Thank you ever so much to all those who have read and reviewed and messaged. I apologise for the delay but things have been hectic. Here's chapter 23 - enjoy!

"Boomie?" Bubbles asked, breaking the blue ruff from his thoughts. He looked down at her, his brow knitted with worry. "We'll find them, okay? We will."

He frowned, nodding absentmindedly. "Yeah, we'll find them. Maybe we should head back to yours and, and get in touch with your Dad or something. It's beginning to feel pretty pointless looking around places they like to go. Brick hardly goes anywhere as it is... Plus, the tracker says they're offline. Meaning their hotline cells are off or… Or they've decided to leave the country or something."

His stomach turned uncomfortably as his mind went back to the one place he knew the trackers wouldn't be able to locate anyone at. Hell. What if they were there? He felt sick at the thought of it. Of Brick being back there. Of Blossom being there at all.

Swallowing, Boomer pushed the thought to the back of his mind. They couldn't be there. They just couldn't. There had to be some other explanation. Something stupid, like they'd gone off somewhere together and their hotlines had been broken somehow. Something like that… It had to be something like that! God, he hoped it was something along those lines.

"If they'd left the country, the tracker should pick up on it. It's pretty advanced…" Bubbles mumbled, beginning to bite on her fingernail nervously. "The Professor has those cells pretty specced up. Every time something has gone wrong with one he's done something to prevent it happening again… They're waterproof… Can withstand high temperatures, to an extent anyway… And they can track us all around the world, if they're in proper working order that is."

Boomer swallowed once more when she mentioned high temperatures.

"Call Buttercup… See if her and Butch have had any luck." Boomer murmured as they exited Casper's cafe.

Bubbles nodded, pulling her phone from the belt of her uniform. As she dialled, Boomer's personal cell phone began to ring. Her sky blue eyes widened in anticipation as Boomer scrambled for it, answering it so hurriedly he didn't stop to check who was calling.

"Brick?!" He yelped down the phone.

"Uhhh no dude, it's Reuben, your neighbour - from the apartment opposite you." A voice he didn't particularly recognise answered down the line. "Didn't you save my number when I gave it to you?"

Boomer wilted with disappointment. "Oh. Hey man… No, I did - sorry."

Bubbles proceeded to call Buttercup, her expression as sullen as her boyfriends.

"I was just calling to ask what the hell is going on at your place man?" Reuben continued, and Boomer pulled a confused face.

"Huh? What do you mean what's going on? Nobody is there." Boomer replied, his face screwed up in confusion.

"Welllll, something's definitely happening dude! There was a huge flash of light, and then we had some crazy power surge in the entire building. My TV switched off and everything - luckily it didn't blow. I was gunna call the fire department just in case, but thought I'd call you first… Also didn't wanna have to call Ms B but -" The neighbour drawled on, until Boomer interrupted him.

"Wait wait, a huge flash of light? Fire department… Are you saying my apartment is on fire?!" Boomer exclaimed, causing Bubbles to cut her sentence short and stare at him, her mouth agog.

"I dunno dude, but something crazy happened -"

Boomer hung his phone up and shoved it into his pocket. "Tell Butch to get home. Apparently there was a flash of light and a power surge or something back at the apartment. I have no idea if it's on fire or, or blown up or what, cos our neighbour Reuben spends his entire life stoned as fuck."

"Wha - umm, okay, Buttercup, meet us at the boys' apartment as soon as possible - I know we looked there already but, something's come up. See you soon!" Bubbles explained hurriedly to Buttercup on her hotline, before hanging it up and jetting off into the sky beside Boomer.

Blossom gently pulled her lips from Brick's, and looked up at him intently. His face was only inches from hers, his hands still holding her waist and back close to him. She could feel him trembling still from the rush of adrenaline of what they'd just been through. She was shaking still too, her hands holding him closely, one on his face, the other on the nape of his neck.

His deep red eyes were wide, and his expression was one filled with awe as he looked down at her.

Slowly, Blossom felt a smile creep onto her lips as she attempted to catch her breath. Panting too, Brick felt the corner of his mouth turn up into a small but baffled smile.

"Are you okay?" Blossom asked quietly, as if a sudden noise could send them shooting back to the Underworld.

"Am I okay?" He responded in an astounded whisper. "Am I…" His words trailed off, distracted as Blossom had reached up to the top of his head, carefully touching the space where not that long ago horns had arose. "My head…"

"Does it hurt?" Blossom questioned, and Brick shook his head. Removing a hand from her waist, he patted the top of his head too; the demon horns had disappeared. Relief swept over him - they were gone. They were gone!

"No, not anymore. They're gone… They're gone!" He cried, looking around sharply and holding onto her tightly, like something could jump out at them any minute. They were still standing in the living room of his apartment, which was empty. She looked around curiously too. "I'm home. We're home. Is it - is it over?! Is this, is it real?!"

"I, I think so…" Blossom murmured in reply, glancing around at the empty apartment. The front door was now shut, so someone had been home since they'd been taken; she recalled that she hadn't even got the chance to shut it behind her when she'd arrived here and Him had plunged them into the depths of Hell.

"How do I know this is real? How do I know it's not Him in my head?" He asked, still looking around suspiciously. "Hit me. Hit me really hard. If it's Him it should wake me."

She cranked a brow at him. "Brick I'm not gunna hit you."

"Just do it! This could be an illusion!" Brick insisted, his expression nearing frantic as he urged her to strike him.

"I don't want to just hit you -" She began, her arms still around him as he continued to implore her to hit him. She sighed and smacked him hard around the face.

He stopped speaking abruptly, his hand going to his cheek. "Okay, ow. Definitely felt that. This must be real..."

She stroked his cheek gently for a moment, cringing a little. "Sorry - but you did ask me to. Are you okay?"

Brick nodded, brushing it off. "I'm fine… I'm -" He looked down at her once more, carefully placing his hands on both her cheeks and pulling her face in his direction. "What about you - are you okay?" He asked, before letting her go and giving her a once over, as if to check she was still in one piece.

She smiled warmly, and nodded. "Yes, yes - yeah, I'm okay, all things considered. Let me see your head."

He lowered it so she could take a look, his brain not being able to resist revelling at her hands running through his locks as she tried to locate any sign of the horns that had not that long ago sprouted from his head. "No marks or anything. There's some blood stains but, that's it. Not a trace of them…" She commented, as he stood at full height once more, his crimson eyes glued to her curiously.

"What the hell happened? I mean, how did you - what did you do?" He asked her, completely bowled over.

