Shortness of breath, an inhuman pressure bearing down upon me like I’ve been pushed down to the deepest darkest abyss. It’s like I’m drowning like no-one will find me. It’s like there’s no-one to help me and all I can see is the harsh darkness before it transitions into a solid red. I can hear scraping, the sound of a knife being sharpened against stone. I can hear clanging, the sounds of chains crashing against the wall. I can hear screaming, the echoes of a man being tortured. Worst of all, I can hear laughter, the laughter of my Father. “Elmira, my daughter. You think that those filthy humans will accept you as I accepted you? Spawn of two humans, spawn of a demon joint with a human? You are clearly very much mistaken.”

I shiver, my body growing slick with sweat. “Go away,” I whisper.

I feel a hand on the back of my hair and I quake, a huge chill going down my spine. I pull away, but I find that pressure pulling me into the ground. “Ah, but it’s not like it was unexpected. In fact, it’s better this way. You’ll develop faster over there. Then… When you’re ready, I’ll send your brothers to retrieve you. Just wait, Elmira, soon we’ll be together again.” I feel a kiss get laid on the back of my neck and I pull away.

I shoot up from my bed, the movement finally breaking me from my nightmare, I scream and wrench myself free of the covers before collapsing to the floor. My back is in agony and I lash around pain erupting within my skull. There’s a loud banging noise and for a moment I think it’s coming from within my head, but instead it’s at the door. I pull my knees up close to my chest and grab my head. “Go away,” I whisper, tears falling from my eyes. “Go away, go away, go away, go away, go away!” I repeat over and over again.

There’s a loud bang and I can hear footsteps and I edge back. “Elmira,” someone whispers. I shoot up, moving backward, I can see their figure and my back flares again with pain.

“Don’t say my name!” I yell. My hands explode with light and a corner of my septagram lights up. My horns grow larger and wings explode out of my back. My hands grow warped and my legs crack and grow longer. Invoking the septagram, the ultimate form of protection I have. I raise my hand, revealing the face of my attacker, then I take a few more steps back until I can feel the cold glass against my leathery wings. It’s Janus, he seems quite pale and he stares at me with eyes filled with pity and sadness. I collapse down to my knees and the power fades, returning me to my more human-like form and I dissolve into sobs.

I feel hands on my shoulders and he wraps me in a hug, a tender grasp that Lucifer always gave me after a long day of torture. It takes a while for me to calm but I do, he only then releases me from his grasp, I see tears in his eyes and he wipes them away. “I probably look quite pitiful right now,” he croaks. “I could feel your pain and terror from the other room. That kind of… Inborn pain is quite terrible. How?”

I tilt my head forward, sighing, almost as if deflating myself. “My Father is Satan. The literal incarnation of the worst evil,” I explain. My voice is dead as if I am nothing but a corpse. “There’s no-one who is more afraid of their Father than I. There is nothing that scares me more than him. A single nightmare is like his pressure is following me and I just-” I stop, feeling a solitary tear crawl down my face. “I can’t live with the constant fear of him being there to torture me.”

He places a hand on my head, giving me a tiny grin, a forced smile. “I guess there're no Daddy issues that can compare with that.” It might be a joke in an attempt to make me feel better, but all it seems is factual. It doesn’t make me feel any better, it’s a joke for the sake of a joke and it feels unnecessary. It is perhaps a little comforting to have him with me. I slowly rise to my feet, leaning against the bed. I place the back of my hand against my back as Janus walks around to the window, making it so it’s translucent before returning to me. He places a hand on my shoulder. “You’re okay, right?” I nod. “I just want to take you somewhere today. Just get you outside. Are you alright to go out?”

I nod again, exhaling through my mouth. “Yeah, I think I can manage. I’m just a little scared, that’s all.”

He nods, giving me a careful look before walking toward the door. “Before we go, you should get showered and changed. You work the shower with the small lever. Turn it right for warm water, left for cold.” After these words he leaves, shutting the door behind him.

I make my way into the bathroom, removing my clothes and strewing them across the floor as I walk. My shirt comes off, torn by my wings after I did my full transformation. Something tells me Gates will be furious. I step into the bath and grab hold of the handle and I’m blasted in the face by cold water. Instead of coming out at the mouth of the small tap at the bottom, it’s coming out of the strange steel pipe with holes in it. I shiver, immediately pushing aside the handle as instructed. The water heats up and I turn the pipe back to me.

