[This is the longest chapter (30 pages on word) I have ever written in my life. So PLEASE don't forget to show your love and support by VOTING and COMMENTING as you read a long, it would mean a lot to me]

   For the first time in a long time, Hart felt like a lost child. He followed Riley through the portal and came out on the other side with eyes wide open. It was incredibly dark and cold with clouds all around them. They were standing on a platform high above . . . nothing. There was nothing beneath them. It was a bridge that went on endlessly in the grim mysterious world.

Inside the clouds there were flashes of purple lightning but they made no sound. The bridge was transparent and glossy. It was the only solid thing Hart could see. He kept getting the feeling that he was going to fall off the bridge and into the unknown and that truthfully frightened him. And Hart was rarely scared of anything. But this was new to him.

"Where are we?" he asked, holding on to The Obsidian Witch's hand.

"My home."

In that moment a colossus tentacle appeared from under them and rose high above their heads. A monstrous growl emerged after the tentacle and it was so loud it shook the bridge. The tentacle was black and metallic, not organic at all. It slithered and moved like a serpent but nothing about it felt like it was real to Hart.

The tentacle lowered down on the bridge and stopped moving. Riley climbed on top of it and looked at Hart, waiting for him to do the same. Skeptically, Hart followed and stepped over the creature, cautiously holding on to the witch as it rose back up into the air and moved forward. It was fast and gained a lot of speed, causing strong wings to push against their faces. None of the scenery changed, it was all the same, with the same single bridge, but that was until they reached their destination and climbed off the tentacle.

There was another platform at the end of the bridge. This one was larger and more detailed. It was all still made out of the mysterious glass the bridge was made of. It was in the shape of a circle with tall bookcases surrounding it. In the middle of the platform there was a massive sphere just like the one that Siren had, only hers you could hold in your hand, this one was massive. It was sunk into the platform but as Riley walked closer to it, it rose above ground and spun.

"Have you ever seen how big hell truly is?" Riley asked as he touched the sphere with both hands, his sharp fingers making a noise against it as if they were both made of glass.

"I thought hell was endless?"

Riley chuckled. "No, but it can be."

The witch gave the sphere a fierce whirl and as it spun, it turned into a planet. But it was not just any planet, it was hell. This confused Hart even more. Before all of this, he believed he knew everything, but he was so wrong.

"This is all of hell?" Hart asked, examining the terrain of the planet closely.

"Yes. It expands as more souls come, so in a way you're right, it's endless."

Riley moved the sphere until he found a specific spot. It was Rev. The biggest city in hell. The magic ball zoomed into the city and straight into the castle. They were now watching inside as if they were watching a television screen. Siren appeared, walking with a few other demons.

"We can't hear them but we can watch them. She's preparing a war against you," Riley said calmly.

"How do you know that?"

Riley looked at Hart. "I just do."

"Okay, why is she preparing a war against me?"

"She thinks you're a traitor and can't be trusted anymore. Since Lucifer is not active, there is no way to get rid of you. So she's taking matters into her own hands."

The way Riley spoke was starting to emotionally affect Hart. There was no doubt in his mind that Riley was still there, but he couldn't deny how different he had become in such a short time. It was difficult for him to grasp the reality that the boy he loved was now more powerful than he'd ever be. But a buzzing noise kept reminding him how much he missed the Riley on Earth.

He missed how human he was, how innocent yet dark he was. He missed how much he loved him and how their love was unstoppable. But most of all he missed when Riley was just Riley.

"You're quiet. You're thinking about me, aren't you?" Riley said, distracting Hart from his train of thought.

"Yes, I am."

"Are you scared of me?" Riley wasn't even looking at Hart as he spoke. This was what he meant. He missed how human he was. He didn't feel comfortable with how robotic and all-knowing he became.

"No, I will never be afraid of you."

"Then?"

"I just . . . I miss you, Riley. I've only lived a few months without you, and with my humanity knocking on every door inside me, I'm having a hard time adjusting to you. First the demonic you, then The Obsidian Witch part of you. It's too much too fast."

This time Riley looked at Hart. He brought up his hand and caressed his face but his claws were not warm and welcoming as his human skin. Hart closed his eyes and gave into the touch anyway, no matter how eerie and different it was, he said he would always love him. His eyes popped open a second later when he felt human skin against his face. Riley's hand was human. His skin was slowly turning back to his normal human self. Hart's eyes widened as the obsidian skin disappeared and all that was left were his nightsky eyes. He looked like what he used to look like on Earth. His skin had less color, almost grey, and his eyes were still supernatural, but he was Riley again.

"H-how? I thought this was permanent."

"You have your armor, I have mine," he said, smiling at him.

Hart was so happy that he pressed his lips against Riley's and contently sighed when he kissed back. They held their kiss as long as they could, enjoying the feeling of skin against skin. Riley thought about how he hadn't kissed Hart in over thirty years, and Hart thought about how much he wanted to kill Daniel for even existing.

Riley was the first to pull away, but not because he wanted to stop the kiss, but because a white blinking symbol appeared on the sphere. He stepped away from Hart and touched the symbol, zooming in. For the first time since he had changed, Riley looked scared at what he saw.

It was Annetta. She was not in the lake of fire, she was somewhere else, somewhere darker and sinister. There were monsters all around and she was chained up against a wall while they tortured her and did things to her not even Hart would have done to humans on Earth. They watched, shocked and afraid for the white witch.

