WHATEVER WAS IN THE liquid Daichi was handing out, it sure worked quickly. Ari was giggling on the floor with Daichi, two flutes in her hands, the liquid swishing with every wide move she made. Lucy gracefully took one out of her hands as she passed, tipping it to her lips as Ari flashed her a bright smile, dancing to the music with a flushed Ira, his cheeks as red as the sparks sizzling around him, eyes flashing crimson every time he spun. Gio had draped himself on the couch, though his sleepy eyes were half-open, a ghost of a smile on his lips.

Jasmina raised an eyebrow at the whole spectacle, amused, and turned to the table to take a flute herself. Her living room was wide, with floor to ceiling windows and white carpets, two of the walls swirling with gold and blue paintings, sun-soaked angels drawn on the top, all of them blowing a trumpet to some unheard tale. Her mother always had loved the Renaissance too much, the furniture various shades of white against the rich colors of the walls. In the light spilling from the windows, they looked like art themselves for a moment, frozen in a moment they would never capture again.

She had just raised the drink to her lips when a hand grabbed her wrist, causing her to stop.

"Don't drink that," Priyanka said, the slur in her voice clearly audible," that's poison, I tell you."

Her sheet of dark hair was a tousled mess now, her lips glittering silver and her eyes dazed. It was a far cry from her usual sharp tongue and cold features, all seeming to have faded into something more tired.

"That's how I like my liquor," Jasmina smiled as she took a sip.

Though she hadn't known what she had expected to taste, whatever this was it sure wasn't it. It was like honeyed champagne, but when it swirled in her mouth it left her tongue fresh, like mint, and the glitters in it sizzled out against the inside of her cheeks with notes of cherry lime and strawberry sugar. She had tasted a lot of expensive drinks and yet, she couldn't place this anywhere near them.

"What did he put in this?" she frowned, looking at the glass as she swirled the silver around.

"Don't ask," Priyanka said with a shake of her head," you won't like the answer."

Jasmina chuckled, before downing the whole glass, a rush of euphoria hitting her when it reached her throat. It wasn't like she needed it though, she was on a victory high ever since she had been able to enact her plan perfectly.

As if reading her mind, Priyanka glanced at her. "You are quite the mastermind, you know."

"I know," she smiled, before adding," and thank you."

The sin's eyes widened as she took a step back, her violet dress twirling on the floor like flames. "Did the heartless Jasmina Nawar just thank me?"

"You all act like I don't have any manners," Jasmina said with an eyeroll.

"You don't."

"Touché."

Priyanka chuckled softly, the glass resting against her full lips. The silence between them was comfortable, only broken when Priyanka yelled as Victor grabbed her leg. He was on the floor, trying to get away from Ira, who was pulling on his legs, his eyes those of a desperate man.

"Please," he breathed," he's crazy."

"You all are," Jasmina said matter-of-factly," you're demons."

The both of them didn't move to help and Victor got pulled away to his doom with a loud scream then, leaving them both standing at the table.

"We deserve this, don't we?" Priyanka mused, her glass swirling silver," hell, this eternal existence." She took a sip, her next words quiet against the glass. "My mother was right in the end."

"You're getting a second chance," Jasmina said," doesn't that prove her wrong?"

"She always told me I was going to hell," Priyanka laughed, though there was no self-pity in her voice.

"Tell me," Jasmina said, tilting her head to the right, her hair spilling down in stormy waves," did you meet her there?"

"Yeah," she said, downing the whole glass and placing it on the table. When she spoke again, her voice was back to it's usual sharpness again. "And even then she refused to acknowledge me as a woman."

The realization dawned on Jasmina quickly then and she parted her lips, but Priyanka interrupted her.

"The devil listened when I asked for him to change my appearance," she said," just because I was born a boy, doesn't mean I had to die as one."

"Got to admit," Jasmina said," I like him more after knowing that." She placed a hand on Priyanka's wrist then, skin cold against hers. "And that was not the question I was going to ask."

Priyanka raised an eyebrow, looking a bit confused. In response Jasmina pulled her hand back, glancing at the girl. "Just wanted to ask your name."

"Ishaan," she said," but please do call me Priyanka. The new name I had donned for myself after is one which burns on my tongue now."

