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"Ah... ah..." Father Kinley cleared his throat, testing his voice. "Thank you for helping me..."
He had just been rescued by Maze and Eve from a transport vehicle intended to transfer him to a permanent jail cell.
"God truly sends us angelic assistance when we are most in need," he added, his eyes tracking Maze as she sharpened her knife. "But I must confess... I am not entirely sure why you helped."
"Me neither," Maze countered, glancing at Eve. She had performed the extraction solely at Eve's request.
"Well, you know I need to redefine things. Just as you suggested, Maze," Eve replied, pouring herself a glass of gin.
"Lucifer is clearly worried about this prophecy... that must be what's holding him back. That's why he hates himself," Eve said, her back turned to both Maze and the priest.
"And the Father here can help him realize that it's all just a bunch of nonsense," she added as she turned, her eyes gleaming with a fanatical love. "And then, he'll have to love me again." She smiled broadly at the prospect.
"I am familiar with the demon Mazikeen... but you are...?" Father Kinley questioned, studying Eve intently.
"Oh... forgive me, Father. I am Eve," she said, curtsying.
"Of course... The First Woman. Lucifer's first love..." Father Kinley realized, his voice trembling with a new realization.
Eve dropped to her knees and looked up at Kinley with pleading eyes. "Does that mean you will help me?" she asked.
"I am sorry, my child. Now that I know who you are—the Original Sinner—I am all the more convinced that the prophecy is real," he declared, looking at both women with a grim, unwavering certainty.
Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.
**Ethan Park.**
"A Grade 1 Cursed Spirit has been spotted in a public area..." He muttered the report he had received from the reconnaissance team aloud.
He had been picking up more and more exorcism commissions lately—ever since the "Fairview Massacre," as the general public had come to call it.
*She has been gone for four months now,* Ethan thought, sealing his phone back into the Mirror Dimension and tucking his hands into his pockets. He was wearing a simple black windbreaker hoodie.
The Ancient One had been missing from Kamar-Taj, along with the Time Stone, for the last four months. While she had traversed the dimensions for months at a time before, there had always been contact; it had never been like this.
*Meh... she'll be fine. She's strong,* Ethan thought, shrugging off his lingering worries.
The combined news of Lucifer Morningstar's presence on Earth and her disappearance had many elders in Kamar-Taj worried, but he had repeatedly reassured them today, that Lucifer is not a threat and he was,
" I will deal with him myself," he had told room full of old sorceres.
Just then, he sensed it—the Cursed Spirit, half a mile away.
"I want to try something different..." Ethan spoke aloud as the shadow beneath him began to ripple and shift.
"Partial Summoning: Tiger Funeral Reversal: Po," he chanted, extending his hand in the general direction of the spirit. He activated the absorption process, designating himself as the intended recipient.
Theoretically, when using Cursed Spirit Manipulation, if Ethan is the designated recipient of the technique, he should be able to extract a Grade 1 spirit without the need for prior subjugation—absorbing them directly—but he had never tested the theory until now.
Half a mile away, the Cursed Spirit was idling, waiting for its next victim, when it felt a cold trickle at the nape of its neck. A second later, it combusted into raw purple energy, swirling violently into a sphere.
The atmosphere grew heavy as the winds accelerated, caught in the wake of the spirit's transformation. The vortex became so intense that the swirling energy left deep gashes in the ground and cracked the concrete walls. Then, with a dull thud, it was over.
A condensed ball of pitch-black cursed energy fell to the ground. A few seconds later, a small white rabbit emerged from the gloom, hopping toward the sphere.
As soon as the rabbit touched the energy, both vanished into the shadows.
"Now, that was a job well done," he said, petting the Rabbit Escape shikigami. "The Night is still young, Let's complete another Job... shall we?" He spoke looking at Crimson eyes of his Rabbit Shikigami, just as a transmission from a broadcast channel caught his interest.
A woman in her late thirties appeared on a news broadcast for KDKA-TV.
