A jarring calm enveloped me as the realization set in I'm a demon a morbid thought crossed my mind staring at my impossibly pale skin I'd never seen a dead body before but this was very much how I would imagine it maybe they weren't going to kill me maybe I was already dead the crawling sense of dread fell on me the unseen glare of death reminding me of my ever tenuous mortality my heart hammered in my chest again no I was alive I was a demon but I was alive and if I wanted to stay that way I needed to take stock of my situation they were going to judge me did they know I'm human... was human maybe this was some sort of demon rite of passage or something I thought hopefully if I pretended to be a demon could I bluff my way out. what were demons like well they weren't porcelain doll white their voices ranged from angry air hose to crackling plastic I bubbled out a gurgle nope just sounded like a baby to me crap what else fear they seemed to like a healthy appreciation for danger ok I could work with this

just as my nervous planning came to an end a group of maids in slightly less tatter uniforms then the others id seen enter the large room led by two tall figures the precession stood off to either side as the obvious leaders of the group stepped forward examining me with questioning eyes the first a demoness in what looked like a chainmail skirt with a obsidian black chest plate they clashed horribly but each seemed to complement her silvery hair and ruby skin respectively her hair tied up in a bun like some kind of demonic librarian all she was missing was- before I could finish my thought she pulled a set of reading glasses from a discreetly hidden pouch on her waist i struggled to stop a involuntary giggle a small gurgle escaping despite my best efforts cursing myself I did all I could to look intimidated by the looming woman which wasn't hard now that she was closer she was the tallest demon id seen yet almost eight feet tall and built like a gym rat roided out linebacker "what's wrong with its legs" the hell librarian sounded like a garbage disposal

I could almost hear the sound of spinning blades with each word if I had been a real baby I would have definitely craped my nonexistent diaper moving past my casual nudity I looked at my feet I couldn't see anything strange about them they just looked like normal- crap the other demons had goat legs how did I get past this. luckily I didn't have to the other person who had led the maids into the room a human and the first man id seen since arriving spoke up "They are Lady Qyress's child some... exotic traits are to be expected" the older man spoke in a quiet voice his Wirey grey hair bounced animatedly with each movement he was better dressed then the maids in long black and brown robes but still looked malnourished with red marks near there throat the telltale sign of a collar on their neck obscured by the folds of their robe "hmm that would explain the tale if not the paleness I've seen vampires with more color" the demoness muttered yep vampires are a thing noted with zero hesitation the demon began prodding and examining me more thoroughly carefully avoiding scratching me

I let out a number of surprised squeaks and short shrill cry's as they jarringly turned me every which way all while speaking into the air as a few of the maids took notes with bulky looking pencils on scrolls I was awed by the strangeness of it all "early signs of wing development they haven't broken the skin likely retractable, horns sharp claws, underdeveloped skin" she poked my hand with her claw eliciting a painful yelp "frail very underdeveloped" that didn't sound good "eyes.." she paused leaning her face close to mine "very developed likely advanced" she contemplatively tapped her chin the man speaking up "Ms.Molreth perhaps she adapted her mother's night vision" the demoness snapped her head to look at the human "Brienus your observation is noted but unnecessary" Molreth or Beth as i had decided to call her gave a cold look to Brienus yes brienus because he seemed to be trying to help me he gets to keep his weird name "Apologies head matron" he said with a slight bow hair bobbing every which way with the speed of the motion she turned back to me staring for a long moment before sighing "sign of early developed night vision" I can see in the dark cool! she turned me over again and continued examining

after what seemed like a half hour of poking and prodding, I learned more about my new form then I could have guessed apparently I had retractable shark teeth a hidden stinger in my tail and black blood witch I found out was both painful and weird for all Partys involved when a drop of blood from the poke earlier had gotten on beths hand and started acting as a slow burning acid "-uck!" Beth cursed her hand letting off a small hiss of smoke only drowned out by the grinding metallic voice of the head matron she wiped the still hissing blood on a nearby maids apron oblivious of the woman's horrified expression I felt guilty about the whole thing and especially bad for the maid who looked at the smear with pure terror luckily it only seemed to burn skin as nothing happened even after a considerable wait it didn't take beth long to turn her attention back to me "now... for my last test you little mutant" I gulped audibly she did not look happy I hope the whole second-degree burn thing didn't hurt my chances of passing beth leaned in once more "can you understand me?"

