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The Gatekeeper's feet touched down on the black marble of his Throne room. He exhaled hard and looked at the ground. Not in the mood for playing his usual mischievous games, he closed his eyes and released the incantation on his form, turning into his original form; the attractive, older looking version of the child. He glanced at the black gloopy substance within a small, deep circular pool next to the magnificent throne made of skeleton and onyx.

Calibri was always very concerned about his skin, so he'd created that black bath for him, and Calibri was almost always in it. It wasn't 'wet' per se, when Calibri stepped out it was as if he'd never stepped in, since he was always in it, he barely wore clothes unless he went out of the castle.

The Gatekeeper sighed, his good-looking features becoming marred by his irritation. He did what he had to do. Calibri finally had the opportunity to go back. He could be with his family, see that 'Alexei' fellow that he always spoke about, and… the *Grandmaster*.

Zhang Haochen. He could be with Zhang Haochen.

The most powerful person in the Realm of the Living.

With pursed lips and furrowed brows, he walked towards his throne and sat down. With Calibri gone, many of those living in the Underworld would go rampant. He'd need to start being brutal again to control them. The ghosts would not be happy. The corpses were going to be a whole class of their own in terms of their fury.

And the demons… They were most definitely not going to be happy. He sat down and crossed his legs, his long hair floating around him as if they were live snakes. The demons were capable of traveling between the realms if they were strong enough and summoned, and some of them were quite strong. Especially…

"Your Majesty."

Hearing his title, his eyes shifted to the owner of the voice.

The man (whom he'd ordered to live in the castle so he could keep an eye on) before him looked visibly perturbed. "Zio." He said in response, acknowledging him.

"I can't find Calibri anywhere. I've looked everywhere. In the castle. Outside the castle. The towns, the abyss, the trenches. I've checked with the Ghosts, the Corpses, the Ferals, the Husks and he's nowhere. He's been gone for days, almost as long as you and nobody knows where he is! He hasn't said anything. He disappeared without anyone even seeing him." Zio said.

The Gatekeeper blinked slowly.

'That's right. A few minutes in that realm is days to weeks over here.'

Uncrossing his long legs, the Gatekeeper stood up. Zio was a very powerful demon, one who loved to rampage the Realm of the Living for no good reason. Mostly when he didn't get his way. He was very easily upset and very possessive. What's more, he was very unapologetically in-love with Calibri.

"We need to talk, Zio. About Calibri."

Zio looked at him with furrowed brows. "Do you know where he is?"

"I do."

"Then…Where is he?" Zio asked wearily.

Zio was a handsome demon. He could easily seduce mortals to sacrifice their souls. Demons, like him, could eat souls too. The more they ate, the more powerful and cocky they got. And Zio had eaten a whole lot. While it was impossible for demons to surpass him, they could certainly be troublesome. And Zio was the very definition of the word.

"You know Calibri was never meant to be in this Realm, yes?" The Gatekeeper started.

Zio looked at him with furrowed brows but stayed silent.

"Today, I had the opportunity to finally send him back."

Zio's nostrils flared slightly.

"So, I did." The Gatekeeper said. Zio's eyes black eyes flashed dangerously. "You did what?" He asked in a low voice.

"I sent him back." Zio stared at the Gatekeeper with a blank expression, then suddenly he began to laugh. "I don't believe you."

The Gatekeeper raised a brow at him. "Oh?"

"Because you're just like me, your Majesty. You also… There's no way."

The Gatekeeper stepped in front of him.

"I say this in your best interests. Do not go after him, or trouble him, because if you do, I will find you, and I will have to hurt you."

Zio looked at him with a contorted expression. "Did you really send him back there? To those people? Did you really give him up to Zhang Haochen?! Your Majesty-"

"I did. He doesn't care for us as much as he cherishes that man. I won't change my decision, Zio." As the Gatekeeper spoke a red haze began to appear around Zio.

"You can't just-"

"I *can*. It doesn't matter what you feel, or what I feel. Calibri never belonged here, and he is where he needs to be. Now, will you be a good boy and calmly go to your quarters to think over why Calibri deserves to return to his home, or are you going to flash out of here like you always do, go throw a tantrum in the Realm of the Living and have to be dragged back down here like a spoiled brat? Be my guest. I'm positively dying to beat the hell out of someone. "

The haze around Zio became harsher and the Gatekeeper scoffed with a mocking expression. The feral guards around the throne room held their weapons threateningly.

Zio's dark eyes glinted in a dangerous way as he stared hard at the Gatekeeper. In mere seconds, he made his decision, and in a flash of red, he disappeared.

The Gatekeeper sighed. It was inevitable, but it wasn't like demons had a way of tracking people down with their powers unless they were summoned. There wasn't a lot Zio could do besides try to kill Zhang Haochen if he actually found him, and Calibri would never allow that up there. And as much as it annoyed him to admit, Zhang Haochen was the Grandmaster, he was powerful. He could probably even beat Zio up and stomp him back down in milliseconds if he wanted to.

Zio didn't know about the deals that were made, so as long as he didn't disrupt or hinder Calibri's chances of going back permanently, there was no harm in letting him run rampant to go destroy a few villages and greedy old men in the Realm of the Living for a bit.

Putting the issue out of his mind, the Gatekeeper walked back to his majestic throne and sat down, taking in the dangerous and not-at-all kind faces of his subjects within the enormous, cold room.

He knew he did the right thing. For someone who was supposed to be selfish, possessive, and cynical with the things he wanted, he made a hard choice that he hated and stuck with it. It was good for Calibri. It was great for him. He deserved happiness. The Gatekeeper knew all of that, he did, and he regretted nothing at all.

It was just that he suddenly missed his first friend in the Universe very, very much.

But as he sat reminiscing, he couldn't have possibly imagined that Zio would be doing something far darker and irrevocable in the Realm of the Living than throwing a tantrum…