"I remember her," Riley said, and the way his voice came out was exactly how Riley sounded on Earth: innocent, pure, and worrisome.

"We have to find her, we have to save her, I can't let her die, Riley," Hart said, looking away as a demon bit her skin. "She's . . . she's family."

"Her scream was the reason she appeared on this. She's releasing powerful waves of magic and it's going to alert everyone, even Siren."

Annetta was sobbing and covered in blood. There was so much darkness where she was that it was hard to see what was truly going on but it was hell, their guesses were as good as any. Annetta was struggling against the chains, trying to use magic to rip herself free, but she was weak.

"I could have found her before any of this happened, but I got distracted by so much," Hart said quietly.

"Do you still have your map?" Riley asked him. Hart reached into his robe and pulled out a piece of parchment. Riley took it and opened it. He turned his index finger back to a sharp one and drew a route. "She's close to the lake of fire, we have to pass through it to get to her. It won't be easy, but we will rescue her, Hart."

"Thank you, Riley."

"We should go now before Siren gets to her. She'll probably expect you, so we have to be ready for anything."

"I have nothing to fear with The Obsidian Witch by my side," Hart said.

"And together we'll be unstoppable."

Riley shifted back to his obsidian skin and called out to the tentacle which had been standing still the entire time, as if watching them. It dove down and wrapped around their waist, squeezing only tight enough to hold them safely. Instead of going back to the beginning of the bridge, Hart was surprised when it pulled them down. It seemed like they were falling but the tentacle was just really quick. Hart really wanted to know what this place was, but questions were for after they rescued Annetta.

The tentacle seemed to have reached an end because it curled and instead of dropping more, it threw them down. They soared through the air and became blinded as the clouds enveloped around their bodies. Hart lost sight of Riley for a minute until they both popped out on the other side of the sky. They were falling back into hell.

Riley straightened his body and shot down faster than Hart. He landed on the ground like a comet. Everything around him burst like an explosion, like he had truly been a comet or some sort of space rock.

Hart just opened his wings and joined Riley a few minutes later. It was a long drop.

"Okay, so it says we're here." Riley pointed at the map in his hands. "It means we're a lot closer than I originally thought we were going to be. That's good, we'll be there before Siren. Unless she has something up her sleeve. We better start walking."

"Flying is faster."

"The lake of fire has . . . a guardian. It's better if we don't alert it that the prince of hell is here."

"I can feel the heat," Hart said as they marched together. "It's intense."

"If either of us were human, we would have burned alive by now, even if we are miles away."

"How come the lake of fire didn't show up on your sphere?" Hart asked.

"There are things that you can't see on it. Imagine planet Earth with a thick ring around it. That's the lake of fire. It's big and it goes all around hell. We're south of it, we have to go across to the north."

"I'm supposed to know more of this than you, yet here you are explaining things to me, the Prince of Hell," Hart muttered, staring down at the ground as they kept walking. "I kind of hate it but at the same time it makes me feel like I'm not alone. It's kind of nice, I guess. It's more than nice, actually. I feel better about it, because I don't have to hide or explain anything anymore. You are like me now."

"A lot of it is just from experience, not because I am some powerful witch. I do have some sense of knowledge because of it, but most of it also comes from what I've gone through here."

"I am sorry, Riley."

"For what?"

"For not coming sooner," Hart said, staring into his eyes. He wanted to push it but his heart still hurt after finding out about Daniel, he just didn't want to admit it. But now that he was out of the picture for good, he had nothing to fear. "Do you think you can love me again?"

"I don't think I could ever stop."

That sent chills down Hart's spine. He felt nervous all of the sudden. Human emotions were awful. He knew what love felt like, because he always loved Riley, but actually feeling it through the eyes of a human was just . . . torture. He hated it but wanted more of it. It was an addicting feeling.

"What about Daniel?"

"What about him?"

"Didn't you love him? Thirty years is a long time."

"Daniel and I had something, I won't deny it, but it wasn't anything close to what we have. I knew in the end he was going to turn against me. He promised he wouldn't but I knew it was a lie. He hates demons, monsters, and anything in between. I didn't let myself fall for him. I enjoyed him, we enjoyed each other, but it was nothing more than two lonely souls in a world of bad ones."

"I could tell he genuinely loved you."

"Yeah, maybe so, but it doesn't matter anymore."

"I think he still loves you."

Riley snapped a look at him. Hart felt he was annoyed, so he dropped the subject. It wasn't a lie and he knew that Riley felt that Daniel still loved him. Not many could be prepared to love a monster. It was easy for him, and it was easy for Riley, because they were both monsters. But they were meant for each other.

"What do you think happened to Seraphina when you blacked out in the tower? Did she really die?" Riley asked, trying to change the atmosphere between them.

"I've been trying not to think about it. I don't know, honestly. There's nothing that could kill her, so I'm worried for her but I know she's strong enough to face anything. She's stronger than me, you know that. And the fact that it hasn't happened again means she's probably alright now."

"Maybe someone has your dagger?"

"It's yours, and no, that's impossible considering it's in my pocket."

"What? You have it here?"

"Why not? I was hoping to give it back to you but you obviously don't need it."