"Actually, I really hate this sentiment," she began, her tone sharp. "It completely dismisses the tireless work of oncologists, researchers, and scientists—everyone who has poured their effort into finding a cure for even one of the hundreds of types of cancer."
The sentiment in question was scrolling across the bottom of the screen: **"Ethan Park can cure Cancer."**
The woman was a guest on the program—an expert in something Ethan couldn't yet identify.
"Today, a coworker decided to spout off this particular train of thought without any context or provocation. He just pipes up sometimes and starts rambling. I suppose he didn't know I've worked extensively with breast cancer survivors, so I told him his opinion was dumb. He claimed that every time a cure for cancer is discovered, 'Big Pharma' squashes it."
The mystery was solved; the woman was a social worker.
"I told him he obviously does not understand cancer. There isn't just one cure because there are hundreds of types, each with its own mutations and variations. I think it's asinine to believe there is a blanket cure, or that there's only one cancer infecting everyone... and that Mr. Park is suppressing it. It's because he has a hero complex. He can't help himself."
"Heh heh, she got you there, boss," Tora's voice echoed through their mental link.
"Shut up, Tora," Ethan replied, an involuntary twitch developing in his forehead.
"It's not because he wants money or power," she decided to double down. "Now, some will insist it's the pharmaceutical companies—that chemotherapy is so expensive and they're paying Mr. Park to suppress the cure. To them, I say that's not true. No one is paying anybody; I've personally made sure of that. Ethan Park is a very disturbed individual who wants to be a hero. He hoards the methods that could save millions so people are forced to come to him... to beg for his help."
She continued, "The extremists who support Park because he healed them are thoughtless and ignorant about the reality of cancer. They really shouldn't speak on it."
"You said you've met him once, correct?" the anchor asked.
"Yeah, I did," she replied.
"We've met?" Ethan questioned, scouring his memory, but coming up empty.
"I asked him if he was on medication for his condition. He asked 'For what?' and I told him: to control those intrusive thoughts he feels everyone else should have to listen to."
" She really does know you, " Tora mused.
" Tsk.."
"Intrusive thoughts? Care to elaborate on that?" the anchor prompted.
"Yes... he was telling a morbid tale to children in the Allegheny General Hospital. Children! This man's need for approval knows no bounds," she added.
"Oh... I remember. She's that cheating wife," Ethan said aloud in the middle of the street.
" And Morbid tale? Thats History you dimwit,"
"Makes sense why she's angry with you," Tora reaffirmed. "You exposed her."
**
The Anchor Nods solemnly as the social worker walks off-set, then turning directly to the camera with a sigh that feels both weary and pragmatic.
"Powerful words there from someone who's been in the trenches at Allegheny General. And she's touching on a reality that often gets lost in the headlines. Look, we all want to believe in miracles, especially when it's someone from our own backyard like Ethan Park. But the science tells a different story."
"The truth is, there can never be a single 'cure for cancer' because cancer isn't just one thing. It's a massive, complex category of diseases with different causes and vastly different treatments. Think of it like this: you wouldn't expect one single hand-held tool to fix every possible thing that could go wrong on a Ford F-150. You wouldn't expect a single violin to play every part in a symphony orchestra. It's just not how the world works."
The anchor leans forward, resting their elbows on the desk, lowering their voice as a graphic of Ethan Park appears over their shoulder.
"Now, we've all heard the conspiracy theories. They've been around since the mills were still running—tales of 'the cure' being buried in a basement somewhere to keep the money flowing. But the chatter surrounding Mr. Park... it's taken on a life of its own. We've seen the progress; some cancers that were death sentences when our parents were young are now treatable. Others? They remain just as deadly.
There's no 'magic bullet' out there, folks. Not for all of them. And according to those who've met the man, we aren't likely to see one... not unless Mr. Park decides to stop being an 'approval-craving pit' and starts being the neighbor we all hoped he was."
"Reporting from the Golden Triangle, I'm David Johnson . We'll be right back after the break."
