It was the same scenes all over again. Not that she would expect anything different for a place like this. The same smiles plastered all over those young women faces, the same hungry look on those older men faces. The same fake laughs. The same grabby hands. The world may evolve to a certain degrees but some things would never change, human always fall into their baser instinct.

The pulse of sins were strong in this place, ebbing and flowing like the ocean, and each wave of it gave her a surge of power, feeding her with energy until her usually dark eyes turned crimson for a brief second before the darkness settled back. It was empowering and addicting. No wonder Asmosdeous said that the demon were restless. Byul grew solemn, so much sin, even in this small place, with the state of world right now? No wonder the underworld cannot resist the pull. 

A ghost of a smile briefly played on her lips, seems like the world and its occupants are still as pathetic as ever. Sad. Sad indeed.

Byul glided deeper into the premise and just like the first time she took steps into the place – she looked around, knowing that whoever runs the place would be near enough to keep an eye of things – people like them hate trouble, they would always be around.

Byul smirked when her eyes landed on the suited up balding man with layers of gold necklaces hanging from his neck. She walked toward one of the couches near the back door and sat down beside the woman that was clinging onto him.

She ignored the barrage of orders and the menacing glares coming off from the bodyguards that immediately surrounded the area. The message was clear. She didn’t belong there.

Smirking slightly, she took out her wallet and pulled out the crisp foreign bills and gave it to the woman, “Those girls, how much?”

“Booked for the night.” She waived her hand but made no move to return the bills.

Undeterred, Byul took out another bundled bills and tossed it on to the table, another thousand united states dollar, “Un-book it.”

They looked at each other for a few seconds before the older woman smile and took the money off the table, “Yes, of course. The girls, should they accompany you here or....”

Byul shook her head and smiled, “Tell them to go home and....” she took out another bundle of cash and gave it to the woman, “give that to them.”

The smile turned pensive as the older woman looked at Byul calculatingly, a hint of distrust shown on her dark eyes. Her ‘why’ sounded harsh, but Byul understood it perfectly, you can’t be too careful in this line of work, so she shrugged and smiled again slightly, “I enjoyed their performance on the stage. They were good.”

The disbelief and distrust were still there, but she gestured toward the table with her fingers, spoke a short sentence in a soft tone and her two lackeys quickly moved to obey.

Byul watched as short of exchange of words were made, watched the surprise look on the girls faces and the indignation on the customer’s faces. She glanced over to the older woman when she felt the tap on her forearm, a tumbler filled with scotch on her offering hand.

“On the house. Shall I also book them for tomorrow?”

Byul took the offered glass and looked back at the table just as the lackey pointed at her direction. She could smelled the stench of humiliation and anger coming off from the gents and couldn’t help but raised her glass toward the offended men and gave them a wink before sipping the liquor with satisfaction, “Yeah, sure.”

As one, the girls stood and walked back to what Byul assumed as their resting room, she saw the confusion etched on the girls’ faces as they walked pass her, but the smiles that they gave her were more genuine than the one that she witnessed beforehand.

Her gaze fell on the beautiful singer, the fledgling’s charge, and lingered on her until they all entered the room.

“Ah, so you do have your eyes on one of the girls.”

Byul scoffed, “I have no idea what you’re talking about.”

She, however, didn’t miss the knowing calculating smile on the older woman’s face and went still, hand poised near her lips, when the woman’s malicious plan coursed through her mind.

“We always aim to please our customer by any means necessary, so if you have any special request....” she let her sentences trailed off, yet the meaning was clear and Byul cannot help the annoyance that crept into her.

Her smiled was brief before she drained her tumbler, “Noted.”

The older woman stretched languidly on the couch like an overgrown kitten, a gleeful smile adorning her face as she traced Byul’s silhouette with her eyes, “We hope you will enjoy your stay here.”

Opening the gate of hell with ease, Byul enjoyed the fiery hell fire on her boots, barely acknowledging Greed as the demon materialized in front of her and bowed. Guttural sound escaped the giant demon as it shifted its gazed toward the older woman, already gravitated toward the wave of sin that the woman exuded, understanding clearly why the Lord summoned him to this place.

