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hallowedmuses · 1 year

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discord chat: friendly feast

SUMMARY: Nadia, Murmur, and Honesty meet and befriend a hungry new entity native to the Empty. TRIGGERS: Mentions of torture, depression, PTSD, and trauma WRITTEN WITH: @offallenfeathers (Seir, Murmur, Honesty), @ofbrokenhalos (Courage, Zophiel, Devour), @hallowedmuses (Tenacity, Nadia)

SEIR & HONESTY: Seir was having a good time at this party. After Dagon's speech, more than a few people had congratulated him and Tenacity for their new-ish roles as the right hands to Dagon's kingdom. For Seir, he'd been a right hand before a long time ago, and even this role, he and Tenacity had been doing it for months before it had been celebrated. They didn't mind. He still enjoyed the party regardless. They drank and had conversations with a few different groups before they made their way over to the tables where Honesty, Courage, and Zophiel were waiting for them. "What's on the menu for today?" he asked as he looked over the table's massive array of food.

Honesty had gotten up already to greet her brother. She slipped around Seir and beelined for Tenacity. "Ten!" she said excitedly before throwing her arms around him. "Congratulations on the new position. I missed you."

TENACITY: "I don't know but I know I'm on the menu for tonight," Tenacity giggled. He was still delightfully buzzed which is how he liked to be. He beamed as his sister threw her arms around him in greeting. He hugged her tightly and didn't let go for a while. He'd been to the Empty a handful of times now and he was hoping the more times he was here, he'd remember hugging her like this instead of cradling her dead body on the battlefield. It was getting easier to push those images away and remember the newer ones in their place. "Thank you," he smiled and finally let her go. He'd been a Right Hand before but working for Dagon's kingdom was a different experience than working for Levi's had been. He had good teachers though. "I missed you too. Are you guys enjoying the party? We planning on doing a little dancing later?" He asked the troop as he did a little shimmy.

COURAGE & ZOPHIEL: Up until this point, Zophiel had largely dominated the conversation with a discussion about his latest artifacts search. Courage tried to keep up but he got lost somewhere in the words. Zoph seemed excited to talk about it so Courage nodded along thoughtfully like he understood what was going on. He was a little relieved when Tenacity and Seir showed up at their table. Courage was already overstimulated so he didn’t get up to hug his brother, but he did offer a wave in greeting. “Hey, man, congrats,” he smiled. He wasn’t really sure what Tenacity’s new position entailed, but his brother seemed happy so Courage was happy for him. Dagon seemed like a fair person to work for even though Courage didn’t really know what her job was either outside of the help that she provided in the Empty. “Dancing?” He looked out onto the dancefloor. There were a lot of people there and they were all standing pretty close together. Too close. “No, I don’t think it’s for me.”

Zoph raised a brow when Courage remarked dancing wasn’t for him. He remembered Courage used to love that sort of thing and he was pretty good at it. But a lot about Courage was different these days. Everything about him seemed more reserved so Zoph didn’t question it. “I might bust a move or two with enough drinks,” the young angel grinned.

SEIR & HONESTY: Seir smirked when Tenacity said he was on the menu. "You absolutely are." Seir kissed his cheek and squeezed his ass for good measure. He watched carefully as Honesty got up to hug him, making sure it wasn't too much for his lover.

Honesty held the hug for as long as she could. She hadn't been having a bad time exactly. Seeing Zoohiel had been nice since this was the first time she really got to see him since the war. She didn't know half of what he was talking about, but she asked a lot of questions to try to educate herself on his interests. He seemed more than happy to answer. If Tenacity hadn't shown up, she was sure he wouldn't ever stop talking. She shrugged when Tenacity asked if they were enjoying the party. It was a little overwhelming, but she liked not being alone. She glanced at the dance floor along with Courage. She knew what his concerns were. Even sitting here made her feel a little on edge, but she was managing. If someone she knew was there it'd be a little easier. "Maybe?" She answered. "I don't think I really remember how to dance though, but I could try to relearn it."

TENACITY: Ten smirked at Seir's friskiness. He had a lot to look forward to tonight but until then he was going to do his darndest to make the best of this party. "Thanks, brother," he smiled at Courage. "It feels good to be doing stuff again." Tenacity hadn't experienced the same torture as his siblings but he definitely experienced stagnation while life moved on around him. All three of them were now trying to figure out how to integrate themselves.

He noticed Courage's hesitation about dancing and it pulled a bit on his heart strings. Courage had been always been sort of a spitfire. Ten remembered how his brother used to eat, drink, and be merry with the others in his unit. By the end of the night he usually had everyone on the dancefloor and was leading them in festive circle dances. Tenacity didn't push the matter onto his brother any further though. Tonight wasn't the time or place to push anyone out of their comfort zone. They were out of their zones just by being here. "That's fair," he smiled. "My dance moves are a little outdated, but Seir here is a trailblazer from what I hear. He taught me the Cupid shuffle. Have you guys seen that one?"

COURAGE & ZOPHIEL: Courage nodded when Tenacity remarked that it felt good to be doing something. "Yeah, I get what you mean." He was still struggling with what his purpose was now or if he even had one but it was nice to be doing something that wasn't an endless battle sequence or drowning. He was still trying to figure out what he even liked doing these days and he supposed learning who he was again was a good enough purpose for now. "Cupid has a dance?"

"Oh! The Cupid Shuffle!" Zophiel perked up. "That's advanced stuff." Zoph had a touch of the ADHD so following songs with instructions was advanced for him. "Definitely one of those work your way up to it songs. The macarena though?" He gave a chef's kiss. "That's a nice one."

"Macaroni? I thought that was a food. It's a dance too?" Courage questioned. Too many words looked the same but meant different things. It was like learning about cream pies all over again.

SEIR & HONESTY: Honesty nodded along with Tenacity and Courage. Having things to do helped. It also just helped to have people around. She had to be particular about which people they were, but she felt like there was less chance to be hurt if someone else was around to help her keep the darkness away. The darkness wasn't always about a lack of light either. Belphegor had given her a home where she was allowed to keep the lights on at all times, but even then there could be so many shadows, and more lights only created more shadows. Sometimes, she would just sit in the corner and shine a flashlight in every direction to make sure the Void wasn't in there.

Seir gave a nonchalant smile when Tenacity said that he was a trailblazer. "I've made some moves in my time, but we'll hold off on some of the advanced moves for later on. The Cupid Shuffle is a great dance to start with."

"Cupid Shuffle?" Honesty repeated. She tried to imagine what that entailed. She pictured in her head the way that Cupid used to follow Belphegor around before the war. She still did follow them around, but it was different back then. She seemed to move more in unison with them like they were a unit now that Belphegor understood their feelings for her. Honesty felt a little more nervous about the dance when Zoph said how hard it was. She might've still been willing to try it, but not with so many people around. If they were all doing the same dance and she messed up, it might throw everyone off.

Seir saw the look on Honesty's face and shook his head. "Zoph, don't go scaring them off of a dance just because you can't pay attention. It's actually really easy, Honesty. They have children do it in schools. The song itself tells you how to dance to it. I'm sure Zoph can do it too if he tries. Maybe helping Honesty with it will help you do it," he suggested. Zoph was a good kid, and he tried to help where he could despite his hyperactive nature. Seir hoped his helpful nature might get him to focus for some time. "Or maybe you'll hear the song, and you'll be able to help Zoph with it." He shrugged. There was no telling with these kids.

"I think I wouldn't mind it then if it's not too hard. I can follow instructions pretty well." She was sure she could follow the group in doing it too if it was as easy as Seir made it out to be.

Seir nodded. "Then we'll try it at least once. If it's not for you, we don't have to worry about it. We'll find something for you to groove to." He chuckled when Courage called the macarena macaroni. "Macaroni is a food. It's a noodle in a U shape. It's also an old term we used to use for being fancy and stylish, though I don't recommend using it like that anymore. It's mainly just for the food now. What Zoph mentioned was the Maw-caw-ray-nah. It's also a simple dance. Dummed down it's basically just moving your hands to different parts of your body to a beat and then shaking your ass. The song Macarena doesn't come with instructions. It's actually a song about a girl who cheats on her boyfriend when he got drafted to the army, but the meaning isn't as important as the fun beat of the song and the dance that's easy enough for anyone to pick up. In most cases, you can actually dance the macarena to any song. With some practice, you could even dance the macarena while you're doing the cupid shuffle. The Cupid Shuffle is all feet, and the Macarena is all hands and hips."

Honesty shook her head. "I think just one of them at a time would be better for now."

TENACITY: "Hmmm, that you did," Ten grinned as he remembered dancing with Seir at Vamiel's wedding and then again at Cuphegors. He certainly could move. He chuckled when Zoph remarked that the dance was hard. "If Lucifer can focus enough to learn a few dances, you can do it too," he promised the crew. He nodded with his head toward the dancefloor where Lucifer and Mazikeen were absolutely showing everyone up. It appeared that Lucifer's pride trumped his ADHD. He sighed pleasantly when Courage brought up macaroni. "Seir's also great at making that," he nodded. It was a good comfort food. "We can have some the next time we spend the night here." He wouldn't have minded trying either of the two dances at their disposal. Seir's hips didn't lie and his feet glided on the floor like butter so Tenacity was sure he'd have a great time watching and participating no matter what. "If I had to put money on it, I'd say the Cupid shuffle. Might as well do something named after a friend."

COURAGE & ZOPHIEL: Courage glanced between Seir and Tenacity. He’d forgotten quite a bit. Mostly, he couldn’t figure out if they’d started dating before the war, during the war, or if this was an after thing. He supposed in the end it didn’t matter. The way they looked at each other told him enough. He chuckled when Tenacity remarked that if Lucifer could do it, so could they. Courage glanced at what he now recognized as Lucifer on the dancefloor. His form was much different than what Courage remembered, but the personality was very much the same. Lucifer tended to be all over the place unless he was passionate about something. When Courage knew him, that something happened to be rebelling. Now, it appeared that something was dance. “Macaroni sounds nice,” he nodded. “But that dance…the macarena…sounds like a strange thing to make up a dance to. I’d rather see this shuffle.”

Zophiel rolled his eyes when Seir told him not to scare everyone off. He’d given them a fair warning that he wasn’t good at dance so if he stepped on Seir’s toes he wasn’t going to feel too bad about it. He was mostly just glad to see that his friends were willing to try something. So much about the dead was different these days but they seemed eager to learn and Zoph liked eager learners. “Cupid shuffle it is then,” he concluded. “Should we see if some of the other Virtues want in on this?”

SEIR & HONESTY: Honesty watched as Lucifer and Mazikeen danced. She didn't really know much about Mazikeen. As much as people tried to keep her up to date on what she missed, it was still hard to keep track of it all and who everyone was. Even Lucifer himself looked different now, and it wasn't always easy to recognize him in a crowd without someone pointing him out or him doing something to make himself stand out. The biggest difference right now though was how his face didn't seem to carry the weight of the war while he was dancing. She didn't know if it was the person he was dancing with or if dancing was just fun for him. Probably both. He looked like he was having a good time at least. She wondered if she'd ever get to that point of ease. She felt a little jealous of them for a multitude of reasons between the ease and joy they seemed to have and also just the comfort they seemed to bring to each other. It made her sad and guilty to think of Gabriel and how she'd pushed him away. Maybe if she had just pushed past her fears, she could've had what they were having too, but she knew that wasn't a possibility. Like relentless weeds, memories of torture overgrew thoughts of potential happiness. Dancing turned into the back and forth of battle, and someone was on the ground bleeding. She stared at the mental illusion silently until a question was presented to her. She didn't entirely hear it, but she looked up to try to figure out how to respond. "Hmm? Yeah." She nodded. "What?"

Seir had been a little more aware of the conversation, but he'd also been keeping an eye on the three virtues he was with to stay aware of if any of them needed help distancing themselves from certain triggers. He'd noticed Honesty getting quieter and her eyes losing focus during the conversation, but he hadn't wanted to startle her by drawing attention to it. There was no need to make her feel bad for getting a little lost in her own head. "We were just talking about inviting some of the other virtues to join our dance training."