She shook her head lightly as she spoke. "I, I honestly have no idea. I really don't... I was angry, and just outraged at what he was saying - I don't know how to describe it. Something just took over. I don't know what, or, or how..."

He looked at her curiously as she furrowed her brow, remembering what had taken place.

"Something in me just told me to try to protect you somehow... To try and save you from what he'd done to you, and stop him from doing what he was saying he was going to do to us both. But, I honestly have no idea what in the world actually happened… I just remember feeling so furious - and I guess frightened - and then there was a white light from somewhere -"

He interrupted her. "You were the white light."

"I was?" She responded, her mouth falling open.

"Yes. You were glowing. You looked like - you were otherworldly." He explained, and she felt a blush creep up her neck. He spied it, but nodded. "You were. You broke his chain, you were emitting this bright white light, and then Him tried to attack you with fire."

At his words she looked down at her hands, her palms held upwards. "And I retaliated with ice." She opened and closed her palms slowly.

"Then Him started screaming and when you touched me it felt like I was going to freeze to death." Brick continued, and she peered up at him with wide eyes.

"It did?" She queried, and he nodded, before taking one of her hands and linking his fingers through hers.

"Yeah, but it's not doing it now." He replied. "You feel cold but just cold like you always feel."

"I could feel fire when I placed your hand on my heart too. Like, it really burned. But now," She moved his hand onto her heart once more, then placed hers onto his. "Nothing."

"Same here." He murmured. There was a moment's silence as they stared at each other, both trying to figure out what had transpired.

Brick spoke first. "You saved me."

"I did?" She asked, removing her hand from his chest and looking down at them once again, before looking back at his wide, frantic red eyes.

"Yes! You saved me - you saved us! 'Angelic, righteous figure', remember? You fucking saved me, you saved my soul. Him made me a demon and you - you somehow reversed it. I mean, I can't think of any other way of explaining it - I had fucking horns, and now they're gone. I was condemned to stay in Hell forever but now I'm home! And so were you! You saved us!" He'd seized her by the shoulders as he spoke, a smile breaking out on his face. "Fucking hell. I've spent like 3 years worrying over this, waiting for this, and you, you fucking saved me!" In one swift movement he cradled her face in his hands and kissed her deeply again, his exuberance taking Blossom by surprise. Exuberant wasn't exactly a word she'd have ever thought she'd use to describe Brick. But it was accurate right now.

He pulled away from her but didn't let her go. "I fucking owe you so much! I mean, you literally saved my life, and my soul."

"Well, that's what I do." She attempted to shrug it off, unsure how else to respond, but he shook his head rapidly.

"No no, this wasn't saving me from a burning building, or, or from being squished by a giant monster, this was saving my soul, saving me from spending the rest of forever in Hell, with Him torturing me, and making me do whatever he wanted me to do, saving me from being a demon! And saving you from a fucking awful fate too." Brick implored, trying to get her to see the severity of what she'd done.

"Well, I don't know what to say because I don't really know what I did… But, I wasn't going to do what he said, not for one second. I don't care what he foresaw." She replied.

"Thank you." He said, and she'd never heard him sound so sincere. "And I'm sorry. I'm sorry you had to go through all that, sorry that you got dragged into it all."

"You don't need to apologise Brick, I was in it from the moment Him had that vision. It's like he said, this day would have happened regardless of whether we were on speaking terms or not. And anyway, I'm not sorry we went through it, because of the outcome: It saved you." The pink puff clarified, and he nodded as he mulled over her words.

"Shit." He muttered under his breath, still completely floored by the events that had developed. "I can't believe it. I can't fucking believe it." He bent down to scoop her up into his arms once more, holding her close and kissing her fiercely. "You're amazing. You're fucking amazing!" He cried between his kisses, and Blossom found herself giggling his name.

"Seriously, how the fuck am I ever going to make this up to you? I mean, I can't stop fucking kissing you." He asked her, his face full of joy; she couldn't remember the last time he looked so happy.

"Then don't." She purred, and his grin widened.

So he didn't.

They kissed, and eventually things advanced to them both being on the sofa, where things got quite heated quite quickly.

Brick's warm hand resting on her thigh up the white summer dress she was wearing set off a little alarm in her head; so Blossom pulled her lips from his. "Is this maybe escalating a little?" She asked as Brick continued to lay kisses along her neck.

She dropped her hand down to his; the one creeping up her leg, and he removed it.

"Oops." He murmured into her neck. "No, it's not escalating. Of course not, we're not 18 yet."

He had a teasing glint in his eye and she smirked at him. He'd remembered her words from almost a year ago when they'd first been paired up for Sex Ed.

"That's right. I'm 18 in 3 months time… So, not that far off." She replied matter of factly. His crimson eyes widened and he smirked as she lowered her lashes at him.

He found himself chuckling as he shook his head. "No, it's against the law, remember?"

She smirked now too, taking ahold of his hand tightly. As she did, she felt him jump suddenly. Confused, she looked up at his face, his surprised expression further puzzling her.

That was when she realised their hands were frozen together - or more she'd frozen his hand to hers. "Oh my god." She murmured, pulling it upright to examine their holding hands encased in a thick layer of white frost.

"Yeah, I'd been meaning to bring that up again. Could you always produce ice from your hands? I have never seen you do it before, at least I don't think I have." He muttered, giving his arm a wiggle, his hand not budging from hers. "I mean, I can produce flames from my hands. Didn't discover it right away. Found out about my flame breath pretty early, but the fire from elsewhere I didn't discover until I was 7 or 8."

"I've never - no. No, this is new." She murmured. "And this was unintentional, sorry -" She added, indicating their frozen hands as a sudden warmth melted the ice away, and she let go when she could to avoid being burnt by the small flame Brick had created in his palm. Water ran down her arm and dropped onto the sofa.

Something told him his fire abilities were going to come in handy in the not so distant future. "Can you do it on command?"

She cranked a brow at him. "I don't do much on command."

He smirked. "You know what I mean - can you produce ice from your hands right now? Or is it some kind of high stakes instinctual thing?"

"I don't know… I wasn't in mortal peril seconds ago with you though, was I? So, it can't be that." She looked down at her upturned palms.

"Try." He suggested, and she nodded, but had to think for a moment, as she didn't really know what to do to prompt it. With her ice breath, she just thought that she wanted to use it, took a deep breath and out it came.

So, she tried to use the same method here. Except she must have thought about it a little too forcefully, as two shards of ice shot out of her hands and hit the ceiling, shattering instantly over them both.

"Oh my god!" She yelped, as herself and Brick both reflexively shielded themselves. "I'm so sorry!"

