An angel dropped down from above, landing next to Asmodeus who was waiting patiently next to one of the crumbling pathways. 

“Altair!” Asmodeus exclaimed. The angel ran a hand through his thick, white locs, peeling them away from his sweat covered forehead. “I’m so glad you could come!”

“Azzy,” Altair said, pausing to brush off dust from his pristine white wings. “Asmodeus. Why did you call me here?”

“Good to see you too, Altair,” Asmodeus teased. “The hospital is running low on certain ingredients we need to make medicine, and I didn’t want to bother Alecko for their stock. I came out here to look for more. I thought you might like to keep me company… perhaps lend a hand?”

Altair studied him with his sharp blue eyes, the kind one—like Asmodeus—could get lost in, as if his eyes were as vast as the sky itself. He sighed, nodding, “Of course I will.”

Asmodeus grinned, before pointing far off in the distance. “Over there is the Stars Kingdom. There are rumors that they grew a flower known as the Panacea lily and that, when turned into a medicine, it could heal anything and anyone!”

“Isn’t it illegal to enter the Stars Kingdom without a permit?” Altair pointed out.

“I just wanted to go investigate! Surely it’s okay. Besides, what are they gonna do? Lock me up?” Asmodeus laughed. “I’ve been through worse!”

Altair sighed again, nodding. “Fine. I understand. Shall we, then? Perhaps you can tell me of your family and friends back in Hell.” He extended a hand to Asmodeus, who took it gently.

“Of course. If you tell me about yours in Heaven.”

“It’s a deal.”

The two of them flew across the Outer Frontier, over rolling hills and broken paths. Wind whipped past, breeze blowing loudly in their ears. After a long stretch of flight in comfortable silence, they touched down near a small copse of birch trees, relishing in the little shade the thin canopy gave.

Asmodeus ran his hand along one of the trunks, gazing at its wood pattern. “Looks like eyes…” he remarked. “Right?”

“Right.” Altair settled down on the ground, resting against one of the trees, eyes following Asmodeus as he stalked around the clearing before settling down next to Altair. Asmodeus sighed, slumping over and resting his head on Altair’s lap. 

Altair ran a nimble hand through Asmodeus’ hair, weaving his fingers through soft strands and working them to massage at Asmodeus’ scalp. He spoke low and soft, unsure if Asmodeus would even hear him: “Tell me about your friends and family… if you’d like. You don’t have to talk about them…”

“No…” Asmodeus murmured. “I think it’d be good to talk about them. I do miss them dearly, after all…”

“I know…”

“Let’s see…” Asmodeus shifted, facing towards the sky and gazing up at Altair. “Well, to start, my childhood friend is named Astaroth. He… has a short temper, and he’s always getting into fights with the other demons. But he’s really smart and good at math! He also wasn’t born in Hell, but sent there. He always said he wasn’t the best at controlling his anger…

“Now, my siblings… First is my half-sister, Leviathan, she’s the oldest. She loves shopping, clothes, fashion designing, baking, gossiping, telling stories… oh, and the color pink! She’s kind of bossy, haha… oh, but don’t tell her I said that, or she’d freak out.”

Altair nodded curtly. “I won’t.”

“Then there’s my half-brother, Beelzebub. He’s the second oldest, also kind of bossy but more so in a commanding way. See, he was the general of Solyst’s army—Solyst is our father—before Hell was even created. I think he misses that… the fighting or challenge or something. I think I’m closer to him than any of our other siblings. He helped raise me and taught me magic and chess, and he was always kind to me… but I think there’s a part of him that’s… missing. He doesn’t come up to the surface as much as the others, especially not after… that night…”

Asmodeus trailed off, before shaking his head and sighing. “Well, next is Mammon. She’s my twin. I don’t talk about her a lot, but she was born first and she always holds that against me! Her greed is relentless, she’s always stealing mine and other people’s stuff. She’s always attracted to anything that shines or glitters and… let’s just say she and Levi don’t get along because of that.

“Ah, then there’s Belphegor. They’re younger than me, I think they’ve been attending school up here for a while now. They’re a little slow, but they’re super intelligent. You can ask them any question and they can answer it, it’ll just take a while for them to respond.

“And finally, I suppose, is the twins. They’re also my half-siblings. There’s Lucifer—he was born first—and then Iblis. Lucifer is super into showbiz and magic tricks, while Iblis is more… quiet. But they aren’t subdued! If you piss Ibbie off, you’ll certainly hear a lot of colorful words from them.”

Asmodeus closed his eyes, tilting his head back and letting a gentle smile spread across his face. “I think that means it’s your turn, dear Altair. Tell me about the angels. What are they like? I’ve only ever been on the receiving end of an angel’s weapon… you’re the only one I’ve really talked to and gotten close with.”

Altair smiled back amiably. “You’re the only demon I’ve gotten close to. It’s… hard to believe I was hunting you down only two years ago, trying to bring an “evil demon” to justice, so to speak. Of course, I never expected to find your kindness and appearance so striking and…”

He paused, weighing his choice of words, before finishing, “...breathtaking.”