A rakish grin spread out on her face before she stood, “Oh, I’m sure I will.”

Greed crouched low in a bow as she walked toward the door and with a wave of her hand, the giant demon walked closer toward the older woman.

The woman was greedy, let her choke in her sin.

***

Moonbyul stared at the back of the human’s body, wondering briefly what the other Archdemons would say if they found out that she was following a human on her way home.

No cloak. No disguise. No glamour.

Plainly in her corporeal body for the entire world to see.

Byul chuckled to herself lightly, in all honesty, she never thought the day would come as well.

Hell would be in a state of chaos.

She could imagine the shock and the disgust – the Great Archdemon – lowering herself to walk among those that they considered as filth.

Lost in her thought, she instinctively turned the corner where the young woman turned and in an instant felt a pull on her left arm.... and off she went.

It was surreal.

One moment she felt her body connected with the hardness of the asphalt and heard the distant startled ‘omo’ and second later, a beautiful face appeared, hovering above her.

“I’m so sorry.... oh no... what to do, what to do, are you okay?”

Byul felt an instance urge to laugh at the panic slash worry face of the young woman, but more so at herself.

How low can she got when a human could blindsided her and got her on her back so easily.

Sitting up quickly, she felt a warm hand rubbing her back up and down and a litany of apologies reached her ears.

Letting her mirth took over, she laughed at the absurdity of the situation, which of course startled the panicking young woman.

Time seemed to slow to a full stop as dark brown eyes locked with onyx, and the Archdemon, face shadowed by the mass of silver-ish hair, gave the young woman a hauntingly beautiful smile.

“It’s okay. I’m the one who should say sorry, I probably scared you.”

“I... uhm... are you okay?”

“I’ll be fine, although my ego took a little hit from getting knock down to the ground so easily. But since it was a beautiful lady that got me on my back, I wouldn’t complain.”

Yongsun cringed inwardly at the blatant attempt of flirtation from the stranger.

She recognized her easily enough, the stranger was too beautiful for her not to notice and the silver hair was a dead giveaway, she fit Madam Cho descriptions to a tee. This was the person who created the buzz amongst the girls tonight when their handler told them that they were all free for the night and gave them a big fat tip from a customer.

A beautiful customer with silver hair.

“Thank you.” She blurted out and smiled, the stranger may not know it, but what she did tonight was a welcome change from the usual treatment that she and the other girls were used to. It was rare.

It was kindness.

“For allowing you to throw me around? Anytime.” A fleeting grin crossed her lips and Yongsun took the time to look at the woman more closely, this time taking in the smooth lines of her face, the flawless skin, the depth of her onyx eyes that glittered with intelligence. There was something vaguely familiar  about her and somehow it reminded her of Wheein, but what?

“No, uh... for the night off and the tip, I mean, you are the one from the club right?”

A smile slowly formed on Byul’s lips as her gaze roamed over the other woman’s petite figure. Smart, just mentioning a club without mentioning the name, not so smart, mentioning about the tip. People could get the wrong ideas.

“Don’t mentioned it.”

Yongsun felt the stranger’s roving eyes on her face and an odd flush spread through her body from the gentle exploration.

She was used to it, all these years working as a singer in a club bar made her accustomed to the bold stares, raking her clothing and the skin underneath with heat, presumption and sensual intent.

But this stranger stare were different.

It wasn’t... evasive. 

“Why don’t I walk you home? It’s late and its not safe for a young lady to walk by herself.”

Something shifted in the young woman’s eyes, as if someone just turned off the light switch and Byul almost instantly felt the discomfort emanating from the young woman’s posture. The weary smile that followed was hollow albeit still blindingly beautiful.

“It’s okay, I’m used to it. Thank you again for the night and I’m sorry for throwing you to the ground. Good night.”

Another small smile and a short bow and before Byul even realized it the young woman already turned her back and walked away from their short exchange.

Her eyebrow rose and Byul resisted the urge to walked up and follow the human. There was a time where she would walk over and use her demonic charm to get what she wanted from the human.

Tonight was not one of those times.

Watching the sudden closed off look and how it stripped away the light from her eyes, Byul knew that she shouldn’t push. 

