"Alright... Kiyomi... you can do this... "

I was standing at the top of the stairway to Lorn's office. Slipping up as I was attempting to psych myself in order to face her.

Shit... this feeling isn’t new...

Staring at the door, I could feel myself overcome with nervousness. My tail was waving nervously, my throat drying up, and a cold chill as sweat began to form.

Did she scare me... that much?

I stared at the wood doors; it was on me to approach her for today's instruction. Mother left early this morning and wouldn't be back for a few days, so I was on my own.

"Okay... you can do it."

I whispered to myself as I slowly began to approach the doors. Standing in front of them, I reached for one of the brass handles before they suddenly swung inward. Surprisingly, Maria was absent; she usually accompanied the Guild mistress. Instead of Maria, Lorn stood there, holding the doors open as she stared down at me, her expression telling of the fatigue that was currently dragging her down. With a sigh, she moved to the side before speaking.

"Enter, we have a long day ahead of us."

"Thank you... "

Passing Lorn, It was as if I could feel her eyes trailing behind me. With a resounding click, Lorn closed both of the doors to her office.

"We'll be sitting on the sofa's today. I'm too tired to sit at the table."

"Yes, ma'am."

I responded curtly, b-lining for the sofa's that flanked a coffee table on either side. Stacked on it were a few mugs that were steaming and a variety of books strewn about. They looked like a mix of biology books at a glimpse, giving me some semblance of confidence in bringing up the subject of races. Taking a seat on the sofa closest to Lorn's fireplace, I attempted to feel comfortable, but the feelings of nervousness were still there. Walking over to the sofa opposite of mine, Lorn slowly took her seat, yawning as she did so. When she'd finished, she looked down to the table, grabbing one of the mugs. For a few moments, the room was silent as Lorn sipped from the mug. The silence was only broken by Lorn parting her lips from the mug and speaking.

"Kiyomi, why were you standing in the stairwell for so long?"

Lorn asked before drinking once more.

"Excuse me?"

I asked, confused at her question.

"Kiyomi, I know everything that happens here. You were standing outside my doors for roughly twenty minutes. Can you explain why?"

"... "

I remained silent, unsure of how to answer. Looking at the coffee table, I'd hoped I could get away with not answering.

"I asked you a question."

Lorn's said loudly, startling me and forcing me to answer.

"Iwasafraid!"

I subconsciously squeezed my eyes shut; I couldn't help it, as I was afraid still. It was different than usual, as this was a fear I hadn't experienced in a rather long time. From there, all I could hear was Lorn sigh before standing and walking around the table. She stopped just next to me before I felt her sit down next to me, lifting me some from the change in pressure on the cushion. Opening my eyes and peaking to the side, she was doing the same. She looked just as tired as when she opened the door, but I still felt myself fearing her.

"Kiyomi, you have no reason to fear me. If there were a reason to do so, I'd have taken care of it already. I went... overboard, and much earlier than I probably should have... That being said-"

Lorn placed a hand on my back and began rubbing.

"I'll sit next to you while we go over today's content... I remember... getting you acclimated to being around me again will help. Especially since we'll have a few days for it."

Cracking my eyes, I could see Lorn smile, not dissimilarly from how Mother would from time to time.

"So, what exactly are we learning?"

This tale has been pilfered from Royal Road. If found on Amazon, kindly file a report.

I asked, looking back to the table.

"Something you need to learn, considering our conditions... "

Lorn paused for a moment, grabbing a book that held a crest. Reading the cover, it turned out to be a book containing census information, or at least what should have been.

"This book contains a rough analysis of the races that dwell within the borders of the empire."

This seems... convenient...

Opening the book, it seemed to show a rough sketch depicting any given race, followed by a rough description, life spans, and any sub-species. Going over the index, there seemed to be a couple dozen races present, with even more subsets present. One such that caught my eye was the section for High demons, containing half a dozen species within itself.

Wait a minute... what the heck... High demon... there's... there's no normal High... demon?

Lorn had moved on; as we went, she was listing the major families, but my mind was glued to the thing that I'd been dwelling on already. Even more so, given what revealed itself the week prior.

Yeah... it's... not here? Family, Higher demon, sub-species...

"And here we have demi-"

"Hey, Miss Lorn."

I'd interrupted her as she was directing me to another section.

"Hmm? What is it?"

She'd asked, pausing her explanation.

