- Gabriel and Death (Past) -
Death was praised by the villagers after Gabriel's exaggerated story of the battle. The villagers were shoving gifts into Death's hands. After an extensive celebration, Gabriel, Death, and Rell departed. Gabriel cleared his throat before speaking.
"I want to revisit what we talked about earlier, about you ending your own life."
"What about it?" Death responded casually.
"I think you need...more," Gabriel stammered. "A hobby or some form of work that isn't killing or related to killing."
"What does it matter?" Death said. "I don't believe this world will ever achieve what you proposed, so it's not worth worrying about."
"It is though!" Gabriel disagreed. "Believing what you do will lead to recklessness and self-destructive tendencies. You'll never be able to find peace if your end goal is suicide!"
"Why do you care?" Death asked coldly. "I mean no offense, but I didn't think you cared for me enough to take such issue with this?"
Gabriel stopped walking and lowered his head. He knew the [Hunter] wasn't trying to inflict guilt with his words, he knew the [Hunter] was simply curious, and yet he couldn't help feeling guilty. He had always thought the way to deal with the [Hunter] was straightforward logic.
"I'm sorry..." Gabriel mumbled. "I meant what I said though about you getting a hobby or some form of peaceful work when we get back to Purgatory. I'll help however I can."
"I enjoy drinking," Death said.
"It's a start..." Gabriel sighed.
- Saliel and Satan (Past) -
Satan was reenacting a battle with his illusion magic.
"Your illusions are incredible," Saliel complimented.
"Mmm," Satan responded. "Ask whatever questions you have for me."
Saliel was fascinated by the miniature battle that Satan was creating. "Why are you recreating this battle?"
"The casualties," Satan said. "This battle went poorly for me so I'm trying to figure out how I could've done better."
Saliel stretched his neck to get a better view. "You can do everything correctly and still fail."
"Good phrase," Satan sighed. "Who's words are it?"
"My Father's..." Saliel said.
Satan noticed the spike of fear in Saliel's emotions at the mention of [Creator]. He didn't think it would be wise to ask directly, nor was he certain of anything yet, so he decided to continue without mentioning it.
"Mmm," Satan started replaying one part of the illusory battle on repeat. "Your ability to see morality, what do you see for me?"
"Evil," Saliel mumbled.
"As I would expect it to," Satan said. "The amount of lives I've taken, directly or indirectly, I would assume such a thing. Your ability is similar to that of The Three Realms' sorting magic."
Saliel noticed an illusory Satan in the illusion. "Why are you on the frontlines?"
"To take responsibility," Satan said. "A demon by the name of Ozik disobeyed my order and led a foolish charge. I should have noticed Ozik's emotional flaws sooner, but because I didn't, I took it upon myself to attempt to rescue him and his battalion. Foolish bastard ended up costing the lives of hundreds of demons!"
Satan's anger surprised Saliel. The demon Lord had seemed like the type to never anger.
"Ask," Satan demanded.
"What happened to Ozik?" Saliel asked.
"Told him that unless he could defeat the [Hunter] in a duel he would be eternally banished from Hell."
Saliel couldn't stop himself, "You sent him to his execution?"
"Yes," Satan turned his head to Saliel's direction. "Because executing him myself, though fully deserved, was less beneficial. Let's refocus: why are you more afraid of your kind than you are the [Hunter]?"
"What?!" Saliel stood up. "How dare you-"
Satan lifted his face-wrapping while turning toward Saliel. The glare coming from Satan's sharp yellow eye stopped Saliel from continuing. Satan lowered his face-wrapping and spoke.
"Sometimes my ability shows me emotions that the observed themselves are unaware of. I don't know why you fear your own more than you do the [Hunter], I just know that you do. The sooner you admit that to yourself, the sooner we make some form of progress on you thinking before you speak."
Saliel sat in silence for a moment while he thought. He knew the reason but he tried to convince himself he didn't. He created multiple excuses as to why Satan was wrong, or how it was a misunderstanding, but the more he tried to reason it away, the more he felt the truth suffocate him.
