“Daemons kill for all sorts of reasons, but from my experience, most kill on instinct. They kill for food, they kill for pleasure, they kill for growth, and they kill out of boredom. Many daemons are slaves to their desires. It is rare to find daemons willing to go against their instinctive nature, but not impossible.” Prometheus smiled.

“Like you two, right?” Zoey understood.

“Right.”

“So, can daemons eat things other than humans, or does it have to be humans? Wait, do they need to eat at all, or can they just run off of mahna?” Zoey asked next.

“Daemons cannot live off of mahna. They must eat just like most living creatures, but it does not have to be humans. Eating humans and magjistars is just the fastest way for a daemon to grow stronger. Growing stronger is one of the core needs for all daemons.”

“So, they could eat fast food, vegetables, and candy and be fine?” Zoey wanted to make sure.

“Correct. If a human can live off of it, a daemon can too.”

“Why don’t daemons just train if they want to get stronger?”

“Why don’t humans just exercise if it’s better for you?” Prometheus smiled.

“Oh.” Zoey realized it in an instant.

Daemons were just as lazy as humans. It's just that their laziness directed them toward eating people instead of getting fat or weaker. Their laziness actually made them stronger! Although, it did put their lives at more risk than it would a human. No one is going to kill a lazy human for being lazy, but magjistars would kill daemons for being lazy and choosing to eat humans to grow stronger. Hell, as far as Zoey knew, magjistars would kill all daemons for any reason. At least the daemons had a legitimate reason for killing people. Not that Zoey was a daemon sympathizer or something. She’s probably killed more of them than any other magjistar her age.

“Quick and easy! That’s a daemon’s motto!” Little Imp pumped his fist.

“So it isn’t impossible to get a daemon to swear off eating people...” Zoey muttered.

“As long as you can provide them enticing enough benefits to do so. It certainly isn’t.” Prometheus answered.

“Is that how you had so many daemons under your control in the joint case?” Zoey suddenly remembered the orderly military-like daemons in Prometheus’s hallway.

“Well, no.” Prometheus chuckled. “Daemons can be properly controlled through old-fashioned brute force as well. As long as you regularly show them their place, they usually won’t disobey you. Of course, you have to give them a reason to follow you other than out of fear. That’s the benefits I mentioned just a second ago.”

“Do you think there could be a world where daemons and magjistars coexist?” Zoey asked him her final question.

Prometheus didn’t answer her question immediately. He looked at her strangely before reaching into his desk and pulling out a flask. Zoey watched him take a deep drink of whatever was inside before focusing his attention on her. He rubbed the bridge in between his eyes and spoke.

“You really want to be a huge factor in changing the world as we know it, don’t you?” Prometheus’s magji shard was spiking.

“What?” Zoey just asked a simple question. What was he on about?

“My dear, only you would ask such a question in times such as these,” Prometheus informed her.

“Is there something going on?” Zoey was totally out of the loop in the magji world.

“Tensions between magjistars and daemons are only rising nowadays thanks to Poison and her group.” He shook his head in annoyance. “Because of the huge success of her idea, more and more daemons are teaming up to devour humans and magjistars. You can see how magjistars and daemons coming into contact more frequently is a bad thing when their first reaction to each other is to kill on sight, right?” Prometheus asked a rhetorical question.

“Right,” Zoey answered.

“Can you also see how this tense relationship between the two would be impossible to stop without an ocean of blood from both sides? Both sides that see the only way of stopping it is by annihilating the other side?”

“Oooh. I guess so.” Zoey was just one person. She was strong, but there wasn’t enough of her to get both sides to behave.

Maybe it was time to get started on making her magji clan. Since she had all of this power, wouldn’t it be the right thing or whatever to do what was right? Daemons didn’t need to kill people to get stronger. They were just lazy. Laziness could be beaten out of them if it came to that. Magjistars just had no idea about daemons at all. They were just ignorant. Ignorance could be fixed with knowledge. For the most part, anyway... There were some really stubborn, stupid motherfuckers out there.

“The path you are setting yourself on has a 95% chance of failure, Zoey.” Prometheus didn’t hold back.

“!” As Zoey was about to speak up, he interrupted her.

“That 95% chance includes the blood of millions of innocents and those that you do love or will love. Are you sure you want to bridge the relationship between daemons and magjistars by yourself?” He looked her in the eyes.

“I wasn’t going to do it by myself...” Zoey muttered as he shot down her grand ambitions.

“75% chance of failure if you include your allies.”

“What if I manage to convince some daemons!?” Zoey felt like she was understanding Prometheus’s magji.

“60% chance of failure.” Prometheus frowned as even he wasn’t expecting this outcome.

“Alright, alright. I won’t try to fix the relationship between the two species anytime soon.” Zoey got the hint.

She stopped because she realized that a person like her had little fun to be had in a peaceful world. Zoey already accepted that she had a lust for fighting. The more dangerous it was, the happier it made her. While trying to forcefully make both sides understand that they had to get along through force would be fun, what about after? What would a person like her do in a peaceful world? She’d have to handle all of her deep-seated issues inside head-on!

“100% chance that Zoey Winters will attempt to make daemons and magjistars coexist within thirty years.” Prometheus looked at her.

“Anytime soon! 30 years is a long time!” Zoey defended herself.

“Within 30 years...” Prometheus corrected her.

“I can’t control the future me. She’s stronger, better, and probably smarter too. How am I supposed to do anything about that?” Zoey knew she was speaking nonsense, but frankly, she was just embarrassed.

“We’re on your side, Zoey!” Little Imp exclaimed. “Magjistars not wanting to kill us for just living is good for us!” He explained.

“Please... When you do decide to start off this insane idea of yours, please get in touch with me first. I’ll set the tracks, and you just ride along them.” He half begged.

“Sounds good to me. With you supporting me, I don’t see how I could fail.” Zoey responded.

“Don’t take that as a confirmation to start sooner, either. Only when I give the green light for it will give you the best chance of succeeding.” Prometheus informed her.

“Thanks, Prometheus! Thanks, Imp!” Zoey got up from her seat now that her questions were answered.

“Ah, before you go. There’s a group of daemons causing some trouble for my clientele nearby. I’d handle it myself, but my shard tells me you’d rather do it. They’re hiding in the half-finished building across the way.” Prometheus stopped her before she could go.

“You’re right, but I'm on magji house arrest. I’m not allowed to do any magjistar stuff, or they’ll seal my magji.” Zoey explained to him.

“Ah, I remember now. It was your fight with the foreign magjistar, wasn’t it?” He asked.

“Yup.” Zoey was surprised that he saw her fight.

“Reckless thing you did, but you are... you, I suppose. Can you pass it along to one of your magjistar friends, then?”

“Yup. I don’t know when they’ll solve it, but I'll text them about it on my way home from here.” Zoey told him.

“Thank you. Don’t forget about our deal. My office is open to you at any time.” Prometheus said.

“Bye, Zoey!” Little Imp waved goodbye.

Zoey left Prometheus’s office with her chest feeling a lot less stuffy. Daemons could be taught to be better. Who knew that knowing more stuff could be better for you? Maybe she should take her studies more seriously in the future. She was about to become a freaking senior, after all. Senior year was the time to buckle down on her studies and prepare for university. Zoey planned on getting a full-ride scholarship through track and field! She could try and get a scholarship for fighting since the school did make a mixed martial arts club in her honor for being a student at their school, but Zoey didn’t want that. It was too embarrassing. A track and field scholarship was good enough.