Interesting. Very interesting.

Byul chuckled quietly – a quiet sound that seemed to ring on the deserted street – and not even a second later, the street was empty.

***

“Don’t you get tired of hearing the word ‘No.’?” An elegant hand, bare of any decoration put a glass with a healthy dose of amber liquor in front of the silver haired demon. Her eyes followed up the long arm and over the petite shoulders to the exquisite face of the singer.

Byul smirked, her brow lifting elegantly, a challenging light flickering in her eyes, “Will you ever get tired of saying the word ‘No’?” 

A small laugh left the other woman’s throat and Byul found herself liking the lush sound, enjoying it even more because she was the cause of it.

Yongsun shock her head lightly, her rose gold hair catching the light and reflecting it as a halo around her head, “Well, you’ve been asking me out every day for the past week now, will you ever give up?”

In reply, Byul merely shrugged and grinned.

“You are a stubborn one, aren’t you?”

“People have accused me of being self-absorbed.”

The singer seemed to consider the answer for a moment, the eyes that held Byul were unwavering, and as Byul looked into its depths with acute awareness, she saw something akin of interest and intrigue dancing in the delicate shades of brownish black.

A long pause.

“Do you like cup cake?”

“Excuse me?” Byul cocked her head at the woman in front of her, floored by the sudden question that seemed to appear out of the blue.

“Sweet concoction, chocolate, basically a cake that could give you a toothache?”

A smile curved on Byul’s lips, “Yeah, sure, why?”

“My shift ended, thanks to yours generosity, again. The girls couldn’t be happier, you are really good for business. So I’m thinking, why not cupcake.”

She considered her offer to this – not really a stranger yet still very much a mystery to her – and wondered why she extended the invitation so easily, yet she wanted to know more about the stranger that had been sharing her week for the last week. Perhaps a serving of cupcake could give her that chance.

“What are we waiting for, let’s go then.”  

Byul downed the rest of her free drink and rose fluidly off from the bar stool, standing easily beside the singer when two men seemed to appear out of nowhere and blocked their way.

"Wow, two beautiful women, alone on a night like this. It must be our lucky day." the taller of the two men said.

Byul looked up, annoyed by the sudden intrusion and noted the forced swagger in the gym-enhanced body that was covered from head to toe with designer garb, the well coiffed hair, and judging from the earnest look on their faces, they took getting laid really really seriously.  

"We're just leaving and we're not looking for company." Yongsun replied with a smile, which unlike the usual smile that Byul saw before, this one didn’t quite reach her eyes, much like the same dismissing smile that she sent her way on the deserted street.

Byul glanced to her right, fascinated by the combination of relaxed confidence and ease in the way the singer handled those men.

Just how many offers in ual nature that she rebuffed before? 

Either the neuron on his brain need to do some rerouting before they connected to each other or he totally ignored the soft decline in the singer’s words, the man persist. 

"We just want to offer you ladies some good time. Come on, just one drink. What do you say?"

Byul was astonished when she felt the singer's fingers curl around hers and more so at the next words that she gave to the men, "Get a clue."

A shout of laughter, barely suppressed, rose up at the sight of the slack-jawed men, eyes bouncing from Yongsun to Byul to their linked hands and back again.

"No way," the second man finally said.

"No ing way!!"

The voice grew louder as the two women stepped around them, blending into the throng of people, leading out of the bar and Byul couldn't resist the temptation to call over her shoulder. 

"Better luck next time, boys." She winked and grinned, enjoying the feel of strong fingers that was entwined in her own.

Once out on the street, Byul couldn’t contain her mirth any longer, and as their eyes met, it sets off another round of laughter.

“Wow... just... wow... that was creative.” Byul threw a grin at the woman whose hand was still clasped to hers.

"Desperate times calls for desperate measures."

“Men sometimes do require a hit on the head, subtle signs are not their forte.” Byul nodded in agreement, her eyes then twinkled with mischief, sought Yongsun’s and gently tease, "But then again, I can’t blame them to try their luck with the most beautiful woman in the room."

Even the dim streetlight couldn't hide the blush that lit Yongsun's fair features. Her eyes dropped away from Byul's, suddenly the crack in the sidewalk seemed very interesting.

