Chapter 100: SYMPHATHY FOR THE ENEMY

Ken walked further, his head looking straight ahead,

Afraid that if he catch any demon's attention, he'd probably be clawed to death.

Nemue sighed, since Ken was too slow,

So she turned around, "Walk quicker, but keep your head low,"

Ken followed her command, and soon they made it to a stench filled place,

Nemue whispered a chant, and several torches lit up with flames.

The zombies were aware of their master's return,

That they began to growl, as their stomachs churn.

Nemue rose her hand, and several buckets went to the room,

As Ken watched in awe, how much the zombies yearned for food.

Nemue even apologized, saying there was no fresh meat,

As all of them had died, and butchered until they're as small as could be.

Ken didn't feel comfortable being too close,

Although he and Nemue were above them, and was safe, he supposed.

Something about the sound they make, and the smell they emit,

Makes his stomach turn, and his knees so weak.

"You don't seem too responsive, Ken,

I told you, you'd help me feed them,"

Nemue handed him a bucket of his own,

As Nemue pointed to the side, "That is where it should be thrown,"

Ken gulped his fear as he slowly walk towards them,

When he saw several rotting corpses calling, his eyes widened.

They look even worse before, far more than what he imagined,

Grayish in color, deteriorating, crumbling to fragments.

Some cannot even walk, some lost half of their head,

Some lost their own jaw, while some are covered in red.

Some had their eyes falling out, some had flies in their mouth,

Some had hair falling out, as others are stepped on about.

They look terrifying, yet so heart-wrenching,

Their whole existence, only craves for eating.

Ken wondered how they're still alive,

Because at such pitiful state, they'd rather die.

He wondered if making them hungry would kill them,

So he looked at Nemue, who quickly asked what's the problem.

"Why do you still need to feed them? Aren't they immortal?"

"They'd make a lot of noise, Belphegor would yell at me as usual.

Mr. Sleepy Elf-ears has a sensitive ear,

He gets all his requests, as he's quite feared,"

"Belphegor..? What does he look like?"

"Handsome? Tall. Had bangs covering his other eye,

Gloomy, serious, would sleep majority of his life,

He barely goes out of his room, until Lucifer commands him to provide,"

"Belphegor...hm, I think I saw him at that room where Azazel took my eye!"

"Ah, I think I know why,

Your screams might be pretty loud,

He hated noise, although to Prince Asmodeus he's quite fond,"

"How does he not complain with Asmodeus if he's the Lord of Lust?

Ain't his activities supposed to be noisy? Because you know? All people who does that was?"

"You're making me uncomfortable, and I didn't thought you'd be the type to ask,

But you see, Asmodeus possess a lot of magic knowledge, I mean...pretty LOT,"

"And? What does it do?"

"He has seals that could muffle noise if he'd want to,

He can even stop his own fertility by merely drinking a potion,

A reason why after all those years, he's still not a father, nor did he asked for abortion.

He's gifted with enchanted objects too, as he had a lot of women,

And his room was so guarded that, not one had been stolen.

I don't know a lot about what they do to defend,

But his favorite was the amulet, and the burning chains.

Hahah, you're quite curious, huh? But you still haven't done much work,

You need to throw another bucket, maybe 5 more,"

"Ah, sorry...sorry, but one question,"

"Yes?"

"How are these monsters?"

Nemue saw compassion in Ken's eye,

Something she haven't seen in a while,

Not that all of them were heartless in such hell,

But Ken's expression was more clear, much easy to tell.

She pursed her lip, then looked at the monsters,

"Their souls are trapped, but I must keep them alive, as it was ordered by Lucifer.

We cannot disobey him, we owe a lot to the Lord of Darkness,

We need to follow every word he say,

Or suffer his madness,"

"Have you ever wished them peace?"

Nemue looked at Ken quickly,

"Well, I want them to look prettier at least,

It's hard to see them everyday,

They stink, and they're ugly, but there's no other way.

