~~~~~

 

The roses rustled in the breeze, their white petals fluttering with every gust of wind. Up above, the sky was pitch black and filled with glittering stars, and yet it was as bright as day on the mountaintop. It was cold up here, and when Cobalt peered over the side of the rose garden, he found himself staring down at the top of a blanket of clouds. Frowning, the Incubus leaned on the wrought-iron fence separating him from the sheer rock face down below. Taking a deep breath, he felt a presence move through the roses behind him.

"I went too far," the Incubus murmured, rubbing his forearms.

"Did you?" spoke the familiar voice of the cat.

"I've... never hurt someone. Not like that."

"There's a first time for everything."

Cobalt took a deep breath and gripped the iron rails of the fence.

"What was that? What happened to me out there?"

"Most can't rightly say. Incubi haven't been studied enough to put a name to anything."

"I'm not asking what the general consensus is. I'm asking you."

He heard it laugh.

"I suppose carnimancy would be a good word for it. Incubi have a tenuous grasp on their minds, but their bodies are a different story. By boiling their own blood, they can sponteneously generate claws and fangs wherever they require them."

Cobalt swallowed hard and rubbed his arm again, remembering the painful sensation of a dozen sharp teeth ripping through his skin.

"I don't understand. I'm not a fully-grown Incubus, at least not physically. Why is this happening to me now?" he asked aloud.

"Who said it only started now?"

He furrowed his brow.

"I've never gotten so... violent. No, this is definetely something new," he murmured, more to himself than to the cat.

The roses swished behind him.

"Well... putting a pin in that issue for now, let's talk about something positive for a change."

"What's there to be positive about? I mutilated a man in front of my students. They... They know what I am now."

"You saved their lives."

"I killed someone!" Cobalt suddenly yelled.

He went silent in order to catch his breath, listening as the wind rustled the white flowers all around him.

"Cobalt. Surely as a student of History, you should understand just how violent Hell can be?"

He swallowed hard.

"I know, it's just... I've spent the past year trying to distance myself from my identity of an Incubus, only to wind up doing exactly what I always dreaded doing."

"Killing in self-defense?"

"Killing in general."

He heard the cat sigh.

"That Devil was willing to inflict unspeakable cruelty upon those you care about. You did what you had to."

"I gave in. I gave in to this 'hunger', and someone is dead because of my weakness. I'm no better than those in the Undercroft."

"And yet you're still here."

Cobalt swallowed hard.

"... should I be?"

"If you had truly fallen to Incupsychosis like so many of your fellows, we wouldn't be having this conversation. Indeed, Cobalt; you may be the first of your kind to escape your fate."

"Why me? Why not someone better?"

His grip on the fence railing tightened.

"Why not someone like Brass...?"

"There's no sense in wondering what could be. You're here. And you're alive."

Cobalt didn't answer. Instead, he just took a deep breath and stared at his feet, hidden amongst the white roses. He wasn't sure how he was supposed to return to his normal life after this.

"Cobalt, listen. With this turn of events, the proverbial Pandora's Box has been opened. If you manage to remain in control of your hunger, you could use it to temper yourself and grow stronger in both body and mind. You could gain the strength to do a lot of good. Indeed, I certainly see such an outcome in the cards for you," the cat remarked after a few moments of silence.

The Incubus' eyes widened.

"Really...?" he breathed.

"Really. The strength to protect yourself and others. To find true happiness. You needed to tap into that which you feared most in order to better yourself; to open that door to a brighter future."

He nodded slowly. Sure enough, all this time, the cat was trying to get Cobalt to stop running from the truth. To face the fact that he was in fact an Incubus, but that wasn't going to become a blood-crazed monster like the rest of them. For the longest time, he didn't even want to think about the possibility that he would never escape Incupsychosis, but if what he was being told was true, and he could remain in control of the hunger... Maybe he could finally learn to truly stand on his own two feet.

The Incubus smiled a little.

"You really think so?"

"Of course."

He was suddenly alerted to the sensation of sharp thorns scratching against his ankles.

"... But before things get better, they're going to get much, much worse," the cat added darkly.

Gripping the fence for support, Cobalt gazed down at the flowers underfoot, watching in horror as their bright white petals began to spot and darken into a deep, sanguine red.

"Wh- What?!"

He felt the thorns bite into his skin.

"The hunger is going to burn and tear at you from within, every hour of every day. You will grow stronger, but you're going to suffer for it. Your mind and body will be tested, and who's to say that you have the fortitude to withstand the trials awaiting you?"

"What the Hell are you talking about?!" Cobalt cried, trying and failing to kick the red roses away.

"Not to mention, you've gained the eye of forces unseen. Powerful people that could smite you with a snap of their fingers. Compared to them, Diate is but a lamb."

"What?! I told you to stop speaking in cryptics, you stupid cat!"

Baring his teeth, the Incubus whipped around to face who he was talking to.

"Cat? What cat?"

At once, he was enveloped by a blinding light, forcing Cobalt to stagger back against the fence and shield his eyes. Around him, he heard the sounds of a heart-monitor grow louder, and as he felt his conciousness get pulled back to the land of the living, he briefly spotted a silouette of a figure standing before him.

He heard a laugh.

"I'll see you when your adjudication begins."

Everything went dark.

 

