The clock on the wall doesn’t have any dates. All it does is tell me the time and when each meal might arrive. Time takes forever to pass, yet at the same time, one can lose track of it. At least when fixated on the books, it tends to pass far faster and I miss some meals, a lot due to the fact I haven’t been moving as much as I typically move, so I don’t use much energy. I manage to soldier through a few of the history books, mostly learning about vigors and magic users. Vigors are some sort of genetic anomaly, something that seems to be passed along down family lines, while magic users are even more confusing than Vigors are.

To sum it up, as little as I know about Humans, however, what I do need to know to understand it is all covered by the books. A Vigor is a normal Human whose DNA is different in a few areas, this allows them to do some crazy things, but it’s typically associated with certain areas. For example, one might be able to grow or shrink themselves, and this is typically associated with DNA that influences growth.

Magic Users are stranger as they are altered by outside forces. None of their powers are present in their DNA, just that sometimes these abilities are passed down a family line and that the effects leave imprints like scars, wrinkles or temporary tattoos. The only way any knowledge can be learned about them is by finding the source of the power, one of which is the Demon Plane, but no Warlocks have any intent of discovering more about their power as the Demon Plane is no place for Humans.

Then there’s the complicated few. People who have powers which might seem like a Vigor, yet at the same time, look like it’s influenced by an outside source. Chains, Nav and Kaiden might fall into these sections. For now, there’s no way of figuring out exactly how their power works and perhaps if they figured out how magic users used their powers, then that would be the right step toward figuring out all their powers.

It’s something but in reality, it won’t help me. It’s some knowledge I don’t really care about. Same with the other books that Oracle recommended to me, however, I can’t even soldier through them. I know enough that Oracle was being sarcastic when she called me Sherlock.

I pace the length of the room. If I count back a few days, I’ve probably been here about two weeks, give or take maybe two days. It just goes to show how slow I am at reading, but even still I have been rereading and spending a lot of my time in bed. Also, a lot of time going through everything. My Father, my brothers and those who I think are my friends. I’m not sure exactly what will come of everything, especially after what Oracle said, but I’m hoping I’ll get out of this place soon. While the food is good and I can get books with ease, it can’t replace the feeling of stepping outside. There’s no sun, no breeze, no feeling of rain falling on my skin. It just feels lonely.

There’s a long low beep, typically signaling the time for a meal, but one glance at the time says otherwise. It’s just past 3 pm, a good few hours before dinner. So the question is, what exactly are they doing here? The tray from lunch is removed from the door and then there’s a pause before the entire door starts moving downward, revealing that the guards have instead come to look in the room. Maybe it needs to be cleaned, or this is routine maintenance. Four guards enter, with solemn looks frozen on their faces. One approaches me, a man with brown hair and even with that solemn look, he looks pale, even as he extends his hands, clutching some steel shackles. “What’s going on?” I ask.

He seems stunned and he swallowed past a lump in his throat. “You’re being moved. Maybe a trial, I don’t know,” he barely manages. His voice is a bit high-pitched as if scared of me. His hands are shaking and I raise my hands, holding them together. He seems stunned for a moment, but it’s discarded as he wraps the shackles around my wrists and then encloses them around my wrists.

He returns to the others and then beckons to me to follow, I do so, catching up to them with a slow pace. I leave the cell, looking back for a moment. I hope I don’t return here ever again. I turn back to the center of the room, where the winding stairs are located, and there’s a woman standing at the foot of the stairs, staring at a cell phone, her fingers moving at incredible speeds. She has dark skinned, and well-groomed hair, brushed and finishing in a ponytail. She has green eyes, focused on the cell phone and she seems dressed for business, wearing a black suit with a black skirt to round it off. She clears her throat and looks up at me. She stares me up and down and then she shrugs. “I expected you to be shorter,” she says. Her voice seems familiar like I’ve spoken to her before. “We spoke briefly in the past.” It’s almost as if reading my mind.

“Oracle..?” I test. She nods once answering my questions. “Huh? Why are you here?”

“I volunteered to retrieve you.” She points at one of the guards. “Quickly retrieve her stuff. She put it in the locker. It should just be some keys, but she might need them.” The guard quickly rushes into the room and returns with the keys. He reaches out to hand them to Oracle who takes the keys then drops them into my hand. I pocket them through some effort then, without any more words she turns around, taking the first step toward the stairs. The guards take position around me and start leading me to the stairs.

