Chapter Text
Arte wished this would end. Or at the very least for another break. It was easy to detach when the songs never mentioned her, when she was just a random girl in the corner. She didn't need the reminder of laying flowers by her dead brother's corpse because someone dug up his grave. And she didn't need to be asked about it.
The universe didn't seem to give two shits about her feelings though, per usual, and another song started, once more on the beach. Did she miss something? What was the obsession with beaches?
Waiter smiled though, and so she would pit up with it. The screen cut to two kids running towards the beach, a boy and a girl. Wait...
"Really?! Really Waiter?!" She threw her hands up in frustration, before glaring at the girl, who in turn stuck her tongue out at her. She hoped that her master ate the little brat soon, because she was insufferable.
"You stole my hairstyle you snot-nosed brat! I am going to crucify you for this!" She balled up a handkerchief she had in her pocket and chucked the bloodstained rag at her younger sister, who in turn threw Allen's handkerchief at her.
Unfortunately for some parties, Arte was sat in the back, and Riliane ended up hitting Eve in the face. Oh, this was going to be good. For her, not Riliane. She could practically see the death glare on Adam's face (Adam? Kyle?). Unfortunately, the music started back up again but not before he was throwing the ball right at the back of her head.
"Wait, is that thing stained with blood?!" The Lucifenian queen exclaimed, causing the music to once more screech to a halt. But also, oh shit. How the fuck do you explain you serve a man-eating cannibal and that since Pollo fucking sucks at cooking, you have to pick up the slack.
"Arte, I swear to Levia, if you don't stop using that thing as a substitute for bandaids, I am going to murder you in your sleep." Gammon lamented from beside her, causing several eyebrows to shoot up.
"Do they not have proper medical care in the future, or is this on purpose?" Mariam sighed. Arte simply smirked and shrugged, before quietly thanking the gardener. She was still going to brutally murder him when her master asked, but she could still appreciate a good lie. Well, a decent lie. Can't give him too much credit.
At a place with nothing there
I suddenly tripped and burst into tears
"Crybaby!" Ky-Ad-whatever the hell his name is called out, only for Eve to shush him.
"Adam, please, stop bullying the literal child." Uh huh. Child. Sure. Then again, that probably wasn't a great thing for the Lucifenian king and queen. Eve 'What do you mean I just stole two children from their mother, these are clearly apples!' Moonlit was probably not the person you want taking even passing notice of your kid.
"Oh please! She's hundreds of years old, hardly a kid!" The roomwide eye roll was practically audible.
"In her current life she's like sixty!" She chimed in, ignoring the death glare sent her way courtesy of Waiter.
"Yeah, and you're a mud person!" Her little sister protested. She was vaguely aware of Gammon holding back a laugh next to her.
"So are you, genius!" She shot back. And to think, she was going to teach Riliane how to plant flowers in a mud doll body! Never!
"Guys, can we please stop?" Her baby brother's voice cracked as he pleaded. Right, because he was still a baby. Behemo, age is weird when you spend all your time around immortals.
It’s alright, this is surely
A prank of the bad twilight
"Ah yes, that moment when the time of day pulls a prank on you for funsies. So relatable and possible." Irina deadpanned, earning a few stifled giggles.
We should return soon
Before it gets dark
"How did you two even pull this off?!" The king (her father?) shrieked, having been clearly unaware his children could just sneak out at night without anyone noticing.
"Bribery." Allen and Waiter grinned at eachother, and once more she was Ney. She really needed to get a hold on this, before someone realized. As it was, she went to stand a by a wall, hoping she could mess them up at least a bit.
A wave of something she couldn't quite name overcame her watching the happy family. Something that felt a lot like longing, which obviously meant she pushed it so far down it could never possibly surface again.
At the other end of the sea’s horizon
The demon sweetly sneered
A woman in red appeared next to the twins, a woman who looked suspiciously like Lady Banica. Which was awesome. She had to stop herself from squealing out loud because she was still Ney, but DearBehemohersiblingshadgottentomeetLadyBanicahersiblingsknewLadyBanica
"Hey Ney, isn't that Grave?" Her sister called out, before slapping a hand over her mouth when she realized what she had said. And apparently the rest of the room had as well, because everyone's eyes were now glued to her. Well, there goes the not drawing attention plan.
