Chapter 6

Samael laid on the temple steps, quite content with lazing in the sun and staring at the passing clouds. She yawned loudly, her mouth stretching wide enough that her jawbone hopped out of its socket and back in with a satisfying popping noise. The shadow of a cloud passed over her. She shivered and tightened her fur coat around her before drifting back into an attentive half-sleep.

Ever since coming to the Midworld, the young demon was strangely tired. While jogging through the woods, it had not hindered her; but after yesterday’s light exercise, even a good meal could not keep her eyes open. In a manner, Samael did not mind. She liked napping almost as much as she enjoyed fighting and eating. She sensed no poison in her body, so she felt no reason to worry just yet.

It just was weird feeling this weak all the time.

On the positive side, she had managed to fall asleep without breaking her human disguise. She was happy about that.

Meeting Sophia was another happy event. Right away, Samael had liked the petite human. Her smell reminded Samael of her aunt’s, cold and clear, but sweeter and less overpowering. She liked the little noises the woman made whenever she was startled, the cute look on her face when she became angry, and the funny way she muttered her thoughts out loud whenever she believed Samael was not listening. Sophia was simply all-around entertaining and very adorable.

The young demon wondered if that was what having a pet felt like.

Following Sophia had been the right decision as well. Samael was learning a lot about humans just staying at her side.

For example, humans were pretty weak and squishy. Healer people could heal other humans, however, which was neat. Samael wondered how humans got divided between fighters and healers. Did they choose, or were these different subspecies, like ant soldiers and workers?

Some humans had hair on their faces, and others did not. That was unless that Janik belonged to another species entirely. Aunt Gabby had mentioned those existed, and so had Janik for that matter. He had compared Samael’s human form to a race of ogres, which had worried the demon since she was trying to blend in. Thankfully, Sophia had reassured Samael her disguise was fine. The crisis was averted.

The question of facial fur remained. Those tasty “bandits” also had possessed hair on their chins—though none nearly as much as Janik. They had seemed human enough. Samael assumed bandits were a sub-subspecies of fighter people. That might have been the link. Janik felt like a fighter too.

The demon groaned. Understanding people is complicated.

Humans did not eat other humans. Instead, they did something they called a “funeral”. Sophia’s clan was holding one today when the sun went down, and Samael could hardly wait to see what it was about. She thought everything in the Midworld was so new and exciting.

Humans were very fidgety creatures—probably because their senses were so bad. Sophia, the poor thing, was almost deaf. However, despite their terrible hearing, humans liked to talk—a lot. Even now, without trying, Samael could track dozens of conversations taking place all around her, most of which seemed to use a great many more words than was necessary to get the point across.

Samael guessed that, because humans were so ill-equipped for survival, they sought safety in numbers, and all this useless yapping was to reassure themselves of the presence of others.

In Tartarus, some species of rats and bugs did the same.

Then again, Gabriel also liked to speak an awful lot. Now that Samael thought about it, humans did look similar to her aunt if she ignored the wings. Maybe there’s a relation? The demon yawned and put the question aside for now.

For all the noise around, however, Samael could not hear a sound coming from inside the big building Sophia had disappeared into. Nor could she smell the woman anymore, and that had the demon worried a little. A bright aura englobed the structure, which she imagined was responsible for blocking her senses.

The reason she had not rushed in yet, despite this, was that she felt no hostility from the aura. Again, it reminded her of Gabriel. The smell was subtly different—less pleasant, stuffier, a hint bitter—but not enough to make her wary.

High-pitched giggles brought Samael out of her musings. Without getting up, she lowered her sight. Her eyes widened when she spotted the origin of the laughter.

Tiny humans! Are they another race too? No, wait, Aunt Gabby talked about these… They’re children! She unconsciously ran her tongue over her lips. They look kind of tender. Her stomach growled its approval. Groaning, Samael hit her head back against the stone stairs. Bad Sam. Aunt Gabby said hurting children was forbidden. Sophia would probably be unhappy too, and that was not an appealing thought.

The giggles continued, grating on Samael’s nerves and her empty stomach. The children were talking loudly and pointing at her. She was too hungry to pay attention to what they were saying, but she was growing annoyed.

Suddenly having enough, she sat up and let out a threatening roar. The miniature humans froze, staring at her wide-eyed, which only reinforced Samael’s earlier deductions. Really terrible at survival. Showing her teeth, she growled. “Run before I decided to eat you runts.” That finally did the trick, and they scattered. Their panicked screams sounded oddly satisfying to the demon’s ears.

She was still hungry, though. “Ugh…” Samael sighed dejectedly and fell back onto the stairs, a hand on her stomach. She was so, so very hungry. She wished Sophia would come out so she could ask the priestess if there was something she could eat.

Also, she was bored now. She did not feel like gazing at clouds anymore. The sun was moving behind the big building, which brought shadows creeping over her napping spot, and now she was cold again.

She stretched and yawned. Maybe I could chase after those children? She would not hurt them, of course, only scare them a little. But what if Sophia comes out and I’m not here? Samael had been told not to wander.

Groaning, she rubbed her forehead, but she quickly stopped. The absence of her horns continued to irritate her. It felt wrong and unnatural not to have them. But Samael needed to keep up her human disguise. Maybe there was a race of horned humans she could claim to belong to? The issue with that solution was Samael had no idea how to bring out her horns alone without all the other demon bits.

Ugh… Interacting with mortals really is complicated.