I guess I’ll just use this to clean. It should work the same as a bath, just won’t get as much surface area. I place my hand in a dish where there’s a cake of soap waiting for me. I wrap my hand around the cake before bringing it to my skin. It smells incredible, much like the flowers from the Demon Planes I actually have smelt, though I can’t help but note the strength of the cake. It’s not as liquidy as the soap they use in the Demon Planes, but it spreads across my skin just as easily.

I run the soap across my body, enjoying the warm water and just relaxing. I’m in no rush and while I know Janus is waiting, I’d prefer to have the freedom to delay that. It’s just that I’m trying to forget the nightmares and trying to rid my back of the steady ache since I awakened. The ache has proceeded down my spine to the small of my back, but it feels like my septagram has been burnt into my back once more. It still hurts, just not as much as the small of my back.

I move my hands around my back, to rub the small of my back to find a small nub growing out of my spine. I rub it a few times, it hurts, yet it’s pliant, it’s also leathery and strong. I tug on it hard, checking to see if it will come free easily, but it remains firmly attached. I arch my back, turning my head to catch a glance at it out of the corner of my eye. I’m growing a tail, just in case the horns were hard enough to hide, a tail will be harder still. It’s only about an inch right now, but for it to grow so much during the night might be bad for the future. The tail is bronze or polished copper, a mix between the two, perhaps a little dark. That’s how it’s gonna be, I guess.

I return the bar of soap to the dish and move my head beneath the stream of water, letting my hair get wet. I let my hair soak for a while, the long black strands sticking to my back from the weight of the water. I wrap my hand around a long tube, a bottle of shampoo that bears similarities to the type of shampoos my brother used. I pour it into the palm of my hands before applying it to the ends of my hair, working my way up to the roots and working into my scalp.

The final steps is to slowly work the shampoo into my horns. Making sure it’s clean enough so I don’t suddenly get dirt obstructing my eyes. I dip my head, annoyance clouding my mind. Not only have I started growing a tail, but my horns have grown about an eighth of an inch. Small, but it’s obvious enough after I’ve touched them so much. In one day in the Moral Plane I’ve grown more than I’ve grown in the Demon Planes for two years. I wouldn’t be surprised if my septagram has gotten further in development or whether I’ve gotten a little taller. I lower my head beneath the stream before pushing the lever in and stopping the stream.

I step out of the shower, wrapping my hand around a towel then bringing it to my face. I wipe away the moisture in my eyes then start wiping down my body. My stomach gurgles in the absences of food and lean forward, clutching it. I need some good food, I need something that isn’t that burger thing from yesterday.

I lean over the sink by the vanity and pull handle. Water blasts out and I stick my head beneath the stream, greedily drinking, hoping that it will do as a replacement for the lack of nutrition I have in my body. I know it won’t, but it’s something. I lean back, comb my hair out of my eyes before stepping out of the bathroom into the bedroom. I place the towel over my head, and I walk across the floor over to the wardrobe. I pull the door open and walk inside.

I peer around and exhale. There’s definitely such a thing as over-abundance and most of these things I’ve never worn or even seen before. I’m used to wearing form hiding clothing, like robes or jackets that are many sizes too large for me. All these clothes seem far too excessive for my liking. What’s more is that they’re so small. It’s almost as if Gates wants me to be cold. Granted, that can’t be said about all the clothes, but a lot of them. Style over comfort is clearly the theme with the clothes of this place.

I sort through the clothes, pulling some shirts and jackets off hangers and off shelves before returning them to where they were. It takes me a while to settle on a t-shirt and a black jacket with a hood and some blue, rough pants. I’ll have to make do with this, it’s at least kind of similar to the stuff I used to wear. I pull on my clothes and then I place the towel on my shoulders and then splay my hair across the towel for my hair to dry.

I look around the room, exactly what do I do to pass the time now? What does anyone do to pass the time here? To be fair, what do I do to pass the time in the Demon Plane? Walking around the castle maybe. But here it just seems like there’s nothing. A massive building that goes upward forever. It feels like I could just be lost in a building like this. It would be quite an embarrassing way to get lost. Like getting lost in a hedge maze. I don’t think following a wall will work here.

I return to the bathroom and rifle through the drawers, there are some bars of soap, odd little cartridges, and plenty of boxes of who know’s what, but I find a brush which will have to be a suitable way to take up my time. I sit on the edge of the bath, running the brush through my hair for a while and I hear a knock at the door.

