Jiyong picked up another soul, black; he examined it with a small frown on his face. There had been a war, and many had died. It seems Andras had been very successful in starting a war. The only thing that Jiyong was intrigued with is that a lot of the souls were black as coal. It was unusual to have so many sent to hell, more or less so they were usually sent to purgatory. He picked up another soul, black.

He sighed and put it in his satchel, “There’s something up.”

“Huh?” Seunghyun turned to Jiyong and raised an eyebrow, “Did you say something?”

“Just mumbling to myself,” he looked at his surroundings, everything was just so corrupt; he had never known this is what the future would have for his people. When he was human, his main worries were making sure he had enough food from the harvest, making sure he was happy, and the people around him were happy, but now everything was corrupt. Jiyong felt old as he thought about his past. If he had known what would become of him, Jiyong wasn’t so sure that he would make the deal.

A few seconds past and he changed his mind; he would make the deal every time, and that is the reason he will never be free. In every scenario, he would give up his soul for love. Jiyong looked down at the ground, wishing he could get out of this life, he wanted to ignore the problems of the world, but he couldn’t, he was stuck in the middle of a degrading existence.

Before Jiyong could move onto another soul, he saw a white figure in the distance. He squinted, trying to look closer, and a small gasp escaped his lips when he realized who it was, “Laoel,” he took a step back then looked around trying to find a way out.

“There’s nowhere to go, child,” Laoel’s voice drifted over to Jiyong, stopping him in his tracks, “I’m here for you.”

Jiyong groaned and turned to Laoel who was now right in front of him, “What do you have for me?”

“A vision from God, he’s sent me here to tell you. I’m sure you have noticed the increase of dark souls around here.”

He nodded and looked at the bodies; black surrounded them, and Jiyong knew that wasn’t good, “Yeah, what does that have to do with me?”

“A storm is coming child, and you are in the middle of it. He too,” Laoel pointed to Seunghyun which made Seunghyun look like a deer in headlights as he pointed to himself mouthing the words ‘me’, “Yes you,” Laoel turned to Jiyong again, “I usually only bring visions to humans, but we all know why you’re special, this one is for you,” he pressed his hand on Jiyong’s and showed him the vision God had sent him.

Jiyong’s eyes widened, and he gave Laoel a look that asked him if he was sure, “All I want to do is stay away from this life, I don’t want to be a demon anymore, I don’t want to be a reaper, I want my heaven. This isn’t it.”

“You may get it soon; patience is what you need.”

“I’m going to pretend you didn’t say that, I’ve been very patient, very, let’s get that straight.”

Laoel put his hands up, a faint smile on his face, “Don’t shoot the messenger,” with that said, he disappeared leaving Jiyong disgruntled.

Jiyong took a deep breath and looked around at the rest of the work he had left, “Come on Seunghyun let’s finish this up so we can move on.”

“What was that about?” Seunghyun was curious, and he was already a little tired of being kept in the dark.

“Laoel needs us to do something or something, you know the usual.”

“What?” Seunghyun gave Jiyong an incredulous look, “What the hell does that mean?”

Jiyong frowned and looked around at the bodies that littered the ground. A sense of dread pulled at his thoughts as he thought about what was to come, “The souls are being tampered with, more and more souls are being sent down to hell, and we don’t know why. Laoel has given me a vision, a prophecy; war will come to earth.”

“A war, there is war all the time, what is so bad about this one?” Seunghyun was used to seeing dead bodies now; he didn’t like the thought that t numbed him, but there was no choice doing what he had to do.

“A demon war you nitwit, the demons will traverse from the depths of hell and wage an all-out war on the human kind. The humans will stand no chance and die quickly, but their souls will all go to hell, and then the war will be waged on heaven,” there was some part of Jiyong that wanted that to happen, he had an underlying resentment for heaven, a place he wanted to be for so long, but they kept him out, they kept him from where he rightfully so wanted to be. As he thought about that, he knew it was wrong and couldn’t go through with it. Innocent souls that were going to hell didn’t deserve that; he wanted no one to feel his pain.

Seunghyun felt dizzy, and he sat down on the ground trying to gather his thoughts, everything was coming to play, and he didn’t want to be a part of it, “You have to let me go,” he whispered, hands shaking as he thought about what would become of him if he took part in this war.

“I can’t,” Jiyong felt for Seunghyun, he really did, but at this point in time there was nothing he could do to help him, “I’m sorry, but you’re a part of this just as much as I am.”

