69: The same problem

It seemed that after Lucretia had told us her little confession, Sebastian had finally calmed down and even attempted to apologise for his irrational behaviour. In turn, Lucretia apologised as well, for raising her voice. Finally, the room had settled down into a relaxed silence, until my mind began to backtrack onto something she’d said.
“You said that the devil put that spell on your mouth so you wouldn’t be able to reveal certain information. Why?” I asked.
Lucretia’s smile fell and she shifted uncomfortably in her seat. “He doesn’t want me to interfere with anything. There are many possible outcomes in the future that we are aware of both here in hell and up there in the celestial realm. If I were to interfere by saying anything, the devil is afraid that I may manipulate the possible outcomes and that may lead to your exquisitely rare soul being lost. And so, here comes the reason for my apology to you in particular. I am truly sorry… but I can’t help you. Sebastian has always turned to me for help whenever you were in trouble, but I’m afraid that this time, I must turn you two away.” She then hesitated, looked up at the clock and gasped softly before continuing. “I must warn you of something before you go though. You need to be extremely careful in the Game of Succesio, not only because of Katherine, but because during the celestial and hell stages of the games, you may find yourself particularly targeted. Both the beings up in the skies and down below are dying to capture your soul and your soul alone. Something so pure and ancient and pure. You’d make a fine demon, or a fine angel.”
“But what about Katherine. Isn’t her soul as rare as mine?” I asked curiously.
“I’m afraid not. Katherine was never supposed to join the celestials. She was always doomed to damnation.” She then stood up, rubbed her hands together and said, “I think it’s time I send you home. Not only are your grounding crystals wearing off, but I’m sure daddy dearest must have caught a whiff of Phoenix by now.”
She turned towards Vincent and held out a hand which he took gently. “Thank you, Vince.” Then she turned towards the three of us and said, “Make sure all three of you are connected in some way. We can’t use the gates again. They would be too obvious and heavily guarded. So, I will create my own gate.”
Sebastian bent down and grabbed Demetri before tossing him aggressively over the shoulder, and then mumbled something angrily beneath his breath. Thereafter he held out his hand for me and I took it, savouring the feeling of his cool skin against mine.
Lucretia stared between Sebastian and I for a moment before smiling and saying, “Be safe, all of you.” Then her face saddened, and she said, more quietly, “Because if you die this time around Phoenix, there will be no way to save you. You need to make sure that you finally put an end to Katherine and her reign of terror. But be discrete. At the moment, Katherine assumes that only herself and the others who resurrected her are aware of her existence. The best of luck to you, Diana Lorenzo.”
Sebastian was about to correct her, but I shook my head at him. She’d done it intentionally, as a way of saying that although this had only been our first meeting, it was sadly the last. And then she turned towards Sebastian and said, “Keep her safe, Sebastian.”
“I will not fail her again. I promise.” He said, before squeezing my hand reassuringly. I gazed up at him and gave a small smile.
Vincent and Lucretia then held their hands out before they began chanting something in the ancient witch’s language Sebastian had chanted in earlier. Ever so slowly a puff of magenta smoke began to appear before us. It grew and swirled until it split apart. Between the streams of magenta smoke, a sort of mirror appeared. However, upon closer inspection I realised nothing reflected within it. Instead, I could see the clearing and the lone, drooping narcissus amongst the ruins. But just as the image of the clearing began to grow clearer and clearer, the front door to Lucretia’s home burst open, and soon the living room began swarming with demons. Lucretia turned to us, panicked and yelled at the top of her lungs, “Go now!”
Immediately Sebastian pulled me towards the portal, but before we disappeared through it, I caught sight of the fear in Lucretia’s eyes. She was clearly in for a world of consequences for helping us as much as she did.
In a matter of moments, we were through the portal which immediately closed behind us. Sebastian gazed sadly at where the portal had previously been.
I placed my hand on his shoulder and gave him a reassuring smile before saying, “She’ll be fine.”
And although I said this confidently as a way to reassure him, I really wasn’t so sure that she’d actually be “fine”. Nonetheless, I continued to squeeze gently at his shoulder and gave him a gentle kiss against the cheek.
“You’re probably right. She’ll be fine.” He said firmly, more to himself than to me.
Thereafter he seemed to realise that he was still carrying Demetri who continued his slumber. In one swift moment, he chucked him to the floor. And it was then that my poor mate finally awoke, rather ungracefully.
“What the fuck! Where am I? What time is it? Does someone smell fire?” He yelled frantically.
Sebastian scoffed and shook his head before saying, “And now we will have to explain everything over again. Great.”
I rolled my eyes at Sebastian and held a hand out for Demetri. Once his eyes rested on mine, he finally calmed down and a small smile appeared on his face. He took my hand and I pulled him up. As he took his first few steps, he wobbled and was about to fall when Sebastian caught him.
He looked towards the vampire, confused for a moment, and then shot a smirk. “Aw don’t tell me you’re actually beginning to rekindle a sense of siblingship between the two of us? What Lucretia told you two must have been really bad then, huh?”
Sebastian scoffed, but said nothing further, and Demetri fell silent too. Instead, the two began to trudge forward. And as I gazed up at them, I couldn’t help but feel uneasy. It was a feeling that stemmed from what I had learned today. After all this time I still faced the same problem. No, *we* still faced the same problem. I was just grateful that this time Demetri and Sebastian weren’t at each other’s throats.
---
Stay safe! Stay healthy! Sending my love!