Non Serviam Epilogue 1: To Rule in Hell

Epilogue 1: To Rule in Hell

She awoke slowly, as if the waking world did not wish to intrude upon her dreamless sleep.

A softness surrounded her: soft light, streaming in through softly tinted glass, soft cushions, beneath her head, soft birdsong pulling gently at the edge of her awareness. And a face, sharp and hard, but with soft, dark eyes, like pools of water beneath shadowed boughs.

Asia smiled. “Is this…Heaven?”

Taylor’s face flattened. “I—” She swallowed once. Asia tilted her head against the cushion. “I’m…so sorry, Asia.”

“Mmm?” Asia pursed her lips. She didn’t like seeing Taylor upset like this. “What’s wrong?”

“Asia.” Taylor reached for one of her hands, before pulling up short. “I’m sorry. I—”

“Mistress is struggling to inform you that she saved your life,” came a familiar voice. With a flutter of black wings, Mittelt peeked into the corner of Asia’s vision. “Apologies for the inconvenience.”

“Miss Mittelt!” Asia’s heart soared, and she came awake all at once. “You’re okay!”

“But of course, little faithful.” Mittelt curtsied. “As if I would leave you alone in the hands of devils.”

“Devils?” Asia tilted her head back the other way and thought about things for a moment. Now that she was awake, she distinctly remembered Diodora kidnapping her, and a sharp pain, all the sensation beneath her neck cutting off. She remembered Taylor crying.

Even with her sacred gear, Twilight Healing, Asia would be hard pressed to heal someone from such a wound.

“Oh.” Asia turned back towards Taylor. “So I’m a devil too, now?”

Taylor nodded. Her hair sparkled around her like a little halo, stars spiraling out into golden hexagons before drifting out of sight. “I’m so sorry, Asia.”

Asia blinked in confusion. “Why are you sorry?”

Taylor worked her jaw. To the side, Mittelt sighed.

“My mistress is—”

“Mittelt-!”

“What?” Mittelt raised an eyebrow. “Are you not my King and ruler? Would you cast me aside so cruelly, after I have devoted myself in body and soul to your cause?”

Taylor placed a hand against her face, and despite herself, Asia giggled.

“As I was saying,” Mittelt continued. “Taylor is upset because she thinks she stole you from heaven.”

“But I was excommunicated?” Asia asked.

Taylor’s head snapped up. “What does that have to do with anything?”

“If the church excommunicates you, you are removed from God—” Asia flinched as a sharp pain lanced through her skull. “Ow!” She pressed her hands to her head. “Oh. Oh no!”

Taylor’s face crumpled as Asia turned to face her. “Asia…”

Asia snatched Taylor’s hand. “Is that how much it hurt when you came to Mass with me?”

“What?” Taylor asked.

“When you took me to church, and you sat next to me, did it really hurt you that much?” Asia squeezed her hands. “The whole time!?”

Taylor blinked rapidly, eyes shifting left and right. Then, she tried, “Technically, it’s very difficult to compare pain between people, since we all—”

“The answer is probably more,” Mittelt said. “It was noticed that larger congregations of people praying had a larger impact on devils. In fact, a large enough group in faithful and fervent prayer has been known to banish devils back to hell, which gave rise to the modern depiction of the exorcism.”

Asia turned back to Taylor. “Why did you do that?”

“It wasn’t a big deal.” Taylor shrugged. “I left when I couldn’t handle it.”

Asia shook her head. “You shouldn’t do that.”

Taylor smiled. “There’s little I wouldn’t do for you.”

Asia’s anger went right out of her. Instead of replying, she tugged Taylor’s arm closer, until the woman was close enough to hug. Asia buried her face in Taylor’s blouse, taking a deep breath. “I’m happy,” she said. “Even if I could go to heaven, I’m happy that I get to spend more time with you. And with Miss Mittelt, and Gaspar, and Koneko, and Rias, and Akeno. Oh, and Miss Letty!” Asia pulled back. “Is—is Miss Letty okay? She was fighting all the other stray devils, wasn’t she?”

Mittelt laughed. “Out of all of us, Letticia came out the least harmed by Diodora’s attack.”

“Least harmed?” The moment she made the connection, Asia’s gaze snapped back to Taylor. “What happened to you?”

“I was wounded,” Taylor replied. “But it was nothing some magic couldn’t fix.”

“Her bed is on the other side of this curtain.” Mittelt pointed. “She started moving around this morning.”

“How long have I been asleep?”

“In what sense?” The other blonde hummed, plopping down on the opposite side of the bed. “In absolute terms, a little under two days since the attack. Part of that was natural, and part was Taylor wanting to be absolutely certain you were okay after being reincarnated.”

“I couldn’t take any risks.”

“Overprotective.” Mittelt sniffed. “Do you think you understand the Evil Piece system better than Akuja Beelzebub?”

Asia watched them go back and forth, then she reached out and took Mittelt’s hand too. They both paused.

