Kara

Raven made his way down the palace's ruins and reached the stairs that led to the dungeon. The steps were worn down and falling apart, but Raven walked down them rhythmically, narrowly avoiding the fragile areas that would fall apart at a single touch. The stairs were long and winding, going down about half a mile to make sure what was down there stayed out of sight. Raven took his time with each step he took. Despite having the capability to fly down instead, he always chose to walk.

When he reached the bottom, there were two large beasts towering over him. They had growled at him while he was walking down the steps, but as soon as they caught his scent, they stopped. Becoming docile, Raven pat them on the head and moved along. He knew Astaroth was already there, waiting for him. He always was.

The cells of the dungeons were in ruins. They had previously been destroyed in an attempted anarchy of the palace. The only source of light down there came from the farthest cell. There had been a giant hole blasted from the ceiling to let sunlight in. Raven still remembered watching Astaroth create it. It's to make sure Kara's flowers get enough sunlight! Raven was unimpressed back then since the flowers Astaroth had brought were already dead. But looking back at it now, Raven thought it was quite endearing.

He walked toward the cell, seeing that Astaroth was already there per usual with his back turned to him. Raven knew Astaroth could sense his presence. He probably sensed his presence as soon as Raven took one step down here, but he always pretended like it was a surprise. This was their routine after all. As soon as Raven passed the third cell, Astaroth would turn and speak up.

“Oh, hey Kara!”

As usual, Astaroth never called Raven by his real name. His disillusioned mind always put Kara's image over his own. And just like the many times before this one, Raven said nothing in return. Down here they both had their own little world, a place to escape and to reminisce on the past. Raven usually stayed quiet during his visits here and let Astaroth continue his fantasy, but this time it was different.This time it was more final.

The Council had finally restored their strength after almost a century of hiding in the Human Realm, and they were ready to wage war. Asmodeus was coming for revenge, and the Council followed her every command. The next time he and Astaroth would meet again would be on the battlefield. This would be the last time they both visited Kara's grave in solidarity.

“Hello again Astaroth.”

The demon looked shocked for a moment. Raven hardly, if ever, spoke directly to him during these yearly visits. The change in routine was unexpected, but Astaroth steadily tried steering it back to normal.

“I got a whole bunch of stories I wanna tell you! They're probably even better than your viking stories!”

“I'm sure they are. My mother's viking days were quite short compared to your days living here and in the Human Realm.”

Raven made his way around Astaroth and stood in front of Kara's grave. Flowers had grown around it, and Raven noticed that they had been recently watered. Even after all these years, Astaroth made sure the grave was well protected from the people who sought to destroy it. Raven was silently grateful for that.

“Kara, you're quite talkative today.” Astaroth laughed awkwardly.

Raven turned to the demon with a sad smile on his face.

“A dead person can't talk, Astaroth.”

Raven's words were like a slap to the face. It was a realization that Astaroth had tried his hardest to ignore, but Raven's melancholic expression forced him to finally face reality. Face the fact that he couldn't do this anymore. Kara was gone, she had been gone for years.

“I'm not Kara.”

Astaroth knew that. Of course he knew that. He just wanted to keep pretending for as long as he could. He tried so many times to move on from Kara's death, but it was like he was stuck in time. Kara was everything to him. She turned his meaningless life into something. His feelings for her far surpassed that of simple friendship or love. In all his life, not one person reached out to him like she did. She gave him a purpose, but now she was gone. Raven could relate to him on some level, but unlike Astaroth, Raven still had people he could fall back on.

“...I miss her.” 

The demon's voice was quiet, and his body slowly began to shake.

“As do I.”

Raven stood next to Astaroth and said nothing. He didn't reach out to comfort the other, but he still stayed close just in case Astaroth needed a pillar of support.

“You were never Kara.”

“No, I wasn't.”

“Why didn't you ever get angry at me?”

“Because you were coping.”

“It was a real shitty way to cope.”

“Perhaps, but it still made you feel better; and I was able to learn more about my mother while you pretended.”

“Not like it even matters in the end. It was fun while it lasted though.”

Astaroth quickly wiped away a few stray tears and instinctively grabbed onto Raven's arm. 

“You know what Kara used to tell me whenever I got sad?”

“Let it all out?” 

Raven had guessed. This was the first time Astaroth had mentioned this, so he just concluded the answer was what Astaroth always did when he was upset. But the demon just sniffled and smiled fondly at the memory.

“No. She said ‘Come here.’ ” 

Astaroth wrapped his arms around Raven and silently sobbed. This was much different than the loud and brash demon Raven had grown used to. He awkwardly wrapped his arms around him too and patted him on the back. Slowly, Raven started humming. It was soft, comforting, and automatic. It just felt like the most natural thing to do. Astaroth couldn't help but laugh.

“Kara used to hum like that too.”

Raven didn't respond, but he smiled at that. It made this feel like an appropriate parting gift. Something from his mother to the both of them.

Astaroth finally pulled away. This was goodbye, not just to each other, but to Kara as well. Even if one of them survived after the war, their visits to her grave were over. It was time to let go.

“Raven.”

“What?”

“Nothing. I just wanted to finally say your name. It feels weird.”

“Well you better get used to it. It was a gift from my mother after all.”

Astaroth simply grinned.

They both parted ways after that, finally stepping onto opposite sides of the battlefield. They were acquaintances (if you can even call them that) and now they were enemies, brought together and driven apart by the same person they mourned for.

How cruel fate is.