"Charlie... could you let me go?" I say while tapping her.
"No! If I let you go now, you could disappear again!"
Her grip tightened around me; she wasn't willing to let go.
Suddenly, a tall, slender figure spoke from behind Charlie.
"Dear, you should let go of your friend. He needs to breathe too." Her voice was silky, almost hypnotizing in a way.
"But... he might disappear again, Mama," she said, looking behind her.
"You don't have to be scared, dear, because..."
Her hand glowed, and Charlie's grip around me loosened as she floated up to her mother's arms.
"I am here. Nothing is going to take away your precious knight from you," she said, holding Charlie in her arms.
"Promise?" Charlie looked at her mother expectantly.
"Promise. Now, why don't you wash up? You smell like your father."
"What's that supposed to mean?" Lucifer raised his eyebrows at this.
"Oh, nothing. Now run along, Charlie." She gently placed Charlie down on the floor before leading her out of the room, where imp maids escorted her somewhere.
"Now, on to business. Greetings, little one. I am Queen Lilith, Queen of Hell and mother of Charlie. I thank you for saving my daughter in her hour of need. If anything had happened to her, I would have lost it and turned Hell upside down, and made those who even dared to—"
As she said that, Lucifer cut her off and was now trying to calm his wife down.
"Hey, don't stress on it too much. Charlie's here now, she's safe, and we have this cute wittle guy here to thank," he said, gesturing towards me.
Lilith took a deep breath and exhaled. She finally composed herself; she had a warm, motherly smile on her face.
"I'm sorry for the outburst. Charlie... she's the only daughter we have, and if anything were to happen to her... thank you for saving her. You have our eternal gratitude."
She and Lucifer gave me a bow, and not wanting to seem disrespectful, I accepted it.
"Um... thank you, Your Highnesses. I only did what I thought was right," I replied and gave a bow of my own.
As I finished bowing and looked up, Lilith was... observing me?
"Your voice... why do you sound like that? I've never heard anyone with a voice so... unique."
Was that an insult?
"Well, I was born with a voice like this. If it makes you uncomfortable, I could stop speaking whenever you're present, Your Highness."
"Oh, don't take it as an insult, dear. In fact, your voice is quite charming. I'd say most female nobles find it attractive at times. But do try avoiding relationships—someone so young shouldn't be dating."
"Ma'am... I'm 45," I say deadpan.
Both their eyes widened, but they seemed to have different reactions.
"You're... 45?" Lucifer said.
"Oh dear," Lilith said.
"Is there something wrong?"
Suddenly, Lilith grabbed me and placed me between her chest, hugging me tightly.
"Oh, you poor dear. Someone so young shouldn't be facing the problems of the world at such a young age." She hugged me, saying sweet nothings into the area where my ears should be.
I pulled my head out of her chest and saw Lucifer laughing hysterically.
"Oh man! Satan got schooled by a toddler!" he said, laughing uncontrollably on the floor. He was clutching his stomach and crying tears of joy.
"Um, ma'am, could you let go of me, please?"
"Oh, of course."
She placed me down, and I jumped onto the floor. I turned around and began asking questions.
"Is 45 really that young?"
Lilith looked at me like I was a toddler, and with a warm smile, she spoke.
"Well, for most demons or angels," she said, saying angels while looking at her laughing husband,
"they would usually age extremely slowly. The reason for this is to allow the power inside them to slowly take hold; if not, they would usually... explode.
"But demons who possess little to no power age at the same rate as humans, if not slower. The demon nobles have power but will age regularly just like anyone else, though they stop aging the moment they hit adulthood."
"But... I'm not like you guys. Sure, I'm immortal now, but I'm nothing like you."
She looked at me for a second, and suddenly her eyes glowed red. She looked at me with intrigue before her eyes returned to normal.
"Are you?" she said with a knowing smile.
"What did you do?" I asked Lilith.
"As I see it, you have a strange bloodline. Tell me, are you an angel by any chance?"
"I'm sorry to disappoint you, ma'am, but I'm not," I replied.
"That's a shame, but it wouldn't have helped anyway."
"Why's that?" I asked curiously.
"From what I can see, you have three brilliant lights shining within, but a much more sinister darkness enveloping all of them."
"What does that mean?"
"It means... I have no clue. You are the very first demon or angel I've seen that has eluded me, and I've been alive for a long time."
"But moving on—would you care to join us for dinner? Charlie should be almost done cleaning up, and I would love to eat some Wratheon boar steak."
"That would be lovely, ma'am."
"Please, call me Lilith. And oh, Lucifer, do try to hold it together during dinner."
Lucifer finally stopped laughing and got up quickly. He fixed his clothing before standing beside Lilith.
"Of course, my love, and I promise—no annoying Satan. I hope he had a nice bath," he said, the last part with a small snicker.
Lilith rolled her eyes at her husband's antics and placed a small kiss on his lips before turning to me.
"Come now, little one. The food is best served hot."
I quickly followed behind them, and we left the room.
We were now walking once more in a large hallway, and instead of skulls, rows of plants that looked like they were made of fire and rock decorated the halls.
When we finally entered the dining hall, it was filled with food of all shapes and sizes, and there in the middle was Satan, sitting in the center.
His eye had fully healed, and he was now munching on a large dragon leg.
When he finally noticed us, he simply ignored us and continued eating.
We all sat down, me sitting across from Lilith and beside Lucifer.
I looked around the table and saw a wide array of food—pasta, chicken, boar, cow, and even apple cakes and pie.
As I was beginning to dig in, the door opened, revealing Charlie wearing a small dress with an intricate apple-inspired design.
She scanned around the room, and her eyes landed on me.
She rushed over, but as soon as she reached the table, Lilith used her magic to float Charlie next to her.
Charlie looked disappointed.
I just stared at the angry little girl before I started eating.