"Um, not anymore, sorry," Riley said, looking flustered, even through his armor, and pulling out the dagger in his hand. "I didn't think calling it would work. I never really understood this thing."

"No, keep it, it's yours," Hart said as Riley tried to give it back.

Riley twirled it between his fingers and turned it into a scythe. It was a beautiful scythe and it fit his new aesthetic. Hart wasn't quite sure how it worked if you were an Obsidian Witch, but it didn't hurt to have a lethal weapon as a backup in case something happened. He tapped the scythe against the ground and it turned into a staff that he used as a cane.

"Thank you."

◊◊◊

"Hart, we're close," Riley said as they stepped over glowing cracks in the ground.

"What's the plan?"

"We have to figure out a way of crossing the lake without being spotted. And it's not even a lake, it's the size of oceans. I've heard rumors of ways to get in, but I don't think they are reliable."

"I don't understand why we can't just fly over, it would save so much time," Hart said.

"Because of the Guardian," Riley replied, rolling his eyes at the prince. "We should be avoiding these creatures, not walking up their front door. The first one almost killed us and this one is guarding an entire sea of fire and lava."

They stopped walking when the mountain in front of them lit up brightly. Behind the giant formation, the lake of fire waited. Hart had never seen it, but knew many stories of it. It was a place of pain and torture, where the humans first arrived. Over time some could escape, but they could never free themselves of their punishment.

The heat was burning their eyes, but they were both powerful beings that could withstand it without melting. It hurt their skin, but the pain was only a reminder of who they were. No one could be close enough to survive. They were strong, they were powerful, and they were going to use that to save Annetta from the torments of hell.

The dark lovers glanced at each other before taking off into the sky to land against the mountain. They grabbed parts of the rocks and slowly clawed their way up to the top. When they took the final climb, they were blasted with the sounds of never ending screams. They stood up straight as they looked at the horror in front of them.

It was true. It was not a lake, it was an endless sea of fire and lava. There were waves like a natural ocean, but it was filled with humans, all climbing over one another trying to escape. They were screaming, crying and melting before their eyes. But it was done slowly, so that they suffered every waking moment.

Riley looked away but Hart couldn't. He was feeling another new emotion as he stared at them. He was frightened, but there was something else that he couldn't put into words. He felt sorry for them, he felt sorry for the things he had done on Earth.

"Hart?" Riley spoke. "You're crying."

Hart brought up a hand to wipe his eyes, not noticing what had happened. His emotions were quickly taking over and he couldn't hold them back. He'd always been used to the dark part of life, but ever since he met Riley, things had changed for him. He always wondered why, always wanted to find the answers to why he was different, but he never found them, he still searched, even in that moment.

"It's like . . . I feel their pain," Hart said, voice coming out hoarse.

Riley grabbed Hart's hand. "I feel it, too."

"We should keep moving," Hart said, clearing his throat.

They jumped down the mountain together, sliding across the surface when they were half way down. The humans in the lake were watching them, begging them. Their eyes were wide and petrifying. Some didn't even have eyes. But it didn't stop them from feeling their presence.

Still holding hands, they strolled on the shore, looking for something out of the ordinary. There had to be a portal, a gateway, even a bridge, Hart was sure of it. Hell was filled with so many loopholes that it was impossible to think that you couldn't cross the lake of fire.

As they both thought deeply of what they could do, a human appeared extremely close to them on the shore. It was a woman and she was swimming through the bodies, eyes dead on them. She was quiet and unbothered by the fact that she was slowly burning alive. Her bones were showing through the flesh left over, but it didn't stop her from reaching the shore and pulling herself out of the lake. She crawled towards them and got up halfway. Pieces of flesh dropped all around her and she left behind a trail of lava that burst into flames at the touch of solid ground.

Both Hart and Riley knew that it was close to impossible for humans to just walk away from the fire. They were stuck there, but there were some cases when they could escape, only no one knew how. And it just happened before their eyes. This woman did it like it was nothing. Like it was the simplest task.

Her jaw cracked as she opened her mouth and a horrific sound came out of her throat. She ran at them and launched herself at Riley, but Riley punched her in the center of her face, knocking her back and tearing more of her flesh and bones apart. That was when they noticed more humans swimming in their direction. Something was happening.

"This isn't supposed to be happening," Hart said, taking a step back as the woman got up again. "They can't just leave it."

"I have a very bad feeling about this," Riley said, also stepping back. They were both some of the strongest beings, but the unknown could be their demise. They had to be careful with the things they did not know of. "We should fly, Hart. NOW!"

Riley gathered shadows around him and let them shoot him into the sky. Hart opened his wings and joined him as more humans dug their way out of the lake. They truly had no other way and time was running out. If this was the doing of a Guardian, then a Guardian they would have to face.

"So many of them," Hart said, looking down at the massive wave of humans staring up at them. Not all of the humans were acting strange, only some. They could be some sort of spying humans controlled by the Guardian so that it always had eyes on every part of the lake. If that was true, then it knew they were there. "I can feel something bad coming, we should start moving and don't look back."

"I'm right behind you," Riley said, nodding. His skin glistened as more shadows wrapped around his obsidian body. They flew fast and the only times they had to slow down was when bubbles of lava exploded underneath them and had to dodge it.

The ocean of bodies just went on and on, there was not a single spot that wasn't filled with screaming humans. They were everywhere and some even reached up at them to save them. This was the most humans they had ever seen at one time.