"It's okay… So, definitely not a life and death response kind of thing. You've got a new power." Brick said, and she furrowed her brow, looking down at her hands and concentrating on just a little bit of ice escaping. A small swirl of beautiful ice and little snowflakes appeared, disappearing into the air rapidly.

"It can't be a new power… Why would a new power show itself now? Maybe I could always do it and I've only just realised." She suggested, but Brick looked doubtful. "I mean, I've never tried."

"Seems unlikely you'd be able to do something like that and not know for this long." Brick countered, but then noted a hint of worry in her eyes. "But, I guess it could have been a hidden ability. Or an ability that showed itself now because of how fucked the situation was."

"Maybe… It doesn't explain the glowing white though… What happened?" Blossom murmured, looking at Brick, puzzled.

"I don't know. You looked like some kind of angel." He replied in a low voice, and her confusion intensified.

"Well I'm not - I'm not an angel, it's ridiculous - what even is an angel? I mean is that a thing? There are demons, you were one not that long ago. I saw it with my own eyes… So, if there's demons are there angels?" She asked him and his mouth formed a thin line as he took in her words.

"I don't know… All Otis said was 'angelic, righteous figure', he didn't say anything about actual angels." Brick said as he thought deeply. "I don't really recall ever hearing anything about angels when I was stuck in the Underworld. But then, Him didn't like us knowing too much."

"Who's Otis?" Blossom queried.

"The demon I contacted about what happens when you sell your soul to Him." Brick explained, and Blossom nodded, remembering. "He was our first port of call when we were there. Helped patch us up when Him had been torturing us. Got us anything we needed. Good guy, for a demon."

Blossom frowned, reaching forward to stroke his hand tenderly. He clutched at her hand back carefully, relieved when she didn't cover him in frost.

"I know there were people Him was after. More than he was after others. Never got told why, or what they'd done. But it makes me wonder…" Brick said, thinking.

"Myself and my sisters were amongst those, surely?" Blossom asked. "The people he was after more."

Brick nodded, looking at her intently. "Yeah, you were. He always used to say he despised you three so much because of who you were and what you stood for. Beacons of hope, of love, salvation, compassion. But maybe there was more to it."

"You think he thinks I'm an angel? Whatever that entails? You think he saw this coming? One of his visions or something?" She asked, her expression becoming fraught with concern.

"No, he looked surprised when you started glowing. Devastated, in fact. He looked like he knew it was over if he didn't try to stop you. If he'd have seen that coming he wouldn't have reacted like that." Brick said, and Blossom's brow furrowed as she nodded at Brick's words.

"And what about his vision Brick? And that prophecy? He says he saw us standing by him. With a child. And that prophecy… 'No greater power can he expose, to greatly conquer all his foes, to his left and right do juxtapose, eyes of rouge and eyes of rose'. Should we still be greatly concerned about those?" Blossom asked in exasperation, but Brick shook his head dismissively.

"No." He said simply, and her brow rose in surprise at his response. "They're fairytales Blossom. Poetry, from crackpots who reckon they saw things and jotted it down - years and years ago. Like, hundreds and thousands of years ago."

"It's hard to find it ridiculous so easily when a lot of what has happened recently and today is ridiculous and hard to fathom. I mean, you had horns not even an hour ago! And Him is the Devil, right? He's magical, and powerful. And he says he foresaw the future in a vision…" The pink puff tried to reason, but Brick still looked unperturbed.

"His visions don't mean shit. He said he had a vision the night he resurrected me and my brothers." Brick revealed, and Blossom's eyes widened in surprise.

"Did he?!"

"Yes. It's the only reason he brought us back, it's the only reason myself and my brothers even exist right now. He said he foresaw three young boys, destroying the Powerpuff girls effortlessly, and aiding him in taking over the world. Three young boys. According to his vision, we were supposed to have killed you when we were still kids. You're all still here. His visions are meaningless." The red ruff told her.

"And these prophecies are just as unfounded?" She pressed.

"In my opinion? Yes. But Him lives by things like that." He said, confidence thick in his voice.

She bit her bottom lip momentarily as she contemplated what he'd said. "So you're not even a little bit concerned?"

"No, I'm not. He said he saw me as a demon beside him and you as yourself. So he worked things for the past 3 years to fulfil this prophecy. And yeah, he did do a lot of the steps - he saw me as a demon, so he set me up to become one. And then he fucking worked me in such a way that he knew I'd say no to whatever he asked." The red ruff paused, and Blossom could see he was struggling with the fact Him had played him like a fiddle for the past nearly 3 years. "He needed me to refuse his task and become a demon, which I did. But, we've broken the prophecy - you've broken the prophecy. I'm not a demon, because you foiled his plot, restored my soul and rescued us. So we have nothing to worry about."

Brick swallowed at his own words, because he couldn't help but feel like they were only partially true. They didn't have anything to worry about with regards to the prophecy, but that still didn't cover what had actually happened. Explaining how Blossom had rescued them he couldn't do.

She was nodding slowly at his words. "That doesn't explain how I rescued us. That doesn't explain what happened."

She'd almost read his mind. His crimson eyes looked at her intently and he sighed lightly. What had happened? The pink puff swiped a loose strand of hair from the side of her face, and Brick was suddenly distracted by something. Gently, he gripped at her arm, turning it over so he could see the underside of her forearm. It was noticeably bare; Blossom looked down at where he was looking too, her eyes widening in realisation: Him's mark, it was gone.

"Oh my god. It's gone. It's gone - is yours? Let me see!" She cried, reaching forward and pulling at his t shirt to try and get a look at his back. Brick spluttered at her scrambling to undress him, allowing her to pull his t shirt up high enough to take a look at the spot on his back where Him's mark had remained for the past 6 years of his life.

"It's gone!" Blossom confirmed, releasing his t shirt and blushing lightly. "Sorry - but it's gone! Him's marks, they're gone."

"It's really over." Brick murmured, and she nodded. They stared at each other for a few moments, both of them hoping his words were true; but neither feeling like that was the case.

Before they had the opportunity to discuss things further, the front door to the apartment sprang open, and Boomer, Butch, Bubbles and Buttercup burst in. Blossom and Brick jumped to their feet at the sudden invasion.

"Oh my god Blossom!" Bubbles shrieked, rushing to her sister and grabbing her into a tight hug.

"Brick - oh man you're here!" Boomer exhaled, approaching his brother, who was sitting on the sofa still looking startled to be suddenly interrupted. The blue ruff grabbed him into a hug too, surprising Brick further. "You're home - and you're okay right?"

Brick nodded as Buttercup and Butch also rushed to their siblings, Butch sizing his brother up with relief in his eyes as Boomer released him from the hug; he was glad to see him home and in one piece. "Brick, what the hell happened?" He asked him.

