Chapter Text
It generally seemed like any other day back in the Devildom. Chris was studying with Satan in his room. The final for curses and hexes for this unit were coming up, and Chris found herself scrambling. Of course, she was scrambling! For the last week, she was trying to balance her life with the brothers, her apprenticeship, and RAD.
Satan tossed Chris over his shoulder and dragged her off to his room when Mammon wouldn’t stop with the antics this particular day. Even with her curves and quite average human build, she was small compared to each of the demons. So, the feat of tossing her like a duffle bag over Satan’s shoulder was about as easy as laundry.
However, it was appreciated. Chris knew Satan wanted her to excel in her studies, especially the magically influenced ones. Solomon was many things but correct on the effort and stamina required for magic.
Her long chocolate hair dangled in curls as she poured over the book while writing her notes. They were sitting across from each other, knees folded apart and books littering the bed. Chris finished her paragraph and set aside her notebook and volume.
“I need a break,” she exhaled while rolling her neck.
Satan arched an eyebrow as his vivid eyes met her form. “Feeling overwhelmed?”
“No, I feel confident. I need to stretch my legs,” Chris replied and climbed from the mattress. “I feel like there’s so much riding on this exchange this year.”
Satan stretched out his legs and relaxed against the wall near the window. “I can understand your concern, but I believe most of it is self-induced.”
Chris swiveled her hips while glancing at the towers of books and taking a step here and there. “It’s important to Lord Diavolo, and I want to be able to stay with all of you eventually.”
Satan scratched his chin. “If you were to choose to marry one of us.”
She snapped her face toward him and glared. “Sh, no, don’t start that conversation. That’s like summoning Beetlejuice! I’m going to be tugged and argued over again.”
“Well, you never answer me,” Satan laughed.
“On purpose,” Chris puffed before stepping across his room.
“Is that due to the fact that you don’t believe in marriage?”
Chris exhaled and stopped at the armchair surrounded by open books. “Satan, we talked about this.”
“I know.”
She glanced over her shoulder at him on the bed. He didn’t make a motion to move or even change his demeanor during the conversation. Even so, there was this feeling of bareness that made Chris uncomfortable. Almost like she was standing in next to nothing, and he could see every blaring flaw of her battered soul.
“Marriage is a human creation,” Chris declared and tore her eyes from him.
“Well, no, but if it makes you feel less pressure, we can agree to it. Considering that Lucifer would nearly demand you marry him,” Satan snorted.
Chris giggled and sighed as she stroked the spines of the books on the shelf. “Yes, his pride wouldn’t allow him to not attempt it. I couldn’t, however. It wouldn’t be fair to any of you.”
“Or sane,” Satan groaned.
“Or sane,” Chris laughed as she pivoted. “Does it bother you?”
Satan smiled and shook his head. “No, Chris. I have no issue with your personal perspective on marriage. I just want you to stay.”
“Me too,” she replied and plucked out a book from the shelf. “Satan, I know it is going to take some time. I promised all of you that I would try.”
“That’s all you can do. Solomon says you’ve been excelling more than any student he has mentored previously. That is quite a statement of your determination,” Satan said as he climbed from the bed.
“Satan, what would you wish for if you could have anything in the world?” Chris questioned as her fingers ran over the symbols on the cover of the random book she held.
It was a book that she had no idea what it was about. The runes were ancient and even more interesting; the glittering of the writing on the spine and cover nearly seemed prismatic in the dark. Had she seen it before and not realized it? Or was this a new book? After her question, she would get clarification.
Satan shifted and scratched his chin. “Anything?”
“Anything. What do you want most? You see, I’m asking because Levi asked me last night,” Chris hummed as she drummed her fingers on the book.
He smiled and reached out, caressing her cheek. “I want you to realize you’re worthy of anything you desire, Chris. There is no limitation for you.” Satan shifted and then smirked. “And books. Tons of cats and books.”
Her cheeks warmed as she stared up at his serene face. Satan was intense, but this wasn’t an intensity Chris was used to seeing on him. Even with the humor of the last sentence, it held this warmth that seemed to rise and fall. This swirl of love and peace made the Avatar of Wrath seem like a myth.
She broke his eye contact, and her cheeks warmed. “I have plenty of limitations.”
“Less than you think,” Satan pressed.
Chris breathed and stepped away from him. It wasn’t that they had never really talked about love, tenderness, or had an intimate relationship. More so, Chris was oddly put together, and all of her demons loved and respected it. This was the first time that Satan addressed the fact that she saw herself as lesser, even still.
No amount of magic, luck, or love could change that. She could be casting spells like Solomon, and she may even then question herself and what type of imposter she was. What if she couldn’t do this alone? What if Diavolo’s goal for the exchange program, not even considering the negative feedback on her being a Student Council Member, was a sham because of her?
“Levi asked me what I wished for most. I tried to brush the question off because I’m quite content with life. However, something has been itching at me like a spider bite. It isn’t even material. I can’t explain it,” Chris confessed as she breathed.
“What would you wish for? It must be imperative if it keeps coming back to you,” Satan declared.
Chris stroked the book and attempted to find the words. Some semblance of what she was searching to express. She flipped open the pages to see symbols and missing words. Another relic of Satan’s likely that he tenderly sought for his own amusement. Her sweet bibliophile.
Her hazel eyes met his form, and she nodded. It was on her lips. She knew what she would wish for if given a chance.
"I would wish for a way that we could prove this is alright. Demons, angels, and humans. All of us together with friendships and connections, you know? I want to prove that I belong here because I make a difference. I can help change the world. I just need... I need help. Someone who can prove it with me."
“You sound like Lord Diavolo,” Satan mused.