The two of them were starting to get nervous and they could feel danger. It wasn't instincts either, it was their power alerting them of something dark heading their way. It wasn't something they could be wrong about, it was guaranteed that a Guardian was on their tail someway, somehow.

As they gained speed, a chain shot out of the lava and grabbed Riley. He screamed at Hart as he was suddenly unable to move. Hart flew back to him, not noticing what had happened until he was screamed at. He tried to break the chain off but his strength was not enough to even scratch it.

"Hart, I'm scared," Riley said with wide eyes as more chains flew up and wrapped around his body tightly.

"Is there something you can do as The Obsidian Witch?" Hart quickly asked, still struggling to break the heavy chains off.

The chains pulled him down in one swift movement and dragged him into the lava where he disappeared, screaming one word; Kroxia.

Hart flew over the sea, making sure to keep his eyes on what part Riley was dragged under. He didn't want to just wait for something to happen, he needed to go under and rescue Riley. He didn't know if this lava would harm either of them, but he had to do something, he couldn't just watch.

But that was exactly what he was going to do. Because the most powerful witch in history could not be defeated by chains and lava. The sky turned darker over him and familiar clouds formed. A massive tentacle dropped from the clouds and dove inside the lava. It caught something because it stopped diving and began to move back up. Riley popped out a second later, covered in lava and humans trying to hold on to him as the chains struggled to pull him back under. They broke off. As the chains fell into the lake of fire, something screamed.

"I saw something!" Riley said as he ripped the humans off his body. "There's a tunnel under the lava. I think that's where we have to go."

"YOU ARE NOT GOING ANYWHERE!"

Suddenly the ocean of lava under them started to whirl. The humans screamed louder as they were spun around the sinking lava. It truly looked and moved like a regular ocean. Hart was mesmerized and had to mentally stop himself from feeling awe.

Something was rising from the middle of the whirlpool, or someone. At first they only saw a shape, but it was gradually ascending. It was dark but immediately knew it was someone when they saw long hair. The long hair was black and covered most of this person's face.

"YOU WILL NOT PASS!" said the eerie voice.

The mysterious person made more chains come out of the lava. They shot out and flew around them like snakes. Riley was let go by the tentacle and he flew back to Hart's side as they watched the person fully ascend, standing on a rock formation high above the lava in the middle of the whirlpool that was gaining size.

The chains attacked them but whatever this magic was made it difficult to fight them off. They were strong and Hart couldn't break them but something about Riley's power could. The tentacle did one swipe and grabbed them all, pulling until they snapped in half again.

"I AM REIGN, THE GUARDIAN OF THE LAKE OF FIRE, AND I FORBID YOU FROM PASSING. IF YOU DO NOT TURN BACK NOW YOU WILL DIE!"

"Bring it, bitch," Riley said, knowing exactly he could take them on.

Reign smiled at Riley and Hart was left confused. He felt like he should leave for interfering in something personal. But this was the Guardian and they did not look like what he had imagined for the Guardian of the Lake of Fire. Hart knew better than to underestimate anyone. Reign raised their hands and something came out of the whirlpool. At first glance it looked like walls rising around Reign, but as they watched they saw that this wall was alive. It was swallowing Reign and as it did, they realized Reign was entering another creature, one that was bigger than anything they had ever seen before. Bigger than Hart's demonic monster form. It came out of the lava, disrupting the whirlpool but causing more chaos in its place. This could be the Guardian's real form. It looked like a more powerful version of their demons. It had no mouth, no nose, only white eyes and two massive horns. The horns alone could carry human houses. Hart and Riley exchanged looks when the monster was finally standing in full size.

"I don't feel too good about trying to fight a Guardian," Hart said, gulping quietly.

"Me neither."

"They weren't created to lose."

Reign was watching them, the only movement happening were the humans falling off the Guardian's new body. It was too big, they could not fight this. Their power could only do so much. Lucifer created these beings to protect, they were never created for failure. So no matter what they did, they were not going to walk out of this in one piece. Immortals or not, everything had an end and they did not want to see that end.

"Do you trust me?" Riley asked.

"Always."

"Then we have to go inside the lake. The tunnel I saw, I think there's a portal at the end of it."

"Do you think this Guardian will just let us walk away?" Hart asked, not being serious, but strongly considering if it was a possibility. The Guardian seemed like it didn't want to fight, it even gave us a chance to turn back.

"No, but I know a way to distract it. Kroxia is my familiar." He looked up at the tentacle. "It can help us escape."

"How?"

"Kroxia is a Guardian. She is the protector of the other realm."

"A Guardian? But there are only five of them."

Kroxia growled deeply in the sky and Hart was curious to see what the tentacles were attached to, but he knew he would not see that today. Instead, dozens of tentacles slithered down from the sky and attacked Reign. It was unexpected and caught everyone off guard. Riley grabbed Hart's hand and pulled them into the lake of fire.

A burning sensation attacked Hart's face first. It was painful, but he had felt worse. His skin did not melt and neither did his clothes. Inside the lake you could see as if it was a muddy lake, only with the colors of fire. He saw the tunnel Riley had spoken about at the bottom.

