The Crown's Obsession (WN)

Music Recommendation: No need to come back by Hans Zimmer

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For a moment Beth felt her heart stop when her eyes fell on Raphael who stood near the iron bars waiting for her. He looked pale, his eyes dull along with his appearance. But none of them caught Beth's attention except for his presence.

She slowly took one step after another to come and stand right in front of him.

"It is good to see you here, Lady Elizabeth," said Raphael with a small smile on his lips. Now that she stood in front of the demon whom she had wanted to meet and speak, to apologize, she didn't know what to say.

Beth's lips parted, "It is good to see you, Mr. Sparrow." Her eyes then looked behind him, taking in the appearance of the cell he was in, that had bones in them as if it had many prisoners in the past. A stench of air drifted in the atmosphere.

Beth felt terrible seeing Raphael end up here.

"I am so sorry," she whispered, ready to apologize to him but the man shook his head.

"It wasn't your fault. I did what I thought was right at that time, and I don't regret it," said Raphael. In the short period of time he had spent here in Hell, his black shoulder-length hair had turned greasy.

"What is this place?" asked Beth when she heard someone cry out in pain far away from where she stood. The sudden scream alarmed her because this place had been quiet when she had reached.

While Beth looked to her right, staring at the endless passage that had many more cell rooms, holding the sinners in there, Raphael stared at Beth as if he couldn't believe she was here.

"This is the Tower of Chain, a place where the demons are destroyed," replied Raphael.

"W-what?" Beth's eyes went back to look at the demon, "When you say destroyed, do you mean killing the demons forever?"

Raphael looked away from Beth, his eyes moved to the corner of the passage until where he could see, "I hoped to see you one last time before I left this place."

"Is there no way to get you out, I thought demons were only tortured, and not killed," said Beth in a confused tone.

"Demons who are of no use are removed from existence. Of course, if you speak to the Lord, he might be the only person to help, but he won't come down here for my sake," Raphael smiled.

Lord? Was Raphael speaking about Vladimir?

At the same time, Beth noticed the creatures inside the cells had come to the front, near the iron bars as they had smelt something different in the air. The smell of a living being in the midst of the dead.

"As glad as I am to see you here, I am surprised as to what you are doing here, Lady Elizabeth?" the demon frowned slightly, "I sense something odd about you, less of human. Did you enter Hell for your sins?"

Beth shook her head, "No, we came here for Madeline's sake. To see her mother." She noticed the light in Raphael's eyes returned.

"She's here too?" he asked, and Beth nodded her head, and he smiled. "I see," he looked into her green eyes. The colour of her eyes had not changed since the first time they had met when they were children.

Away from the Tower of Chains, both Madeline, as well as Calhoun, looked for Beth. She could be anywhere, and this was not the place to go by herself, thought Madeline.

"Can you smell her?" asked Madeline to Calhoun, and he shook his head.

"The stench of death is heavy here. It is hard to find her," he sighed. "She must have gone looking for Raphael. Did she say anything before entering Hell?"

"Nothing important, but I think she had decided to see him before we left this place," replied Madeline. Unfortunately, it wasn't just Beth, who was a breathing person from the living world. The creatures who had smelt Beth from afar had also smelled the strong smell of Calhoun as well as Madeline. The creatures who had fire burning from inside their body started to move closer to where the couple was.

Even though the creatures didn't have a nose, they took a big sniff in the air.

"Cal," Madeline's hand reached for Calhoun's arm, and she pulled his sleeve. "What are these things?"

Calhoun's eyes fell on the creatures of Hell, and he stared at them.

"They are called Frists. The creatures that feed on each other, and are expecting us to be their meal." He said it in such a calm tone, that it made Madeline believe there was nothing to worry about them. But the very next second, those creatures who were moving slowly suddenly sped towards them in speed that she had not expected for them to come at her and Calhoun.

Calhoun wings reappeared, and he swung his hand to have some of the creatures thrown far away, while some were persistent like spiders who stuck themselves to the ground. The Frists quickly started to attack them, and Madeline and Calhoun turned busy to fight the creatures.

Madeline didn't bring out her wings, but her scent was enough for the other creatures to smell the angel who had descended to the underground world. She used the wind to deflect the creatures, trying to keep them away from her.

Odin, who had arrived at the scene, his eyes widened, and he quickly stepped forward to shoo away the creatures. Master had told him that the children were exploring Hell, but the mere demons were not informed about who Calhoun was.

"Go away from here you Frists! This is no place to play. They are Master's important guests," he waved his hand and came to stand next to Madeline.

The creatures growled at Odin's words. At the same time, Calhoun tore one of the creatures into two halves, and the creature turned to dust.