I approach the door and pull it open. Janus looks a little confused, perhaps he’s a bit impatient. “You okay? You’re taking a bit longer than I thought.”

Yes, impatient is exactly that. Ever since I got here it seems like the only break I’ve gotten was when I had to rest, and it’s all been in an Alien environment. “It takes a while for hair to dry,” I mumble. “What else did you want me to do?”

“Use the hair dryer?” He pushes past me into the room and he approaches the mirror, opening a cupboard beneath it. He withdraws a black tube with a handle with a long cord attached. He raises it, letting the cord dangle uselessly in the air. He pulls the cord out then pushes it into something on the wall, then he presses a button and it makes a loud blasting noise, almost like a burst of heavy wind. I approach him and he turns it to me. I stumble back as he blasts me with a jet of warm air. “This hair dryer. You’ll dry your hair faster instead of standing around until it dries. It’ll probably take forever to dry, it’s not like you can sit out in the sun for it to air dry.”

“I- what?” I stammer. “What’s a hairdryer? What’s that thing in the wall?”

“I- feel like this is going to be a lot more work than I originally thought it would be. Not that I’m planning on giving up, but damn, do you have no knowledge about this Plane?”

“Do you have any knowledge of the Demon Plane?”

“Touche. I guess we’re going to take the caveman approach.” I give him a confused look. He turns off the hairdryer and places it on the table in front of the mirror. “In other words, I explain literally everything.”

“And you didn’t think it might be a good idea in the first place? I have so many questions and I don’t even know where to start. I’m beyond confused, I’m in a world I don’t know and I just want someone to tell me what’s normal and what’s not.”

“I think it might be better if we just leave now. You can let your hair dry in the car.”

I pull the towel off then drape it over the chair next to the strange box. “Car?” I ask.

“Oh- What methods of transport do you have in the Demon Plane?”

“Horse and carriage.”

“Then it’s like that, but without the horse and just a carriage that can move by itself.”

“No way.”

He nods. “Come on. I’ll show you.” He exits the room and I follow him out into the main lobby. Kaiden is sitting in the chair next to the robot things he’s making. “Are you coming with Kai, or are you going to dedicate more of your life to those stupid robots?” Janus yells. Kaiden raises his hand from his work, his fist is enclosed with only the middle finger raised. “Yeah, I thought so. Come on, Elmira. Let me show you the incredible thing that is the car.”

“Now it sounds like you’re trying to exaggerate what a car is.”

He snorts. “I probably am, but that’s to me. It’s still a carriage that can move without a horse to you, which is still pretty incredible. But considering there're millions, maybe billions of them around the world, it’s definitely not as impressive as it sounds.” He pushes the front door open and I follow him. He shuts the door behind him then we walk side by side to the elevator thing at the end of the corridor. He clicks a button and he turns to me. “This thing is an elevator. It uses a winch system… I think and it pulls a large box up and down stopping at each floor. It’s a useful alternative to stairs.”

“What happens if the rope breaks?”

“Then you’ll plunge down a couple stories-” I stare at him with my mouth agape. “But that barely ever happens. The rope is made of reinforced steel so it’s completely safe. You have more chance of being hit by a car.”

“Wait- is a car that metal cart that was moving across the middle of the street?” I query.

“Yeah. They’re everywhere, you should’ve seen it when you came here.”

“If you’re saying I have more chance being hit by a car, I don’t like my chances in the elevator- I’ve been hit by the car-thing when I came here. It hurt my legs.”

He seems amused, but at the same time completely astonished. “You mean to say you came here then immediately got hit by a car?” The elevator dings and the doors slide open. He steps inside and I follow, immediately grabbing onto one of the steel bars as if the floor will fall out from under me suddenly. “I’m not sure whether I should be more impressed that you seem unhurt or more terrified that you ended up walking in front of one in the first place.”

“A healthy mixture of both?” I suggest.

“Oh, I’m having a rather unhealthy mixture of both and I think my heart’s going to clog up because of it. Please be a little careful of things you don’t understand.”

“Oh, give me a moment to just stand still in the middle of my room for twenty hours until someone gives me an in-depth explanation of the bed.” I don’t think I could be more sarcastic with my statement, but he seems to grin at my response.

The doors to the elevator slide open and we step out into a large cave like area. There are white pillars and brick walls lining the outside of the cave. There’s gray stone beneath my feet that transitions to black gravel. Janus points at the black gravel. “That’s asphalt, if you see it, look both ways, cars tend to travel over it.” He steps out onto the asphalt and I follow him, looking around erratically. “Not now. This is an underground parking garage. It’s a place we store cars.”

