Chapter Text
Cassidy Brethal was hovering inside her office inside the Office of Justice, which was one of the connected points between Heaven and Hell, labeled as “Devil of Justice.” She was working on paperwork while muttering under her breath. Why on Earth was she called the Devil of Justice? Well, according to everyone who knew her, she was the one that tried to keep peace and punish people accordingly.
(She disagrees, since she basically tortured Afton for years. How was that justice?)
Cassidy hates her title. Unfortunately for her, she was the only devil out of all of the Missing Children. Well, technically, Andrew is a devil, but Cassidy didn’t want to interact with her “twin.”
Not after all he’d done.
Charlie had made sure that the two would never interact again. Heaven knows, quite literally, if that would actually happen.
If not, well…
“Cassidy!”
Cassidy had a demonic assassin doubling as her personal executioner protecting her.
Elizabeth Afton ran inside, holding the head of some unfortunate demon. Cassidy sighs and turns to look at the ginger.
“Who was it this time?” She asks. Elizabeth looks at the head and smiles.
“Just some random person. I think her name was Lila. It didn’t matter much to me, I had a job to do,” she says. Cassidy shrugs.
“Fair enough,” she says, flying over to her friend. “Any problems with executing her?”
“None,” Elizabeth smiles. “It was in and out.”
Cassidy smiles and nods. “I’m proud of you, Eliza.”
Ah yes. Elizabeth’s name. While everyone knows her as Elizabeth Afton, Elizabeth hates her name. She liked being called Eliza or Liz a lot more. Only Cassidy, Evan, and Charlie could get away with calling her Elizabeth without getting a hand chopped off. It was the same with Cassidy’s own name. Only Elizabeth and CC could call Cassidy by her full name. Everyone else knew to call her by her title, the Devil of Justice, or they called her Cass.
Elizabeth smiles at her. “Come on! I have something cool to show you!” Cassidy smiles and grabs her platonic girlfriend’s hand. Elizabeth looks at her, a curious expression on her face.
“Then show me,” she says, causing Elizabeth to smile. The eight-year-old girl leads her platonic girlfriend out of the office and into Heaven. Cassidy smiles and follows Elizabeth through their second home.
They enjoyed staying in Hell, but Heaven was a nice change on occasion.
That was on occasion. Most of Heaven didn’t trust the so-called “Devil of Justice…”
Okay, they did, but they don’t trust the “Devil’s Assassin.” Aka, Elizabeth.
Oh well, it sucks to be them. Cassidy never goes anywhere without her partner.
Angels throughout Heaven nodded at the two out of respect, and they were allowed to pass through Heaven without conflict. Eventually, they arrived in a grassy and floral, full of life, clearing. Cassidy knew the clearing. How could she not? It was the Garden of Eden. She had been here many times during meetings involving the Office of Justice, Satan, and God. She brought Elizabeth here many times as well. In fact, it was the place of their first platonic date.
As Elizabeth brings her through the garden to a section she hadn’t been before, Cassidy’s eyes widen as she notices a beautiful waterfall. It wasn’t visible from the front of the garden, and she had never explored this far. Her voice was caught in her throat, and she looked at her partner.
“How and when did you find this?” Cassidy asks. Elizabeth shrugs.
“During one of my missions, one of my targets went into the garden.” At Cassidy’s look, Elizabeth protests, “I didn’t kill him here! I wouldn’t do that. Not when you love this place.”
Cassidy didn’t quite know if she should feel honored that Elizabeth thought about her during missions or if she was embarrassed about it.
Cassidy hugs Elizabeth, a big smile on her face. “Why didn’t you show me this before?”
“You’ve been busy,” Elizabeth replies. “So, I didn’t get the time.”
Cassidy sighs and looks at her. “I will always make time for you. Just call for me and I’ll come.”
“I know,” Elizabeth smiles at her. “I’m sorry for taking a while.”
“Don’t worry about it,” Cassidy smiles. “I’ll always wait. I have all the time in the world.” Elizabeth smiles and leads Cassidy to the edge of the waterfall. They sit next to each other and pull each other into the other’s embrace. It was peaceful.
It is moments like this one, Cassidy reflected, that she is sure that she broke the Brethal’s Abuse Cycle.
Other times, like when a rogue angel was executed for killing many angels and demons, which she contributed to, she’s not sure.
Their peace was interrupted when a male angel flew over to them. He looks at them, though his eyes rest on Cassidy. He nods respectfully, saying, “Devil of Justice, Devil’s Assassin. The Office of Justice is waiting for you.”
Cassidy stands up, offering her hand to her platonic girlfriend. Once she pulled Elizabeth to her feet, Cassidy looked at the angel since, well, she knew this angel. Gregory Morson, the assistant for Elijah O’Neil, one of the Angels of Justice.