'I'm surprised he's staying quiet,' Satan said as he saw the whirlwind of Saliel's emotions. 'It's not just that you're more afraid of your own, the types of fear are similar. I would assume your fear of the [Hunter] is the fear of being killed, which means...'
"What is morality?" Saliel thought out loud.
"Well..." Satan exhaled. "As much I would genuinely enjoy discussing that with you, I think it's best if we keep things moving. I'm going to talk, and I don't want you speaking unless I ask a question, understood?"
"Yes," Saliel nodded.
Satan removed his illusory battle and conjured illusions of two different demons. "The war between the demons has been over ownership of Hell. We had been ruling Hell together, but our visions for the future of Hell don't align. Moloch wants to torture the humans that are reborn here, Baal wishes to turn them into an army, while I want to give the humans, some of them at least, a second chance at life."
"Why-" Saliel covered his mouth.
Satan turned to face Saliel. "Why do you trust me despite what your magic shows you?"
"Because I feel as though I have to," Saliel admitted. "Because I thought you might have a better understanding of what it's like to live with an ability such as this. I can't live my life blinded by what I'm shown, but it would be irresponsible of me to just ignore it."
"My apologies," Satan leaned back. "What I've said about you needing to think before you speak was only partially correct. I think you also need to understand others better, more specifically those your magic would deem "evil." I can't show you around the prisons of Hell given the current state of things, but I can tell you stories of the humans I've encountered."
Satan and Saliel had a long conversation about the different humans that have been reborn in Hell. Saliel learned about how some of the humans ended up in Hell due to misfortunes in life. Saliel shared his beliefs on morality with Satan. Though Satan disagreed partially, the two found some respect for each other by the end of the discussion. Satan took off his face-wrapping and scratched his eyes.
"Why do you wear that?" Saliel asked.
"Comfort," Satan said. "A demon's ability to see mana can sometimes interfere with our physical eyesight; the wrapping helps keep things more balanced. That being said, my eyes have been hurting me more lately..." he put the wrapping back on.
- [Creator] and Lucifer -
Lucifer was bloody, covered head-to-toe in deep cuts. [Creator's] sword was more red than silver.
"Up," [Creator] ordered.
Lucifer propped himself up with his sword. His breathing was ragged as he felt his body soak with his blood. [Creator] put his hand on Lucifer's shoulder and healed Lucifer's wounds instantly. Lucifer's eyes went blank as he lost consciousness from the pain. When Lucifer awoke, he saw his father sitting across from him, legs crossed, eyes glaring.
"You know," [Creator] sighed, "if you wanted to properly help Saliel, you would reinforce to him that he needs to listen."
"Why?" Lucifer grumbled. "If you want a child that does nothing but repeat your words then spend more time with Uriel. Saliel went behind your back because..."
"Go on," [Creator] leaned in.
"THIS!" Lucifer threw his sword to his side. "I don't know what you truly have against Saliel that you treat him with this mix of loathing and apathy but-" he stopped talking.
At that moment, Lucifer's eyes filled with realization. Saliel's ability to see morality was expressly forbidden from being used on angels, a rule that, at the time, had made sense was now being questioned. Lucifer knew his siblings, he trusted them, and now he realized that Saliel's ability would only cause problems if there was a problem with the angels' morality.
Lucifer felt a chill run down his spine as this realization filled his mind.
"But what?" [Creator] asked.
"B-but..." Lucifer stuttered, "IT ISN'T FAIR!"
Lucifer had to choke his fear with anger. Even if it meant further punishment, he couldn't dare say what he was thinking. [Creator] started to cry, the genuine tears only inflicting further terror on Lucifer. [Creator] stood up and shook his head.
"I'm a terrible father," he offered his hand to Lucifer. "I'm blessed beyond reason to have such powerful children."
Lucifer grabbed [Creator's] hand. As Lucifer looked at his father, noting the blood-soaked visage before him, he started to wonder if he would have lived this "training" session with his father had he not been an archangel.