Riley looked at him and pointed down. Hart replied with a thumbs up. They released each other's hands and swam directly down. It was a long way and the tunnel wasn't even the exact bottom of the lake. From the looks of it, you could drain the lake and it would just be more mountains. This lake had no end and the tunnel was at the side of one of these underwater mountains, or underlava?

They reached the tunnel and were attacked by humans. Hart expanded his wings and tried to push them away, protecting Riley as he entered first. It was easy following Riley, he had the dark aura around him in a sea of bright colors. He thought about what would happen if Riley was out of his armor and just in his human skin. Would he burn? Melt? He felt like he would greatly suffer if it weren't for the obsidian skin.

At the end of the tunnel there was a shiny screen. It was a portal, Riley was right. Sometimes Hart thought back at how lucky they had been. They could have had worse things happen to them, but it was as if something was always guiding them towards success. This portal had been below them the entire time. And out of all the places it could have been, it was hard to imagine that it was a coincidence.

The portal pulled them in like a strong gravity force. The current of the lava sent them spinning on the other side of the portal. It was strange to think of lava as water, but nothing made sense in this dark world.

Riley swam up first and levitated once he was on the surface. He used his magic to remove any lava and cool down his body. As he looked around, Hart shot straight up into the air, unleashing his strong wings and using them to also clean lava from his body. Everything looked the same to them, they felt lost. They went through the portal and it should had taken them across the lake of fire, but they were in the middle of nothing but fire.

"Do you see anything?" Hart asked.

"No, you?"

"Better start moving before the Guardian decides to show up again," Hart said.

They flew together once again, keeping higher distance as the heat was scorching. It may not kill them, but it was still unpleasant. And it wasn't just the heat, it was also the suffering that came with it. You could feel what everyone was feeling and it only made it much worse. And for Hart it was like throwing a child into the world of chaos and instability.

It was a surprise to see a little hill in the middle of this place. The hill was full of humans crying and curling up into a fetal position as they melted away into nothingness. Some were just at the top shaking profusely. Riley approached them first and his soul took the shape of tentacles as they swept the land and knocked off the humans.

"We've been flying for too long," Riley said as Hart dropped down beside him. "If it turns out we're in the center of the lake, then we're not going to reach her in time. We saw the signal at the right moment because she's at her peak. Her magic will only hold for so long before she finally collapses and they take her life."

"Maybe the portal was a trap," Hart said.

"Yeah, maybe so."

"I'm not giving up, so I say we keep flying. We know North is that way," Hart said, pointing in a direction. "And if it isn't easy for us, then it won't be easy for Siren and her army. The lake of fire is the most heavily protected place in hell, it isn't supposed to be easy. We still have a chance to save her in time."

"I'm not worried about Siren. I've never been worried about her. She's weak just like her army. Her home is just a black market, that is the only reason she has power. Everyone needs what she has. Money is power, even in hell."

"She didn't seem weak to me."

"I just wish I could do something. For God's sake, we're the most powerful people here and we can't cross this stupid lake? It's not even a lake! Why is it called that?"

Hart smiled. "I'm glad you're back to normal."

Riley gave him a stern look. "Watch it. I'm not afraid to show you what I showed Daniel."

Hart raised his hands in surrender. "Hey, I'm just saying, I like you better when you're not some dark stranger."

"Yeah, well I'd like you better if you were a Dark Prince."

"What is that supposed to mean?" Hart said, confused.

"You're the Prince of Hell. You, not me. Yet it seems like I have more power here than you do anywhere. You're supposed to be more powerful than me. You're supposed to make hell your bitch, but it's the other way around."

Hart walked in front of him so he could see his face, his emotions. "That's not fair. I lived a very different life on Earth. I was never prepared to be a prince. I'm not even sure what that means. All I've ever known is that I was a monster and I had to help my mother, who I had never seen physically, escape hell so that we could be together. I killed people not because of what I am, but because I wanted a family of my own. My entire existence was used to save someone who didn't even care. I wasted my time on someone who didn't love me."

"What are you talking about?" Riley said, furrowing his brows. "Your mom does love you. She's weird and crazy, but she loved you."

"You don't understand like I do," Hart whispered, leaning against one of the boulders. "She was a white witch. She only turned dark because she was desperate, because she lost everything. She was never evil. Lucifer turned her evil. The real her has always hated me, and maybe that's why she abused me, because deep inside she knew she was good and she knew how wrong Seraphina and I were. She gave birth to monsters, she gave birth to something that could destroy the world. So forgive me if I can't just part the lake of fire and get us straight to Annetta."

"I'm sorry."

"Why do you even care so much about Annetta? You barely remember her."

"Because I still want to do what's right. I want my sister out of here, along with all those innocent human beings. And Annetta is the key."

Hart became quiet and just looked down in deep thought. In a way, Riley was kind of right. Hart was the Prince of Hell. He was The Dark Prince. Yet, he knew nothing. He didn't get hit with information beyond this world like Riley had. He entered hell and he grew wings. That was about it. Why was he special? Why was he different than anyone else?

"HARTHEON!"

Hart and Riley looked up at the sky as the name was shouted. It was Siren. She was riding a bat creature the size of a dragon with her army behind her on smaller ones. She was sitting on a saddle, holding chains that wrapped around the neck of the bat. Her posture was elegant like a queen. She was looking down at them with anger in her eyes.

"Of course she's here, because why not?" Riley muttered.