“What about Sebastian?”

“Sebastian is staying here until we make a decision as to what we should do with you. His fate is connected to yours and should they choose to preserve your life, don’t think you can make a five person team. Chances are that he’ll be put on emergency duty due to his more demonic appearance.”

I open my mouth to say something, to fight back, but then again, it’s not like Oracle has the power to assist me or even that Sebastian is being treated badly, it’s just preventative measures. I shut my mouth and continue walking in silence. We climb the stairs, walking up through the multiple levels of the VCF until we reach the ground floor, surrounded by the cells. This is the first time I’m struck by how quiet it is in here.

Not one person is talking, not one person is making a noise except for the sound of footsteps and the almost too quiet breathing. The only place quieter than this might be a tomb, and even then there are echoes that can be heard. The corridors are worse, they’ve changed, just as Dan had said before, but they also seem thinner, as if the walls are closing in on me. We reach the main gates after a good while walking, Oracle spends all of it tapping away on her phone. As we draw close to the gates, she continues walking, even as she’s about to collide with the gates, then noiselessly they open to allow her and us through. As soon as everyone is through the gate, they close, just as quietly as they opened.

We walk outside the main gate, out into the car park and I raise my hands over my head to greet the sun. It’s quite cold, but in spite of the cold, the sun is out, though there're heavy clouds not far in the distance, likely readying to drop their load out over the city during the night. My eyes take a moment to grow accustomed to the bright light and I lower my arms. I take a deep breath of the outside air until it feels like my lungs might explode, then I finally exhale.

There’s a large black vehicle parked up at the entrance of the building, but there’s no emblem marking it as part of the CPO or the VCF, instead it’s just black. Its lights flicker and Oracle turns around, finally lowering her phone. “I’ll be taking Elmira from here. The four of you can return the building.”

“But-” One of the men retorts. He draws close to Oracle and she glares at him. “We need to follow her the length of her journey.”

“I’ll be more than enough to keep an eye on her. Head back into the building. This is the last time I will say it. You should be well aware of my capabilities.”

It’s a threat. A threat that hangs in the air for a good few seconds while the four guards swallow, growing anxious about the situation. They exchange glances as if silently asking who will talk to her, then the first guy who talked says something. “You can promise us she will make it..?” It’s something they don’t want to say, but it’s inevitably the position they're stuck in.

“She will. I’ve been working with the CPO for ten years. I won’t throw away all my efforts with one prisoner. I am capable of watching her by myself and I’d prefer to do that. If something were to go wrong, all you’d do is get in the way.”

The four of them seem to deflate and then nod. “Fine- But she-”

Oracle waves a dismissive hand. “I know, I know. Unlock her handcuffs if you would please.” The guy who locked the shackles around my hand approaches me, this time, a bit more confidently and he uses the keys to unlock them and pull them free. He steps away, wrapping them up in his hands then returning them to his belt. I walk over to join Oracle and she points at the car. “Get in the passenger seat, I’ll join you momentarily.”

I do as instructed, preferring not to ask any questions. I’m just glad I’m outside and I can make my own choices instead of being in that cell. It sucks that I have to move from there to a car, but it’s not unexpected. I walk over to the car and climb into the front seat, into the seat next to the wheel. Typically, it’s the same place I sit when I’m with Mattie, though it’s very different in this vehicle.

The vehicle looks the same from the outside, but the inside has a bunch of electronics. From different screens and keyboards to a tablet with a map on it, showing the location we’re in and the things around us. Beneath my feet there’s an object wrapped in white cloth, it’s similar in size to Valor and I reach down and grab it, carefully unwrapping it. I reveal the top of the object and find that it is indeed Valor.

The door at my side opens up and I nearly drop Valor in surprise. “So you found your weapon,” Oracle mutters as she climbs into the car. “You can keep it, but don’t wear it.” I nod, wrapping the gauntlet in my arms, then pulling the seatbelt and clipping it in. She starts the car, turning the vehicle around until it’s facing the main gates. She clears her throat. “Do you not have questions for me?”