Byul’s expression turned somber, “Is it something that you have to do often?” she asked gently.

"I don’t do one night stands." The reply was to the point. The tone was flat. 

"That's not what I'm asking."

"I know."

Understanding that the conversation was over, Byul tugged at the hand that had yet to release hers.

"Come on. Let's go get some cupcake."

Byul stood on the door way and watched with a bemused expression as Yongsun struggled with her oven mitt. “What are you doing?”

“Baking.” She struggled some more before she finally succeeded to put on the mitt and bent over to open the oven and pulled out a batch of fresh cup cake, “I did ask you whether you like cupcake, right?”

“You did, but I was thinking that you want to buy one, not make one.”

“Well, people drink when they stress. I bake.”

Byul chuckled and shook her head in disbelief, she sauntered over and reached for one of the cup cake, “What are you stressing about?”

“Just something.”

“Aww come on, I thought we were trying to get to know each other better.”

Yongsun frowned.

True.

She wasn’t sure what prompted her to invite Byul back to her place, but a part of her does want to get to know the woman better. Her constant presence in the Club had been a breath of fresh air for her and she found herself opening up to the silver haired woman in a way that she hadn’t to anyone in years. Except for Wheein.

Wheein...

Wheein was a balm to the open wound and scars on her soul. Her kind eyes, warm hands and gentle smile made her believe once again that the world wasn’t consist of only darkness. There was still a light. 

When she decided to tell the girl that she was special to her, she thought that something more could bloom between them. She had her hopes.

It crashed.

Wheein had been out of reach for more than a week now.

There was a lump in before she quietly say the words. 

“Well... There’s this girl, a friend, it’s just that she’s been out of contact for awhile and I’m getting worried and....”

Her words trailed off when Byul literally shout out loud, “! This is GOOD!” said Byul through a mouthful of cup cake.

Yongsun was stunned and a heart beat later she laughed.

“It was fresh from the oven! I can’t believe you didn’t burn your tongue!”

“I have a pretty tough tongue, lots of exercise.” Byul winked before taking another bite of the cup cake and moaned, “Damn it woman! If you’re a lesbian, I’ll marry you.”

Yongsun giggled and batted her eyelashes, “Is that a promise?”

“If you can bake chocolate chip cookies, you got yourself a deal.”

“I can do better. Do you like red velvet cake?”

Byul stopped mid-munch and stared at the smiling woman, “I’ll carry our first child.”

Yongsun’s light laughter rang and Byul smiled at her, “Anyone ever told you that you are excruciatingly pretty?” 

“Anyone ever told you that you’re a flirt?” countered Yongsun.

“You think?” Byul winked again and Yongsun couldn’t help but think that no one in their right mind would really mind being flirt on by this woman.

“Weeeelll.... It’s kind of obvious.”

Byul held up her hands up in the universal sign of surrender and Yongsun chuckled, picking up a cupcake of her own, they both concentrate on the gooey sweet concoction for a moment, just enjoying the comfortable silent.

“So, tell me about this girl.”

A heavy silence.

“I like her.”

Onyx eyes probe into her with a quiet intimacy and it unsettled Yongsun, moreover when Byul stretched across the kitchen table, her long fingers brushing over Yongsun’s wrist, forcing Yongsun to in a deep breath as her pulse quickened at the touch.

“Tell me about her.” the deep timbre of Byul’s voice sent chill down her spine, but it was her soft request and her understanding eyes that cut through her pain. Somehow Byul knew, Byul knew that Yongsun was heartbroken. 

She smiled and shook her head slightly, “I want to know more about you.”

“I like to run.”

“Run?”

“It clears my mind.” Byul shrugged, “Wanna go for a run?”

Yongsun blinked.

“Now? You ask me to go on a run now?”

“I got my gear in my car, so why not? We need to burn the calories from your cupcakes anyway.”

Too tired to run but too keyed up to sleep, Yongsun simply nodded, “Sure, why not, I’m gonna go change.”

