Doesn't matter where you're from, just where you're going (Iba and Hershel)

Hershel sighed a little bit as he rested on one of the benches in the exercise yard. After another little walk around the prison, he had decided that he had done enough exercise to be getting on with. He had to make sure that he could at least move faster than your average walker after all.

Taking in the soft summer air, he sighed peacefully as he sipped at a small cup of tea he had put in a small travel cup for his little walk.

He needed this time alone to think about what was going on in his life and recently all that seemed to be going on in his life was related to the newcomers.

Iba and Nyx and others had caused quite a stir to be honest and sometimes they seemed to be a lot more than they appeared to be.

Hence why he had invited Iba to come out here and talk to him, knowing that he had something important to say to her and needed to be in private for it. He didn't want the others getting all panicked if his guess was right.

Iba was more than happy to come out here and speak to the lovely gentleman that was Hershel Greene, she got along with him well when they had spoken and she thought that he deserved a little bit of demonic protection from the undead which she had given to him quite unbeknownst to himself. If he knew he would want it given to his daughters after all - and Iba didn't like them that much! Her gifts were reserved for friends and lovers alone.

Making her way out into the little exercise courtyard, she looked around the fencing of the prison, there were some undead still there but most were warded off by the presence of other demons around the area. They didn't quite like the sensation or vibe that they gave off, which was fine by her, she thought they looked damn creepy anyway.

As soon as Iba spotted Hershel she started to hike her way over to him, she was wearing her short khaki shorts, and a plain black shirt with the sleeves rolled up. The crunch of her boots on the gravel of the courtyard made her smile softly. There were things in the human world that you didn't even know you missed until you got to experience them again.

"Hershel!" she called out in greeting, skipping to a halt in front of him with a mock bow "Here I am, just like I promised, you sounded like you had something really important to say!"

Taking a seat next to him, Iba smiled gently; "So I'm all ears."

Hershel smiled a little bit when he saw Iba coming skipping on over to him, dressed in some rather unpractical shorts that he would have been dead before he let his daughters wear! But then again, he wasn't her father. He had to remember sometimes that he was not the father to the entire group; he was just Hershel Greene. Defacto medic and generally rather pleasant man.

Humming a little bit as she called out to him, he smirked and did a royal wave when she gave him a mock bow,

"And here you are, as promised." he agreed before humming slightly and patting the bit of the bench next to him, "Yeah you could say that. Sit a spell while I work up ma nerve would ya darlin'?"

Taking a deep breath, Hershel looked out towards the chain link fence and couldn't help but feel an oddly heavy feeling in the pit of his stomach when he noticed how few there were. He sighed a little bit before smiling slightly,

"So then Iba darlin'..." he looked at her piercingly, "How long you been in the world of the living?"

He smirked a little bit,

"Oh I'd say you'd been Up here or Down here a few times but I'm fairly sure that you're not from Here." he told her with an amused twinkle in his eyes, "You're a miracle Iba, whether from bellow or from up top I don't know yet. But you are a miracle."

Iba raised an eyebrow when Hershel said that he wanted to work his nerve up before he talked to her about what he had asked her here for. It made her a little on edge she had to say but she had a pretty good idea what it was about, he had probably figured out that she and her Mistress were far from human. You only had to have a conversation with her Mistress to know that she wasn't human, and perhaps that was why he had chosen to speak to her?

"You know you can ask me anything Hershel!" Iba stated cheerfully "You don't need to worry about that, I don't bite."

When he asked her how long she had been alive, Iba blinked a little bit, now then that was a question, to be honest she had begun to forget exactly how old she was. Frowning a little bit she cast her mind back and tried to come up with a rough figure.

Of course, the suggestion that she had never been human made Iba smile wanly, humans often got this part wrong but she was happy to explain to Hershel about how the afterlife worked in case he would be going there soon. He would have no need to fear about what was coming because he would already know.

"I have been alive for just shy of 600 years, and, I hail originally from London, in England." she stated with a gentle smile "I'm actually relatively young in terms of demons, but I'm a quick learner as my mistress would say."

Iba ruffled the back of her hair softly as she directed her gaze away from Hershel; "You know if you have any questions about stuff don't feel afraid to ask them, I'll be happy to tell you, you know if you still want to talk to me and stuff." she stated bashfully, fully expecting the typical human reaction to being told she was a demon.

Hershel waited until Iba was finished explaining some more.

This would go a lot quicker if he held all of his questions until the end to be honest. Completely silent, but smiling faintly all the way through, Hershel listened as she gave him an insight into a world he had no idea existed until she and Nyx came along to show themselves to not just Hershel but to the rest of the group and their enemies too.

