Talking with the Devil

"And how did that make you feel?" He asked her with genuine concern on his face. He rarely made house calls like this, but Lunabelle was special, and not just special to him. Lunabelle had no soul, at least in a way that the Devil was familiar with, yet here she was alive and kicking and feeling and emoting and everything that humans do.

Without a soul, there may be something that looks similar to "life" but there is no emotion, just a husk moving from one task to another, unfeeling, robot-like.

Lunabelle was vibrant and full of life. She had experienced many things and was wise beyond her apparent age. She was maybe late twenties and was absolutely radiant with youthful vigor. The Devil needed to know what was driving her, if there was indeed no human soul in there.

"I felt afraid, but also joy, it was a strange mix. I felt afraid that maybe he would look at me differently, or even dislike me if I opened up to him. But then I felt joy that he has interest in me. Would he still be interested if he knew where I came from? Or what I've done and what I continue to do?" She responded in earnestness. Maybe she didn't know who she was actually speaking to, but the Devil came un-illusioned, he was showing his true form.

_'now we're getting somewhere!'_ The Devil thought to himself and couldn't help but grin. _'Just a little more probing and maybe I'll find out what gives her life.'_

"Why do you think he would dislike you if you told him about your origin or about your job?" The Devil inquired of her.

"Because it's hard to believe and so far outside of anything he may have ever experienced. Maybe he would be scared of me, or think I was joking and brushing him off." She answered.

"From what you have told me of him, he doesn't seem like the type to write you off so easily. Maybe he won't understand, but I bet he would try." The Devil felt like a real therapist as he responded with that. "He also doesn't seem like the type that would dislike you even if you were to joke about it. I bet he would just think you aren't comfortable yet, but would open up in time, when you felt ready." He continued. It was strange, the words started to come out almost automatically and the Devil felt like he really wanted to help her, that maybe this connection she was forming with the human, Xander, was what she needed right now. He almost forgot about his original goal to find out where Lunabelle gets her spark if not from a human soul.

"I feel like you are correct in that assesment, there is just a part of me that is scared of losing him. It's funny, I've been travelling for a very long time and encountered many many living beings and have always had to say goodbye, some because of destruction and oblivion and others that I have saved, but the thought of him not being a part of my life is unbearable... and a very new feeling to me." She explained.

_'Destruction? Oblivion? Saved? What on Heaven, Hell and Earth was she talking about?'_ The Devil tried to make sense of what she was telling him.

She continued, "I feel immense sadness when a world is devoured and cast into oblivion, and I will very much miss the beings I met in those places, but the feeling of losing him is different, like something I could not continue on from." She was staring off in the distance as she was speaking and finally took a moment to look at the being in front of her and could sense the confusion. "I can tell you are having a hard time making sense of some of what I have told you. I know you were initially just interested in what my 'spark' was since I do not have the human soul you are so used to working with."

The Devil was taken aback at the revelation that she knew what he was after. But he also felt something different now after speaking with her, something akin to wanting to see your daughter be happy. It was a sensation he had had before, but is sumarily snuffed out when detected in the Hell realms. He wondered how his children were doing.

"You don't have to play the bad guy," she said snapping him back to the present moment, "you were cast from heaven for your disobedience and of challenging your father, but you never spoke of your true motive to anyone, did you?"

This sent shivers up The Devil's spine, how the heck did she know this?!

She went further, "everyone thinks it was pride and that you felt your were better than your father and should therefore be the ruler of all, but you really didn't like how your father treated the humans on earth, like they were mere toys, and the 'tests' and 'experiments' that he ran on them. You felt they deserved better, and you also felt that the heavens should take a less subversive and more direct approach in guiding them down the path of glory."

She was so spot on that the Devil's jaw dropped as she spoke. This was incomprehensible, he never told any of that to anyone and yet here was this woman, speaking only what had ever been inside of his mind. After a few moments of contemplation he spoke up "how the heck do you know that?!"

"I have a much deeper and more accurate view of the history of this universe, and therefore this planet that isn't tainted or altered by human desire." She answered matter-of-factly. "I could see your actions and discussions and the little things you said outloud to yourself when you were alone. It takes great effort to even view a single second of those records, but I needed to understand who I was talking to, who I was divulging very personal and private information."

"I... I see." The Devil responded. "Then why me? I'm a trickster that steals the souls of humans and torture them without end in my realm."

"You only do as much is needed to keep up appearances and even then if someone were to audit the goings-ons of hell would find that overall, the place is rather pleasent. You tend to showcase the nasty stuff of truly reprehensible people, people that deserve that experience for what they did on the mortal plane. The ones that didn't make the cut for up-high for little or silly reasons, you don't do anything like that to them, maybe make them work the pit for a little while, but that hidden city, the one resembling a city on the mortal plane, with it's own economy and housing and entertainment, that's where a lot of souls end up and they then live a lot like they did on the mortal plane, no torture, except for maybe the 9-5 slog."

"Do you have any idea how hard it is to keep a place that large hidden from the prying eyes of Heaven and the slew of spies they send down to 'keep an eye' on me?!" The Devil posited in a spirited manner.

"Yes, yes I do. And you do a great job of keeping it hidden. I can't imagine what your father would do if he were to find out that a majority of hell is rather pleasant and has much better entertainment than Heaven." She responded.

"Is that a threat?!" The Devil said defensively.

"Absolutely not. It was meant as a compliment." She responded calmly.

"This is far beyond where I imagined this interaction would go... You know my secrets, what do you want?" He has assumed that she would be blackmailing him in some way.

"I just needed someone, pure of heart, and in a position to understand the ramifications if they let slip anything that was said beyond this moment. There is something truly evil at play, something that will wipe this universe from existence with nary a trace. I need powerful allies. It is exhausing going about this all alone like I have done countless times before with varying degrees of success. This time, I want help, I *need* help." She said in a slightly pleading tone. "I also am feeling things that I have never felt before. I need help sorting through them. I need to understand why Xander means to much to me even though we have only just met." She continued with a nervous energy. "I came to you first because I knew you would help me with both. I know of your love for the mortals and that you would do much to protect them and guide them in the right direction, even if it is secretively."

Yet another thing she was right now the money about. The Devil was starting to be less surprised when she revealed these hidden truths. "Well, you seem to know that I would already say 'yes' to helping you, but what if I refuse?" The Devil asked.

She responded with a very serious expression on her face, "you won't refuse. The alternate is oblivion and I know there is still much you want, rather, need to do."