The dead-eyed Lost man continued to stare at Ravenna, and the young woman blanched. She stepped backward in fear, recalling what had happened to her on their last encounter. She stumbled, and Edward outstretched his arms, Ravenna falling back into them.
"I have you, Miss. Master Lucifer would be most upset if things were to happen to you in our care."
"You don't understand! He tried…he nearly…" Ravenna's words cut off with a choking sob.
Edward steadied Ravenna, turning her around and embracing her, allowing her to cry into his shoulder. "I do. I know it all."
Ravenna pulled away from the demon, looking into his red eyes, trying to understand how Edward could possibly know about her past with Peter. She quickly wiped any tears from her eyes, refusing to allow any form of Peter to see any kind of weakness from her. She was about to ask the demon, but was cut off by Lucifer calling out to Hellena, "Dissipate the crowd. I am done here."
Hellena began to shout again, appearing and disappearing at various points in the crowd in her clouds of red smoke. "RETURN TO YOUR TASKS, HUMAN SCUM! THE MASTER HAS GROWN TIRED OF YOUR PRESENCE! GET LOST, ALL OF YOU! I WILL RAZE THIS PLACE TO THE GROUND IF YOU DO NOT ALL GET OUT OF MY SIGHT!"
Lucifer grabbed Peter Jones by his tattered shirt. "Not you."
A nearby black twisted stone spire caught Lucifer's attention, and he magically bound Peter to the spire.
Lucifer gestured to Ravenna to join him at the base of the spire; the crowd of the Lost had quickly diminished with Hellena's words. Ravenna quickly shook her head; she was not about to go anywhere near Peter, no matter how many demons were there to keep her protected or how much magic bound Peter to the stone spire.
"Edward!" Lucifer shouted across the cleared center. "Bring Ravenna here. I want her to see that the man who hurt her is no longer a threat."
Edward leaned closer to Ravenna, who began to tremble. "Miss, the Master has-"
"I do not want to go near that man." Ravenna's voice was much firmer than her stance. Edward was torn, his master had made a command, and the young woman standing next to him had made a denial of that request. – I saw everything that man's essence had to show. I know exactly why she does not want to be near him, I cannot blame her. That was difficult to watch. I have seen thousands of Essence Fires, and his was one of the worst. But Master Lucifer has made an order…–
Ravenna looked at Edward, who seemed to be internally fighting with himself. She grabbed Edward's forearms, her grip on him firm. "Please, Edward. Please. Do not make me go."
Edward took a deep breath, and left Ravenna alone on the raised platform. He appeared next to Lucifer in his cloud of red smoke, and knelt next to Lucifer. Ravenna could see Edward speak, but could not hear the demon's words. She watched Lucifer place a hand gently on the demon's shoulder, in a kind manner, and she breathed a sigh of relief; she had not caused Edward any trouble by refusing Lucifer's order.
Lucifer appeared next to Ravenna, and put his arm around her shoulder. "Ravenna, dear, won't you join me?"
"No! I don't want anything to do with him!"
"But I want to have some…fun…with him. The UnderKingdom isn't just about a place to keep the Lost, you know. This is the place for the souls that were not good enough to go to the Forever; the place of peace and tranquility. No, dear. This is quite the opposite. This is not peace. This is not tranquility. This is pain, this is torment. Come with me, Ravenna. Let us show Mr Jones here exactly the kind of misery he imposed upon you."
Ravenna looked at the Fallen man. – Pain? Torment? What does he intend to do to Peter? Why is he asking me to be a part of this? I am a healer, and I am sworn to do no harm. I don't want to see Peter, I just want to move on. – The young woman pressed her lips together, and squirmed out from under Lucifer's arm. "I don't want anything to do with Peter, Lucifer. I just want to move on with my life; I want to forget the things he has done to me. Michael is in my life now, and -"
"But will you ever be able to look at Michael without remembering what made him reveal his existence to you in the first place, my sweet?"
Ravenna crossed her arms, and turned away from Lucifer. He was right, and she knew it, but the reluctance to confront her attacker was strong. "You seem to think hurting him will take away my hurt. That is impossible."
Lucifer sucked in his cheeks. He had plans for an entertaining afternoon, and Ravenna was not going along with any of it. Sighing, Lucifer dropped his shoulders, the cape he wore dropping lower, emphasizing his disappointment.
"At least come with me to talk to him. If he crosses any lines, I will destroy him. I believe that once you get all the hate from your heart, you can move on properly."
"I don't have any hate in my heart!" Ravenna scoffed. –How dare Lucifer imply I have any form of hate in me? I am not a bad person!–
"Then you should have no problem joining me. Come with me, dear." Lucifer held out his arm, encouraging Ravenna to take it.
Determined to prove the Fallen man wrong, Ravenna took his arm, and allowed him to lead her to the greyed and scabbing Lost man that was bound to the stone spire at the edge of the clearing.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
Ravenna's heartbeat became more erratic the closer that Lucifer brought her to the bound Lost man. Her breathing became faster and more shallow, and her skin grew clammy and cold. She wanted to turn back, to go back to her protected room in the Palace. But she wanted to prove herself, to stare her fears in its greyed and dead face.
The young woman closed her eyes and took a deep breath. She continued to step forward, Lucifer as her guide. She opened her eyes, coming closer to the man who had tried to assault her, to physically claim her as his own.
"Can you fix his neck? If I am going to do this, I want to speak to him properly." Ravenna's request did not come as a surprise to Lucifer, who grasped Peter's head and snapped it in the opposite direction that Michael had. Lucifer seemed to hiss something into the Lost man's ear, but the words were too hushed for Ravenna to hear.