“So they’re like objects and not beasts?”

“Exactly. They’re just objects, they don’t eat anything… Well, they guzzle fuel but that’s about it.”

“Fuel?”

“A poor joke which would work if you had the context of nearly two decades of living as a human,” he sighs. “Come on.” He leads me along the asphalt, passed white lined bays. Some bays are inhabited by cars of different shapes, colors, and sizes, while other remain empty, a green light hanging overhead clearly to signify that it’s empty. He pulls me into a stairwell that leads down one floor, and into another huge, parking garage. He then stops at a vehicle directly next to the stairwell. It looks very similar to a carriage. It’s bulky, but it’s not made of wood, instead it’s made of metal and it’s painted black. It has massive wheels wrapped in rubber and darkened windows. “And this- is my van.”

“Van. I thought you said it was a car?”

“A van is a type of car. There are a bunch of different cars.” The car’s lights flicker and he pulls open a door. “And now it’s time for you to get in.” I lean into the door, peering inside. It seems like a tiny room, with seats and smooth surfaces with a canvas roof. It’s beyond difficult to understand exactly what everything is. I step in carefully, as if something will happen should I do anything wrong. Janus slams the door behind me and I immediately push myself against the door, surprise and horror immediately hitting me like a ton of bricks. I scratch at the window, before moving my hand down to try and find the handle. The door opens on the other side and I turn to see Janus slipping into the car. He gives me a strange look and I forcibly calm myself. “I was just closing the door. You don’t need to be so scared. You can’t have the door open while the car is traveling at extreme speeds.”

I exhale and collapse back into the chair. He leans over, grabbing a rope and dragging it across me. I wrap my hand around it stopping him from drawing it completely over me and tying me up. “What-?”

“It’s a seatbelt. Same as when you can’t have the door open when traveling at extreme speeds, you also need to be affixed to the seat, otherwise if we suddenly stop you might fly out the window.” I release the rope, dreading the thought. “Thank you.” He pulls the seat belt down and then locks it into place in a small fixture by the edge of the chair. Then he moves to his own chair. He straps himself in then places his hand on the strange wheel in front of him before jamming keys into a slot beneath the wheel. He drums his fingers for on the wheel for a moment, then he turns around to look behind him.

I feel the car roll back and my heart jumps into my throat. We’re moving, we’re actually moving and there’s nothing drawing it. Janus spins the wheel and the back of the car flicks out and I stare at him. He’s definitely controlling it, but with the wheel? I look out the front window and watch the stalls pass at increasing speeds and then I feel the car go up an incline. Then it slows to a stop in front of a set of steel poles, preventing further advancement.

Janus leans across to me, and I lean back in my chair, tucking my knees up to my chest. He pulls open the small cupboard next to me and he withdraws a small red stick about the size two thumbs in width. He raises it, pointing at the poles and there’s a small blink of red light and the barriers start lowering toward the ground. He throws it back into the box, then pushes it closed. “You’re way too uptight right now. Just calm down. It would be very difficult for you to break something and even if you did, it’s probably just superficial.” I lower my legs and give him a questioning gaze. “If something is wrong, I’ll warn you.”

The car moves forward over the set of poles and then he rolls up another steep incline before driving out of a massive door which rolls down behind him, almost like magic. “How is everything doing that? How did the poles work, how did the door work?” We cross out onto the asphalt onto the main road that seems to stretch on for miles with white and yellow lines marked across the road. There are massive buildings, just like the building we just exited and there are gray sidewalks with people walking across them. I pull up my hood and pull it down so it’s covering my horns.

“Eh- There’s a limit to what I know about it. It’s electricity and it kinda makes things work. I don’t really know much about it, but you know in the same way you might pull a box and it will move?” I nod a few times. “Well, electricity acts kind of like the power to move the load. It’s pretty much the food to the body of a city. Then there’s a bunch of other objects that utilize it. Like the garage door behind you, or the TV.”

“TV?”

“Television. There’s one in the living room in your apartment. It’s next to the sofas and when it’s on it would be like watching something unfold in front of you. It’s like a rapid scrolling of photographs-.”

“Photographs?”

He exhales. “Fast developing paintings. You know what the TV is now, right?”

“Mm- Gabbie was using it. What is it used for?”