"Who's Grave, if you don't mind me asking, Your Higness?" She raised an eyebrow and curtsied. Grave, if only Prim had covered this in her lessons on how to lie. Best to just play dumb. Probably. Shit, she didn't know, she'd only interacted with like, ten people in the last five hundred years.
"No one. There is no Grave. I said nothing." Waiter's eyes were flitting about, refusing to make eye contact with anyone. So absolutely not helping their case.
"Hey, Elluka right?! Why don't we start the song again?!" Gammon interrupted with a tone that was probably meant to be cheerful, but seeing as that was a concept incomprehensible for his little emo self, it sounding more like yelling.
"Good idea!" She nervously exclaimed before the music turned on again, this time insanely fast.
"Oh come on! Just work this once!" Elluka waved her fist threatening lying at the projector, while it continued to speed through the song. She kicked at it, and it resumed at the right pace and time, thank Behemo.
“I’ll put you in
My black stomach, and then let’s play”
"Ah yes, my favorite game, digestion." Irina quipped, while she enthusiastically nodded before realizing Mariam was staring at her with concern.
"Ney, my dear, sweet child, what the actual fuck." Her face still wore her motherly smile, but her eye was twitching a bit.
"What do you mean Maman?" Not that Mariam was her mom. Because she totally wasn't, and anyone who thought otherwise was deluding themselves. But she figured now wasn't the best time to go back to using the woman's first name. No other reason.
"You have secret knowledge about what may or may not be a demon, and you apparently are completely willing to be digested by the demon in question." Haha. She was so fucked. She could practically hear Pollo laughing at her. The motherfucker.
"Uh, teenager stuff?" She answered feebly. Gammon was actually laughing behind her. Nevermind what she had said earlier. As soon as they got back she would beg her master to let her kill him.
"Mari, we were both generals before we hit puberty. I honestly don't think we get to judge." The red knight put his hand on her 'totally not mother why would you think that haha's shoulder. Damn, she almost regretted getting him killed. But that would require being able to feel regret, something she was not able to do, actually.
We should return soon
Before we’re eaten
"Local children decide they don't want to get eaten alive, actually." The stupidass gardner deadpanned, causing both twins to swivel around and glare at him in unison. Aww, they were just like her and Pollo.
The small box
We had hidden in the sandy beach
It’s wrapped in the night’s darkness
It will never be found again
"Held, little us really were drama queens." Lily laughed as her past self pouted at the potential loss of the box.
"Hell yeah you were. Don't know how anyone ever put up with you two." Ney chimed in, causing Allen to laugh. Again, there was that slight stinging feeling. Part of her wished that it could have been like this back then, that things could've gone down better. And maybe they did in another world. But not this one, and she had deal with that, because it was her fault.
Let’s share the sunset
One half each
Allen put his arm around his sister's shoulder as they smiled at their childhood memories. That was good. Her poor sister had spent so long without him, and vice versa, so she should've been happy to take a back seat to their reunion. So why did she feel so sad?
I’ll be the day
I’ll be the night
Right. Day and night, no in-between. No third option. That was how things always were, and should be. Things came in pairs, not sets. And she had Hansel. She didn't get to lay claim over Lillith too, just because they had been barely siblings once. Behemo, why did she have to be so selfish all the time?!
If we join hands, we get an orange sky
---
Eve couldn't quite say she understood why she was here, but she was certainly happy about it! Being able to interact with Adam and Michaela for the first time in centuries was one of the best things that could've happened to her, followed by MA dropping dead in an extremely painful way.
They were currently listening to a rather cute song about the two twins infront of her, one of whom kept shooting her dirty looks and the other being the Waiter at the theater. So that was super fun. Definitely.
The third ring of the bell is
A signal that the demon is awakening
"Have you two considered maybe not going to the haunted ass beach?" Her prince quipped, as the dark red shape began to once more take form.
