Jaquer and Venor stood before the heart of the Devil's Den, underneath the ground, an arched gateway with fangs, lit by rows of fire torches.
The Devil's Guard bowed and left the place. He was not allowed to walk beyond the gate.
Venor placed his hands on the middle of the gate, made with solid lava.
Two eyes appeared above the fangs, to whom Venor said, "Venor Cythil, here's my invitation card."
He showed the card, while the eyes above the fangs scanned it.
The eyes blinked happily as the card flew from Venor's hand and disappeared into ashes before the gate opened, sliding between the walls and opening the path for the fake couple.
"Be careful," Venor looked at Jaquer and warned the hunter.
Jaquer nodded.
Both stepped inside the cave, welcomed by an eerie breeze and murals on the walls.
Jaquer tried to look around, but Venor pulled him into a hug and whispered, "Don't look at them."
Walking backward on the closed space with eyes seeing nothing but the chest of the demon, Jaquer questioned with hesitation as he was bought into an unexpected physical contact, "Why?"
"This place is called the Murals of Devil's Heart, a place to manipulate your heart and mind. Avoid looking at the walls at any cost." Venor's voice rang above Jaquer's head.
The hunter nodded with understanding but deep down he had a doubt. Still walking backward, he lifted his face and stated to Venor, "You don't need to hold me. I know how to close my eyes. And what about you, you can't be manipulated?"
Venor looked down at the man beneath, his crimson eyes glowed beneath the fire before he replied, "It's complicated to explain, but I am immune to murals."
"Why?"
"Because I am..."
Jaquer couldn't hear the rest of Venor's answer as a high decibel screech vibrated his ear buds and numbed his brain..
The hunter grasped the demon's arm as his eyes widened, and an unbearable pain vibrated through his body.
He wanted nothing but to hold his ears and run away from this place.
Venor, knowing the situation, held Jaquer closer to his body and strided his steps ahead.
As soon as the screech stopped, Jaquer heard a voice that he never imagined to hear ever again.
Voice of his dead sister.
"Jaquer," A voice so sweet and melodious, it reminded him of their old days.
"Ignore the voice," He could hear Venor warning voice ringing above his head but torn between illusion and reality, Jaquer didn't know where he was heading.
"Why don't you play with me? Come here, Jaquer."
"Do you hate me?"
"Everybody hates me."
The voice shifted from joyful melody to sadness and lastly to manipulation.
"I don't..." Jaquer whispered but before he could complete his sentence and vivid image played before his eyes.
Jasmine.
Standing between the flower garden was his sister; she looked the same as she had six years ago.
Her hair was braided the same way Jaquer always styled it, a rose tugged into the corner of her ears, and her golden eyes, belonging to their mother, shone with ecstasy.
Jaquer didn't realise what he walked into. He knew he shouldn't approach his sister, but his legs walked on their own accord.
His heart beat rapidly, while he struggled to breathe as he tried to say, "Jasmine, nobody hates you."
Before he realised, he tripped on a rock and fell to the ground.
Still heaving to breathe, he lifted his head towards Jasmine, who approached him with calculated steps.
Black fog evaporated from the ground and trapped Jaquer between them.
He crawled to escape the fog, but someone held his legs and held him between the places.
It was no other than Jasmine.
"It might be true that nobody hates me, but do you know how much I hate you?" An eerie smile appeared on her face as a dagger appeared out of thin air in her hands.
With both her hands holding the dagger, she raised it above her head and brought it down towards Jaquer's heart before saying, "I hate you so much that I can kill you. Die!"
Lying on the floor with vulnerability, Jaquer held his hand in front of his body while closing his eyes.
"Come to your senses if you don't want to kiss Jaquer." A strange and out of the place voice entered Jaquer's ear.
What?
He opened his eyes, and in front of him, the dagger directed towards Jaquer's heart was coming at an extremely slow pace, barely reaching even half of the distance towards his heart.
As if the world around him was slowing down, even the black fog around him danced extremely slowly before his eyes.
Questioning about the out of place voice Jaquer turned his head around and gasped at Venor's face, very near to him, and between the fog.
The demon snaked his arms around Jaquer's shoulder before lifting his head from the ground and meeting the hunter's lips with his own in a heartbeat moment.
It took several seconds for Jaquer to register that he had been kissed by the demon.
Struggling to get out of the hold, he pressed his hands against Venor's shoulder to push him away.
But the demon was reluctant to let go of the hunter and pulled his head closer before deepening the kiss.
Jaquer's eyes closed on their own accord as he struggled to breathe and meet the demon's lips at the same time.
His body tingled witha strange sensation as the demon gently bit his lower lip, while his hand clenched on the demon's shoulder.
Finally, Venor pulled away, and Jaquer opened his eyes.
He was back at the Mural of the Devil's Heart.
Breathing heavily with eyes wide open, cheek flushed with redness, he glared at Venor before questioning angrily, "What the fuck was that?"
His eyes were teary from lack of breath, while his body was still tingling from the sensation on his lips.
"If you want your soul to be trapped between the murals, I am happy to send you back to Devil's dream again."
Jaquer gulped down his saliva and stood quietly.
Venor was not wrong; the dream was still haunting him, BUT the kiss disgusted him at the same time.
He didn't know whether to thank Venor or curse him for his act.
But he was in this place because of Venor, so he concluded fuck him and blamed the demon.
After walking a few steps, Venor released Jaquer from his arms, placed him on the side, and held his hand.
They stood on a paved platform before an instrumental string rang, and both of them were pulled from the platform and dissapeared into thin air.