"Oh," Honesty refocused herself. Dancing with family wouldn't be so bad. At least she hoped so. "That's a good idea. Maybe they can help teach us too?"

Seir shrugged. "Sure." It wouldn't hurt anything whether they were dancing with them or helping him teach the class. "Maybe we can call Beel over too to help Zoph learn the steps." He wondered if the boys focus would be better or worse with Beel teaching him, but it would've been entertaining to watch. He would've suggested Dagon too, but he imagined she'd be pretty occupied tonight.

TENACITY: Tenacity noticed when Honesty's eyes glazed over. Or rather, a more accurate thing to say would be that he could feel the numbness wash over her. That was the strange thing about being a depression demon; he could feel those things in others now. If he was going to be cursed with feeling, he would've preferred being cursed with feeling the whole spectrum of emotion like Dagon. At least then he would know and feel other's happiness too. There would be balance.

He was glad when Seir disrupted her thoughts and brought her back to the present. When she zoned out like that, she looked more...dead. It reminded him of the way he'd found her body after the initial blast following Belgirel's death...so many bodies. He blinked the image away as he grabbed a glass of champagne and discretely knocked back a mystery pill (well, a mystery to everyone but him) with his drink. "I hear Humility is a phenomenal dancer, but she won't admit it." He leaned in conspiratorially. "Between you and me, my goal is to get her to own it by the end of the night." He chuckled when Seir mentioned looping Beel in on the dancing too for Zophiel's sake. "That's not a half bad idea," he agreed. He looked around to see if he could spot any of his siblings or Beel. They all appeared to be scattered around the ballroom. "I see Milly and Prue over there," he replied as he stood up. "It looks like Charity's talking to Beel so Seir you can probably grab the two of them. That leaves Nessie, Patience, Abby, Dil, and Chastity. Does anyone see them?"

COURAGE: Courage nodded his agreement that their siblings could probably teach them. If they made it out onto the dance floor tonight his family was big enough that he wouldn't feel like he was surrounded by strangers the whole time. It was less suffocating that way. He grinned when Ten mentioned getting Milly to admit she was a good dancer. In the time that Courage had been dead, his siblings leaned very deeply into their Virtues. This left them pretty stagnant and unable to really live. They'd been untethered from their virtue thanks to Gabriel's help but they still needed some prodding at times to step out of their comfort zones. He needed some help doing that too. Maybe they could brave their fears together tonight. "I'll help," he agreed. He looked around to see if he could spot any of his siblings. "I see Dil and Patience. Dil might take some convincing but I think I can get him. I'll meet you guys back here." Courage got up from the table and started crossing the room to go talk to his brother.

ZOPHIEL: Either Seir was out to get him or out to make his night. Zoph wasn't sure anymore, but he didn't object to bring Beel aboard. He'd never object to that. "Milly could probably outdance Lucifer if she wasn't too bashful. And the funny thing is Lucifer would probably be immensely proud of her for doing it." That was probably half the reason she didn't. He looked around the crowd. "I see Abby. She's going to take some work to convince too." Abstinence didn't just abstain from sex or drinking or what have you. Sometimes she abstained from fun. But Zoph was sure he could convince her to join. He finished off the rest of his drink before excusing himself from the table to talk to Abby.

SEIR, HONESTY, & MURMUR: Seir paid attention to the way Tenacity tensed. It looked like he was managing okay so far, albeit with drugs and alcohol, but he wasn't overdoing it yet. Seir let him be, though he gave his side a squeeze to let his partner know he was there for him, and he could always come up with some excuse to get him out of there if he needed him to. Thankfully, both Honesty and Tenacity seemed to come out of their harsh disassociations. "You're going to need all the luck you can get if you're hoping to get Humility to admit that," he chuckled. "Maybe try baby steps, and just get her to not look down on her own dancing at first." It was a lot to expect her to be as proud of herself as they all were. He started looking around the room for the other virtues along with Tenacity. Tenacity was right that Charity was talking to Beel. They were eating at another table. It was a shame that Zophiel didn't have to invite them himself. That would've brought it's own humor, but they would've been waiting ages for Zoph to be able to get his words out. "Alright, I'll be right back." He tilted Tenacity's chin up to give him a kiss and a gentle ass squeeze before making his way over to Beel and Charity.

Honesty kept a lookout for her other siblings too. "I think I saw Chastity going towards one of the private rooms with her boyfriend." Given that her sister was the representation of chastity, it was hard to imagine they were getting up to anything inappropriate to witness, even with her tie to her virtue being broken from what it was, but Honesty didn't want to risk being wrong about that. She also just didn't want to disturb their private time together. "I don't see Nessie, but I'll walk around and see if I can find her. Maybe she's outside in the garden." Despite having a plan of what she was going to do, she stayed in place while everyone went their separate ways. It was only once the last person had walked away that she got up. It felt darker somehow when she wasn't with people she knew. The crowds around her felt like waves she had to wade through. She shivered from a cold that didn't exist and wrapped her arms around herself while she looked for her sister. Nessie turned out to be hard to find in the crowds. She kept walking until there was a twinkle of light in the darkness, a pair of voices that had only recently become familiar to her, but their sound guided her outside through the garden. There was a path of straw that led straight to Murmur and Nadia. Honesty felt relief, forgetting her quest to find her sister, when they seemed to brighten up the space around her, even as they argued.

"I told you it wasn't going to fit under that branch," Murmur huffed as he picked up the decapitated head of the straw goat. The goat looked more like a giant table now.

NADIA: The demon grimaced as Murmur picked up the head of the straw goat. "That branch was stronger than I thought it would be." She glared at the tree for having the audacity to decapitate her goat. As her eyes focused away from the gnarly branches, she spotted Honesty approaching them. A witness to their bumbling attempts. Now, that was embarrassing. "Hey Honesty," she waved. "This isn't what it looks like. Normally, we're experts at goat relocation," she explained. "I think Cupid just put in a few more trees to spruce up the place for the event," she snorted at her own joke and turned to look at Murmur. "But, there are silver linings..." She pulled at her satchel where she kept her snacks and some other important items. This time, she pulled out a paper-mache snake crown and a sash that read 'Kingdom of Sloth' in the Kingdom's colors. She handed the sash over to Murmur before placing the satchel next to the nearest, non-offending tree. "It's easier to get the accessories on now."

MURMUR & HONESTY: Murmur rolled his eyes when Nadia glared at the tree. It wasn't the tree's fault they'd run into it. He turned the goat's head around and lifted it up over himself to put on his own head. The goat head was massive, and he disappeared in the straw. He couldn't see Honesty as she approached, but he could hear Nadia. He giggled within the goat head. "Hehe, hay." His hand peaked out from the side of the goat's head, just below the ears, so he could wave at Honesty too.

"I . . . don't really know what this is supposed to look like," said Honesty. She remembered Nadia had told her about the goat tradition they had in the land of the living. They apparently had a tradition of burning the goat, but she thought they'd decided against destroying it. "Maybe the problem isn't that you're not experts at goat relocation, and more just a problem of you two working together."

The goat head moved up and down as Murmur shrugged. "I think I work well with her. She just doesn't work well with me." Despite that claim, His hand that was outside of the goat caught the sash Nadia put in his hand. He climbed out of the goat. He looked back at it with a little disappointment. "It's too bad we don't have a reason to use it as a Trojan Goat." Honesty looked at Nadia for help understanding what he was talking about while Murmur transformed into a raccoon. He carried the sash in his mouth while he climbed up the goat. He put the sash over the goat's neck. "Okay, but how do we get the head to stay on again."

NADIA: She was the picture of offended when Murmur claimed that the issue was with her. "I'm sorry only one of us is a stubborn old goat and it's not me or straw boy over here." She patted the goat's straw leg. "We're too young." She recognized the confusion on Honesty's face when Murmur brought up the Trojan Goat. “It’s a reference to an old battle story,” Nadia explained. “The Greeks were trying and failing to enter this one city called Troy for the better part of ten years. In a last ditch effort they constructed a huge wooden horse, hid some soldiers in it, and left it at the front gates of the city. They acted like they were retreating so the Trojans pulled the horse into their city as a victory trophy. That night, the Greek soldiers crept out of the horse and opened the gates for the rest of the Greek army. It's a solid battle strategy but honestly if the goat was made of wood and hollow inside, I think I'd just put snacks in it." She grinned up at the goat. "I bet it would hold a lot of snacks."

She was a little jealous when Murmur transformed into a critter and scurried up the goat. She always wished she had that ability but she wasn't a full blooded fallen angel like he was. She glanced at the goat head and then back up to where Murmur was seated. "I know a few spells to mend it but I'm going to need you and Honesty to hold the goat's head in position and preferably straight because I need both my hands."

MURMUR & HONESTY: "All I'm hearing is that I'm very mature for my age." He shot a wink in Honesty's direction, but she didn't seem all that enthused about it. "And you wish this guy was more stubborn." He patted the goat's side. "Maybe if he was a little more stubborn about holding himself together, his head wouldn't have fallen off." He knew it wasn't really the goat's fault. They shouldn't have kept pushing it when it's head got caught on the branch, but neither of them were really taking the blame here.

Honesty felt curious about the story Nadia was telling. There were so many minute details that just sounded like they had to be exaggerations. After ten years, an army's best strategy was to construct a horse and hide in it, and that idea somehow worked. She felt like she would've cared more about how dishonest of a tactic it was in the past, but she didn't have that tie to her virtue anymore. Sometimes she forgot that wasn't there anymore. She knew that Gabriel had done something related to disconnecting the virtues, but she also felt like her virtue had been ripped out of her sometime during her torture. Her virtue had been both a blessing and a curse, but it was also both of those things to have it gone. "And the Trojans didn't find anything suspicious about the fact that the Greeks just . . . stopped fighting to build a horse?"

"I think they had a bit of a pride thing going on," Murmur cut in. "They were so sure that nothing could get to them behind their impenetrable wall, it probably just didn't seem like the Greeks could really do anything to them with a horse, and they thought they were deserving of a prize or something like that. It's kinda like how the Titanic was supposed to be unsinkable. You could probably ask Athena for more about the Trojan war though. She knew the guy who had the idea for making the horse."

"What's a Titanic?" She felt like she was constantly out of the loop, but the only way to get in the loop was to ask a ton of questions.

"It was a ship. A really big one. They thought it was unsinkable and then drove it through cold waters, and it got sunk by an ice burg that it ran into. There's a whole movie about it. The main guy looks like Lucifer used to when I was a kid. The Trojan War has books and movies about it too if you want to get into those."

Honesty nodded. She'd have to remember to look into those things later. "Okay, I can help with that," Honesty agreed. She picked up the goat head and started lifting it towards its neck. Murmur reached down to help pull it up and they shifted it into place. "Is that right?"

NADIA: "Oh, yes, very mature. Like moldy cheese," she remarked in the driest tone that she could muster. She patted the straw goat. "You take that back! He's perfectly fine. We just need to bring him in for a little surgery. It's fiiiiine." She turned to the goat. "You're going to look great." They'd get this goat fixed up as good as new for his photo ops.

"I think I'd be a little cocky too if after ten years you still couldn't get through the walls I built. But yeah, it wasn't their smartest move and it cost them their city." She nodded when Murmur mentioned that Athena would be a good firsthand resource. The nice thing about all of them being immortal was that you could always find someone who was actually there to give you the story. "Oh, I love the Titanic. We should watch that one the next time we're here. We can invite Cupid and the other virtues too because they'll be mad if they missed a rewatch of that one."

