused, but deep inside, he knew it was jealousy and kept denying it.

"I see. Do you want to know what happened?" He asked, more to himself. He wants to know everything that she went through, but he fears it. He fears that his demon will go rampage and want to go to her side.

"You can? For free? Or is it another deal?" He asked, looking suspiciously at him.

"I don't give without taking anything in return. That's what my mother taught me," he replied nonchalantly. He leaned on the couch, relaxing after a stressful hour.

"What is it then?" Remiel asked desperately. He doesn't care about his own well-being, only Lareia. Saving her from the fated death is enough for him.

"I'll tell you in the future, and once I did, please follow without hesitation." His answer is vague, knowing that the condition he will ask is not a simple thing. It will hurt Lareia and Remiel, but it can also make Remiel happy.

"Alright. I'll do anything as long as its doable," he replied. "Can we see it now?"

"Follow me." Sebastian stood and walked to the right corridor, and Remiel followed.

They stopped in front of a tainted glass door with a signage hanging on it. It says, "Mirrors of the moon." Sebastian placed his hands on top of the signage, and it slowly melted, revealing a room with hundreds of mirrors hanged on the wall.

"This is the first time I came here since I respect people's privacy. In each of the mirrors are fragments of the events that surround creatures that are supposed to be dead, or on the brink of their death. Princess Lareia is sentenced to death, making her directly listed to the list of the dead, but managed to escape her fate with your help." Sebastian explained as he walks around, reading every nameplate under each mirror.

He found Lareia's name, right beside Remiel. He clenched his fist, "even here, they are together?!" he thought frustratingly. If only he can, he would punch the mirrors, but that's not possible.

These magical mirrors are made from the moon's power, a celestial power that no one can destroy. When the recorded person on the nameplate finally died, it will shatter on its own and will repair itself when a new entry came.

"Ah, it must be fate." Sebastian heard Remiel whisper, making his nails grow, blood dripped down the floor as he kept his hand clenched. Unaware of this pain, he only focused on the confusion and jealousy growing inside him.

Sebastian placed his hands' inches above Lareia's moon mirror, and scenes start to flash as fast as lightning. It slowed down, the first scene they saw was a crying Lareia and Jake who is smiling and comforting her with sweet words. They both felt their heart tighten, anger slowly rising inside them. Jealousy. A single word, but can torture anyone.

The next scene created a mess. Both of them unleashed their wings unconsciously, staring intently at the image in front of them. Lareia was in pain, losing consciousness in Jake's arms as he yells her name. Poisoned, hurt, and in pain. If only they could turn back time, they would stop her from consuming the poison and punish the one responsible for it.

They haven't calmed down yet when another scene broke their hearts. The scene was almost unbearable, seeing how Valor strangles Lareia, they barely controlled themselves. As if their heart stopped beating, their blood boiling, their power was scattered around the room. Lightning coming from different directions, black smoke and ashes covered the room.

Remiel's wings shined brighter than ever. According to Valhalla's beliefs, the brighter your wings are, the more powerful you become. The overwhelming emotions fueled his magic power, raising it higher than his best records.

Meanwhile, Sebastian's horns and nails grew longer. It was a terrifying sight, but terrifying means higher magic power, in Nether's beliefs. Weird, but that is how they measure magic, same goes for the other kingdoms.

Afraid of the next fragment, they were hesitant to watch but still did. It was a terrifying scene, that they stopped from rampaging and everything went from 100 to 0 real quick. It was a scene where Lareia scared the hell out of Valor. They felt a shiver down their spine as the dagger glided down his cheeks. They felt her wrath, and it was something that shouldn't be underestimated.

"Did she just do that? That was insanely beautiful..."

"Is she...even the Lareia before?"