“The only…? Wait, before that. What do you mean by ‘physically incapable’?”
“Exactly what it says, young man. For people… well normal people, they cannot speak the name of the Pillars when they are not praying. The thought itself doesn’t even come to their mind. You on the other hand…sigh. I hope you understand why I was surprised.”
I nodded. I understood why he was surprised. What I did not understand was the magnitude of his surprise. Or at least, the magnitude of what he displayed. What he just witnessed was akin to someone spitting on the world’s rule; an apple refusing to fall to the ground after breaking off from it’s branch. Yet, he quickly composed himself, and wrote it off as just another anomaly. Why?
“Ok let’s put that aside for a bit. Continue with your question.”
“…”
Sigh… Of course we will gloss over it. Where was I? Right.
“My question was about the treatment of demons and humans by the faith. The [Goddess of Wishes]…” He flinched, almost tremoring. I waited for him to resume his calm. “…she is a demon.”
His expression was firm? Strong? He was questioning me.
“The pillars were siblings. A human orphan was taken in by a demon mother, for whatever reason she may have had. She also bore a daughter. Both the brother and sister pair grew, and ascended to become the Pillars of Creation. So—”
“Young man.”
“…”
‘Where did you hear of this?” He demanded, his voice the most solemn I had ever heard.
“…a book.”
“…”
How much do I tell him?
“I found a suitcase beneath my bed when I was searching my room for anything to recall more memories. Found the key soon enough, and opened it. Found a lot of books. History, biology, anatomy, politics, rules, lore, you get the picture. Only thing was, they were all demon kind related. I found that in the history book.”
He sipped his tea, silently contemplating my words. I feel like throwing that teapot right now. Adds unnecessary pressure.
After an amount of time that I felt was an eternity, he opened his mouth once more.
“Did you tell your parents about this?”
“Yes.”
“What did they say?”
“…I originally thought that those books were nothing more than children’s tales. Something to keep them entertained, something to scare them to sleep. My parents shot down that notion quickly, and debriefed me more about demons as a species.”
“What did they say about the demons?” I’m pretty sure I came here to ask questions and get answers, why am I the one getting interrogated?
“They described the characteristics of a demon, their appearance, the change in forms, and their mindset.”
“Mindset as in incomprehensible to the human mind?”
“Something along those lines, yes.”
This story originates from a different website. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.
“After learning all this, you ask me how the faith treats demon kind.”
“One of the gods is a demon.”
“Did I ever mention about the authenticity of that statement?”
“So she isn’t?”
“Well no, she is, but that’s not my point.”
“Eon…” He rarely used my name to address me. “In your eyes, how do you view the demons?”
“…”
How I view the demons huh? Truth be told, I don’t even know why I got so curious regarding demons in the first place.
“…I don’t know. I don’t know how to view demons. You said that they have a mindset so different from us that it is incomprehensible. Then, how are we supposed to view them? From what I have heard, I can safely say that they talk like us, they feel like us, and they have their daily needs and life.
Just like us.
Only their values and the way they operate is different. So… how do we view them?”
Following my words, a stare down ensued. Not the intense kind, but the one searching for something in the eyes. In a few moments, Elder Veritas sighed and closed his eyes, reclining into the comfort of his chair. His teacup had been drunk empty.
“Eon.” He called out, his voice restrained.
“Do you know why I asked you that question?”
“…”
“You don’t. I’ll tell you one thing. The Pillars of Creation were the last few people in this world that were benevolent with their strength. Nay, despite their strength. In our current world, anyone who has power. Anyone. ANYONE. They succumb to its allure, and fall into corruption.
How does the faith treat humans, you ask. The faith doesn’t treat anyone in any way, young man. It simply cares for the rules set by the world. It is the followers of our faith that do whatever needs to be done.
Eon, can you understand what goes through a cattle’s mind? You can’t right? They also feel, they also think, they also have a different mindset to us.”
“…”
“That was a crude example for me to use, but it got the point across. Demons simply cannot be understood. Only creatures that can be communicated with.”
My tea had finished halfway through his discourse. Thoughts churned in my mind, hoping to make sense of his words, hoping to find a way to remove my curse.
“I’ll put the final nail in the coffin for this topic.”
His words brought me back from my mental sea, my senses resuming their work.
”Demons are the most truthful creatures, and they are also the most deceitful. Trust in a demon, and it won’t be betrayed. Trust in a demon, and you won’t know how your promise will be fulfilled.”
“…”
I realized the folly with my thought process. I was different.
“We had a discussion regarding the 12 Demonic Commandments did we not? This. This, is how the population of the world has interpreted the past events. It isn’t just followed by the humans, but by the demons too. They had to devise special techniques to make sure a simple act of communication regarding mundane topics did not become a wishing well of doom. Eon, it isn’t their fault. Nor is it their conscious choice. It is their instinct, their in-built instruction from the Gods themselves. That is why they are scary. That is why they are shunned.
Humans fear the unknown. And demons, even after multiple millennia, remain a mystery to us. That is our fear.”
He said his piece, leaving me to handle all my mental mess. I came here to get answers, I got some too. But the questions far outweighed what I received.
“It will be dark soon young man. I suggest we wrap it up for today. Visit me tomorrow at 12.” He said, or rather, instructed as he stood up from his chair. His body still retained some agile youth. I stood up as well, bowing on my way out the door. Time had flown by quickly, far too quickly for my liking. It hadn't even been an hour inside, yet the day had put curtains on its play.
True to his words, I saw the sun hiding a piece behind the hills, signaling dusk. A stretch here and there, and down to the roads I went. My thoughts never left me alone in the carriage, I had many things to understand, many… dreams to weave through. Were these dreams, or memories?
I slept. Or rather, had fallen asleep on the carriage. I saw a dream, one filled with many scenes. All collectively told me about my day to day life. With my parents, with Mana. With the students, professors, with everyone I had come to interact with in this day and a half. Not much could be grasped from those dreams, nothing I saw would help me solve my problems.
But they grounded me. Gave me reason. Made “me”, me. They gave my life flavor, my existence meaning.
Simple dreams of daily life. Yet they held such value for me. So I dreamt. About everything that I could. Slowly savoring, slowly nourishing myself. For an unknown amount of time.
----------------------------------------
The rocky terrain soon gave way to pavement, fields overtaking the townscape. I saw none of this, for I swam through my own mind. A minute passed, and then some more. The final rays of the sun shone their last light. The carriage driver shook me awake, right on the cusp of night. I thanked him, payed him, and made way to my home. The second day wasn’t as eventful as the first, but it felt more…
…more normal.
More mundane, more of the usual 9-5 work hour. Something I now understood the value of. Just the second day in, and I had somewhat adapted to this world.