Jaxa's ears twitched at the sound of a TV turning on. The static sound playing before the familiar sound of Hell's News began with a muffled cascade of uninterrupted voices.
"In recent developments of the games, the Sloth competition has reached a new record in the uncomfortable sleep competition."
Jaxa's eyes slowly opened to see the familiar sight of her bedroom and the scent of her apartment penetrating her nose. Her head sat up from her pillow quickly as she scratched the back of her neck.
"What the hell?" She whispered as she looked around her room. Her eyes eventually landed on her door, as her ears twitched at the noise from the TV, and she saw the faint light of the screen flashing through the cracks of her door. She slowly got up and walked over to the door. "Theo? Is that you? What happened?" She asked as she rubbed her eyes and slowly opened the door. As she stepped into the living room, and froze in shock as her eyes locked on Focalor sitting on her couch watching the TV. Focalor glanced over at Jaxa, one eyebrow raised slightly with an uneasy smirk.
"Did you sleep well?" Focalor asked with a cold yet not unkind tone.
"Why the hell am I here, and where is Theo?" Jaxa asked with growing concern as she moved towards Focalor, her claws extending. Focalor looked at Jaxa's claws and then up at her face.
"No need for concern, the deal has been made," Focalor responded.
"Deal?" Jaxa whispered. "That idiot!" She shouted. Jaxa retracted her claws then began to pace around her living room. "Damn!" She shouted, kicking the couch with enough force to jolt Focalor slightly.
"You are upset with the arrangement?" Focalor asked with an analytical glance.
"No shit!" Jaxa responded, baring her fangs as her ears pinned to the side of her head. "How the hell did this even happen?"
"I do believe it was a matter of self-sacrifice," Focalor responded.
"What?" Jaxa blurted out.
"Yes, Lord Mammon had ordered me to… dispose of you, and that is when Theo offered a deal," Focalor explained.
"Dispose of me?" Jaxa said in disbelief. "You were going to kill me?"
"Not quite. I was going to leave you unconscious while I placed you in the crow cage." Focalor said with a bitter innocence. Jaxa punched Focalor in the face without warning. Focalor fell to the ground, her eyes widening slightly. She quickly stood back up and placed a hand to her lip as blue blood dripped from it. "This is… puzzling."
"Shit, I made you bleed," Jaxa said with equal parts surprise and excitement. "Now, where the hell is Theo?" Jaxa said, her claws extending fully as her nose scrunched and eyes thinned.
"He is still in Greed," Focalor said. "He was placed in the cells of Lord Mammon's mansion." Jaxa's eyes widened slightly as her ears perked up.
"What, why just tell me?" Jaxa asked.
"There is no value in that information," Focalor said bluntly. "The outcome of his fate has been decided, and there is no way for you to reach him alive. On top of that, Theo has made a deal with a Sin, so even if you were to reach him, he would not be able to leave."
"Damn, I was hoping to kick the shit out of you before I realized that." Jaxa pouted. A few moments passed as Jaxa really thought about what Focalor said as her ears dropped and her claws retracted. "So it really is pointless to try and get him, isn't it?" Jaxa said, her voice softer.
"Why do you have such a connection to this human?" Focalor asked, with genuine curiosity in her voice. Jaxa thought for a moment, then grinned and shrugged.
"Fuck if I know," Jaxa said, smiling. "But he's my human, and I'm not just going to sit here and let him get railed by Mammon," Jaxa responded, her grin widening. Jaxa moved towards Focalor, her grin widening as her face moved only inches from Focalor's. "And you are going to help me."
"There is no point in your attempts. By the rules of hell, Theo is stuck with Mammon." Focalor said without flinching. "Also, why would I help you undermine my master?"
"Because Mammon is a prick," Jaxa said, backing away and leaning against the wall. Focalor begins to walk towards the door before stopping for a moment.
"Your opinion of Master Mammon is of no consequence to me, however true it may be. I will not be aiding you in your endeavor, but I will not stop you unless ordered." Focalor said, her words natural with a hint of implied acknowledgement. Focalor walked out of Jaxa's apartment quietly, shutting the door behind her. As the door shut, Jaxa's face suddenly dropped. She slumped her way to the couch and promptly turned off the TV. Her eyes looked around the room as she let out a moan of annoyance. She pulled up her phone and dialed a number. The phone rang for a few moments before the call connected.
"Hey fuckface… I need your help." Jaxa said.
"Really, after going off to Greed and not responding to my texts." The voice on the other line said with annoyance.
"Montie, it's Theo… Mammon's got him." Jaxa said, her voice now serious. Jaxa could hear the sound of Montie coughing on the other end.
"Did you say Mammon? What the fuck happened to you on your mission?" Montie asked, still trying to catch his breath.
