Katoteros

"You look pretty chipper today, Simi. Did something good happen?" Dangereuse commented as Simi entered the dining hall.

She was preparing the table for dinner, aided by Alexion and Bethany. The demon was all smiles as she skipped her way to the nearby sofas where Urian and Styxx were playing with Ari.

Simi dumped her shopping bags on the floor headed back to the table.

"The Simi made a new friend today." Simi replied, smiling.

"That's great, Simi." Bethany commented. "So what's your new friend's name?"

"Azzy. I like that name, it sounds sparkly. Azzy human but Azzy is good quality people." Simi replied. "Of course, all of Simi's friends are good quality people. Simi won't have anything less."

"So where did you meet Azzy?" Danger asked.

"Today at Sanctuary."

"Is it a boy or a girl?" Urian interjected from the sofa.

Simi went silent. She pouted and tilted her head in wonder. "The Simi can't tell. Maybe boy? Maybe girl? Oh pooh doesn't matter to the Simi."

"You might as well find out. Bossma- I mean uncle Ash won't be happy if you had a human boy friend again. Remember what happened last time."

Simi pouted. "I don't remember what happened last time." Simi shrugged.

The last time she had a new human friend, he turned out to be the Malachai.

"Just be careful, okay Simi?"

"The Simi is always careful."

"Not always…" Styxx and Urian muttered in unison.

Bethany glared at both men. Both averted their gazes.

"It's strange though, you couldn't tell if your new friend is a boy or a girl" Danger mused.

Simi shook her head. "No."

"But are you sure your friend is human?" Alexion asked.

Simi nodded vigorously.

"Nothing strange about that person?"

Simi shook her head and then stopped abruptly. "Only one thing though."

Everybody fell silent. For a few moments, they just stood there staring at her with Galen's cooing in the background.

"What is it?" Bethany finally asked.

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

"Azzy smelled absolutely delicious. Like barbecue."

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Athry froze at the doorway the moment she opened the door. It was faint, but she had smelled it. It faded just as she had caught the scent but there was no denying it, it was the scent of a demon.

"They found her."

Panic took over her in a flash and she rushed to her Azail's room, not bothering on turning the lights. A million thoughts swam inside her head on what she might see.

Relief washed over her as she saw her sister sleeping soundly on her bed, her head tumbling about in disarray.

She summoned her powers and scanned the room. When she found no malicious presence, she continued to scan the unit and then eventually the whole building and the whole block. Nothing was amiss. Everything seemed to be fine.

She sighed as she sank by her sister's bed. Azzy didn't even stir. Tenderly she brushed the strands of her off Azzy's forehead. The mark she had put there fourteen years ago chimed as she touched it.

Azail would turn fifteen again in a couple of months. She would have to renew the seal by then. It has been twenty years since her friends persuaded her to give Az a little freedom. She kept her a baby for five more years and then she let her grow, like any other normal child would.

They had thought she had kept Azail a child for too long. They probably were right. In her defence, it was to keep Az safe. She had to do it, even if it meant she remained a child for millenniums, after all it was how she had kept her hidden.

She had conceded but she had to repeat the cycle every fifteen years. She could only keep the seal now as long as that. Her powers seemed to have weakened over the past centuries.

She touched the small orb beneath her shirt. It served as a pendant on her necklace, but to her it was more than that. She knew it was the reason. After all, it would be a burden to carry a fragment of the Source with you for a couple of millennia on end, even for a Chthonian.