“Entertainment. Electricity is used mostly to power entertainment and for convenience. It’s used pretty much to take short cuts. It’s not entirely necessary, but we’re all reliant on it.” Reliant on it, does that mean they need it to live or that it’s just incredibly useful and that people would find it hard to live without?

The car turns off to the side and we cross onto another road, taken up by a massive array of other cars, just like Janus had said. It seems no two cars are the same, with different colors, shapes, and sizes. I look out of the side window as they pass by, a lot of the cars are heading the direction we came, seemingly shooting by faster than we’re going.

I turn to face Janus’ side and I can see that there are cars driving our way, but at the same time, there are static cars. Cars stopped at the side of the road, similarly to how the cars were stopped in the mysterious underground cave. “What are you thinking?” Janus asks, out of the blue.

I shrug. I’m not sure what to think, this is absolutely insane. Sure I’ve been on a carriage driven by a horse. But this is like a box traveling many times the speed. What am I supposed to think? I think I would be happier knowing that if I opened up the box, I would find a small chanting man that makes the car move. But something tells me that won’t happen.

Janus chuckles to himself. He seems to find my confusion immensely amusing, I do not. I think before the day’s end I’m going to be slamming my head against the wall. I think the only way things could be any worse if I somehow got forced to learn another language. I’m just glad English and Demonic are the same. But that doesn’t mean I’m not having trouble with names. TVs, garages, cars, vans… Electricity? I don’t think I’m going to remember it all. All I know is cave, moving box, large moving box and the thing that makes boxes move.

The car slows to a stop and I look up. He’s stopped at a large four-way intersection. Much like two roads come into contact with each other. Over the road are a set of multicolored lights, flaring red. I look at Janus. “What’s going on?”

“Traffic signal.”

“I don’t know what that is!” I say, exasperated. “I don’t know what any of this is?”

“Multicolored light.” I roll my eyes. I can see that with my own two eyes. “It helps us discern whether it’s our turn to go so there aren’t any traffic accidents- traffic is a large movement of vehicles.” He takes the chance to further explain a simple word. It seems that it’s just the same as foot-traffic anyway. “Red light means stop, yellow light means slow and green light means go-go-go.”

“This all seems-”

“Confusing. I can feel the confusion from you.”

I purse my lips. “And that seems a little invasive. Can’t you not do that?”

“It’s better than me being able to read your mind. And I can’t stop it. It just happens. You’re not the only one who doesn’t like it. Just be glad I can’t read your mind.”

“Oh, I’m elated,” I respond, my voice coated liberally in sarcasm.

The lights turn green and the car starts moving again. “I’ll just ignore that. We’re almost there anyway, so you don’t have to be confused for too long.”

“Confusion is not just limited to the car.”

We continue in silence for a few minutes, mostly because I’m sick of asking questions just to have it answered by something that yields more questions. It seems like I’ll never run out of questions to ask and just that thought makes me feel like I can’t win. Janus pulls the car off to the right side and he slows it to a stop before withdrawing the set of keys and slipping it into a pocket.

He leans across and undoes the rope on my side before undoing his own and yanking on a small handle on the door, which causes it to open. I pull on the same thing on my side, expecting everything to suddenly go wrong, but to my surprise, the door opens too. I step out of the door and slam it shut then look around.

Compared to the large buildings of earlier, it seems to have gotten a little more sparse. There are large buildings, but they seem to be mostly on the side of the street that Janus’ car is resting. The other side of the street has a large steel and gray stone fence which seems to go on forever, beyond the fence is a massive courtyard of brick and grass with a set of massive buildings of gray stone and bricks. It reminds me of an Arcanist’s manor.

I round the car, to join Janus. Lining this side of the street are a group of stores. Simply built stores with a theme that matches the manor across the road. They have tall roofs with gray stone lined near the ground, before flowing into large panes of glass, allowing passerbyes to see inside, then it finishes with brick that concludes at the roof.

Janus approaches one of the stores, a building with glass tables and painted black chairs out front with a few people drinking out of mugs. I pull my hood down lower over my head. I’m still aware of my difference in appearance, and there are Demons in the Demon Plane who make fun of others for their small horns and such. Same maybe with the humans here, who might make fun of me for having horns in the first place.

He steps inside and I follow him, looking at the ground as we walk. There are some more people in here, talking amongst themselves. I don’t think any of them look toward us, but I can’t tell, I’m too preoccupied with my feet and the black and white checkered floor. Janus stops and I raise my head a little, to be confronted by glass cases filled with food and a line of shelving behind a grinning man with black hair and an apron.

