The devil girl reporter crossed the yard, heading back to the classroom building Fyre had left. She said she needed some time to herself, and shortly after, D’arcy wandered off, muttering something about having a talk with someone.
That left Akuji on her own to report back to Mr Wilde about what they had, or rather had not, learned from the Archives. He was still at his desk, even though the class had long since gone home, reading through a stack of papers.
“Hey Mr Wilde…” Akuji walked in, her head hanging slightly from their lack of success. “Whatcha reading?”
“Just trying to make sense of what Professor Olaran has translated from the book we found in our missing girl’s room.” Dana put the papers down, sighing in exhaustion as he rubbed his eyes. “Most of it makes no sense to me. I can’t believe any of this stuff can be real let alone what we are afraid might be.”
“Maybe we can just wait things out and nothing bad will happen?”
“It’s not like that hasn’t worked before… how many ends of the world have we all lived through at this point? Y2K and the Mayans in 2012 were just the ones that got press… if someone isn’t saying the world is coming to an end every three to five years something is wrong.”
“And everything just ended up okay with those right?” Akuji grinned as she sat on the edge of his desk, her tail twirling anxiously in the air.
“True… but there was also nothing we could do in those cases… this one there is. Maybe those other incidents only passed because of those who could act in the moment.” Dana grinned wryly. “Unlikely I admit but it’s not a chance I want to risk everything on.”
“We didn’t find anything good out in the archives. Just dire warnings that something worse is coming right after this mess and a lot of questions.” Akuji crossed her legs as she sat on the desk, her normal revealing outfit making her look even less proper. It was then Dana finally understood school uniform regulations.
“Worse? That’s lovely news.” Dana said dryly, nothing was going to diminish his love for this place he had been brought to but sometimes the complications infringed on the joy of existing there. “I don’t suppose we got any concrete information about who is going to be causing these worse problems?”
“Family… or maybe families… secrets coming to light. I forget… Did you have any family we should worry about showing up with torches and pitchforks?”
“Well my sister Adelaide is in Paris… if I insulted her new girlfriend she might try to kill me but I doubt we are in any danger from there. I should reach out to her sometime, let her know I am okay.” He turned back to the papers, trying not to pay attention to the devil girl so close to him. “My dad couldn’t handle having a second kid and bailed after I was born… my mom couldn’t handle me being me not in a mental hospital and hasn’t talked to me in a few years… maybe she will show up and scold us all… that would be pretty bad.”
Akuji laughed softly, she was normally very serious, doing her best impersonation of a serious hard news reporter but she had a nice laugh.
“What about you? Think your family is about to descend on us and wreak bloody vengeance.”
“I haven’t talked to my parents since I left to come to school… though maybe it wouldn’t be a bad idea to reach out.” She ran her fingers through her hair, letting the horns on her head poke out even more prominently. “Plenty of brothers and sisters… doing… devil…. Stuff.”
“Devil stuff?”
“The usual… making deals, breaking deals, and generally being not nice people.” Akuji looked away, embarrassed at the actions of her family,
“You don’t think your family are nice people?”
“It’s not that… it’s just that there are certain expectations on devils… and as we live up to those expectations it can lead us into some darker actions.” She looked up at him, not wanting to meet his eyes directly. “Mr Wilde… do you think I am evil just because I am a devil?”
“That’s the classic question, isn’t it? Nature versus nurture? Can a person just be born bad?” Dana pauses in thought for a moment. “I can see how you might wonder about that at times… I have seen you making deals since I came here. Each deal benefits you more than whomever you are dealing with at the time.”
“That’s just good negotiating skills, nothing to be gleaned from that,” Akuji said, her voice small as she heard the criticism.
“True… most tales of the backhanded dealings with devils are often marked by the risk in the agreement only being on the victim. It is never even possible to win… the only possibility often only escaping through an obscure clause. I’ve seen the deals you make… you do benefit more but you also deal fairly making sure everyone gets something.”
This story has been stolen from Royal Road. If you read it on Amazon, please report it
“No… outside of fictional accountings, I don’t believe people can be born bad. Something has to set off that change… something in their childhood…. Sometimes even something heard or done in utero, but no… no one is just born evil. It might seem that way if you don’t see the trigger event but I have to have faith there is one always somewhere.”
“So you don’t think I am evil then?”
“I never said that Akuji… just that I don’t think you are evil simply because of how you were born.” Dana winked at the girl who looked at him, shocked for several long minutes before bursting into laughter.
“Thanks… I think I needed a good laugh.” Akuji slid off the desk with a smile.
“It’s very easy when you are in that strange grey area between teen and adult. You start thinking about yourself differently… reflecting on what has happened and what might yet happen.” With a push, he rolled his chair back from the desk. “It is very common to start feeling the weight of those decisions… to think how a misstep could spin things off course. You feel as though each one is world-altering.”