"Yeah," Buttercup said, forcing her arm in between her sisters and wrenching them apart - knowing full well Bubbles would continue to smother their redheaded sister for several minutes had she not prised them apart. "Where were you? We've been looking everywhere! And your hotline cells were off -"

Bubbles interrupted. "Are you both okay?"

"We're fine, we're okay - I'm so sorry we were unreachable. I umm - I guess it's a long story." Blossom said, looking to Brick a little awkwardly. "I have no idea where to start."

"Maybe from the beginning? I mean come on you can't just give us 'it's a long story' - you missed a call out, we've been worrying our tits off!" Buttercup snapped.

"I missed a call out? Was everything okay?" Blossom asked, retrieving her hotline cell from her bra and noting it was off. Weird, she hadn't touched it all day, and had certainly not turned it off.

"Everything was fine but - Blossom I don't really give a shit about that, what happened?!" Buttercup barked.

"Brick were you in the Underworld?" Boomer asked, and Brick gave his brother a bemused expression.

"How did you know that?" Brick replied and Bubbles and Buttercup's eyes bugged in shock.

"You were in Hell?!" Buttercup yelped.

Blossom sighed, placing her hands onto her sisters upper arms in an attempt to calm them - except the gesture brought them no reassurance. Instead, it made them both jump as a soft plume of ice slowly secreted from her palms, dusting a light frost across their forearms.

"What the fuck?!" Buttercup yelled as Bubbles looked down at the ice glazing her arm in dismay. "How did you do that?!"

"Oops, erm - okay, how about we all just calm down, and, and I'll make some tea and we can start right from the beginning and explain everything?" Blossom proposed. Her sisters eyed her, aghast as Blossom smiled sheepishly at them.

"So hang on, hang on -" Butch said, shaking his head to try and get things straight in his mind. "You sold your fucking soul - to Him?"

Brick nodded, pressing his lips together. "Yep."

"Are you an idiot?" Boomer asked, and Brick smirked, but nodded.

"Yeah, I guess so." He replied, running a hand through his red hair.

"But, why? I mean, why would you think that would be a good idea?" Boomer questioned. "Even I know that's not a good idea, and you're significantly smarter than me."

"I knew it wasn't a good idea. It was out of pure desperation. We were living in Hell with no escape, only getting to see real daylight when we were sent to the real world to do Him's bidding, or pretend daylight in one of his illusions. I had to get us out of there somehow but there was seemingly no way out. That was a way out. So I took it." Brick explained, his brothers still staring at him with their mouths open and eyes wide.

"Even though you had no idea what it entailed?" Boomer clarified, and Brick nodded once more.

"I knew a bit…" The red ruff muttered, noticing Blossom cocking a brow at him. "Look, I realise it wasn't my smartest move."

"Jesus Christ - I can't believe you did that." Butch murmured.

"Me either. I mean - thanks." Boomer added, not wanting to appear ungrateful.

"Don't mention it." Brick brushed it off, and Boomer stared at him incredulously.

"We didn't - for like 3 years, because you didn't tell us!" Boomer cried, and Brick shrugged.

"It was for your own protection. Plus, I knew you'd freak out." Brick said, eyeing his blonde brother at his words.

"Of course I would have! I am now! Any deal with Him is likely to end badly." Boomer cried. "I can't believe it - how the hell did you get out of this? And how the hell did you get out of Hell?"

"Yeah, I thought you said anyone who entered the Underworld was extremely unlikely to get out alive?" Bubbles added.

"Well, that's a bit of a grey area." Brick said, looking at Blossom who was sitting beside him in the living area, sipping at her tea.

Buttercup's brow furrowed in confusion. "What do you mean by that?"

"We don't know how we got home. But the important thing is that we did." Blossom said, and Buttercup gave her a scrutinising look.

"What happened in Hell?" Buttercup pressed. "I mean, why did Him want you there?" Her question was aimed at her redheaded sister. "Why has he been focusing on you? It was the same with the marks, he gave you one and not us. And why just Brick and not Butch and Boomer? What was he plotting that involved just you two?"

"Well, we didn't know the answer to that either -" Blossom began, and Buttercup sighed raggedly, beginning to get frustrated.

"Oh come on - what do you know? There's gotta be some crazy, twisted, dark devil worship-y type shit this has to do with - or is selling your soul the craziest thing about all this?" Buttercup asked in exasperation.

Brick smirked, glancing at Blossom, who looked a little uneasy. "I'm afraid there's more crazy, twisted dark stuff to come." The pink puff murmured.

"Well, out with it then. What happened when you got to Hell?" Buttercup said.

"Okay so awhile back, Brick got in touch with someone in the Underworld for advice on what happened when you sell your soul - prior to us being taken by Him." Blossom began.

"Otis." Brick verified, recognition on his brothers face, confusion on Bubbles and Buttercups'.

"Who is Otis?" Bubbles queried, and Boomer answered her.

"He was our demon helper in Hell." He said way too casually.

"Demon?" Bubbles yelped, her voice going up in pitch. "What the hell is a demon?! Like those little, angry red devil things you see in fantasy films?"

Boomer chuckled at his girlfriend. "Nooo, that's all just make believe. Demons are just people condemned to live in Hell." Demons and the Devil were fairly normal concepts to Boomer and his brothers. But Bubbles and Buttercup were just as bowled over by the idea as Blossom had been when Brick had explained. "They look like normal people, just with horns." Boomer said, demonstrating two horns on the side of his head with his fingers.

"Right," Brick said, very grateful that he was no longer sporting a pair of horns himself. "And we also found out that they're people who sold their souls to Him - and wouldn't fulfill the task he requested of them. Demons are soulless, doomed to stay in Hell and serve Him for the rest of their lives. When you sell your soul to Him, you're giving him the promise of completing one task for him, in exchange for whatever it was you wanted from him - in my case it was freedom from Hell, financial security and protection for you two." The red ruff eyed his brothers, who both looked surprised by the efforts he'd gone to to keep them safe. "Complete the task and you get to keep your soul and live normally. Refuse - and you become a demon."

"Really? So, what - Him summoned you, and Blossom, to Hell and asked you to perform a task? What was it?" Butch asked.

"He wanted Brick to kill me." Blossom said, watching her sister's eyes widen.

"And you said no right?!" Bubbles gasped, and Blossom waved at her sister.

"Yes, he said no Bubbles." She said with a smile, watching her sister's face relax in relief as Buttercup rolled her eyes at her. "That's how I'm sitting right here."

