All that was. All that wasn't. And all that shouldn't be.

Or was it “should be?”

Everything was going well as it always did for Azriel. They had a few people screaming here, a few people screaming there. Others had lost the will to function, and some just sat in the strange space that wasn't, left to their own insanity.

So, yes. Everything was going perfectly swell in the Void that day.

At least until Azriel came across her.

Now, before we get any further, now would probably be a good time to explain exactly what the Void is. Many might seem to have a great misconception of what it truly is, and that's perfectly understandable. Nobody has ever really been in the Void and lived to tell the tale. Well, at least not retaining their sanity.

Nothing that enters the Void is ever the same again. Kind of like a microwave, I suppose.

Those who call the Void 'hell' tell no lies. It is most certainly a space in between worlds, and it exists outside the whole of creation. It is a place where reality is nothing but an idea; an imaginative concept.

Now, to start off with the misconceptions, most believe that no life exists naturally within the Void. That is completely and entirely wrong. The idea is honestly kind of laughable. The Void is filled with life, whether it be dead or alive; inorganic or organic. (The definition of “life” was used rather loosely.) This, however, is one of the reasons that 'hell' is such an accurate title.

To put it simply, the Void acts as a purgatory of sorts. However, it does not discriminate between the sinners and saints. Anyone or anything could wind up in the Void regardless of who they are or how they lived.

The afterlife can be a real bitch.

Yes, you read correctly. The afterlife.

The Void is a place that many unfortunate souls end up in after they meet their inevitable demise. Did this mean that everybody's idea of the afterlife was wrong? Not necessarily. For you see, another misconception about the Void is that it is simply a space with no sentience or consciousness.

The Void has its own state of mind. One that has donned the name Azriel.

There weren't many that knew of the existence of Azriel, and they were perfectly happy to keep it that way. While it was interesting to garner themselves a few loyal followers here and there, they found that they enjoyed their anonymity as well as the confusion and panic of the souls that Azriel brought into their realm of consciousness. If everybody knew about them all of a sudden, their feeding time would certainly become far less interesting.

Ah, yes, the term “feeding” might come across as a little alarming.

Good. It should.

After all, Azriel can only sustain their existence by feeding on what makes somebody or something who they are. All the good times. All the bad times. Azriel made it their mission to take them all. It was only made all the easier for them to do so as those she fed on lost all their positive emotions and hope and sanity. Hence, the never ending black pit of nothingness that she subjected their food to.

You could only spend so much time alone and in the dark without going mad.

This, among many other reasons, was why they were so shocked, and quite frankly annoyed, when they came across a creature that seemed to be… chilling… as Azriel had once heard someone eloquently state.

As they got closer, they even heard the creature singing a strange melody. Something about killing a man and not making their mother cry…?

Azriel stopped a few paces behind the pink and red creature before they realized, with no small amount of disdain, that it was in fact a human of all things. A rather short one at that. With fiery, curly red hair and freckled cheeks that flushed with happiness as they sang and danced, the human (seemingly female) appeared as a contrast to Azriel, whose own complexion, personality, and even hair was as white and icy as one could possibly have or be.

“How grievous…” Azriel sighed, placing a hand to their forehead in the hopes of stemming the impending headache they  were sure to gain from this and effectively cutting off the human in their singing as they spun around with wide eyes. They took the tiniest sliver of satisfaction at the shock and confusion that filled the human’s expression. Wait a second, though… Was that disappointment in their eyes?!

No, that was impossible.

From what Azriel knew of humans, they were a creature that craved and needed the company of others and the social interaction that came with it. So for what reason could this one possibly be disappointed?

“Hm…” They took another, closer look at the human that was blinking confusedly up at them as though it could possibly ascertain why Azriel was there. Azriel's brow quirked up a bit upon finally being able to see just how old this human was. “To think you've been here for over a thousand human years…” They pursed their lips, considering the human that they didn't really care about the name of. “Would you consider yourself sane?”

The human’s brows furrowed in an even more intense confusion as their head reared back a bit in offense.

“Nice to meet you, too, Ice Queen,” The small redhead replied dryly, clearly not feeling all that flattered at being asked about her sanity. “Would it kill you to at least introduce yourself when interrupting somebody's open mic night?”

Open mic night…?

