Sylphia opened her eyes inside a wicked place—a world that felt wrong, alive, and hungry.
Above her, the crimson moon hung like a bleeding wound, dripping red light across a city of sinners. The damned and the dead crowded the alleys, gambling away pieces of their souls, kissing shamelessly in corners, arguing, living, dying—nothing holy survived here.
And beside her walked the two Fallen Humans.Monsters, yes—but somehow, disturbingly wholesome.
Her body trembled from the aftermath of becoming… something else.Every muscle still felt torn apart and stitched together crooked.Her once-white hair now fell black and unholy, and her wings—no longer divine—ached like a pair of scars she couldn't unfeel or fold.
Sammail and the Jester walked a few steps ahead, arguing about nonsense, as if they'd forgotten she existed.
Every demon around them, however, hadn't.
Their eyes stabbed her with hatred.Their souls leaked wicked intent.
She couldn't walk.Couldn't speak.Her torn, blood-soaked clothes clung shamefully to her skin.
And the blood she wore—his blood—still felt warm on her lips.
A part of her wanted to taste it again.
Her vision reddened with hunger, shame, confusion.
"Have I really fallen that far?" she whispered."Or… was I always like this?"
She wanted to rip someone's throat open.Anyone's.Preferably her own.
Before she collapsed again, Sammail turned toward her, expression softened.
"Are you alright?"
He shrugged off his jacket and draped it over her shoulders gently.
"Sorry. Forgot. Let's keep moving."
Her eyes drifted to his neck—the place she had bitten.The mark she left.The mark of corruption.
Why wasn't he furious?
Sammail's smirk answered the question before she spoke it.
"It's fine. Honestly… thanks. All the other Fallen have marks. Now I've got one too."
He took her hand and pulled her along.
His palm was warm.
And that scared her more than demons ever could.
Ahead of them, the Jester tapped his foot impatiently, cigarette hanging between his teeth.
"Finally. What took you so long, Sammail?"
So that was his name.Sammail.
He smiled casually. "She zoned out. Anyway—are we heading home?"
The Jester cackled.
"Home? Ours? You tyrannical brat."
And yet his laughter was real.Warm.Strangely safe.
The Underworld's Streets
They walked together through the blood-lit alleys, Sammail still holding her hand "so she wouldn't get lost."
The crimson moon painted the world with violent beauty.Demons smoked.Spirits muttered curses.The damned glared like wolves too afraid to bite.
Sylphia swallowed hard.
They hate me.They all hate me.Because I—
A sharp flick tapped her forehead.She looked up.
The Jester smirked.
"They're not staring at you. They probably can't even tell you were an angel."
He exhaled smoke toward the sky.
"They hate Fallen Humans. Fear us, too.So don't feel unwelcome, little devil."
Then he turned sharply toward Sammail.
"And you can let go of her hand. She's not going to abandon you like your mother did."
Sammail's entire face went red.
He laughed—embarrassed.So did the Jester.
Sylphia didn't understand either of them.They laughed too much to be monsters.And yet—
They killed my friend.And still saved me.Why save someone useless like me?
She swallowed and forced herself to ask:
"So… why did you save me?You killed my friend.You—" She glared at the Jester."—kidnapped Heaven's Heart and tortured him.And you—" she turned to Sammail,"—killed him. And your own family. And cried afterward like you were the victim."
The Jester answered first.Expression flat.
"Reason? None."
Then a grin split his face like a wound.
"I helped Sammail. And I thought it'd be fun."
Her stomach twisted.He was not wholesome at all.
Her eyes drifted to Sammail for an explanation.
He sighed, rubbing his neck.
"You reminded me of someone I used to know," he said softly."And torturing someone just for following orders… isn't fair."
Half wholesome.Half monster.She didn't know which half frightened her more.
Jester tilted his head.
"So, what do you think of the Underworld so far?You seemed pretty interested in the crimson moon."
Sylphia hesitated.
"…It's complicated.Today was my first eclipse, first crimson moon, first time here.Hard to decide how shitty everything is."
Jester laughed proudly.
"But the moon…" she added, staring at the bleeding sky,"It feels… alive."
Sammail's voice dropped suddenly.
"Adam. Heaven's Heart.Is he well?"
She froze.
Why is he asking?He killed him.
But the truth slipped out anyway.
"He's at the highest realm of Heaven.With God. With the Archangels.I… never saw him. I was just a low hybrid."
Sammail's grin softened into something warm.Human, almost.
They finally reached it—
A mansion.
Old but elegant.
Dark but welcoming.
A palace built for monsters with hearts that still beat.
The Jester and Sammail opened the door for her.
Like she was royalty.
Sammail looked down, voice gentle in a way she didn't expect.
"You're not a hybrid anymore.You're one of us now."
A warmth bloomed in her chest.
Warmth that no angel—not one—had ever given her.