He’s an Arcanist, I’m sure of this, otherwise, he wouldn’t share so many features with two demon races. So why is he here? Why would someone as high profile as an Arcanist be searching for weeks to track me down? I glare at the Arcanist who watches me with solid purple eyes. He glares at me with intense lust, a desire that many other demons might share with him. I grab Mattie’s shoulder and I pull him back.

I am aware of the situation. I don’t feel fear this time, nor do I feel confident. There are actions that I need to take and having Mattie take a blow from an Arcanist is incredibly unwise. Instead, Mattie needs to flee and call others, while I delay the Arcanist for as long as possible. I nod my head and exhale, a renewed courage bordering on recklessness burning in my body. “Contact Gates and the others. If you stay here, you’ll just die,” I whisper.

Mattie exchanges a glance between both me and the Arcanist, his lip quivers and his eyes dart from side to side. I know he’s caught between two choices and he needs that extra push. “El-”

“Just go. I can deal with him for a little while. Probably longer than even I give myself credit for.”

The Arcanist steps forward and I pull Mattie back, throwing him behind me with a forceful push, he’s thrown back landing on the grass behind me. He clambers up and starts to flee. The Arcanist’s form breaks up into a gas and he disappears into a shadow.

I invoke the septagram and wings tear through my jacket and I feel my horns grow longer. I rush forward in a burst of white light. Right now, as a result of know Lucifer’s magic, once I’ve invoked the power of my Septagram, I can move incredibly fast, fast enough to meet the Arcanist when he reforms in front of Mattie. I crash into him and he’s thrown off his feet where he crashes into a bench.

Mattie yelps, taking a quick left turn trying to flee the assault. The Arcanist gets up, completely unharmed, but there’s a look of confusion bristling in his eyes. “You seem to have misunderstood as to why I am here,” he grumbles. The box in his grasp is in pieces, he flings it forward where it lands in front of me where it breaks apart revealing a large, metal, spiked gauntlet.

I raise my head to look at the Arcanist. “Why do you have this?” I hiss. “Who gave it to you?”

“I stole it. Your brother and my Master, Lucifer, instructed me to retrieve it for you during your escape. Both you and Lucifer bought me time and I spent the rest of the time trying to track you down to present it to you.”

I kick it with the tip of my shoe, causing it to clatter across the ground. It looks the same as my weapon. The copper color with harsh spikes at the knuckles and long, slender claws. I bend over to retrieve it, feeling the warm metal beneath my hands. It feels right, it looks right, but I don’t like this situation. It seems like bait as if he’s extending the weapon to earn my trust, only to stab me in the back. There’s just more to this whole story than I’m clearly seeing.

First, if Valor, my weapon had remained in the hands of my Father, he would have likely found at least an approximate area of where I was hiding, being that a portion of my power is channeled into Valor. Secondly, there is no logical reason for an Arcanist to hand me Valor. While I’m unsure about whether I can fight him right now, with Valor, I am stronger.

I pull the gauntlet onto my arm and the metal contracts to fit. I feel a burst of new energy, my muscles bulge as the power from the gauntlet connects with me. It’s the real thing, that’s for sure. But I maintain the question. “You stole it? From my Father’s castle? I remain skeptical.”

“That’s completely understandable, but I still maintain my argument. I stole it from your Father while he was focused on commanding hordes of demons to recapture you. And before you ask the question-” He stops talking and he bends down retrieving a thin, purple cloth. “This is how I was able to pick it up,” he flicks it to me where it lands at my feet.

I extend the gauntlet, picking it up between two spikes. I raise it up to my face and run my left hand over the fabric. “Silk-” An extreme rarity in the Demon Plane. Something that can only be retrieved from the Mortal Plane. It’s the only item that can pick up a Demon Lord’s weapons. If the Arcanist had touched the metal while retrieving it, the power within would have pierced his core, his well, his cup, the place where he keeps his power. It would have been a very painful death. “This is a closely guarded secret.”