Yongsun pulled her hair up in a pony tail, smelling the crisp midnight air as she exited the car after a short ride to the river bank. Seoul slowly but surely turning into a city that never sleeps, it was pass midnight and there were still fellow runners and even youngster taking a picnic overlooking the Han River.

She smiled when she saw Byul – who already change into a more or less same outfit as hers, a hoodie and track pants – jumped up and down the pavement, warming up.

“Hey, let’s make this interesting shall we? I raced you to the bridge over there, winner takes all.”

“Winner takes all?”

“Yeah, whatever the winner want, she gets.”

“Bring it on.” Yongsun barely finished saying the words when she watched Byul quickly took off to the bridge direction, “YA!! You cheat!!!!”

“You!” Yong Sun pointed one finger toward the laughing woman in front of her while she bended over to catch her breath, “Cheater!”

“It’s the longer legs.” Countered the silver haired woman, stretching her long limbs for Yongsun’s benefit.

“No way, you and I have almost the same height. You cheated on the start.”

Byul grinned and simply shrugged, “I still win.”

Yongsun narrowed her eyes dangerously and tackled Byul down to the soft grass, eliciting another round of laughter from the other woman. “Say you’re sorry.” Said Yongsun as she pinned both of Byul’s hand and straddled her torso.

“Oh baby, why should I be sorry?” she motioned with her eyes their current position and just smiled smugly at the sudden embarrassed look on Yongsun’s face.

“Why, you….” Yongsun dove and tickled Byul’s side, making the other woman writhed helplessly beneath her, gasping for breath amidst laughter, “say uncle!” yelled Yongsun as she doubled her effort, mindlessly positioning herself more fully on top of Byul, torso to torso, her thigh slipped effortlessly between Byul’s legs to held her down.

A gasp left Byul’s lips before she groaned and with a strength belying her posture, she easily flipped their position, holding both of Yongsun’s hand above her head, “Stop.” Her husky voice sound deeper as both women laid there, staring at each other, their breath came as small puffs in the chilly midnight air.

Yongsun felt chill that has nothing to do with the cold air around them ran through her as she looked at the dark eyes that bored right at her.  She her lips slowly, nervousness course through her body that seem to get warmer as Byul’s gaze pinned her down.

Byul gritted her teeth before breaking their eye contact and pushed herself off of Yong Sun and reached out her hand to helped Yong Sun up, “Careful there. It’s been a while, okay.” Said Byul with a small smile.

“It’s been a while? Huh?”

“Do I really need to answer the question?”

“oh…OH! So, that… uh… turned you on?”

Byul threw her hand up in disbelief, “Yongsun-ssi! You had your thigh on my crotch!”

“Well I didn’t mean to! And… and…” Yongsun lost her train of thought when suddenly she caught the whiff of Byul’s perfume, a subtle fresh scent that she hadn’t notice, and was thankful that it was still rather dark, so Byul couldn’t see the red that’s already spreading across her face like wild fire.

“You’re shaking.” A puff of air near her ear jolted her back to her senses and Yongsun realized that she was already within Byul’s strong embrace.

Even as her mind reeled by the suddenness of the situation, her body couldn’t help but respond, melting deeper into the embrace. She rested her forehead into Byul’s shoulder and murmured, “What do you want from me?”

A low chuckle reached her ear, “What do you think?”

“I’m not sure.” She found herself nuzzling the warm flesh of Byul’s throat and pulled back when she realized what she was doing, “I’m not even sure what I want.”

“What if I say I want you?”

Yongsun wanted to say no, but she would be lying.

Unable to meet the other woman’s eyes, she opted to rest her head on Byul’s chest instead, trying to figure out what she wanted, the ache when she thought about Wheein, yet wanting to keep the weird connection that she felt with Byul. She felt safe. Sheltered in this woman embrace.

She hasn’t yet given her answer when Byul started to pull away, detangling herself from the embrace, forcing Yongsun to look up and what she found there scared her.

“What’s wrong?”

There was fire in her eyes and maybe it was just her imagination, but Byul seem to grow taller, there were strain in the planes of her face and she looked more menacing somehow.

“I got to go.” The harshness in Byul’s low pitched voice unsettled her even further.