"Of course I said no." Brick huffed, folding his arms across his chest.

"So, what did Him do - turn you into a demon?" Boomer asked, his cobalt eyes filled with fear.

"Yes. He turned me into a demon - but to be honest that wasn't even the worst of it." Brick said, and all but Blossom looked confused.

"That wasn't the worst of it? Dude, you were a fucking demon! Horns and all?" Boomer exclaimed, and Brick nodded.

"Yeah, fortunately they're gone now." Brick said, rubbing at his hair and then looking at the dried blood on his hands.

"Shit…" Boomer muttered under his breath. "That explains the blood."

"Yeah. It fucking hurt. Probably the worst pain I've ever experienced. Worse than Him's mark. It was not pleasant."

"If it was the worst pain you've probably experienced, how was it not the worst of it?" Butch questioned, a wave of awe overcoming him as he looked at his brother.

"Because, after turning me into a demon and condemning me to Hell, Him said he could now reveal his actual plan to us both." Brick said, eliciting baffled looks from his brothers and Blossom's sisters.

"Which is where I came into it all." Blossom added, looking at Brick cautiously. She was unsure just how much they were going to divulge to their siblings. Not because she didn't want them to know - more because they didn't know the full story themselves. It all seemed so jumbled.

"Real plan? What was his real plan?" Buttercup asked, becoming a little agitated.

Blossom and Brick told them all about Him's vision, and how he'd coordinated and manipulated them both to ensure that that day happened, and that Brick would offer his soul, then decline his task of killing Blossom, causing him to become a demon as he had seen. That was the reason he'd marked Blossom, and that was the reason he was watching her and not her sisters. And then with them both in the Underworld, he planned to begin to brainwash them both into submitting to him and working alongside him.

Neither Brick nor Blossom mentioned the part about the little girl. Blossom was glad; Brick had sensed she wouldn't want to discuss that bit with them all. It was perhaps one of the most unnerving and disturbing aspects of Him's plan.

Buttercup had had plenty of questions, as had the others; what was a prophecy? Did they ever come true? Should they be worried Him would continue to pursue it?

Brick did his best to assure her they were baseless, as were Him's visions. She seemed somewhat convinced.

"So, how did you actually escape?" Bubbles inquired. "Boomie's told me how hard it is to leave. How you could never just walk away from the Underworld, and you could only come back up here with his permission to do things for him - how did you get away?"

Brick looked at Blossom then, his expression a mixture of awe and worry. Buttercup and Bubbles noticed it. "This is the bit we're unsure about." He hated to admit he didn't know something, but he really was clueless on this.

"I got angry." Blossom began to try to explain. "And refused to go with him. Him got angry, and he -"

"She started to glow." Brick added, and Bubbles, Boomer, Butch and Buttercups' mouths dropped open.

Blossom pressed her lips together, her brow knitted in confusion.

"You glowed?!" Bubbles squeaked.

"I thought it was just a bright white light, but Brick has confirmed that I was that bright light. For whatever reason that happened, Him wasn't happy and he shot this huge tide of fire at me. So I just, held my hands out -" Blossom explained confusedly, until Buttercup interrupted.

"And ice shot out?" She guessed, considering her redheaded sister had emitted ice from her palms accidentally when they'd arrived.

"Yeah." Blossom murmured, perplexed.

"It wasn't just a little bit of ice either - it was loads, from both her hands, she made like an ice shield that his fire was struggling against." Brick added.

"I don't know what happened but - I just reacted. And then, something in me was just saying to put my hand on Brick's heart, and put his hand on mine even though it burned - and then just not let go, just hold on. Everything went white and, and we were back here." Blossom said, swallowing uncomfortably at the sets of eyes staring at her, wide and baffled.

"So how exactly -" Bubbles began, and Blossom shrugged.

"We don't know." Brick spoke, noting the apprehensive look on Blossom's face. Explaining it all had made the fear of the unknown rear its head even more for the pink puff.

"The only explanation we can grasp at;" The red ruff continued. "Otis said a soul can be saved by an angelic righteous figure. And Blossom's a superhero. Maybe that's all it is. She saved my soul - I'm not a demon anymore. Maybe in saving my soul she got us to safety and got us out of there."

Bubbles, Buttercup, Butch and Boomer nodded slowly, what they'd just learned turning over in their heads.

"So, what now?" Buttercup asked.

There was a pause. Buttercup was internally urging Blossom to answer her; she didn't like it when Blossom didn't know the answer to something; she knew everything!

"What do you mean?" Blossom murmured.

"Well, what happens now? I mean, Him's gotta be pissed. You ruined his plan that was years in the making. He's not going to take that sitting down, is he?" Buttercup pointed out, and Blossom frowned, nodding.

"No, you're right. I'm sure he's furious. And plotting some form of revenge." Blossom replied, glancing at Brick, who had a flat frown on his face. "Both our marks are gone, so at least he can't get to any of us through them anymore."

"Seriously?" Boomer asked, and Blossom nodded, indicating her arm. "That's awesome - so, what do you think he'll do next?" His question was mostly aimed at Brick; he was hopeful his all-knowing brother would have the answer like he normally did.

Brick pressed his lips together as he thought. He couldn't say what he was actually thinking - that he didn't have a clue what the Devil would do next. Him was hard to read, he always had been. Just when you thought you knew what he was about, he'd throw you a curveball that would floor you - like a huge plan involving a prophecy.

But he couldn't tell them he had no idea. He had to say something a bit more edifying. "He's gunna be angry, that goes without saying. But I'd like to think he's gunna take some time to recalculate. Plan his next move. That won't be the last we hear of him, but I'm hopeful it'll be awhile before we hear from him again." His words weren't falsified.

"I guess we've just gotta be ready for him when he comes." Butch muttered, and Brick nodded, noting the knot in Blossom's forehead. He could see she was worried.

"That's so sweet though, how you saved Brick and yourself." Bubbles said with a smile, attempting to remove the perturbed look on her sister's face. "And pretty romantic."

Blossom blushed, a small smile appearing on her lips. Brick had blushed slightly too, running a hand through his hair.

"You owe Red big time bro. That's like, ultimate saving of bacon." Butch said, also trying to lighten the mood.

"Tell me about it." Brick said, smiling warmly at Blossom, then turning to look at his brothers. "You two fuckers owe me big time too. For putting my soul on the line for your freedom."

"Bro, we're eternally grateful. I just wish you'd told us. We could have helped." Boomer muttered guiltily.

"I'm not exactly sure how you'd have done that. Him had all this planned from our 14th birthday - that's like, nearing 4 years ago. He made it pretty clear he was working everything to ensure it all came to this. And there's no way I'd have wanted you and Butch ending up back there. It was not nice to pop back in." Brick said, his expression becoming mildly tortured for a moment.