Azriel stopped themselves from thinking too much about it. It wasn't worth the time that had already been wasted.

In any case, they rolled their eyes at the rudeness and audacity of the human in front of them, completely ignoring that they weren't exactly the most polite either.

“My name is Azriel, if you must know,” they stated loftily, pretending that this child, for they were but a child in Azriel’s ageless eyes, hadn't already annoyed her. “You'd do well to remember it now that you've heard it.”

The human grinned in that strange way humans do with their teeth barred for the whole world to see. Honestly, it was because of humans that Azriel could never tell if a creature was happy or threatening someone when they barred their teeth in such a way.

“My name’s ████████!” the human introduced far more happily than they had spoken before.

“Pleasure,” Azriel's lip curled, already forgetting the poor creature's name. “Now, I do believe that I've given you the proper introduction, so tell me, child, do you or do you not consider yourself sane?”

They could see it going either way at this point. (There was always the possibility that this human had lost their sanity long before appearing in the Void.)

Not helping their case, the human actually looked to contemplate the matter before coming to a decision.

“I like to think that I'm quite sane,” they nodded to themselves in reassurance that they were speaking the truth. “Then again, is sanity anything but a matter of reality and perspective? It's not particularly strange for people to see things differently. They can even smell and hear the same things and interpret them in so many different ways than the person next to them. So, who am I to decide whether my reality is right or wrong? Who am I to decide the tipping point for what counts as insanity?”

It was silent for but a moment.

Azriel groaned.

How exactly had they managed to end up with such an insufferable human? Honestly! They had been having such a good day, and here this human had to come and ruin it… They didn't even seem to realize why they were asking about their sanity! Any normal human wouldn't have even had the mental capacity to respond to them after being in the Void for over a thousand years, and here this one was acting as if it was completely normal!

Maybe Azriel was the one going insane…?

“You okay there?” Azriel could barely hear the human ask above their sudden migraine, but it snapped them out of their dazed state just enough for a wave of frustrated yet delighted determination to flow through them.

This human hadn't broken yet.

That didn't mean that Azriel couldn't break them.

The deity/consciousness had never had to intervene much in breaking their food's spirit. The neverending solitude and lack of anything and everything did that for them. It was certainly an interesting idea to actually get their hands a little dirty for once.

They had just been thinking that things were beginning to get a little mundane…

They didn't notice the tension that struck the human as Azriel smiled.

█▓▒▒░░░ Years Later ░░░▒▒▓█

"You know, I came here to have a good time, and I honestly feel so attacked right now.”

They barely kept their eye from twitching at the human’s statement.

Azriel had, admittedly, not smiled for very long after they had the great idea to break this strange human. They had focused almost all of their energy on this one insignificant creature for who knows how many years, and it was still all for naught! No matter what they did to the girl, because she had in fact made it known to Azriel that she was a female as if she actually believed that Azriel cared, nothing seemed to spark any change. The only response that they even seemed to garner from her were smart remarks and an unholy amount of random Earth songs.

Azriel swore that if they had to listen to one more rendition of ‘Wheels on the Bus,’ they would just destroy every universe that had ever even heard of the song.

“What the hell is wrong with you?” Azriel hissed, finally at her wits end.

“Everything.”

They couldn't disagree with that.

The immortal being sighed, the anger draining out of them and being replaced with exhaustion as they fell back into a comfortable armchair that seemed to appear from nothing. This was getting them absolutely nowhere. Azriel had never dealt with such a troublesome human. In fact, they couldn't think of any creature that they had found as exhausting or troublesome as this redheaded woman. Actually… There was someone.

Azriel sat up straight with a certain realization.

They had been going about this entirely wrong.

There was something that they could use. Something that they could use to destroy this human girl and many others at the same time.

If there was something that Azriel had learned about humans throughout their existence is that they care. They care for others and their bonds, and their emotions are stronger than anybody could ever truly guess.

Yes, Azriel knew exactly what they had to do even if it contradicted everything they had ever stood for.

They looked at the human floating in the abyss in front of them and got out of their chair.

Barely inches away from her, Azriel lifted a pale hand to gently hold the girl's face.

“If I can't break you,” Azriel whispered. “We'll just have to find someone who will.”

Slowly, the girl evaporated into a golden mist.

She was gone, but Azriel would make sure that she'd be back.