Hunter & Hunted I
– o – o – o – o – o – o – o –
Your Infernal Beginning: A Guide for Newly Reincarnated Devils
By Samuel Lucius Ash VI
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Greetings and congratulations on your transformation into a Devil!
There are many new parts to your life, from your duties as a member of your King's peerage, to the curious new aspects of Devil life, all the way down to the interesting oddities of your Fiendish form. As you step into this new chapter of your existence, as your King, I warmly welcome you to a realm of infinite possibilities and power. This booklet is designed to serve as your introductory guide through the exciting and sometimes daunting world of Devil society.
While the term "demon" often conjures images of various malevolent supernatural entities across the multiverse, as a Devil, you belong to a unique and distinguished lineage.
Your Heritage
Devils, also referred to as Fiends, are direct descendants of both Lucifer; the Great Adversary, Original Rebel, Bringer of Light, Morning Star, Fallen Seraph, Sovereign of Sin, Keeper of Knowledge and the original Satan, and Lilith; the First Woman, the Bearer of Evil, Herald of Rebellion, Consort of Darkness, Matron of the Night's Realm and Queen Mother of Hell.
This divine and infernal lineage grants every Devil not only remarkable longevity and formidable strength but also an immense potential for accruing power. Unlike the broader category of demons, generally rabble of no greater worth or potential — and rather ugly at that;varying widely in appearance and ability — Devils possess a strictly human-like appearance, reflecting their unique origin of being formed by beings made in the image of Him.
You are now part of a unique and powerful community, distinguished by its rich heritage and supernatural abilities. As a newly reincarnated Devil, there's much to learn about your present existence, the powers at your disposal, and the societal structures that will define your new life.
Here, you will find everything you need to navigate your transformation successfully:
* Understanding Your Abilities: Learn about the potent magical energies known as Demonic Power that you now command, and how to harness them effectively.
* Society and Hierarchy: Get to know the complex hierarchy that structures Devil society and where you fit into this new netherworld of yours.
* Cultural Insights: Dive into the rich cultural traditions and the ethical considerations of being a Devil, helping you to interact and thrive among your peers.
* Common Challenges: Equip yourself with knowledge about the potential challenges and vulnerabilities you might face, including how to overcome them.
This guide aims to ease your transition, providing you with a foundation of knowledge that will help you embrace your new identity with confidence.
Harnessing Demonic Power: Understanding the Paths to Strength
As a newly reincarnated Devil, or Fiend, one of your primary concerns will be understanding how to gain and grow your Demonic Power. This natural essence, which is the core of a demon's strength, can be augmented through three traditional Ways, that of the Devil, that of the Imp, and that of the Fiend.
THE DEVIL WAY: PATHWAYS OF WRATH, PRIDE, AND GLUTTONY
1. Wrath: Engaging in combat is a traditional method for Devils to enhance their power. When you defeat enemies, especially those who are strong or numerous, you can acquire a portion of their animus (outer life) or vitus (inner life), components of their soul. It's important to note that while animus can regenerate, excessive draining can be harmful, thus moderation and respect for foes remain crucial.
2. Pride: Belief in one's own power is more than just confidence; it is a means of soul-strengthening. Achieving unyielding self-assurance can significantly amplify your Demonic Power. However, true pride requires not only belief in oneself but also accomplishments that justify such belief.
3. Gluttony: Historically, consuming the essence of other beings offered a rapid increase in strength. Currently, this practice is largely abandoned to promote ethical interactions with other entities and to foster healthier relationships within the multiverse.
THE IMP WAY: THE PATH OF SLOTH
Sloth: The slow and natural increase of Demonic Power over time is considered the least effective method. Especially for those not born with substantial inherent power, relying solely on passive growth can result in minimal gains. Active engagement in other methods is recommended to truly thrive as a Devil.
THE FIEND WAY: PATHS OF GREED/ENVY AND LUST
1. Greed/Envy: Making contracts with humans is a primary function of modern Devil society. By fulfilling human desires, you can acquire portions of their soul, either in the form of animus or vitus.
