Dear Asmodeus

The door swings open with a squeak of the hinges, and I am faced with dead air on the other side. There is no one and nothing but darkness. I can see the light off into the distance through the twilight, far off that the light is barely visible. My head twists around to see again, the stock still home of Sterlo, and before me, a doorway leading into darkness. It frightens me, terrifies me beyond belief, and has my knees smacking together as they shake. This is like the time before, the gloom that consumed my dream. Why is it different this time? Why is there a doorway in Sterlo's home that leads into the dream I've been having, a fantasy that I felt like I've had before?

My body wants me to stop prying, wants me to stop this pursuit and turn tail. It wants me to run from this dark abyss and pretend to have never have seen it, push it to the back of my mind. I want to; I want to turn and erase the image, yet my body refuses to listen to my command. Instead, I step forward, and through the door I go, which promptly shuts behind me and encases me with its crepuscule. I let out a frightful yell, trying to stop my legs from moving toward the light at the end of the room, but nothing I do and nothing I scream seems to stop them.

My curious legs need to know; they have to see what is calling me. It feels the need to know what my mind has been trying to tell me.

No, no, please. We don't know what is over there on the other side. We don't know what awaits us, what has been trying to dig its claws into us! We shouldn't be doing this; it will hurt us! It will hu—.

The light is surrounded by murkiness and is nothing but a ball that looks almost like a bulb. It glows and stays floating in the air, hanging by nothing. What is it, and why does it shine so? Tentatively, I reach toward the glow, and my fingers slowly wrap around its circumference. It feels as though it's calling me…

"Syntyche…Syntyche…"

It repeats this over and over, a name that does not belong to me, yet it draws me in. I had heard this name before, listened to this voice call out its name like so. What is this?

My hands grab the glowing globe and squeeze, and it explodes from between my fingers. Like a bomb, a shuddering shakes my body, and the blaze blinds me but only for a brief moment. Unlike before, when I open my eyes to check what the explosion did, I'm confronted with a strange scene. What seems to be a large tear, big enough for me to step through, the edges of the tear shinning a hint of that golden radiance. This… is this some sort of… portal?

The other side is just as dingy, if not more so, as the luster from the edges of the tear softly illuminates my face. The fear etching itself into my soul, I step through with no hesitation. I can no longer go back, and the only way forward seems to be this rip. My foot taps against the blackened ground, echoing off into the dark distance. It sounds almost like a marbled floor. The slash does not move as I wiggle my body fully through as I expected it to, and the other side seems to be even sootier.

Where am I, and why am I here?

The air biting at me with its slight chill, a shiver rolls through my body, and my hands' grip my arms to try to maintain my warmth. I look around, trying to catch sight of the following area I should be heading to. The red dot catches my wandering eye with nothing but coldness and inky shadows beyond it. Not a thought to stagger over, I make my way to the fluorescence. The closer I step towards it, the more strange the red light seems. With the pulsing, almost dying appearance, the red light gets brighter and a deeper shade of red.

I let out a gasp once I step before it, my shock sturring the fluids in my stomach, which makes a hand fly toward my mouth to cover it. "Is that… a bleeding heart?" I whisper into the air, shuddering at the grotesque sight. A metal rod stabs through the heart, poking out from each end of the throbbing organ, the bleeding a constant flow of red liquid that trails off the living object, dripping to the floor where a pool has already been formed. The heart, seemingly unfettered by the puncture, beats on with no trouble at all.

I shake my head, one hand covering my nose and the other shakily reaching toward the organ. Unsure of what exactly my body is doing, my fingers clasp around the rod and grip tightly.

The heart must be in pain… I have to help it. I have to ease its suffering.

With all my might, I yank the rod as hard as I can and rip it free from its cage. It releases with a sickening squelch, and the blood spurts out from the now open, gaping wound. It sprays out, and I let out a scream as I retreat, a thin coat of blood catching my arm and the rod. I drop it with a start, the hot and thick plasma slowly dripping down my arm. I shake my head hard, trying to scrub the liquid off with my other hand and only managing to smear it around more. Panting and nearly losing my senses, I let out a strangled cry and fall to my knees beside the rod.