The author's tale has been misappropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon.

i looked up at the demoness was this a trick question was she trying to fool me into giving myself away as reincarnated what would they do if there testing for it maybe it's normal my mind raced I just looked at her too scared to act "A simple nod will do" the room was very quiet now everyone was very still even breinus's ever bouncing crow's nest of hair seemed to still I wasn't sure what to do so when in doubt I chose to wait and see what happens "hm nothing it seems I may have been wrong about you, how about a wave then you were squirming enough surely you can wave" she slowly waved her hand in front of me "like this just copy the movement" she continued to wave unease slowly building all the while. I couldn't risk it I would just pretend to be a baby a normal demon baby nothing to see here after what felt like a short eternity she stopped waving and turned to face the others "nothing of note" she said flatly the humans in the room let out a collective sigh of relief the matron stiffened while grumbling irritably

breinus or Brian id decided looked at beth wringing his hands in a comically nervous way "Ms. Molreth should we alert Roggal that the child awaits his decision" his frightening words were undercut by the animated hunched posture he adapted he looked almost like a cheesy actor if it weren't for the slight trimer in their hand's id have thought it was intentionally overplayed as I took in the minute detail it dawned on me just how good my vision actually was what was supposed to be an inwardly thought came out as a soft baby cry "gwahhh" surprised faces turning to me oh shit until now id only made small gurgled yelps or screech's nothing nearly as sounded out. the matron's decerning eyes were the last to fall on me as she slowly turned back to me "That's a very human voice" she said flatly Panick bubbled up in me like a teapot I started looking for a way to escape "Make a note the child's vocal cords are severally underdeveloped perhaps even bordering on a mute" what!? I could clearly speak just because I didn't sound like an angry blender didn't make me mute I groused.

after a series of frantic scribbles sounded from the maids Beth turned back to Breinus "Yes Lord Roggal shall decide the child's fate mute or not" I didn't know whether that was good or bad but i was airing on good Aeirith the demoness who brought me here had said I was supposed to meet him so this was good right? right...? breinus left with the maids only the matron staying behind turning to me after the others footsteps faded "this is your last chance to speak up if you can a simple nod will suffice" she looked at me with an intense gaze last chance what i thought I'd passed what do you mean last chance no this was a trick it had to be I remained stock still "nothing.." she looked at me expectantly before sneering and looking out into the hall it was difficult to prop myself up i could only see the vaulted ceiling just beyond the circular domed room I wanted to look for an exit but something caught my attention the sound of distant steps and the deep reverberating boom of some fare off voice I couldn't make out was the voice was saying

as the footsteps and voice got closer the paintings started to shake slightly letting off a hushed rattling the voice was close enough to hear now "-nd the mother" it rumbled with impossible depth before pausing the footsteps growing ever closer "good keep me informed" the situation reminded me more and more of a t rex movie scene only this time i was the scared kid trapped in the van I was literally to scared to move the thought of being scooped up in a giant lizards teeth played in my mind I started to hyperventilate when the paintings now violently shaking on the walls snapped me back to reality where would I go no I was going to be judged not as a human but as a demon right? I just had to be the most demonly demon I could I tried to calm myself and it was shockingly easy all I had to do was act the part how hard could being a demon baby actually be apparently very considering they thought I was a mute just as I thought the paintings would fall or maybe even the stone busts that had also started to rattle.

the first thing I saw in the doorway was a set of forward-facing horns the giant actually had to lean there head forward to avoid hitting the frame taking a sizable portion of the room the looming monstrosity stood in all its glory black eyes with Firey red glowing irises and I mean that literally flames were flicking out of their eyes and mouth they toward over Beth by several feet and had the width to match if Beth looked like a gym nut this thing looked like a world-class bodybuilder and I say a thing because they barely resembled a human or even a demon for that matter a maw of jutting teeth two sets of arms with hands big enough to wrap around a person they wore the typical metal and fabric loincloth but notably left their chest uncovered I doubted they had anything big enough to cover them luckily they were obviously male... at least I think they are.... probably. I idly wondered if this is what male demons normally looked like then I was broken out of my stunned reverence for the behemoth when they spoke in a booming voice "Time for judgment"