"At least you got out." Butch added.

"Yeah, thankfully you had an angel watching over you." Bubbles said with a sweet smile. But Blossom looked alarmed at the comment. Brick noticed.

So did Bubbles, so she decided to change the subject a bit for her sister's sake. "Soo are you two ready to face the fact you're totally into each other now? Now that, you know, you saved his life, and soul and stuff?"

Blossom and Brick went bright red. "Bubbles! That's not, it isn't -" Blossom stuttered.

"We've umm, not really had the chance to -" Brick murmured at the same time until Buttercup interrupted them both.

"Yeah Brick, before you say anymore, you've got lipstick just here." She said, matter of fact as she pointed just above her lip. Brick instantly wiped at his mouth with the back of his arm. "Funnily enough it's the same shade that's on Blossom's lips. I had no idea you two shared the same one."

"Care to explain?" Bubbles added with a cheeky grin.

"Well," Brick said, his face relaxing as he spoke casually. "Maybe we just felt like celebrating."

"Brick!" Blossom cried, her cheeks going redder as the others laughed.

"What?!" He cried, being unable to hide the bold smile that had broken out across his face. Blossom couldn't help but smile back at him.

"Hey Blossom, notice how quiet Buttercup and Butch have gone, since I brought up you and Brick being all loved up?" Bubbles said, flashing Buttercup a knowing look.

Butch grinned, looking at Buttercup with affection in his eyes. Buttercup however had rolled her eyes at her blonde sister; she'd been waiting for this.

Blossom was thrown by her sisters comment; she looked over at her raven haired sister and her counterpart, noticing just how close they were sitting, and the gooey, tender look in Butch's emerald eyes as he looked down at Buttercup.

The pink puff smirked, cocking an eyebrow at her sister who was avoiding her eye line.

"Got something to tell me Buttercup?" Blossom inquired, and Buttercup tried not to smile as Butch linked his arm around her waist and pulled her closer to his side. Blossom had had some inkling that something more was going on between the green ruff and puff. She'd overheard Cody and Buttercup's conversation outside their house not that long ago, but Buttercup hadn't proffered anymore information to her about it, and Blossom had decided not to push her on it. She knew that was pointless - the more she pried the more Buttercup would close up. For the most part the green puff only talked when she was ready. But, Blossom had a feeling.

And now Butch was sat here with his arm coiled around her waist, and Buttercup hadn't choked him for it.

"Cat's outta the bag." He murmured, and Buttercup smiled a small smile at her sister.

"Saw it coming ages ago." Brick commented, and Buttercup rolled her eyes again; even Brick had seemingly been more aware of their feelings than they had.

"I wasn't going to discuss it now, what with disappearances, demons, prophecies and brand new powers seeming more important. But yes, Butch and I are together - and I guess I lost my mind at some point." Buttercup muttered as Butch kissed the top of her head.

"She's so loving." He responded sarcastically. "But it's true - she's managed to tie me down. Hundreds and thousands of girls around the country are currently in mourning." Buttercup scoffed at him, as did his brothers. "Alas, I was just a lonely stud muffin looking for my Cupcake and - ow!" Buttercup had elbowed him in the stomach at the mention of her nickname.

"That's really great, Buttercup. I mean, it's got the obvious potential to be -" Blossom began uneasily until Buttercup interrupted her.

"Chaotic? Yes, we're well aware. But, well, maybe we can just enjoy chaos together." She replied, looking up at Butch warmly as he kissed her on the lips.

Bubbles and Buttercups' hotline cells began to go off in their pockets. They'd both received a message from the Professor asking for an update.

"It's the Professor. There's a message from Bellum as well - she saw your hotlines go offline and freaked. We should really let them both know we found you both and you're okay." Bubbles said as she read over his message again.

"You told the Professor?" Blossom asked, and Buttercup flashed her an exasperated look.

"We had to okay! You two were gone for like 7 hours!" Buttercup barked.

"Wow - it really didn't feel that long. Okay, that's fine. We'll have to explain everything to him." Blossom said, a feeling of dread overcoming her at the idea. She hated not knowing the answer to something, and she knew this was a trait she shared with her father. It would only bring him worry.

"Yeah, we've got a lot to fill him in on." Boomer added, eyeing Buttercup and Butch pointedly.

Buttercup looked a little nervous, and Butch swallowed hard at the prospect of telling him they were dating.

"There's not much time to prepare either - he's coming home tomorrow." Bubbles added unhelpfully.

Blossom sighed heavily as she closed the door to the Professor's office, and hovered through to the kitchen. She was surprised - and relieved to see Brick sat in there. She'd guessed he'd have wanted to go home after everything they'd been through that day. But he'd waited for her while she'd spoken to the Professor via video chat and filled him in on everything.

After everything, Brick was having a hard time leaving her side.

"Hey." Blossom said as she approached the kitchen table.

"Hi." He said with a mirthless smile. "How'd that go?"

She pressed her plump lips together as she sat down beside him at the table. "As well as you'd expect telling your father the Devil saw you working alongside him, thought a crazy prophecy was about you and then you saved someone's soul inexplicably."

Brick smirked lightly and rubbed at his temples.

"He was of course baffled. And worried. But I did my best to assure him it was all over now…" She continued, knowing full well her last sentence was probably a big lie. But she didn't want the Professor to worry.

"I feel the perpetual need to apologise." Brick murmured.

The pink puff shook her head at him. "It's not your fault. I know you feel like you dragged me into this but, I was in this the moment Him had that vision of us both. That isn't your fault, is it? Him having some crazy vision involving both of us was hardly within your control."

"I know. I just feel like I involved you from the moment I told you I sold my soul to Him." Brick muttered.

"Brick, imagine you didn't tell me that, okay? Imagine Him never made you come to school. We never stopped fighting one another -"

"We would have stopped fighting, that last time we went off against each other I'd already decided it was pointless to continue." Brick cut in, and she nodded.

"Okay fine, we stopped fighting but never stopped hating each other - today would have still happened. It would have just gone down very differently. You'd have likely killed me the moment he gave you your task -" Blossom continued, but he cut in once more.

"I don't know if I would have. I've already experienced thinking I'd killed you, and well - I didn't deal with it well, did I? Even when I felt nothing but contempt for you." Unless completely erasing it from my mind was dealing with it, he thought to himself.