She looked up at the tall spires that blocked her sunlight. When Sophia went inside, the little woman had said she would “not be long.” Not long. How much time is that? In the Tartarus wilderness, there was no day and night, or no cycle of any sort—only chaos. The only clock Samael ever had to follow was her stomach. How much time would “not long” be for a human? The demon felt she had been waiting for a while already. The sun had moved, after all. Is that enough? She decided it was enough.

She was going to take a peek inside the temple. Sophia had said not to, but a quick look was probably alright.

It probably was.

* * *

Sophia stared at her goddess. She had concluded her story a short while ago, and Rachiel had yet to utter a word. The expression on the angel’s face was one Sophia had never seen and could not quite decipher.

When at last, the angel spoke, her voice was slow and deliberate. “You said you brought that demon here, and she’s waiting right outside?” Her blue eyes were like lances piercing into Sophia’s soul. The priestess suddenly could not meet her goddess’ gaze.

“I didn’t know what else to do.”

A slender finger brought her chin back up. Rachiel’s usual kind expression had returned, and she smiled at Sophia. “I’m not berating you. You are right. There was little else you could have done against a demon capable of everything you told me.”

“What else could I have done?” ‘Little’ meant her actions were not the only way. Sophia racked her brains, trying to figure out how she could have done differently.

“You could have died.”

Sophia stared back blankly.

“Not just any demon can shrug off hellfire like you described, not even an enfeebled variety cast by a mortal. As to escaping my sight even in the heart of this sanctuary…” The angel’s voice had dimmed to a whisper. “Only one being should have that ability.” Rachiel looked disturbed, almost fearful; this, more than anything else in the past two days, greatly unsettled her priestess.

“My goddess?”

Rachiel’s eyelids fluttered as if she had gone elsewhere for a moment. Her loving smile quickly returned, however, and smothered Sophia’s worries. “What else could you have done, silly child? You survived and even brought a man alive with you. I’m not disappointed, Sophia. I am proud of you.”

The priestess preened at the praise, for a second, before her mood took another nosedive into anxiety. “But what are we going to do about her?”

“Yes, that is the question…” Once more, the angel’s gaze seemed to drift into the distance. It scared Sophia, who had never seen her goddess lose herself like this. “But if this truly is… Maybe the time has come…” The priestess struggled even to hear these ominous whispers, and Rachiel starting to mutter to herself certainly did nothing to help Sophia’s fears.

“And what about the brigands, Your Gloriousness? How come they could be on the island?”

“Ah, yes, them… well, probably… but what sin would… and why… could they have… no…”

Sophia’s fist slammed onto the tea table. “My Goddess! This is serious!” For the first time in her young life, she worried she was about to hit a goddess. Maybe she could slap some sense into the angel she worshipped. I have no time for this… this… this horsecrap! She was stressed. She was tired. She had rushed back to the Temple, hoping for answers and guidance, and instead, her goddess was acting like a novitiate high on occebi.

A loud and angry growl suddenly startled both women. Sophia’s head snapped to the entrance of the temple. Sam stood there.

The demon had a hand of her stomach, and her eyes were wide in comically embarrassed surprise. Another bowel noise echoed through the temple.

Sam’s embarrassed expression did not last before melting into a frown as she determinedly stomped in their direction. “Sophia, I’m hungry! I get you don’t want me eating the people here, but I need to eat something! So tell me where I can find food, or I’m going out to hunt. Oh, and I know you told me not to come in, but it’s your own fault I did. You told me you wouldn’t be long, but you were.” She stopped right in front of Sophia, hands on her hips in an annoyed scolding posture as she glared down at the flabbergasted priestess.

Sophia’s eyes had, at last, reached their final form of tea saucers, and her mouth was making a pretty convincing impression of a fish in a fisherman’s net.

“You… how… but… how... the holy power…”

The reality of it was just before her. Still, her mind refused to acknowledge that a demon was standing right here, inside the inner temple, where the holy power was so thick it became a physical pressure even an average human could feel. Yet, this demon was currently not bursting into flames.

It went against Sophia’s every notion of how the world was supposed to work!

After a long two days of abuse, her brain was finally about to call it quits. All she could think of right now was a long, uninterrupted litany of “No-no-no-no-no-no-no-no-no-no-no-no-no-no-nope. Nooope. Nonono. No? No. No-no-no-no-no-no-no-no-no-no-no-no-no-no-no-no-no-no-no-no-no…”

“Sophia? Eh, Sophia? What is wrong with you?” Sam waved in front of the petrified priestess before looking over her shoulder. “Oh, and… err… hello… err…miss… angel… miss? Sorry for barging in? Is that what I’m supposed to say? Err… Miss? Miss angel, are you alright?”

Like a rusty-hinged door, Sophia’s head pivoted very slowly towards her goddess. She could hear the creaking noise in her head.

Her bruised mind took another punch when she saw tears running down Rachiel’s cheeks. The angel had a look of shock on her face, a hand covering her mouth and startled misty eyes. Sophia glanced back at Sam, but the demon only tilted her head at a near ninety degrees, appearing utterly confused.

Her eyes did several more back and forth between the angel and the demon, but neither seemed willing to break off the staring contest. An angry, forking vein started pulsing on the priestess’ forehead. She had cried out all her fears earlier, but a lot of frustration and incomprehension was left behind. All of it was rapidly boiling to the surface, ready to burst.

Then, finally, it did.

“SOMEBODY, TELL ME WHAT THE BLOODY HELL IS GOING ON!?”

* * * * *