The room Michael had booked for them was on the fourteenth floor. It had large glass walls overlooking both Boston’s downtown and the harbor.

  Luther drew the curtains closed, then put the three pumpkins down on a bed.

  The big pumpkin tried poking the mattress with its vine, and its eyes lit up when it felt the softness.

  “Squeak squeak!” It squeaked.

  “What’s it saying?” Aaron asked.

  Acher flicked his talon, and all of a sudden Aaron understood the pumpkin’s language.

  “Soft! Soft!” it repeated over and over while jumping on the bed.

  “Watch out. Don’t fall,” Luther said, patting it.

  The pumpkins actually had a layer of short, fuzzy hair that was soft to the touch.

  “What kind of spell was that, Mr. Acher?” Aaron asked in awe.

  “That was the Tongues Spell. Any being with magic can use it to bypass language barriers. It’s so useful that it’s recognized as one of the seven great apprentice spells. I’ll teach it to you later,” Acher replied.

  The other two pumpkins still remained asleep. Luther asked:

  “Why they. Not awake yet?”

  “That’s just the side effect of being resurrected; they should wake up soon,” the raven said.

  The big pumpkin hopped forward, rubbing itself against Luther’s and Aaron’s hands.

  “Hahaha, it’s just like a puppy! And it’s got no legs at all. So round and chubby,” Aaron said, stroking him. “So, you guys come from the Underworld? Which layer are you from?”

  “Underworld? Don’t know. Red lava,” the pumpkin answered.

  “This little one’s not too bright, huh?” Aaron muttered.

  “Don’t underestimate them. Ghost-fire pumpkins are actually quite smart,” Acher said. “These ones are just young.”

  Then he added:

  “If you plan to keep them, there’s still one more thing you need to do.”

  “What is it?” Luther asked.

  “You need to purify them,” Acher said. “Most creatures in hell, if they aren’t born from sin itself, have their minds affected by it, which is why they’re also called sinkin. That makes them easily swayed by desire, their reason clouded, and they can go into a frenzy at any moment. Even though this is not as troublesome as during a tide of sin, it’s still better to deal with it now rather than later.”

  “It looks so harmless, though,” Aaron said, tickling the pumpkin until it let out a string of cheerful giggles.

  “This one has burned through almost all of his dark magic, so of course he’s calm right now. Besides, ghostfire pumpkins are one of the more mild-tempered types of demons,” Acher explained.

  “That’s interesting,” Aaron remarked.

  “How do I. Purify them?” Luther asked.

  “Lucky for you, kid, you’re a helllord, and that makes it much easier. Put your hand on his forehead,” Acher instructed.

  Luther did as told. The pumpkin looked up at him with his wide, round eyes, staying still and obedient in his lap.

  “Circulate your magic through his whole body. If you sense the presence of sinful energy, you can either drive it out, absorb it, or convert it to pure dark magic; all will work. Just be careful, since it’s a type of energy that carries great negative emotional pull… oh wait, you can’t be affected by it, never mind,” Acher said.

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  Luther tried and sensed three different types of energy. One was quiet and cool, he figured that must be dark-element magic. Another was blazing hot, clearly fire-element magic. The last was something strange, sticky, and tingling against his senses.

  “Found it,” Luther said.

  He wrapped his magic around the sticky energy and began transforming it into dark energy.

  “Squeak squeak…” the pumpkin let out a relieved, almost blissful sound.

  Its eyes got clearer and brighter, and it smiled in a dazed, happy way as he rubbed against Luther’s hand. After that, Luther purified the other two pumpkins as well.

  “Are you hungry?” Aaron asked.

  “Hungry!” the pumpkin replied without hesitation.

  “I’ve got some snacks in my backpack. But they’re just normal food,” Aaron said.

  “Just give him something to fill up his stomach for now, and tomorrow we’ll buy special food for them at Mariana Market,” Acher said.

  Aaron took out all of his snacks and gave them to the pumpkin.

  “Wow, it’s eating so fast,” he said with amazement as the pumpkin devoured everything within a few minutes.

  “It must’ve been. Starving,” Luther said.

  Some smell made Aaron wrinkle his nose. “They’re kind of stinky, aren’t they?”

  “Is it okay. To bath them?” Luther asked Acher.