Asia smiled. “I’m glad you’re here too, Miss Mittelt. I would have missed you a lot.”

Mittelt stiffened, before looking away. “The lack of your presence would have been…noticeable.”

Asia giggled. “And what about everyone else?”

“Waiting for you to wake up,” Taylor replied. “I can get them now.”

“Mmm…” Asia pulled Taylor closer. “Can we…wait a bit longer?”

“Of course.” Asia smiled and tugged on Taylor again. With a fond sigh, Taylor allowed herself to be pulled onto the bed, lying softly beside Asia like a protective older sister.

“And there are some other important things to cover,” Mittelt said. “After all, we should present a united front, as a peerage.”

“Peerage?”

“Now isn’t the time,” Taylor said.

“Please, what better time could there be to introduce Hell’s newest High-Class devil?” Mittelt fanned her fingers at Taylor. “Really I’m just surprised they announced it so quickly.”

“I killed a peerage belonging to a member of the 72 pillars,” Taylor replied. “The Satans needed to be clear on my new position.”

“And the fact that Rias Gremory called her brother had nothing to do with it, I’m sure.”

Taylor shrugged.

“So…what does that mean?” Asia asked.

“It means that I have traded both of you to Rias for blank pieces from my…” Taylor’s nose scrunched in distaste. “Evil piece set. You’re both members of my peerage, but if either of you would like to leave, you’re free to the moment its safe. And once my position in devil society stabilizes, I plan—”

“Now who’s talking about things that don’t matter, Mistress?” Mittelt asked.

Taylor pinched her nose. “I told you not to call me that.”

“Is that an order…Mistress?”

Taylor sucked in a deep breath, and let it out. “No,” she said. “Never. You kept your promise, Mittelt, and I’ll keep mine.”

“Then I’m free as a bird, Mistress. Don’t concern yourself overmuch.” Mittelt paused, eyes flicking to Asia. “Though, I do feel as though you’re letting me off lightly. I failed, after all.”

“You got her away from Freed.”

“And right into the hands of that rat bastard,” Mittelt replied. She held up a hand when Taylor went to reply. “It just means I’ll have to make it up to you both, it appears. Since the littlest faithful seems to want me around.”

“Mm!” Asia nodded. “I do! I do!”

“There, see?” Mittelt reclined on the bed. “That’s all sorted. Now, Mistress, all that remains is to resolve our blatant sexual tension and we can wrap up this story with a neat little bow.”

“There is no sexual tension,” Taylor replied.

“Keep telling yourself that.”

Asia giggled again, only a little from embarrassment. “Can I see everyone else now?”

Taylor smiled. “Of course.” She moved to get up, only for Asia’s hand to clench tight on her shirt. Taylor raised an eyebrow.

“I…don’t want you to go yet?”

Taylor’s smile widened, and she turned to Mittelt. “Could you let Rias and the others know that Asia is awake?”

“Oh, very well. But only because you asked.”

Asia covered her mouth with her free hand. “Miss Mittelt is having a lot of fun.”

Taylor sighed.

About a second later, all of Asia’s friends came spilling into the room. Koneko bulled to the front of the group with raw strength, perching her chin on Asia’s bed and staring at her with wide golden eyes. “Okay?”

Asia reached out and patted Koneko’s hair. “Yep! I’m completely okay.”

“Asiaaaa!” Gaspar crashed into Koneko from behind. He bawled against Asia’s wrist. “I was so scared!”

“There, there.” Asia smiled. “I’m okay! And we get to spend a lot more time together too, now that I’m a devil.”

“You’re not upset?” Gaspar looked at her with misty eyes. “We were so worried…”

“Well…” Asia looked down. Taylor tensed behind her, and that gave Asia the strength to find the words. “I can’t judge any of you for being devils. You’ve all been so good and kind. So, I won’t judge myself for being a devil either. I know in my heart that God would agree.” She winced slightly, along with everyone else.

But she smiled, despite the pain.

“I’m glad.” Rias stepped forward. “You’re not a member of my peerage, but Asia, you’ll always be a member of my family! If you need any help, just let us know.”

Asia nodded happily, and like that, the tension was broken. Gaspar started chattering about how he was going to train harder so that people wouldn’t hurt her. Koneko gave one-word questions that Asia happily answered. At some point, Miss Akeno even asked if Asia planned to attend school now that she could understand Japanese.

The answer? Of course!

For so long, Asia had felt that her life was laid out in front of her, in service to the Lord—ouch—only for it all to be upended by a single act of kindness towards a single devil. She’d been so scared, so lost and alone. Even the apostates had cast her out. Then Taylor had found her.

Asia smiled. Whatever happened now, she knew that Taylor would be at her side, for years and years and years. Even if Asia was barred from Heaven, even if her new form, beyond her apostasy, disqualified her from the Kingdom. Then…then Asia would just make her very own Kingdom of Heaven right here, one day at a time. She already had one angel, after all.

And she had Taylor.