“A secret which your brother bequeathed upon me. There’s more, you might not know me, but I know you very well.”

“I’ve never seen you before, nor can you prove these things.”

“I might not be able to prove these things, but that doesn’t change the fact that you’re having trouble not being able to trust me. The fact that I handed you your weapon was more than enough to ensure your confusion. The one who told me to get the weapon and to use silk to retrieve it was your brother, Lucifer. Had he not mentioned you, I would have refused-”

“So-” I interject. “You’re just greedy. Your desire is to have me all to yourself instead of sharing me with anyone else. That won’t happen.”

His eyes close and he exhales, his shoulders slumping. “Jumping to conclusions. No, Lady Elmira, my name is Sebastian. I am the Arcanist who retrieved you from the Mortal Plane when you were nothing but a babe. Just like any other Demon Lord retrieving Arcanist I am dedicated to your protection and preservation.” He drops to his knee, bowing his head before me. “I am here to serve, albeit, a few decades earlier than I’m meant to, but I’m here to serve you, Lady Elmira.”

There’s a loud bang and a golden gate bursts open by Sebastian’s side and Hercules rushes out of the portal. He, without thinking, swings his massive fist toward Sebastian, I intercept the fist, raising the gauntlet to meet his enclosed fist. There’s a loud bang and I feel the weight and strength of Hercules behind that fist. My feet grind up the grass beneath me and I snap my wings open, slowing my slide.

Hercules steps back, pulling his hand away. His eyes are wide in shock, for just a moment, and he strikes out again with his right fist. I meet his hand with my own fist. There’s a loud explosion as the fists meet and Hercules pulls his fist back. I can see marks on his fist and his brows are meeting in concentration. “Hercules, stop!” I yell. He swings his left fist, aiming for my ribs. I lean to the right and his fist swings wide, speeding past my shoulder without touching me. “Enough!” I roar.

My form shines with white light, a burst of Lucifer’s power and Hercules recoils, pulling his hands over his eyes. He collapses to the ground with a thud. I pull myself between Sebastian and the portal and it isn’t long before Gates steps out. She looks furious, she raises a hand and I snap my hand around her hand. “What are you doing?” She hisses.

“I’m doing what I believe is right. Stop attacking and I won’t fight back,” I retort. She glares at me, then she wrenches her arm from my grasp. I pull my gauntleted hand back, I flex my hand, feeling my tendons ache from the small fight against Hercules. Fighting him feels like I’m fighting a sentient building.

“So, now you’ve chosen to rejoin the demons?”

“No! I can’t have you killing this one!”

“So you’d prefer to fight us instead of letting us take him down? We’re protecting you and you’re just spitting in our faces!”

“No!” I yell, my voice breaks, ending up making it sound like I’m roaring at them. “No-” I say again. “Sebastian is here to help me. He’s joint with me. Just like any of the other Demon Lord’s have an Arcanist that is joint with them, Sebastian is joint with me.”

There’s a long silence and I move slowly, blocking the way between Gates and Hercules and Sebastian. Hercules is cursing, rubbing his eyes and I turn my head slightly to look at Sebastian. He has his head slightly raised, with his lips kept firmly pressed together, the creases of his brow show that he’s taking the situation incredibly seriously.

Mattie returns, panting with his phone clutched in his hand, he’s panting hard and once he sees us locked in an intense standoff, he pauses, his eyes widening. For a few moments, he moves his head from side to side, presumably reading both Hercules’ and Gates’ collective minds. His mouth drops open. “What exactly is going on, Elmira?”

Sebastian shoots up and I can see a look of anger affixed to his face. I place a hand on his shoulder and he slumps down. I struggle to come up with the words that would best explain Sebastian’s role in my life. If what he says is true, which after he has handed me Valor and explained everything, is highly likely, then I need to relay the information. “Sebastian- he’s important to me-” I struggle.

“You just met him! How can he be important to you? And what’s more, didn’t he try cut me off? Try to-” He stops, his voice trailing off. It seems like everything is about to just dissolve into chaos, I need the closest comparison that I have to what a retrieving demon is.