Hart jumped off the hill and flew up into the sky. Riley watched Hart's beautiful wings as they opened and looked more beautiful. He didn't want to interject in case Hart and Siren were going to have a heartwarming conversation. Instead he kept his eyes on the army behind her.

"I'm assuming you haven't found her," Siren said, pulling the chains on her bat to halt it. They stood a hundred feet from each other. "The white witch will be ours."

"I don't think so," Hart said.

"Oh? And how will you stop me?"

"You may have numbers, but I only need one," he replied.

Riley sighed, guessing it was his queue to show up and reveal what he was capable of. Nobody knew about him and what he had become, unless his sister, Daniel and Pearl broke the news to everyone and the news spread like wildfire.

"One?"

Riley ascended into the air using the gust of black air around him. It pushed him higher over their heads where he levitated calmly. It took Siren a moment to realize who was the mysterious figure flying behind Hart, but when it her, she shifted uncomfortably.

"What's wrong?" Hart said, cocking a brow.

"The Obsidian Witch. I would have never expected you of all people, but now everything makes sense," Siren said.

"You won't win this fight, you can still turn back and leave the white witch to us."

Siren chuckled, faking being embarrassed as she covered her mouth. "Now why would I do that? Why would I just give you the one thing the Rogues need to get what they want?"

"Because you stand no chance," Hart repeated sternly.

"Dhark! Capture them!" Siren commanded, raising her weapon in the air. The army behind her soared forward and the demons prepared to jump off their bats. The bats growled loudly as the chains around the mouths were pulled aggressively. In response they flew faster.

"KROXIA!" Riley screamed as his soul took the form of tentacles again. They rushed forward to meet Siren's army. He knocked the demons off their bats and they fell to their death, where the lake of fire swallowed them alive.

Kroxia appeared in the sky, the eerie sounds following it. The tentacle swept the air and crushed more of the demons. Even though it was a losing fight, they never stopped attacking, all while Siren watched.

But Hart also watched, because Riley was so powerful that he didn't need to do anything. Riley's soul was now becoming larger by the second as it took on more of the demons. The sky was becoming a cloud of his soul and anything that entered it died.

"KROXIA, TAKE HER!" Riley told the Guardian.

Siren's eyes widened as she looked up at the tentacle going for her. She glided to the side as the tentacle slammed down and missed. She commanded her flying ride to go straight at Riley and Hart wasn't sure if she caught on that the dark clouds around Riley were deadly. But she flew straight at him anyway and just before she would have touched it, she jumped off the bat and flipped backwards, vomiting a sphere out of her mouth and launching it at Riley. The sphere hit him in the chest and passed through his body before they could even blink.

The dark clouds drew back into Riley's body as he clutched his chest painfully. The sphere returned, hitting him again but this time entering through his back and coming out of his chest. Siren caught it and was ready to throw it again but Hart hovered between them.

"I would not do that again if I were you," Hart warned her.

"Why? Did I already find his weakness?" She smirked at them, still holding the magic ball in her hand. "So much for being the most powerful witch in the world."

The ball was the only reason she had any power. If Hart took it from her, she'd have nothing. She would fall like the rest of her army and burn inside the lake of fire. Siren was not dangerous, she was a witch without power. And Riley did not have a weakness, the ball did nothing but momentarily disrupt his actions. Nobody was perfect, but it was time for Hart to defend Riley.

Hart's eyes turned black this time and the transformation began. He couldn't help the smile that took over his lips. The power surging through him was familiar, comforting and it felt incredible. Fire burst beneath him, causing a massive explosion as it collided with Riley's soul and Hart used this as cover up to quickly shift to his demonic side and use the explosion to launch himself at Siren unexpectedly.

A giant beast roared, shooting out of the fire in the sky and grabbing Siren. She fought back as hard as she could but it was no match. Hart had always been stronger in his demon form. He took the ball from Siren's hand and tossed her towards the lake. Her bat came to the rescue and caught her just in time. She called off the rest of her army and they fled.

"Thanks," Riley said as he approached the beast. "But I totally had that."

Hart growled quietly in response. Riley smiled at him and hugged what he could of the large prince as he slowly shrunk back to his old self.

"That was easy," Hart said, cracking his neck.

"Give the ball to Kroxia, she'll keep it safe," Riley said.

Hart raised the ball in the air and the tentacle came down and swept it off his hands. It returned back to the sky and disappeared. Hart kept looking up, looking for a glimpse of what it was.

"What are you looking at?" Riley asked.

"I think the portal was a trap. It put us on Siren's path. That was not a coincidence."

"So what are you saying?"

"I don't know, but I've always had this feeling something was watching us. Something that doesn't know if it should be with us or against us."

"That's vague."

"You don't feel it? Like you're being tested?"

"Not really, no."

"Okay, I'm going to tell you something and I hope you don't try to stop me," Hart said nervously. "After we rescue Annetta, I know she'll be safe with you."

"You're leaving?"

"I'm going to Rev."

"Rev? Why would you do that?"

"Because you're right, Riley. I should have more power than I do but I don't. I'm the prince of this realm and there's nothing I can do. I feel useless when I know even Seraphina would have figured it out by now. I'm going to get answers."

"From Siren?"

"Yes, and she knows something I don't. She didn't want me to reveal myself because she thinks everyone hates me or that I'll cause chaos. I don't know if I believe that. I have a feeling she fears what I can become if I'm allowed to."

