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Chapter five:

The cave lay at the foot of the Grief Mountains, just where the Petrified Forest began. Danny wasn't very fond of walking among the groaning trees at night, but he gritted his teeth, kept telling himself that he wasn't a kid anymore. It mostly worked. The only light came from the lake, but it was more than enough for Danny's sensitive eyes.

He had found the cave years ago. From the outside it looked more like a hollow between the roots of a dead tree than an actual cave, but it had been enough for his lithe form so slither into, allowing him to escape Damien and some of his brother's unpleasant friends. Why they had been chasing him, Danny could no longer remember; he might have earned their irk or he might not. It didn't really matter. He had fallen asleep in there, and hours later when he returned home, he had half convinced Damien that he had superpowers.

This time he just barely managed to fit through the opening. In a year or so he would be too big. The thought saddened him, but then again, he could always dig and make the hole larger. From inside, the cave looked just as he remembered it, and as always, its size made Danny almost feel dizzy. It could easily fit the Palace's banquet hall. Danny felt his way along one wall until he found what he was looking for. A smooth slab of bare rock just large enough to fit a boy. Before long, he closed his eyes and followed his salamander friend to the grassy plain. The wingelf was already there, greeting him with a mellow cerise.

"He's not coming, huh?" She flared a fiery red. "I really need to see him. Even if he don't want to be my friend no more, I gotta know he's all right."

She left with an audible pop, and Danny started pacing back and forth. The sky matched his troubled mood, and soon it began to rain. Danny welcomed the cold drops. They felt soothing, took his thoughts away from home and helped with his restlessness. He knew that time worked differently in different places, but he could still not help but wonder what took them so long. Did Ari refuse to see him? But if so, then why didn't the wingelf return to tell him? He was just about to scream out his frustration when another pop made him turn around.

Ari stood there, dressed in his usual white robe which was rapidly drenched by the falling rain. He seemed to have grown a little since they last met, or at least filled out a bit with muscles. His golden hair was longer, but what struck Danny the most was his friend's eyes. They looked almost empty, as if the kind heart and keen mind and gentle soul that had so drawn Danny in, no longer resided there. Still, the devil boy couldn't help a smile from forming on his lips.

"There you are," he breathed, his voice not entirely steady. "At last!"

To his dismay, he saw Ari stare at him as if he had never seen him before, then his features took on an emotion Danny had never seen there before. Disgust.

"Devil!"

The word was spat out like a curse, and Danny felt all his hopes and wishes crumble. He shook his head, but could not find his voice again. When Ari ran up to him, and punched him in the face, he didn't even lift his hands to defend himself. He landed on his back, looking up at the angel boy, who was now trembling with rage.

"Ari..."

"Why did you bring me here? I was... I was almost pure! But now...?"

"Ari, please. Why are you...?"

"Don't say my name! You have no right to."

Ari raised his fist again, and Danny steeled himself for another hit. It didn't come, though. Instead Ari sank to his knees right next to Danny, splattering mud over them both. For a brief second, Danny's hopes soared, but then Ari turned towards him with such pain in his eyes that Danny let out a whimper.

"Were you the one who tainted me? The Light... I'll never get to..." The angel boy sobbed, then punched the mud next to Danny's face. "Why did you bring me here?"

"Ari, don't you remember me?" Danny stood up on his knees, but when he tried to touch Ari, the other shied away. "I'm your friend."

"I'm not friends with a devil. Begone!"

"Remember halloween? We... we ate candy together."

"No!" Ari stood up and started to run, but after a couple of paces he stopped and turned around. "You! You ruined everything, and now you're doing it again."

"Please, don't say that." Danny had started crying, but he didn't care. Every angry word tore through him, leaving his heart raw and bleeding. "You don't mean..."

"You can't tell me what I mean." Ari's voice broke, and he ran his fingers through his rain-soaked, mud-streaked hair. "You don't know how long I worked to get pure. Michael... I failed him. Failed myself."

"No... Ari, you haven't failed." Danny tried to stand up, but slipped and fell on his butt. His will left him then, and he raked his fingers through the mud. "You're not tainted, Ari, you're perfect."

* * * * * *

A wordless scream tore through Ari's throat. Why would the cursed devil not just leave him alone? Who was he, to tell an angel wether he were tainted or not? Ari's mind was split in half. He wanted to go back there and hit the devil boy again, but he also wanted to leave. To run back home and wish that this had all been a dream. A nightmare. Yet...