“But did I ask for this!?” Seunghyun angrily shot up, with no one to direct his anger at but Jiyong, Jiyong was going to get the full end of it.

“No one ever does ask for what inevitably happens to them,” Seunghyun’s anger didn’t faze Jiyong I anyway, he knew how he felt and would let him scream and yell at him, for it was all anyone could do in this type of situation, “Do you believe in fate Seunghyun?”

That caught Seunghyun off guard, it as a question that Seunghyun had no idea where Jiyong was going with it, “Should I?”

“You should, for everything that happens, happens for a reason, and it will always happen no matter what. You being here is a question of fate, and no matter how you look at it, it will always come to this as this is what you’re fated to do,” the issue shouldn’t have bothered Jiyong as much as it was, but he felt like he was sending a lamb to the slaughter. Everything that was happening was fate that he could wish on no man, but he knew that some things just had to come true. Jiyong could only see what death would give him, but it was an enormous amount, people dying all the time. He saw the future and all it held, but only what death wanted, and right now, he knew that Seunghyun needed to stay.

Seunghyun ran a hand through his hair, mussing it up in the process, and looked solemnly at Jiyong, “I don’t know if I can do this, whatever it is that you want. I don’t know if I can take what comes at me, this isn’t what you said it would be like.”

“Well things change, I can only say I’m sorry.”

There was a silence that went over the two as they stared at each other, and Seunghyun made the first move, touching Jiyong’s shoulder and pulled him closer, enveloping him in a hug that he needed more than anything at this moment, and Jiyong let him, knowing that he needed it too, having not felt an embrace in many years.

“What am I supposed to do?” Seunghyun pulled back, to Jiyong’s displeasure and looked him in the eye.

“What are we supposed to do,” Jiyong stated matter of fact and gingerly took Seunghyun’s hands in his, interlocking them as he looked at them, “Don’t think I’m not in this with you. I’ve been in this for a long time; I will help you. We can help each other,” Jiyong swallowed thickly and kept his eyes staring at their hands, “Because…” he stopped, and chewed on his bottom lip trying to get out what he needed to say, “If we don’t help each other, the how will we get through this?” he realized he as more so asking himself this, because Jiyong just knew that he couldn’t do it on his own, not anymore.

“Jiyong?” Seunghyun, unsure as to what was going on with Jiyong, he only actually saw him angry and quiet, but now, was he vulnerable?

“Yes?” Jiyong quickly stepped back and smoothed his pants, eyes darting away from Seunghyun and to anything else.

“Are you okay?”

“I'm all right,” he said sternly, trying to get his point across.

Though once Jiyong snapped at Seunghyun, Seunghyun knew that there was something Jiyong was hiding, “What’s wrong Jiyong, you’re like an open book ready to be read.”

Jiyong’s eyebrow’s furrowed, and his lips trembled in thought, unsure as how to go about this, “I just don’t want anything to happen.”

“Like what?”

“I don’t want you to die,” he whispered, eyes averted to the ground, “I can’t be alone anymore.”

A possibility of Seunghyun dying made Seunghyun on edge, but he pushed it aside as he looked at Jiyong’s face, a face that was filled with concern and all the emotions a regular demon could never feel, but Seunghyun knew Jiyong was no regular demon, he cared like no other, and that was hat set him apart, “I won’t, if you don’t want me to, I’m not going to die.”

A little breath of air escaped Jiyong’s lips and let a small smile grace them, “That’s something I didn’t expect to hear.”

“I know, I’ve been averse in trying to get to know you, but we’re stuck together aren’t we? What else can I do but be nice? We both need someone. I can’t be that way anymore.”

“Do you want to know something?” Jiyong asked, his hands shaking as he did so.

“Know what?” Seunghyun became intrigued, wondering what was bothering Jiyong so much.

“Everything.”

For a second Seunghyun didn’t know what everything entailed, but as he watched Jiyong rub his arms nervously and keep his gaze from his, he knew that what Jiyong was going to tell him would be personal, “You don’t have to, I don’t deserve it.”

“It’s not about whether you deserve it or not, it’s just that, I haven’t had anyone to tell. I just want to be able to share my pain, and I don’t know if I can do it.”

Seunghyun thought about it for a second, “You can tell me, I want to know,” he didn’t know what Jiyong had in store for him, but from the way Jiyong was acting, he was aware that it could only hurt.