“What’s- Uh- is there anyone that helps take care of a baby when they are born here? Not the Mother the-”

“Wha-?” It seems I’ve caught Mattie in this web of confusion now. “Midwife- no- more like a babysitter?” I snap my fingers and point at him. “A babysitter? I don’t know, any baby handed to that guy would cry.”

“But he’s kind of like that. Except for demons- Well, Demon Lords, it’s kind of more than a weak title like that. All Arcanists tasked with the retrieval of a Demon Lord will in the future be tasked with their personal duties, sort of like a butler.”

“And their protection,” Sebastian adds.

“That too. Um- I don’t think he can betray me. I’m not even sure it’s physically possible.” Actually, I don’t know that for sure, but I’m risking a lot by saying these things. Sebastian could, in the future, just backstab me, but on the off chance he doesn’t I’ve gained a very important assistant. Seems like a risk I should take, simply because I don’t think I can take on an Arcanist enemy right now.

Mattie exchanges a glance with Gates, while Hercules stares at me, seemingly finally having regained his sight after I blinded him. Mattie exhales and he half shrugs, apparently responding to something he read from Gates. Gates grinds her teeth and Hercules rubs his knuckles. For a moment, Gates ruminates in silence, then she finally speaks up. “I don’t care, do as you wish.”

My eyes widen and I look at her with perhaps a hint of skepticism. I figured, out of everyone she would be the most against this. Mostly due to the fact she holds the most knowledge of Demons and she would also have the most distrust. She also doesn’t seem like she’d allow anyone to do anything without first asking her. Which I guess happened anyway.

“We can’t exactly take him back to the CPO and even if we did- the risks involved,” Hercules grunts. “I went out of my way to accept Elmira, she’s young, she doesn’t seem like she’d harm a fly… At least until now, but this guy, he has a different aura.”

“It doesn’t matter,” Gates grunts.

“I don’t like it.”

“And I don’t care,” Gates raises her voice, glaring at Hercules. She glares at him, grimacing as if forcing him back with a look alone. It’s her way of saying that if he doesn’t stop talking about the subject, then things will escalate. It seems completely bizarre seeing a woman like Gates, glare at Hercules, a man nearly twice her size. To shout at him as if he’s nothing more than a small child.

Hercules clenches his fists and a vein pops out from his forehead, and it seems he’s very ready to continue the verbal disagreement, or perhaps worse, but Mattie interjects. “Hold on. Calm down for a second,” he says, raising his hands. He runs out between them and he exhales. I smirk, it seems that their team completely hinges upon the existence of a mind reader, that meaning that now, the team is in disarray, without him, the team wouldn’t even be able to function.

I cast my eyes back to Sebastian to see what he’s doing he doesn’t look amused, nor interested, just taking it all in with no reaction. I’m not sure if this is all normal to him, or whether he is just naturally unemotional in a situation like this.

Mattie seems to have taken the edge off the situation, though they seem almost ready to go at each other, only having sheathed their claws because there’s someone in their way. Mattie exhales. “Hercules. I understand your anger, I promise you, I do, but coming to blows with Gates will not make everything better. You’re letting your anger get the best of you.” He turns to Gates. “Meanwhile, Gates, why must you pointlessly provoke everyone? I understand Hercules, but I just can’t understand your desire to be the intellectual better of everyone, to make them want to beat you in a battle.”

“It’s much like dominating a demon. If I beat Hercules here, then he’ll be less likely to challenge my authority in the future.”

“We’re not demons- well- half of us aren’t but that’s beside the-”

“Miss-” Sebastian speaks up, interrupting Mattie. “You lack a fundamental understanding of demons. Do you think that’s the way to make a demon not challenge you? Nay, that influences a demon to keep fighting, it renews their desire to break the shackles you create around them. Our hatred for Humans is already more than enough to fuel that desire, but you are just throwing fuel on the flames. The better solution is to make them want to be shackled, to cause them to love or to feel the warmth of friendship. To dislike the idea of fighting back for fear of hurting another.”