Riley walked closer to Hart and touched his chest. "What are you going to do then?"

"I don't know? Demand the truth? Kill things? Do what I'm best at. And if she tries anything, I'll do very bad things."

"I'm coming with you," Riley said, still touching his chest, feeling the beating of his heart.

"No, you have to stay with Annetta."

"She will be safe with the Rogues. I'm coming with you and it's not a debate."

"Riley..."

"Hart, you will need me."

"I always need you. But not for this, I have to do it alone."

Riley drew back his hand. "Fine. Whatever you say, Prince Hartheon."

Kroxia emerged from the sky above their heads and swept them off their feet. She pulled them high into the clouds as Hart struggled to free himself. Riley looked calm, staring mindlessly at the permanent night sky. Hart stopped his movement and trusted them, unsure of why he even felt like he was in danger.

They were back inside the cold, mysterious air of Riley's realm. Kroxia wasn't bringing them back up to the bridge, she was moving them across. Hart was so unbelievably confused. He watched the witch and the Guardian with knit brows. He thought Riley was angry with him for not allowing him to come to Rev.

"I love you," Hart said seriously.

"Kroxia knows where Annetta is," Riley finally spoke. "She's taking us to her."

"That would have been helpful hours ago."

"Kroxia was asleep for hundreds of years. Everything is still new to her. Hell has changed, the people and the monsters in it have changed. She had no idea where anything was. But she told me she felt the white magic."

"How do you talk to her?"

"With our minds."

"What does she sound like?"

"Like a whisper in the wind."

"That's vague."

Riley grinned at him. "You are different, Hartheon."

"Don't call me that, it triggers me," he said.

"I still remember when I met you. I thought you were so weird and hot. I watched you for a while before you noticed me. I was thinking of excuses I could use to come talk to you, but I didn't have the courage to do it. I knew I wanted to be your friend the moment I saw you. All my other friends didn't even exist to me. I didn't even know why I called them friends. I had nothing in common with them, and most of them were people that my sister forced me to hang out with."

"You thought I was weird without meeting me?" Hart whispered, eyes glaring.

"You were in the middle of a parade, clearly not belonging to any of them, and you were dressed like you were either going to a funeral or your funeral. You looked so out of place, like a ghost. So yeah, weird."

"Yeah, well, your clothes didn't fit you."

"Hart, that wasn't an insult."

"I feel uncomfortable talking about this moment while we're squeezed together by a tentacle."

"Do you feel uncomfortable about this?" Riley said, moving his face closer to Hart's and closing his eyes as he parted his lips. Hart looked at his lips and thought it was worth it. But Kroxia did not, because she slammed them back down before their lips could connect.

They fell back to hell once again. There was no lake of fire anywhere to be seen. The ground was dark like ashes, the scattered trees were burned to black with flickers of flames still alive, but no sign of eternal damnation. When they were on the ground, they searched for something out of place.

"It has to be underground," Riley said. "Annetta was somewhere with very little light and there's nothing around. So it has to be below us."

"Tell your cock-block tentacle to dig for us then," Hart said.

"Hart, this is no time for jokes. See if you can find a way down." As Riley finished his sentence, Hart fell through the ground and into a pitch black pit. His wings broke the fall as they opened mid fall and scraped against the walls of the pit.

"I found a way down," he said.

At the bottom of the pit there was a door. It was locked. He touched the knob first in case it was another trap, but nothing happened. He tore the door knob and pushed the door open. It was a long hallway with more darkness. Riley dropped down and landed behind him.

"Kroxia delivered us right on top of it, nice," Riley said.

"What do you think this is?" Hart asked as they walked inside.

"Probably an entrance they kept hidden. It should lead us to Annetta for sure. Look at the walls, they look like the same walls she was chained to."

The walls were made of black bricks, some broken, some faded. They were old and could be a building from the old ages on Earth. It must have been here for thousands of years. It made sense why it was north of the lake of fire, where nothing lived except death. Most of the action happened south; the cities, the monsters, the wars.

There was another door at the end of the hall. It was also locked. Hart listened closely to make sure there was nothing on the other side of this door. He tried to be as quiet as possible breaking the knob, but it was anything but silent. He opened the door and came out first. It was stairs spiraling down. He looked back to make sure Riley was still on his tail.

"You seem afraid," Riley whispered.

"Only for Annetta. She is not like us. She can die if we make one mistake."

"Can you feel her? I can't."

"No, I don't feel or hear anything."

They went down the long stairs until they reached the end. There was another door at the bottom. Hart didn't bother checking it, he just tore off the knob and opened it. There was yet another hall, but this one was wide and full of cages, like a prison. It had to be a prison, a real prison from Earth.

The cages were empty and smelled like rot. Blood stained the bars, floors and walls. There were bones scattered all around. Hart and Riley exchanged looks and moved past the cages. There was another door at the end of the hall and Hart was growing sick and tired of them. He wanted to turn into a demon and rip through all the doors.

"I think there's something I can do," Riley whispered, crouching down next to the wall.

"What?" Hart said, joining him.

"Stay here," he said as he pressed his back against the wall and shadows pulled him inside. Riley was gone in a second. He went through the walls and disappeared through the shadows.

