She Belongs To The Devil

Irene, the youngest among all children of the God and the Goddess, was an expert in hiding in plain sight.     

She would go around in disguises and try to spread positivity among the humans. She would try to give hope to the people who were in the depths of their despair, she would make them believe in themselves again, and she would bloom the feelings of love in people when their hearts would be in the darkest of places.     

Most of all, she loved making people laugh and listening to them. Soft laughter and giggles were the most soothing sounds for her.     

Nathaniel only managed to find her when he followed the sound of laughter in a Kingdom which he had pushed into a war not long ago. He found a white cat watching those happy humans with great interest.     

"Cats aren't that keen to watch people with so much appreciation in their eyes." Nathaniel thought to himself while smiling ear to ear.     

And he quickly caught that cat and teleported to a barren land so that he could have some private words with his sister.     

Irene jumped out of Nathaniel's hold as soon as they got to that burned-down land. She instantly transformed into her original self.     

Irene had the most beautiful hair among all the children. She had thick light brown wavy hair that fell down to her hips. Her light blue eyes looked full of dreams and innocence. And she looked no older than humans in their early twenties.     

Irene looked at her brother and immediately defended herself, "I was just trying to right your wrongs. Those poor humans don't deserve that much difficulty."     

Nathaniel sighed and for the first time, didn't scold or get angry with Irene. "Yes, they have suffered enough. I think it's about time they start to rebuild."     

Irene looked at her brother's dark brown eyes and tried to find out if he was mocking her or if he was being serious. It looked like he wasn't being sarcastic. So, she asked in surprise, "You… aren't angry with me? You know… for 'ruining' your masterpieces of disasters and war?"     

Nathaniel smiled and lightly caressed Irene's soft hair. And he said in a tone that made Irene trust him, "I think it's about time that we put aside our differences. What do you say?"     

Irene was more than happy to accept her brother's offer. She happily nodded and agreed, "Yes. I would love that."     

Nathaniel pretended to remember something and said, "Oh, and uh… Michael was also looking for you. He was saying that it had been a long time since you two met."     

Irene pursed her lips and nodded her head. "Yes. I have been busy on Earth so, I haven't gotten the chance to visit the Heaven realm."     

"So, do you want to go there together? I am on my way to the Heaven realm." Nathaniel flapped out his wings and gave a questioning glance to Irene.     

Irene looked around at the war-affected area and heaved a sigh. She had a lot of work to do.     

Nathaniel understood what she was thinking and then tried to convince her, "Irene, it's okay to take a break once every few decades. The Earth won't die if you take a day off for yourself."     

Irene looked at her brother and smiled. "I think you are right. Okay then." Irene spread out her white pair of beautiful wings and then said to her brother, "Let's go."     

Nathaniel smiled and pushed his feet off the ground.     

Both of them flapped their wings and soared high in the sky.     

After flying for a while and reaching a considerable height and speed, both of them entered through the portal between the Earth and the Heaven realm.     

Irene had a bright smile on her face upon seeing the beautiful sight and feeling the warm heavenly lights on her skin.     

And she murmured to herself, "Long time no see… home."     

The two of them kept on flying through and around the fluffiest clouds. It had been a long while since Irene flew around in Heaven. So Nathaniel didn't try to rush her.     

After flying for about half an hour in the serene environment, they finally reached the Heavenly Palace.     

They saw Michael standing outside his Palace from far away. It seemed as if he was eagerly waiting for them to arrive.     

Irene and Nathaniel were welcomed with a wide smile and open arms by Michael when they descended down on the beautiful front garden of the Palace.     

"Irene! I missed you so much!" Michael gave a warm hug to his sister. "How have you been? Where were you for all this while? Why is it so difficult to get a hold of you?"     

Irene hugged her brother back. She was happy to get that welcoming hug from her brother. She had no clue that she had been summoned for selfish purposes. So she was easily fooled by the façade of her brothers.     

She pulled away from the hug and merrily replied, "I've been good, brother. You know me. I was roaming the face of the Earth, helping people in need. I got too caught up so I didn't get to visit you often. I am sorry for that."     

"It's alright as long as you remember your way back home." Michael gestured for Irene and Nathaniel to follow him inside and said as he walked, "I might be the Chief Prince, but this Palace is still your home. It's home to all of us."     

Irene smiled but said nothing regarding the last sentence of Michael… that it was home to all of them. All of her brothers and sisters had already found other places to call their homes. They were scattered around the three realms. So, it only made her feel sad when Michael called the Palace to be everyone's home.     

Michael took his brother and sister to a lavish room. They were served with refreshments.     

And after catching up on what his sister was up to these days, Michael finally came to the topic that he wanted to talk about.     

He tried his best to bring out the topic as naturally as he could. "Irene, did you by any chance…"     

But he stopped midways and borrowed the trick that Nathaniel had used yesterday to escape their father's ears and eyes.     

Rather than a white room, they all were teleported to the beach of an endless blue ocean, inside the mind of Michael.     

And when he had dragged both Irene and Nathaniel's consciousness into his own, he said, "I'm sorry. I just didn't want our father to listen to what we are going to discuss."     

Irene furrowed her brows wondering what kind of topic they were going to explore that Michael thought it was necessary to hide from their father. Suddenly, a terrible thought hit her mind.     

And she immediately warned her brother, "I hope you aren't planning to do something stupid like overthrowing our father or something. If you are going to say such things then don't waste your breath."     

"Of course not!" Michael scoffed at how Irene had asked such a direct question. He sure wanted to rule the universe one day. But as of now, his goal wasn't that big. "Why would I even try to overthrow the creator of the universe? Are you mad?"     

Irene sighed in relief and asked, "Then what is it?"     

"I just… wanted to talk about our estranged brother. Or rather, I wanted to talk about the new addition to the original family of the universe."     

"New addition?" Irene asked as frown lines deepened between her brows.     

Michael then finally brought up the 'forbidden' topic, "By any chance, did you happen to meet our niece?"     

"Brother Theodore's daughter, Ariel?" Irene asked with a hint of curiosity in her eyes.     

Michael gave a nod. "I heard that she looks much older than how she's supposed to look. So, I was just curious to know if that was true."     

Irene's interest was piqued when she heard that.     

"She looks much older than how she's supposed to look?"     

"Yes, that's what I heard."     

"Hmm… That's interesting."     

Irene looked at Michael and then answered his previous question, "Well, I haven't met her. I had heard from Lavera that Theodore had a daughter. But I could never muster up the courage to visit him and his family after all these years."     

She scoffed at her own cowardice and said, "What am I going to say to him after all these years? No apology will be enough to stand in front of him and his family."