Unlike the orphanage, Mr. Geiller's house was surrounded by only a waist-high fence, and instead of a gate there was a small archway that had a tasteful climbing plant trained up over its top. Seen up close, the architectural style of the house was just as unidentifiable as before, however, making Jonathan feel mildly uncomfortable. There was a small, uncovered porch at the front of the house, with a path of paving stones inset into the dirt leading up to it.

He wasn't sure if it was the minor culture shock the house engendered in him or what, but when he walked through the archway, something caused him to stumble slightly. He paused and looked around, but there wasn't anything he could see that would have caused him to trip.

"Weird." He took a few steps down the mercifully gravel-less path, but before he could even reach the steps up to the porch the front door flew open, slammed against the opposite wall, and an old man lunged onto the porch with one arm held out in front of him, what looked like a fancy medallion clutched in his fist. The man had wispy white hair but was clearly quite spry for someone who looked easily north of 70.

Jonathan pulled up short in surprise just as the old man—presumably Mr. Geiller—shouted, "Don't move!" and brandished the medallion at him.

"Uh, hello," Jonathan managed. "I'm—"

The old man's eyes were like flint. "Take two steps back and tell me your name. Now!"

Okay, so this was highly concerning. Was that medallion thing some sort of weapon? Jonathan raised his open hands to try and show he wasn't a threat and took a careful couple of steps backward. "My name is Jonathan, and I'm—"

But once again Mr. Geiller didn't let him finish. "What are you? Do you intend any harm to me?"

"What am—I'm your new neighbor! And of course I don't intend to harm you! I've barely met you!"

Mr. Geiller's eyes narrowed. "Neighbor? You expect me to believe that you're human?"

"Of course I'm human! What on earth is wrong with you? Do you just wait near your front door and attack everyone who walks up your path?!"

Mr. Geiller's eyes narrowed further, and as his hand clenched around the medallion he was holding Jonathan had a sinking feeling that he was in deep, deep—

Abigail popped up out of the bushes that ran along the edge of Mr. Geiller's yard and the orphanage's fence, and screamed, "Mr. Geiller! Don't hurt Jonathan!"

Jonathan and Mr. Geiller both stumbled back a step, the medallion swinging wildly away from Jonathan who surreptitiously shuffled a little closer to the archway in hopes that he could dive out if it looked like Mr. Geiller was going to try and attack him.

"What in the five realms?!" exclaimed the old man. "Abigail? What are you doing here, child? And how do you know this 'Jonathan'?"

"I live here! And Jonathan is my d—guardian."

Jonathan ran a hand down his face. He wasn't sure why everyone he met immediately thought he was some sort of evil demon, but judging by the immediate suspicious glance Mr. Geiller shot him, Abigail definitely wasn't doing him any favors in that regard.

Mr. Geiller shifted so that both Jonathan and Abigail were within sight and swung the medallion midway between them. Jonathan noted that it still appeared to be much closer to him than to Abigail, though, which was a relief in a way.

"Explain, now. You don't live here anymore, you should have been relocated with all the other brats."

Abigail had the decency to look ashamed. "I hid when it was time for everyone to move out. And now Jonathan is living with me, so I don't need to move!"

This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.

"Right, this Jonathan character. I'm going to need more of an explanation than that." Mr. Geiller turned his glare fully on Jonathan, who tensed in place. "You don't look anything like a demon, and you seem to believe the things you're saying, but when you tripped my perimeter alarm it unequivocally identified you as a demon."

Jonathan was just so, so done with this whole stupid situation. "Ugh, what the hell?" He dropped to a sitting position, which made Mr. Geiller's hand twitch his way, and leaned back against the edge of the archway. Abigail's interruption seemed to have defused the situation, and he evidently wasn't over his exhaustion from destroying the lock. "All I wanted was to come introduce myself and instead I get outed by some paranoid oldster's magical security system?"

"So you are a demon! How are you concealing your true nature?"

