Chapter 38 | Child of Malphas

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A/N: Though Malphas is a demon from the Lesser Key of Solomon, the part about crows being his children is something I made up for the lore of this book. Side note, btw, for anyone unfamiliar with demonology, Malphas is Sebastian from Black Butler. So, you know, a random demon fact for you there.

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The next doorway brought them to a place very different from where they'd previously been. Instead of a normal house or club, they were in what looked to be a worship. Marble pillars were raised in an octagon shaped room. There was no furniture, nothing other than literally thousands of candles. They were all stacked on platforms along the walls.

Everything was so quiet here. It was calm, serene. In other words, it was the perfect finally resting place. For Chris and Angelo, the two of this world anyways, that's exactly what it was. Their inanimate bodies were somehow perfectly preserved. You'd think they'd just died, when in reality, they'd been dead for a few years now. Perhaps the most striking thing was this Angelo had massive black wings.

"A crow." Chris muttered.

Kuza glanced over to him curiously. "A what?"

"A crow." He repeated. "In our world, they don't exist because Malphas never existed. Even though we have the Lesser Key of Solomon in our world, it's just a book. The demons in it aren't real for us. Here, though, they are. According to the book, Malphas was a demon prince, and the original crow. He used his magic to turn fallen angels into his children."

It seemed that's what Angelo had become in this world; A crow. If that was true, it meant he was an angel at some point. Chris always saw him as such, but it seemed in this world, he really was. As for himself, he couldn't quite tell. All he knew was this version of himself was much paler, something he didn't know was possible.

Kuza suddenly shivered and wrapped his arms around himself. It was weird that he got cold, considering they were essentially ghosts in this world. They shouldn't be able to feel a thing. A gentleman walked into the sanctuary a moment after he'd received his chill. Something about this man was so pure and enchanting. Little did they know, he was considered a saint in this world.

His long back hair was long enough to reach his knees. Strands of silver and grey hair traced through it, most of the faded pieces pulled into a small braid along the side of his head. The chains around his belt were decorated with religious symbols. Some they knew, others were foreign to them. He walked around the two bodies on the ground, his eyes flooded with sympathy.

"I must admit, even if you are not my Chris, it's still good to see you alive." He said.

Both of them were stunned. Their eyes widened and mouths hung open. Whomever this guy was, he could see them. He was able to be on whatever plain of existence that they were, yet he came from this dimension. That explained why his presence was able to effect Kuza.

"You can see us?" Chris asked.

The gentleman grinned shortly, "Yes, well, one of the few advantages of my spirit being trapped in the living world is I can travel through different dimensional plains. I originally began doing so to try to find a reality that had taken the same course as my own, with the only change being that Chris and Angelo were alive. My goal was to merge our reality with that one, to have the ability to bring them both back to us. I, unfortunately, discovered that was an unrealistic plan. There are far too many dimensions to travel through. Every single one of these candles represents a different reality."

"There must be thousands here." Kuza spoke in amazement.

"Thousands?" He scoffed.

The gentleman walked past them, towards the exist, with the expectation they'd follow. He led them out to the steps where they were met with a sight so astounding, their eyes could barely process it all. There were candles for miles upon miles. The sky above was bizarre as well. It looked like bent pieces of glass, almost like they were in a hollowed out crystal.

"Jesus..." Chris muttered.

"We call this place the glass dimension. Very few have the ability to reach it. Devin, the Devin of my world I mean, has the ability to create tears between dimensions. When Chris and Angelo died, we brought their bodies here to preserve and protect them."

"Excuse me, but... Who are you, exactly?" Kuza asked.

"Oh, how rude of me. I haven't introduced myself. My name is Count Deacon Vondrack. When I was alive, I oversaw a section of Hell called Shrines. Chris was a general, as well as married to the prince. He and I were working together to overthrow the queen. That was a long time ago, though. By the time he died, he'd retired, his first husband had died, and he'd married Angelo. They were living a very simple and quiet life." He explained.

"Another dimension where you and I never ended up together. I'm starting to think you're right. We were never meant for each other, and the fact that it happened in our world was a fluke." Kuza mumbled, pain lacing his soft voice.

"Well," Deacon responded, "That's certainly not true. Chris' marriage to the prince was arranged. See, he was a vampire and the prince was a demon. They were both in places of power, so it was a way for the queen to unite their species. Or, try to at least. He never loved him, though, and he spent the entirety of his seventy year long marriage having an affair with you."

"Why didn't we end up together, then?" Chris asked, "Why'd I end up with Ange?"

"Some very bad things happened in Hell. Other species turned on vampires and began eradicating them. In the chaos of it all, the two of you got separated. In your time apart, Kuza found someone else. He was a demon, but he was one of the few who didn't hate our kind. They're still together to this day. In fact, they just got married. I do believe if the war had never happened, the two of you would still be together."

"I was wrong for saying it was a fluke. I've realized that these versions of us, some of them have completely different personalities from us. They aren't us. Meaning, they wouldn't fall in love in the ways we have." Chris said.

"I am glad to see you're just as kindhearted as my Chris was." Deacon replied, "If you wouldn't mind, I'd like to accompany you on the rest of your journey. I know much more about the worlds you're able to encounter. I may be of use to you. Besides, it's not like I have anything better to do since I'm dead."

Kuza slipped his hand into his mate's slyly. "I think that'd be a good idea." He answered.

Chris glanced down at him and smiled. He kissed his temple, squeezing his hand. Their love was a little cracked, but it wasn't broken. They couldn't judge themselves off of people who aren't them. They knew that, but it was hard to ignore the fact that there were certain patterns in these worlds. They all ended up friends in some way. It was like they were destined to find each other.

It was also hard to ignore the fact that Chris and Angelo ended up together more often than not. Their love was strong, but it wasn't always meant to be. That was hard for both of them to accept. Just because these versions of themselves had taken different paths or made different decisions, it didn't mean their own decisions were wrong.

"The exit should be this way." Deacon spoke as he walked up the stairs again.

"Hey, um, if not a lot of people come here, why is there blood on the stairs?" Kuza asked.

He glanced back, seeing the old stains on the marble. Much to the others shock, he laughed, "Oh, Ricky and Devin can be a little- What's the word for it? Reckless, I suppose."

"Our Devin would never hurt a fly. She's so delicate, and gentle." He replied.

"Yeah, Ricky would only ever hurt something if he had to. He got angry a lot but he was never vicious." Chris added.

Deacon didn't know whether or not to be amused. Unlike them, he did know what the next world was. There was a reason they called him the watcher. He could see everything, and he knew exactly what was in store for them. Though it may become a shock, he decided it would be funny to see their faces when they find out what's behind the next door.

"Well, in that case, you're in for a surprise." He smirked over his shoulder before walking through the doorway to the next world.

"He's kind of creepy. Good creepy, but still creepy." Chris said.

"Yeah, like you'd still let him around kids, but you wouldn't want him giving them any life lessons." He responded, making his mate laugh.

Like they were really ones to talk. At least Deacon wouldn't scare kids away like these two would. It's a good thing neither of them planned on having kids. Lost ones couldn't have children anyways. They were born without the ability to reproduce. Aside from that, who knows if humans and neptunians can even procreate. It was something they thankfully didn't need to worry about.

What they were concerned for was what could be on the other side of that door. Whatever it was, at least it'd be bringing them one step closer to getting out of here. They had to wonder just how many more worlds they'd have to witness before they'd passed Hel's test. At least they finally have a tour guide.

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