“I’m a warlock-” she growls, turning to Sebastian. Mattie steps back, holding his hands up, he respectfully bows out with a small grin forming on his face. It seems he’s more than happy to leave the defusing the Sebastian.

“Oh!” Sebastian gasps. “My respect, oh, great warlock!” For a moment, I don’t realize it, but there’s heavy sarcasm coated in his voice. “Would you like me to lick your boots, or perhaps to protect you from the sun?” Gates’ face comes clouded in confusion. “Are you a fool? Are you seriously that reliant on such a cheap title? Your power comes from the residual energy of a Demon Lord! You can’t even make an Arcanist like myself or even Lady Elmira at the stage she is at right now listen to your commands. Even Masters would have an easy time fighting back.”

“Residual energy?” I whisper.

“I’ll tell you later, Lady Elmira,” he grins. “Now. Miss-” he wiggles his hands as if trying to recollect a name, even though it’s been said many times before. “Gates!” He says, snapping his fingers. “Miss Gates. While I love the fact you’re causing strife between Humans, I don’t exactly like that you’re so ignorant.”

Gates looks like she’s been slapped. She doesn’t look outrages either, just beaten and as much as I would have liked to see her like this before, it kind of feels bad to see it now. She’s crushed, I don’t know where any of her understanding of demons have come from in the past, but they’re clunky at best and have likely been the result of a demon’s lies.

“Sadly, she’s not completely wrong-” Sebastian exhales. “Though it’s unwise to keep following such pretentious ideals. They would work if it were a simple demon, but not for long. It’s the contract ideals.”

“The contract ideals?”

“Eh- It’s a set of ideals that Humans put into place a while ago. I’ve been told it’s become quite popular here and that many occult organizations attempt to use them to ‘contract’ us. It’s the laying of commands in an attempt to shackle us at each potential escape location. It’s essentially slavery, except with shackles made of plywood.”

“Warlocks can do it?”

“Yes, it’s limited to only warlocks. Maybe Gates here has used the methods before, but I guess she should count herself lucky that she didn’t decide to keep a demon around her.”

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Hercules scratches his chin for a few moments as if thinking about something. Mattie looks at him and then he turns to me with a small grin on his face. It seems that Hercules has had an idea. “My main problem isn’t so much a problem anymore. I mean, I’m not sure we can trust him, but I’m pretty sure we can pass him off as a contracted demon.”

“Tagert would be none the wiser. He’s a complete idiot,” Gates whispers. She’s quieter, she says something but she doesn’t sound like she usually does.

“Not a complete idiot, but when it comes to demons, he’ll believe whatever Gates and I tell him,” Mattie says. “So, as long as we can find a place for him to sleep, I’m sure we can put him there and I think that keeping him in the CPO tower is probably the safest place that we can keep him.”

“Sebastian?” I ask him.

He shrugs. “I care very little as to where I stay. If you wanted me to, I would sleep on a stone floor and eat rats.” I don’t like the idea of treating him in such a way considering all that he’s done for me, but I might have to find a good place to have him sleep. “Though a sofa and warm food would be preferable.”

“We’ll figure something out, I’m sure,” Mattie says. “At worst case, there are a few sofas in the living room of Elmira’s apartment.”

“Lady Elmira,” Sebastian corrects.

I exhale. “Sebastian, it’s Elmira here, to keep hiding in plain sight, I need to pass off as a Human for as long as possible, and even in the Demon Plane I didn’t have such a title. Just like them call me Elmira, nothing more than that.” Sebastian’s head drops in a nod.

Gates flicks her hand. “It’s time to head back to the CPO. That- demon is your problem, Elmira. I’m not taking him back to our apartment, nor are we taking a bullet for you. He’s your problem.” Unsurprising, really. “Come.”

I let my septagram’s power fade and my wings retreat into my back and I return to normal height. I carefully remove Valor from my arm, then wrap it tightly in the silk and place within the crook of my arm. I step into the portal with Gates and the others follow me. Hercules clears his throat. “So what is that weapon?” He asks. “You felt incredibly strong while using it.”

