- Lucifer and Dimitri -
(Present)
"What names do you avoid at all costs?" Lucifer asked.
Dimitri's accent was lighter. "Ares, Set, Arryx, Jupiter."
"Good..." Lucifer said unenthused. "How will you greet Zeus when we meet him."
Dimitri spoke in a monotone voice. "Lord of thunder, almighty ruler of Olympus, I am humbled to be allowed in your presence."
Lucifer sighed. "I know it's ridiculous but you can't show that kind of attitude to him. They're just words, they don't matter. If it satiates the old man's ego, just say it so we can avoid conflict."
"I know," Dimitri responded. "The tone comes from having said this a thousand times. I'm already here, so why are you continuing this farce of yours?"
Lucifer closed his eyes and tilted his head back. "Believe it or not I do care for your safety as much as I do the rest of the team."
Dimitri flipped through the guide. He had more to say but didn't.
"You've never left Hell," Lucifer opened his eyes. "If you had a different affinity I would be easier on you, but you don't."
Dimitri grinned. "I thought I shouldn't insult the water affinity out of respect for Poseidon?"
Lucifer rolled his eyes. "Very clever, did Peter teach you that?"
Dimitri kept his eyes on the guide as he flipped through pages. "The story of your "conflict" with Poseidon in the past is well known among most of the reborn in Hell," he paused, "but yes, Peter told me."
'Whose side are you on Peter?' Lucifer mentally groaned.
"Not going to ask?" Dimitri said.
"It's none of my business," Lucifer responded. "Well...it's some of my business but not enough to openly ask you."
Dimitri had expected Lucifer to say more. Since Lucifer wasn't saying anything, Dimitri decided to close the guide and put it down to his side. He leaned back on the crates and put his hands behind his head. He turned his head towards Lao.
"He's not going anywhere," Lucifer said in a soft tone.
Dimitri's tone matched Lucifer's, "Believe it or not, I think I know him better than you do."
- Ash and Yamato -
Yamato was sitting in a stone hut alone with his head down. He was speaking to R'yaarj in his mind.
'I don't care what you want, I'm not letting you talk to her!' Yamato mentally shouted.
'I need to ask her a very important question, so please be a good little vessel, and ALLOW ME TO SPEAK WITH HER!' R'yaarj responded
Yamato started mumbling part of his conversation. He caught himself speaking out loud and decided enough was enough. He coursed electricity through his hand.
'To live is to suffer,' Yamato repeated in his mind to drown out R'yaarj.
Ash was listening in secret. She wasn't going to interject until she heard the sound of electricity.
"You need to get that healed," Ash said, not entering the hut.
Yamato looked up so quickly that he nearly gave himself whiplash. His normally stoic face was twisted in anger.
"LEAVE!" He spat as he shouted.
Ash walked in and sighed. She whispered, "Which eldritch did you take the contract with?"
"How do you-
Ash interrupted, "I don't, it's just an educated guess. You're either speaking with something inside of you, or you're hallucinating."
Yamato glared. "I'm hallucinating."
"Eldritch then got it," Ash grinned.
Yamato stood up and whispered in a bitter tone. "You think this is funny?!"
Ash put her hands up. "You couldn't convincingly lie to a toddler. So yeah, it's kinda funny."
Yamato moved closer to Ash. He was trying to get in her face, not realizing that was what she wanted.
Ash wrapped her hands around Yamato's face and stared deep into his eyes. "You don't scare me. Either of you."
Yamato was furious. He couldn't stop R'yaarj's voice from coming out of his mouth.
"Hello, F'yara," R'yaarj's voice greeted.
"It's Ash now," Ash let go of Yamato's head.
"Why are you back?" R'yaarj asked.
Yamato was debating on whether or not he should just stab himself in the foot to push R'yaarj back down in his mind. His damaged hand's constant twitching stopped him. He hated how much control he had lost, so he decided to just allow R'yaarj to speak, opting to work on their situation after this conversation.
"I have my reasons," Ash shrugged. "Why are you doing another vessel contract?"
Yamato's plan to stay of out the conversation went away after hearing Ash mention another vessel contract.
"What contracts have this thing had in the past?" Yamato's voice came out of his mind.
"None of note," Ash answered. "It's not WHO he's had the contract with, it's how the last one ended."
"There's no point in telling him," R'yaarj's voice interjected.
"I think there is," Yamato glared.
"You really have a thing for humans, don't you?" Ash laughed.
"What happened to his last contract?" Yamato persisted.
Ash looked deep into Yamato's eyes. "They tried killing themselves in a way that would take R'yaarj with them."
"Things like that are one of the main reasons most of my kind don't offer contracts anymore," R'yaarj added.
Yamato rubbed his head. He felt like he had a migraine.
Yamato spoke in a weary tone, "How do you two know each other?"
"Are you going to kill me if I tell him?" R'yaarj asked Ash.
"I wouldn't have spoken with you if I was," Ash eyed Yamato's damaged hand.
R'yaarj spoke in Yamato's head, 'She visited R'yleh a long time ago. Before you ask, she's not one of my kind.'
Yamato was surprised by the information but not enough to ask Ash about it. He just wanted to be alone, as alone as he could be, and focus on regaining the control he lost.
"Please just leave me alone for now," He asked Ash.
Ash gave a worried look. "If you ever need to talk about that thing...or that place, come find me."
Ash walked out, leaving Yamato with more questions about her than he had expected. He had already been receiving looks from the others because of his mumblings. The fact that someone new was calling him out for his loss of control made him feel even worse.
Yamato stared at his damaged hand and started to heal it. The pain of his flesh being restored made his mind quiet for a moment.
"To live is to suffer," He repeated under his breath, slowly gripping his hand.
- Death -
There was a strange sense of unease pervading Death's mind. The mission he had joined all those years ago had turned into something far more treacherous than he would have ever expected. He had experienced more in that short time than he had in centuries. These thoughts made it so he couldn't help giving occasional glances to Lao and Yvere.
'I thought Lucifer was insane when he told me he was going to have you learn to ride them. Then again, I was insane for bringing them to this part of the world.'
Death's thoughts shifted to the time he lost control of Hrom. The sight of Hrom's shadowy form rampaging around made him further question his own control.
'Like master like steed,' He looked down at Hrom. 'It's not your fault though. That's just your nature. I can't say I wouldn't act the same in your position. I wonder what those demons who survived think of you, think of me, think of everything that happened? They had no chance in that battle against us but that didn't stop them. How...human of them.'
Death had spent so much time in his office going through paperwork that he rarely had time to think like this. Even though his role in Purgatory has always been that of a symbol of power, he would insist on doing other forms of work. No one knew why, but none would question him.
'I'll be back someday. They and the rest of this world know that if anyone dares make a move against Purgatory I'll ride back in an instant.'
Without realizing it, Death had ridden far ahead of the group. The sound of Hrom's steps, combined with his getting lost in his thoughts, had drowned out the sounds of Yvere and Lao calling out to him. He looked back and saw the distance he had put between himself and the group. He stopped and waited for them to catch up.
'Just relax. Enjoy this trip while you can and stop questioning yourself.'
Lao and Yvere eventually caught up. Death waved to them and apologized.
'I wonder how much stronger all of you have gotten over these years? Especially you, Lucifer. You progressed so much after losing David. I wonder how I would change if I lost Zach or Mary?' he shuddered. 'We're not the same...and that's for the best.'