“…Oh sh*t she can’t see in the dark.”

          This was something she would do. How could I forget such an important detail? Not just once either, but again and again since I met her. Including meeting her. I was-am, the greatest strategist in hell, how do I keep screwing up such minor plots?

          With the wind dead, if I wanted to join her in the skies I would have to find a cliff or climb a tree to jump. The area we were in was mostly flat with scattered forests, but the trees were thin and grew in patches. Muttering curses under my breath, I ran forward in the direction she left.

 It was going to be very hard for her to find a place to land since she couldn’t clearly judge the distance especially with random patches of trees everywhere. In fact, I used this method against the angels often. Forcing them into the air with various methods only to cut all light in the area and manipulating the shadows to further mess with their perceptions.

          …Hold on, why should I have to worry about her like this? She’s an old monster who’s lived almost as long as I have, why in hell should I worry? That boney old woman could head dive head-first into the grown and be fine.

          “So why am I running?”  I asked myself the question, but I didn’t stop.

          The ground beneath my feet rocked, a deafening explosion quickly followed. Smoke and the firelight reflecting off it rose slightly to the left of where I was running.

          “…This is just to be my every day now isn’t it?” Standing there, watching the black sky light up with the spreading fires, I couldn’t decide if this feeling was going to make me laugh or lead me to murder. “…well, at least it won’t be boring.”

          I stopped running and walked since the worst already probably happened. How much more trouble could she get into after an explosion like that?

 

          “How”

          “This is not my fault.”

          Her hands were clasped tightly behind her back, eyes avoiding my gaze.

          “how”

          “Well, you see… I saw a light.”

          “Mhm.”

          “I saw people…”

          “Hmm.”

          “They looked like bandits, so I thought-“

          “Go down and beat them up?”

          “Yes! So, I landed, it was a lovely landing, light reflected off my feathers and hair, lightly drifting like a feather from the skies…”

          “Hm.”

          “And I wacked them to sleep.”

          “Oh?”

          “And then I figured I should send off a flare to let you know where I was…”

          “By blow a giant creator into the earth?”

          “Well… you see… they weren’t bandits…”

          “…”

          “…they were miners carrying explosives…”

          I looked around at the chaos, none of the humans were really harmed since she decided to keep them alive, which was rather impressive considering the blast I saw. What I wanted to know however, was how, in the Eternal Black Abyss that is Hell, she managed to make a crater that broke the dimensional barrier between, not just actual hell, but heaven as well.

          “That doesn’t explain this.”

          “…Well… I may have used a bit, just a bit, too much energy trying to heal the forest…”

          “…This happened after the explosion?”

          “…the little woodland creature’s homes…”

          Glancing over again, I saw there were several very confused wild animals mixed in with the humans, not that they looked all that different…

          “…I’ve asked twice, so I’ll ask again, how, in the Devil’s accused mother’s name- how?!”

          “Apparently this area’s a weak spot. Never mind that, help me fix it before the children notice and we get yelled at!”

          “Why should I have to help? I didn’t do anything!”

          “Do you honestly think anyone will believe that?”

          “…you work on your place’s own barrier...”

          We were able to fix the dimensional rifts she manage to create, as to how, only her god probably knows. I believe that was the moment that I decided never to let her out of my sight again.

          I don’t mind causing people problems, instigating chaos, or bringing about people’s suffering, I just liked to be there when it was happening rather than cleaning up the mess.

          Honestly, if it wasn’t for the fact that I didn’t want to deal with the brats teaming up against us, I would have been all for leaving a rift that basically lead into the heart of each realm right next to each other.

           …But we wouldn’t be able to watch the show anyway, so it’s fine.

          Energy started to shift nearby; someone was creating a portal to check out the disturbance. Thankfully, there was now a giant crater forming a cliff next to us. Naturally, I grabbed Old Boney and ran.

          “Hey!”

          “Quiet,” I suddenly remembered that I haven’t slept in over a week, while we don’t need sleep often, it was starting to wear on my old mind, especially with her around. “you’ve caused enough trouble for the day.”

          “I can fly on my own…”

          “But can you land?”

          “…I’ll remember this…”

          “Good. This is the first time I’ve ever held someone after all.” Oddly enough, I couldn’t help but tease her a little.

          “While you fly or?”

          “Ever. Not even my children had this opportunity.”

          “You never held your children when they were babies?” Her voice was cold.

          “Most children are raised by their mothers, I never knew when any of them existed before they reached adulthood, let alone hold them. The only thing their mothers were interested in was having strong children that could kill me and take my place as general.”

          “So why did you?”

          “…they were succubi.”

          “Oh… no wonder you only had one son…”

          Succubi and incubi were an odd sort, they could charm any other demons except each other but were unable to any actual harm. Their children were almost always the same type as them, but occasionally they could have a normal demon child, as seen with that one son. Their method of gaining power was to have strong children. No one liked to mess with them, so they weren’t often mistreated, but their personalities were practically guaranteed to be nasty, so as individuals, they usually had a lot of enemies.

          “You never had a wife?”

          “No. Demons don’t usually have mates for life.”

          “Any exceptions?”

          “Many, especially in the lower classes. Most are focused on fighting and having fun. Some team up, but more often they just do so when necessary. I never found anyone who moved a path similar to mine and never cared.”

          “Hm.” She tilted her head into my shoulder. I wasn’t sure, but I felt like she understood.