This, alongside Altair’s firm expression, caused Asmodeus’ face to turn bright red, all the way to the tips of his pointed ears. He turned his face, before mumbling sheepishly, “C-can you talk about your squad now…?”

Altair nodded as he began describing his fellow angels, “My squad is known as Squad G8. It is led by General Gabriel, who is rather tough yet gentle. He sometimes pops by to check up on me… I should send him an update soon. Then there’s Uriel, the second-in-command, who’s trained in several methods of fighting but loves using her rifle more.

“After her, I come next in the rankings. And after me is Jegudiel. They’re on a self-proclaimed mission to protect the forest that borders the Clubs and Spades Kingdoms. I haven’t seen them in a while, as they have not returned to Heaven since their mission began.

“Then, it’s Rafaela and Taika. They’re a pair. Rafaela is a musician and Taika is a magician, and they’ve been performing together for almost a century now.

“The youngest is Selaphiel. Right now, they’re off building houses. I haven’t seen them in a while either, but they still keep in touch at least.

“Our newest recruit is Alpine. He only joined about seventy or eighty years ago… I lost track. He’s… a little odd. He never does something unless he’s told to, but our Echinine isn’t a very commanding god anyways. That being said, however, I do know that Alpine is constantly shadowing Echinine and has gotten quite good at braiding the young angels’ hair.”

Altair let out a soft chuckle at that, folding his arms as he thought a little longer. “I think that should be it. I suppose I haven’t really been doing anything lately, even though the rest of the squad is busy helping others. I suppose I should find a service I could-”

He was cut off when he noticed Asmodeus leaning in close, a stern expression on the demon’s face. 

“Azzy-”

The demon cut him off again by cupping his face in his hands. “You’ve done a lot for me, Altair,” Asmodeus spoke softly and gently, a solemn tinge in his voice. “And you like helping anyone you meet too, like catching thieves and returning the stolen goods, or fixing fences and playing with children or lifting heavy objects. You aren’t doing nothing.”

Altair quickly turned under the intensity of Asmodeus’ kind smile and loving gaze, pressing his mouth into a tight line in embarrassment.

“Th-thanks, Azzy…” he tried to remark coolly. The cracks in his voice, however, betrayed him.

Asmodeus pulled Altair into a hug, running a pointed finger down the angel’s spine and causing him to flinch. Laughing mischievously, Asmodeus wrapped his arms tighter around Altair, tail curling around Altair’s leg. Altair surrendered to Asmodeus’ arms, unfurling his wings and wrapping them around the both of them, feathers brushing against Asmodeus’ ear in a gentle kiss and caging them in a soft, white canopy.

Altair locked eyes with Asmodeus, his voice firm and ernest as he whispered. “I want to serve you for eternity.” Again, Asmodeus’ face turned beet red, causing him to release Altair and cover his ears with his hands. Altair laughed, slipping his fingers around one of Asmodeus’ hands and tugging him along.

“Come… let’s keep going. Let’s find that lily.”

─── ♡ ♢ ☀︎ ✩ ☽ ♧ ♤ ───

Ahead of them lay a small shack in shambles. The ramshackle building—if it could even be called that anymore—was riddled with large holes, missing tiles in the roof and floors, the shattered window sprinkling the ground inside and out with glass. Slats of wood had begun rotting and withering away, leaving its own doorway next to the actual doorway, whose door had fallen off its hinges and splintered, laying before the house in pieces.

In a frenzy, Savant clambered down from Armel’s shoulders, rushing and stumbling into his once proud hideout, turning what remained of the furniture over and over again to no avail. He reemerged from the wreckage, despondent, before collapsing face first into the soft grass.

“Savant?” Armel asked, concerned. He knelt down by the former professor, his downtrodden state a rare sight to see. “Are you…?”

“It’s gone!” Savant declared dramatically, rolling over onto his back and throwing his hands up. “All of my work before I got sold to the mafia! Stolen! Reviled! Trashed! Who knows what else…?”

Armel ran a hand along the bottom of his chin. “Did you need them?”

“I needed the metal,” Savant replied. “Anemite is a flexible material used in machines because of its ability to absorb magic and change its own properties to accommodate it. I use it in all of my inventions, but it’s one of the harder materials to get because it was outlawed. After all, it was used mostly by the…”

Savant perked up, sitting up so fast he almost knocked his head against Armel’s, who had been leaning over him. 

“The Stars Kingdom.”

“The Stars Kingdom?”

“The Stars Kingdom.”

Staggering to his feet, Savant surveyed the landscape, before pointing towards the ominous structure. Far in the distance, and tiny against the vast expanse of the fields.

“That’s our destination,” Savant said, looking up at Armel. He motioned for Armel to kneel, then climbed upon his shoulders again. “Let’s go.”