Yongsun could only gaped when Byul simply took off with a speed that almost appear inhuman and didn’t know what was more humiliating – the fact that she had been turned down not so gently or that she already miss the warmth of Byul’s embrace.

***

A single hand around the back of the neck.

Cracking sound as a squeeze crushed the bones. Breaking the neck.

A thud as the human body was flung to the side of the room and crashed against the wall before lying there.

Lifeless.

The power filled eyes, tinged with the red of her fury, cooled down as her gaze move back to the young woman that was now in a sitting position on the floor. Shaking fingers touching tentatively at the fingers mark on and Byul could feel her fury ignited at what she saw.

“You would’ve let him kill you?”

Her words were terse. Laden with disgust. And something else.

Fear.

“I took an oath.”

“To never use your power against human, I know! Who do you think you are talking to!!??” The Archdemon roared her frustration.

Wheein said nothing. She just silently stood up on shaky feet.

“He was your charge?”

“Yes...” it came out as a ragged whisper.

She failed.

Her charge had succumbed to his sin.

She failed.

A gust of wind chilled her tear stricken face after she stepped onto the balcony.

She failed.

Wings unfurling slowly, she didn’t catch the Archdemon’s words to her.

She failed.

A shout of her name, but she didn’t care.

It was the last thing that she heard before she took flight.

She failed.

Byul stood in the middle of the living room where Wheein’s charge used to live. His body lied broken yet it still couldn’t temper down her fury.

Anger marred her beautiful face as vision of Wheein laying there on the floor, eyes begging her charge to battle the demon inside, his fingers on , squeezing, trying to snuff the golden light of her life.

It was clear which demon was at play.

Obsession.

Lust.

She was glowing. The air shimmered with searing heat, b with the Archdemon’s dark power potency that promises death.

Farast. Perish.

Angry red sigils enveloped the human’s body before a violent swept of her hand obliterate his body and left a charred remain the size of a human body on the wooden floor.

Yet, the tension on her body didn’t ease.

As if summon, rivulets of reddish light illuminated the room, crisscrossing like a spider web through a faint luminescent mist, and stepping out from the mist was a woman.

Dark eyes, too dark to be of mortal, soft creamy skin of golden perfection glistened like diamonds, wings the purest of black fanned out, as black as her long curly mass that reached the soft swell of her bottom. A smile adorned lips the color of fresh blood. One look at her and mankind has no chance but to fall and worship the very ground that she walks on.

A shimmery bronze garment covered her body with low neckline that hint at the perfect curve of her s and leave her arms bare. Slit on both legs up to the juncture of her sensous hips, showing off the smoothness of her thigh as she walk. 

Husky seductive voice that promises sensual delight soon rang through the room, “You have honor me with a gift, my liege.”

“Hyejin.”

Byul’s voice was a mask of calmness, yet it was imbued with enough power which made the Archdemon that personified lust understood the message clearly.

Behave.

Hyejin chuckled, a slow intimate smile rose on her exquisite face as she wrapped her arms around Byul’s waist, midnight wings brushed slightly against Byul’s legs, “A human soul. Deprived of any possibility of redemption. You sent it straight to me for torture. It was.... glorious.”

“It was his due.”

The hold on Byul’s waist tightened when Hyejin sense the rage that flow through Byul’s taut body in uncontrollable waves.

“I killed him too soon. It should’ve been a slow and agonizing death. What he did....” Dark menace crawled through her face. There was a grit in her voice and Hyejin knew enough to not interrupt. Shiver ran through her body as black and red flame swirled in Byul’s eyes. Scream rang in her ears. Byul’s rage reached the underworld and lashed out at the condemned soul.

“An eternity of torture was not enough.” Clenching her jaw, Byul forced herself to lock the rage inside.

If she slipped even further and let the flare of her power escape her control, then the world would be no more.

They would all die.

Those puny human with their puny mind and lustful heart. They would shrivel and die and she would gladly drag all of their soul down to hell.

One simple touch on her cheek and Byul turned to look at the other Archdemon – her one and only true confidant, the one that became the Fallen not out of greed or pride but out of love, out of love for her...–  Byul nearly flinched when she saw the compassion there, shinning so bright in Hyejin’s eyes. 