~~~~~

 

Cobalt's eyes opened, and the pain hit him all at once. His head was throbbing, his eyes hurt, and he could feel a dull, persistant ache in his stomach. Taking a deep breath, he blinked a few times in order to clear his vision, before he turned his head in an effort to discern his location. He could hear a heart-monitor and feel sterile sheets covering him, and after inhaling through hisnose, he was greeted by the cold, clinical scent of a hospital.

So they got him to safety in time. Honestly, Cobalt was surprised; he wasn't expecting to survive this.

As his eyes adjusted to the light, the Incubus raised his arms to his face and inspected them both closely. Just unbroken blue skin; not a single errant tooth in sight. They must have disappeared when he passed out.

Wincing with every movement, he wiggled himself into an upright position and pulled the bedsheets away. Carefully, he pulled up his hospital gown and gazed down at his torso.

His chest looked as though it had never been wounded in the first place, but his stomach was a different story. There was a large, circular scar on his stomach, marred by the regular markings of stitches that had since been removed. Wincing, he figured that there was likely a similar scar on his back.

"How long have I been out...?" Cobalt murmured to himself, pulling his gown back down.

"About a couple of weeks, give or take," responded the familiar voice of someone else, startling the Incubus.

From the gloom, the lanky form of Alison Titch stepped into view, looking as though she hadn't had a good night's sleep in several days. Her eyes were sunken and half-lidded, and she was teetering back and forth on her heels. Eyes widening, the Incubus looked around frantically.

"Alison?! What are you doing here?! What if someone sees you?!" he cried.

She waved his words away.

"Don't worry about it; I've been camping out in hospital storerooms since you were brought in and nobody's found me yet," the scientist yawned, scratching her rear.

"Why?!"

"To keep you from dying, bluebell."

She pointed to his stomach.

"That spear or whatever tore you up pretty bad inside. Doctors were pretty surprised that you were still alive when your gal pals brought you in. Once you were in and out of the ICU, I took a look myself, and I gotta say, I was pretty stumped too," she explained, taking a seat by his bed.

"H- How so?"

"Well, uh... While it didn't pierce them fully, it did carve some chunks out of a couple vital organs - liver, pancreas, etcetera - and caused massive internal bleeding. Docs did what they could, but they were convinced you were gonna die on the table."

Alison shrugged.

"But apparently, they just kind of... grew back," she said with a bemused expression on her face.

Cobalt's eyes widened as he held a hand to his stomach.

"They what?!"

"Yeah, I saw it myself through one of my cameras. Your veins started glowing, and a ton of steam started blasting from the hole in your gut. Ten minutes later, all your insides were back in place. Docs stitched you up not long after."

She shrugged again.

"Of course, I helped here and there. Took your stitches out when your freaky regeneration thingy happened again last night. Had to put you on a drip, though; you nearly dehydrated yourself," explained the scientist, pointing to one of the IVs in his arm.

Her eyes widened, like she had just remembered something.

"Oh yeah, your girl scouts came to visit a couple of times."

"Please don't call them that," Cobalt said with a sigh.

Flashing him a sly grin, the human seated herself on the end of the bed.