Another part of him did recognise the boy sitting there in the mud looking so utterly dejected. A shiver ran through Ari, and he saw it mirrored in the devil. What was happening? There was a name, fluttering just outside his memory's reach. Halloween? The boy had said something about All Hallow's Eve. Candy? Angels didn't eat candy. That was... that was mortal nonsense, wasn't it?

That must be where the taint had come from. Ari must have... he must have talked to this boy on Halloween. Letting hellishness tarnish his spirit. But why? Why would he have...

"Th-the tree house." The devil boy's voice was so faint Ari could barely hear it. "Re-remember the tree house? When we... when we held hands, and..."

"Please, stop." It must be a lie. It had to be! Devils were enemies, every angel knew that, yet here was one saying they were friends. "I didn't. I don't believe you, you're lying! Devils always lie."

"Not this time. It's true, Ari. You even came to Hell to find me, 'cause you're my friend."

"No!" Ari turned to the fluttering wingelf. His voice was hoarse, but he still screamed at her. "Take me back! I need to go h-home..."

"Please stay..."

The raw despair in Danny's voice almost made Ari relent. How could a devil convey such emotion? They were all evil, weren't they? Yet there he was, still sitting in the mud. Tears were running down his cheeks, Ari could sense their warmth among the cold raindrops as clearly as if they had been of a different colour. That devil was so stubborn, even though by now he must have realised that Ari had seen through his lies. That he could...

Danny.

Where had that name come from? That was Danny over there. A dark-haired, lanky devil boy with large brown eyes and a bruise on his cheek. A bruise that Ari had put there. He had hit Danny, had hit his friend. A sob escaped him, and it turned into a groan. Before he could stop himself, he took a couple of steps. Towards Danny. The devil boy shied away and closed his eyes, clearly expecting another punch. Instead, Ari fell on his knees in the mud. He wrapped his arms around the sitting figure, and pressed their cheeks together. It felt right. It felt so right. He didn't feel tainted, not one bit.

He felt whole.

* * * * * *

Danny wasn't afraid of physical pain. Throughout his life, he had been beaten up more times than he could count. But somehow, getting hit by Ari had hurt more than anything. His eyes closed, he waited for more punches. More harsh words. Waited for his heart to... what? Break? That was ridiculous! He was a devil, why were feelings like that running through him? Emotions. He shouldn't have emotions. Ari should be his enemy; at this very moment they should be locked in immortal combat.

But he couldn't. Not Ari. He'd take on anyone, even his father if need be, but he could not fight Ari. Danny could barely breathe through his pathetic sobs, all he could do was wait. Time... seemed to have... stopped. Then there was a splash in the mud right next to him, and arms flung around him. Warm arms.

Ari...

He hugged his friend back, with all the strength his thin arms could muster. Like that they sat, cheeks pressed tightly together, weeping quietly. The cold that had settled inside Danny began to thaw, and he shuddered. So did Ari, and as one they released their grips and leaned back. Bright sky blue eyes stared into his, and Danny smiled.

"There you are," he whispered, his voice barely louder than the rain. "What happened to you? Where did my friend go?"

"Michael..." There was so much bitterness in Ari's voice that Danny wanted to hug him again, but he didn't dare. "He took... he took away everything. My memories. My... feelings. Made me work until I lost track of who I was. Said I was tainted, tainted by evil. But you're not evil, you're Danny. You're my friend, aren't you?"

"I am." Danny reached out and ran a finger across Ari's cheek, imagining that he could catch a teardrop in the rain. Then he grinned. "I am evil, though."

"No you're not!" Ari giggled and pushed him back. "Just a little wicked."

"I'm a prince of Hell." Danny grabbed a fistful of mud and threw it, hitting the side of Ari's neck. "I'm the wickedest there is."

"You're trouble, you are." Ari wiped the mud off his robe, but only managed to smear it out even worse. "And you're in trouble."

Danny let out a squeak when Ari jumped him. Mud flew everywhere as they wrestled, mock-punched, flapped their wings and even tried to bite one another. It was the most fun Danny could remember ever having. Well, maybe on par with their snowball fight. But mud was dirtier, and so more to his liking. By the time their energy finally ran out, and they collapsed side by side, Danny even had gunk up his nose. So did his friend, apparently, because Ari let out a sneeze.