"These right here... "

I'd pointed to the section.

"There's no "High-demon" by itself... it's all subspecies... Why is that?"

I tried asking in time before it would seem too specific at a later time.

"Ah... so-"

Lorn pointed to another section.

"Take Arachne as an example; There are two things to be knowledgeable of with branched races. The first is that there is no such thing as a 'pure blood'. The second is that all of the species look the same until they reach adolescence."

Lorn leaned back on the couch.

"If you want a real-life example, Avery and the wolf-spider Arachne at the carving counter are cousins with virtually no difference in parent species."

When I turned to look up to her, Lorn seemed to be staring at the ceiling.

"Branched species usually get a prompt from the System asking what sub-species they become somewhere upon becoming an adolescent. Then forces the confirmation on their choice sometime before adulthood or when they lose their virginity, not that you'd know what that was."

The system... from what it sounds like, it's forced.

"They don't have a choice?"

I asked, tilting my head.

"Nope, the system was designed by the God's to help direct us and keep us from 'wasting potential.' A species would stunt or die out if it weren't the case."

Lorn said, shaking her head.

I feel like a significant tidbit of information was just casually mentioned.

"I figure why your asking is you're curious about yourself, correct?"

Asking me this, Lorn reached back for her mug. Her casual style of asking the question had thrown me off to the point I'd not recognized what she'd just asked until a moment later when she'd finished another sip and smiled at me. All I felt, however, was fear, for some reason. Like I was about to be targeted.

What? How... how does she-

"Kiyomi, I know. Please don't dwell on it too hard, but I know. You're safe, so we can go over whatever it is you want to know."

Lorn continued to smile as if my visible anxiety were amusing.

"Please don't tell Mama... "

Her telling Mother was my first concern, though I was unsure why that vocalized first of all things.

"Knowing you this far, you aren't deceiving her without reason, so I won't tell her. You will need to later, however."

Lorn shook her head, picking up another mug before instructing me to drink.

"Sip this while we talk; it will keep you from freezing up."

Looking at the mixture, it seemed like hot chocolate; however, it lacked any aroma. Needing something to split my attention, so I didn't suddenly have an anxiety attack, I sipped from the mug.

"Your race was something I wanted to ask you if you knew sooner or later, since you'd never brought it up. Knowing what your mana-veins are now, it's best we do it sooner."

Lorn placed the mug down.

"Kiyomi, this first portion... before we go into sub-species... I need you to bear with me... "

Lorn brought my attention back to the book, prompting me to sip before I looked down. After taking in the chocolaty flavor, I looked down to see the book turned down to another page, depicting a demon with similarly patterned horns to my own. Above it was some general information, some of which, Lorn was actively pointing her finger to.

"I'll take that for just a moment."

Taking the mug, and placing it on the table, Lorn sighed before telling me to read the next section.

"I want you to read it slowly, okay?"

Okayyyyy...

Lorn's behavior was haphazard at best, one moment, strict, another, soft-hearted. It was difficult to follow her intent, but I did my best to follow directions; couple that with my own trembling from time to time and it would be considered a miracle I could just do so.

"High demons encapsulate a hand full of sub-species, like fae, many things about them tend to be uniform, examples are age, ability, bone structure-"

Lorn moved her finger, bringing it to another section, remaining silent. Scrolling over the section she'd underlined, I found myself confused for a moment, and I was attempting to process what I was reading.

This... is a joke... this is a joke... this has to be.

I was repeatedly reading the same set of words in my head.

'The lifespan of the entire demon family varies only by rare inconsistencies. The lifespan averages closely to that of the fae; with the common example being nearly eight... centuries...'

"Hey... Miss Lorn?"

I found myself calling out softly, leaning onto Lorn.

"Yeah?"

As she responded, I could feel the same rubbing sensation from her again.

"...please tell me this book... is wrong... "

"Sadly, it's not... we should go over the branches, that sound good?"

Lorn asked, bringing the mug back up from the table and placing it into my hands. Looking back into the cup, I could see my silhouette just barely. Drinking from the mug once more, I continued drinking until it was empty. Once there was no more of the liquid flowing, I brought down the mug and placed it onto the table with a clunk noise.

"May I have another?"

"It's on its way."

Lorn responded to my question immediately< leaning forward to grab another steaming mug.

Time to drown myself in sugar... eight-hundred years... why, God? Why me?