Nadia moved a good distance away to get a far away perspective of the goat. "A little more to the left..." She gave them a thumbs up as they shifted the head into position. "Perfect. Hold it right there." She hiked up her dress and shimmied up one of the massive goat legs where she positioned herself at the point where the neck met the rest of the body. "I missed the last few leg days..." she breathed as she did her best to anchor her legs and free up one of her hands. She recited a spell that sounded entirely made up but surprisingly it worked. The hay around the neck spread upward until it was interlaced and intertwined with the hay from the neck. It looked almost like the hay was crocheting itself back together.

Once the work was done, Nadia jumped back down and landed safely on her feet. "There," she grinned. "Good as new." She brushed her hands on her dress to smooth out the skirt and get rid of some of the hay stuck to it. "We just need to put the crown on and move it the goat to that clearing over there," she pointed to the patch of cobblestone near the entry to the party. "And he'll be ready for pictures." Thankfully, there were no more trees for the goat to lose its head on between their current location and the cobblestone patch.

MURMUR & HONESTY: "So I'm a blue cheese then. You just don't have the class to enjoy me," he said proudly, holding his head up high. Honesty didn't really understand what cheese had to do with a class, but the interactions between the pair were entertaining. Everything after death tended to feel so dreary, but Nadia and Murmur were so full of life and energy. It made her feel like she had a little more of that too. She held back laughter as they continued to argue. "He's not perfectly fine," Murmur countered, "but you don't have to sound so offended by it. He can have flaws." He turned to address Honesty. "If you're going to be around Nadia, you'll find she does that a lot where she gets overdefensive if you say something negative about someone or something she likes, especially if it's about Beel." He looked back at Nadia to make sure she didn't take that as him being harsh. "Not that defending people you care about is bad, but assuming the people you care about are perfect and have to be seen as perfect might end up hurting you and them." He just didn't want Honesty to get caught in a situation where she might offend Nadia by being too honest about how she felt and hurt her new friendship. He knew that the virtues were no longer bound to their virtues like they used to be, but he didn't know how much of that still stuck with Honesty regardless. And more importantly, saying all of that made him feel like he'd sound smarter and more mature in front of Honesty too, thereby adding to the evidence of his maturity to prove Nadia wrong. It wasn't like that stuff came from his own head. He'd just heard other people say things like that, but Nadia didn't need to know that.

Honesty hadn't really thought that deep into Nadia's defensiveness despite what Murmur thought. "But the goat can't speak for itself. It might not be alive, but I think it was nice of you to defend it when it can't. It seemed like Nadia wasn't implying that it was perfect because it had no flaws. I think she felt like your words had a negative connotation, and she can correct me if I'm wrong to assume that she was only defending that the goat is perfectly fine even with its flaws. She just doesn't want you to look down on its flaws, especially when it can be fixed." She looked back at Nadia. "But I'll try to be aware of what I'm saying about the people you care about. Courage always tried to get me to be more aware of how my honesty can hurt people." She didn't so much as remember having talks with him about that as much as she remembered a sort of feeling about it, a desire to live up to his expectations about not being confined to her virtue. She wasn't anymore, but the cost had been far greater than she imagined.

Murmur saw the distant look in her eyes. He fidgeted and looked uncomfortable with situation, so he tried to force the conversation onwards. "Yeah, I guess you have a point. Sorry. Maybe we could have a massive movie watch like at a movie theater. We could invite anyone who's comfortable with the themes of the movie. Just give out a list of potential triggers before they come in. The Titanic might have more than a few considering it was a tragedy of a ship sinking. A lot of people died, and there was a lot of panic of the passengers. It might not be safe for viewing."

Honesty had to be aware of her own triggers, and she could think of how scenes of a ship sinking might terrify her. "Maybe it'd be okay as long as there are people there with us." She wanted to see the film, and she didn't want to be held back from being a part of things just because they might scare her. She couldn't just avoid her triggers all the time. She shifted the goat's head into place as Nadia instructed and with Murmur's help. Once Nadia was done, Honesty took a step back to admire the work. Murmur held his hand out for the crown, so he could put it on top.

NADIA: "You're right. You are like blue cheese...an acquired taste," she replied as she stuck her tongue out at him. "Lucky for you, I have a refined palate." She raised a brow when Murmur felt compelled to warn Honesty of her defensiveness. She hardly thought any of her comments thus far warranted that kind of warning. She was aware that the people she cared about were flawed. But despite their flaws, they were trying their best. Did she agree with the way her dad handled the secret about Belphegor? No. Did she understand why he did what he did? Yes. Her dad's choices always held some kind of logic to them. She was just sure if others took the time to understand that logic, they wouldn't be so rude. Of course, she didn't go out of her way to pick fights about it. Most people understood that it wasn’t exactly polite to air your grievances about the Prince of Gluttony to his daughter. The only time she really pushed back was when someone else deliberately started pushing first. "Murmur, darling," she began drily. "Social etiquette says that if feel compelled to warn someone about my sensitive feelings, you should do it in private." How the public perceived her was none of her business. She didn't want to be a part of this conversation. "Thank you, Honesty," she smiled as the Virtue tried to salvage the massive bag that Murmur just fumbled. "That's exactly it."

She nodded her agreement that some of the thematic elements of the Titanic might be triggering. Most of the movie was just the love story between the two main characters, but the last quarter of the movie was pretty graphic. “We can post a list of triggers so people can decide if it’s for them. Declan, I think, was already working on something like that. He’s got them posted to the inside covers of books and DVDs.” He might’ve already compiled the list for the Titanic which would save her and Murmur some time. “We can also come up with a list of alternatives. The movie isn't really as important as hang out with friends is. I think the theater is booked out for the next few days though.” There was an approval process for larger watch parties. “The Lost Boys are watching the Fast and the Furious franchise.” She remembered because she’d been trying to convince Lette to come. “But I think they’ll be done by the end of the week.”

Nadia handed Murmur the crown so that he could place it on the goat’s head. The smaller straw goat that Belphegor made for Nadia was currently seated beside her satchel and it was wearing the same costume. “Perfect,” she beamed. “I’ll take front if one of you wants to take the back. We can move him into position and then get something to eat. All of this exercise has made me very hungry.”

MURMUR & HONESTY: "So you admit you like me then?" Murmur grinned. He knew most of the time that his relationship with Nadia was complicated. They weren't related, not even in the sense that Beel and Nadia were related, but they had similar experiences. Murmur hadn't been that much older than her when she was born relatively speaking, so they'd grown up together. They were like siblings to an extent, and they had all the arguments that siblings tended to have, leaving outside people questioning whether they actually liked each other or not. Sometimes he himself questioned it too when the teasing and arguing got especially out of hand. "Sorry," he apologized.

Honesty felt a little uncomfortable getting caught in the middle of their argument. It wasn't just because of their fighting but the topic of it. Again, it felt like a reiteration of what she'd been told before about how she needed to be careful about how her honesty affected people. Murmur seemed to have trouble with that too, but being a creation of honesty, she could understand why he would feel the need to say what he did without going behind Nadia's back to say it. It made her feel nauseous thinking about it. She wished she didn't have that connection to the virtue, but it was her name. She didn't know how to not be her name, even if that name hurt her. She didn't even know what else she could be called. Maybe she could ask Lucifer about it. He'd changed his name after all.

"I think that's a good idea," Honesty agreed as she came out of her own head. A ship sinking sounded like it would involve drowning, and she knew a lot of people in the Empty had trouble with that, herself included. Having lighter alternatives would be good for them.

As Murmur took the crown and put it on the goat's head, Honesty picked up the back half of the goat. "It might be better if I carry it, so you two don't argue over it. Maybe Murmur can just keep an eye out for any obstacles.

"Aye aye, Captain," Murmur said with a salute still in the form of a raccoon on top of the goat. It was a good lookout spot.

NADIA: "Hmmm, yes, but probably not as much as Ruby does," she winked. Did she think Ruby and Murmur had a crush on each other? No. Maybe. The behind my father’s back friendship was very Romeo and Juliet of them, and Nadia was a thousand precent sure Cupid would agree with her. Just like she was a thousand precent sure Dagon would tell her to leave it alone. Still, after Murmur had just dragged her personal business up, Nadia didn’t feel too bad bringing his personal business up. She nodded and waved a hand at his apology. They were even.

Nadia worked with Honesty to get the goat into position. It was much easier now that there were fewer obstacles. Once the goat was settled, Nadia stood back to admire the work. “Alright, gang.” She pulled out her phone and motioned for Honesty and Murmur to come stand beside her. “Selfie time. We did the hard work. We should be the ones to take the first photo with the goat.” Nadia would tag it on her socials and that would be all the invitation that the others inside the party would need to come out and take a photo.

MURMUR & HONESTY: "A win's a win," Murmur grinned. He could tell that Nadia was trying to insinuate that something more intimate was going on between him and Ruby, but he wasn't really bothered with it. Her dad never really liked him, and Murmur hoped that rumor would spread if only to make him a little more annoyed. Even if he wasn't annoyed, that would show growth on his part, and Murmur felt like that would make Ruby happy too. It was a win win situation, so he let Nadia roll with it. "But yeah, of course Ruby likes me more than you do. She has better taste." He stuck his tongue out at her.

Honesty relaxed a little more as their arguing became less uncomfortable and more sibling-like. It made it easier to work with the two of them to get the goat in place. "Selfie?" Honesty asked as she moved forward in the direction Nadia indicated. She knew what photos were now, but she didn't know all the terminology associated with it. She wasn't sure how a selfie was related to photos.

"They're just pictures you take of yourself," Murmur explained.

Honesty nodded. "So if you take pictures of others, they're otheries?"

Murmur giggled. "They are now." He reached down to her hand and made her hold up two fingers. "That's a good pose for the selfie."

Honesty frowned at the hand gesture. She didn't understand it, but she tried to fit it to her interpretation of it. There were three of them, so she held up three fingers and smiled for the picture.

NADIA: "Oh, is that what you tell yourself? Okay, honey." She grinned. She enjoyed teasing him about partners. Nadia had plenty of siblings, but Murmur was the closest thing she had to a near sibling relationship as far as she'd seen. Of course, her observations were based on how her uncles and the Spiritus family behaved.

"Otheries, I like that," Nadia agreed. She got the camera ready as Murmur helped Honesty come up with a pose. Honesty held three fingers, Murmur had his original pose of two, and Nadia opted for the middle finger so now they were posing as 1, 2, and 3. Nadia snapped the photo before relaxing into a more natural state. She showed the photo to Murmur and Honesty for approval before positing it to all her social media platforms. "There. That should be enough advertisement for our friend here." She patted one of the goats legs. As she did so, her tummy grumbled. She really was hungry.

"I've got some snacks in my satchel back at the tree base," she replied as they started walking back that way. "We can finish those off and then we can head down to the kitchen for more. I can show you guys the escape tunnels in and out of there." They weren't really escape tunnels. They were just utility corridors for the staff to use, but thinking of them as escape tunnel was cooler.

DEVOUR: For countless millennia, he had been bound by the chains of his tyrant sibling, the Void. But now, finally, he was free. Several months had passed since the Void’s death. Sadly, the Empty didn’t transition to one of his kin after that. Instead, the power passed to his sibling’s killer, Belphegor. He had no idea what a Belphegor was so instead of introducing himself to them, he stayed on the fringes of their society, watching from afar as they went about their daily lives. It was a strange and foreign world to him, but he found himself fascinated by it nonetheless. He wasn’t sure what to make of them yet. They seemed to care for their people, but it was hard to say whether that benevolence extended to those who were not the Children of God.

His plan was to observe from the shadows until he had figured them out, until he had a better understanding of their customs and their ways. But fate had other plans once he learned there was to be a celebration tonight. It had been so long since he had participated in anything remotely resembling a celebration. And there was the promise of food, something he had not tasted in what felt like an eternity. He was always starving. He could feed and feed and feed and still that hunger was never satiated. He’d been made with the inability to taste which wouldn’t have been so bad if he wasn’t keenly aware of what he was missing. Once, long ago, before he was locked away, he’d been introduced to the concept of taste. It was only one instance when he actually tasted something, but he’d been craving that high ever since. Perhaps he’d find it again at this party tonight.

