“Tell me about the Purities.”

“I’m good.”

Natsu sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose as his eel worked the demon again. He turned to Finn. “Seven years, and the Rogues actually had a name?”

“They’re not Rogues!” Walter screamed. “They’re heroes!”

Natsu turned back to the demon, releasing the eel. “Excuse me?”

Walter shook, panting through the pain. “They’re…heroes.”

“To whom, exactly? Because all I’ve seen them do is commit genocide.”

“They’re saving our world, the Realms, from all that is rotten and filth.”

“Like you.”

Walter glared up at him. 

“Tell me about Lev.”

“I did.”

“You said he was your contact. That tells me nothing.”

Walter averted his gaze, letting his eyes slide over what could potentially be his last meal for several months. He looked and smelled so good…his trauma and sins coating his body like a fine marinade. How he’d love to take just one bite…

“I swear on all that is good in my life, I will hurt you if you don’t answer me.” The eel waved by Walter’s face, making him flinch.

The demon growled, hating this Prince more and more. He knew if he kept talking, they’d eventually come for him and at that point he was as good as dead. Fuck it, may as well go for broke.

“He’s one of the three leaders of the Purities,” he said. “He’s responsible for setting up the blitz attacks and chooses who takes part in them.”

“How many Divine does he command?”

“I don’t know.”

“Walter…”

“I don’t!”

Natsu’s foot began to jiggle over his other leg. “Renzo Ackerman.”

Walter gritted his teeth, turning away. “He’s the main leader.”

“Who’s the third?”

Walter growled softly, the meal becoming way too tempting for its own good.

“Walter!”

“Finrel! I don’t know his last name, and I doubt he has one, same as Lev.”

“What’s he responsible for?”

“Anishif recovery and blood extraction.”

Natsu’s entire body went stiff, his fingers gripping his arms.

“Originally it was some other fucker but he got killed during some raid down in Africa several years ago.”

Natsu and Finn shared a look. “Yeah, I may have been the one to do that,” Natsu said. “Where are they now?”

Walter clammed up, his desire to talk fading quickly.

“Why did they attack us?”

“I already told you, because I made a deal.” 

“How did they know when to come for us? We didn’t even know we’d be done so quickly.”

Walter swallowed. “Because I called Lev that morning and told him.”

Natsu’s eyes flashed with fury but he bit it back. “Did you tell him where the doors were?”

Walter nodded. “And who was manning them.”

Finn inhaled sharply. The attack, random and chaotic as it had appeared, was coordinated. They knew exactly where to go, who to hit, and when. Bastards.

Natsu breathed deeply through his core, doing his best to remain calm. “You told them where Toji would be.” His voice was low, the control nearly lost.

“I told them where you both would be.”

“You wanted us both to be killed that day.”

Walter’s grin reappeared. “What I got was so much better.”

“Highness,” Finn whispered. Natsu’s gaze slid up to him, his pupils dilated. Finn shook his head. “Stay calm.”

Natsu turned back to the arrogant prick chained in the cell before him, fangs dripping with saliva, burn marks on his exposed skin, victory in his eyes.

“You…along with one other vile cunt…ruined my life, because you believed you’d get to go home?”

Finn flinched, wanting to reach out but knowing it would be a very, very bad idea to do so.

Natsu stood, taking two steps toward the barrier. “Where are they, Walter?” he demanded, his voice shaking with barely contained fury.

“And I would tell you that, why?”

“If you don’t, you’ll continue to starve and endure months of torture while I sit back and eat popcorn with my little brother and sister, laughing at your misery.”

Walter’s grin began to fade. 

“I have suffered for seven…fucking…years because of you. My husband, and my family are gone! I can’t talk to them, I can’t look at them, and I can’t touch them. You wanted to go home? So did we. My best friend and her family are separated. They are missing out on all of these events happening in our lives, just as much as we’re missing out on theirs. Do you have any idea how long it’s been for them up there?”

“I—”

“Fifty years!”

Walter’s eyes went wide and he flinched. 

“You betrayed us all, Walter! All you had to do was agree to go back when we did. You had that option and you decided to betray us instead!”

