Fuko's Sims: The Devil's Smile Chapter Nine

Chapter 9: Haunted

The door slammed shut and Enepsigos jumped before suddenly she found herself caught. Air wouldn't come, and fury raced like lightning through the ether, reaching her just in time for her to register it was Zepar who was with her, trying to squeeze the life from her.

"How dare you!"

She stammered, trying to breathe, and he gripped her throat tighter, teeth gritted.

"You useless, worthless bitch! What gives you the right to break the Covenant and cross the Heaven Gate?! What the hell is the matter with you!? Don't you understand what you've done?!"

Enepsigos felt her mind spinning from lack of air. She struggled weakly, while Zepar tried to crush her, and then suddenly he dropped her to the ground. She slipped in and out of consciousness a moment, trying to regain her breath, while he stood over her. The waves of anger rippled over him.

"The Queen of Heaven herself came to see me. She told me you had crossed the Gate to speak to her. That is a declaration of war, Enepsigos! War!" She was shaking.

"I did it for you."

That drew him up short a moment. He was silent, staring, and then he shook his head.

"How long have you known? What gives you the right to step in whenever you see fit. You're a minion, not a full demon, and you've done this, of all things." Enepsigos could not look at him, but finally she answered.

"I hate to see you hurt," she whispered at the carpet. "I hate to see you suffering. I hate her, that angel, I hate her. But I hate to see you without her more. You did something stupid, and you're half the man you were now. And if I risked war to bring you back, so be it. I cannot sit by when my Master wastes away into nothing." She was finally able to catch her breath a little, but hot tears were threatening at the corners of her eyes. "I've known for weeks."

Zepar was silent, and she noticed that he was still quivering with anger, and was that fear?

"Enepsigos, get the hell out of my house. I never want to see your face again." She shot up, eyes wide, but he had turned his back to her. "Get out! Go! For what you've done, I'll spare your life, but if I ever see you again, I will kill you, Enepsigos. Get the hell out of my house." Enepsigos knelt on the carpet a moment, shaking, and the tears finally did spill over. Then she was up, running, as fast as she could out of that house as far as she could from Zepar, because across the ether she felt something she had not felt in many many years: coldness.

***

How had she ended up like this? How had she ended up in the Mirror Valley? She had been running, but she had no direction. And suddenly there she was, confused, with no sense of time, unable to think straight, unable to do anything but feel dread, unable to do anything but cry.

"Miss?" She looked up, and there was a man with soft eyes watching her sadly. As she watched him, he crouched down to speak to her, and she noticed the wings of angels at his back. She withdrew a little, and he drew back, cautious.

"I'm not going to hurt you."

"Leave me alone..." she murmured, but it did not sound right coming out, and instead she found herself leaning closer to him. He drew a breath.

"What is your name?"

"Enepsigos."

"My name is Ansiel. Do you know where you are, little one?" She just nodded numbly. He sighed.

"Come inside, out of the rain. Whatever your reasons for being here, whatever has put you here now, it will all turn out in the end. For now, let's get you dry and find some food. You look like you've come a long way." She felt a rush of gratitude and swallowed, shifting.

For a moment she hesitated, because what would Zepar think? But then she remembered he did not care, that he would not think anything, and that it no longer mattered.

"Well?" Ronwe said quietly, watching Ansiel coaxing the demon up out of the rain. Penemuel narrowed his eyes.

"I don't like it."

"Me either. I'm worried. She feels...strange. And Marchosias is still out there. We don't have time to deal with lost ones, and I don't think Ansiel really knows what he's doing." Ronwe's voice was quiet, cool. Penemuel nodded, but his brain was racing. He knew that girl, had seen her before, but where? Where did he know her from? Who was she? Why did she seem so familiar?

"Ronwe," he said softly, "keep a sharp eye. I'm going to see what we can learn about our guest."

***

The house felt empty. Enepsigos, damn her, didn't she realize what danger she had put them all in? If Sidriel decided to declare war over breaking the Covenant, he would have every right. And Beleth would have them all killed, if the angels did not beat them to it.

He was furious. She had been such a fool. And how had she known about Mihr anyway? What must Sachael think of him, being unable to control his own minions!?

"Hey! You! Just what the hell do you think you're doing?!"

"Enigma. I am not in a forgiving mood, so I advise you to listen to me," Zepar stated shortly, facing down his other minion without moving from his seat. The fury flashed over her face and for a moment she looked more like Enepsigos than he could recall her ever doing so before.

"No, you listen to me! You've just sent away the one person who loves you in this whole world more than life and Heaven and Hell itself! Enepsigos did this for you! Because you've been pathetic for weeks! Weeks! And this is how you repay her?! She's your protector, your servant! It is her one job in life to ensure your happiness and well-being! She did what she had to because of that!"