At first, he observed the party from the treetops, taking in the festivities from a safe distance. This was fairly easy for him because, you see, he was nothing but inky shadows. He had no form and blended perfectly with the darkness. As the night wore on and the partygoers grew increasingly raucous, he found himself drawn closer and closer. He watched as the speeches were given, the music played, and the people danced. And then, finally, the moment he had been waiting for: the announcement that it was time for food. He crept closer to the door, his shadowy form blending seamlessly with the darkness. He watched as the people walked past him, their arms loaded with plates and bowls of steaming food. He was almost drooling at the sight of it all. But he dared not venture too close. He knew the risks of being seen, of being caught. And so, he remained in the shadows, stealing bits of food whenever he could. He retreated out the door as soon as he thought someone noticed him. Thankfully, no one followed but it was too close of a call. He’d been too bold for his own good.

He was just about to retreat into the forest when he noticed a group of children moving some kind of object across the garden. They weren’t doing a very good job of it. He debated just leaving them to it but then one of the children mentioned having food in her bag. And then, miracle of miracles, said child actually left her bag unattended. It was an open invitation, and he could not resist. As the children slipped away, he dropped from the tree and made a beeline for the bag. He rummaged through it frantically, his hunger driving him to madness. And then he found it: the snacks the little girl had mentioned. He tore into them, devouring the contents of the bag with reckless abandon. So reckless it seemed because he did not notice nor hear their little footsteps as they made their way back to his tree.

MURMUR & HONESTY: "I tell myself the truth," Murmur confirmed with a nod. He was pleased as they all had different poses. If someone looked at the picture, they probably wouldn't understand what it meant, mainly because it didn't really mean anything. He looked up at the goat once they finished the picture. "I hope the people here join in the game." It would've been nice to see them getting into an event like this, but even if they didn't, everyone coming to see the goat would be nice too. Belgirel had put in a lot of work on this too. "What kind of snacks did you bring?" he asked Nadia as they started walking back. She was lucky that he hadn't stolen any of her snacks already. Luckily for her, he'd been distracted by the goat.

Unluckily for her, something else had gotten to those snacks first. Honesty was the first to notice. She was hypervigilant, and half the time after her death, she was always scared of the shadows and kept thinking she saw something in them. Only this time there was something really there. She didn't scream, scared of drawing its attention towards them while also just being frozen with fear. Instead her hand reached out to grab the person nearest to her, which happened to be Murmur. Her hand tightened around his, nails digging in. It looked so much like the Void. She didn't know what to do or how to react.

Murmur felt Honesty's reaction before actually seeing the creature. He sucked in a breath from the pain of her nails. "Ow." He grimaced. He tried to pull his hand away, but she was locked on tight. She wouldn't even look at him, and she looked like a deer in the headlights. He waved a hand in front of her face, but she was still staring straight ahead like her life depended on it. He followed her gaze, and at first he didn't see anything. He thought the tree was just casting a dark shadow until he saw how much the shadow moved. "What is that?" he asked. He took a step forward, but Honesty wouldn't let him get out of her arms' reach.

NADIA: She was certain that at the very least people would want to take pictures with the goat as they left the party for the night. It would take a few parties for this trend to take off fully, but eventually the goat’s attendance at parties would be almost mandatory and expected. She patted it one last time as a farewell before they started walking back toward the tree. “I got all kinds,” she grinned in response to the question. Her bag was spelled to go deeper than expected. “I could probably put a candy factory to shame. But I’ve also got savory treats in there if you’re in the mood for something salty. And I’ve even got a bunch of stuff for the dead to eat in there.” Nadia couldn’t eat those, but she always came prepared. She managed to cool off a few meltdowns in Dagon’s kingdom just by giving the person snacks. She figured the same could apply here so she always made sure to carry snacks for the dead too. Food was always a good comfort tool.

Unfortunately, it appeared someone was already helping themselves to a good dose of comfort. Nadia didn’t really stop to think before she reacted. This was mostly because she assumed the big ol’ blob stealing her snacks was Belphegor. She’d seen them phase through the Empty and there were rumors that they could do other things with their form so it wasn’t an outlandish assumption. “Belphegor, you thieving banshee!” She made a beeline for them. “There better be some snacks still left in there for us! It was hard work curating all of that!” She stopped abruptly as soon as she was close enough to register their energy and realize her mistake. The massive shadow of darkness eating her food wasn’t Belphegor. It was…it was…actually she didn’t know who or what it was. Her breath caught in her chest as she stared at it and it stared at her. “You, uh…I…um…hi?”

DEVOUR: He looked up from his precious horde of food only when the shouting started. One of the children was heading right for him. He recognized her. She was a frequent visitor of the Belphegor. It looked like she thought he might’ve been the Belphegor. She realized she was mistaken fairly quickly given how much her strides had slowed down. She looked at him and he looked at her. There was terror in her eyes, and he did not like it. Just behind her, he could see the two other children that had been with her. They also looked terrified of him. His form sagged a little at the thought. He’d spent most of his life in fear of one thing or another. Mostly, he feared his brother’s temper. The Void was gone now, but some of his other siblings were just as testy. He found it hard to be around them. But he was also too afraid to be here with these strangers.

He still remained as inky blackness but the darkness that was his form shrunk little by little until it was not so intimidating. He pulled his shadowy hands out of the satchel and gingerly held out a turkey leg to the child. It was the only offering he could make. He’d eaten everything else in the bag. Perhaps if he gave her this last bit, she would let him go free. He didn’t want to harm them, but he also didn’t want to be taken prisoner either. Not again. Never again.

MURMUR & HONESTY: Murmur was a little scared. Honesty's reaction to this thing was really what scared him more though. He knew that she'd been through a lot. He'd never seen the Void, but he'd seen some of the powers Belphegor got after killing it. What this thing was doing was pretty similar to those powers. He didn't think it was the Void, at least not at its full power. He was pretty sure it would've already tried to kill them if it was, but it was clearly something similar to the Void. That didn't mean it was as bad as the Void though. Since it wasn't attacking them, Murmur felt like it must've thought that attacking wasn't its best course of action. Murmur pulled his hand away from Honesty's so he could step towards it with Nadia. At the very least, it wouldn't have been right of him to let Nadia go towards it alone.

Honesty wasn't as open to believing this thing might not have bad intentions, and she didn't have Murmur's level of curiosity. There had never been anything good that came from the Empty before Belphegor saved them. She couldn't stop Murmur from moving forward, but she hid behind him as he approached the being.

As the creature shrunk down, it furthered Murmur's belief that the being meant them no harm. If it lived here, he guessed that it had probably been hurt by the Void too. Maybe it was one of God's or the archangel's creations that got sent in here like the other dead. It seemed almost as scared as Honesty was, and the offering it gave was most likely an attempt at self preservation. "It's okay," Murmur assured it. "We're not gonna hurt you."

NADIA: Nadia’s heart pound in her chest as she observed the being. It was like looking into the being that she could only describe as intangible night. There was a saying out there that if you gaze into the abyss long enough, it gazes right back at you. Nadia could feel it’s gaze upon her but it did not make her feel cold or scared. It made her feel sad. Darkness couldn’t posture but everything about the way this darkness held itself suggested that it was more afraid of her than she was of them. She tore her eyes away from it only for a moment once she felt the warmth of her friend at her side. He seemed to understand that this creature did not mean them harm.

Her features softened as the darkness shrunk to something that was more human sized. After a brief moment of contemplation, it offered her a turkey leg as a boon. Nadia nodded to her friends, indicating that she was okay. She extended her hand to take the offering. Sure, this creature could be playing a trick on her, but she didn’t think it was and she was going to trust her gut on that. If she was wrong…well, it was a big mistake to harm a Duchess of Hell. To her relief, the darkness did not pull her in or harm her as she got closer and took the offering.

“T-thank you,” she stammered and took a respectful step back toward her friends. She stared at the turkey leg for a moment before biting into it. “Hmmm, it’s still good,” she smiled and gave the creature a thumbs up. “I…are you still hungry? My friends and I…we were just about to go down to the kitchens to eat.”

DEVOUR: The hesitation was clear on all of their faces. They did not know what to make of him. Truthfully, he didn’t know what to make of them either. He was relieved when the little raccoon boy said they weren’t going to hurt him, but could they be trusted? It looked like they were trying to determine the same of him. The smaller of the three beings seemed to indicate with her head that she believed him. Still, he fought the urge to jump backward as she stepped forward. Their fingers brushed together as she took the turkey from his hands and they both stepped back in unison, giving each other space and distance. He observed her as she tasted the meat. Would its flavor determine his life or death? He certainly hoped not. He hadn’t even gotten a chance to taste the meat. It smelled divine though. But the food in the bag was tricky. He’d been able to taste some of it, but not others. He had similar experiences at the party too while he was loitering in the shadows. Anything meant for the dead had no flavor to him. But the stuff of the living? Now that…that was blissful.

He was pulled out of his reminiscing when the youth made a strange gesture with her hands. He didn’t really understand it. Was she signaling an attack sign to the other two? They made no move to come after him. Still, he’d taken too many risks today. He was about to make a run for it when she asked him if he was hungry. He was always hungry for more, it seemed. He’d been down by the kitchens before. Mostly late at night when no one was around. There was a lot of food there but much of it was in its raw form, and he had yet to learn how to get it from its raw form to its final delectable and truly complete form. But he imagined with a party this big, the kitchen was overflowing with complete, intricately made meals. He supposed one more risk wouldn’t hurt.

With some effort, he willed his form to shift into something that resembled a child of God. He borrowed a lot of features that he’d seen on the beings that called themselves Lucifer and Asmodeus. The darkness that was him took on the shape of a tall and strikingly handsome man. His chiseled jawline was framed by a neatly groomed beard that added to his rugged yet sophisticated appearance. His hair became a light blonde color, worn in a tousled style that gives him an air of effortless cool. He spent a lot of time observing and practicing this transformation just in case he ever needed to blend in. All of that practice paid off because the transition was very smooth.

What he failed to practice was speaking in their tongue. He opened his mouth to form the words that he wanted to say, but they came out as nonsense at first. He cleared his throat and tried again. “I…I don’t want to impose…” he spoke. The words were accented strangely. He’d have to keep practicing to sound more like them. “But food is always appreciated. I haven’t tasted anything like this in many millennia.” He paused to look at the satchel in his hands. It was completely bare now. He held it out to her. “I’m sorry…” he apologized in a voice that sounded both ancient and young at the same time. “I’ve eaten everything here.”

HONESTY & MURMUR: What the hell was wrong with these two? Both Nadia and Murmur were so close to this thing, and Honesty couldn't make sense of it. They didn't know what it was. It came from the Empty, so she would've thought they wouldn't be so ready to trust it. It could've been an act to lure them in. She shook her head back at Nadia in contrast of her nodding. No, this was not okay. She tried to will her into seeing that, but it didn't seem to have any use. She waved her hand across her neck when Nadia invited the thing to come eat with them. Even if she wasn't terrified of this thing, she was sure plenty of the other guests here would be.

Murmur wasn't so unhinged where he couldn't see the dangers of what they were doing. This . . . creature was something from before Belphegor. They didn't really know if it was a danger or not, but it didn't really seem like it wanted to harm them. He tried to give Honesty a look to reassure her that they were being complete idiots about this, but she didn't look reassured. "We don't have to take you down there," Murmur added, to both reassure the creature and Honesty. He didn't think it wanted to go near big crowds the way it was lurking in the shadows. "We can just grab some more food and bring it back up."

As the being began to shift into something else, Honesty took another step back while Murmur stared in amazement. So it wasn't just some sort of mindless creature then. Realistically, it wasn't like this was what their natural forms looked like, aside from Nadia. It wasn't that unlikely that this thing could look like a person too. He was kind of hot, at least in Murmur's eyes. Honesty was still terrified of him. It didn't matter that he'd changed his form. It made it feel more like a trick to her, and like he was using that to get closer to them. His words scared her more. They sounded wrong and not entirely real. "Are you going to eat us?" she asked, scared that he might actually be willing to eat everything and everyone if they didn't get him more food.

