To Live or To Let Live

"If Lucifer doesn't want to go back, maybe he could just send the demons off and then come back to you, Prophet", I propose as we marched inside the castle.

"Impossible. Once I leave, there's no coming back", Lucy barely let Prophet speak anymore.

"Then...couldn't you just tell the demons to go away...there's gotta be a way, right?"

She laughed.

"Yer like a kid!", she was all over Prophet...literally. He didn't seem to be bothered by it though.

"Well, I'm not saying anything", I retracted all my opinions, if it meant talking to her.

"Lucy, I think he's just trying to help", Prophet finally decided to step in, "Seraph, hell isn't close by, it could take an unending amount of time to lead all these demons back. That's why Lucy doesn't like her job. You can imagine just how boring things must get, doing the same thing over and over again."

I nodded, uninterestingly. I was a lot more interested in the castle that we had just walked in. I had become used to the harsh environment in this hell but stepping in, I felt pain. The palace was a step above the rest of it all. I found it hard to breathe, to see, to maintain my balance. It was like fighting against a scorching blizzard. I felt like I might throw up and though I was trying my best to keep up with Prophet, I didn't think I'd be able to go on much longer.

Prophet, on the other hand, was about as unfazed as he'd been as long as I remember it.

"There's a way to end this...you know", he muttered as we entered a darker corridor somewhere in that castle.

"Is there?", I noticed Lucy began eyeing him pretty hard.

"Seraph, if you...kill me-"

"No!", Lucy intervened. She gave me the kind of devilish glare that was completely uncalled for. Its not like I was going to do it just because Prophet was asking me to.

"I can't do it regardless of what you say. Not while we're here anyway", I answered, looking away.

"No...well, all you need is a bit of provocation. But I know you, you aren't one to look away", he'd noticed that about myself, which even I hadn't.

"Whatever is that supposed to mean, Prophet", I brushed him off.

"I'm saying", he said as he stopped walking, "You and Lucy should settle the score. Whoever wins in the end, we'll go with that person's decision."

"What's there to settle?!", Lucy jumped in. I looked away.

"I've got this right, don't I, Seraph?", Prophet smirked at me, "You intend to return her to her rightful throne."

"Huh?! You must have a death wish!", Lucy was fuming.

"Only Lucifer can kill anything in this place. So whoever survives, gets to make the final call."

"I don't think you understand what you are saying, Prophet", I objected.

"Except I do. Whatever fate holds for us...be it us or our real world...for everyone, for Lucy too, I am willing to accept that."

"You are willing to unleash a scourge if need be?"

Prophet just smiled. What was fueling such resolve in him? I stayed and wondered as I looked at his face.

"As long as I get to stay with him, I don't care who I have to kill. I'll be free, just as I wish to be", Lucy was as noisy as ever.

I wasn't paying much attention to her, though. I looked at Nasty II, it was reassuring to have him on my side. He was hopping about earlier carefree but now he stood next to me, looking at me with his big round eyes, as if saying, "I'll be in your corner, no matter what!"

"Whatever happens from here on, I hope that the two of us prevail, Prophet", I looked back at him, smiling.

"Let's find out."