Back at Mazikeen's residence:
Maze just received a text from Dr. Linda Martin, who had been nearing the end of her pregnancy.
*"Baby's coming."*
She smiled involuntarily as Eve approached her from behind.
"Hey..." Eve said softly. "Do you think you can maybe work your magic on the priest? Convince him that he's wrong about the prophecy... with your knives and other sharp objects?" She was pleading with Maze to torture the man.
"I've tortured guys like Kinley before. He's a fanatic," Maze replied bluntly. "Nothing I do will change a mind like his."
"Okay..." Eve sighed. "Okay... that's alright." She turned around and walked toward the door panel, banging her hand against it in frustration.
"We just have to figure out another plan. I've got this. Maybe I just need to take Lucifer out of town—you know, just the two of us. No distractions," Eve said, pacing back and forth. She smiled at the prospect of being alone with her "Lucy."
"ENOUGH!" Maze shouted, causing Eve to flinch back. "Lucifer doesn't love you. Sometimes you have to accept when someone doesn't feel the same way about you," Maze whispered, the words sounding more like a confession to herself than a rebuke to Eve.
"I have to go," Maze declared, turning to leave for the hospital.
As Maze left, Eve began pacing the room faster, muttering to herself. "I can do this... I can do this... all I need to do is get Lucifer out of LA." she smiled. "That's all I need."
She began fantasizing about the places they could go together. "Vegas? Paris? Or maybe a deserted island where I could keep him forever..."
"Pardon me, my child," Father Kinley interrupted her monologue. "I think I may have a way to help you after all."
"What do you mean?" she asked innocently.
"I know a place where you could go with him... where all the bad influences would never reach. A place where you could be together for eternity," Kinley spoke smoothly.
"Eternity?" Eve muttered aloud.
"Yes. A place where he could finally be a king," Kinley added suggestively.
"You mean Hell? I don't know... I don't think Lucifer wants to go back there," Eve replied hesitantly.
"Perhaps he just needs a reason to return. After all, he has never been there with a queen by his side," Kinley countered.
Eve turned around, facing the priest directly. "Why are you helping me?" she asked.
"I have dedicated my life to preventing the prophecy. If you and Lucifer go to Hell together, it accomplishes that. It would solve both of our problems," Kinley replied.
"I... I wouldn't know how to convince him to go back," Eve stammered.
"Perhaps remind him of the warm welcome awaiting him down there... all his adoring subjects eagerly awaiting his return," Kinley added.
Eve leaned down near where Kinley was tied and began unbuckling his restraints. "You know, this gives me an idea... Maze said demons can enter the bodies of the recently dead. So, if one of his subjects could rise up from Hell, maybe *they* could convince him."
"Hmm... that may work," Kinley added as Eve moved to the other side to free him.
"Now, all we need is someone to carry the message down to Hell... someone who is about to die." Eve looked at him intently. "Someone definitely headed down there." She looked at him again.
*Thwack. Thud.*
As soon as she freed Kinley, he lunged at her, grabbing her by the throat and lifting her up, his grip tightening as he began to choke her.
"I do apologize," he wheezed as Eve struggled to reach for anything to pry him off. "I would truly like to help... but too much is at stake. The quickest way to destroy the prophecy is simply to remove the Devil's first love from the equation."
Eve's fingers brushed against one of Maze's knives hidden under the sofa. She gripped it with all her strength and drove it upward, piercing Kinley's neck.
*Gurgle. Gurgle.*
As Kinley choked on his own blood, Eve sat beside him, watching the life fade from his eyes.
"You can deliver the message. Tell them to come. Tell them to come and take their King. This is your way to fulfill the prophecy," she insisted. "You tell them to come and help me save Lucifer."
"Why..." Kinley muttered, blood bubbling in his throat. "Why would you think I am going to Hell?" He coughed one last time.
There was a beat of silence before Eve replied, "Just a hunch." Kinley's body went still.
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A/N: So how was the chapter?