“How can I help you?” The madly grinning man asks.

“Some coffee, black and some hot chocolate and-” He turns to me. “Are you hungry?” I give him a small nod, but I don’t say anything, feeling my face redden. “And a blueberry muffin.” The man nods and Janus pulls out a small leather purse and he pulls out a card. He uses it to run it through some weird box and then he presses somethings then he turns to me. “Find a table outside and wait for me. I’ll join you in a few moments.”

“Right,” I murmur. I proceed outside, where I find a free table close to the door before taking a seat. I peer at the large manor, I’m curious, I wonder if there’s anyone in the grounds, whether it has a security force and who’s living in it. Janus groans and he drops down into a chair opposite me before pushing a paper cup and a paper bag over to me on my side of the table. He sips out of his own cup. “What’s that place?” I ask, raising my finger to point at the manor.

“It’s a Service Academy. It’s mainly to train prospective police or military, but we send some Junior Vigors and magic users there too. It’s mostly so they can learn martial arts while at the same time developing their knowledge. Obviously, heading to normal schools doesn’t help them work on their combat knowledge. Do you want to go there?”

I snort, wrapping a hand around my own cup. It’s warm, just like the drink I had yesterday. “No. I’ve already got enough to learn. Filling in the gaps and learning extra stuff seems like a bad idea. I think I just want to concentrate on the things I don’t know that are obvious.”

“Fair enough.” He pulls out a box from his pocket. He raises it a little. “By the way, this is a cell phone. It allows me to contact friends or others from here. So if I wanted to, I could talk to Kai from here.”

“Like talking directly to them?”

“Eh- kinda, I mostly just send messages, which is kind of like an instant letter. Do you have that kind of stuff in the Plane?” I nod. “Well, there you go. When I get the chance I’ll get you one and teach you how to use it. Kai can help you learn to use the computer in your room.”

“Computer?”

“Like a TV, also like a phone or a newspaper, which has a bunch of news written on it. If there’s anything you want, a computer can pretty much give it to you. I’ll go into greater detail as I think about it, but I can’t even begin to explain everything that a computer offers.”

He places the cell phone on the table and he uses his thumbs to do something on it. They move fast, and I can see letter beneath his fingers before he presses his thumbs onto it. He’s writing something but I can’t see it properly. It’s really hard to read upside down. I take my own cup, drinking from it. It tastes like the drink I had that Dennis gave me, but sweeter, almost like there’s too much sugar.

I open the paper bag and pull the thing inside out. A muffin. I’ve had them before, but not quite this consistency, usually it’s grittier and it doesn’t have the blue thing inside. I take a small bite of it, chewing a bit from the side. It tastes overwhelmingly sweet, much like the drink. It’s not like the burger yesterday, at least, which means I pretty much shove it in my face. “Done-” Janus says. He looks up. “I know you missed out on breakfast, but isn’t that a bit extreme?”

He’s teasing me. I put the remains of the muffin down on the paper bag. “Dinner too. The burger tasted synthetic, I didn’t like it- no, I threw up.”

Janus turns serious and he leans forward. “Allergic. No, there’s probably something in the burger you couldn’t eat. Maybe spices. Could be anything. Why didn’t you tell anyone about it?”

“I didn’t want to bother them,” I murmur. “Besides, I was going to sleep.”

“And if it happens today? They could’ve given you something else to eat. You don’t need to agonize over it by yourself.” I look at the muffin, a dour look forming on my face. “They won’t hate you for that. Especially if you explain yourself. All you’d end up doing is hurting yourself.”

“But I don’t want to cause any trouble, that’s all.”

“And if they were a little annoyed at you because maybe you- I don’t know, tore a hole in the pillow because of your horns?”

“Then- I’d fix it and apologize.”

“What, because of something you couldn’t help. And you’d allow them to bother you? You’re not bothering them, you need their help, just as much as they might need your help some other times. They help you, you help them. It’s not bothersome, it’s a trade.”

“Fine. Then what do I do?”

“Well, I just sent Gabbie and Walter a message. You can talk to them when they finish school. For now, let’s have a little talk. How were you born, Elmira. I mean how are you and other demon’s born?” I look around, perhaps a little bit concerned about our surroundings. “They’re not listening and even if they were, it’s none of their business.”

“How do you know?” I ask, before taking a long swig of the warm drink.

“I can read their mind. I can tell.”