“Ah- It’s- Well it’s me- Or a part of me. When Beelzebub was born, the first Demon Lord, my Father wanted to accelerate his growth, like he does now with all his children, however, he found that his methods of torture weren’t all that effective and that Beelzebub was simply too strong. Essentially, Beelzebub is incredibly durable and incredibly powerful. As a result, the future children of Satan has part of their power channeled into another location and it formed a weapon. That weapon holds a good portion of a demon lord’s durability and strength. This meant that my Father could do whatever he wanted to all the following Demon Lord’s while allowing them to retain their strength for when they needed it.”

“So- they’re more dangerous with a weapon?”

“Well, yes, but most Demon Lords always fight with their weapon on hand, the only one who hasn’t yet is me.”

“Does this also attribute to your personality change? When we met, you seemed so frightened and now- You seem confident and courageous-” Mattie speaks up. “I mean, you pushed me out of the way and told me to call for help. I would never expect you to do such a thing.”

I press my lips together. Personality change. I didn’t feel scared and I knew I had to do something, I knew I couldn’t hesitate, but I don’t consider myself courageous in the slightest. I shrug. “That was before I had the weapon on. I just- knew I had to take action, whether it was the right action or not was entirely up in the air. I’d call it recklessness, actually.”

The portal’s exit appears, after a short period of walking in a non-descript abyss of darkness and rocky outcrops and we end up appearing in the corridor outside my apartment. Mattie clears his throat and I turn to him. “Well- Not sure what I can say about the others, they don’t mind having the company, at least Gabbie and Walt don’t mind. They have that whole ‘the more the better’ frame of mind. Kai probably won’t care, just as long as he doesn’t talk to him. Thing is, unlike you, um- Sebastian doesn’t provide anything to the team. So he kinda has to pull more weight.”

“That is not a problem,” Sebastian announces. “I am proficient in cooking and cleaning even in a modern setting such as this. Pulling weight is something I am very capable at.”

“So you are some sort of butler,” Hercules repeats what I said earlier.

“Exactly, my role was to perform all the jobs that Lady Elmira would need me to do in the future. These are just a few of the many jobs I have been taught to do.”

“And the others?” Mattie queries. He asked a question, so does that mean he can’t read Sebastian’s mind either? I suspect that’s the case, Mattie did say that it might be because I’m a demon and the same is for Sebastian.

“I’d prefer not to say.”

“That sounds suspicious,” Gates growls.

“I’d be willing to say it, but this is very much Lady Elmira’s private matters.”

“A bed warmer?” Hercules mutters.

I feel my face burn red and I’m about to deny such a fact, but it’s Sebastian who talks first. “Of course not. Why would you be so vulgar? My job is only to be shared with Lady Elmira and her alone but I won’t have you suggest that I would treat her like the other demons might.”

“I was just making a joke,” he grumbles. He mutters a few other words, I can’t hear, but it seems Sebastian hears just fine, something he doesn’t respond to, yet he shakes his head in response.

Mattie claps his hands. “Alright, we’re off, good luck to you Elmira and hopefully, you’ll be appreciated, Sebastian, but if you harm Elmira, Sebastian. I’ll make sure to get Tagert and then you’ll die a very painful death.” I raise an eyebrow. The mention of Tagert seems sudden, but I never thought of him as strong. I guess he got to the place he’s in somehow, but even still I can’t think of him as being ‘that’ strong. After all, he does have a large scar over his eye.

Gates, Mattie, and Hercules leave through a portal, leaving both me and Sebastian alone. I withdraw a key from my pocket and insert it into the lock. I turn to Sebastian. “They’re friends, or at least I think their friends. Try not to annoy them or appear scary or anything and just help them in areas you can.” I lower my head, feeling a little ashamed. “At least that way you can be more help than I am.”