Her thumb was sliced on the page with a papercut, and she winced as a drop of her blood touched the book. He was going to be pissed.
“I-I’m sorry,” she huffed.
“About sounding like Lord Diavolo?” He questioned with a smile.
There likely would have been more back and forth on the subject. It was a topic that, over time, Chris had been furiously supportive of... to Lucifer’s contentment. However, there was nothing more said about it due to the fact that the book in Chris’s hands began to flip wildly through the pages.
Chris’s thumb flew from her mouth as she gasped. Pages snarled while turning as she blinked, and it stopped abruptly with words appearing on the blank sheets with runes. Satan rushed to her side and read it before tossing the book away and standing in front of her. His tail waved wickedly as the room rumbled and shook while a thrumming in the room filled the air.
Something was coming. Chris’s arm hair stood on end like it had in many circumstances that led to life-threatening situations. She glanced around his form to see the book had glowed with intent. What did she do? She hadn’t cast anything! No spells, no curses, not even words with intentions.
Something indeed was coming. Soon there was an inky mist in the air as echoing whispers filled the room, many saying her name. Christine, they hissed without order. Satan held out his arms and ducked.
“You can’t have her,” he hissed.
The murky smoke drifted and materialized in front of the pair. What was once nonexistent now held a huddled form in a white shroud. Chris glared as Satan pushed her further back toward the door. He was facing the threat, but it was clear he wouldn’t let whatever came from this attack her.
“W-what is it?” Chris whispered as the whispering died and the book rested on the ground.
“Chris, run,” Satan voiced.
“Absolutely not. What is it?” Chris huffed as she moved him with her hands up. She was ready to cast whatever monster it was to oblivion.
“Forgive me, father.”
Chris blinked and stared down at the small creature that spoke in a soft tone. A feminine voice. A human voice. She moved Satan and ducked closer. If it was a trick, it was a good one.
“Are you, are you alright?” Chris whispered.
With a sudden jerk, the creature glanced at her. It was a woman, a young woman by the look of her. Giant eyes with redness circumferencing her deep irises. This stranger’s eyebrows were skewed to seem almost unnatural on her angelic face.
“I… I don’t know. I was flying and then falling, and I,” she stopped, and her eyes met Satan. A sudden squeak left her mouth, and soon the stranger in her glossy white shroud was huddled on Satan’s bed, a cross lifted from her neck. “S-stay back!” she whimpered.
Chris stood up and looked at Satan, who was scowling. He was still his more demonic self, but his arms were crossed. Analysis? Yes, he was just as lost as they were on everything, even if he knew what the book had read before the incident.
“Do you know her?” Satan asked.
Chris shook her head. “I’ve never seen her before in my life. Satan, what happened?”
His eyebrows sank further. “Who are you?”
The small woman shook as she held up her glittering cross. She spoke quietly to herself as she rocked and appeared to be despondent. Chris stepped toward her and held out her hand.
“Miss, what is your name?”
“Please, I was a good daughter. I went to church every week. I prayed every night. I didn’t mean to cause them to send me to… to,” she stopped and whimpered as she huddled closer to herself.
Chris breathed and approached the woman. “‘For we live by faith, not by sight.’”
She snapped her vision to Chris and blinked. “2 Corinthians 5:7. You aren’t a demon?”
“No, I’m human. I grew up with the Bible being quoted at me as well,” Chris laughed and touched the stranger’s shoulder. “What is your name? I’m Christine, but everyone calls me Chris.”
“I’m… I’m Christiana, but my parents call me Tina.”
“Fancy that,” Chris giggled and sat down on the bed close enough to keep Tina’s vision. “So, I’m not sure what happened, but you ended up here. Do you know why?”
Tina shook her head as tears formed in her eyes. “I don’t remember much. My mother… she was killed,” she sniffled, and a tear dropped from her eye.
Chris breathed and nodded. “Okay, well, do you remember where you were before this happened?”
Tina shook her head. “Where is here?” she paused and glanced at Satan before wincing. “He’s Satan? The Satan?” She whispered.
Chris smiled and took Tina’s hand. “No, that’s just Satan. He’s a good…” she trailed off and licked her lips. “Let’s start easier. We’re currently in the Devildom.”
“Devil…dom? We’re in Hell?” Tina gasped and covered her mouth.
“Well, uh, not Hell like fire and burning, that’s on the other side of the realm,” Chris attempted to laugh, but it came off awkward.
“I can’t believe I am saying this, and I should cut out my tongue for it. We need to contact Lucifer,” Satan declared.
“Lucifer?” Tina whimpered.
Chris grimaced and squeezed her hand. “It’s okay; they aren’t who you think, okay? The names are similar, but that’s it,” she paused and glanced back at Satan. “Yes, call him on my D.D.D. and tell him Code Crimson.”
“Code Crimson? What in the Devildom do you both talk about that you have codes?” Satan asked while snatching up the phone on the night table.
“You try living with all of your brothers and not having a warning system with the only one who can wrangle them when I can’t,” Chris sighed.
“True,” Satan nodded before placing the phone at his ear. “Yes, Lucifer, Chris told me to tell you ‘Code Crimson.’”
Chris rubbed Tina’s shoulder as the small woman silently sobbed with her head down. “Sh, I promise. I won’t let anything hurt you,” she whispered.
“You promise?” Tina breathed between weeping.
“I promise.”
Chris inhaled as Tina gripped her hand and rocked, whispering verses to herself. How did this happen? Who was this woman, and why did she suddenly appear? What in the world did that book say? There were so many questions, but it was damn clear… Tina was evidently connected to some sort of larger picture. What type of picture… Well, hopefully, with some careful investigating, they could find out what.