“I do, but they probably won’t be the questions you expect.”

“You’re sitting in this vehicle while talking to me. I’m expecting them, for example; you want to know whether there are any Vigors who look like you. Whether any humans have some sort of defects they grow from their powers.”

“I don’t have-”

“Yes, I know, you don’t have defects, but that’s all depending on what you think of them. Defects are unnatural growths or lack of growth. Differences from the norm. You’re a demon, they aren’t different from the norm for you, however, to us they are. And yes, there are some humans with defects, but they are rare.”

“How rare?”

The gates open and she starts driving until she hits the main road and she turns off, heading toward the city along a large highway. She clears her throat. “You’ve experienced the hate because you look different.” She says this factually, she doesn’t need to question me. “People in this world have problems accepting just skin color, so major defects are truly awful things to have. So these are part of the reasons why they are so rare.”

“I don’t understand.”

“First, bullying. The children who suddenly get Vigor powers and all of a sudden look nothing like they used to look experience harsh bullying. This can lead to them committing some horrific crime, committing suicide or just closing themselves off from the world and locking themselves in their houses.”

“Doesn’t the CPO get to them first?”

“Our organization is powerful, but striking while the dirt is still fresh is not something we do. It should be clear to you by now, but we don’t do everything for free. We expect those we help to help us. Children- or babies, it’s far too early for us to actually do anything. We can’t risk large quantities of money to try and correct the plethora of issues that early stage Vigors face, so we are forced to ignore them so we can correct those issues that people like you, or your friends. At least we can see a return on our investment.”

“That’s horrible,” I gasp.

“Welcome to the Mortal Plane. It’s a dog eat dog world here.”

“It’s a dog eat dog world in-”

“The Demon Plane too. I know. It’s different here. There, Demons have the chance to fight back. Here it’s over before we can even walk. You fight back and the world finds a way to knock us down.”

“Then why protect it?”

She rolls her eyes. I can see it, even with her eyes focused on the road. “If I had a week I couldn’t explain that to you. However, even with a week, I couldn’t explain the flaws. I’ll sum it up as quickly as I can. I live here, and I want to make sure I can still live here, and maybe, maybe, with my help and the help of others, we can fix this fucked up world. Sure, it might not work out, but I’m content in giving it the best shot I can.”

“So what? Back to my original question, or the question you seemed to steal from me. Does that mean there are no people like me in the CPO?”

“There are a few. They’re rare, not non-existent. Though they won’t have clear differences like you do, some have tails or fur, others have strange ears or perhaps strange limbs. It’s typically associated with their powers and some of their powers are closely associated with animals of our world.”

I take it all in, not saying anything further than that. I watch out the front window, staring at the rapidly approaching city. Oracle doesn’t press me for more, which means she thinks I’ve done with my questions and I have.

The closer we draw to the city, the busier it seems to get on the roads. Not that it’s unexpected, but there seems to be far more cars on this large road. It isn’t long before we enter the city, the skyscrapers surrounding us, and it’s only then do we turn off the main road, heading down a long road. The skyscrapers are sparsely built here, but it seems like a busy shopping district, with people roaming the streets. Surprisingly there’s more greenery and beautifully designed buildings.

None of this measures up to the building we stop at, though. It’s a large building, yet not a skyscraper, more like a palace, much like the Academy building that Gabbie and Walter attend. There is no gate, rather it’s all open with white marble lining street side, interrupted by small squares of greenery surrounded by hedges with benches by their side. The center path is unobstructed but the path forks off in different directions, seemingly entering the building in a few locations and even going around the back of the building.

The building itself is beautiful, with steps leading up to the main entrance, with pillars lined up along a porch, holding aloft, a large, low triangular roof. There’s another floor and perhaps a third with a few carefully carved statues along the building's side with some windows looking out over the gardens, and it all ends with a second low roof, capping it all off.

Oracle pulls the car off into a parking area, blocked by a booth, with a bar hanging over the road. As we approach, the bar rises and Oracle stops the car in a parking lot. There aren’t many cars in the parking area, but there are a lot of people walking around the building. This means either this area is limited to a select group or most people walk. She pulls the key out and drops it into her pocket before unbuckling her seatbelt. “Let’s head in. We’ve got about seven of them waiting for us and as few as that is, it’s the best we’ll get for such a short time. Also, don’t forget your weapon. If the results are good, you’ll be heading right back to the CPO building.”