Why is this happening to me?

"Syntyche…" A grumbling voice whispers out. The voice is deep and imposing yet soft, silky, and full of adoration. It is almost… loving; it is almost familiar. "My Syntyche…" It hushes again.

I look up to see a figure crouching before me, encased in such rich blackness that it actually stands apart from the caliginosity around us. Much darker than the void about us, two deep, rubied eyes gaze back at me from what I assume is the face. The eyes are as aphotic and deep as rich blood, and the figure crouches wide and seemingly tall. It is a massive being, much bigger than myself, and what I can only assume are moderately large, pointed horns on its head. From what I can make of it, its hair appears to be long and drape down its back and over its broad shoulders.

This is no human that is before me; it is a monster—a vile demon.

Yet… as I look at this creature, the fear escapes my body; I'm left with this twinge of… bliss? A safety net is cast over my own heart, and the pain and sorrow abandon me. I feel none of what I felt before; I am only filled with what I can describe as a sweet, enchanting bloom in my breast. My stomach and chest feel warm, and my body no longer feels cold. I get a sense that I will be safe with this sizable being by my side.

"W-who are you?" I choke out, my emotions welling up. Beneath the warmth is a never-ending well of sadness, prodding my eyes with the threat of tears. I feel repentance, for myself, for the creature, and I am not quite sure why. Does it live here, in this darkness alone? Is there no one to keep such a gentle creature company?

It makes no attempt to answer my question, as all it does is raise its palm towards me, holding it up for me to see. It waits patiently, its eyes boring into me with curiosity. It had called out the name to me, a name I have issues remembering where I had heard it before. Does it think that I am someone else? I raise my own hand and place it palm to palm with its own, feeling such heat from its body. It sends a jolt through me with its touch and a flash of something through my mind. The dark figure, standing in a meadow of beautiful flowers, a woman by his side and a raging flame off in the distance. It was a grand castle, licked up by the angry fire, its rage consuming the building entirely. The two figures hands clasp together tightly and seeing this makes my stomach drop.

"No… no stop… No, that isn't me! What… what have you done?! NO!" I scream and pull away from it with a fit of startling anger, my teeth gritting and the tears welling up. The entity bulks back from my scream, seemingly frightened by my outburst. It backs up, its eyes twittering back and forth as it retreats, and I notice its inky skin is shivering. "Wait… wait no, I'm sorry! Don't go, please!" I yelp softly, reaching out and taking a vast step forward to catch up to the being. It shakes its head quickly, raising its hand again, but its palm closed into a fist. I stop, knowing that I shouldn't attempt to chase it. I may get lost in this world if I follow after it.

"Real…Syntyche…Save…" It groans out and then poofs, its ashes scattering into the air and vanishing. I let out a shout, but it's already gone; in its place is a locket, as black as the ashes of the creature that left it. I lurch forward and snatch the locket from the ground as quickly as I can. When my fingers clutch the object between them, I hear another voice shouting at me.

"…p! H… ie on m…. Wake UP!"

My body shakes violently back and forth, almost as if I am rocking, and I panic, screaming out as my eyes reopen, "Asmodeus!" The brilliance from the room has me startled, and I have to squint in order to see the person in front of me, my eyes having been adjusted to the darkness. "Sterlo? What…what are you doing here?" I murmur, rubbing my eyes as they begin to burn from the brightness. That's when I notice that I'm sitting on a couch, sitting on Sterlo's couch in Sterlo's livingroom

I'm back? How?

"What did you just say?" He responds, his voice sounding a little deeper than usual. I peek back at him to notice his face is scrunched up onto a scowl, a very unpleasant, unhappy scowl.