"Fuck you!"

"You're s'posed to say 'bless you'."

"Not where I'm from, we don't."

They glared at each other, then began to laugh. They laughed long past the humour of the joke, as if they couldn't stop. Danny reached out, and Ari took his hand and gripped it as if he never wanted to let go. Still they laughed. The wingelf fluttered above them, bright happy colours shining wherever she wasn't muddy. Next to them, almost fully immersed in a puddle, the salamander amused itself by blowing bubbles.

When the two boys finally calmed down, the rain seemed to die with their laughter.

* * * * * *

Leaving the grassy plains was one of the most difficult things Ari had ever done. It hurt to see his friend sad, and sandess hurt inside Ari as well. Deep inside his heart. He wanted to stay there forever. Maybe there were trees somewhere if they looked long enough. Maybe they could build a fortress high above the ground and live there together. Where no one could find them.

It was a sweet dream, but it was still a dream.

He didn't know much about Danny's family, not really. But surely they wouldn't let one of their own go and be happy. Neither would Michael. Happy, maybe, but not if it meant staying with a devil. Not even a small little devil like Danny, who despite his protests on the subject wasn't evil at all. It couldn't be done.

They hugged, a wet and muddy and wonderful hug, and Ari gave his usual farewell salutation about kissing Danny next time. The devil boy gave his usual disgusted sneer, which by now Ari knew for a lie. Or at least a shading of a truth that neither dared to voice. The feeling of... that... which could not be named. Not for an angel and a devil.

Danny gave him a little wave and a lopsided grin, then he and the salamander were gone. Ari lingered, unwilling to go home. Whatever happened when he met Michael, would not be good. Still, it would be worth it. To have a friend again, to have Danny back in his heart, it would be worth anything. He picked up a handful of mud and threw it where Danny had just stood. It splattered to the ground.

"See you soon, I hope."

He turned to the wingelf, who lit up a quizzical yellow. Ari nodded. The bond he always had with the realm of his birth told him that dawn was about to break in Heaven. It was time to go.

* * * * * *

Danny woke up inside the dark cave, with the squirming salamnder on his chest. Sometimes, on his returns to Hell, the memory of what had happened could be a bit hazy. Not this time. He could remember every drop of rain that had fallen on him, remember every word he had said and heard.

Ari was still his friend. Despite everything. He smiled to himself. That meant more than anything. Danny touched the spot on his cheek where Ari had hit him, but of course there was no bruise. That hadn't been him, not really, rather an astralised projectification, or something like that. He wasn't an expert on paranatural terminology.

He stood up, and took a second or two to decide which way the cave entrance lay. While he groped his way towards it, he could feel the salamander slip into the pocket of his shorts. His dry, clean shorts. The rain and the mud had also happened to that other part of him. It wasn't easy to wrap his head around it all.

Whatever served as daylight in Hell hadn't bothered to rise yet when he squeezed out of the cave, careful to not squish his little friend. Danny ran through the Pertified Forest, futilely trying to close his ears from the groans of the trapped. To his surprise he found that he didn't feel scared. Not even a little bit. Facing that angry, condescending Ari had been more terrible than anything Hell had to offer. Yet he had stood his ground, and in the end won his friend back. It felt as if he could do anything.

Lefty let him in through the back door after a slobbering greeting, and he was soon at the Palace. Deciding that he didn't want to see any of the family, he dashed around to the lake side. It took a little while to figure out which window was his, but then he began to climb.

It had been a while since he had last scaled the outside of the Palace. Darrion caught him doing it a year or two ago, and decided he made a perfect practice target for bow and arrow. Danny grimaced at the memory. He had made it up to his room without being gravely injured, but it hadn't been much fun prying three arrows out of his legs and arm. Now the fun of climbing came back to him. The wall was made from large, uneven stones, and there were handholds and footholds aplenty. Soon he was at his window, without any incidents.

Danny was out of breath when he rolled off the windowsill and crashed to the floor. He let the salamander loose and watched it scurry up onto his bedside table. Looking for treats, no doubt. Standing up, he stretched and yawned, then he went over to his mother and touched her stony shoulder.

"Hey, mom. You wouldn't believe what a day I've had," he whispered to her. "Want me to tell you about it?"

"Yes, please," came a deep, steady voice from inside the shadows of one corner of Danny's room, making him freeze. "I'd like to hear of your day, son."

To be continued...