Melody de la Douleur

EPILOGUE

EPILOGUE“Well done, Miss Saw,” a low and tenuous voice draws me out of my daze. I can not erase this feeling of familiarity as my gaze losts in the spectators, with thousands of eyes staring at me, almost like an endless sea. The spell works. They are not rushing to kill themselves, that much I know for sure is a good sign. So why are they so silent?

I glance at the direction of the backstage, but the curtains are so thick and the place is so dark that I barely see anyone.

My search continues yet I am still lost in the quietude. That is, until my eyes land on the judges table. With long blonde hair and crystal blue eyes, I could have mistaken him for another human being ─ except for the fact that he is not, and actually is so much more than that. He looks different from the last time I saw him, but then again, so does Beelzebub when he came at me posing as the sweet and innocent Len.

Lucifer, the Demon of Pride, is always kind of dark. It does not serve well to the evil underneath the gentle mask that he is wearing right now.

“Though I must say,” he continues with a seductive smile, “you could have let go more.”

A shimmer of green catches my eyes. I glance at the person sitting right next to him. Sitting between Lucifer and the principal of St. Lathios, it is none other than Beelzebub himself. What are they doing here?

“Your voice was even more hypnotic than a siren’s calling, and your piano play was an A-class. Which brings me to these questions. Why haven’t you tried to play like this before? Why did you apply to St. Luthias Design School, when you clearly belong to St. Lathios Music School? Why did you even bother to come to school, when your abilities clearly have surpassed everyone in here?”

For two of the most influential Firsts to be here must mean that they are planning something major. Thought I really can not ignore this certain suspicion out of my head. Beelzebub, understand. He runs errands on Earth, sometimes. But for Lucifer to be here as well? Whatever they are plotting right now, it clearly is not some child’s play. I can almost see it from the twinkles in their eyes.

“But the most important question is…..”

One second he is sitting five meters away from the stage, the next second he appears right in front of my face. I take a step back in precaution automatically.

“…..Why is a demon such as yourself attending a human school in the first place?” Lucifer closes the small distance between us and reaches out to me so casually with that fake kind smile of his, though this time showing a red pair of eyes. I look behind him, noticing that no one seems shocked by the act he just displayed. Which means…..

“Why are they frozen?” I ask without taking my eyes of the silent audience.

“My, my, Saw. Where are your manners? Have you forgotten the proper ways to act after living for so long on Earth? I asked you questions first, so it is polite to answer mine first, before throwing a question of your own,” he smirks in a way that if not offending then almost overly arrogant. He grabs a strand of my hair, then with the same way-too-casually manner, tucks it behind my ear. “What’s with the cold expression, Saw? Aren’t you glad to see me? After all, I am a very, very─” his hand moves so fast to lift my chin up and finally forces me to look at him. Our eyes lock instantly, but it is always intimidating when one is up against the Devil himself. “─good friend of yours, aren’t I?”

Stepping away from him yet again, I reply, “Please refrain from acting as if I were close to you. Besides, the only reason why I ever get along with any demon is because of this ‘charm’ I have, which I do not even want anything with. So don’t even try to pretend as if you were actually offended.”

Previous questions forgotten, Lucifer teases, “Why? Afraid that your mortal boyfriend might get jealous?” At that, I throw a cautious glance at the backstage once again, but I still can not see Clovis or any other participants.

“Unfreeze them.”

He simply smiles down at me, not at all outraged by my demanding tone. “Would love to, but just for the record, it wasn’t even me who froze them in the first place.”

“Then who did.”

His finger points right in front. “You.”

“Me? No, I did n─” But I stop myself before finishing that sentence. Let’s say that what he just said is not one of those random lies that usually throw down. If I really did this to all of these people, then what did I do wrong? All I did was just walking up to the stage, before singing and performing in front of hundreds of audience….. Unless I count the part when….. I casted the spell Bellathrone gave me.

“Damn. That was just too good to be true, wasn’t it?” I curse out loud. “You told her to do it, and I ate up the lie almost way too eagerly. So what do you want?” If there are one of the things that I know about demons, is that there is always a catch for everything.

The smile is just getting wider, completely with a set of razor sharp teeth. “To make as if none of these have ever happened, force the twins to go back to Hell, and not taking any advantages of carrying all of these ready-to-harvest souls along? Well, I am glad you asked, because I also have an answer for it.” He circles around me for dramatic effect, before placing both his palms on top of my shoulders.

“Return to us.”