"U-uhm… I'm sorry? I asked how you got here…?" I whisper again, wondering why my words have offended him so.

"No… whose name did you call?" He grounds out, and I hear his teeth grinding together. It almost makes me flinch in surprise; whoever I had called out must have angered him. Was it because it wasn't his own name? Is Sterlo that petty to be offended by such things when he knew that I didn't love him? Was it… his alias that I said? But why would I have done that? I hadn't been thinking about him. I had just…

Oh… was it all a dream? Did I fall asleep on the couch and into the delusion again? That would explain why I'm on the couch. "Answer me." He nearly barks at me, and it shocks me back into the present.

"S-Sterlo, what's the issue? Why are you so agitated?" I whimper out, too tired from my dream to deal with him like this on top of it. He gives a soft sigh and pulls back, giving me my space to breathe as he crouches before me. He runs his hands through his hair to pull it out of his face and exhales again, heavier like he's releasing his stress.

"I apologize; I just need to verify that I heard what I think I heard." He looks at me again, softer but wary, his hand resting on the top of his head.

"Well, I'm sorry to tell you that I really don't know who's name I called out… I don't even remember falling asleep on the couch." I shrug my shoulders at him, a shiver running through me. The memory of the dream runs through my head, and I bite my lip, wrapping my arms around my body. I hear a gentle clink as my closed fist presses against my arm. I look down at the hand and notice a thin, ebony chain peeking out from the creases between my fingers. I nearly gasp aloud on sight and instead shove both hands between my thighs to hide the object.

But it was supposed to be just a dream?!

"Sleeping? I see…" Sterlo runs his hand through his hair again as he sits there in thought, too distracted by his own worries to notice my sudden jerk. Why do I get the feeling that something happened… that he may know something? Why was he so upset earlier? Who did I call out to?

"Whose name did you hear…? And why are you here? Didn't you have things to do today?" I question him, my eyes watching him closely to attempt to read his body language. I know that this attempt is useless, as Sterlo must be able to lie like it's the truth, and I can't really read him well at all anyway. He finally looks at me, my hands squeezed between my thighs being the first thing he notices. He gives me a sly grin, leaving my question unanswered as he leans toward me.

He angles himself so closely that it causes me to push my head back into the couch, trying to keep the distance between us of which is quickly being closed. His forehead bare against mine, a palm comes up the cup my cheek within its slightly warm clutches. Not as warm as the dream I had, but warm enough for it to send a shock through me. I can only stare into his enchanting deep pink eyes as he closes in on me and plants a soft kiss upon my lips. The kiss soon turns more fierce, and he rises to plop one knee on one side of my body, and the other knee forces its way between my legs to push them apart. His free hand grabs my left hand, the one that miraculously has the charm in it, and raises it above my head.

I gasp loudly against his lips, getting hit with the realization that Sterlo must have seen the charm long before I had the chance to hide it and is going to rip it from my possession.

No, I can't let him have it; it's something I need to keep! It has to be a clue!

But unbeknownst to me, Sterlo takes this opportunity to plunge his tongue deep into my mouth, taking complete control of the kiss and pressing me further into the couch. My eyes roll up into my head from the pressure and the taste of his tongue, sweet and addictive. His smell had already invaded my senses and kicks in at this moment, my weakened and distracted mind being taken over, and I completely forget about my closed-fisted prize. I can feel his tongue tasting every corner of my mouth, his knee grinding into the lower, throbbing part of my body. A hot moan blows into his mouth, and he responds by kissing me harder, his hand leaving my face to trail its dainty fingers down my body with soft strokes, tracing circles into my trembling skin as it reaches further down. "S-Sterl…lo." I moan out into his gaping mouth that is clamped unto my own.

My muffled voice reaches his listening ears, and he gives a tight squeeze to my thigh before pulling back with another sickening sweet plop of a sound. The drool sliding down my chin, I pant heavily while his snaps resounds in my ear, and the heat slowly leaves my body. I am stuck shaking from his touch as he pulls away from me completely, and I see him wipe his mouth free from my saliva. I bring my hand back to myself, my other hand clasping around my wrist to stop the shaking, the locket digging into the flesh of my ever constricting grip.