"I mean only if you want to," Murmur added with a smirk, unable to help himself. Honesty smacked him on the side of his head.

"He doesn't mean that."

NADIA: Nadia could see the nervousness written on Honesty’s face. She’d be lying if she said she wasn’t nervous too, but she knew hunger. She lived in a kingdom devoted to it. If this creature was going to eat them, it would have done it already. It was hard to convey that through looks alone though so Nadia placed her hands behind her back and opened her palm. She pushed down on her open palm with her thumb and a sigil that was previously invisible lit up. That same sigil appeared on Honesty and Murmur’s palm. It connected them mind-to-mind like a magic walky talky. It’s all right, she spoke mind-to-mind. If anything goes wrong, we’re only a few paces away from the party and there are a few hundred ways I can contact my dad. It’ll be a million against one in a manner of seconds if this thing tries something. Besides, it wasn’t like Nadia was going to allow herself to be lured into the woods. She wasn’t Gretal. They’d stick to their home territory, at least for now. If things went well and she made a new friend here today, she wouldn’t rule out exploring his home later.

He kind of reminds me of a spider, She observed as the creature became confused and scared of her thumbs up gesture. You know, one of those ‘they’re more afraid of you then you are of them’ situations. Her eyebrows rose as the being began to change its form to look more palatable to them. Man, that’s not fair. Even he can shapeshift. He’s kinda hot though so I’ll forgive it. Apparently speaking didn’t come as easily for him. It sounded like he had cobwebs in his throat. It sounded like he hadn’t spoken in a while. She wondered if he was the only one of his kind or if there were more. “I’m told that’s a common experience here,” she replied apologetically when he said that it had been a while since he’d tasted anything like this. “But we’re hoping to change that.” She took her satchel from him. He truly did seem sorry for eating all of it. She believed him.

She tried to keep the conversation light and pleasant. If you treated people kindly, they usually returned the favor. “It’s all right. I’m glad you got some joy out of it. Food’s always been a comfort of mine. Like Murmur said, we can bring some up here if you don’t want to go down to the kitchen.” Being in the kitchen would bring them closer to the party, which would be safer for the trio but perhaps this being wouldn’t feel as safe. She gave Murmur an exasperated sort of look when he began flirting with the being, but her features turned more jovial when Honesty smacked him. You deserved that, she told him. Also, you’re like a twig with two berries. A snack more than a meal.

DEVOUR: This form was strange to him, but it would appear that at least two out of the three found comfort in it. Perhaps the third would warm up to it. He certainly was. It would take some getting used to, but he needed the practice. He pondered the offers presented to him. "I would like to go with if that is okay," he replied in his strangely accented voice. “I have been to the kitchen before. I..." he shook his head. "I do not understand it. I have watched but..." he shook his head. He did not understand the process whatsoever. "Will you show me?" He wanted to learn their strange methods. Perhaps he could replicate them so that he'd no longer have to steal. Of course, he'd still have to make these delectables in private. There were more than a few of his siblings who would shun him for trying to be like these three. He did not know what they would do to him, but some of them were as harsh as the Void.

His eyebrows bunched in confusion when one of the children asked if he was going to eat them. “No, you don’t taste like anything,” he replied to the dead one. Much like food made for the dead, the dead themselves tasted like nothing. The Void had fed the souls to him once and out of desperation, he took them. But he had no desire to do so again. The act of eating them was too tedious and there was no pay off for him in the end. He hadn’t tried the living, but why would he when there were so many other things he could try and so many other things that they could show him? “You…” he cleared his throat, taking long pauses between words. “Have shown me great kindness. I…” He hadn’t experienced kindness in a very long time, and it made him emotional. “I do not wish to offend you.” Confusion shown on his face when one of the children replied that he could eat him if he wished. He did not understand the offer. “If eating one another is a custom in your culture…you may eat me.”

HONESTY & MURMUR: Honesty appreciated it as Nadia performed a spell to let them speak in each other's minds. She didn't really feel comfortable talking in front of this creature as they were. She hadn't known how much it could understand, and she was scared to say too much in front of it. She still didn't really feel like it was all right like Nadia was saying. Things can go wrong so fast though. When she'd died, there hadn't been enough time to save everyone, including herself. All it took was the right injury, and people could die in seconds. And we don't know what this thing is capable of. What if it's as strong as the Void was? What if we die before anyone gets here? I know you guys will just end up here again, but me? I'll just disappear. I'll be in the dark again.

Murmur could tell that Honesty was really scared. He put a hand on her back and started rubbing it comfortably the way his moms used to do when he was scared as a kid. Like Honesty had said his moms had been one of the ones who died after death. They were gone now forever. He didn't plan on letting that happen to Honesty too. Well, we'll just make sure that doesn't happen then. Like you said, if we die, we'll just end up here, so I'll protect you. Knight's honor. He would've saluted, but he didn't want Honesty to feel like he was giving too much of their conversation up to the creature. And besides, if you're worried about it's power, Belphegor shouldn't be too far away either. If it takes something of a similar power to defeat him, they should be able to. And they can hear us everywhere, so they should be able to get to us quickest.

Honesty relaxed a little. She was still nervous about all of this, but Nadia and Murmur were right that all of the strongest people they knew were not that far away, and she'd experienced a few times just how much Belphegor could hear. She wondered if they already knew about these creatures, but at least for now, she trusted Nadia and Murmur to keep her safe. She still planned to keep a safe distance from the creature. "You can come with us," Honesty agreed, deciding that it would be better to have the creature closer to where help could come for them if they needed it.

"Yeah, we can show you. Nadia's an expert on it. She's been working with Belphegor to help the dead be able to eat things they can taste again." He could cook too, but he was average at it, and he hadn't tried to cook the food for the dead, so he wasn't experienced with it like Nadia was.

Honesty was more relieved by the fact that she wouldn't taste like anything to this creature. It still didn't mean this thing wouldn't try to kill her, or her friends. It also could've been lying. Since death, she couldn't tell as easily when people were lying, and this thing felt even more like a mystery. Her fear and paranoia over this thing also clouded her judgement. She was overly cautious no matter how she tried to look at things.

Murmur was the opposite. He grinned as the creature offered to let him eat it. "We do eat each other a lot in our . . . culture, but you're not going to offend me if you don't let me. It's more of a . . . reciprocated thing. We only do it if both of us want to do it to each other."

NADIA: She gave Honesty an empathetic look. She could understand why the Virtue was hesitant. She had more to lose here than they did. She nodded her agreement when Murmur reassured Honesty that they wouldn’t let anything happen to her. If anything happens, the two of us will fight and you run toward the party and alert the others. Sure, people would be upset with her and Murmur if they died but they’d both just end up here in the end and that wasn’t so bad. She was glad when Honesty eased a little. Nadia couldn’t read emotions, but something about the being before them and the way it held itself felt genuine to her.

“You’ve been to the kitchens before?” Nadia hadn’t noticed this being there before. It must have been pretty stealthy or perhaps it just showed up when she wasn’t around. Either way, he was kind of growing on her because he had a lot in common with the people of her own kingdom. They, too, were also stealthy in manners of food theft. She nodded her agreement when Murmur called her the expert. “It’s my day, night, and weekend job,” she grinned. She was going to be running a few cooking classes here and she wanted to invite Honesty, but she didn’t want to do it in front of this creature. It felt rude and like she’d be excluding him. If he wanted to, she could probably teach him how to cook too, but it would have to be off the clock. If Honesty was afraid of him, other people would be too so she couldn’t have him come directly to her class. She’d figure something out eventually. “Come on,” she gestured with her head for everyone to follow her. “I’ll take you guys down the staff entrance so we can avoid the crowd.” She began walking toward the side entrance.

She snorted as Murmur continued to flirt with the being. “He means that in a non-violent way. It’s a pleasurable feasting. But before we get too deep into the customs of our culture, perhaps we should know your name. I’m Nadia, Duchess of Gluttony, and these are my friends Sir Murmur and Lady Honesty. What do we call you?”

DEVOUR: The child who was dead seemed to be the one that was most afraid of him. He did not blame her. If the Void was willing to torture its own siblings, he could only imagine what it did to strangers. He shifted on his feet. Perhaps he should’ve given the turkey leg to her. Maybe if he learned to cook, he could make something for her too. He didn’t know why he felt compelled to apologize for the Void, but he did. “I—only a handful of times,” he lied. He went to the kitchen almost every night. But he didn’t know if it was wise to admit that. He wasn’t sure what a job was but from the glowing recommendation that the young male child was giving on behalf of the smaller blonde child suggested that food was her specialty. She had the air and confidence of an expert.

“Thank you,” he remarked as they agreed to let him join their expedition. He was nervous and excited all at once, but he minded his position and kept his distance from the dead child of God. He did not wish to cause her further distress. He listened to the beings describe their customs. “A pleasurable feasting?” He wasn’t sure he understood. “Is it because you regenerate?” He’d seen some of them get injured before and the wounds closed up fairly quickly. Still, he wasn’t sure that was too pleasant. He nodded when the young girl, Nadia, introduced herself. “Nadia, Duchess of Gluttony.” He tested the name on his lips. “Sir Murmur.” A nod at the gentleman. “Lady Honesty.” He nodded but did not meet her eyes for he did not want to see the fear in them. He tilted his head to the side in an expression of confusion when he was asked what he preferred to be called. “I am the absence of taste. Or, perhaps, I was once.” It was what some of his siblings wished he would remain. But he’d tasted from the fruits of their trees and he could not go back. “I’m not sure what I am anymore. You may call me as you see fit.”

HONESTY & MURMUR: Honesty still wasn't fond of the idea of just abandoning Nadia and Murmur to their fates. She didn't want them to die for her, but she also didn't want to experience what would happen if she died again. She didn't think she could talk Nadia and Murmur out of this though, so going with them seemed like the best option.

"And you didn't get caught?" Murmur asked, impressed. He was usually pretty stealthy himself when he tried to be, and it was a quality he admired. It was actually pretty surprising to him that Belphegor hadn't caught onto him. He wondered if Belphegor even knew he existed. He knew that Belphegor could hear just about everything in the Empty, so it was hard to imagine that they wouldn't know about him, but he'd never heard them mention this guy. Of course, maybe they were worried about reactions like Honesty's. It was probably best not to worry anyone about it if they could. "We do regenerate, but that's not what it's about." He could tell that this guy wasn't going to understand them if they were too subtle about it. He was kind of like how Belphegor used to be. "We don't so much eat each other as we do . . . taste each other. There's certain parts of our bodies that feel good when you touch them in the right spots in the right way. You can use your hands to do it, but using your mouth, and more specifically your tongue, on someone lets you taste them while you're making them feel good. If you do it right and make them feel good enough, they'll make a fluid that you can either swallow down or spit out at your discretion. If you want to try it out sometime, I'd be happy to try it with you and show you how it works. I could bring some food, and we could try-"

"Okay, that's enough of the sex education," Honesty snapped, glaring at Murmur. She already didn't want to be around this thing. She could only take so much of hearing Murmur flirting. She didn't really care about him explaining what sex was, but making her hear about him with something that seemed so much like the Void made her nauseous. She wanted to get this over with, and she could do without Murmur being so horny. He just shrugged and bowed when the creature addressed him, tossing a wink in his direction. Honesty still looked frozen as she was addressed. The creature avoided eye contact with her, but she couldn't take her eyes off of him. She was looking for any sign of deceit or harm. There wasn't any, but she was too scared to stop looking.

"The absence of taste?" Murmur asked. That had to be a strange experience, and it looked like he was tasting now, or he had been before they took food away from him. "But if you care a lot about food, maybe your name could be eating related." He liked the idea of getting to name someone. "Her dad's already Gluttony. But there's not many similar ones I feel like you could make names out of. Gorge? I don't think I like that one for you. It just feels like I'm calling you George with an accent. That's boring."