They'll never be satisfied,

They'd ask for more, as I, provide.

It mirrors Lucifer's endless pride,

They all want more, both lost their minds,"

"Lucifer...hm, but..what was he like?

What were you fallens like?"

"Ah, now you took interest in Lord Lucifer?

The Emperor of Demons, and Kings of Bitter?

Hahah, alright, I'd tell you, but don't tell anyone else,

You see, he's not as flawless as he thinks,

To be honest, he's quite a mess.

I pity Lord Lucifer. He had a part of him that's just and kind,

He gave me all I need, and when I seek for him, he doesn't turn blind.

But somehow, his ruthlessness covers all of the little good things he's done,

As he believes he's superior, and those that oppose him should be gone.

His heart becomes heavier every passing decade,

Not contented of what he yet has to take.

True, I do enjoy causing chaos time to time,

But demons can get depressed, not everytime they'd end up fine.

But the low scale of empathy here, worsens their mental state,

All of us are a bit crazy, in our own little ways,

Ken, we're not as invincible and mighty as you think.

We're just like you, we can cry, and be weak.

We are angels, with so much freedom,

But still afraid to show, our hurt and pain,

Weakness here, is not welcomed,

It's no surprise, most of us turned insane.

Ken, the only difference between us and the angels is our feelings deep inside,

They have uniform thinking, uniform mind,

But we, we have our own problems, our own story,

Which those angels chose to ignore, as they punish us one by one for what they call, 'glory,'

They were never sorry,

Didn't even took time to understand our reasons,

They believe that life is black and white,

They believe that there's a clear line between wrong and right.

And we believe that we're all heroes on our side,

And villains, on the other's mind,

You just need a wider look, to see who is the most evil of all,

The one who played with our lives, the one most claim to adore,"

Ken felt uncomfortable hearing her words,

Knowing that she's talking about the one True Lord,

He knew that she was just finding reasons so he could accept her,

But in reality, no matter what she does, she's still a monster.

No reason would justify a wrong action,

No situation, would justify a wrong decision,

In the end, if one chose to succumb to the negativity of their emotions,

Then they failed themselves, and they picked the wrong solution.

Ken did pity Nemue, he wasn't as perfect after all,

But he will never join her, as he created a huge wall,

In which he picks what to believe, and what to discard,

Because knowing what's right, isn't actually hard.

What's hard is doing it, but we were honed aware of wrong and right,

Though some choose to go blind, when the situation is tight.

Ken only threw more meat, as he followed her back calmly,

Thinking about what she just said, though reminding himself that they're still enemies.

He knows that manipulation is their strongest weapon,

That they'd try and persuade him, after all, they're witches and demons.

But he needs to ignore, to remember all the times God saved him,

He needs to cling to the light, even when the darkness tightens its grip.

He went to the bathroom, and threw up,

The stench won't leave his nose,

The visions of those dead faces too, won't simply stop.

He washed his face,

Hoping to remove all the trace,

But despite being drenched in water,

He could still imagine the awful taste.

He felt his head spin, as a sharp sensation hit his head,

He saw a thousand images, suddenly played,

His visions were getting stronger, and harder to hide,

It caused his nose to bleed, as he felt a pinch on his sides.

He doesn't understand a thing,

and he hoped his race ends with him,

For although as a kid he longed for poweful abilities,

It was still incomparable to the pain he now feels.

He felt his eye tear up, as he force himself to gag,

But nothing ever did came up.

He wiped his tears and tried to calm down,

Wishing that Michael was there, beside him right now.

For whatever reason, the sudden thought of Michael took him to a vision,

Where he then saw his trampled situation,

His cell was dirty, and his clothes were tattered,

His eyes looked restless, and one could tell he did suffer.

Ken quickly felt himself break down after the vision,

Feeling regretful, that he had yet to fulfill his mission,

How much more would suffer until he gets the courage to fight?

Ken wiped his tears, as he planned his next moves through the night.