"You are just too tantalizing to resist, my dear. I do so hope you do not mind if I garner a taste when I please." He chuckles to himself as he walks off, and I realize then that he had completely distracted me from the questions I had asked him. I snap out of my daze, but he has already left the room by the time I find my voice.

"That fool…" I grumble, feeling my heart racing in my chest. I stand slowly, navigating my way to my room with nimble, tiny feet, trying not to alert him that I have moved from my seat. I need to escape to my room to get away from him; I need to see what I picked up. I only feel safe and secure once the door is closed tightly shut behind me, unable to completely close him out as the door has no lock on it. I scramble into my bed and adjust the curtains to be all closed as they can be.

Sitting on my legs, I hold my hands on my knees, my closed fist looking up at me. Slowly, my fingers unclench, and the locket is again revealed to me. It is oval-shaped with two tiny wings on each side, engraved with a very intricate design, the chain knotted around the wings that seem to be of the same metal of the locket. It's all one piece, having all been made together from the same strip of metal. The black shines in some areas, but its wear and tear rubbing off the sheen and matting out most of its surface. I turn it over in my fingers and notice a relatively small hole, almost like a tiny key would fit into it. Perplexed, I attempt to open the locket by digging my fingernails between the two halves, but it's closed so tightly shut that I'm unable to do so.

A locket with a key? How am I supposed to open this without the key? Whose locket is this? What is inside?

More questions that are apparent will be unanswered, my hands fall flat into my lap. I'm not sure why, but I have a gut feeling that I cannot show this to Sterlo. The design on the lockets seems remarkable, essentially like an emblem, and the wings are clearly significant. I ball it up and climb to the edge of the bed, sliding the locket beneath the mattress and the box frame. I will have to keep an eye on it if Sterlo ever comes in to change the sheets.

Sitting on my bed, I stare up at the painted ceiling absentmindedly. Will all of my dreams leave me this tired? Will this be an occurrence that happens every day?

Do I want this to happen? And what about what that thing had said to me, to save. Save what? What do I save?

I am tired, too tired. There is so much on my plate that it feels as though my head may overload. I can barely stand it. Why is this happening to me? Who was I? I'm not anyone important, so why does this keep happening?

I can't seem to keep my grasp on reality, and reality is starting to seem like a fairytale. My dreams are dreams, yet this item is authentic. Reality is so twisted and broken that it resembles a very long dream. Sterlo, Zero, Dijack… Asmo—….

A knock on my door causes me to look up, my reply almost instant, "C-come in."

The door opens with a soft swoosh, and Sterlo steps into my room, a small smile on his lips. "I assumed that you haven't eaten today?" He smiles even more expansive, opening the door more and beckoning me to come forward from my room. "Join me, dearest."

I nod, giving a small smile back to him as I push those thoughts back once more, not wanting to worry about things that I can't solve anyway and not wanting to delve even deeper into something that may only drive me insane.

"I'll join you."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Two weeks have passed since I came across the locket, and nothing has changed. The days draw on, and it gets more challenging for me to believe that the events had actually happened or if it really was just a dream. The only thing clinging to it is my heart, my instincts telling me it was real and that I must protect it with my life. Sterlo's advances have steadily been increasing. He never touches me for too long or feels me, really.

His kisses have grown in length and greed as if he himself is slowly losing control, but his patience is so vast that it's struggling to win over. His desires must be boiling over, but he cannot bring himself to take me. His lips and his fingers on my arms, legs, hair, and face… are practically ingrained into my memory. Even when he is not doing this, it feels like he is.