She smiled a small smile. "Well, still - I think you'd have been a lot more likely to put yourself before me back then than now. We hated each other back then; we despised each other. If Him had presented you with the options to kill me, or be condemned to Hell forevermore and become a demon, you 10 months ago would have definitely opted for offing me. And Him would have probably let you, just for the entertainment he'd get from it. He even said himself he'd have just resurrected us had either of us died before he was ready to reveal all this. He'd have let you kill me, and then brought me back and told you tough luck - you're a demon anyway. And everything would have been a thousand times worse. Him actually did us a huge favour allowing us to become," She paused, finding a word that didn't make her blush. "Close to one another." As it was, her cheeks reddened at her words anyway.

"How do you mean?" Brick asked.

"Well, imagine what I just described was how it went down: we're both in Hell, hating each other's guts - you've just killed me and now I'm back, and Him wants us to work together. Him's going to stick us together constantly, and brainwash and torture us, and tell us to, to have a baby together…" She said the last part in a low, disturbed voice, and Brick's brow furrowed. "It would have been so much worse. I'm not saying it would have been fun now, with us getting along but - I just mean we'd have definitely been stuck. Whatever it was that happened that got us out, I doubt it would have happened. You'd have likely just killed me, I'm unsure I'd have had any sudden urges to become an angelic, righteous figure and save you, whether I was aware of it or not."

Brick contemplated her words. She was probably right.

"So in that sense, it was a good thing you told me. Hearing what was really going on with you, finding out what you were dealing with, and why you were dealing with it and everything you'd been through, it made me less distrusting of you. It made me see that you're a person who bad things have happened to, and has made some questionable decisions out of circumstance, not a bad person in general. It made me want to help you. If you hadn't told me all this, and inadvertently 'involved me', I think it's possibly we'd still be in Hell." Blossom said, and a small pause followed.

"Of course, we have no idea of knowing how true all that is, because we don't know what happened…" Blossom murmured.

"Are you worried?" Brick asked, and he watched her try to conceal that she was by attempting to pull an indifferent expression; but he could see through it.

"It's a little unsettling not knowing what happened, not knowing what happened to me that fixed everything. But, I'm sure it's fine." She mumbled, and he sighed. She was worried.

He was worried too. He'd spent the first hour or so since they returned in a sort of euphoria - they were both out of the Underworld, he wasn't a demon and Him's mark had gone. Everything seemed so great. But then the in's and out's of it all came to him, and he realised there was a lot more to it all than just those positives. How had Blossom saved his soul? How had she seemingly beaten Him, and broken them out of the Underworld? And what was with her extension of her ice powers?

And also, how were they going to figure all of this out?

They sat in silence as all these questions and more floated around in their heads.

Blossom brought her hand out in front of her, her palm up and facing the ceiling; then hovered her other hand over her open palm and moved her fingers in a slow, careful fashion. Several tiny snowflakes fell from her fingertips and onto her palm; Brick's crimson eyes widened in surprise at the sight. They were so small and intricate.

"Wow." Brick commented as she quickened the pace and more snowflakes fell.

"I froze a bunch of documents on the Professor's desk to my hands while I was talking to him, and couldn't get them to unstick." She muttered, her face analytical as she placed the pile of snowflakes down onto the table. "Then had to explain that to him as well. I need to get to grips with it, or it's going to get out of hand."

She held her hand out towards the table, and a soft spray of ice covered the table. The pink puff smiled an accomplished smile; she felt like that had been quite controlled.

Blossom looked up at Brick, still smiling, and that was when she noticed his crimson eyes staring at the kitchen floor. She looked down too, and noticed the area surrounding where her foot was was also frozen. "Oh my god! It comes out of my feet?!"

"Uhh it would appear that way." Brick murmured as she stood up, poking the ice with her foot. More ice emerged on the tiled floor.

"This is - it's ridiculous! How on earth am I going to control this?! How do I make it go away?" Blossom yelped, and at her words the ice around her feet disintegrated into thin air, leaving a cool vapour behind until that disappeared too. "Oh. Like that." She murmured, as Brick's eyes seemed to widen more.

"Jesus christ." He cried.

She placed her hands onto the icy table, and concentrated on wanting the ice gone. Sure enough it disappeared just as it had off the floor.

"Okay. This might not be so bad." She said, nodding. She took Brick's hand in hers and froze them both solid. Brick jumped at the sudden crisp cold sensation.

"What are you doing?" He queried curiously.

"Seeing if I can make thicker ice go away." She replied, staring at their entwined hands and concentrating hard. For a few seconds nothing happened. Brick looked from their frosty hands to her intense rose stare.

"Should I use my fire?" Brick offered but she shook her head.

And slowly but surely, the ice melted away, leaving a large puddle on the tabletop. Her face lit up and she exhaled with relief. "Okay. Well, that makes me feel a little better. I mean I still need to learn to control it better, but it's good to know I can physically make it go away."

"Yeah, I suppose so." Brick replied, unleashing a handful of flames in his own palm to warm his hand up quickly.

"Okay, bizarre question - can you produce fire from anywhere other than your mouth and hands?" Blossom asked him, and Brick shook his head as he thought about it.

"Not as far as I know. Although honestly I've never tried. I won't try now as I don't want to set your kitchen alight." He pointed out, and she nodded, a small smile briefly fixing itself onto her face.

"Right… I don't know. Being able to control it; it doesn't explain why, does it? Why this power has presented itself. Maybe it had nothing to do with Him…" Blossom proposed, and Brick nodded. "Maybe it was always in me to be able to do this, I've just never deemed a situation as dire as that…"

"Yeah, maybe." He replied. But neither had much conviction in their voices.

The Professor was due to arrive back in Townsville at 3pm the following day. It being their last parent free night at home, Bubbles and Buttercup had previously decided to throw a mini get together at their house, inviting their close friends over and getting some food in.

But given what had happened that day with Blossom, Brick and Him, and how much time it had all taken they'd decided to cancel their plans and have a quiet evening in at the Powerpuff girl's residence instead.

By 7pm Butch, Brick and Boomer were still all over; and Bubbles had asked Boomer to stay the night. He'd of course agreed, and then when Buttercup told Butch he could stay on the sofa bed in the living room if he wanted, Blossom rather awkwardly told Brick he may as well stay too rather than going home on his own.

And Brick had just as awkwardly agreed to do this; he was having a difficult time leaving her side after all that had happened - and it appeared she was feeling the same way.

Boomer took dibs on the spare room, and Butch bagsied the sofa bed in the lounge, leaving Brick with one of the remaining sofas, as he point blank refused to share the sofa bed with Butch even though he'd promised to wear clothes.

They ordered some food in, and then as things started to wind down, eventually the girls went up to bed, and the boys drifted off where they were sleeping for the night.