NADIA: She got the vibe that he’d been to the kitchen more than a handful of times but she didn’t say anything. If he really did manage to go undetected that was pretty impressive. As long as he remained harmless, she didn’t plan to snitch on him. Now that she knew he made visits to the kitchen, she’d leave some stuff for him when she could. “Murmur for the love of Hell…” she sighed and rubbed at her temples. He wasn’t just flirting anymore. He was straight up propositioning the man. Thankfully, Honesty cut him off before he could go any further though Nadia wasn’t sure how much further one could go without offering a demonstration right then and there. “At least you offered him food beforehand.” That was the nice thing to do when you wanted to eat someone out. You had to make sure they ate first.

She smiled and nodded at the man encouragingly as he repeated their names back to them. It was interesting that he had no name himself. He was a construct. But then again what was a name if not a construct to begin with. “Murmur already thinks you’re a snack, so Snack is a good one. But it sounds a little too close to snake and that’s my mom’s mascot.” Dagon wasn’t her mom, but it felt too complicated to get into that right now. She paused for a moment at the door to the staff entrance. “What about Devour?” she asked as she swiped her card to unlock the door. She entered the well-lit corridor and motioned for the others to follow her in. The sounds of the party could be heard one floor above them, and she found that to be soothing in its own way. It was like being part of the crowd without being overwhelmed by it. “That’s how we found you and it’s a pretty badass name too.”

DEVOUR: He was quiet for a moment as he debated what he ought to say. Some of his siblings would've demanded he say nothing. They very well could cut his tongue out for just talking to these three. But these children were disclosing information about their families so perhaps it was safe to tell them about his own. If he bothered to look deeper within himself, he might've allowed himself to see that he was also telling them this information because he wanted to keep them safe. There was an innocence to these Children of God that he had not seen in a very long time here in the Empty. Innocence did not last long here. If he did not tell them what lurked in the shadows, it was possible that the shadows would find them unguarded. "It's possible my siblings know where I disappear to, but if they do they haven't said anything," he allowed.

He listened intently as the young male, Murmur, described this pleasurably feasting. To taste one another but not eat each other sounded like quite the test of wills. "Ah, I see. So the goal is to get to this fluid? That is the meal?" Fascinating. It sounded like both the feaster and the feasted received some kind of reward in the end. All of their food so far tasted phenomenal so what must their fluids taste like? "Yes," he grinned. "I think I'd like to try."

He kept up his pace with the children as they walked toward an entry point he hadn't seen before. He wasn't sure what a snack was but it sounded like a kind of food he wanted to try. He wasn’t sure what a snake was either. “So, you are not a Child of God?” he asked when Nadia mentioned a mother. The Children of God had no mother, and she radiated an energy that was different from the two beings before her. What was she?

As she door opened, he could hear the sounds of the party above them. Walking down the corridor was an experience he knew he’d struggle to put into words for Echo later. It was like being a part of the party…a part of their mysterious world. Their music was so beautiful even when it was muffled. And based on the fragrant smell of food just up ahead he knew she was leading them down the right path. “Devour…” he repeated the name. “Devour.” He nodded after a moment. “You may call me Devour.”

MURMUR & HONESTY: When Murmur had asked him about not getting caught, he'd meant that he hadn't been caught by the staff here or by Cuphegor themselves. Honesty had understood what Murmur was asking too, but the creature's response made it seem like getting caught was more of a concern with their siblings than with the rulers of this realm. "You have siblings?" Honesty asked. She'd known that he gave off similar energy to the Void, but she hadn't considered the idea of them being siblings. That would've made her more scared if it didn't sound like he was concerned about his siblings doing something to him. "They aren't . . . around, are they?" She glanced around, but if they blended into shadows so easily, she was scared she wouldn't be able to see them easily.

"What are they like?" asked Murmur. "You said you were the absence of taste, right? So what are they? What was the Void?" Murmur had a lot of questions, and so did Honesty. Thankfully, they didn't throw out every single one they had all at once. They both knew too many questions could be overwhelming, but Murmur was more than a little excited by his answers. He wasn't perturbed by Honesty or Nadia's reaction to his explanation of eating out. He personally felt like he was being helpful by explaining it to they guy. It sounded like he experienced so little of life, and as much as Murmur wanted to hook up with him, he didn't want to feel like he was tricking him or trying to push him into something he didn't understand. He was like a virgin. He probably was a virgin if he didn't understand eating out. "The goal is mainly to make each other feel good, but the fluid, cum, is the signifier that you are doing that." Murmur grinned as he agreed to his offer. "Great! I'll show you a great time after we get some real food in you."

Honesty had to hide her face in her hands from the embarrassment of being around Murmur when he was like this. At least for now, it distracted her from her fear of the creature they were traveling with. "How are you just like Andras?"

"I learn from the best?" He answered with a grin. "He'd be proud of me." Honesty didn't feel like that was really a good thing here. "Technically, neither of us are children of God," he said as he indicated at himself and Nadia. "Her mom and dad are at that party, and my moms are . . . well one's basically dead, and the other one is double dead, but we're basically like . . . children of the community. There's more than a few people who look after us as if we were their children." He smiled when Devour seemed to like then name they'd picked out for him. "And how do we call you, Devour?" he asked, though he wasn't asking about his name. "You don't have a phone, right? Is there a way we can get in contact with you when we want to see you again?"

NADIA: She stiffened slightly when he mentioned his siblings. The way he spoke about them sounded a little bit like the way Ruby spoke about her father. Her sister also did things in secret with the hopes that her dad wouldn’t find out because she was afraid of what he might do if he did. It sounded like Devour held the same fear in regard to his siblings. She held onto her questions as Honesty and Murmur asked their own. Devour already seemed a bit skittish. If they went into interrogation mode, they might scare him.

She bit back her laughter when she saw Honesty’s secondhand embarrassment for Murmur. It was kind of sweet. At this point in her life, Nadia had witnessed Murmur embarrass himself so much that she hardly felt embarrassed on his behalf anymore. If you think this is bad, you should see him hit on the wood nymphs, she giggled through their mind connection. “If you’re still feeling a little hungry afterwards, just let me know,” she grinned innocently. She could feed him any which way he’d like. Maybe one day they’d show him the buffet that was an orgy.

She nodded her agreement when Murmur explained that neither of them were Children of God. “We’re more like…the Grandchildren of God though I wouldn’t even claim that title.” They were asking Devour a lot about his history, so it was only fair to exchange some of their own. “I’m from a subspecies called Lilim. We’re the children of fallen angels who mated with a being called Lilith. Depending on the strength of our angelic linage, some of us end up here in the Empty when we die so you might see a few of them walking around. Like Murmur’s mom, my biological dad’s is frozen in a state between life and death. And my biological mother hasn’t been seen in centuries. But my adoptive parents are here. The party we’re having is for the person that I, really we, choose to consider mom.” She knew she wasn’t the only one who considered Dagon in that way. Honesty had mentioned that she’d felt that way about Dagon too when she was alive. And Dagon cared for Murmur pretty similarly too. “Her name is Dagon. She’s got the snakes in her hair. She took over Belphegor’s position as the Demon Princess of Sloth. And the person that I choose to consider as my dad, his name is Beelzebub. He’s the Demon Prince of Gluttony. They’re very nice. I’ll introduce you sometime.” Nadia had enough sense to know that none of her family members would be too thrilled with the risk that she and the the others took on today but once they got to know a little bit about Devour she was sure they'd like him.

DEVOUR: “I have seven, but they are not here currently. Most of them do not venture into your territory.” Though there was talk of changing that. The dead were not native to this land even if their God placed them here. And after being under one oppressive being who kept them locked up, some of his siblings weren’t too keen on sharing land. They wanted their home and land back from the perceived colonizers. He hoped they wouldn’t do anything. They were vastly outnumbered. And having observed some of the older Children of God and the power they held, Devour could already tell that the fight would be bloody. He didn’t have it in him to fight after centuries of torment. He just wanted to eat. “They, too, are the absence of things such as sound, light, smell, touch, form, happiness, and thought. The Void…” his voice flattened as he tried to control his fear. “It was a pit of cruelty and the absence of empathy.” And I’m glad that it’s gone. He was afraid to say it out loud for fear that even in death the Void might hurt him. But his eyes showed enough.

He nodded when Murmur elaborated on the goal of the activity. “I look forward to trying your cum and I will repay the favor.” He was surprised when Nadia offered him seconds. He did not know why these beings were so generous to him, but he appreciated their kindness. It had been such a long time since anymore cared to be kind to him. “Thank you,” he replied with genuine gratitude. “I will.”

As they moved forward down the corridor he listened to the Children—Grandchildren—of God explain their origins. Fascinating. One was the offspring of two Children of God and the other was the offspring of a Child of God and another being. “Lilim. Yes, I believe I have seen a few.” He tilted his head to one side as she described how she’d chosen her other family. Community children. That was a new concept to him. He didn’t know it was even possible to designate familial roles to someone who wasn’t your family. Granted, for most of his life he didn’t have anyone except his siblings, but that was changing now that the Empty was free from the Void. He glanced up to where the party was still ongoing. So, this was for their chosen mother. And their chosen mother was someone who was taking over the Belphegors previous position. Things were making sense now. He’d seen the snake haired woman in the Empty a lot and she did appear to be close to the Belphegor. “Dagon. I’ve seen her too. She and the tall blonde one…they are prescriptive.” He thought they might’ve seen him more than a few times, but he always fled before he or they could confirm anything. He considered her offer as they stopped at the entrance to the kitchen. “If they are like you then yes, I would like to meet them someday.”

His brows knitted in confusion. “Phone?” He wasn’t sure what that was. There were no easy ways to reach one another here. The only people Devour really had to talk to were a handful of his siblings. “The Void cut off most ways of communicating here though The Empty can get you to me. But before I tell you how, I need you to promise me one thing.” He looked at them with upmost seriousness. “I’ve seen the wardings at the edge of your land. You must promise to stay within them. You cannot seek me in the forest. Do you understand?”

HONESTY & MURMUR: "Seven?" Honesty asked with horror. One of the Void was enough, but the idea of seven of his kind sounded terrifying. She was a little relieved to hear that they didn't venture into their territory, but it didn't make her any less scared of them. Devour had come all the way out here after all. What if the others did too?

Murmur found himself more intrigued by the list of Devour's siblings. "You and the absence of sound seem like you'd make up Nadia's dad together. He's always hungry, but he's so quiet when he moves that he scares her mom all the time without even trying." It was hard to imagine how some of the absences worked though. The absence of form sounded a little like the demons of hell who didn't fall from heaven and weren't born from Lilith. They didn't have full forms outside of Hell and could only go to earth if they possessed someone. "The absence of happiness sounds like Dagon's whole kingdom. They're all severely depressed too." He didn't think they couldn't experience happiness, but they were deprived of a lot of it. "And the absence of touch sounds like Valefar. She's not exactly my mom, but she took me in after I lost my moms. Whenever she touches someone or something she cares about, it turns to gold, so she tries not to touch anyone." It didn't stop some people, like his mom or Nadia's dad, from getting turned to gold though.

"And we already have the absence of thought right here," said Honesty as she patted Murmur's head. "Are you sure this isn't your sibling?" She felt like it had to be with how much he kept opening his mouth to say the worst things. It felt like a bad idea for him to be talking about Dagon's kingdom like that. He didn't seem to learn anything from how he'd talked about Nadia just a few minutes ago. Both Honesty and Murmur got a little quieter when Devour mentioned the Void. Murmur knew the Void was a sensitive subject for Honesty, and he watched her to make sure she was okay. For Honesty, her empathy outweighed her fear of Devour. She could tell by the way he talked that he must have had a horrible time with the Void too, even though it was his sibling. "But the Void's gone now, and it can't be cruel to us anymore," she said reassuringly to both Devour and herself.