"Still, seems you've earned yourself quite the reputation. A couple of reporters came to snap pictures of you, but that Izzbelle girl set them packing pretty quick, let everyone know that only friends and family were allowed to see you. Pretty damn loudly, too."

"Izzbelle was here?"

"Nearly every day. The rest of them, too; kept a vigil by your bed, and left all this shit here."

Alison gestured to the table next to the bed, forcing him to crane his neck and squint in order to see through the gloom. It was laden with no small amount of flowers and get-well cards, each signed by the various classes of B.I.D. He felt surprised to see it all there.

"I... I didn't think they cared..." he murmured.

"Why wouldn't they?" Alison responded, "You pretty much saved their lives, and possibly the lives of everyone in town."

He looked down again at his hands. It didn't feel like he saved anyone.

"You know... I've only been here a couple of months, but Brimstone feels more like a home to me than my real home ever was. I've only been experiencing it through cameras and shit, yeah, but seeing all those students getting threatened by that Devil... I was scared. I really was."

When Cobalt looked back up, he found that Alison had moved closer, and she was staring right into her eyes. Her usual jovial grin or knowing smirk was gone, replaced instead by a thankful, teary-eyed smile.

"So lemme thank you first, bluebell. Hell's got a bad rep back home for being a shitty place, but after living here for a while, I figure that Earth hasn't got shit on Brimstone," the scientist said, reaching over to pat his shoulder.

The Incubus opened his mouth to speak, but Alison swiftly reached up to pull a hair from his head rather painfully, startling him.

"Gah! What was that for?!" Cobalt cried, holding his head.

With her sly grin returning, the human began the process of shutting down the medical equipment and removing the IVs from his arm.

"Well, I plan on sticking around some more, so I'm gonna need more Incubus samples. And in light of all the funky shit happening to your physiology, I plan on studying you for a long time!"

Pulling the bedsheets aside, she yanked the Incubus out of the bed and gently pushed him towards the hospital room's door.

"Now get thee gone, bluebell! Your loving fangirls await!" she announced with a wave.

Cobalt furrowed his brow and made to retort, but again, he kept quiet and just smiled at Alison. Despite her peculiarities, she had done right by him, and he had her to thank for helping him recover. With a sigh, he gave her wave and began to slowly make his way out of the hospital room.

His head was hurting, his feet ached, and he still felt like something was amiss with his insides, but with gritted teeth and clenched fists, Cobalt began to make his gradual exodus from the hospital. The halls were dim and lightly staffed, allowing him to make his way towards the exit, leaning against the walls and on nearby handrails for support. Every step he took made him feel like he was about to keel over, but keeping his eyes forward, he eventually managed to make it to the lobby.

"Um, s- sir?!" called a surprised receptionist from behind her desk, but the Incubus simply waved her words away and stepped out through the front doors.

It was a cool summer night in Brimstone, and for a moment, Cobalt just stood there and took a deep breath of fresh air. He could smell the rain on the wind, and after the suffocating dry storm, the weather had finally calmed down. Aside from distant cars and the occasional midnight stroller, everything was silent and still.

He took another deep breath and began his slow journey back to B.I.D.

 

-----

 

Crippled as he was by the pain racking his body, it took Cobalt a lot longer than usual to make his way to the front gates of the Brimstone Institute of Demonics. The gate was damaged in places and the walls were riddled with bullet holes from the fight between the police and the Sulfur Bloods. His bare feet crunched against a few loose shell casings as he hobbled his way into the campus, drenched with sweat from the uphill battle.

"Nearly there... Get it together, Trayer..." he panted, putting one foot in front of the other.

The Sulfur Bloods had done a number on the school, though thankfully it appeared as though most of the damage was already going through the process of being repaired. Past builder's scaffolding and neat wooden boards, Cobalt could see broken sections of wall and shattered windows all around, as well as scorchmarks and bullet holes. Mistress Viola certainly wasn't going to enjoy having to pay for all of this, that was for sure.

He swallowed hard and turned onto the path leading towards the student dorms. As Cobalt passed between the rows of ashbirches, he briefly remembered the first time he walked this path since returning to the school, back in September. He remembered feeling indignant that he was forced to live like one of the students, but now...

He just felt happy to see those twin dorm buildings loom before him in all their jarringly-build glory.

