"You're going to have to let go of my jacket, (Y/N)."

Barbatos looked at me from over his shoulder, but I shrunk down further  ignoring his words and clinging tighter to the leathery fabric.
"Nope, I'm good, thanks..."

I didn't need to look up at him to know he was giving me one of his looks. The 'are you seriously going to make this difficult?' look I knew all too well.
"(Y/N), are you really that scared?" Whilst his tone was still stern, it had softened considerably around the edges.

"Can you blame me? You've had me stashed away in a cabin for like forty one years." I snapped, but not viciously. It took Barbatos little effort to pry my hands from his clothes as he turned to face me, bending just enough so we were face to face.

"You were the one to ask for this, and it needs to be done. You don't want to go back to fester away in solitude, do you?" He raised a brow, expecting only one answer, but he wasn't going to get it.
"Yep, I sure do. Let's go-"

Even when putting all my weight into my effort to drag the demon back the way we came, he didn't budge, not even an inch.
"Do I have to place a curse on you so you'll calm down?" Oh, that was a real warning, and I immediately simmered down.

"I'm cursed enough, thank you..." I mumbled, head down as Barbatos urged me into a walk with his hand on the small of my back, towards those big, looming doors. I dreaded what awaited me beyond them.

From what I had been told, the Demon Lord, Diavolo, was now privy to my existence, as well as another demon he deemed trustworthy. The very thought of what a demon lord may look like scared me out of my wits, no matter how hard my companion tried to ease my concerns.

I'm gonna die all over again..!

I was a cowering mess when those doors opened, and I blindly reached to cling to Barbatos' arm. He allowed it, contradicting his previous complaints, and I was grateful.

I kept my eyes cast downward, each step echoing on cold, crisp tile, fitting the current atmosphere well. A chilling walk to my potential doom.
"My Lord, Lucifer, I introduce you to (Y/N)." Barbatos' voice was clear, so proper and professional, but I kept my head down.

"Welcome to the Devildom, (Y/N). Actually, I suppose you've been here a bit too long for that to really mean much, right?" The jovial tone took me off guard. It was loud, but not the slightest bit threatening, so I dared look up.

Shit.

Wings and horns. That's all I saw before I scrambled to use Barbatos as a shield once more, fingers digging deep into his jacket.
"I do apologise, My Lord, but would you and Lucifer mind changing forms? Whilst she isn't new to the Devildom, she hasn't been exposed to demons outside of myself. For her comfort, I must insist."

Thank you, Barb. You're the best.

"I'm terribly sorry! We didn't mean to frighten you!" The Lord spoke again, clearing his throat. "We have no desire to harm you, (Y/N). Please, would you let us meet you?" I wanted to refuse, but how could I after such a polite request?

Slowly, in the way a rabbit would emerge from its warren, I slunk out from behind Barbatos, but I remained glued to his side. He was the only person I knew was truly safe. Wings and horns were no more. Now, there were just two, regular looking men standing a few metres away.

Tan and tall, I assumed the red-head was the Demon Lord. He just screamed royalty, for no apparent reason, though his boyish smile threw me for a loop. The other, a stoic looking man with raven hair, seemed far more intimidating, but not dangerous. Not exactly.

"Go on. Introduce yourself." Barbatos nudged me forward, but I instantly retreated back to him, like a frazzled yo-yo.
"H..Hi..?" Wow. That was really all I could come up with? Hi? Well, I supposed it was better than 'please don't eat me'.
"I shall fetch us some tea." With a bow, Barbatos took his leave, and I panicked.

WAIT, DON'T LEAVE ME ALONE WITH THEM, YOU BITCH!

Standing on jellied legs, I probably looked like a newborn fawn, foolish and easy prey.
"Please," Diavolo motioned for me to come forth as he made his way towards an extravagant dining table. "make yourself comfortable. We don't bite, truly."

That's what a demon would want me to think!

Still, I complied, the inside of my cheeks being chewed raw as I opted to sit at the opposite end of the table to the demons, though they didn't seem offended. I would've hated to see what they would do if they had been.

"I trust that Barbatos has been treating you well?" The red-head kept his kindly smile, but my eyes kept darting back to his silent companion, who was studying me too closely for my comfort.
"Uh, y..yes. He has." The man obviously wanted some kind of friendly conversation, but I just wasn't capable of that.

"I often wondered where he was sneaking off to when he wasn't hovering around." Diavolo chuckled, leaning his elbows upon the table, chin resting atop his hands. "I must apologise on his behalf, for keeping you locked away for such a long time. If I'd have known, I would have invited you here sooner."

To eat me, I bet.

I simply nodded, fingers clawing through the fabric of my pants, instinctively trying to dig my way out of the situation.
"Elbows off the table, My Lord. That's bad manners and you know better." Barbatos returned, shooting a stern look to his master before placing the tray of tea and biscuits between us.

Great, now he can do the talking for me.

Fixing his posture, Diavolo went straight for the biscuits, but Lucifer pointed his attention directly at me, finally speaking once Barbatos was seated by my side.
"I'm going to be blunt. How did you get here, and what are you?"

His voice was just as I had imagined it would be. Austere and scary, sending a chill of warning down my spine, all the way to my toes, that tapped nervously against the tile below.
"This was explained to you. Her life ended in the human world, and she reformed here, in the Devildom. A perplexing case, yes, but you were informed."

Despite Barbatos talking, Lucifer's eyes didn't leave me for a single second, and I felt trapped within it. My fight or flight was malfunctioning something fierce.
"That I know, but I want to hear it from her. Your retelling could have been neglecting some important details that could help us to figure out this mess."

Yep. A mess. That's me, alright.

Puffing an irritated breath out through his nose, Barbatos slipped his hand over mine on my knee, beneath the table, as some form of support. I really had needed it.
"Lucifer, come now. You're scaring the poor thing. Though, you do have a point. Would you be willing to share with us what you recall?"

Willing I was not. It had taken me a  long time, possibly years, now I realised, to piece together exactly what had happened to me, and it was already hard enough, having to relive it through my nightmares.

Waking up in icy sweats, tangled in webs of linen, my flesh stinging from fresh scratches of my own doing, sometimes throwing up until I had nothing left to expell. I could forget in waking hours, if I tried hard enough.

"You don't have to if it will cause you too much pain. I can relay what you told me later on if need be, in more detail." Barbatos reassured me, giving my hand a squeeze under the table, but I knew that Lucifer wouldn't be appeased by that. It had to be from my own mouth.

Taking a deep breath, I tried to straighten up as much as possible, swallowing my terror, and whatever else was trying to bubble up and out.

"No...I'll talk."

.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
***Some chapters will be partially censored, because I don't want to break any rules on the W Pad. Uncensored chapters will be available on my A03, under the same name. I'll let y'all know if a chapter has been censored or not.

Next Time: Didn't Your Mother Tell You Not To Get Into The Backs of Vans with Boys?***