When she said she had been born in London almost 600 years ago he blinked a few times before breaking one of his own rules to ask a question between the end,

"So... to join the afterlife you become either a demon or an angel?" He asked her in curiosity, "This is honestly fascinating I have to admit."

He nodded towards the walkers against the fence,

"That part of the reason why the Walkers don't get near as close as they used to?"

He paused for a moment and looked at her with his serious, firm, gaze before he smiled a little bit and patted her gently on the knee,

"You are worrying too much." he assured her with a smile, "You won't get the bible-bashing from me; I've seen far too much to not believe that God can work miracles with anything and anyone. You are a miracle, by his design or your own."

Hershel smiled faintly,

"I wonder... do you know how my wife is doing?"

Iba nodded her head with a soft smile on her lips, she actually rather enjoyed explaining this to Hershel, it made her feel like she was knowledgeable instead of just the ditz that everyone around here seemed to think that she was. In fact she was far from that, she was in training to become the next Arch Demon of Magic once she challenged Leopold and defeated him which would be easy to do she had to admit, he had gone off the rails almost completely now.

"Yes, when you die, you go to Heaven very briefly where you are judged according to your life. There are three parties there, the angel, the demon, and the judge - which isn't God but another angel most often. If you have been decent enough you get to go to Heaven, if you've committed a gross sin then you go direct to Hell."

Unable to stop herself from exhaling with a little relief, Iba released her lip. She was so glad that Hershel wasn't judging her on her nature, it was something although she hadn't originally agreed with she had come to accept and use to the best of her ability.

"Well...thank you Hershel that makes a change." she whispered softly "I'm glad that you're giving me a chance."

Shrugging her shoulders, Iba grinned brightly; "I'm afraid I haven't the foggiest, which is great, means that neither of your wives are in Hell. They are in Heaven. Maybe they're even Thrones looking down on you and your daughters right now, I am sure that they will be very proud of you."

Hershel got the distinct impression he should probably be writing notes of some kind but thought better of it. For one there was no one around to read them and for another he was a little bit confused by the apparent absence of God. Perhaps that was why this level of absurdity had come to the land?

It wasn't that he didn't care; God was just gone.

He sighed a little bit,

"You expect me to believe that?" He asked her disbelievingly before smirking to show it was a joke, "I don't believe you have it in your to have committed a gross sin! Nyx I can see but not you Iba, not you!"

He smiled and squeezed her knee gently,

"My daddy always told me... it doesn't matter where you're from." he told her, tapping her forehead with a bright smile, "It's where you're goin' that matters. And you're going someplace good Iba, I just know it."

For some reason the idea that his wives were in heaven was a great comfort... but all but confirmation that they were able to see what was going on made him wince painfully,

"I wouldn't be so sure about that... I did a lo'a wrong by them two women Iba." he told her quietly, "I tried to be a better man because of that but... does it matter? Would they forgive me I wonder...?"

Iba smiled gently when Hershel said that he didn't think that she would have committed a gross sin, to be honest nobody could guess what she had done that would have condemned her to hell however she remembered what had happened all too clearly. Perhaps she should share that with Hershel? It would be nice to open up to someone in the group completely and Hershel seemed to be a good person to do that with.

"I killed two people in an act of defence, and whilst alive I was a white witch. Apparently saving myself from the two rapists, combined with my desire to help others through creation of potions and spells caused me to be sent to Hell." she stated with a little shrug "Sometimes it doesn't make sense that way, you wouldn't believe the amount of children sent to Hell..."

To be honest Iba didn't think that she was going anywhere good, she thought that she was going to level up to Arch Demon and then...well then that would be it. She would be stuck in the same place doing the same things until she died.

"Thank you for the reassurance Hershel, I'm glad that someone believes in me." she smiled softly, but swiftly changed the subject to her mistress "But what has you believing that my mistress is so different to myself? She is someone to be admired, for revealing the true nature of things. Do you have any questions about her?"

Grinning Iba gave Hershel a swift hug; "Well one day you will get to ask them yourself Hershel."

Hershel had to admit that sometimes he wondered if the words in the Bible were the true interpretation of God's will. After all, it seemed a bit too rigid for a being that was all powerful, all knowing and apparently benevolent. But it seemed that someone high up in the angels or something had decided that Iba was not justified in her actions.