The Office of Justice consisted of many angels, while there were only a few people from Hell. There were five archangels: Lola Richardson, Mei Guan, Brendon McKinnley, Derek Valor, and Jordan Barrel. Four angels: Antonia Navarro, Summer Lockney, Kaito Abe, and Elijah O’Neil. Two demons: Amara Ladipo and Justin Therra.
And one devil.
Cassidy Brethal.
A dead seven-year-old that didn’t want the role but was forced into it.
She didn’t mind it now, but everyone else was an adult. She was a child. Also, where was the lack of representation? Most people in the Office of Justice were white, with only four being of color. Cassidy was on good terms with all four of those people, because she was discriminated against as well as a devil. In total, she was close to five of them.
Cassidy might be the youngest, but she was also one of the most respected members of the Office of Justice. Unlike most members, she actively went out of her way to protect devils, demons, fallen angels, angels, and archangels.
But she was still discriminated against. Simply because she is a devil.
The hierarchy of Heaven and Hell was strange. Heaven’s hierarchy was fallen angels, angels, and archangels. Hell’s hierarchy was fallen angels, demons, and devils. With the list going from weakest to strongest. However, in terms of respect for the entirety of Heaven and Hell, it went archangels, angels, fallen angels, demons, and devils.
Unless you were Cassidy, who was stronger than most devils.
Akai Libon was a large part of that.
Unlike most members of Heaven and Hell, Cassidy possessed a powerful ability. This ability is known as Akai Libon. Akai Libon was a collection of red ribbon-like appendages that exited the child’s body. Akai Libon appeared to look like blood, which made sense since Cassidy was covered in it. Most people scoffed at the simple name.
Akai Libon.
Which meana Red Ribbon.
However, anyone who had come across Cassidy using Akai Libon and lived to tell the tale, described Akai Libon like a snake. You weren’t expecting it, then it appeared, and it was deadly. Akai Libon might look and feel like a ribbon, but it’s not. At all. Akai Libon has the tensile strength of tungsten, making it very hard and almost impossible to break, and can tear a body apart without Cassidy having to do anything.
Cassidy remembered the time that she went from calmly talking to a rogue demon to ripping their spine out of their body out of anger. In her defense, they had called her a monster and someone unworthy of love. She was allowed to be upset.
She isn’t like her parents.
She isn’t.
She isn’t.
S h e
i s
n o t
l i k e
t h e m
Elizabeth grabs her hand and Cassidy notices that they are in front of the Office of Justice. Morson was gone by now, and Cassidy sighs. Time for hell.
Cassidy walks into the building and into the meeting room inside the Office of Justice. Cassidy looks around and smiles as Mei Guan, one the archangels, smiles at her. “There’s the Devil of Justice! How are you?”
Casssidy smiles as she sits in her respective spot. “Hello, Mrs. Guan. I am great.”
Mei nods at her. “Oh, please. Just call me Mei, Cass.”
Let Cassidy back up for a moment and introduce the Office of Justice.
The oldest member of the Office of Justice is Elijah O’Neil. Elijah is an angel and is 57 years old. Then came the most troublesome member of the Office of Justice. Lola Richardson, a 49-year-old archangel. The strictest member of the Office of Justice is Jordan Barrel, an archangel of 38 years old. Mei Guan, the archangel from before, is 45 years old. Another very strict member is Derek Valor, a 36-year-old archangel. Amara Ladipo is a 30-year-old demon and one of Cassidy’s acquaintances. Summer Lockney, the calmest member of the Office of Justice, is a 28-year-old angel. Kaito Abe is a jokester and one of the most carefree members. He is a 25-year-old angel. Brendon McKinnley, a 24-year-old archangel. Justin Therra is a 23-year-old demon and the other jokester of the group. Antonia Navarro, an angel, is the closest to Cassidy, with her age being 20.
And then that left her. Cassidy Brethal, the youngest member of the Office of Justice at the ripe age of 7.
Cassidy smiles as she takes her normal seat next to Antonia. She nods at her acquaintance with a small smile while Elizabeth stands next to her. Cassidy had insisted that Elizabeth didn’t need to be here while meetings went on. However, Elizabeth, being the clingy clown she was, didn’t like being too far away from Cassidy.
“How was your mission, Eliza?” Kaito asks, looking at the ginger girl beside Cassidy.
Elizabeth looks at him and, after a moment, answers, “I did it efficiently and quickly.”
“Normal mission, huh?” Justin asks. Elizabeth looks at him and nods but remains quiet otherwise. Cassidy sighs and rests her arms on the table.
“Why was I needed here? I wasn’t aware that there was a meeting today,” she says. Amara and Justin glare at Elijah.
“Why wasn’t our little devil told about the meeting?” Amara asks.
Mei gives him a side eye. “You told me that everyone was aware of the meeting.”
Elijah rolls his eyes. “Her presence wasn’t needed.”
