Cemetery Summons Ch. 28

"What?" Niaf asked.

"When are we getting married?"

------------

While the house of Archer came to life in a roar of elation and approval at a proposed date of marriage, the demons who had returned to hell were beginning to go their separate ways. The thing that had bound them together had been resolved, and things were returning to their normal states again. Tirol lingered for a moment with Anatithenai as Jaelani went with Nyx to procure a faster method of travel home than her own two bare feet.

Anatithenai looked concerned. "Do you think he knows? What he truly is? Do you think my daughter knows?"

Tirol removed his hood, revealing himself as an old man with very little grey hair on his head, bordering entirely bald. He closed his glowing eyes and shook his head. "I doubt they will know unless someone tells them. Such things are beyond the scope of lovers to delve into. What they think is the truth is what will become the truth."

"What about...you know? What will they be? It can't be like it is with a normal cross."

"Whatever his children are, that it the decision of God, not us. Let us hope, however, that He is merciful and gives him a family he can be proud of," Tirol said, smiling. "I never could have guessed he would find everything on his own. His father was supposed to guide him, as I taught him, and my father taught me."

"I still don't see how you humans found your way into hell's lineage. You know all the trouble he's going to cause once he returns and goes to visit the Sanctuaries, don't you? Like tying Lucifer to a table in a brothel."

"My grandson will mark his own path now. He doesn't need me anymore, or the forbidden blood that his father gave him through the Archer bloodline. I suppose his ascension stopped here in the Second Circle, didn't it?"

Anatithenai frowned. "Ascension?"

Tirol smiled. "One must rise to fall, Anatithenai. I suppose lying low is the best thing he can do to be happy. Falling from heaven is a long, unpleasant experience that I do not wish upon any of my son's son's progeny."

"I think Anathane and the rest of the cult he gathered for himself can assure that he remains stuck firmly in place," said the slime as-a-matter-of-factly.

Tirol looked back at the black stain on the floor where he had left the human world. His eyes teared up and he nodded slowly. "I wish you all the happiness in my heart and soul." And with that, he went to find Jaelani and find out what kind of place he was going to be living at for the next few millennia.

*

A/N: There's going to be one more chapter, an epilogue to end this tale two years in the making. Thank you everyone who's been here since the beginning and everywhere in between. This is my first real story, and though not great, it's a start of something I hope will one day be a lucrative writing career. Again, thanks everyone for everything.