I clear my throat. “Well- the demons can slip into the Mortal Plane whenever they want so they can have sex with females here. Then they come back to collect the results of their trip here after 9 months. They aren’t all that powerful, so it’s not like they cause problems. It’s the same for everyone up until the Lords, then things get strange.”

“Strange how?”

“Well- The Demon Lords are strong, they're pretty much sin incarnate. Their existence here tends to result in people- changing. So if Asmodeus were to come here to have a son, he would cause people around him to have thoughts of desire. Those who already have strong thoughts might be pushed over the edge by Asmodeus’ arrival. That’s why all the Demon Lords are limited to only coming every ten years.”

“Ah. And your Father?”

“Every one thousand years.” I purse my lips. “But it really depends. Demons hate humans, my Father and my brothers are included with the exception of Lucifer and Asmodeus. They hate that they need to have children with mortals to continue their line. My Father is no different. But he’s still got a few years before he’s actually allowed to come to the Mortal Plane.”

“Wait, but they could come whenever they wanted, all they have to do is not take part in the rule.”

“It’s not a rule. It’s a limitation. I don’t know how to explain it. Their arrival is strong enough to affect humans, and it takes some time for it to calm. My Father’s effect lasts for several generations. If they broke the limitations, they could cause mortals to go insane- at least I don’t even know what would happen, but that’s the expectation.”

“Wait, then how did your Father have you?”

“There’s another way, but all the Demon’s think it’s… Dirty. It’s taking over another Human’s body. There’s not a single demon who has done it, mostly because I don’t think they can. But the result is that their aura is drastically reduced and they have no powers. That’s why they hate it. It’s also why I was born and why I’m not a male like the rest.”

“Wait, hold on, this is all really confusing-”

I can’t help but smile. “The shoe’s on the other foot.”

He exhales, but I can see him grinning at that. “Right. It is. So why didn’t he just do this earlier?”

“Because they all hate humans. I mean Asmodeus and Lucifer might’ve, but Asmodeus is content with having relationships with the male demons in the Demon Plane and Lucifer likely knows the potential of having a girl, so he doesn’t want any of his daughters to be subjected to the life of a whore. My Father likely just grew desperate. Unlike Asmodeus, he doesn’t have an interest in both sexes and he still has similar desires.”

“And he wouldn’t do it again?”

“Maybe once he’s given up on trying to catch me.”

“And when do you think that will happen?”

“Sometime in the next millennia,” I shrug. “I mean, they have a lot of time on their hand and I doubt my Father would find it in his pride to try the same method again so soon. He’ll just keep trying to recapture me. For now, he’s just trying to find me.”

“Well, that’s disconcerting.”

“You’re not the only one who thinks that way.”

“So do you think they’ll find you? Do you think the demons will chase you down?”

“It’s entirely possible. They’ll send out scouts and there’ll be some who might be able to find me anyway. Once that happens, if they manage to send one back, they might send some Arcanists or even one of my brothers.”

“Ah,” he groans. “Think you can take on one of your brothers?”

“You’re kidding me, right? I don’t even think I can measure up against an Arcanist. Maybe later, but not now.”

It seems my little spout about how little I can do when it comes to considering my brothers was a bit excessive. Janus stares at his cup for a while and I busy myself with my own cup. I’m a little scared myself. I just want to concentrate on working through it. Maybe I will, but it’s the opportunity that Lucifer gave me and I won’t throw it away. If I need to fight, I’ll fight, even if I know I’ll lose.

There’s a lot of noise and it seems a few cars have been gathering at the front of the academy. A long queue of vehicles crawls down the road at a snail's pace. I look at Janus. “So why the uniforms? I thought that America didn’t have uniforms.”

“So you do know something about Earth.”

I blush and stare down at the remains of my muffin. “Only as much as Lucifer told me.”

“Right. So they go to a Service Academy and to ready them for any civil service jobs, such as policemen or soldiers, they wear uniforms. It makes the other uniforms a little more comfortable. Of course, not quite necessary in our line of work, but it helps them follow instructions.”

“The teams don’t have uniforms?”

“Yeah. I honestly think they look stupid, but there are some who do like the idea. That just depends on the teams, though. If they want to wear uniforms, they can, but it’s not going to help with the job.”

There’s a lot of activity coming from the gates of the Service Academy and I turn to look at it. There're some teenagers heading out in large groups, they have bags hooked over their shoulders and their talking amongst themselves, though it’s all garbled, mixed in with a lot of other conversations.