"I can't believe you both left me to that lunatic," Victor said, pointing at them in accusation. He looked like a mess, hair dishevelled and eyes wide, the green in them lightening to a panicked chartreuse. "He actually burned me with those annoying sparks of his! We aren't completely immortal anymore, those hurt."

Lucy was laughing as she was holding Ira back behind him, twirling around with him as roses flowered everywhere she stepped. He yelped out in pain when he stepped on the thorns, his blood sparking as red as the fireworks around him. Priyanka gave them a confused glance, before just shaking her head and deciding to ignore it.

"You're a big boy," Jasmina said with a sympathetic pat on his shoulder," you'll heal."

"I'm not surprised you ended up with the devil," Victor scowled at her," you are one."

"That's no way to talk to your new boss," she drawled.

"I don't know who I think is worse," he said," you or my current boss."

"She is," Priyanka said. She raised her glass high then, a smile on her face. "Anyway, now I've shared my whole life story with you it's time for me to sing to Gio until he falls asleep. He gets nightmares when he hears Italian and I am desperately in love with him."

"You are?" Victor frowned.

"That was obvious," Jasmina said at the same time.

Priyanka walked away then, Gio's face lighting up when he saw her. He spread out his arms and snuggled against her when she sat beside him, looking more at peace than Jasmina had seen him in a long time.

"How did you know?" Victor said as he looked at Jasmina," I've been with them for a while now and I never noticed anything."

"I don't imagine you see each other a lot," she said, before adding amusedly," and you're adorably naive, let's not forget that."

"Okay, I'm offended about the naive thing," he said as held up a finger," but I'm going to ignore that for now seeing as I don't want to insult you and get involved in a petty revenge plan of yours."

"Wise choice."

"Besides," he continued," I see them more than I'd like. In the sixty years I've been with them the devil already gathered us eleven times for his games. You're the only one that really stuck."

"Sixty years?" Jasmina said," that's shorter than I thought."

"I'm the most recent addition," he shrugged.

"I'm glad for it too," Lucy smiled as she walked over, hand tight on Ira's wrist to keep him in check. "You are far more likeable than the past sin of envy. More human."

"For now at least," Ira grinned," though the human side of you is so fun to bully."

"Tease you mean," Lucy said," you don't bully friends."

"We are friends?" Victor frowned," I thought more of us as a group of sad people forced to hang out together."

"Who are you calling sad?" Ira scowled.

"We are," Lucy chuckled," but that doesn't mean we can't be close. You two know me far better than anyone alive ever has."

"The more I get to know you all, the more human you seem though," Jasmina said, eyes wandering across them," all of you."

"No use to appointing people without morals in a position of power," Lucy said," or people filled with hate towards something else than themselves."

Ira pulled his wrist free then, sparks dying out. "I'm over this pity-party. Come, Victor, we're going to set something on fire with Gula."

"I don't want to!" Victor protested, but no one stopped him from getting pulled along.

As soon as Ira called his plans out to Daichi the guy jumped up, his excited face a stark contrast against Victor's frown. Ari eventually shrugged and joined too, but before they all could walk out of her living room to her backyard, Jasmina called out to them.

"Don't burn a thing of mine, darlings," she smiled, voice sugary sweet," I am quite attached to my possessions."

"You were smiling," Ari said," but I still feel extremely threatened."

"What are you going to do, gorgeous?" Daichi said, eyes sparkling as he took her in," tell me, you know I adore your threats."

"Keep trying to adore them from afar," Victor mumbled as he pulled at his arm," I don't want to be on the other end of them."

Jasmina shook her head, her voice a drawl as she turned around to retreat to her bedroom. "You can burn my parents' stuff, so go wild."

"How do we know what's yours?" Ari called out after her as she ascended the stairs, but she didn't respond.

"Just burn everything," Ira said, his voice the only thing she heard before she shut the door behind her.

She yawned as she slid to the floor, her Persian carpet soft to the touch underneath her. The tight red top and skirt she was wearing were fiery against the muted tones around her, but when she exhaled that flickering seemed to breathe as well.

"Are you having fun, my queen?"

She looked up to the familiar voice and a slow smile started playing on her lips, the person in front of her angelic in the afterglow of the sunset.

"Hello, dear devil."