Professor Eric Ackhart liked many things - video games, milkshakes, cute girls...
Unfortunately, he only had two of those three and didn't like being interrupted. The 23
year old let out a sigh and spun around in his office chair to face the fools who just
walked in. Too bad - he'd just been busy with the final level on his computer game.
He sucked on his milkshake and cursed his luck as the dreaded slurping sound came to
his ears. He was almost out of the delicious vanilla goodness... too bad. He looked up at
the soldier in front of him, not liking the man in his office. Two more soldiers walked in,
all wearing the black uniform that was standard for the operatives of the Shadow
Organization.
Eric slurped on his milkshake again, happy that he was just a scientist with the
organization and allowed to wear a white lab coat over whatever the hell he wanted. His
office was completely white, save a few pictures of cute girls on his bulletin board, a
puke colored carpet and the file cabinets lining the wall. And there was the paper maze he
called half of his desk, but that was beyond the point.
"Sir," one of the soldiers started. "Information pertaining to your research has been
compromised after a break in at Sector C-3."
Eric rolled his brown eyes and sat up. "Again...? That's the second one this week,
the fifth in the last month. Couldn't you guys just send me an email when this happens
instead of barging in?"
The soldier cleared his throat awkwardly. "The information accessed was the last
segment of Project-"
"Angelus, I know... and the location of prisoner 56-whatever the hell the number is.
Why can't we give prisoners names instead of numbers?" Eric paused. "Why do we even have
prisoners in the first place? It's stupid...!"
He stopped his ranting to take another sip and push some of his messy auburn hair
out of his eyes. "So our little thief is hacking into files of Project Angelus. I don't
know how that's going to help him. That little project can't ever be reproduced considering
our stupid bitch of a current subject ruined it."
The soldiers noticeably tensed up at his wording. "Oh come on," the researcher said.
"We all know she's a jerk."
"And you're an asshole." Eric's eyes perked up a bit at the sound of an angry female
voice.
The soldiers excused themselves from the room and the woman shut the door behind
them. She glared at the young man, but he was unfazed. She was a rather odd sight, wearing
am open black, provocative overcoat and a half cut shirt displaying her navel. That wasn't
the strangest thing about the young woman, it was her light purple hair, almost white, but
with enough color to make the purple noticeable as well as her matching lilac eyes.
Eric slurped loudly on his milkshake, pleased at the look of disgust on her face. His
eyes swiveled down to her exposed stomach, looking at the intricate, black tattoo that
seemed to encircle her belly button. "Well, if it isn't my favorite whore?"
She clenched her teeth. "Do you have to call me that?"
Eric grinned. "Right - you aren't a whore if you only sleep with one guy, sorry.
Alright, murderer then?"
He loved the fact that he could mess with her and she couldn't kill him because he
was too important. "My name is Lilith," she growled. "Stop demeaning me with such... ugh...
I didn't come here for this. I came here because of this!"
She handed Eric a file that had details about the different sectors broken into, the
information taken and... He held up the grainy picture to the light, trying to discern the
person in it. "Uh... so it's either a teenage girl or a boy with long hair?"
"It's a girl and she's been running around stealing files on our project-"
"My project," he corrected. "You screwed it over, so you're not a part of it."
Lilith crossed her arms. "Yeah right. I'm the subject of this experiment so I think
I'm entitled to some rights?"
Eric flitted his gaze to her before looking back at the picture. "If I had any
choice, you would have been the prototype and Alice..." He sighed. "Alice would have... she
would have been it."
"Yeah, well she's dead," Lilith said with a smirk. Eric frowned and for a moment, she
felt a bit bad for touching on such a subject.
"I know," he murmured. "And you killed her."
"I didn't do it," she said, watching the young man get up.
"Ah, but you let her die and you could have told me... but you..." He trailed off.
"So, you came here for something, didn't you Ms. Supervillain?"
She pursed her lips, though grateful he didn't call her something demeaning again.
"I'm here for my checkup, remember? The analysis?"
Eric smacked his forehead. "I totally forgot about that!" He started rummaging around
to get his clipboard.
"So you don't care that someone is getting files on me and on that new prisoner?"
Eric looked over at her.
"Why would I? Like I said, Project Angelus can't be reproduced since the initial
prototype core maker was destroyed along with a possible subject. You're the only one that
can be studied so the information is useless," Eric got his clipboard and started walking
to the door. "And the prisoner is none of my business. Why do we have a prisoner anyway?"
Lilith gave him a slight smile. "You'll see. It's all a part of the plan for me to
become stronger."
Eric rolled his eyes. "Whatever, Power Freak. Let's get to the analysis room."
*****
Sakura carefully brushed blonde strands from her sleeping lover's face, all the while
pulling Abby closer to her. The young woman curled up closer to the angel, letting out a
slight murmur in her sleep. Sakura would be sleeping as well if... if it weren't for the
thoughts that had been plaguing her for the last month since the end of the Demon Lord
fiasco.
She held Abby closer out of instinct. She'd been feeling a slight tickle in the air
for the last week and Sakura knew it wasn't just going to go away. Something was going on
and for the first time since she was raped, Sakura never felt so blind.
Why wasn't there anyone to take her place as Living Inferno? Sakura knew it was
extremely rare for someone to commit themselves to Hell like she did and end up being a
servant for Purgatory, but... She told herself that it was entirely possible that Purgatory
knew Tsuru wasn't intending to destroy the world. But even then...
Why did she feel so... so... tense...? She tried to lull herself back into sleep by
letting her thoughts drift to Eveon. The girl was going to be turning 16 in another
month... so her and Abby were planning a great big party to celebrate Tycara being back to
her normal age and Eveon's sweet 16. Tycara was now a proper adult and Seth could be
intimate with her again.