A few cross the street between the cars, while others step into their own cars. Those that cross the street walk along the sidewalk, seemingly looking at storefronts before moving on. Some head inside the stores, presumably to browse or purchase goods. Some enter the shop the cafe we’re currently seated at, and I try to avoid locking eyes with anyone nearby in case of them seeing what I look like.

I finish off my muffin and Janus stands up, raising his hand over his head. I look to where he’s looking to see Gabbie and Walter approaching with a small group of friends. They say their farewells before splitting up. They jog up our way and they stop at the table. “Hey, Janus,” Walter grins.

“What’s up?” Gabbie asks. She grabs a chair and pulls it out, then she stops before looking at me. She ducks down to get a good look at me. “Elmira?” She asks. “You look different.”

“Now that you mention it,” Janus says. “You do look a little different. Well, aside from the clothes- you aren’t exactly wearing robes.”

“Uh- My horns grew,” I murmur, feeling my face heat up.

“Is that a good thing?” Walter asks. “Like, do you like your horns or is it-” he makes a strange face as if talking about my taboo. Here they might be considered a bad thing, but for Demons, they’re a source of pride.

“No. They’re fine… I like them, but they might get harder to hide.”

“Hey. Gabs, you owe me, so can you get me a coffee or something?”

“Yeah, fine,” she sighs. She heads into the store and Walter steals her seat, before winking at me.

Janus seems a little distracted and he clears his throat. “Anyway, is there something you want to say, Elmira?”

“Wha-” He gives me a long hard look and I tilt my head forward. “I can’t eat the thing we had last night,” I whisper. “It didn’t taste nice. It made me sick.”

“Huh? The burger? I mean, we can make something else.”

“She’s being vague. She’s trying to preserve your feelings or something,” Janus sighs. “She got sick from the burger. She threw up when she walked off or something. Next time, try to avoid giving her anything with spices. Avoid the spices or make something specifically for her. I imagine that won’t be too hard.”

“Yeah, sure. If you had said something yesterday then I would’ve made something else for you, Elmira,” Walter shrugs. “I’m just sorry that it worked out so badly for you. Um, I’ll probably do something in the pan tonight.”

“Great, see, it wasn’t that hard, was it, Elmira?” He grins, looking at me. His smile falters. Yes, it was that hard. I don’t feel welcome here and I don’t want to make things hard for everyone else and it feels that’s all it’s been. I’m just a problem, a waste of space. “Ah. That’s a pity. You guys should make her feel welcome.”

Walter stares at Janus, a little mystified at the statement and Gabbie returns and places a cup in front of Walter before sitting in her own seat. “And how would we do that, oh, famous mind reader,” Walter says with a grimace.

“I don’t know. I can’t read her mind. You’re the popular one, aren’t you, Walter?”

“So you can’t read Elmira’s mind but you can read mine? Why?”

Janus shrugs and he clears his throat, before turning to Gabbie. “And how was class? As boring as I remember?”

“Pretty much,” Gabbie shrugs. “I’m just glad we’re halfway through our last year. And then- then we become a proper team.” Gabbie seems too excited. I don’t like that, that motivation for everything to change. I just got here, I don’t want everything to change so soon.

Janus looks at me. “Are you sure you so ready for that, Gabbie? I mean. Are you sure you’re not just getting ahead of yourself? You’ve barely just made a team and you haven’t even done crowd control. You’re running before you learn to walk.”

“I can do it.”

Janus raises an eyebrow, then he stands up and stretches. “You can do it, but are you sure the rest of your team can do it?” Ouch, that hurt for me and I’m not Gabbie. That’s a harsh mental slap, perhaps targeting hidden anxiety. No, he knows what he’s saying, he’s either deliberately provoking her or doing what he believes is right. “Come, we’re heading back to the CPO.”

I stand up while Walter and Gabbie flounder after they just sat down. They grab their cups and they follow Janus and me back to the car. Gabbie catches up to me. “So why doesn’t he mess with you like he does Walt and me?” She asks.

I shrug. “Because he can’t read me.” I climb into the seat by Janus and Janus sit behind the wheel, while the other two get in the seats at the back. I grab the rope and push it into the small smooth lock. It clicks and for a moment I feel proud of myself, proud that I got something right, but it’s ruined by Janus’ following comment.

“You’ll at least know whether you’re ready when you inevitably join us on one of our missions. You’ve applied to be our juniors, right Gabbie?” Janus asks. I hear Gabbie’s agreement come from the back. I just hope this inevitable event doesn’t come anytime soon.