Hart was impressed, but most of all nervous. The fact that neither of them could feel Annetta was a bad sign. They should feel her power radiating like a sun. She was a huge energy source in hell, one that couldn't match anything in this place. Because she was a white witch, she had special powers here. It just didn't make sense why she was being held captive by demons. She could snap all of their bodies in half in a blink of an eye.

He didn't want to think about it, but if they didn't feel her, there were only two simple answers; she was dead or not here. He preferred to think of the latter.

"I found her."

Hart almost jumped, instead his heart just raced. He was glad that he was a very stiff person and rarely reacted to anything. If only people could read his thoughts then they'd know how much of a human he really was.

Riley's head popped out of the wall and he grabbed Hart and pulled him through. The shadows tickled him as he appeared on the other side of the wall, but something was telling him that was not the side of the wall he thought of. They had teleported somewhere else.

"Where are we?" Hart asked, shrugging off the shadows that lingered over his body.

"It's a massive prison web. They are four underground buildings and she's in the room that connects them all. And that's not all, there's a Guardian here."

"What? How do you know that?"

"Because it looks like one. I think he's the one blocking her magic, so we can't feel her."

"That explains literally everything. But why is a Guardian doing this? First Morseeker, now this? They shouldn't be working with demons."

"Something big is happening and we have to warn the others. Two Guardians working with demons, how many more? We have to tell the Rogues before it's too late." Hart knew for a fact that Riley only cared because of his sister. He did everything because of her. He could care less what happened to the Rogues. If the only chance for his sister to escape hell was ruined he would never forgive himself. Hart was going to help him at whatever cost.

"Did you see a way of getting in and out?"

"Well . . . um." Riley looked embarrassed. "I just learned I could go through walls using shadows, so I think I can sneak in, get her and get out."

"But?"

"If they catch me, I don't think I'll be able to go through walls again. I need to concentrate really hard and I can't do that if they're on me."

"How many?"

"A few dozen."

"If I distract them, can you get her?"

"Positive."

"Can you send me in with your shadow teleportation?" Hart asked.

"Yeah, I can do that. I'll come back for you once I have Annetta outside," he said, opening a shadowy portal on the wall. Hart went to go through it but Riley pulled him back and kissed him. "I love you, too."

Before Hart could respond or even enjoy the kiss, Riley pushed him back and he fell through the portal and fell out of a ceiling. He crashed down on a table, breaking it in half. He coughed as he took in a breath of dust and things he did not want to know of. He stood up and was facing another door. If this was a joke Riley pulled on him, he was going to pay.

But then someone grabbed him and tossed him across the room and he landed on another table, and broke it. He got up again and saw that he had been looking in the wrong direction. There were dozens of demons in this large room grimacing at him.

"Uh, hello," Hart said, waving at them.

The demons attacked him. He fought them but not enough to beat them down. He needed their attention on him, if he used all of his strength to obliterate them they would only draw more attention and call the Guardian.

Annetta was hanging off the wall on the other side of the room. She was passed out. As Hart fought back the waves of demons he saw a shadow appear behind her head. Half of Riley came out and he whispered something into Annetta's ear, something about not screaming if she was awake, he didn't catch the rest. Riley grabbed the red haired girl and pulled her into the shadows. The chains around her broke off as the shadow portal closed.

Now he just needed to wait for Riley to come get him.

"WHO IS OUT THERE?"

Hart used his full strength to fight the demons as the shouting voice sent chills down his spine. Now that Riley had the white witch, he didn't need to hold back. He tore through the bodies, unbothered by the blood cascading down his face. It was simple defeating the demons. They were nothing to him. They didn't even have one percent of his power and strength. But he slowed down as he felt the ground shaking from something approaching.

"I want to see it," Riley whispered behind him as shadows hugged them. Hart was floating over nothing even though a second ago there was solid ground. Riley had his arms tightly around him, holding him and ready to sink into the ground. The Guardian then appeared, breaking through a small door. Debri fell on its long body and hundreds of legs. It resembled a centipede, but with the head of a human.

Riley gripped Hart's clothes and pulled them down.

"HARTHEON!" it screamed as they sunk.

As they left the portal, Kroxia picked them up and lifted them into the sky. Annetta was pressed against Hart, but she was asleep. She looked bad and Hart felt responsible. Because he was, this was his fault. She was a good person, she only wanted to save the girl Hart sacrificed. This was never her fault and she didn't deserve what she went through. He was going to make her okay again.

"We need to start using your home portal again, I don't like Kroxia anymore," Hart told Riley.

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[Author's Message]: OH my god. This chapter took so long to write. I've had every chapter planned out for a long time, I knew what was going to happen (for the most part) and I did NOT think it was going to be this long. It's like I just wrote three chapters. I hit so many walls writing this chapter. And the worst part? This wasn't even the first draft. I had another chapter written for this and deleted it all because I was not happy with how I wrote it. I WORKED SO HARD. HOLY MOLLY. I AM DRAINED BOYS AND GIRLS AND OTHERS. If you read this, you're gonna have to comment lmao. I'm gonna feel so discouraged if not many interact with this chapter because I truly gave it my all. I mean, I could have done BETTER, but this is the best I can do. I need to take some English classes so I can write better lol. ANYHOE. Did you guys like the chapter? I'll give you a sneak peak of the next chapter . . . the TITLE. It's called . . . "FOREVER".

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