She felt like she was going to be sick as Nadia also offered herself up as a meal for Devour. "Nadia, not you too. . ." she sighed.

Murmur couldn't help giggling as Nadia joined in with him on the offer. "I look forward to tasting yours too."

"If you want to kill me now, ceasing to exist doesn't sound that bad at the moment."

"She doesn't mean that." Murmur put his hand over her mouth, worried that Devour might take her seriously. He didn't think Devour wanted Honesty to die, but he could tell that the creature struggled to understand them and might take her words as a genuine request that would make her happy. Devour seemed to be doing most things that he thought would appease them.

Murmur could tell they were getting close to the kitchen now. The smells of cooked food were so strong. He'd eaten already, but his tummy still rumbled. "Asmo?" he asked, assuming that's who the tall blonde person was that Devour was talking about. "Or maybe Raphael. Or Ramiel?"

"Not if it's someone perceptive," Honesty muttered. She didn't remember a lot of what he'd been like before the war, but he didn't seem all that perceptive now. She mainly just heard him whining about how his best friend wouldn't come see him. "But I doubt he's going to know which one it is by their name anyways." How was Devour supposed to know who was who.

"Oh right," Murmur nodded. "Does he look like this?" He changed his form to look like Asmo, "or like this?" and then he looked like Raphael, though only for a moment before he was back to himself. It felt unnatural being in those forms. "Yeah, they look like this." He held up his phone. "I could give you mine and then-"

Honesty snatched his phone out of his hand before he could hand it off. "It's honestly too complicated to explain right now." It wasn't her only reason for stopping the hand off, but it really was complicated. She practically had to take a whole class on how to use those things, and she still didn't really understand them.

Murmur frowned. He tried to grab his phone back, but Honesty kept it away from him. He planned to steal it back when she wasn't paying attention, but he was perplexed by Devour's demand that they make a promise about not going into the forest. "No, not really. Why can't we go in the forest?" They would've already struggled to get through Belphegor's wardings keeping them in, but he wanted to know what they were supposed to be avoiding.

NADIA: She raised her brow at the mention of seven other siblings. That was definitely a lot more than expected. She wondered if Belphegor knew about them. They had to given how connected to the Empty they were. She didn’t know how much they knew but she knew this was an opportunity to gather more information for them. Perhaps if they collected enough history, the consequences of their actions tonight wouldn’t be so bad. “Are there anymore creatures out there like your siblings and you?” she asked.

She smiled and nodded her agreement when Murmur remarked that Devour and the sibling that was the absence of sound were similar to her dad. “It’s pretty funny,” she grinned when he brought up how that combination of things often led to her dad scaring the shit out of Dagon. She gave a look that conveyed I mean, he’s not wrong when he remarked that Dagon’s kingdom sounded like the sad guy. “They’re on the mend though,” she threw in. Perhaps his sad sibling would find something to bring him joy too. Maybe they could help him. “That’s how our parents got stuck in that state between life and death. They’re frozen in gold,” she added for context.

She bit back a laugh when Honesty remarked that they had the absence of thought here with Murmur. “You beat me to the joke by like half a second,” she giggled. Her smile faultered when he brought up the Void. She got the sense that despite being the Void’s sibling, he did not have a good time under the Void’s rule. “I’m sorry. If it’s any consolation, Belphegor isn’t anything like that. They struggle to understand some things about emotion from time to time, but they are not cruel.”

Her smile returned when Honesty started complaining about the flirting. “I’m being hospitable,” she grinned. She nearly choked on how sincere Devour’s promise was that he looked forward to the activity. It reminded her a lot of Belphegor before they had Asmo’s grace. She was pretty sure if she could just get Devour to meet with Bells, they’d get on swimmingly. But for now she at least got him to agree to meet with her parents. “They’re very much like us,” she grinned. “I’ll let them know and maybe we can set up lunch one day. My dad loves any ol’ reason to cook.” He might not be pleased with this one but he’d understand.

She wasn’t surprised Devour had seen Dagon around. She spent a lot of time in the Empty with Belphegor and their twin. Nadia couldn’t help the pang of jealousy as Murmur began to change his forms to try to pinpoint who the other person was. That was a talent Nadia did not possess as a half breed. But that wasn’t Murmur’s fault so she pushed the feeling away. “Preceptive sounds like Raphael. They’re an Archangel. They along with my mom have an ability to read emotions. Sort of like the opposite of the Void. I imagine my mom must’ve felt your hunger and thought you were my dad.” If he kept hiding in the shadows while he was hungry, he probably ran the risk of Dagon’s snakes coming at him because they thought Beel was messing around. Or Dagon might bring it up to Beel that he was being weird hiding in the shadows. Nadia smiled at the confusion that might cause.

Nadia gave a tiny applause at the quick speed at which Honesty snatched the phone from Murmur. Death had not dulled that reflex at least. Phones were a hard concept to pick up and there were still a lot of security risks. They’d have to go with some of the older methods of communicating. “We can leave you food with hidden messages at a designated drop off spot. One of my Knights did that with his sister after the war and it worked out for them.” She raised a brow when he remarked that they had to promise to stay away from the forest. Nadia wasn’t going to lie. She’d gone down to where the wardings were. They were pretty impenetrable. “I’ve heard my parents talking about what’s beyond the wardings. They said something about God’s wasteland. Creatures that he scrapped. Is that what we should be avoiding?”

DEVOUR: “There are all manners of creatures here, but none quite like my siblings,” he replied. He had yet to meet any that were more than beasts. He listened as Murmur related his siblings to things that were similar in his own world. It would appear their lands were not all that different. “The intangible is known to do similar things,” he remarked when they brought up the quiet footed sneaker. “But I do not feel his energy here tonight,” he assured them. It saddened him to hear about an entire kingdom that lacked a certain degree of happiness like his own sibling. He hadn’t seen that particular sibling in a very long time actually. He wondered if perhaps the Numbness was dead. “I’m glad to hear they are healing from their troubles.” If the Numbness was alive, perhaps they would heal too one day. His brows furrowed in concern when they brought up the Child of God known as Valefar. “And what of her favorite food? Does that turn to gold too?” That sounded heartbreaking.

He chuckled when the small one joked about Murmur possibly being one of his siblings. “He still has too much forethought to truly be the thoughtless,” he replied though he did not meet her eyes as he spoke. “The thoughtless would not remember they even met with you once you are no longer in his presence. He’s harmless as long as you keep your wits about you. Though, I don’t think you’ll see him much. He will likely never be able to follow the path here without getting distracted.” His eyes finally met the small ones when she remarked that the Void could no longer be cruel to them. He nodded softly before averting his gaze once again. His attention turned to Nadia as she began her defense of the Belphegor. He wasn’t sure what to think. “The Void seemed to believe they were kindred spirits…” he remarked. His sibling had been obsessed with the Belphegor, but if they truly were Kindred then the Belphegor would’ve have just continued the Void’s torture cycle. They hadn’t…at least not yet.

His brows rose when Honesty asked to be killed. Up until this point, she seemed very frightened of that possibility. He nodded in confused understanding when Murmur remarked that she did not actually mean it. That was a relief. He had the stomach for a lot of things, but violence was not one of them these days. “Will you get in trouble?” he asked when Nadia remarked that she would set up lunch and let her parents know. He did not want any of them to be brutalized for his transgressions.

He observed Murmur attentively as he changed from form to form. He knew most of these individuals could manipulate their forms, but he rarely saw it occurring. Most seemed to stay in one stable, comfortable form. “Raphael,” he nodded in confirmation. “They were the other.” He was utterly fascinated when Nadia explained why it felt like those two were staring right at him when they looked into the shadows. “Empaths,” he marveled. “I did not know such creatures existed. And they are close with the Belphegor?” To have something be the antithesis of everything his brother was and to have those people be the closest to the Belphegor. Perhaps there was merit in what Nadia was saying about the Belphegor. Still, he couldn’t shake all of his fear. Meeting the Grandchildren of God was one thing. He could downplay the encounter to his siblings if they found out but meeting the Belphegor was both frightening and hard to downplay.

He glanced briefly at the thing called the phone. He was going to examine it when Honesty took it away. Apparently, there was a learning curve to it. He trusted her judgement on that front. He nodded in agreement with Nadia’s idea about hidden messages in the food. “There is a small creek near the edge where our lands meet yours. It’s still within your boundaries. You may leave food there and I will come to collect it and meet you appropriately. Should you need me more urgently, you may place your wishes and manifestations in the pebbles near the creek and toss them into the waters. The Empty will carry the message to me,” he instructed. “Your parents are right. There are creatures in there that are dangerous, but none more than some of my siblings. I do not wish to frighten you. Not all of us are like the Void, but there are some among my ranks who do not like the noise. You must promise me you will never go into the woods,” he urged again. It was clear that their promise was perhaps more important to him than any food they might have to offer.

HONESTY & MURMUR: Devour's response was both a relief and a concern for Honesty. She was glad that there weren't too many things out there like the Void, but that didn't mean the other creatures were any less dangerous. At least the others didn't seem to be here either.

"Dagon will be glad for that." Murmur didn't think Dagon would've been happy about someone else sneaking up on her, so he hoped the intangible kept their distance. "Yeah, it's a slow progress, but the same goes for most of the people here. We're trying to get them all help, but you can't expect progress that fast." It was possible some of them wouldn't actually improve at all. Some of them had to be kept asleep for the fact that they just couldn't handle being awake. "It's a little complicated." Murmur rubbed the back of his neck and frowned as he thought about how to best explain it. "She can eat, and a lot of the food she eats is really delicious, but the way her curse works matters more on how much she values something or cares about it. She likes a lot of foods, but she doesn't really . . . care that much about them. I know you haven't had a lot of food you could taste, but back where we're from, we have these things called comfort foods. They're not necessarily our favorite foods, but they're foods that usually make us feel good, and, well, comforted. They might be different foods at different times too depending on your mood, so for Valefar, she tends to be careful about what she eats. I don't think she really has favorite foods anymore. Once it becomes a value to her, it does turn to gold, and she can't eat it anymore. She usually eats something different every day, so she can't form attachments to the food." It didn't stop that from happening sometimes though. He'd seen her get halfway through a meal before it turned to gold. She didn't feel like eating for a while after that. "Luckily, it's not like she has to eat. If she doesn't eat, it doesn't hurt her, and she can find other things to comfort her, like shopping. Or she'll just spend some time with her siblings. She can't touch them, but it keeps her from feeling to lonely just to be around them."

Honesty felt sympathetic to Valefar as Murmur explained her condition. She had heard about Valefar's curse, but while it had sounded sad originally, she hadn't really thought that deeply about it. To not be able to be touched by anyone you cared about did sound lonely. She couldn't recall what Valefar had been like before she died, but she imagined the change to not being able to touch anyone you loved was a hard one. She hadn't considered the fact that it didn't just extend to people either. You couldn't get comfort even from food from how Murmur described it. Honesty had been picking on Murmur a lot, but this also made her aware of the fact that he could never have gotten so much as a hug from her either. She wasn't going to give him a hug herself, but she felt bad for him, at least until Devour said he had too much forethought to be the thoughtless, and Murmur gave the most prideful grin. "Maybe a distant cousin then," she allowed.

While Honesty was uncomfortable when Belphegor was around, it wasn't because she thought they were personally like the Void. It was just because they carried its energy. "From someone who has been around them both, they're nothing alike. When I was alive, Belphegor was a healer. They still are. All the Void knows how to do is hurt people. Belphegor might not have understood a lot of their own emotions or others, but they always tried to understand. They've been spending so much time trying to help everyone here in the Empty, and if you want to see how loving they are, just watch them with Cupid."