  “Of course it’s fine. Demons aren’t that fragile. Just don’t drown them under the water for too long.”

  Luther:

  “…”

  Does he really look like that kind of person?

  Luther and Aaron carried all three pumpkins into the bathtub, let some warm water run in until it reached about one third of their height, and started giving them a bath. From beginning to end, the largest pumpkin trembled all over and clung to Luther’s hand as tightly as possible, yet it didn’t resist at all. After the bath, Aaron used solar magic to dry their fur, turning them into three clean and nice-smelling pumpkins.

  “Squeak~~~” the big pumpkin squeaked comfortably as it basked in the warm sunlight radiating from Aaron’s hand.

  “It’s so cute, and so well-behaved too.” Aaron beamed. “Paul’s corgi screams like she’s about to die every time she gets a bath.”

  They played with the pumpkin for a while before getting ready to sleep.

  “Don’t make fire. Burn. Bad,” Luther warned.

  “Squeak no fire!” the pumpkin promised.

  The flames in its eyes and mouth flickered out in an instant. Luther carefully picked up all three pumpkins and placed them on the bed to the left. The largest one stretched out its vines and wrapped them around the two smaller pumpkins in a protective way.

  “Are these two your kids?” Aaron asked.

  “Kids?” The pumpkin sounded confused.

  “They’re probably siblings, not his children. He is still way too young to have kids,” Acher judged.

  Luther pulled out the Book of Fate and checked.

  “Yes, siblings. They’re only. Three years old. Their mother. Died two years ago, and they’ve been living together. Inside the Bareon volcano. On the fifth layer,” Luther said. "They got lost on Earth last Halloween."

  “Poor them.” Aaron gently patted the pumpkins.

  “Let’s go to sleep, it’s late,” Acher said and gave a long yawn.

  Something flashed through Luther’s mind. He asked Acher:

  “How. To. Cure you?”

  “I’m not sick, so what’s there to cure?” Acher rolled his eyes.

  “Don’t lie.” Luther stared straight at him. “How. To heal. A wrecked soul.”

  Acher chuckled and said:

  “That’s not something simple at all. You kids would have to take me to the Longing Sea so I could be reincarnated to fully heal my soul. Just forget about it. With your current strength, you’d die for sure the moment you take one step down into the Abyss. Besides that, even just convincing that stubborn girl and protecting my memories from being erased would already be far beyond what you can handle now.”

  “Where is the Longing Sea? Who is. The stubborn girl?” Luther asked.

  “The Longing Sea is a sea at the very bottom of the Abyss, formed where the River Lethe flows into it. It lies even below the ninth layer!” Aaron explained. “It’s the place where the memories of all souls are cleansed before reincarnation. And that ‘stubborn girl’ must be the Titaness of Memory, the Lord of Longing Sea.”

  “One of the. Twelve Major Titans?”

  “That’s correct!” Aaron nodded. “During the Era of Heavens, when the number of living beings grew exponentially, the Longing Sea gradually formed at the end of the Lethe river. Since then, the Lady of Memory has mainly settled at the bottom of the Abyss to oversee the reincarnation process. She’s one of the rare cosmic beings who isn’t a helllord yet can enter the Underworld at any time.”

  Aaron frowned. “This is not going to be easy. We’ll have to wait until we fully mature before attempting it. So if we’re unlucky and get surrounded like Orpheus, at least you’ll still be able to open a portal to get us out of hell.”

  “Alright.” Luther nodded in agreement. “Wait for us.” He looked at Acher with a determined gaze.

  “Stop worrying about things so far off; you can’t even take care of yourselves yet.” Acher glared at them. “That’ll already be good enough if you manage to grow up strong and healthy without getting snatched up and swallowed by someone.”

  Luther noticed Acher’s wings curl up slightly; the corner of his mouth lifted to a faint curve. He knew that was a sign the raven was in a good mood.

  “What are you smiling about? Go to sleep!”

  Acher and the three pumpkins slept on the bed to the left, while Aaron and Luther slept on the bed to the right.

  About half an hour later, soft, steady breathing filled the room. Luther had fallen fast asleep, hugging the brown hair boy’s arm. Aaron, on the other hand, was still using his free hand to play with his brand-new EPhone and explore the Ethernet.

  It turned out to be yet another bromantic night.