"Enigma, I'm warning you..."

"No, I'm warning you! If you don't go and fetch her back, it will be too late! Don't you see what you've done?! You've left everything a mess! If something happens to her, if something happens..."

"She betrayed me."

"She loves you! And she won't be the only one betraying you if you keep this up! Go and get her, or I will never speak to you again, even if that means vanishing from all existence! You're being a pathetic child! Grow up! You need her! And she needs you!"

Zepar rose sharply from his seat, shooting her a look.

"Who do you think you are, talking to me like that. I'm the Master here, not you."

"Oh get over yourself!" She glared, then sighed. "Go and get Enep back." He sighed, then narrowed his eyes.

"You can be so annoying," he stated flatly, unimpressed, but he realized that by acknowledging her, he had already surrendered. She was right. He needed Enep, regardless of how angry he was at her. And Enepsigos had been acting in his interest, like minions should, nothing more. So she'd made a mistake. Hell had not crashed down burning about him yet. He would go and find her. He had already made up his mind without being told, but he had just needed Enigma to shove the idea down his throat like bitter medicine.

"Fine. So get out of my face." Enigma just gave a wry smile, then sniffed and disappeared back into the ether, leaving him alone again with his thoughts. Now he just had to work out where Enepsigos had gone.

Sometimes minions were more trouble than they were worth.

***

At last she was asleep, curled up on his bed, weary from travel and some other sort of emotional trouble. He could sense her distress, his angelic healing powers doing little for her even now. He watched her sleep, his mind going over what he had learned of her. Enepsigos had not said much about what she was doing there or where she had come from. He had an idea that it was a story that would come out in its own time.

Penemuel was not happy at her presence. He had been oddly quiet, and Ronwe had immediately set out into the rain after they had brought her inside to do a search of the surrounding area of the valley for traps or trouble. They did not trust her one lick. Ansiel himself was not sure what to think yet either, but at least he was giving her the benefit of the doubt. He sighed.

"Ansiel." He did not need to look back to know it was Penemuel standing at the top of the stairs.

"Ansiel, we need to talk." Ansiel sighed, then licked his lips.

"Fine." He considered the girl a moment longer, then carefully and quietly pushed himself up to follow Penemuel down the stairs.

At the bottom he was surprised to see Ronwe had returned and was waiting for them. Ansiel sank into a seat on the steps while Penemuel took a seat at the table, and Ronwe slipped down beside him shaking her head.

"There wasn't anything out there," the minion reported, and for a moment Ansiel remembered she was from the same ether as the Queen of Hell Marchosias. He suppressed a shiver and sighed instead.

"Then it should be fine."

"No," Penemuel stated. "It is not fine. You brought her into this house, and it is not fine. You have no idea what you're messing with."

"She's just a poor girl, Pen," Ansiel stated quietly. "It was raining out and she is very lost and confused. She needs our help. I doubt she could do anything on her own." Penemuel picked at a splinter in the tabletop shaking his head, then he looked up.

"She's not some innocent, Ansiel," he stated matter-of-factly. "That marking on her back proves it. She's a minion. And we've figured out whose. She belongs to the Demon Prince."

"Lord Beleth?"

"No. Lord Zepar," Ronwe said softly.

"She's from a different ether than Ronwe here," Penemuel added, and Ronwe slowly closed her eyes.

"Sooner or later he'll come looking for her, and when he does we won't want that sort of trouble on our hands."

"The thing is," Penemuel added, "the situation is more serious. We have no idea why she was here, but she's his primary minion. Zepar was a child prodigy, being able to summon multiple minions at a very young age, and Enepsigos is one of his very first and oldest supporters. If she is not with him, he is weakened significantly. We don't know why she's here, but it does not bode well."

"I see," Ansiel said quietly. "So what do you want me to do then? Turn her out? I think that would anger Lord Zepar more, don't you think?" He laced his fingers together and drew a deep breath. "We don't have a choice right now about it. She's exhausted, so we can't put her out now. Anyway, she's Lord Zepar's minion, not Beleth's, like you say. She's not a threat like Marchosias, and Lord Zepar is not under any threat we know of either at the moment."

"That's not true," Ronwe said softly, rising. "Lord Zepar has been under threat since the moment he was first born. He is the direct heir to the demon king, but he is not of the royal ether. Marchosias would like nothing more than to kill Lord Zepar, and she will the very first chance she gets. Having his primary minion here is dangerous. Very dangerous. He's unguarded and unprotected at the moment. And if Marchosias decides to move, the entire balance of Heaven and Hell could be throw into chaos." She grimaced. "Marchosias is the Queen of Hell. She has been for five thousand years."