“This is a short time?” I ask, a little dubious. “Hasn’t it been two weeks?”

“It has, but the directors are all busy people. Most of them are the best of the best, so they’re kept incredibly busy. They squeezed this whole thing into their already busy schedule. So either most of them really want you dead, or they really want you alive. I’m hoping, for both our sakes, it’s the latter.”

I unbuckle my own seatbelt and open the door before stepping out of the car. Oracle steps out the other side, and she joins me in a moment. She has a phone in her grasp once again, it seems like the only time she doesn’t have it is while she’s driving. She leads the way onto the pathway, and then she starts walking toward the building.

She clears her throat. “So remember what I said. Make sure you set yourself up as the victim with every question. They’re veterans of the hero trade and they really want a happy ending instead of an ending they have to settle on.” I nod. She can’t see me, but then again, she might be able to see me with her power.

As we walk, I notice people watching. For some, it’s outright staring, their eyes wide, almost as if their eyes are about to roll out. Others it’s less obvious, but they make it all seem worse. I see them take a few glimpses before averting their eyes when I look at them. They’re the type of people who don’t want to be seen staring, but they also see my appearance as an abnormality, something that’s even bad to be interested in.

None of them try to talk to me, I’m thankful for that at least, nor do they obstruct us. We reach the stairs and climb up toward the marble entranceway, walking passed the large, shining pillars and through the open door. The interior seems just as grand and marvelous as the exterior, with the same marble floor repeating beneath us with a mosaic in the center depicting the CPO emblem.

It’s a large hall with stairs going up on both the left and right-hand side. There are openings that allow people to go in and out on both sides of the room before the stairs. There're railings overhead that look over this area, with a brass chandelier hanging over the mosaic. At the furthest side of the room, opposite Oracle and I is the second entryway, with a metal door barring the way forward. Oracle is heading that way and as we reach it, the door opens, allowing us into the extravagant room.

The room has green felt floor, unlike the marble floor of the other room and it has some stairs descending down to an area with a raised platform and a podium of wood. Between the stairs are wooden benches with a similar green colored pillow as the floor, each has a wooden desk with what seems to be labels placed on top of them, though I can’t see the names. They must be faced toward the center of the room.

In a few of the pews (which seems to be the best description for the seating area) are about seven people, with an eighth standing at the center, by the podium. It takes a moment for me to discover who it is, but to my delight, it’s Mattie. Oracle waves a hand. “Go, I’ll take my position amongst the others and the talk will begin.”

I look at Oracle, double checking with her, and she waves her hand again. I exhale and make my way down the stairs toward the center of the room. The end of the hall has a long, rounded wall with screens pinned against the wall. None of them are on and it seems like I’ll be the center of attention the moment I get down. I start walking down the stairs, increasing my speed with every step, though not quite running. Some of the people in the pews turn to look at me as I walk down the stairs, all of whom have serious looks on their faces.

Mattie grins at me as I approach, he looks tired, but otherwise, he doesn’t seem hurt from the battle we had against the demons. Diane might’ve healed him, or he wasn’t hurt as much as I originally thought. I reach the lowest floor, meeting him before the stage and he grabs my shoulders suddenly. “Wha-?” I gasp. Just as suddenly I’m pulled into a hug. I don’t know whether to push him away or hug him back, instead, I feel my hands dangle at my side, awkwardly doing nothing. I never quite expected it, but at the same time, I don’t dislike it. It’s a bit of contact from a living person I’ve needed for who know’s how long.

“Are you okay? How are you feeling?” He asks.

“I’m fine and- uh- I’m fine?” The last one is a question, I never really had a chance to think about what I’m feeling. Nervous, I guess. I really don’t like all the attention I’ve been getting. “What about you?”

He releases me from the hug and he brings his hand up to his face where he rubs the bridge of his nose. “Scared. I’m worried for you.”

“Let me do that, it’s my problem. Are you healthy?”

“I am, but it’s not only your problem. I need you and if something were to happen to you… I don’t know who I could talk to. Even these two weeks have been hard.”