Murmur thought about it for a moment. Would they get in trouble? Probably. Valefar tended to get more upset about those kinds of things than Dagon and Beel did. She'd probably give him a stern talking to, but it wasn't anything too bad. "They might give us a lecture about talking to strangers from the Empty, but it's not like we aren't adults. We can make our own decisions. We used our best judgement to figure out you don't mean any harm, and we didn't get hurt, so no harm no foul, right?" he shrugged. If they had gotten hurt, that might've been a different story. "We'll be okay. Even if they do get mad at us, they're just looking out for us because they love us."

Honesty nodded when Devour asked about Belphegor being close to Dagon and Raphael. A lot of her memories weren't entirely there anymore, but there were some things she remembered. Because of how close she'd been to Dagon, it was easier to remember the other two. "Yeah, a lot of the healers are empaths. Belphegor was kinda the odd one out on that, but it didn't stop them from being one of the best healers. Raphael's one of their older siblings, and Dagon's their best friend."

Honesty recalled the creek he was talking about. She didn't usually get that close to it. Something about the water was off-putting to her. It had a similar energy to the Void, and sometimes she felt like it was watching her. It didn't help that it was at the edge of the boundaries Belphegor had made, which made it feel even spookier. She wasn't sure she'd be too keen about going there again, but if Dagon and Beel were there, maybe it wouldn't be so bad. She would've felt a little safer that way. She was getting a little more used to being around Devour too. He was starting to feel less like a monster and more like a person. It seemed like he did care, and he didn't want them doing anything dangerous either.

Murmur was curious how the water would get the message to Devour, but he thought he might just get to witness how it worked when they'd go to do it. He wondered what kind of creatures were out there. Surely if Devour was so nice, maybe some of those creatures would be just as nice too. He was excited by the idea that he might get to meet some of Devour's nicer siblings too. If they looked as good as Devour did, he didn't think he'd mind too much if some of the meaner ones roughed him up a little either. It sucked that he wasn't supposed to go into those woods. Being told not to only made him want to do it more.

"We won't," Honesty promised, and she meant it. She had no reason to ever want to go out of the safety she had now. "After today, they'll probably treat us more like Zoph and have someone keeping an eye on us at all times, so we don't do something like that."

NADIA: She nodded, grateful that there weren’t too many beings out there like him. The last thing the Empty needed was more things that could hurt the people here. Granted, seven siblings was a hefty number. That was the same amount as the Demon Princes of Hell. She wasn’t sure how to feel about that. If Belphegor let them meet with Devour a few more times, maybe they could get a grasp on the level of power of these beings.

She smiled when he voiced concerns about Valefar’s ability to eat her favorite foods. He’d fit in very well with the Kingdom of Gluttony because they, too, were concerned about that. Her smile faded a little bit when Murmur began to describe the limitations that Valefar’s curse placed upon her. “We’re working on finding a cure for her curse, but we haven’t had much luck. In the meantime, my Uncle Asmo gave us these,” she pulled out a plastic skeleton hand from her satchel. “It’s not much, but we use them to give Valefar assurance and high fives.” She demonstrated by patting Murmur’s shoulder with the skeleton hand. “And sometimes to annoy her.” She used the pointer finger of the skeleton hand to give Murmur a wet willy. “It’s the least we can do,” she giggled.

“Too much forethought to be the Thoughtless. Amazing. Well, at least you still have object permanence, dear,” she grinned at Murmur. She nodded her agreement to Honesty’s defense of Belphegor. “I’ve never met the Void, but I grew up with Belphegor, Bells—that’s what we call them. They’re genuine. A little cranky at times, but I think that’s cause I overwhelm them. Still, I know they love me. Our family fucked up and kept a lot from them about the Void. For a while, I didn’t think Bells or my mom would forgive any of them, but they did because family is important to them. The wellbeing of this place is important to them. Keep watching and you’ll see,” she promised.

She took his question into consideration. There was a likelihood that they would get in trouble, but she didn’t think it would be terrible. Belphegor could ban them from the Empty, but she would wear them down in time. Being banned might be a fitting punishment for her and Murmur but it wasn’t really fair to Honesty to lose her friends after having lost so much. It wouldn’t take too much work to get Belphegor to see that and relent. “Yeah, I’m sure there will be consequences, but they’ll be mild. We were stupid but we were smart about it,” she reasoned. “I don’t really like keeping secrets from my dad. It’s better if we come clean to them than if they find out by another means.”

She smiled as he marveled at the ideas of empaths. She could see that it appealed to him that there were beings out there that were the opposite of the Void. “They’re Belphegor’s top advisors,” Nadia said proudly. It was proof that Belphegor and the Void couldn’t be Kindred. The Void would never surround itself with empaths. “And Belphegor’s wife, Cupid, she’s the angel of love. Her existence makes love of all kinds possible.” She didn’t think the Void was capable of love, but Belphegor was not only capable of it, they were married to it.

Nadia tried to visualize the creek. It took her a moment, but she was able to recall its placement. She nodded at Devour’s instructions. Pebble messages in case of emergency and food for all other messages. They could do that. She wasn’t surprised that not all of Devour’s siblings liked the new arrangements. In a way, the dead did not belong here, but they hadn’t chosen this as their final resting place. God had. However, in Nadia’s opinion, if they weren’t meant to be here, the power of the Empty would’ve gone back to the next in line in the Void’s family, not to Belphegor. “We’ll keep our distance from the woods,” she promised. “Are there any particular siblings of yours we should absolutely steer clear of?”

DEVOUR: He listened to Murmur describe Valefar’s affliction. It sounded terrible and extended far beyond the reach of just not being able to eat her favorite meals. It sounded like a truly awful existence, like one of the Void’s designs. “I do not understand,” he replied. “Why would their Father God make them like that?” Devour’s knowledge of God was limited. The Void had ensured they had very little information about God or his children. All that Devour knew was that the Children of God existed and at some point they started appearing in this realm in droves. It was not long after that that all of them became enslaved by the Void. He observed the plastic hand as Nadia pulled it out of her satchel and explained the sentimental value behind it. “I’m sorry, I ate the other.” He seemed to get smaller, as if he was afraid he would be punished for his transgression. The hand which he’d eaten had no flavor and he really had no way of making up for what he’d done. Thankfully it appeared that his transgression did not seem to sour her mood.

He tilted his head as he observed the two teasing the young male. Their words could be construed as harsh, but their delivery wasn’t. He did not really understand their bond for he did not have a similar relationship with his siblings. His siblings words and their delivery of those words were always matched in cruelty. He listened quietly as the two provided their testimonials about the Belphegor. Perhaps they were right. The Void’s judgment couldn’t be trusted. The way it saw things was always twisted. Perhaps it saw more of itself in the Belphegor than was actually there. The Void was no healer nor was it capable of forgiveness when you wronged it. He nodded his agreement. He would have to keep watching and see for himself.

He appeared relieved when they remarked that their punishments would be mild. He had a hard time imagining that, but they seemed confident in their answers. It would appear that they were raised to be honest despite knowing that there were consequences to that. Someone out there either made them feel safe enough to be honest or scared enough to never lie. He hoped it was the former rather than the latter. “I apologize for any trouble, mild or otherwise,” he offered.

He was surprised when Nadia brought up that the Belphegor was married to an angel that represented love. He had a hard time wrapping his head around that one. The Void would never marry a love entity. He was pretty sure the Void had no idea what love—platonic, familial, or romantic—even was. It seemed obsessed with the Belphegor, but Devour did not think that was love so much as it was a claim of ownership. “My sibling would have never been capable of such a thing. You’ve given me much to sort out,” he agreed. “You can tell them I mean no harm. If, after this, they wish me to stay off their lands I will do so.” He wasn’t ready to swear fealty to this new ruler, but he wouldn’t disobey their wishes.

He nodded, satisfied with their promise to keep away from the woods. He thought about her question carefully. He had conflicted feelings when it came to many of his siblings, but it still felt wrong to talk ill of them. Instead, he decided to just provide information. “The darkness does not like all of the light and color you’ve brought with you. The odorless finds the smell of this place overwhelming. The incorporeal longs to have substance, but I don’t think there’s anything in your lands that can give him what he wants so he’s likely to stay away. They are not always terrible, but your world is overwhelming to them,” he explained as gently as he could.

HONESTY & MURMUR: Murmur squirmed when Nadia put the skeleton hand in his ear. He snatched it away from her before smacking her on the back of the head with it. Honesty took it away from both of them. "He didn't originally make them like that. Val used to be able to touch people just fine. She actually was very touchy. She loved physical affection." Honesty wasn't there when Valefar's curse first started though, she didn't exactly see what happened, and Dagon didn't tell her all of the details.

Murmur didn't know all of the details of the curses either. He was just a child when he started, but in the midst of the trio, he was the only one alive when Valefar's curse started. His mom was one of the first of Valefar's knights to rush to her aid when she'd turned the first person to gold. They hadn't actually known what was going on or the fact that simply touching her would condemn them to a life as a golden statue. They'd simply thought their prince was under attack. For a while, they still didn't understand what happened. A lot of them thought it might've been a delayed result of the fall. Some of them thought that one of Valefar's enemies put a curse on her. Being a child who'd lost his last remaining parent, he was confused during a lot of that time, and it wasn't until Lucifer's curse came to light that Murmur really started understanding it. "God's a lot more like the Void. He didn't care about them. He just wanted to punish them for disobeying him. They went against him, and he made them suffer for it. He's not a good guy, but I guess he's gone now at least."

Honesty still had some reservations about Devour. She wasn't going to say she trusted him completely, but she was more relaxed around him now. "It's okay," she nodded. She wasn't really scared of whatever kind of discipline they might receive from Dagon and the others, though she was worried about how her siblings might feel. She had kind of disappeared after walking away from the group. "I'm sure they'll appreciate that." Like herself, she didn't think Belphegor would necessarily believe that statement on its own, but Devour's actions would speak louder than words. "I think as long as you don't scare the residents, you should be okay." Honesty frowned at Devour's description. She felt almost bad for them. They didn't choose for anyone to be here, and she knew what it was like to feel so overwhelmed, but the Empty was a big place. there was plenty of room for everyone.

NADIA: She gave Murmur her most offended scowl when he smacked her with the plastic hand. She was about to go rummaging for the other plastic hand so she could do battle when Devour remarked that he ate it. "It's alright," she assured him. "We have a reserve back home." She'd find one that Val already turned to gold and enact her vengeance upon Murmur with that one.

She nodded along when Honesty explained what Valefar was like before the curse. Nadia didn't know that Valefar because her aunt had been afflicted with the curse since before Nadia's existence. She did hear stories though that suggested Aunt Val was very affectionate before everything. "He's an awful being." Her voice shook with emotion, not just for the curses God had dealt out but also for the unforgivable things he'd done to her dad too. "If there's anyone that's Kindred to the Void it would be Him."

Her features softened once again when Devour apologized for the trouble he felt he was causing them. He apologized quite a lot for things that weren't his fault. "Don't worry about us. We'll be okay. Are you going to be okay when you leave here?" The Void was gone but he still seemed like he was afraid of something out there. He was choosing his words carefully when it came to talking about his siblings which was fair. Nadia was also choosing her words carefully when deciding what to reveal about her family.

She nodded when he remarked that his siblings were overwhelmed by their world. "My mom gets like that too sometimes. She picks up more than she wants to with her abilities and it can hurt her or others." Nadia had been instructed to not tell anyone under any circumstances just how Dagon's depression manifestation was being kept in check nor how she was able to get in and out of the Empty freely. But she could reveal other things. "We have wardings designed to create safe spaces and quiet zones for people like her." Nadia touched the door frame to the kitchen and activated the warding in question. "Maybe my family can find something that can help damper the effects of our existence on your kin." That way maybe Devour's family would be less cranky and he wouldn't be so scared. "You don't have to decide now though." He'd only just met them. She was sure there was a lot of trust building that still needed to happen before he fully believed in their benevolence. "It's just food for thought, I guess," she grinned. "And speaking of food..." she pushed the doors to the kitchen open. "I'm starving. Come on, let's see what we can find." / END

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