"It's a long story. Are you going to help me get him back or not?" Jaxa asked.
"No can do," Montie exclaimed. "I'm not risking this business because your new boy toy has a thing for Sins," Montie said.
"He's not my boy toy!" Jaxa yelled, resisting the urge to throw her phone.
"Whatever he is, I'm not risking anything for a new employee who got captured on his first mission." Montie continued, his tone dismissive.
"Fine, but when I get back, and Theo starts stabbing you for not helping, I'm not going to stop him!" Jaxa yelled before handing up and angrily throwing her phone, cracking it against the wall. "Fucking asshole."
Jaxa got off the couch and picked up her phone, assessing the damage before placing it in her pocket. She began pacing her apartment again in frustration and contemplation.
"Why do I want to save him?" She asked herself as she looked around the apartment. She noticed how clean it was, compared to the time before Theo had shown up. "Damn it…" She sighed as she walked towards the fire escape with purpose in her step. "If I get there and you're dead, I'll find you again and erase you myself." She said, squeezing through the window and slamming it shut behind her.
Theo looked down at the blood on his hands, still confused as to why it was red and not gold like before. "Meloch, do you know why something holy wouldn't affect something in Hell?" Theo asked, sitting down.
"There are a couple of reasons. Why do you ask?" Meloch responded.
"When I first got to Hell, I found out that my blood has some sort of holy property, but ever since I met Focalor, it suddenly stopped working," Theo said. "I remember Jaxa said something about a Goetic aura or something."
"That's likely the reason," Meloch replied. "The mother of nightmares gave higher hellspawn an aura that nullifies divinity to level the playing field on earth; it's the reason why demons can only go to earth when given access through a Sin or Goetia." He continued.
"Is that why my blood isn't glowing or healing anymore?" Theo asked.
"If I had to guess, Lord Mammon and Lady Focalor's presence is nullifying the effects of your blood, but…" Meloch began pausing for a moment. "It could be other things, like how long you have been in hell, loss of connections, or it could be yourself," Meloch explained.
"Myself?" Theo asked.
"Yes, it could be as simple as mental distress," Meloch replied.
"Great, so it could be caused by someone who wants to keep me trapped here, or it could be me holding me back because I'm stressed," Theo said with a sarcastic chuckle. "So much for helping me in combat if it's the ladder."
"There isn't really a way to know; no human has ever been granted divine abilities and not sent to heaven shortly after," Meloch said.
"Well, it's a good thing that I don't need my divinity to get out of these cells," Theo said, standing up and eyeing something on the quartz bars. Meloch quickly stood up in his cell.
"What? Do you have a plan?" He asked, pushing himself against his own bars.
"Maybe," Theo said with tension in his voice as he took off his hoodie. His eyes glanced at the crystal bench in his cell that was supposed to be some kind of bed. He wrapped his hoodie around one side of the bench and tied a knot around it. "Let's hope physics still works in Hell." He said, pulling the bench by his hoodie, moving it towards the bars. With a quick motion, he jammed it into the bars and used its leverage to pull on the bars. He pushed harder and harder, but nothing happened. "Meloch, grab this." He said, wiping sweat from his brow. He tossed the other end of the hoodie out of the cell towards Meloch's cell on his left. Meloch grabbed the hoodie. "Now pull as hard as you can," Theo said, pushing against the bench again.
"What is this supposed to do?" Meloch asked, pulling hard on the hoodie. As he spoke, the bars suddenly snapped open as the bench was pulled out of the cell by Meloch's strength. The Bench swung down, still held up by the hoody, its weight suddenly swinging Meloch into the bars of his own. With a sudden crack, Meloch flew through the bars as crystals and quartz were thrown with him. "Shit!" Meloch shouted as he began to fall out. With a quick tug, Meloch felt Theo's hand grab onto his leg.
"I've got you," Theo said, barely keeping himself from falling down with Meloch in hand.
"You could have warned me, master Theo," Meloch said, looking up at him, catching his breath. Theo began pulling Meloch back up.
"Now we just need to figure out how to blimp up to the bridge," Theo said as Meloch's foot reached the entrance of his cell.
"No need, I have my powers now that I'm out," Meloch said as he snapped his fingers and the two suddenly appeared on top of the bridge in a flash of blue flames. Theo looks around at the quartz bridge, then over the edge to see the broken bars of his cell.
"Well, shit, nice work, Meloch," Theo says, patting him on the back. Meloch finches at the sudden contact but grins in response.
"No problem, Master Theo," Meloch responded with profound pride in his voice.
"Alright… now we need to figure out what's next," Theo says, grinning back.
"Wait, you don't have a plan?" Meloch asks, his grin fading completely.
"Not really, I didn't think that far ahead," Theo replies, scratching his head. Meloch's eyes widen.
"Master Theo… What the fuck?"