Oracle clears her throat, and I look at her, where she is sitting at one of the pews with her phone in front of her. “I think it’s best we start. You two can catch up after all this.” Oracle turns to face the other seven. “For the sake of the recording, all present will state your name and hero name. I am Amandeep Kulo, also known as Oracle.” She pauses, and tilts her head to the left as if saying from right to left.

Next, up is a gray-haired man with a very thin build. He seems built for being inside, but he has a fair few scars on his face, suggesting he’s seen combat. He’s wearing a tank top, seemingly not going through the effort of dressing up. “Frank Quinn,” he mutters. “Split.”

The next is a woman with curly, graying golden hair. She fat, and is wearing a gaudy, pink dress. “Wilma Wheeler, Banshee,” she announces. Her voice is loud and seems to echo around the room.

“Adam Rivera, Mover,” the fourth guy says. He’s the complete opposite of Frank, he’s a big guy with dark skin and a tattoo that I can see on his neck. His hair is shaved and he’s wearing a black suit with a blue, striped tie.

The fifth of them is a very familiar face. Director Tagert himself. He looks at me and he frowns, I’m unsure whether this is a good thing or a bad thing. “Hunter Tagert. Mirror Knight.”

The sixth guy looks like one of those police officers I saw a while back at the mall. He’s a massive guy with a military-style haircut and what seems to be claw marks along the right side of his face. He’s a strong-looking guy with perfect white teeth. “Lionel Burke. Name’s Stunner.”

I nearly gasp aloud, I never went through the effort of noting the people here besides Mattie, but the seventh guy is different. He’s one of those Vigors Oracle mentioned, one with a physical defect. He has green skin and balding hair. It’s almost like his body is stained with chlorophyll. He still wears a suit, but it clashes with his skin. “Mark Griffin. Also known as Seed.”

A woman stands nearby, towering over all the rest, with a dress suit. She has long brown hair and she seems like the youngest one amongst those standing in the pews. “Sara Phillips, Giantess.”

Then they all turn to look at Mattie and I. “Matthew Michaels. Also, Janus.” He then looks at me, transitioning to a whisper. “You too.”

For a moment I hesitate, not sure if I want to talk. I close my eyes for a second, taking in a long breath before steeling myself and talking. “Elmira, Demon Lord.”

“Is that your hero name?” Giantess queries, leaning against her pew, causing it to creak loudly.

“She doesn’t have one, that’s her race- or at least her role,” Tagert answers for me.

“Right. Let’s get it all done, I don’t plan on staying for too long. I imagine we all have a lot of work to do and this isn’t even the biggest of my problems,” Mover grumbles. “I’ve got a dangerous high ranking Vigor running around and I’d prefer to find them before they start tearing down cities.”

“‘Cept this is an apocalypse level threat,” Seed points out. “At least that’s what Oracle said, and I’d prefer to trust her when it comes to the future.”

“What, she is, or the results of our decision is?” Banshee asks.

“The result. Though I’m well aware everyone will question which side I’ll take, so I’ll leave that for the vote,” Oracle says. “So, if anyone has questions to ask before we move onto the vote, you should ask them now.”

Stunner clears his throat. “Indeed, I have more than a few. I’ve looked into this… Situation before I came here and I find it very questionable that a danger was allowed to roam free and risk all our lives. She’s a danger to our lives and the lives of many others- others who can’t defend themselves like we can.”

“There haven’t been many deaths as a result of her coming here,” Tagert responds, surprising me by coming to my defense.

“Ah, but you were the one to receive her and a lot of the damages are on your head, Mirror Knight,” Giantess points out. “I am currently neutral on the subject, but I want to know just as much as Stunner wishes to know. Continue, if you please, Stunner.”

“I’m talking to our resident Demon Lord now, please do not answer for her.” Stunner looks at me, glaring at me in such a way that it seems like he thinks he can cause me to melt through a glare alone. It does make me feel uncomfortable in the end. “Early in January, you appeared in a mall not far from the CPO building. You arrived, with your army of demons-

“That’s hardly an army,” I interrupt. “It’s more like a throng. A few patrol groups is all.”

“Irrelevant. It was still the biggest invasion we’ve seen in awhile. Anyway, you arrived with your throng of Demons in tow and fled the scene, allowing the Demons to attack innocence. What do you have to say for yourself?”

