The Demon’s Bride

Elise felt shiver when she put it in her thoughts that there were someone else who had been watching them from the dark because she had never noticed it before. With their situation, the possibility of it being an enemy's gaze was much higher than it being an ally's.

"Hm, as I expected, tch," Ian clicked his tongue before snapping his finger for the crow to disappear, leaving no trace after. 

"What's wrong?" asked Elise, was it because the bird was wounded?

"Redrick seemed to have put some angelic barrier on the church, my crows could see him nowhere and nothing. Do you know that white bird, Beel?" Ian questioned the Demon who had settled himself with a peace.

Beelzebub looked at the white feather with a wry smile, "Can't say."

Hearing how quick Beelzebub was to repeat the same reply had Elise to wonder how much of his words were a lie and truth. The smile caught her eyes as it did to Ian. They looked at each other and Ian went to guess first, "So it belong to someone from Hell."

"Lucifer," whispered Elise. The name Lucifer now felt strange to her. She didn't know this Demon who was told to be a strong one with enormous power. Some describe him to be strong as he held a bit of power as an Angel.

"Possibly, and to think that Lucifer would have a white bird," Ian hummed, setting his lips in a line of dislike. 

What was Lucifer's goal? Why was it her necklace that he had to steal? wondered Elise. Was it possible that man knows something about her too like Redrick did?

"Now we should speak about you," Ian said, moving his fingers to her hand, Elise lifted her face to meet his scarlet eyes and nod slowly. "There is something in Hell that we believe to be 'Bloodline's power'. It's something that rooted since our ancestors that caused us to have a specific power that other doesn't. When I was just turned into a human I also thought it would have been hard for me to understand demon's language, but then I learned that languages come in our blood. There was no need to study them because of the effect of the Bloodline's power. It helped Demons to immediately understand their own language."

Elise didn't accept it and she still found it hard to digest, "I have a Demon's Blood in me," she whispered in acknowledgment, to take in this information was akin to believe that she have wings which was impossible. She never thought she was a Demon. All this time she was a human. She had been brought up like a human and had never felt the blood of a Demon in her up until this point where she exposed her own nature of a Demon.

"I still can't believe that I have a Demon's blood in me. All this time I have never felt such power in me before that could possibly belong to a Demon. I didn't have wings or horns," said Elise to Ian, confessing what's he thought as it was much better than keeping it to herself. "I knew I was a little different but not because I am a Demon."

"It's possible that your blood had been thinned. When I first met you, I also felt no link from you to a Demon which also puzzled me," Ian knew that learning more facts about her own parents was a hurdle to Elise because all this time she had been kept in the dark with her origin. For one to discover that they were not as what they think they are was a foreign emotions and a scary one to behold. 

He took her by her waist, hugging her and kissing her forehead tenderly, "Whether you are a human, sweet child, demon, or angel, what matters is that you are you in your soul. Are you afraid of being something you never guessed you would be?"

Elise's heart went to solace from his words. Ian was magical. His existent in her life was more than she could wish for. "I am not. I never thought I was one but I think there was a time I supposed to notice it. It was during when I visited Carmen's room. I felt my head was bleeding but at that time I thought it was the death vision. But it didn't happen during the fight. I think it might have been the dark magic that she used."

"So there was a sign even if it was a little," but strange, thought Ian. He leaned closer. After settling his nose on the crook of her shoulders on her neck, he could smell no scent of a Demon from her. 

Elise blinked at his sudden action but notice he was trying to confirm her smell as she heard him sniffing her scent. When Ian pulled his chin up, she heard him saying, "Wee need to push forward our schedule to meet your sister it seems so we can unearth this mystery about you. There is a faster way."

Elise followed his gaze that had shifted to Beelzebub, "We could directly meet Lucifer or confront Redrick. They both seem to know much about you then we don't."

"You mean go to Hell?" questioned Elise, her adorable blue eyes going wide. She heard about Hell, bad news most of the time. 

Ian didn't repeat his words instead gave it plenty of consideration, "We can if you would like to though I doubt we would be welcomed warmly, but no one would dare to play with fire unless they love death than their own life."

"He is known as a death-bringer even in Hell," Beelzebub put his word in the middle. "Whenever he come to Hell, every Demon would wait in front of the Hell's door. Not to welcome but to attack him. You sure you would bring the lass there?" 

This was perhaps the first conversation Beelzebub put after they found out his link to Lucifer. Ian tolerate Beelzebub's fishiness that strengthens Elise's belief that the Demon wasn't dangerous to them and that he held no ill intent. "I can protect her from the punny lesser Demons. Problem is-"

"Lucifer," Elise helped him to fill the answer. 

"Mm, we won't know if he would answer our question and honestly I would rather you speak to the Angel than Lucifer. He has keen interest in you, an emotion that I don't like other man to pin on you. Also, I see that Redrick seem to have an extent of affection to you that is sky high from romantic emotion," and it was shown during the time Elise was about to drink the silver cup. He noticed how worried Redrick was, and how his eyes almost turn golden. He was going to use his Angelic power in order to stop Elise.

Being a reader of emotion because he often lack them, makes it easier for Ian to study the priest's expression. He had taunted the man to test him and unexpectedly Redrick was more of an open book than he expected. He noticed a few instances where Redrick also smiled sadly. It's a clear guess Ian could weave that it lies on Elise's parents but he decide not to tell her now because Elise seemed to noticed it a little. Until they found the answer, it would be best to second the idea, placing it aside without forgetting it.

Abruptly the carriage stopped while it moved, causing Elise who was unprepared thrown from her seat but Ian had quickly pulled her waist, bringing her to his body. Frank, the coachman immediately pulled the small hole at the size of a mailbox's gap placed behind the carriage wall where Ian and Elise seated at. 

His eyes peeled through the small hole, "My apologies, milord! T-There is something weird that have been going on!"

"What is it?" asked Elise as she saw how horror covered the human man's face.

"We have been going in circles," came Beelzebub's voice as he peeked his head out from the opened window.

Ian narrowed his eyes, he also noticed it the second time he passed by the tree, at first thinking Frank had forgotten his way but something amiss happening which he could felt clearer now that they took the third time passing by the same path. "We have been caught in a loop magic."

"Dark sorcerers," Elise uttered in a faint whisper while meeting Ian's eyes that were so close near her, a crack formed under her hand she placed on the wall of the carriage.

*

I just woke up, good morning—^3^