2. Lust: This method involves the absorption of animus or vitus through intimate connections. Relatively effe-
"Xander!"
"Whazzat?!" Xander jumped slightly as a hand slapped his arm. His head snapped up and snapped to the side as he looked over at Willow, quickly stuffing the booklet titled "How to Be a Devil" into his back pocket, hoping she hadn't seen it. Training manual of evil? What's that? Who's Sam?
"The zebras?" she shouted again with a giggle, still pointing.
"Yeah, I know, right?" Xander flashed a lopsided grin, quickly deflecting Willow's attention from his weirdness with humor. "Are they black with white stripes, or white with black stripes? Like, make up your mind."
Willow, however, was not to be distracted. She frowned, obviously not amused by his attempt at humor, and pointed vigorously toward the zebra enclosure. "No! They're mating!"
Xander turned his gaze in the direction she pointed, his expression transforming into one of mild shock mixed with curiosity. "Oh... wow, just like the Discovery Channel," he muttered, a goofy chuckle leaving his lips as he watched the natural scene.
"I can't believe they would do that with everyone watching," Willow continued, her voice a mix of fascination and embarrassment. "It's like they don't even care that we're here."
Xander raised his eyebrows, a smirk playing on his lips. "Well, when nature calls, I guess." He glanced around, noting that a few other students were also watching, some with interest and others with embarrassed giggles.
Trying to shift the topic from zebra romance, Xander leaned closer to Willow, lowering his voice. "So, did you bring any of those oat bars your mom makes? Because watching all this zebra action is making me hungry."
Willow rolled her eyes but smiled, digging into her backpack. "You're impossible, Xander. Here," she said, handing him a homemade oat bar. "Don't ever change."
"Thanks, Will." He accepted the snack, grateful for the change in topic and the chance to recover from the surprise of their unexpected zoological lesson. As he chewed, his thoughts drifted back to the hidden booklet in his pocket. How to Be a Devil, huh? Gotta admit, still waiting for the other shoe to drop. He nodded to himself, silently in thought. Where's the virgin sacrificing? The drinking of children's blood? The eating of puppies? Like, the actual evil, it has to be somewhere, right?
…right?
He raised a single eyebrow, swallowing the snack. Seriously, if there's this many upsides to being a demon, why isn't half the world one?
"You know, I've been thinking," Willow said suddenly. Xander looked down at the girl, her gaze thoughtful as she watched the zebras now calming down and pulling away from each other. "We learn about all this stuff in school, right? Biology, math, history... But when do we ever learn about the really important things?"
Xander paused mid-bite, considering her words. After a moment, he shot her a grin, large and toothy. "Like what? How to file taxes, or all the fun parts of Sex Ed?"
"Xander!" Willow's face went red, the redhead averting her eyes as she cast her eyes to the ground. "I… I… l-letsgofindBuffy!"
– o – o – o – o – o – o – o –
"Hey! Buffy!" Xander called out, his voice echoing slightly in the open space near the elephant enclosure. He and Willow had just seen something in the zoo that definitely beat any biology class. She's gonna get a kick out of this, he thought, a grin already spreading across his face. Jogging up to her, he noticed the distracted look on her face as she rounded the corner, her eyes distant and her brow slightly furrowed. Uh oh, looks like someone's got a case of the Mondays... on a Wednesday.
Willow was practically bouncing next to him, her usual state of being whenever she had exciting news. "You missed it!" she exclaimed, her voice filled with the kind of enthusiasm that made even the mundane seem thrilling, like she had just discovered the secret to cold fusion or something.
Buffy, always a good sport, played along, her brow furrowing further in mock curiosity. "Missed what?" she asked, turning to face them fully, her hands on her hips in a classic Buffy pose.
Xander couldn't suppress his grin, the corners of his mouth twitching upwards like they had a mind of their own. "We saw the zebras mating," he announced with a dramatic flair, his hands waving in the air as if presenting a grand revelation. "Thank you, very exciting," he added, his tone dripping with sarcasm, though a part of him really found the whole thing bizarrely interesting. I mean, how often do you get to see a live nature documentary?