I look down at the ground, Oracle prepared me and I should be ready, but I feel wrong, I feel like I’m just going to heartlessly change the subject and forget about everything. I don’t care about Humans, but there are people who I know who have forced me to rethink my stance on them. At least now I would never want to let them die as a result of my errors. “I knew they were coming to chase after me. That they would try to recapture me. At the time, I hadn’t thought about anything other than escaping. I was scared and I just wanted to find a place I’d be safe. I wasn’t just scared of the Demons, though- I was scared of everything.”

“Fear shouldn’t dictate your actions.”

“And it doesn’t yours?” I accuse. “Isn’t that what this is all about? Fear? You’re scared that me being here will result in you dying, that your women and children will be raped and killed after you-”

“That’s enough,” Stunner interjects. “No need to get into detail-”

“I think you need more details,” I interrupt him. It seems like we’re just interrupting each other at this point, but I can feel anger bubbling in my stomach. “Because it sounds very familiar to my situation. Me remaining in the Demon Planes would result in my inevitable rape. And this would be more times than anyone would dare to count. Believe it or not, even Demons can go insane.”

“No-one ever said you can’t, many of us are still unaware of what Demons are like and we are forming our ideas of them right now,” Seed points out. “We’re just trying to understand your intentions and decide whether your choices were the right ones and whether we should help you.”

Giantess clears her throat. “And let’s be clear, I sympathize with your plight, I really do, but I hardly think your rape is equal to the death of billions of Humans.”

“I didn’t say that,” I groan. “I never even began to suggest that.”

“However, you insinuated,” Stunner says, waving his hand through the air.

“She insinuated nothing,” Oracle grumbles. “Stop acting like the shining light, Stunner. We all know you aren’t. You’re probably the one amongst us who is most likely to sacrifice others for self-gain.”

“How dare-”

“Oh, please!” Banshee laughs. “Oracle is right. As usual. You might be strong Stunner, but you aren’t exactly the shining beacon of self-sacrifice. Only those who are deserve to speak in such a way.”

“Are you seriously thinking about supporting her?”

“I might, but I don’t think you should be the one questioning her when she ran. Elmira-” She stops as if thinking for a moment. “Could you have fought back against those Demons? Was there a chance you could have won?”

“Not a chance. I could have beaten one, and- I did-”

Tagert clears his throat. “Actually, I’ve got something. A man came forward during the attack. He spoke about hitting a hooded woman with his car, then chased her down on foot before being attacked by a Demon. The woman he hit then killed the Demon and protected him.”

“That could be made up,” Mover points out. “Though there’s still a chance.”

“It isn’t,” Oracle sighs. One of the screens to the left of me goes white and then it switches to a black and white picture of a room with a table in it. There’s a man at the table, fidgeting absentmindedly with his hands. Janus and Diane stand in the room, looking at the man.

“I hit a Demon with my car- At least I think I did-” The man has a familiar voice, and it takes me a moment to recognize him as the man who chased after me. I could’ve sworn he was hurt, though he could’ve been healed by Diane.

“Did this Demon… Die?” Diane queries.

“Well, no-”

“Damn, I thought vehicular homicide would be the Demons one weakness.”

“I don’t appreciate the attempts at humor,” the man grumbles. “I hit her and then chased after her-”

“Him-” Janus corrects. “There are no female Demons.”

“Sure as Hell looked female to me.”

“And I thought you didn’t appreciate Humor,” Diane laughs.

The man groans. “That was unintentional. Look, I chased after her, I didn’t know she was a Demon at the time, then I was attacked from behind by a Demon. They seemed to be in a fight with one another and then she shot him with some light.”

“Hm- You didn’t hear what they said?”

The man shakes his head. “I was disoriented from the fall, they said some things, but-” He shakes his head again. “You said I had a concussion.”

“Which means the whole memory could be some massive delusion- Janus?”

“Seems as real as they can get. It’s blurry and the voices are garbled. A lot of the memories are associated with pain and fear. He could’ve just forgotten a lot of details because he was so scared, just as much as with the concussion. Either way, he’s telling the truth.”