Cue someone else who was unlikely to believe him. Oh, well, the fact that the old geezer was living alone in the middle of nowhere with some sort of magical alarm system meant he was unlikely to out Jonathan to the country's authorities or whatever. And if he actually could verify Jonathan was telling the truth, then this was probably the best course of action, regardless. "Abigail summoned me with a demonic summoning circle, but I'm human. I was pulled in from another reality. I was granted some demonic magical abilities, though, as a consolation prize, so maybe that's what your alarm is picking up?"

Now how would this Mr. Geiller deny—

"That is fascinating."

Oh, or maybe Mr. Geiller would just believe him. Well, that was refreshing.

The old man glanced to Abigail. "You made a contract with this creature? Good, and your contract included a no-harm clause?"

Abigail scrunched up her face. "No harm to me, but Jonathan is really nice."

Mr. Geiller eyed her for a second, before coming to a decision. "Hm. Good enough for now, given the creature believes he intends me no harm." He tucked the medallion into his pocket. "Come inside, both of you, and so help me Abigail, if you trample my begonias…"

"I'll be careful, I'll be careful!"

----------------------------------------

A few moments later, Jonathan and Abigail had been ushered into a front room of Mr. Geiller's house and seated on a mildly dusty couch. Mr. Geiller lowered himself into a much less dusty chair opposite them and surveyed the two.

"So let me get this straight," Mr. Geiller began, before Jonathan or Abigail could say a word in edgewise. "You, Abigail, hid yourself away somewhere when the orphanage shut down last week and somehow managed to cook up a functional summoning circle. Which then summoned you, Jonathan, from what you claim is another reality. Whereupon you gained demonic powers and made a demonic pact with Abigail to, what, care for her in the short term?"

"That's basically correct."

"I would be very interested in seeing this summoning circle, Abigail. Where is it?"

Abigail blushed. "Um, I accidentally scuffed it away. I had to use illustrator's chalk."

"A pity."

"I do have the grimoire I copied it from, though! I could show you that! I copied it really faithfully."

"Please bring that over soon. And Abigail, you've witnessed Jonathan perform magic from multiple realms? You're certain he's not a wisp from the Seelie Courts?"

"He's a demon! He's conjured multiple meals for me, and he destroyed the lock on the fence!"

"Hm, yes, that's at least two realms, then, neither of which is the Seelie Courts. But, I must admit, I am still doubtful about Jonathan's claim to be from a different reality. That would take a phenomenal amount of power, and while you undoubtedly have a certain level of talent for a rank beginner, Abigail, there is no way you should have been able to perform a working of that magnitude. I've never heard of even the most advanced magisters claiming to summon something from anywhere other than the five realms. So, Jonathan, explain to me how you could possibly be something other than a new variety of particularly dangerous demon."

Jonathan gulped. He could see the old man fingering the damn medallion in his pocket. He cast his mind back. The details were a little fuzzy for some reason. "When I was first summoned…something stopped time? I think I met an actual demon, and it said there was some sort of mistake and that it would take the destruction of a sun to send me home. So instead it granted me demonic powers. Sorry, the details are really fuzzy for some reason."

"Hm. Indirect exposure to the Infernal Abyss?" Mr. Geiller seemed to be talking to himself more than Abigail or Jonathan now. He raised his voice. "Abigail said you've performed magic. How does that work?"

"Uh, well, I have to think back to how I felt when I first came into contact with the Infernal Abyss, and then I get all panicky, and if Abigail's around this sort of red smoke drifts my way, and after a really nasty bit of full-body pain and exhaustion I conjure a sandwich. Or whatever; it's mostly sandwiches with her, for some reason."

"Incredible." Mr. Geiller removed his hand from his pocket and sat back with a thoughtful look on his face. "Boy, I think you might be human after all. Or something close to it, at least."

"Really? What makes you believe me now when you dismissed the idea earlier?"

Mr. Geiller huffed something that might have been a laugh. "Earlier, I didn't know that whenever you performed magic you were slowly killing yourself. Makes all the difference."

"—Excuse me, I'm what now?"