She started to drift off when a sudden darkness assaulted her senses. It tugged at
her heart and Sakura jolted up in bed, fear welling up in her being. Abby started to awake,
looking at her lover with tired eyes.
"...Sakura...? What's wrong?" The angel quickly pushed Abby back down to bed.
"...please... go back to sleep. It's nothing. I just need to... go downstairs."
Sakura knew that Abby didn't quite believe her, but the blonde settled back into bed
easily.
Sakura swallowed uncomfortably as she could feel the fiendish energy of her visitor.
She made her way down the stairs before letting her eyes settle on the young man standing
by the front door. He appeared to be waiting patiently for her and smiled as soon as he
noticed her coming down to meet him.
He initially looked out of place, wearing a black uniform of sorts with a black cape
over it. His long, gray hair was tied in a loose pony tail and Sakura didn't ignore the
rapier he had sheathed in his belt. He had a pleasant, calm expression on his handsome
face, but the angel knew he was far from it.
"Who are you?" She asked quickly, stopping right in front of him.
"Considering you can see me, I'm sure you know exactly-"
"I know that... you're a pure, chaos demon. A... a fiend," Sakura murmured. "But I
asked who... not what..."
His lips quirked in a slight smile. "My name is Solomon and I can only assume you are
Sakura?"
She nodded quickly. The man before her... was invisible to the eyes of anyone except
people with the sight. Sakura only had it because of her job as the Living Inferno and even
if her red eyes were gone, her ability to detect this man's presence wasn't.
He smiled. "Good. I have a message of sorts. I serve a great man and he wishes to see
you."
Sakura was taken back. "I... I don't know... why anyone would request my
presence...?"
Solomon continued to smile. "In fact, he would like to see you immediately."
Sakura shook her head. "Whatever... whatever it is, I won't be a part of it... I
already have someone... and if this man's intentions are... romantic... then tell him I'm
taken."
Solomon's smile disappeared, but it seemed as though he expected such a response.
"Ah, but he'll be disappointed. If you will not see him, then he intends to come see you."
"I don't want... anymore of your type coming here..." Sakura growled out. "You are
not a demon... like the ones that dwell here. You are a type of pure evil..."
He shrugged. "I won't deny that. I'm just a messenger..." He trailed off suddenly as
he noticed someone else coming down the stairs.
"...mommy?" Sakura turned around. Tycara was coming down with Eveon. "What are you
doing?"
The angel-demon hybrid was completely oblivious to the man standing next to her
mother. Sakura knew this well and tried to calm down. "I just... needed to stretch,
Tycara."
Eveon made a bee line to the kitchen and Tycara followed. "Such pretty children you
have. I assume the blonde one belongs to your lover?"
Sakura turned to glare at Solomon. "Don't come near them," she said simply.
"Ah, but your child is a rare breed isn't she? You can't keep people from trying to-"
The angel gritted her teeth. "Stop it. If this is all you're here to do, then... then
leave."
It was then that Tycara asked, "Mommy...? Who are you talking to?"
Sakura turned around to see Tycara looking at her in confusion. Eveon was standing
next to her, drinking a glass of water. The angel's heart skipped a beat when Eveon's eyes
flitted over Sakura's shoulder.
"Uh, I think she's talking to that guy, Tycara," the blonde said.
Sakura gaped at Eveon and even Solomon's eyes widened. Tycara slowly turned to Eveon
with confusion. "...there's no one there."
Eveon frowned. "Yeah there is. It's the guy in the black with the pony tail..." She
looked over at Sakura. "That's who you're talking to isn't it?"
Sakura tried to struggle with her words since Eveon shouldn't... she shouldn't be
able to see-
"You can see me?" Solomon asked suddenly. Sakura looked at him and was horrified at
the smile playing on his lips.
"Yeah, I can see you just fine." Eveon suddenly stopped. "Is that weird...?"
Tycara seemed to catch on that something wasn't right and started to usher her little
sister upstairs. "H-hey, Eveon... let's go to bed together, okay? I don't want to sleep
alone tonight..."
Sakura turned back around. "I want you to leave... now."
Solomon resisted the urge to laugh. "What do you know...? It seems your step-daughter
has the sight. A human teenager, no less. How absolutely intriguing."
He stopped his mirth when she grabbed his wrist. "Stay away from her... from this
house."
Solomon sighed. "Right. I will stay away from the house, but you can't always
guarantee the safety of your little girls..."
With that, the demon left in a swirl of darkness, leaving Sakura confused and
distraught. She immediately headed upstairs to Eveon's room. Tycara had decided to share
the bed tonight with her sister and they both looked up as Sakura came in.
"Eveon... if you ever see that man again, stay away from him." The blonde teenager
nodded awkwardly.
"Why was it weird that I saw him? Was he a friend of yours?"
Sakura shook her head. "I just met him and... if you ever see someone like him, just
ignore them. It's not safe for you to be attracting the attention of those types of
demons."
Tycara looked at her mother in shock. "Eveon can see fiends...?"
Eveon frowned. "A fiend? I've never seen anything weird besides that guy."
Sakura let out a sigh. "Fiends are... evil, pure chaos demons. They aren't like Isaka
or Bakra. They're only human in their looks and..." She trailed off. "Just get some
rest..."
She quickly kissed them both on the forehead and tucked them in. Sakura ruffled her
wings a bit unintentionally as she headed back to Abby. Why had a fiend come to her in the
middle of the night? She had no association with them... They were a mostly underground
organization, highly outnumbered by the other races.
It didn't make any sense at all... just like how Eveon could see that which was
impossible to a normal person.
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