"My prince, you have been at this for hours. I think it would do you good to take a break."

Laudon doesn't respond to Zul. He doesn't move. He doesn't blink. He doesn't look as if he's even breathing. He continues staring off into space, completely oblivious of his surroundings. Zul enters the room with a worried expression etched on his face. He stands in front of Laudon's desk waving both hands, trying to capture the prince's attention.

"Laudon! Can you hear me?" Zul yells. "Wherever you are, please come back to me."

Zul reaches across the desk to touch Laudon's face. It does the trick to knock him out of whatever daydream he'd been stuck in. Laudon reacts impulsively, standing from his desk to fling Zul to the other side of the room. It isn't enough to take Zul off guard, however. Like a cat, Zul lands on his feet. He laughs while walking back to Laudon.

"Sorry," Laudon says. "For a second there, I didn't know who you were. I didn't know where I was. Everything seemed so... unfamiliar."

"No need to apologize. I am glad to have you back. And I am also pleased to see that you can protect yourself even when your mind is elsewhere." Zul straightens out his clothes before taking a seat in front of Laudon's desk. "I have never seen you zone out like that before."

"The first time it happened was the day after I sent the girl back to earth." Laudon sits down and sighs. He leans back in his chair and stares at the ceiling. "Since then, I've caught myself doing it twice more. I don't understand it. I don't know why this is happening to me."

Laudon and Zul sit in silence as the former briefly goes back over his daydream. Or maybe it had been a vision? Laudon isn't entirely sure. He has more questions than answers. He wants to know more about the beautiful woman in white, her hair long and dark, eyes golden. He wants to know why whenever she speaks to him, he hears nothing. He wants to know why she is locked in a cage like a prisoner. He wants to know why she keeps trying to contact him through hazy visions.

Who is she? What does she want? Could she be real, or is this all something that Laudon's perturbed mind has conjured up? After Laudon tells Zul about everything that he's been experiencing, Zul begins to wonder all the same things.

"You say these visions started after you sent the girl home," Zul says. "Do you think it is possible that she might have... damaged you, in some way? I hate to speculate, but she has already successfully attacked you. It would be foolish of me to say that you have remained the same since meeting her because you have not. You have changed."

Laudon doesn't comment on Zul's statement. "I need to see Myrlande. If anyone can figure out what's happening to me, it's her."

Like Zul, Myrlande has also been around since before Laudon was born. She has on more than one occasion worked alongside Lucifer, and even helped Zul in raising Laudon. That and more is why Laudon trusts her wholeheartedly. He trusts her to be honest and not sugarcoat anything. If she uncovers that something is indeed wrong with him, she won't hesitate to tell him the truth.

Laudon writes Myrlande a short letter about his situation and then passes it to a mid-tier demon to be delivered. He directs his attention back to Zul after sending the demon on its way.

"You look like you want to say something else."

"Because I do." Zul smiles, deciding to change the subject. "It has been days since you let the girl go. I am curious to hear how much progress has been made on her end."

"I have someone looking after her. They report back to me every four hours," Laudon says. "She has yet to leave her home. I will give her another day before I personally pay her a visit."

Zul grumbles in disagreement. "This is what I mean when I say that you have changed. You are too easy on her, my prince. Were the circumstances different, not only would you not have given her thirty days to find a replacement, but you also would not have tolerated such idleness. She is not taking this seriously and you must be the one to show her why she should."

Laudon rolls his eyes. He isn't being too easy on Maggie Brumfield. Zul is just too quick to dish out punishment when something that he wants isn't given to him right away.

"As the days pass, you become more and more like my father," Laudon says. "You can never let me do my job in peace. You always have to nitpick and tell me what I'm doing wrong. If my mother were here, I wonder if I would find her to be just as insufferable as I do you two."

Zul chuckles. "A dangerous woman is much more terrifying than a dangerous man. Raising you, I bet my soul that your mother would have been ten times worse than Lucifer."

"What makes you think that?"

"She procreated with the King of Hell. Not only is she bold, but she is also fearless," Zul says. "She must be if she was brave enough to have approached your father first."

Laudon gives Zul a look. "It was my mother who made the first move?"

"Or so I've been told."

"And what else have you been told?" Laudon asks. "My father always shuts me down whenever I bring up my mother. I don't know anything about her, only that she abandoned us shortly after giving birth to me. From what little my father did reveal is that my mother never wanted children. She would have aborted me had he not convinced her otherwise. He saved me."

"Your mother has been the only woman that your father has ever truly cared for," Zul says. "And besides you, the only someone that he has ever loved. What she did... it broke what was left of his heart after God had cast him out of Heaven. Your father shuts you down because even the mere thought of your mother causes him pain."

Laudon doesn't like it, but he understands.

"You have been by my father's side for centuries. Has he really told you nothing more regarding my mother?"

Zul shakes his head. "Your father has never been much of a talker, and when it comes to his personal affairs, he is quieter than a mouse. I know no more than what I have told you, my prince."

"Not the answer I wanted to hear, but thank you." Laudon tries to get back into the work that he'd been doing before having been temporarily trapped in that vision from earlier. "I haven't thought about my mother this much in a long while. Maybe you are right. Maybe that girl has... broken me in some way. Perhaps I have gotten a bit soft?"

"Just a bit." Zul teases. "You should take that break that I mentioned and go see Lila. A few hours with her should get you back on track."

A knock at the door interrupts their conversation. Laudon calls for whoever it is to enter.

In comes the demon that he had summoned earlier to send Myrlande a message. The demon passes him a note, Myrlande's reply. Laudon reads it over as the demon exits the office. He looks up minutes later to reply to Zul's question.

"No time for sex. I finally have an appointment scheduled with the specialist."