Walter’s eyes drifted downwards, his jaw slack. He could have gone home…Prince Toji told him he could…why did he choose the Purities over the guaranteed chance to go home? Did he even remember? They had promised him so much, told him what they were doing was right, that he would be able to go home to a better, safer Realm. He could return to his family a free demon, rejoin the ranks…he could have done that if he’d taken Toji up on his offer.

“There is nothing more important in this life to me than my husband,” Natsu gasped. “Your ‘friends,’ these Purities you think so highly of, were going to leave you to rot, if not kill you outright. Do yourself a favor and tell me where they are!” He slammed his hand against the barrier, making it shake. His fingers pressed hard into the near-invisible screen, rainbows radiating out like light over a soup bubble.

Walter couldn’t move, couldn’t think. No…no, the Purities wouldn’t have abandoned him, they would have made sure he got home, they were making sure it would all be better, both here and in the Divine Realms. 

Wait…that’s right…even if I do die here, it doesn’t change anything. The work is still going on up there.

He lifted his eyes to Natsu. “Do what you want, I don’t care. No matter what happens here, it makes no difference. They’re still up there, still doing the work, still cleansing the Realms of the vermin that got through.”

Natsu’s face paled. “What?” His hand slipped down the barrier, leaving a trail of bright colors behind.

Walter grinned. “You really think it would all end here? Seven years of work here, fifty years up there. I guarantee your family has been having just as much fun as you have in trying to stop what cannot be stopped. We won’t lose, Your Highness. All the vermin will be eradicated, and the Realms, all of them, will be purified. As they should be.”

Natsu’s breathing was ragged as he fought to control himself. “Where. Are. They?” he demanded.

Finn kept his eyes on him, waiting to see if he would need to restrain Natsu if he got out of hand. It had happened before…

Walter grinned. “Are you going to kill me, Your Highness?”

Natsu glared at him. “Where are they?”

“I thought we were friends, once,” Walter said, tilting his head. “You taught me so much.”

“Where are they?”

“I really was honored to work under you, Chef, truly. You were an inspiration.”

“Where are they, Walter?”

Walter’s eyes fell on his dinner, a smile lighting on his face. “Two hundred and twenty three miles west of here. You’ll find an old abandoned mansion with its own small lake and a grove of trees. That’s their main hideout and I can pretty much guarantee if not all three of them are there, then one of them is. It’s never left abandoned.”

“Why?”

“Because of the major soul storage facility nearby.”

Natsu staggered back, catching himself. “Why did they bomb the Eighth Realm of Heaven and the Second Realm of Hell?”

“I thought that answer would be pretty obvious, Highness.” He turned his eyes back to Natsu, his grin vile in its attempt at candy-coated sweetness. “Can’t have the food supply get away, can they?”

“Why not the Fifth Realm?” Finn asked. “That’s where all the condemned souls go before they’re separated.”

“And face the unparalleled wrath of Devil King Nox, half of the former legendary Blood King?” He laughed, the sound making both of them want to vomit. “Not even Renzo was willing to risk that.”

“You bastard,” Natsu hissed. 

Walter chuckled low in his throat. “There you go, Highness. All our secrets revealed. Go wild.”

Natsu gritted his teeth, his lip curled up in a snarl. “Did you think that if you died you’d go back to Hell?” he asked.

Walter’s eyebrow ticked.

Natsu’s own grin was just as feral as Toji’s. “The Realms are closed off to everyone and everything. Your core’s energy is just going to be released into the unknown with nowhere to go. You’ll be nothing, fading off into oblivion without any help from us.”

Walter swallowed.

“Give it to him.”

Finn lowered the barrier, tossing the inmate into the cage with the feral demon before raising it back up.

“What…what can I do with it?” Walter asked, his mind suddenly blanking. This was food, right? They weren’t just messing with him again?

“I don’t give a shit,” Natsu said, turning away. “Fuck him, eat him, use him as a basketball, I really don’t care.” With that, he and Finn hurried out of the cells, the sounds of bones crunching and blood curdling screams at their backs.

“How much poison did you pump into him?” Natsu asked.

“More than I probably should have.”

“How much pain will he be in before he dies?”

“Extensive.”

“Good.”

-*-