"And then you can use a mailbox!" Jazz hands followed her statement, as Adam tucked his arm around her waist.
"It was one time!" The princess protested, voice full of joking ire. Adam just looked at her, before muttering about how it was more like one time an hour, causing another poorly aimed handkerchief to come barreling their way, once more hitting Eve, though this time it hit her shoulder.
"Oh, come on! Really?" She protested, as her prince pulled her closer as if to protect her from anymore cloth projectiles. Great. Now the other twin was looking at her funny again. Well. There go her plans of acquiring more children. Last time she tried that with an unwilling party she got charbroiled. So. Not happening again.
"Touch Eve again and I will literally end you, Princess!" He pulled her closer to him, which, after centuries without being able to touch him, was amazing. Minus the fact he was flipping off the technically not child the whole time.
"Leave my sister alone!" The blond boy complained, leading to a semiawkward stare off where both her prince and him just glared at eachother, before Elluka clapped her hands and started the music again.
Making a greedy face
It fixes a glance this way
"Gallerian Marlon-core," Gammon added, drawing quite a few giggles. She had some awareness of who the man was, thanks to MA, and she was getting the vibes Adam's co-conspirator did not like him that much. Or at all. Neither did Adam.
Because I won’t
Give up my snack!
"Sharing is caring, sister dearest." The other twin, who she was contemplating calling Not-Hansel, chided his sister, who in turn shoved him slightly, causing them both to erupt in laughter.
With its stomach empty, the demon
Made a very sad looking face
“Even if I swallowed down the whole world
My stomach won’t get full”
"Hey Arte, Grave isn't going to actually do that right?" Waiter asked nervously. Her daughter only smiled menacingly, causing another handkerchief to be readied, only for the princess to think better of it and put it away.
"We are all so dead." Her prince had a look of pure dread in his eyes, a shaky smile on his lips. She reached up and kissed him lightly, which seemed to quiet him.
"Get a room!" Gretel protested from behind them, before Elluka and Gammon managed to quiet her, and take away the bloody hand she had retrieved from her bag.
I pity it, so
I’ll share my snack
"Y'all were lucky as fuck. First time I met Grave, she chased me down and tried to devour me whole." The gardener complained, as Banica did not, in fact, devour the adorable children. Thank Held.
“Thank you, dear prince
In thanks, I shall covertly
Tell you a small secret
Of this sea”
"See but it wasn't really a good secret. Because it didn't. Yknow. Work!" The Princess shrieked the end part, causing half the room to defensively draw their weapons. Eve could feel the lightning flickering on fingertips. It was a bear killing spell, but she had used it against humans before.
The princess shot everyone in the room a look of alarm, before face-palming.
"Right, forgot half the people here are jumpy as fuck. Sorry?" She squealed, slightly less high pitch than her previous comment.
"It's fine dear. No worries." She assured her, shooting the girl a comforting smile.
Let’s share the sunset
One half each
Later I’ll tell you too
The wonderful secret of this sea
Irina let out a guttural scream at the repetition before flame rupted and danced on her hands, burning blue at the tips. Her sister tries to stop her, but was shooed away by the girl pelting her with a tiny flame. It missed, but it was definitely more of a warning then an actual mistake.
Eve recited a quick spell song, before summoning enough water to douse out the girl's flames.
Let’s share the sunset
One half each
I’ll be the day
I’ll be the night
If we join hands, we get an orange sky
"Hey! I am going torch whoever decided repeating in songs was a good idea!" The girl reignited her flames, this time fully blue, enough to evaporate Eve's water. Enough it brought back memories.
Everything was burning and she felt like she was in hell and there was so much fire and heat and it was oh so ironic they had been so cold before she was on fire she couldn't get out the metal was burning she was burning everything was-
Her vision closed in and she vaguely felt herself tumbling to the floor, before someone grabbed her and held her in their arms. The last thing she heard was the girl panicking, and Adam yelling. Then the world went black, just like it did back then.