Author's note: I re-read Chapter 208: Furuichi is dead?! last night and panicked about the definition of "intact"... this is my worst case scenario. It was supposed to be a one-shot of Oga, with furcas as an epilogue, but it evolved into a 3 chapter. And its 2AM and I am tired and dont have a beta so please forgive any mistakes.

Tamura Ryuuhei owns beelzebub and all characters - i'm just really worried about them.

The saint group spilled out of Alaindelon, landing in a pile on the stone tiles of the courtyard of the Kunieda's temple home.

Aoi's grandfather, waiting for them on the front stairs, quickly showed them through to the main temple, where most of the group stopped in shock.

Kanzaki, Toujo and Aoi stared up at what seemed to be an 8 foot high luminescent jelly cube, topped by what looked like two eyes. Oga simply continued on into the room, having recognised the blob as one of Lamia's healing muumuus, though on a much larger scale than the ones she usually had. As he drew closer his suspicions about the unusual size were confirmed, as he could see best friend, Furuichi, floating inside it. Topless inside the muumuu, the full severity of his wound was made visible. As Oga looked at his friend, he could see right through his chest... Oga thought the front of the hole might be wide enough for him to pass his fist through, although the hole on his back seemed to have closed up more.

"Oga! Where's the soul?"

Oga quickly turned to look at the little doctor. Lamia had her arms crossed in impatience, but that only drew his attention to her blood soaked coat sleeves, while her angry expression did not cover the fact that her eyes were also red, but from tears instead.

He smiled smugly at her, "I told you I'd do it, didn't I?" he said as he drew out the bag containing the six pieces of his friend's soul. The little demon on his back added his own cheer of triumph, revelling in his parent's joy.

Lamia clutched at the bag beaming, "and there are still hours left until sunrise! I'm not able to close the wounds completely without the heart inside, but Doctor Furcas brought the Imperial muumuu, so we've been able to stop the blood loss, and started to repair some of the tissue damage."

Lamia took the bag and darted to the blue figure of Doctor Furcas, who had just appeared from the far side of the muumuu, where he had been inspecting the wounds on Furuichi's back.

Ignoring Lamia's excitement he took the bag from her, "What is this?" he asked peering into the bag at the fragments of Furuichi.

"It's Furuichi soul," Oga replied frowning, "the pieces of his heart that Takamiya took. We got them all."

Doctor Furcus regarded Oga for a moment before spilling the contents of the bag onto his blobby hand, the six pieces of Furuichi's soul giggling and squealing as he moved them around, inspecting each one closely.

Oga was about to tell him to hurry the fuck up, when the doctor spoke. Still examining the fragments, he directed his question to Oga, "please tell me, exactly, what this spell master told you, if you would."

Oga looked to Lamia who was watching the doctor closely while chewing her lip. "He said that we could save him if we got his soul back before morning," he answered.

Doctor Furcas slipped the soul fragments back into the bag and tied it shut. "Is that all he said?" he asked, holding the bag out towards Oga.

Oga didn't take the bag, just looked back and forth between the doctor, the bag and Lamia, who looked as confused as he felt. "What are you doing? We got his soul back, now hurry up and put it back in him! Help him!"

Doctor Furcas lowered the bag he still held out, and with his other hand, smacked Lamia on the head. While she rubbed the welt, he sighed, and drew her close to him. Blue arm around her shoulder, he looked back to Oga and said "I'm very sorry to tell you, but there is nothing more that I can do. The young man is going to die."

Oga blinked. "The fuck did you say? The sun isn't up yet. Save him."

The doctor didn't respond, too absorbed in watching his apprentice, who knew him better than Oga did, knew that there was very little he couldn't heal, but knew that when he said it was over, there was really no hope left. And she knew that a smack on the head meant she had forgotten something vitally important. Lamia knew all these things, but she still desperately refused to believe them.

The doctor kept one eye on Lamia while he answered Oga. "A soul can survive outside the body until sunrise, so long as it remains -," he began but was interrupted by Oga who was rapidly losing patience with the blue doctor.

"I KNOW THAT ALREADY! SO HURRY UP AND PUT IT BACK IN ALREADY!"

Doctor Furcas regarded the gathering darkness around the demon lord and the contractor warily, before continuing with his explanation. "...So long as it remains intact," raising the bag again he continued before Oga could interrupt again, "but this soul is not intact."

Whatever threats Oga had been about to make froze in his throat at the doctor's words. Somewhere, far away he was aware of Lamia falling to the ground, face buried in her hands, while he stared at the doctor in confusion. He could hear Beel croaking and whimpering in his ear as the baby tried desperately not to cry, and could hear the cries of shock from his three court members.

But all of that seemed far too real to Oga, far too natural reactions to what seemed to him to be the most impossible statement he'd ever heard. "This soul is not intact." How could those words actually exist? There was no way the world couldn't have his friend in it.

Oga clung to that thought and managed to speak. "What are you talking about? Of course it's intact! We collected all six –"

Oga snapped his mouth shut, staring at the bag. If he had been capable of looking at Doctor Furcas then, he would have seen a rare look of pity, but all Oga could manage was to stare at the bag as he felt his arms trembling. Lucifer had divided the soul right in front of him. Into six pieces.

That was the last conscious thought Oga had for a long time. Later, he would hear that Kunieda's grandfather had had to help Toujo and Kanzeki hold him back from returning to the school to find Takamiya and Lucifer, and that Beel had run to Aoi in fear of Oga's screams. But he didn't remember any of that.

He remembered a searing pain in his throat, which might have been from vomit, or maybe from his screams continuing to claw their way out even after he lost his voice. He remembered looking up at his friend floating in the muumuu, and trying to tear him out of it, terrified that the gelatinous creature would try to steal him away.

He remembered his own heart jumping and shrinking inside his chest as it tried to come out to replace the one Furuichi had lost. He remembered wishing it would.