Making Some Friends

Being woken up is anything but fun, especially since it’s a sleep undisturbed by nightmares of what had been done to her all those days ago. But she can’t manage to be too annoyed when she finds out it is only Lucion. She blinks up at him, confused, when he tells her that she has visitors.

Yawning, Lilith allows him to help her up to her feet then she plods after him as he leads the way. She hisses softly when they step out into the courtyard she favours. Or she used to favour. She’s not sure she likes it anymore. It seems to be brighter than she remembers.

Lucion stops suddenly and she collides with his bony legs. She glares up at him. He looks down at her then nods just ahead of them. Looking over shows two girls lounging on her bench.

“They came to see you,” he says.

“Why?” she asks weakly. Her stomach churns.

Lucion shrugs. “How should I know? Just go talk to them.” With that, he pushes her gently in their direction but stops her before she falls over.

After giving him what she hopes is a withering look, Lilith walks hesitantly toward them. One has ruby red hair and bright amber eyes; the other has skin the colour of warm chocolate with garnet coloured eyes. They both wear only panties and despite being as young as she is, they seem to already possess world-wary auras. They seem familiar to her but she can’t quite place from where. There’s a memory gap in her brain. They give her interested looks. She stops a few feet from them.

“Um… hello,” she says. It’s so awkward.

The red-head speaks. “You look much better.” Her voice is husky for a child.

Lilith stares at her stupidly.

She raises an eyebrow. “You don’t remember us?”

‘Hell no,’ she thinks but only shakes her head.

The two exchange a disappointed yet not surprised look. Then the red-head refocuses on her.

“We’re the ones who found you,” she says. “We took you to that demon who’s imprisoned in Mephisto’s palace. You told us to.”

Lilith thinks hard then everything clicks. A flashback, blurry and crackled with static light, of her bumping into them after escaping the Moon Lords. They had supported her and questioned her, then the trio had stumbled along until they reached the Chained Demon. She remembers listening to voices speak and assumes they had also been the ones who had fetched whatever he had needed to patch her up. Heat colours her cheeks. How could she forget people like that? It’s not everyday that demons help other demons.

The dark one laughs. “Do not worry about it. You were dreadful shape.”

Lilith stiffly nods. The red head looks her over.

“You look much better,” she says, nodding approvingly. “Guess he knew what he was doing.”

She shrugs. The Chained Demon is pretty good all things considering. The dark one asks her how she had wound up there.  Lilith shifts awkwardly. She doesn’t want to speak of that- not just to them but to anyone.  Luckily, Red-Hair steps in.

“It doesn’t matter, Amorica,” she frowns. “Moon Lords don’t bother with reasons for doing what they do.  Here, it’s either revenge for an imaginary wrong, acquiring something they feel is theirs or for just plain meanness.”

Lilith gives her an amazed look. Red-Hair seems to be damn cynical as well. The dark one- Amorica?- tosses back her hair and Lilith catches glimmers from it. When she turns partly to face her friend, she can see pieces of gold and gem stones woven through it. They’re lovely. How she did it is anyone’s guess but Lilith would like to find out.

“Oh, Cecelial,” she chides. “You know I don’t care about things like that. We don’t really have Moon Lords who stick around long enough.”

Red-Hair- Cecelial?- snorts. “You are right. You are easily distracted by the shiny things with no appreciation for the techniques of the Hells.”

“Uh…” Lilith opens her mouth to intervene but decides against it. Listening to these two is… interesting.

She isn’t disappointed. The two engage in a few moments of bickering. They don’t seem to get offended by the words the other slings.  It is the sort of bond she and her brother seem to have. He’s always looked after her, always protected her, even though she’s probably been less than grateful. The bickering comes to an end with waving talons and giggles, and Lilith is royally confused. She has grown up in the Realm of Hate her whole life so she’s not used to arguments ending this way. Usually, they end with violent means. Her father did everything to make sure it happened like that.

The girls turn back to her, smiling. Red-Hair waves a hand. “Oh, dear. We didn’t introduce at all, did we? I’m Cecelial.  My friend here is Amorica. We’ve been travelling around and this is our latest stop.”

Amorica waves. Lilith sees rings glittering from her fingers. Bracelets jingle as well. All are gold, some are bejewelled and they all look extravagant. She can also see necklaces hanging around her neck.

Lilith turns back to Cecelial, curious. “Why are you travelling around?”

Cecelial shrugs. “Weeellll…. My home realm drove me nuts. So I left. I didn’t have much going for me so it’s not like I’m missing out on anything.”

“Where are you from?” Lilith fidgets. Her legs are tired from standing so much. Cecelial moves from her place on the bench and gestures for Lilith to take it. She does. Then they look at Amorica.

“I’m from Lord Azmodan’s Realm of Sin,” she says, twirling a necklace around her finger. “I used to live in the Palace of Lust but then that horrible person showed up and has been dragging me along ever since.” She looks pointedly at Cecelial.

Cecelial snorts and rolls her eyes.

Lilith raises her eyebrows then attempts to steer the conversation back on track. “Why did you two come back?”

“To check up on you, darling,” Amorica says smoothly. “You’re the first Imp our age we’ve seen in awhile. … And maybe because we’re tired of constantly sneaking around like vagrants.”

“I see,” Lilith responds. These two don’t seem to want to antagonise her and they most likely don’t have any ulterior motives. She doesn’t sense or smell any at least and they most likely don’t work for those Moon Lords either. Why would they help her if they did? Cecelial’s opinion of them is anything but respectful.

Maybe she can get along with them.