Warmth

The wet grass, the sunlight kissing him on the face, the wind blowing past his ears. There was such a jump from the cold, colorless emptiness of Purgatory, it was almost shocking. It took a while but after a few moments of mindlessly walking Raphael finally snapped to consciousness. He was finally able to absorb the vibrant colors and loving heat of the escape. "This is beautiful, This is the best thing I have seen in years, I haven't even been able to imagine this kind of thing with all the stress and fatigue." He thought as he walked through the field.

The brisk walk was such a relief, it was almost euphoric, it was freeing to feel so warm after so long. Pouring his emotions to someone made Raphael feel safe, this place made him feel safe, he felt like this was what he should have been seeing his whole life. Somehow after death this made him feel safe and happy. Walking in the bright field was so blissful of an experience, until he reached a cliff that loomed over an ocean, it was a stone tooth standing above a quilt of sapphires.

"How do you feel Mr. Charlotte, couldn't see it in life cause you lied to yourself and now you can see it within death?" Said a kind and bright voice from behind him. It was the Devil, standing behind him, no longer in her black suit but instead a long red dress, tight to her figure and matching her now present blood red lipstick. It felt off, Raphael had only seen her within the span of maybe one full day but her voice was wrong and her dress was weird to look at. "You look surprised to see me here." She said with a weird allure to her voice. Raphael couldn't take his eyes off of her, he wasn't expecting her at all. "I didn't think you would be here, even if it's a dream, is it some sort of special thing the devil can do?" He said confusedly. "Why are you dressed like you work as a waitress in a skeevy casino?" He asked, trying to peer off into the distance so as to not linger on her.

He was confused, all he had seen of her was being in the black suit, how would he even know what she would look like in a dress, especially such a promiscuous one that's so tight to form. "This is your dream, anything I look like, is because this is what you want to see, maybe you wanted to see this because I'm the only other person you've seen in a while, maybe it's because you feel something for me?" She whispered as she walked closer to him, her eyes piercing him like a knife. "I don't think it's the latter, but then again I haven't had a good dream in a long time, maybe I fell for Dev... "Just call me Lucy, The Devil is over done and Lucifer is a little too long for my taste. '' She said as she stood mere inches from Raphael's face. Her breath was cold, her body was cold, but her eyes, those beautiful emeralds were somehow hot, they were a white flame.

He could've butt heads with her by accident until he stepped away and began to loom close to the cliff, "Why am I having a nice dream? Why do I get to see such beautiful things if I am going to be punished in hell? It doesn't make any sense to me." Raphael said as he leaned over the cliff his toes barely on the grass. "It's because I don't control a dream, no one does, no one but you, after you opened up, you felt like you deserved this, this is your mind saying that you are ok and that you should be happy." She said, grasping his arm. She held him tightly and looked into his eyes until his arm felt chilled as she held and grew nearer but as he tried to step away once again, he thought he fell until, out of nowhere, he was awake. The sky was dark once again and the field black as coal, the mat still beneath him and tears all over his pillow.