Madeline could tell Beth was contemplating everything she had done in her life, but what Madeline saw through Beth and experienced back in Hell, the past actions were not done out of purpose. Children at that age went with the flow and excitement.
She heard Calhoun question Odin, “Do you know how to open the portal to the living world?”
“I do, Master Calhoun. But I think you need to wait for Master Vladimir to finish his nap. We are trying to withhold the demons from passing in and out from Hell,” informed Odin.
“Hell is not a feasible place for both the ladies right now and as you can see,” said Calhoun, glancing at Beth who was quiet, “I would prefer to have them in a place where there’s less threat. We’ll pass through quickly, and you can close the portal as tight as you can,” his red eyes peered down at the servant.
Odin tapped his hand on his leg before nodding his head, without knowing that Vladimir wanted to keep the portals closed so that Calhoun and the others wouldn’t leave Hell until what he wanted was achieved.
“As you say, Master Calhoun,” obliged the servant by bowing his head, and he moved his hand from top to bottom in front of him for a black hole to appear.
“Thank you for your help, Mr. Odin,” Madeline bowed at Odin who looked at the girl with the utmost respect.
“I only opened the portal,” Odin didn’t know what was so big about this. He had opened and closed the portal many times in the past. Madeline was the first one to step inside the portal.
When it was Beth’s turn to step inside the portal, she placed her hand to the side of the portal, and she turned back to look at the demoness who was on the ground. As Jennine was dead, her body started to dissipate up in the air into fragments, and Odin looked at Beth with a curious expression.
Beth bowed her head before stepping inside the portal and stepping out of Hell.
Calhoun came to stand next to Odin, and he said, “You are a brave man, Odin.”
Patting Odin’s back, Calhoun stepped into the black portal. A few seconds later, the portal closed behind him. They were back in the castle without needing to travel from the graveyard to here.
Calhoun hugged Madeline, keeping her close before pulling away from her to make sure she was alright. Madeline let a sigh of relief out of her lips, glad that they were all back in the living world without being harmed or held back by the Devil.
“Do you think Odin will be alright?” asked Madeline in slight worry as they had sneaked out from Hell. Who knew how angry Vladimir would be when he woke up from his mini nap to find them missing from the underworld.
“He will be alright. Vlad seems to like to keep him around and likes him. I doubt he would be tortured too much,” replied Calhoun, and he leaned forward to kiss her forehead.
Madeline smiled at this, and she looked at Beth, who had entered the castle. When her eyes met Calhoun’s again, he nodded his head, “I will go and check to see if everything is fairing well in the castle,” and he left Madeline with Beth.
Madeline knew that Beth had entered Hell with the thought to see Raphael and talk to him, but instead of meeting him, she ended up meeting the one person who believed Beth to be her friend. Walking to where her sister was, Madeline placed her hand on Beth’s arm to gain her attention.
“I was thinking of having some tea, do you want to join me? Or do you want me to walk you back to your room?” asked Madeline.
For two seconds when Beth didn’t respond, Madeline turned worried if something happened as her sister didn’t reply. When Beth’s bright green eyes did meet Madeline’s brown ones, tears started to brim up her eyes.
“Oh, Beth,” said Madeline, opening her arms, and hugging Beth while rubbing her back.
“I didn’t mean to hurt anyone,” whispered Beth.
“And you didn’t,” said Madeline, sensing the heaviness in her sister’s heart. “You didn’t do anything, Beth. She depended too much on you, and maybe it was not wrong, but you need to remember that she killed people. She killed Johnathan with whom we were friends with, and she tried to kill me…” but the dark angel in Madeline had come out and sent the demoness back to Hell.
It made Madeline wonder if Jennine was a demon child, who grew up like any other creature in the living world. It was probably why Jennine didn’t remember Madeline killing her the first time, until the second time Jennine came back to the living world with her memories intact.
“You did what best you could do, Beth,” said Madeline and Beth held on to her sister.
After a while, when Beth had gathered herself, she pulled back to say, “I am sorry for causing trouble earlier today.”
“That’s okay,” replied Madeline. “I am just happy that we are all okay.”
Even though Beth almost got into trouble, they didn’t have to worry about Jennine trying to take Beth’s life again. It was a strange feeling, and it was hard to hate on the demoness because it felt like she was lonely, and the only person who must have shown compassion to her was Beth. But at the same time, a friend had to know where to stop and not step on boundaries.
Back in Hell, Odin hummed something under his breath and made his way towards his Master’s quarters. He saw his Master was already out of the bath and wearing his clothes now.
“Master, an outbreak took place in the Tower of Chains because of a demoness. But Master Calhoun killed her, and all the creatures are back in their cages,” reported Odin dutifully.
“And where are Calhoun and the others?” questioned Vladimir.
To this question, Odin replied, “They must have reached the castle, Master-“
“What?” frowned Vladimir. “How did that happen?” and his eyes narrowed at Odin, making the servant wonder if he did something that he was not supposed to do.