Some of the tension escaped her body, replaced by an unquenchable regret.

It was all her fault.

Heaven has lost one of their Archangel because of her.

There was an ache in Hyejin’s heart when she saw the spark of hurt skittering in her liege’s eyes.

The tortured soul that was sent directly to the core of her dwelling was ordinary, just yet another human who succumbed to his sin.

‘Why this human affected you so, my Liege?’

The question remained a heavy burden at the back of her mind as she caressed Byul’s face softly. Gazing into the two pools of endless blackness of Byul’s eyes, Hyejin realized that centuries may passed since the Archdemon left the Underworld – left her – yet she would still gladly traded her soul for Byul’s happiness.

Hyejin leaned in and purred on her ear with a voice that has made human fall into sin for centuries, “Let me help you forget.... even for a while.” 

There was no seduction in her words even though her lips sought Byul in a scalding kiss, letting the heat of her body spread until it envelope Byul in a demanding state of lust.

Byul’s answering kiss was brutal, ferocious in its intensity and Hyejin could only hope that she could tempered the rage that was ravaging Byul’s soul.

The dark haired Archdemon pulled at the current of energy around her and transported them both to her lair as Byul trailed kisses on her neck, the liquid heat of her tongue trailing blaze onto the skin down to her cleavage.

Yes, her liege would explain what had caused her so much pain. But it could wait.

Later.

Much Later.

Their coupling was intense, almost bordering on desperation, and for Byul, it was more of seeking redemption in the warmth embrace of Hyejin rather than the pleasure that it bring.

Hyejin's touches, her kisses, the sounds that she made. It was familiar and reminded her so much of their sanctuary long ago.

Yet, the darkness persists.

Leaving the sated Archdemon in her bed, Byul walked toward the mouth of the cave, drawn by the howling sound of the wind. Black satin robe flew out from the hanger and Byul let the garment settled on her body, giving her some sense of modesty. She walked barefeet on the cold granite until she could feel the wind welcome her, blowing her hair away in a swirl of silver mass.

Hyejin always love the nature, but even Byul was surprised by her choice of lair.

A jagged cave on top of the highest mountain.

A slow grin emerged on her lips as she walked pass the cave's mouth and well beyond the massive cliff – suspending on midair – she gaze upon the nothingness below.

It was a long drop.

No man could reach the place. Trying to reach this sanctuary would only lead them to an early death. Maybe that was the original idea.

Byul grinned and took a deep breath, looking up into the countless stars that speckled the sky, she let the gentle wind and the beauty of the surrounding nature calm her. A rustle of wind broke her reverie and Byul smiled when Hyejin was suddenly within her line of sight.

Hyejin cocked her head to the side and let her eyes travel over the angular plane of Byul's face. There was something about Byul that felt different, something that she couldn’t pin point. Not just yet at least.

“You seemed.... different, my liege.”

Byul raised an eyebrow, there was an air of nonchalant in her gesture, but the look on her eyes intensified.

“I could feel a change in you, but I’m not sure what.”

“Change?” Byul laughed bitterly. Two Archdemons warned her already that she has somehow... change.

Byul exhaled slowly. Maybe she had. Change. And she knew the reason. Not what. But whom.

Wheein.

Her eyes lids lowered and as soon as her eyes were closed, the image of the fledgling’s begging eyes filled her mind.

Even in memory, the vision tortured her so.

It was Hyejin’s gasp that forced Byul to open her eyes and what she saw confused her, there were fear in Hyejin’s eyes and when she saw tears slowly slid over her porcelain cheeks, the confusion turned to worry.

“I could feel the Angel’s grace flowing in you....” Hyejin’s voice was a mere whisper but it was enough to put a bolt of fear in Byul’s battered heart.

“It was not possible.”

“It has been Eons... perhaps...”

“No!” Byul snarled.

It was not possible. Unless Heaven finally gave up on humankind and wishes to see Hell on Earth.

Asmosdeous was wrong. It was not her siren’s song that made the Underworld b with power and made the demon’s restless. It was His power. He who has been lying dormant all of this time. All because Byul’s grip on his chain weakened. Because she was changed.    