He keeps his distance from me most of the time, wanting to keep me from the effects of his scent. I have gotten used to it in a sense, but I cannot stand both his body and his smell at the same time. Not to mention the way his lips and tongue taste; it's unimaginable. What is with his body? I had had to move the necklace into the nightstand beside the bed, wrapping it in a handkerchief to make it less noticeable in the drawer. He had sent a handmaiden into the room to clean up and change the bedding. They don't live here, but they do come around when he calls upon them to clean up.

I have also noticed how chaotic Sterlo's schedule is. He is in and out of the house at random hours throughout the day, different periods with each outing that I can never know when he will be home and when he will not. It's almost understandable why he doesn't keep a woman around for too long; this is the way he lives, and he doesn't seem to want to change it. A woman would only get in his way or complain about his wild lifestyle.

I pay it no mind; I am living here for free with no restraints other than the fact that I cannot freely leave the house, and I am grateful for his help. He was trying his best, yet I was having trouble forgetting Zero. He would pop into my head at random times when I'm alone and sometimes when Sterlo was pouncing on me. Somehow he would know, would know that my thoughts have wandered, and it would force him to back off. Even more strange, he never brought up what had happened that night he had come home to me. Never asked again and never brought it up, almost as if he were pretending it hadn't happened. It made me feel insane in a way.

Why? Why couldn't I get over it? The locket was locked tightly away and out of sight, yet I couldn't help thinking about it. I wanted to know what was inside of it, yet it was so far gone from me. Why haven't I dreamt again? Why hasn't it come back to me? Did I scare it away? Was it indeed a dream? I didn't want it to be; I wanted it to be honest, to feel special. It came to me because I am unique, right?

Not that it mattered; what I want more is to know what it wanted, what it needed from me. Could I help it? Is it asking for help? Does it think that I am someone I am not? I desire to know what's going on and why I am in the middle of it.

I look up and note that I am standing before the front door of Sterlo's home. I can feel my fingers balling up into a fist, a gurgle of anxiety bubbling up from deep within me.

If I knock, will it come?

My hands are sweaty, and my feet itch to step back and away from the door. This door has brung me nothing but anxiety; I have stepped through and never left. I have been trapped inside of this home, and the only time I have been able to go was to be confronted by such a scarcity of light that it seemed to be an empty hell. Should I knock? Would anything happen if I did?

This door wasn't particularly special; it did nothing but open and close, and it did nothing but release Sterlo from my sight. It might have just been by chance that it happened, or it sincerely was just a dream that I had that allowed me to walk through the door. But I have to try at least, right? Even if nothing happens, I will know that there is nothing that I can do.

But would that be the case? If nothing indeed didn't happen, would that sate my curiosity? Would it stop me, would it ward me off of its scent, or would it make me more intrigued? Would it force me to move my own hand and find a way in myself?

What should I do?

My chest feels as though it will burst from my body, the pounding in my breast thundering in my head. Just… knock.

Just knock!

KNOCK KNOCK KNOCK

For a moment, my brain is scattered, and I forget that my raised fist had been the one to make that sound. The tinge of pain in my knuckles has me pulling back my hand to rub the aching bones, waiting anxiously for a response, some sort of affirmation that it has worked.

Nothing. Not a sound echoes back, and the two doors stay in their place, tightly hugging against one another and nothing morphing in my sight. It's a fluke. Or at least it won't happen this way. I swallow the ball in my throat and exhale. The trembling subsiding, I realize something.

I really do need to do this, to stop avoiding it and put myself in the way of this strange occurrence. I can hear something calling to me, something so distant that I have been trying to speak over it to disguise it. Someone needs my help, and I am unsure if I would be of any use. But… I can't just ignore them.

What if Sterlo and Zero, Dijack, and his friends… what if they had ignored me? Would I have died?

What if they are dying? What if they need to be saved? Save… save me?

Do they need to be saved? A ding snaps me back to here and now, and my head shoots up just in time to see the doors creak, pop, and slide open with smooth, oiled speed. With a hiss, the doors settle as the figure on the other side takes a step forward into the entranceway. Shocked and disturbed, I stumble back from the figure once I notice that this isn't Sterlo.