Brick thought he'd struggle to sleep, considering everything that had happened - and the fact he wasn't in the comfort of his own bed too. At first he did find it hard to shut his brain off, but exhaustion soon took over and he nodded off, even managing to block out the sounds of Butch snoring nearby.

That was until a light tapping on his head woke him up.

Brick whacked the hand away sleepily, assuming it was Butch and not wanting to be woken. He'd been enjoying a surprisingly dreamless sleep until this interruption. But the tapping continued and he then wondered if it was Blossom, so he opened his eyes.

"Wakey wakey sleeping beauty." A familiar voice said quietly. "God, you teenagers really do like your sleep."

Hovering beside the arm of the sofa was Otis the demon. He had an armful of books and an expectant look on his face. Brick rubbed at his eyes in shock, trying to figure out if he were dreaming.

Otis smirked. "Nope, not a dream." He said in a low voice. "We need to talk kiddo."

"What the hell are you doing here?!" Brick hissed, looking around frantically to see if anyone else was there.

"I'm alone. And I don't have much time. But, I come bearing gifts." Otis said, indicating the large pile of books he was holding. He thrust them into Brick's unprepared arms.

"What the fuck -" Brick muttered, but was interrupted by Butch snuffling loudly in his sleep. Brick didn't want to wake him. Otis noticed too, smirking.

"He's gotten big. So have you, actually. And that's a compliment." Otis commented; the last time he'd seen Brick and his brothers in person they were 15 years old.

Brick put his hand to his lips to silence the demon, and nodded his head towards the door. Otis pretended to seal his lips, then hovered over Butch's sleeping form towards the Powerpuff girl's kitchen. Brick followed him, carrying the large pile of books.

"What the hell Otis you can't just turn up at the Powerpuff girl's home in the middle of the night." Brick muttered, placing all the books down on the kitchen table carefully.

"I showed up here cos you are here." Otis clarified.

"Why are you here - how are you here? And what are these books?" Brick asked their former aide as he leant on the table and looked over the aforementioned books.

"They're for research. I know you and your angel want answers. You should find some in these." Otis answered casually, flicking through the large book on the top of the pile.

Brick screwed his face up in confusion. "My angel?"

"The girl who saved you." Otis said, and Brick shook his head.

"Otis, she's not an angel. I mean what the fuck even is an angel?" Brick inquired and Otis gave him a knowing look.

"Dude, if there are demons," He said, gesturing to the horns on his head. Brick swallowed, once more glad the ones on his own head were gone. "There are angels."

Brick took a moment to respond, his brow furrowed at his words. "What are angels?"

Otis spun on the spot, his arms up in the air. "They're all around us. And Him hates it."

Brick hushed him as Otis chuckled to himself. His jovial tone suddenly made Brick feel on edge. "Why are you here?"

Otis shrugged. "To help you, while I can help you."

"You want to help me?" Brick reiterated, and Otis nodded.

"Don't look so surprised, helping you and your brothers was my sole purpose for 4 years." Otis replied. "I got a little attached, shoot me."

The red ruff cranked a brow at him. "And how do I know this isn't some sort of trick? I mean, Him must be pissed."

He laughed darkly. "Pissed is putting it lightly. The very fact I am here trying to help you is how you know it's not a trick - handing you stolen artefacts from the depths of Hell itself. Him will kill me when he finds out." Otis added, his voice was severe. But then he sighed blissfully and smiled. "And I can't wait for that sweet, sweet release."

Brick eyed him uneasily. He had no idea if he was being sarcastic or not.

"How are you doing this then? How has he not stopped you already?" Brick questioned, and Otis folded his arms across his chest.

"Him is weak. Whatever your angel did to him -"

Brick interrupted him. "She's not an angel!"

Otis scoffed. "I know an angel's light when I see one - and so does Him. She lit the place up like the Fourth of July. I saw it from outside Him's quarters."

Brick's brow wrinkled with confusion. "So he knew? You're saying Him knew Blossom is an 'angel'?"

Otis shrugged once more. "I don't know. But he has his premonitions - think of all the people Him sent you to murder. Some of them were crooks and baddies right? But some of them were genuinely good people, that Him had you kill for no reason. And not even just petty reasons, he literally could give you no reason as to why you were rubbing them out. They were suspected threats."

The red ruff considered his words, thinking of the countless people over the years Him had had minor issues with - or none at all, yet he and his brothers had been sent off to deal with them.

"Either way, he is weak and in his chambers meditating and healing for the foreseeable. So we all have some time. And when I say all, I mean everyone - us demons too. It's kind of a free for all down there right now." The demon explained. "That's how I've managed to come down here with stolen booty."

"Right." Brick said, mulling over his words. "So what happens to these 'angels'?"

"What do you mean?" Otis responded as Brick looked down at the pile of books once more.

"What happens to them? After they face off with Him like Blossom did?" Brick asked hurriedly.

"That's what the books are for kiddo. Do some research, see what you can find out. All I know is Him hates angels cos they're the only ones who stand a chance against him. In my many, many years in the Underworld I've seen the light of an angel rise up against Him once. It knocked him for six just like it has now." Otis could see the desperation in the young teen's eyes, and predicted correctly what his next question would be. "Him made it his mission to destroy the angel, but they put up a good fight. Eventually he withdrew his pursuit to kill them, and decided to let them live; although he put in a lot of effort making things difficult for them as often as he could until the day their natural death came. But, this is a little different to then."

Brick frowned deeper. "How is it?"

"Because, not only did your angel save your soul, but she royally fucked up years of planning and his future plans as well. So, when he wakes up," His voice became grave once more. "I'd expect trouble, especially for your girl with the white wings."

"Right. Okay." Brick muttered, his mind ticking and whirring as he took all of this in.

"You have some time. Him was restoring himself for a good while before. And your ice queen did a number on him." Otis added, and Brick nodded slowly.

"Okay. Right. Thank you." He replied.

"You're welcome. Good luck. And Brick," Otis paused, and Brick looked up to him. "Hold onto her."

Brick swallowed, nodding and hoping his blush wasn't visible. "I umm, I plan to."

"Good, oh - and make sure you look into blood sacrifices." He said, tapping the top of the books then turning as if to leave.

Brick's expression changed drastically to one of thorough confusion. "Erm excuse me, what?"

"Blood links. Look into it. See you around kid." Otis said, before disappearing into thin air.

"Bye." Brick murmured, looking down at the piles of dusty, ancient looking books on the table. He glanced at the clock on the kitchen wall. 3.33am. He better get started.

r&r (: - chapter 24, the final chapter, coming soon ;)