Honestly, Hershel would have said that she was,

"I don' believe that God would have authorised such a punishment for self defence... but I don' suppose a lo'a angels are the forgivin' kind huh?" He commented with a small sigh, "Sometimes I thin' that even God has made mistakes. Maybe, if he got the chance, he'd even try it all over again from the beginning."

He blinked and looked at the lone walker attacking the fence,

"Who's to say he ain' already..."

Hershel smiled to her in the same soft and gentle way that he smiled to his daughters,

"It's not a problem for me to tell you the truth as I see it Iba don't you worry about that." He assured her happily before frowning a little bit, "Nyx... I think that Nyx used to be like you at some point but I think she crossed a line a long time ago. The kind of line that means she isn't doing what she's doin' because she has to but because she wants to. I don't know, I ain' known her lon' enough to commen'."

He hugged her back before shaking his head slightly,

"Lon' as I reac' them befor' my girls, I'm alright."

Iba blinked a little bit and shrugged her shoulders when Hershel said that perhaps this was God trying to start again, she didn't think that it was, it was her Mistress who had done this to the world and she thought that he would have known this. Perhaps it wasn't a good thing to tell him that it was her mistresses fault though, she didn't want Hershel to end up being hurt if he confronted her about it - she didn't have an attachment to humans like Iba did.

"Well I don't think that God really cares." Iba informed with a gentle smile "He's not been around for a long time, I think if he did care, he would have stopped this a long time ago. Heaven and angels aren't as good as everyone cracks them up to be, they have vices, just as we demons have a good points."

Looking out at the fence, Iba watched the walker try and get inside, she knew it wouldn't get in, and so she wasn't too bothered about it. Instead she merely watched it and observed, thinking about what was going on in the creatures head, probably nothing if she was honest with herself.

However she snapped her head back around and stared at Hershel when he called her mistress simply by her name! Oh dear, he should really not do that she might hear him!

"You're very brave to call her by her name, not one of her titles." she stated with a soft smile, tucking her knees up under her chin as she sat down on the bench "She is a great woman, respected by all, and more complex than even I know...but she does have the greater good for us in mind with every action."

Smiling gently Iba sighed;

"Well I'll look out for you guys, make sure that you're alright as long as I am able."

Hershel had to admit that the idea that God had not been around had entered his mind a few times if he was honest with himself. But not once had he entertained the idea that God didn't care about them, though he could see why Iba would believe that. He smiled gently at her but shook his head slightly and held out a cross that his first wife had gotten him for his birthday one year. Opening his mouth to speak, he paused for a few moments as he was struck by nostalgia,

"God always cares for us Iba." he told her with a soft little smile, "I might not always show it as you'd expect but that's the way it is. A father can discipline his children and still love them right? That's what God is, a father to us all. And he ain' about to just up and stop loving us."

He smirked a little bit when she said that he was brave to call Nyx by her name and not one of her titles. That both made sense to him and, at the same time, didn't,

"Why would I have to refer to her by one of her titles though? I don't work for her and if she's about to try and insist that I should make myself subservient to her... well..." he chuckled a little bit, "We Americans don' tak' too kindly to those kinds of Imperial thoughts."

The greater good huh? Hershel choose to ignore that comment seeing as he saw absolutely no truth in that idea at all. After all, if she had the greater good in mind why was she a demon? Why was she so cold about almost everything?

He grinned a little bit,

"Thank you Iba, but as long as you look after my girls, I'm happy as can be." he assured her, "Sometimes I think they're the only things I have left in the world... and I thin' I'm right."

Iba couldn't help but let out a little laugh when Hershel said that God cared for all of his children, shaking her head she looked at him with an amused glaze to her eyes. Honestly how could he still believe in all of this still? How could he still believe that God cared about his creations? he had the world ending around him, his family dead and broken by it, and even with herself in front of him -a prime example of someone who shouldn't have been in Hell being there he still believed it.

"He might care for you, Hershel, but it is quite obvious that he doesn't care about me, and he didn't care about my mistress." she stated with a little shrug "We were his children once too. I'm glad that you still have faith though, despite everything."

Iba thought that it would be wise to refer to her mistress by her title because it was polite, you didn't ignore a Queen's title and therefore you shouldn't ignore her mistresses titles because they were almost the same thing.

"You don't call the ruler of another country by their own name do you, you call them by their title. It's just politeness really, but I can see that Americans might be lacking a little bit of that sometimes." Iba teased with a grin "Us British really do place more emphasis on manners than you guys."

Shaking her head Iba smirked;

"Sorry, I don't really like them. I only protect those people I like. If I see them in trouble though, I'll try my best to help, no promises though."