It only takes a few moments after that to see who it is. There is only one other man who could so confidently waltz into Sterlo's home. So casually, as if he has been here so many times, a card held tight in his hand that no doubt had Sterlos key code programmed into it.

"Z-zero…" I sputter out, my gasp being muffled by the slap of my hand, my collar beginning to feel ever more heavily on my throat.

No, I can't let him see me like this. I can't let him know what I have succumbed to, what I did to get away from him… No… what I did to escape those budding feelings I had for him. This was all my fault to begin with, and….

I snap myself around in a second to flee, my feet planting firmly into the ground as I get ready to escape into my room where he wouldn't be able to see me. But I took too long, and my thoughts have slowed my steps; a hand snatches me up by the elbow and yanks me off balance, where I catch myself quickly to keep from stumbling into the man behind me. "N-no, let me go!" I shout, refusing to turn and face the man, in fear that my tears may begin to spill.

I hear a CH of him kissing his teeth, and his grip tightens ever more that it begins to hurt. "Why are you here." He growls at me, almost angrily.

I glare at him over my shoulder, my anger welling up and breaking through my restraint. "That's none of your business! Why are you here!" I shout back at him, trying to pry my arm from his grip with my other hand. This only seems to anger him more, and soon my freehand is imprisoned by his, and he slams me against the wall opposite the elevator. Both wrists being held above my head, I have no choice but to face the man I had run from and bare my collar with embarrassment. There is no way I can hide it from him now.

"HA! I was bothered and begged to retrieve his product…" He cuts himself off as his eyes catch sight of the reflective hunk of metal wrapped around my neck. I shift uncomfortably under his gaze, trying stubbornly to pull from him. He gives a loud cackle, tilting his head back as he laughs at me and the scene before him. This makes his hold even more substantial, and I wince from it. "I came to pick up his next sale! I should have known better!" He growls lowly at the end of his statement, taking both of my wrists in one hand and his other snatching up my chin and pulling it so hard that I rise to my toes to keep him from yanking my head off. Squinting and in pain, my voice comes out strangled.

"S-stop… you're hurting me."

"Well! You should have expended that simpleton brain of yours and worked to stop being such a poor, worthless, imbecile!" He shouts into my face, his spit flying into my eyes. I shake my head, but his grip on me is too tight, and I can't move.

"Z-zero…" I groan out. He stares at me, his anger unending, and I can't understand why. I knew this would infuriate him, but why is he so upset by this? What has this made him feel? What have I done?

Why is he saying that I am a sale?

"You did not read the contract, did you? God, you women are so gullible, so moronic!" He pulls away from me so suddenly that my legs don't catch my falling body, and I slam against the ground. I am offended beyond belief and hurt, I glare up at him with tears in my eyes, but he's already lost interest and is tapping away on his watch. It rings a few times, and I assume he is taking this time to call Sterlo. I'm not sure what is going on, but I am beginning to believe that I have done something utterly stupid.

I am Sterlo's sale….

I should have known better. I knew that this had to be too good to be true, why Sterlo never put his hands on me, why he continued to keep his distance and the apologetic look he wore on his face. I should have known there was a deeper meaning to that look. What other reason did he have to feel sorry for a stranger like me that had angered his best friend? I angered his best friend… surely he would have done something to get back at me for such an act.

Was this his revenge? Did he feel sorry because he saw the pain in my own heart? Is it too late for him to fix it? It doesn't have anything to do with the necklace… does it?

Does he know? Does he know?

My thoughts racing only makes me panic more. The pain and fear welling up, and my words becoming uncontrollable. I can't stop the ideas, can't subside my worries. The words spoken to me have disturbed me, and the anxiety build-up is ready to explode. And I do.