Hyejin could feel the shift in Byul’s mood as easily as she felt the winds around them now.

The confusion. The fear. The repressed longing.

“HE SHALL NOT RISE!”

There was suffocating sadness in the grit of her voice and Hyejin flinched when the full force of it settled on her through Byul’s gaze. Silence fell in heavy shrouds, enveloping them in a deadly grip. The sheer magnitude of what was happening was not lost to them. It worries them. All of those sacrifices... moot.

Angels and Demons knew him well. Some still uttered his name in reverence. Some whispered his name in fear. Human knew him by many names, but mostly as part of childhood horror story, the source of children nightmares, lives only in the isolated corner of their mind.

The Fallen Angel. The one that was ripped of his grace. The one who was stripped of his wings.

Morning Star.

But Byul knew him intimately.

As a baby angel with playful smile and curious heart.

As a mischievous angelings who always dragged the tip of his wings to the ground just to drive the guardian crazy.

As a young angel who loved to fly.

As a proud Archangel who deliberately made a choice to walk down the path of darkness.

It was still fresh in her mind eyes. The look of pure betrayal in his eyes when the tip of Byul’s sword penetrated his heart and twisted, stopping the heart from pulsing.  Stopping his reign of havoc and destruction. Her brother. Her very own twin brother. The other part of her soul.

Yet, the brother that she once knew was no more, there was no more remnant of him in the monster that he has become.

It was her last memory of him.

As a monster whose lost his mind and whose only purpose in life was to create chaos.

Byul was shook out of her chaos memory when Hyejin brushed her lips softly over her cold ones.

“I wish... for once... you could be a little bit selfish.”

Hyejin whispered the words against Byul’s lips. It hurt her to know the burden that weighed heavily on her liege and there was nothing she could do.

“I can't....” a broken whisper.

Hyejin gripped the back of Byul’s head, her gaze was firm as she stared deep into Byul’s eyes, “You reliquished your Angel’s grace for Eons, yet now it rises. Something changed you. You have been discontent for so long, but now your grace wanted to break free. It was enough. Eons are enough time for Human to change and yet they remained the same. Let him rise. Let him control the Underworld. Human doesn't deserve your mercy. It was enough, My Archangel.... enough.”

“Not an Archangel. Not anymore.” Byul’s voice was surprisingly calm, there was even a slight pull on the corner of her lips, but Hyejin has served the Archangel since she was a mere angeling. She knew when it was only a farce.

 “No. You are still My Archangel. My Moon Star.”

How could she not? When she has sacrificed herself to be her brother’s keeper to give the human world chances at redemption. To keep the human safe, she chained her own twin brother to the Underworld and became the lock and key.

All because this Archangel has the purest heart out of them all.

Byul’s cold hand rested in the place where Hyejin’s heart should lay and she cannot break away from the mix of determination and resolute in Byul’s intense onyx eyes.

“Give me your oath, Hyejinie. Give me your oath that if your felt the change again... before I cross the boundaries... promise me that you would drag me to hell and bind me to his side.”

Hyejin slowly blink.

Weak laughter escaped her lips.

She would never do that.

Cursing Byul to such existence.

But she would never tell.

She would do anything to protect Byul.

To make sure that she live and rise again. Shinning brighter than the sun.

Even if it took her a lifetime to do so.

So Hyejin smiled. A gesture that she hoped was enough for Byul. Because words are power and she could never break an oath. Then she kissed her Archangel once again, giving her a solace the only way she could.

Author's Note:

Annyeong :) Its been a while and this chapter is definitely long over due, but real life has been crazy and as you can see with this chapter, I still have no idea where I'm heading LOL. 

Big shout out to JeonJaeng for Beta-ing and yep, she yelled at me already for confusing her LMAO, BUT! It got her stamp of approval, so shouldnt be that bad hahaha 

Kudos to all of you that know that Morning Star is the other name of Lucifer and yeah... I cant resist using the similarities in their name to make them twin and beside, its cool for the plot XD 

So... Hope you guys enjoy the Moonsun moment and the rare Hwabyul moment. Let me know what you guys think and talk to all of you soon!! 

Cheerz, 

Gabe