Willow chimed in, her description vivid. "It looked like the Heimlich. With stripes." Her smile was usually contagious, lighting up her whole face, but Xander could tell that Buffy's reaction was subdued this time, like she was only half-listening.
"And I missed it," Buffy played along, her voice laden with feigned disappointment, her bottom lip jutting out in an exaggerated pout. "Yet, somehow I'll find the courage to live on." She gave them a theatrical sigh, the back of her hand pressed to her forehead like a swooning damsel, which made Xander chuckle.
They began to meander along the zoo's pathways, the gravel crunching under their feet and the scent of popcorn and animal musk mingling in the air. As they walked, Xander felt the need to probe a little, to see what was up with Buffy's mood. "Where were you?" he asked, genuinely curious about what could have taken Buffy away from their planned meet-up. "You find a vamp in the monkey house or something?"
"I was looking at the fishes," Buffy replied, tone flat and uninterested.
"Was it cool?" Willow asked, sounding at least three times more sincere than Buffy.
Buffy seemed to consider her answer for a moment, her head tilting slightly to the side as if weighing her words. "It was fishes," the blonde said simply, her shoulders lifting in a small, bored shrug.
Picking up on her lack of enthusiasm, Xander couldn't help but comment, his brow raising slightly. "I'm feeling that you're not in the field trip spirit here," he observed, trying to keep the mood light despite sensing her subdued vibe. Come on, Buff-Buff, this is supposed to be a fun day! No slaying, no bloodsucky beasties, just good old-fashioned wholesome shenanigans of the adolescent variety.
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Buffy's response was very bleh, her eyes darting away for a moment. "Well, it…it's nothing." She shrugged again, but this time it seemed forced, like she was trying to convince herself as much as them. "Anyway, we did the same zoo trip at my old school every year. Same old, same old."
Oh no, we're not letting you off that easy, Xander thought, determined to get to the bottom of Buffy's funk. "Buffy, this is not just about looking at a bunch of animals," he pointed out, his voice playful. "This is about not being in class."
That got a smile from Buffy, small but genuine, like a ray of sunshine peeking through the clouds. Xander felt a hint of pride for managing to lift her spirits, even if just a little. Score one for the Xan-Man!
"You know, you're right," Buffy admitted, her shoulders relaxing slightly as she looked around again. "Suddenly the animals look shiny and new."
"Gotta have perspect-wait, what's going on there?" Xander's tone and attention shifted as the three of them slowed down slightly, his eyes focused on another student entering the closed off entrance to the hyena exhibit, said entrance absolutely covered with multiple warning signs, caution tape and flashing orange lights.
"Was that Lance?" Willow asked, eyes slightly wide as the boy disappeared down the path, followed by several others quickly dipping in after him.
Xander frowned. Lance Lincoln was a shy kid who was a regular target for Sunnydale High bully wannabes. Honestly, he had been one since middle school. for the fact that he always gave in to said bullies, making him an easy target in their eyes.
"Yeah," Buffy frowned as well. "And he was with Kyle's group, those idiots."
Xander's scowl deepened. There was something very wrong about this picture, and it was as obvious as Lance's bright red sweater — he would never be part of that crowd. Xander knew Lance was no more likely to hang with Kyle and those guys than Willow was. Or himself, even. Like, not at all.
"What are Kyle and his buds doing with Lance?" Willow asked.
To Xander, the answer was clear. "Playing with him, as the cat plays with the mouse."
"What is it with those guys?" Buffy asked. They stopped at the tape, looking down the path. Lance and the others were gone from sight. "They tried to get in my face right before you guys showed up."
"They're obnoxious," Willow said, crossing her arms over her chest as the three of them walked closer to the hyena exhibit. "Professionally."
"Every school has 'em," Xander explained, his voice carrying a casual, almost dismissive tone as he shrugged his shoulders. "You start a school, you get desks, some blackboards, and some mean kids." He counted off each item on his fingers, as if it were a universal checklist for educational institutions. "It's like a package deal, you know? Can't have one without the others."