He nods just once, but it’s enough for me. At least he seems respectful enough with the exception of when he was speaking to Gates, which I believe she completely deserved. In fact, she probably deserved far worse. I turn the key and push the door open, walking inside with Sebastian on my tail. I feel, before long that will take a very literal meaning.

Walter and Gabbie are still around in front of the TV with glazed over eyes and controllers in their hands, while Kai is in his usual place. He raises his head slightly to look at me, he narrows his eyes when he sees Sebastian, while Walter and Gabbie drop their controllers and stand up. Walter glares at Sebastian while Gabbie looks toward where her rapier is placed. I raise my hands, standing in front of Sebastian, just trying to use calming body language.

“Hold on,” I announce. “I know this looks strange and you guys probably don’t want a demon around-”

“Damn right it looks strange, what the hell, Elmira? What’s going on?” Gabbie yells.

“Well- Sebastian is a contracted demon-” I lie. Once again, I’m lying, I really, really hate this. I’m not like Lucifer, I don’t lie and feel good about it, I don’t do it to make myself look better than I actually am. “He’s here to defend and help me.”

Gabbie and Walter look skeptical, they eye Sebastian with fear in their gazes. They’re ready to jump for their weapons at a moment’s notice. “And how can we trust him? Couldn’t he just be going along with it to appear like he’s helping?” Walter asks.

I look at Sebastian, who has a calm look on his face, something that probably isn’t helping his case. He shrugs once. “I am here to assist and protect Miss Elmira, that is all. If her decision is to have me help you, and by extension have me help you. Then I will be happy to lend a hand.”

“Yeah, but that doesn’t mean we can trust you. What do you think Elmira?”

“Well, I wouldn’t have brought him back if he couldn’t be trusted,” I murmur. “I mean, if something goes wrong, then I’ll kill him, but ultimately, if he was here to do something, he’d have done it already. After all, it’s me who the demons were after.”

“Hold up a second!” Walter yells. “Those demons a few weeks ago, they were after you? Gabbie, you listening to this?” Gabbie nods.

“I mean, I had my assumptions, but I figured it was a bit strange…” She responds.

“Didn’t I say something about that? Like, I escaped from the Demon Plane and then they chased after me because they wanted to make me-” I trail off, not willing to continue the conversation. “Is this a problem?”

“Not really- But I guess that at least gives some merit to what you’re saying. Doesn’t mean I like the whole demon thing, but I’m sleeping with my door locked.” I mean, it’s not exactly going to help her if Sebastian really wants her dead, but otherwise, I’m surprised they’d trust my words so much. We’ve only been on a team for three weeks, and I suppose that me already bringing someone back is a bit too early and strenuous for the team relationship. “So what can you do Sebastian?”

“Much like I told Miss Gates, Mr. Hercules, and that other man, I am a capable cook and cleaner. I can cook just as well as any human, if not better than most. But primarily my job is protection. Protection of Miss Elmira, here,” Sebastian explains once again.

“You cook?” Kai says from the back, almost too excited. A far cry from his usual apathetic demeanor. Sebastian turns to him, nodding with a small smile. “Good, because Walt’s cooking is awful.”

“Et tu Brutus!” Walter gasps, grabbing the left side of his chest. He collapses against the sofa where he lays unmoving. Then he raises his head. “We’ll deal with it, but no more demons. We don’t have enough room for them.”

Gabbie gives him a harsh look, then she sighs. “Yeah, whatever. I just hope you know what you’re doing Elmira because it seems you’re putting a lot of trust in someone you only just met.”

“Sounds familiar,” I say. “It reminds me of what happened with you guys and pretty much everyone I met since I came here.”

“Touche. Fair enough, I’ll trust you.”

Right. “Uh, thanks.” She shrugs and I turn to walk over to my room. “Sebastian, I have a few questions to ask you. Do you mind?”

He shrugs. “And I have something to ascertain and even if I didn’t I would have said yes even if there was something immediately important. Lead the way.”

I lead the way to my room but I’m stopped. “Hold up? What’s that thing that you’re holding?” Gabbie asks.