“Yes, it is,” Antonia glares at him. “If she takes it, it’s her mission. We are not going to force a child to go to a place alone without her consent.”
“Alone?” Elizabeth stiffens. Cassidy holds her hand out to silence her partner, waving for Elijah to continue.
“What’s my mission, Mr. O’Neil?” She asks. Elijah sighs.
“There is a city in Japan known as Yokohama. Have you heard of it?” he asks. Cassidy nods. Of course she knew. She had a couple of devils and demons that came from Yokohama. Once Cassidy confirmed it, Elijah sighs. “One of the citizens is known as Tsushima Shuuji, though he will be known as Dazai Osamu. We have observed another universe, and it seems like he took a dark turn. We fear that our universe may take that turn as well unless we get involved.”
“Why not send an angel?” Cassidy asks, looking around the table. “Surely Mrs. Richardson, Ms. Lockney, or Mr. Valor is a better option than me.”
Elijah was about to continue until Mei held up one of her hands. She looks at the seven-year-old. “Dazai-san is known as the Demon Prodigy, so it would be better if a representative from Hell went. We cannot risk either Amara or Justin going, since we need both of them, so that leaves you.”
Cassidy frowns. She might be young, but she’s not naive. Yes, she is part of the Office of Justice, but she knew that nobody wanted her there besides Mei, Amara, Kaito, Justin, and Antonia. Devils were hated by everyone because of how inhumane they could be…
Cassidy isn’t inhumane.
…Right?
Cassidy sighs. “If I agree to do this mission, what do I get in return?”
Elijah was about to reply, but Mei beat him to it. “What would you like?” she asks.
Cassidy thinks for a moment before smiling. “A more balanced Office of Justice. I would like a couple more devils and demons to be part of it.” Amara and Justin nod in agreement. Antonia nods with a smile. Mei looks at the angels as if challenging them to disagree. Derek sighs.
“I think that’s reasonable,” he says. “We do have a lot more people, so it would benefit us all to bring more demons and devils on board.” Cassidy looks around at everyone else as they begrudgingly agree.
Elijah sighs and nods. “That is fair. I agree to your terms.”
“Wonderful,” Cassidy smiles as she stands up. “Come on Elizabeth. We need to discuss everything.”
Elizabeth nods and the two walk out of the room and into Cassidy’s office. Cassidy looks at her. “Look, I know you’re not happy about this, but this is an opportunity for Hell to get representatives. Besides, it means I get a break.”
“What about me?” Elizabeth asks, her voice quiet. Cassidy frowns. She knew what Elizabeth was afraid of: being abandoned and forgotten. But Cassidy would never hurt her. Elizabeth is Cassidy’s partner, girlfriend, her other half.
Cassidy smiles. “I will be making trips here, so we can meet. I will never forget you, and I will never leave you. If you want, you can come to Yokohama to meet me as well. After all, what’s the Devil of Justice without the Devil’s Assassin by her side?”
Elizabeth’s eyes give a little spark, and she hugs her. “Thank goodness. I thought you would make connections and leave me behind.”
“Never,” Cassidy promises, hugging her partner. “I love you, Liz.”
“I love you too, Cass,” Elizabeth smiles. She looks at her. “How are you going to disguise herself?”
“The illusion disk,” Cassidy says. Elizabeth’s eyes light up. A while ago, as a congratulations from Afton for getting on the panel of the Office of Justice, Cassidy was given an illusion disk. This illusion disk was able to make Cassidy look like she was growing up. This went until she was physically 7, in which she could use her abilities to make herself look human.
It was the nicest thing other than Evan and Elizabeth that Afton gave her.
Not that Evan and Elizabeth were given to her, but Cassidy considered it because she never had any friends other than those two and the Missing Children when she was alive.
Cassidy smiles. “I just have something I need to give you.” Elizabeth looks at her.
“What is it?” She asks. Cassidy grabs a ring box from her desk and offers it to Elizabeth. When Elizabeth looks at her questioningly, Cassidy smiles.
“It’s a promise ring. I’ll be with you through the ring. It’s a promise that I’ll return,” Cassidy says. Elizabeth smiles and hugs her. Both knew what Cassidy was asking by bringing out the ring. She was asking for her to watch over Heaven and Hell. To keep everyone safe while Cassidy was gone. But the promise ring was for both of them.
That they would always be there for each other.
Cassidy kisses Elizabeth’s cheek and smiles. Elizabeth grabs the illusion disk and slips it into Cassidy’s scarf. It turns on and Cassidy smiles as she hugs Elizabeth. “I must get going. I have a mission to do, after all.”
“Alright,” Elizabeth nods. Cassidy begins to walk away but pauses when Elizabeth whispers, “I love you.”
Cassidy blinks but then smiles. “I love you too,” she says, before flying to the gates of Heaven and Hell. She takes a deep breath and jumps.
Down.
Down.
Down.
Then darkness.