Sterlo answers with such sweetness in his voice, "Did you find it, dear? Do not forget to bring it to me in one piece!" He chimes like a bell. Zero growls like an angered dog, his hand clenched at his side as the other holds the watch up to his face.

Before Zero can even speak, I am on my feet and sprinting up the stairs to my bedroom. I know that I cannot escape this fate; I have done something to myself that I won't get out of. I could leap from the window, but I am not sure how high we are, and if I miss my target, I could end up splatting against the sidewalk. No, there is one thing I need to at least grab before anything else.

I slam the door shut behind me, hearing the shot of Zero and heavy footsteps as he slowly chases me down, seemingly uninterested in this chase. I take the time I have to shove the heavy dresser in front of the door, taking more time than I intended to push it. Its legs scratch at the ground, and I barely have time to scatter to the nightstand before I hear the door handle jiggle. Pulling apart the cloth I had carefully tied around the locket, I unhook the clasp and place it around my neck. Shoving the locket between my breasts to hide it, my corset holding them tightly in place, I look to the door one last time.

"Pheonix, this is a pointless act. You have nowhere to run to, nor would you be able to in the first place. That collar is your leash." Zero sighs on the other side of the door, already bubbling down from his anger and too annoyed to really care to chase me. Another voice screeches in a more worried tone.

"Zero! You better not let her leave! I do not know what is going on, but I cannot afford to lose this, and I am much too old to be chasing a woman down the street! If you could please put more effort into restraining her, thank you so kindly!" Sterlo whines, clearly stressed from Zero's blatant non-caring attitude. I suppose that Sterlo has sold me, to who and where I could not guess, and under what circumstances. This could be incredibly dangerous, and I have two choices.

If I want to find the one who gave me this necklace, I should run. "I'm sorry, Zero! I'm so sorry, this wasn't supposed to go this way! Please, please forgive me!" I shout as I run to the window, ripping down the curtains and prying on the wooden frame. It won't open, but that doesn't stop me. I take the end of my annoyingly long dress and drape it over my elbow, and with a wince, slam it as hard as I can into the window, which falls to pieces with a crash. This sound alerts Zero.

"What are you doing in there, you mad woman?! You better not be doing what I suspect you are!" I hear a loud buzz from outside of the room, and soon a loud pop follows, wood and scrap flying out from where the door and dresser once stood. A piece flies out toward me with such speed that I don't have time to dodge, and it hit me right in the throat. I gasp out from the pain, and a clang rings in my ears. The collar deflected the broken piece of wood, and a bit of it had gotten lodged in the crease where Sterlo would scan it with his watch.

A loud beeping and a puff of smoke invaded my lungs that had me coughing it up.

What the hell, Zero had a bomb? Why? Why is the collar smoking?

I know I don't have any time left, and it's do or die. I snatch up a scrap of glass from the ground and clench it tightly in my hand, its sharpness digging into my flesh. A warmth I know to be blood leaks from the fresh cuts. The smoke around the doorway slowly clears as Zero emerges from it, but my body has already settled in the window sill. My cut hand has already cut through chunks of the dress with the glass and ripped it off. Pieces of my clothing covering the floor, with the glass, wood, and a bit of my blood, Zero and I make eye contact for only but a moment.

"Don't follow me…."

"Pheonix, do not!" He shouts and launches himself forward to catch me, but I've already dug my feet into the window and pushed myself from the building. My legs using their strength to propel my body, I grip the chain of the locket for dear life, and my body flies through the air before I begin my plummet. I keep my eyes shut, seeing Zero's horrified face for just a moment as my unstoppable descent begins. I hear him scream, and I know that this maneuver is somewhat risky.