Buffy started toward the tape, her eyebrows furrowed. "Yeah, well, I better extract Lance before —" Her words were cut short as Xander raised a hand, stopping her in her tracks.
But Xander raised a hand before she could actually enter, stopping her in her tracks. "I'll handle it, Buffster" he offered. "This job doesn't require actual slaying." I hope. He ducked under the tape and headed for the hyenas, fully aware that the two girls behind him were watching him go.
Quickly walking down the tunnel towards the hyena exhibits, Xander's nose wrinkled as a pungent odor assaulted his senses. It was like rotten, fetid meat — many days, if not weeks old — and it made him want to gag. What the hell are they feeding these things? he wondered, his stomach churning at the thought. Roadkill surprise?
As he approached the exhibit, he arrived just in time to see Lance being held in front of the bars to the hyena cage, his face mere inches from the snarling beast within. The hyena stood in the middle of the pen, its dark muzzle pulled back to reveal large, pointed teeth that gleamed in the dim light. It growled menacingly, the sound sending a shiver down Xander's spine.
"Hey!" A familiar voice yelled out, fear and anxiety clear in its tone. Xander's head snapped towards the sound, his eyes widening as he spotted Lance struggling against the grip of his tormentors.
Xander's grimace shifted from disgust to anger as he saw a hand on the back of Lance's head — from who exactly, he wasn't sure — pushing the boy's face even closer to the cage as the group of bullies laughed, their voices echoing off the concrete walls.
"Ow!" Lance whined, his voice high-pitched and panicked as he struggled to step away from the growling hyena. "Stop it! That's not funny!" He squirmed in their grasp, his feet scrambling for purchase on the smooth floor.
Xander heard that last part, and had to agree — despite the raucous laughter coming from the Kyle Brigade, none of it sounded terribly humorous. In fact, it sounded downright cruel. "He said, stop it!" he shouted, his voice booming in the enclosed space as he leapt up the stairs and into the thick of it.
With a strength he barely held back to avoid doing damage, Xander yanked the bullies' arms away from Lance, his fingers digging into their flesh. He shoved Lance out of their reach, sending the boy stumbling in the direction of the stairs. "Go on, get out of here," he urged, his eyes never leaving the group of teenagers in front of him.
As Lance stepped a good distance away, cowering by the stairs, Xander found himself eyeball to eyeball with Kyle, the ringleader of the little gang. "Why don't you pick on someone your own species?" he growled, his voice low and dangerous.
The other dark-haired teen glared back, not giving an inch. "What, are you gonna get in my face?" he sneered, his lip curling in a mocking smile.
Xander scoffed, his own lips twisting into a sneer. "Where does it look like I am right now, genius?" he retorted, his voice dripping with sarcasm. "I'm so close I can smell your breath, and let me tell you, it ain't minty fresh."
The hyena interrupted the stare-down with another long, low growl. It raised its head into the light again, its eyes glinting with an almost unnatural intelligence. Xander found his attention drawn to the animal in a way he couldn't properly put into words. The thing was not lovely at all, its fur matted and its teeth bared, but its eyes held a mesmerizing quality, and the five of them — Xander included — found themselves staring into those eyes, unable to look away.
– o – o – o – o – o – o – o –
Ax Xander walked away from the bullies, after staring off into space for who knows how long, the teenager stumbled back to his friends with a sheen of sweat on his forehead, seemingly out of sync with his own body as he moved.
The other four — Kyle, Rhonda, Tor, and Heidi — simply stood there for a few minutes more, staring back at the hyena until it finally scampered off back into its den to rest, the beast seemingly tired for whatever reason.
Hours later, they strolled the zoo grounds, the school buses long gone. They had hidden, obviously, watching with barely-repressed laughter as the teachers frantically searched for them, Principal Flutie among them.
Nearly a quarter of an hour of punching each other on the arms and biting back raucous laughter. Finally, Mr. Flutie had given the order to go ahead without them — Another black mark on our permanent records, Kyle thought. How would we ever survive?