Taking a moment to gather himself, Cobalt pushed the door to the boy's dorms open, only to find that someone was already there, sitting on the housekeeper's desk. Arnn Srenth, dressed in his pyjamas, nearly leaped out of his skin at the sight of his teacher.

"Fuck-! C- Cobalt, you're alive!" the Imp cried, toppling off the desk.

The Incubus nodded and leaned against the wall to catch his breath.

"Apparently... it's not my time to go yet..." he gasped, wiping his brow.

Eyes widening, the Imp rushed to the Incubus' side and threw his arm over his shoulder.

"Here, lemme help you. When did they discharge you?"

"They didn't. I discharged myself."

With Arnn's support, he began to make his way up the stairs.

"Oh man, I wasn't sure if you were gonna make it. N- Not that I doubted you or nothing; it's just you were pretty mangled, y'know? I didn't see you myself, but from what people were saying, uh..." his student yammered, eventually trailing off.

Cobalt sighed as they reached the first landing.

"If you want to ask something, just ask, Arnn."

"Right... Did you really... d- decapitate that Devil guy...?"

Cobalt swallowed hard, feeling an uncomfortable twinge of pain in his gut upon remembering the sensation of Diate's head being wrenched from his shoulders.

"... He left me no choice," the Incubus answered simply, wincing as they climbed the stairs.

Arnn gazed at him wide-eyed.

"Fuck, man... If only I was as brave as you. Probably could have helped more."

Cobalt shook his head.

"You did more than enough. You alerted the BPD, which meant they were able to get here in time to help the rest of the students."

He swallowed hard.

"Were there... any casualties?" the Incubus asked tentatively.

Thankfully, Arnn shook his head.

"Don't think so. From what people were saying, the Sulfur Blood guys weren't really keen on the whole hostage thing. Aside from a couple guys getting smacked with gun butts, nobody was hurt too bad."

"That's good to hear."

They continued on in silence up to the next floor, permeated only by grunts of exertion from Cobalt.

"They're safe too," Arnn suddenly said.

"What?" Cobalt asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Your girls. I- I know I shouldn't call them 'your girls', but that's what the media's been calling them!"

"What?! Why?!"

"I mean, an evil Devil kidnaps a bunch of students and a nurse, then you kick his ass to rescue them? That's like a standard 'knight saves princess' routine times seven, man."

The Incubus frowned.

"They're not damsels in distress. They each fought hard to get everyone to safety, and they were willing to fight Diate alongside me, even though he only wanted me. I... I'm the one who was saved by them, really."

The Imp looked into Cobalt's eyes and cocked his head.

"You don't say...?"

Finally, the pair reached his floor. Still supporting the Incubus, Arnn helped him over to his door, whereupon he gave his teacher a pat on the back and a smile.

"Have a good night, man," Arnn said.

Cobalt nodded, already feeling the strength sap from his bones.

"You too, Arnn."

With that, the Imp turned and left in the direction of his own room. Yawning, Cobalt looked at his door and briefly remembered that he didn't have the key. He bit his tongue and tried the handle, only to find that it was already unlocked.

He pushed his door open and was met with a peculiar sight.

The first thing his noticed was the couch. Izzbelle was sitting upright on it, her head lolled back, snoring loudly. Jelli, in a frilly nightgown, was curled up beside the Oni, her head resting on her friend's lap. Looking across the room, he noticed Whitney fast asleep in a sleeping-bag by the window, while Quinn and Lottie shared a bag with each other. The Imp smiled in her sleep as she nuzzled her face into the Golem's chest. Elya had opted to do without a sleeping bag, apparently, instead preferring to sleep sprawled out on the floor, resting her head on a pile of Cobalt's old clothes.

What were they all doing here?

He was too tired to even try to formulate an answer. Instead, Cobalt picked his way around his students sleeping forms and Elya's errant limbs, eventually arriving at his futon. But it was already occupied.

Karazelle lay there, sleeping softly, as told by the gentle rise and fall of her rather prominent chest. Normally, Cobalt would be hesitant to climb into bed with the sole Succubus in his class, but this...

This was a welcome sight.

With a suppressed yawn and a stretch of his back, the Incubus snuggled down next to Karazelle, smiling as she subconsciously held him close with both arms. Right as her tail lovingly coiled around his leg, Cobalt's eyes began to droop.

It was over.

All over.