I raise the red silk wrapped gauntlet. “This?” She nods. I unwrap it a little, revealing the top of the gauntlet. “It’s my weapon. Something I had in the Demon Plane.”

“I- what?”

“Long story,” I sigh. “I might go into detail about it another time-” If I ever tell them that I’m a Demon Lord. I continue toward my room and then step inside, followed soon by Sebastian. I shut the door behind him and I start walking over to the bed. I drop down onto it and he stands, looking at me with an intense look. I wave my hand to the chair next to the computer and he sits down in it, responding with a small bob of his head. “Alright, I’ll ask again. What was that about Warlocks you said- Uh- Residual energy?”

“Ah, yes, right. Residual energy is-” For a moment he pauses. “The best definition would be the remains of a Demon Lord’s essence in a woman. A portion of his power. When a Demon Lord has a woman bear his children, if that woman gives birth and then continues to live. The life in which she chooses to give birth to another child at a later date, that child would be a warlock.”

“Does this always happen?”

“Aye, there can be at most seven warlocks every ten years as a result. It’s why they have such a tie to the Demon Plane. And some might not know, but they can draw on more power from the Demon Lord that their step-brother is the son of.”

“Wait, then you know my Mother, where she lives?”

He gives me a serious look. “I do- but I implore you not to command me to find her. Humans are not happy when you dig up old, difficult memories. It will be crushing if she were to harm you or treat you ill because you bear the features of a demon.”

I feel a twinge of pain. For a moment, I thought I would have someone else, someone who would love me that didn’t want to hurt me at the same time. “I… See…” I mutter.

“Don’t be too disappointed. There are Humans that are more open. People who are willing to accept you the way you are. As I can see, you have already found your fair share. Hold them close.” He clears his throat. “Now, there is one thing I have to ask you. Simply because it’s something Lucifer said I should keep an eye on.”

“And that is?”

“Your septagram. Its development. He wants to find out if it’s developing and how it’s developing here in the Mortal Plane.” I swallow, feeling a little self-conscious. I turn away from him, facing my back to him. This is likely the first time I’ll be showing anyone my septagram in detail since I last allowed my Father to pump power into one of the points.

I pull my shirt up, until my back is laid bare, visible to him. I make sure not to pull the shirt completely off, waiting for him to look at it. For a few moments, I can hear him mumbling beneath his breath. Then he coughs and I hear the seat creak, signaling that he’s sat back down.

“I’m done.” I pull my shirt back down and turn back to Sebastian. “It seems that the Mortal Plane is truly incredible. The development of her Septagram is absolutely astounding. Soon enough you will be able to use Sathanus’ magic as you use Lucifer’s magic. It seems that I can finally understand your Father’s desperation.”

“What’s been going on?” I query.

“Well, you see, your Father has been spreading scouts everywhere across the country. He’s been trying exceptionally hard to find you to no avail. Clearly he is aware that one would develop fast, but I am very interested as to how you develop so fast.”

I don’t know how it comes to me, but the answer seems relatively simple when I remember Gates’ explanation of a warlock’s power. “Maybe, when I use warlock magic I retain some of that power in my septagram. It would explain why it’s faster and it would also explain why my Father’s method was slower as he was not taking it from the true source.”

“Hm.” He nods a few times. “That sounds fairly straightforward and logical.” Sebastian grins. “Then those were all the answers I desired. Thank you, Lady Elmira.” He stands and makes his way toward the door. “Then I will begin to prepare dinner. I will see you in a while.” He leaves the room, leaving me alone in the room.

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Author's Notes

I appreciate all comments on my stories. I read over them and usually shift my stories according to my audiences response. Thus, if you want to see something happen, the best thing you can do is not remain silent and hope it will happen and to rather speak up and see if I put it in in response. Alternatively, any reviews on the main page will assist me too, as it should help grow my audience as I am slowly planning on becoming a professional writer and any promotion will help a bunch.

Thanks for the reads guys and thank you for all the kind comments.