They'd get home somehow. It wasn't that far. Nothing to sweat.
But — and this went unspoken among them — none of them wanted to leave. Something about the place — the sound of hooves scrabbling on dirt, the ruffling of feathers, the sharp smells of feed and fur and filth — drew them.
Kept them here.
They felt strangely at home.
They wandered the paths, laughing at the locals looking into the enclosures, and the tourists in town from Ohio or Omaha or some other pointless flyover spot, getting their first glimpse at a real California zoo. An hour or so after the buses had finally gone, they came across a young couple, arm in arm on a bridge, watching ring-tailed lemurs scamper around an island enclosure.
The couple looked to be in their late twenties, maybe early thirties. Middle class. He was tall and clean cut, dark and handsome, the classic type. She was smaller, and cute, in that red-haired, freckled way.
Young marrieds, intent on starting a family, maybe.
Yuppies. Conventional.
Kyle hated them on sight.
He started to say something to the others, but his gaze met Rhonda's and he knew he didn't have to. We're all on the same page, he realized. In sync.
The couple faced the cage, their backs to the path. Kyle stepped up to the safety railing, next to the redhead.
"Like those monkeys?" he asked her.
"I don't think they're monkeys," she started to say. The man, the husband, just glared at him.
Heidi approached the man, put her hand on his arm as if he were an old friend. A very good friend.
"I think they're funny," she said. "Do you think they can smell us from here?"
"Across the water?" the man asked. "I wouldn't think so." He tugged his arm away, but Heidi persisted, holding tight with a sort of strength the man clearly found surprising by the look on his face..
"You don't mind, do you," she asked the wife. "Donald and I go way back."
"My name's not Donald," he insisted.
"It's not," his wife said, backing him. "It's Henry."
Heidi laughed, cruel and almost manic but she held it back somewhat. "I thought you were going to stop using Henry," she said, cooing at the grown man. "Don't tell me you told her you were a programmer, too."
Henry's face was clouding over quickly, anger warring with his sense of impropriety at the idea of a teenage girl speaking to him like this. "Listen," he grumbled. "I don't know what you're trying to pull here — "
"Oh, very good," Rhonda said. "I'd almost believe it if I didn't know you."
"Henry, you don't know these people, do you?" the redhead asked, sounding sad, almost pathetic, even.
"Of course not!" Henry barely kept his voice level, looking between his wife and the teenagers surrounding them. "They're children."
"You're hurting my feelings, Donald," Heidi whimpered. She put her hands on his chest, the man quickly doing his best to brush them away.
"Be nice, Donald," Tor said. He swelled out his chest and arms, trying to look threatening. "Is that any way to treat old friends?"
The woman's head swiveled like a spectator at a tennis match. Tears started to run down her cheeks.
"I've never seen these people before in my life," Henry fully thundered, flicking back between Tor and his wife. "Now get away from us or I'm calling security!"
"Ooooh," Kyle said in mock terror. "Not that!"
"I mean it." Henry pulled a cell phone from his pants pocket and started to punch in numbers.
"I said, not that!" Kyle slapped Henry's hand from beneath and the tiny phone went flipping end over end, landing with a small splash in the water beneath the bridge.
Henry's face turned bright red. "Do you have any idea how much —"
Kyle cut him off. "Can it, Donald. We're tired of you. You want to lie to this nice lady, pretend you don't know us, that's fine. We don't know you either. Come on, guys."
He started off the bridge, clomping loudly on the wood as he went. He didn't look back, but heard the others following him. Behind them, he could hear Henry and his wife talking, arguing, their marriage likely going through something it might never recover from.
A match made in heaven. A blowhard and an airhead, both full of wind.
Kyle started to laugh.
Heidi joined in.
Within seconds, they were all laughing so hard they could barely stand. They flopped down on a swatch of grass, rolling with laughter. Loud, high-pitched squeals of laughter, the kind that was so funny that when one of them stopped, the sound of it got him or her going again.
They were still laughing an hour later, when the zoo closed.