“Hey, Prometheus. I got a few questions for you. Do you mind if we meet up?” Zoey spoke into her phone.
Zoey stared at the comatose body of Dino on the hospital bed. She had a baseball cap and a mask on to hide her identity for the most part. The beeping of the machine signaled that his heart was still beating, but Zoey couldn’t call what she saw in front of her being alive. According to the doctor, it is unclear if Dino will ever reawaken again due to the severity of his injuries. It was good news to Zoey. She didn’t regret putting this would-be killer in this state because if it wasn’t her, he’d definitely kill someone else if he hasn’t already.
“Greetings, Zoey. I’m glad you called. I don’t mind answering some questions from you. I’ll send you a location. Come visit me there, and we can talk.” Prometheus responded.
“Alright, see you then.” Zoey sighed, remembering a time when she hated talking to people and setting up appointments.
“Farewell.” Prometheus hung up.
The Box was fucking amazing, and Zoey hated how it had both good and bad sides to it. She was addicted to the grind, and that wasn’t entirely good. If the Box was taken away from her, Zoey had no idea how that would affect her. Would she still like fighting if she couldn’t visibly see or feel herself becoming better? What about training every day when she couldn’t see her Body stat going up? How about her mahna and magji gates? Would they lock up, and she wouldn’t be able to use magji again? Without a doubt in her heart or mind, Zoey was terrified of being parted from the Box.
As Zoey made her way to the location Prometheus sent her, she thought about how everything she’s accomplished so far was thanks to the Box. Her improving social life that was previously non-existent before, a sense of purpose in life, and her fighting career. If it wasn’t for the Box, Zoey would still be the friendless awkward fucking loser that did nothing but stay on the internet at home and do schoolwork at school. She didn’t know what divine being or whatever gifted her the box, but she prayed that they only took it away when she was dead and gone for good. Not like dead for a little bit, but then got better. She was sure that had to be possible somehow in the magji world.
…
Zoey looked at the building called Monster Builders Construction Company and walked inside. It was a very clean, neat, and busy lobby filled with regular people in business suits. Zoey took a seat and waited to go up to the counter until it was her turn. In the meantime, she texted Prometheus that she was here. She was surprised to see that no one here had any mahna. As far as she knew, everyone here was a normal person.
This made Zoey wonder if Prometheus built this company up from the ground up or took it over from the owner. She wasn’t going to do anything if he did take it. It wasn’t any of her business what he did in his free time unless it involved eating humans. Zoey also wasn’t some sort of hero that stuck her nose into other people’s business. While she would still stop a daemon from eating someone in front of her even if her skills didn’t increase. Zoey wouldn’t...
‘I guess I am a sort of hero even if I'm not doing it for the right reasons...’ Zoey slowly realized one of the purposes of being a magjistar.
While waiting in the lobby, Zoey was rather ashamed it took her this long to realize she was being a superhero! She didn’t take the time to realize that she was actively saving lives and making the world a better place by killing those daemons who hunted humans and magjistars. To be fair to herself! It is hard to realize the importance of lives when the numbers on her skills go up and directly make her stronger when she’s killing daemons.
‘You’re a fucking dumbass.’ Inner Zoey helpfully shared.
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‘Listen!’ Zoey tried to think of a better excuse. ‘I can’t.’ She hung her head in defeat.
‘Does it matter if you’re saving lives or not? Sure, it’s cool and all, bitch, but it's not like any other magjistars are acting like superheroes, either. They’re just like you. More concerned with killing daemons than saving people.’ Inner Zoey added.
‘Shit. Is it a good thing or a bad thing that I'm so similar to them? Wait, don’t answer that. I don’t wanna know.’ Zoey decided ignorance was best.
“Are you Zoey Winters?” Some older girl came over to her with a notebook in hand.
“Yes, that’s me.” Zoey raised her head.
“Great, please follow me.” She took Zoey to an elevator, and they began to go up together.
She had a smile on her face, but she didn’t converse with her. Zoey was inwardly glad for that. Small talk was still something she was absolute shit at. If there was an opportunity to skip it, she was all for it. While she was a little bit curious about how this whole company ran with a daemon in charge of it all, she wasn’t curious enough to ask the employees when she was going to meet with the guy in charge right now.
“Mr. Theus is right down the hall.” She told her.
“Thank you,” Zoey said as she got out of the elevator.
“It was my pleasure.” She pushed the button, and the elevator closed.
“My pleasure...?” Zoey kind of liked that response instead of just you’re welcome.
My pleasure made it sound like she was less of a burden to the workers. You’re welcome made it sound like, yeah, you’re fucking welcome. You’re fucking welcome, you dumbfuck piece of shit consumer. My efforts were all for you and not myself. Are you really thankful? How about you don’t come in when I'm working next time? I’ll be the one saying thank you, then.
“Greetings, Zoey. Please, take a seat.” A man in a business suit gestured to the chair.
“Hey, Zoey!” A round-bellied man stood next to the good-looking guy. He greeted her with childish enthusiasm.
Whoever the man was sitting in front of her was not Prometheus. While he was just as handsome, had a voice that made her insides tingle just like Prometheus, and dressed just like he was during the Joint Case. This guy was a normal human. The same went for the fat guy but she knew these two had to be Prometheus and Little Imp.
“Magji Tools.” Prometheus made things easier on her.
“They’re great, aren’t they!? We look and feel like normal humans!” Little Imp did a twirl.
“I really can’t tell even when I’m using her mahna to sense you.” Zoey was genuinely surprised.
Mahna Manipulation was at 29. Zoey was sure she was capable of doing almost anything with her mahna as long as she had enough mahna. Her control was close to perfect. The only time she struggled to control it was when she pushed further than the 4th magji gate during Overdraft. Even as she inspected their skin to insides with her mahna, she still got nothing. Whatever magji tool he got was seriously impressive.
“She is a well-known craftsman in the magji world. Eccentric in nature, picky with who she chooses as her customers, and stubborn as a mule. But she has the talent to have such a personality. It took weeks, even with my magji shard’s help to convince her to make an order for me.” Prometheus chatted.
“What’s her name?” Zoey asked. Her knowledge of things in the magji community was still lacking.
“Junko. But most refer to her as The Magji Armory. She’s known to carry over a thousand Magji Tools on her person at all times. I think it’s because she’s helpless without all of those toys.”
“I think it's because she’s a hoarder!” Little Imp added his opinion. “You should’ve seen her workshop. Filled with stuff she calls failed products, but she nearly killed me for trying to take some! A hoarder to the bone.” He crossed his chubby arms.
“She sounds interesting...” Zoey honestly didn’t know what to say.
“Anyway, enough about that. You have some questions for us, right? Go ahead and ask.” Prometheus gently smiled.
“Right!” Zoey nearly forgot why she was even here. “Tell me about daemons.” She asked.
“About us? Anything specifically...?” Prometheus asked back.
Zoey reached for her journal in her pocket and began to flip through the pages. She wrote down the questions she wanted to ask in case she somehow forgot. Once she made it to the first page, she looked back at the politely waiting Prometheus and the eagerly waiting Little Imp. Now she was feeling a little awkward about the whole thing. Don't ask her how, either.
“Why do daemons kill?” She gave her first question.