“If you stress and worry and panic about every little thing you will just end up tired… and that leads to more bad decisions than anything.” Dana opened his desk drawer, pulling out a sheet of stickers he had found in it when he first started. He peeled off a star one with the words ‘I’m a star!’ across it and stuck it onto Akuji’s top. “My advice is not to take yourself too seriously…and there is always one last measure you can use yourself. People who are evil rarely concern themselves if their actions are evil or not… they just do them with little to no introspection.”
“I suppose that is true enough. I just worry about what people might think when they first see me.” She stood up from the desk with a small groan. “I mean, add a pitchfork and I fit a certain image in people’s minds.”
“People who judge by looks and not getting to know you don’t really have an opinion worth knowing now, do they? Your actions are all anyone can judge by… and even then without knowing the motivations behind your actions that still is not a good metric.” He smiled sadly at her, his eyes trying to keep the conversation light despite the seriousness of the subject. “After all, kill a man during a way and you are a hero… do so at the PTA meeting and you are a monster.”
Akuji grinned back at him. “That depends on who took the last of Sheila’s cookies.” They both laughed softly at the image. “I wish we came back from our mission with more than just questions.”
“It was worth a try, where else could we find information about the first spell than in some dusty old basement full of books?”
“We were told that things we already have in motion will put it into our orbit, whatever that means. It sounds generally positive though…” The devil girl’s face became more drawn. “Our trip seemed to mess with D’arcy and Fyre in a pretty major way. I’m worried for them.”
“They are both very capable and strong women who have been through a lot. I am very sure that they will withstand this as well, more so if we are all there for them should they need it.” There was a moment of quiet in the classroom before a ringing sound came from Dana’s pocket. He pulled his phone out and looked at the display without recognizing the number. He thumbed the answer button and put his phone to his ear.
“Yes?” He answered.
“Is this the human? The teacher that is causing so much commotion on our small island?” The voice on the other end of the line hissed. Akuji looked at Dana and he shrugged not knowing who it was.
“It is. To whom am I speaking?”
“You have taken my daughter from me and I will not let this insult stand..” The menace in the voice was a pure hatred like Dana had never experienced before.
“Kasa’s father then… Mr Shadowdagger I have not taken your daughter, she is staying at the Exalted Arms hotel in hopes that some distance will allow calmer heads to prevail.” He stood up from his desk, patting Akuji on the shoulder as he moved to take the call better. “She wishes to resolve things with you as much as you do.”
“You poisoned her mind with your simplistic human sympathies. You have no idea what honor is, or what duty is. The world is not a kind place and you letting her believe it might be will just end up with her hurt.”
“Sir…” Dana tried to keep his voice calm and even, “Your daughter is nearly a grown woman, free to live her life however she sees fit. At least meet her halfway and try to mend bridges with her. You won’t regret it.”
“I will show you regret, you arrogant pissant. You invite my wrath at your own peril.” It didn’t seem like this guy was willing to really talk about what was going on. Dana was beginning to see why it was easier for Kasa to relocate rather than discuss their problems openly. “If you do not rectify the situation you have created then I will. Believe me, you do not want that.”
The line went dead in his hand, leaving the ringing voice of the angry father in his ear for several seconds after.
“What was that?” Akuji asked, already back in reported mode as she pulled out her notepad and pen with a smug smile. “I am sure everyone wants to hear all the details of what is happening with our favorite teacher.”
“It looks like our family troubles have started even earlier than we had anticipated. It seems like Kasa’s dad doesn’t appreciate her moving out. Lots of anger… lots of threats. It’s a good idea to give him some more time to cool off but I’ll have to give Kasa a heads up.”
“Do you think he is likely to act on the threats?”
“No…” Dana hoped he was right in his guess but couldn’t be sure. “Hopefully it is all bluster and posturing when being faced with a situation he can’t control. We don’t need another problem right now as we search out the components we need for the ritual.”
“Any news on the last one we need?”
“Jett has a line on the liquid sun stuff but not until the end of the week. For now, the best we can do is continue on as if we normally would, prepare for the festival, and research what we can find out about the mage behind all this mess.”
“We are still going to go ahead with the Cultural FAire? Don’t you think that might be a little risky? That many people that we don’t know wandering around the campus would be a perfect cover for any number of things.”
“It is a risk but we can’t let on that we know about the ritual.” Dana paced in the classroom. “If we let Ruska and whoever is working with her find out we are on to them it might draw more direct actions against us. Meira already got attacked once on the street as it is, we don’t need more trouble.”
“I see… so what now?” The devil looked concerned with their lack of a plan.
“For now I am going to keep training with Master Whisperwind. I feel like there’s a fight coming and I don’t want to be unprepared for it.”