The screen goes white and then returns to black, ending the conversation and Oracle looks at the others. “It could’ve been fabricated by them.”

“It’s Oracle. She doesn’t lie,” Split points out. “And I’m sure she’s checked the validity of this scene. In fact I’m pretty sure she’s the one who lifted it. Janus over there likely didn’t even know he was being recorded.”

“So she saved one Human, la di dah,” Stunner ridicules. “That hardly makes everything better.”

“But it shows us that even though she didn’t think she could win against them all, she was willing to take a chance to protect someone who previously hit her with a fucking car,” Seed says.

“As I said, that doesn’t make everything better.”

“I’ve made my decisions,” Banshee sighs. “I’m done with all this stupidity. Stunner, I think it does. It definitely does. She was scared and saved a man she neither knew or likely gave a damn about and then she proceeded to- firstly, assist in apprehending a criminal and then fight in a battle where many would think to cower in a building. Something you probably would’ve done.”

Stunner grinds his teeth but says nothing. “You’ve done extensive research, Wilma,” Oracle commends. “What about the others. If you have anything to add, say it now.”

“I do,” Split announces. “Elmira. What do you think of Humans?”

“Honestly?” I ask. Split nods. “I- I don’t know. Some of them- scare me. They want to hurt me because of what I look like and some of them look at me with disgusting looks in their eyes. Others are fantastic, as if more in tune with each other than any Demon can be. They have as much capacity for evil, perhaps more than Demons do, but they have a far higher capacity for good.”

“Does that mean you’re evil?”

“Wouldn’t that depend on your opinion of me?”

“Touche. I’m done. I’ve made my decision.”

“Anyone else?” Oracle asks once more.

“Would she help us in the future?” Seed asks.

“I was helping before, though it felt more like a payment and I didn’t feel like it was worth it at times. Mostly because I felt unwelcome.”

“You are unwelcome,” Stunner growls.

“I think that depends on who you talk to,” Seed counters. “But if we welcomed you, would you help?”

“I guess- I mean I have nothing better to do.”

Seed nods. Oracle groans. “Okay, I think I’ve had enough. You’ve all come up with your decisions, so let’s hear them. Either she will be put to death, which means she’ll, of course, die, or she’ll return to the Demon Plane willingly. Or she will be monitored and she will assist us to protect from any dangers. Be it of Demon nature or Human nature. From right to left, starting with me. Monitor and assist.”

“Monitor and assist,” Split agrees.

“Monitor and assist,” Banshee follows.

“Death or exile. She’s too dangerous,” Mover grumbles. “Too much of a risk.”

Tagert comes next. I’m worried. I’ve known him for the longest, but he’s also had to deal with most of my mess, he seems as if he’s hated every moment of it. I’m worried that they might be able to scrounge together enough votes. “Monitor and assist,” he almost whispers. I feel relief wash over me. That’s four, I’m at least safe for a draw.

“Death or exile, obviously,” Stunner yells.

“I guess I’ll push it over then,” Seed announces. “Monitor and assist. I find it absolutely disgusting that there are some among us that believe that execution is the right way. That we should do exactly what Demons might do. I need all of you to take a long hard look at yourselves and rethink your place in this world. Because right now, I see there’s at least one Demon in this room, and I’m starting to have a hard time telling who it is.”

“Giantess, I know it doesn’t matter, but I’d like to know your stance on this issue.”

She looks at the ground for a moment. She clears her throat. “Originally, I was with Stunner on the matter- Now I see where Seed is coming from. In the end, I abstain, I would prefer more options, but as we’ve already chosen an option, I will support the decision.”

“Fantastic. Then we will support Elmira and she will support us. We’ve made our decision. I trust that all of you are happy with what has happened,” Oracle concludes. It seems this short meeting has ended very well for me. It does seem, though, that I will be doing a lot more than before.

Author's Notes

It's a pretty big chapter and before the chapter I spent some time organizing character profiles for every Vigor or Magic User in the story that I've introduced. Currently, with the eight directors, six of whom I introduced this chapter there are twenty-nine.

This chapter was both longer and shorter than I expected. I knew it would be in over 6k words, but at the same time I thought the trial would be longer with the Directors talking more about what Elmira has done. The way it is now flows better, so I decided to keep it like that.