No, it's a wrong decision in general, as there are so many things that I could hit on my way down. The air whips my hair wildly about me, and my clothes dance crazily, the tears only tearing more as I fall faster and faster. The sound of something solid flies past me, and I know I must have just barely missed the sidewalk. I open my eyes and see just how tall the apartment was. Sterlo's home must have been on the top floor. With jerky, uncoordinated movements, I manage to flip my body around using the wind, rolling a few times before I manage to catch myself and face the ground. The rolling of my body moves me slightly through the air, and I barely miss my crash into a flying vehicle, the screech of the wind in my ears deafening my own scream. I continue to fall and fall, and my distance to the apartment grows larger and larger. The upper half seems to have two layers of building, the rich taking the very top and the still rich but not taking the lower half. Buildings are still elegant but not as bright and cheerful; I can get a grand view from my fall before realizing that there is some sort of solid-like object beneath me, almost black in color. It appears to be a road, and the cars flying over it have no idea that I am about to land right on top of them.

I scream out, but I know that no one can hear me. My tears get swept up, and my fingers quake as I pull the locket out and squeeze it so hard that my nails dig into my palms. The blood drips from my already opened wound, and more so as I break the skin with my own nails. The blood coats the locket in my hands, but I can't bring myself to care as the cars grow closer and closer. Some bystanders on the sidewalks must have seen or heard me as they come to a stop and look up. It causes a stir, and more people being to point and yell words that I can't hear.

Unfortunately for me, this isn't going to solve my dilemma; I will still fall, and I will still die from the impact, no matter that I hit. No wonder Zero had been so fervent to stop me; he knew that I was going to jump to my death. Why did I jump? Why didn't I just wait… or succumb to my wretched fate?

Trust in the darkness. A voice whispers into my mind. It catches me off guard, and in my desperate state, I pull the locket to my chest over my heart, the blood having warmed it slightly and smearing onto my clothes, and shout, "Asmodeus!" My eyes squeeze shut as the ground breaks my fall, but the pain doesn't follow. It feels as though my body passed through the land, and the slick, smooth floor feels cold to the touch. My body no longer feels weightless.

I sit up, my adrenaline bursting through my veins, my breath ragged and cracking. My hand still over my heart; I practice breathing to my counting, attempting to ease my stress. It takes a few moments, but I manage to still the anxiety, though the shivering would not obey—the air, crisp like an early winter morning. The world around me once again as dark as a starless night, I look about. "Asmodeus…" I whisper out, the words sliding off of my tongue like velvet. Why did I call out this name, and why did that bring me here?

I can't be dreaming again… unless this means I am dead… or maybe I survived the fall, and I am now in a coma.

A coma…

"Are you… injured?" The voice asks, and I look around anxiously.

"Why are you hiding?" I plead with the air, reaching out a blood-soaked hand. My blood… Did the plasma summon it? I gaze down at the locket in my hand, the blood no longer covers it, but it instead glows a deep crimson coming from inside, peeking out from the crack. "Do you… have the key?"

"I do not… have the strength… you must find… feed the heart… the key… the key is below…." Its tired voice is barely above a whisper, and it's slowly fading out. Saving me must have zapped whatever strength it had… is that why it hasn't come to see me again?

So it is dying?

"Below? Below where?!" I shout into the abyss. Its reply is slow and broken and barely audible.

"Below… unsafe… hidden in the mist… ruins of Mazdayas…." Silence follows its words, and I burn the name into my head.

"Below… unsafe… mist of Mazdayas… That must be below us? Below the…" It's below the safe zone. This means I have to get to the world below. But how? The air is supposedly poisonous and would kill me, not to mention the rumors of the infected. And Mazdayas… where exactly is that? What heart do I need to feed, and with what?

I gaze down at the locket in my hands, the red flow more faint than before. Is… this the heart? Is this Asmodeus's heart, in this locket?

If only I had taken a look at those books in Sterlo's library! All that time I had….

I shake my head; berating myself will do no good now. I have to find a way out of this between world. I have to be alive; I refuse to die like this. This creature… I think it knows me; this must be what I had been doing before I lost my memory. Maybe this was the project I had been working on… what had gotten me hurt? Who is Syntyche? Finding that out should also do me some good.

But first… the exit.