It was roughly three in the morning. Willow, Jacomus, and Pixie lay on Willow's kitchen floor. The slick, black marble tiles were cold, like freshly frozen ice cubes. A piece of the wall collapsed, causing Willow to wake up instantly. Her body shot up, thinking she was still in danger. It was dark except for a slight moonlight that shone through the living room window. As her eyes gradually adjusted to the lighting, they fluttered.

Willow looked around, but there was no more danger, only a broken and destroyed home. She couldn't help but cry at the sight of the devastation. Her heavy breathing and hysterical cries woke Jacomus from his sleep. He quickly sat up, fearing the worst. However, he saw Willow cradled in a fetal position next to him on the kitchen floor. Even Pixie woke up from the noise.

Jacomus instantly grabbed Willow and pulled her into his lap. She tried to speak, but she choked on her words every time she did. Jacomus hushed her, stroking her hair back. "You don't need to say anything, Willow; you're safe." Pixie joined in, curling herself up where Willow's legs arched. Jacomus held Willow in the same position until her panting resided, and her loud cries became soft whimpers.

Willow situates herself upright and wipes away the salty water that saturated her face. "I-I thought you were dead. Y-you're covered in blood." Willow managed to squeeze out a sentence.

"Don't worry about me. I'm just glad you're safe and unharmed," said Jacomus with a soft but forced smile. He moved slightly to better face Willow, and as he did, he hunched over in pain, grabbing the right side of his body. He couldn't help but let out a few muffled groans from the agony he was in. Willow reached out to help, but there wasn't anything she could do.

"Here, stay. I will get you some water and grab the first aid kit. I have a million questions but want to see you okay first." Willow got up and headed into the bathroom. She squatted in front of the sink and opened the cupboards underneath. Although she couldn't see very well, missing the big, dark object with white reflective markings was hard. Willow grabbed the bag without hesitation before double-checking that she had taken the right thing. Standing up quickly, she walked out of the bathroom and back into the kitchen, where she grabbed a cup from the cupboard and filled it with tap water.

Willow turned on the stove light before returning to the cold kitchen floor tiles. She handed the water to Jacomus and then started rummaging through the first aid kit. Very quickly, she pulled out a couple of different-sized gauze packages, medical tape, and 70% rubbing alcohol. Willow asked Jacomus to remove his shirt so she could start covering his wounds.

Jacomus wrestled with himself as he tried to take his shirt off. Every moment he made hurt more, and he couldn't hold back the grunting and groaning. After a couple of tries, he gives up and looks at Willow. "Just cut it off," he said. Willow nods, returning to the first aid kit and pulling out a pair of medical scissors. She starts at the shirt's collar and snips in a downward position, careful not to accidentally knick her patient. This isn't the first time Willow has had to help Jacomus with something similar; however, before, it was stunt damages, not battle wounds.

Willow diligently tended to the wounds that covered Jacomus' body, carefully bandaging each one. Fortunately, none of the injuries required deep stitches, but if necessary, she was confident in her ability to handle the situation with skill and precision. After about 15 minutes of Willow fighting with Jacomus, everything was wrapped tightly as he squirmed and wiggled in pain. Pressured with gauze and yet to be soaked by alcohol.

"Are you ready? I didn't want to put it directly on the wound, so I am going to douse each gauze with a decent amount of rubbing alcohol. Just prep yourself." Willow grabbed the bottle and positioned herself to pour the disinfectant onto the patches. Willow was ready to treat his wounds. Jacomus nodded in agreement, wanting the situation to be over. Willow poured alcohol onto each gauze after receiving the go-ahead from Jacomus. With every wound, Jacomus let out a loud, low-pitched groan.

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Willow helped Jacomus get comfortable after cleaning up the extra liquid on the floor and removing the excess aid materials. They both sat in silence while Jacomus had some time to reflect on his pain. It was already between four and five in the morning, so they couldn't attend school the next day. However, they didn't care much about it. They sat silently as minutes ticked by. Willow eventually broke the stillness.

"So, will you explain to me now what is going on? My fucking apartment is destroyed!!" She hissed. Jacomus didn't move nor say a word. "Oh, right, right. You're "bounded by oath" and can't tell me what the fuck just happened!" Willow said mockingly.

"Enough, Willow." Pixie interrupted Willow's outburst, setting Willow aback by the voice she had heard in her head. Jacomus shivered as the voice possessed his mind as well.

"What the fuck, man. Who is creeping around in my head? I am so fed up." Willow looked around, confused about who or what may have just spoken to her.

"If you must know, I can tell you. Any oath like Jacomus' does not bind me." Pixie walked in front of Willow, where she could make eye contact visibly. When their eyes met, Willow recognized the weary voice as Pixie's distinct meows. Willow was stunned and could not grasp what was happening before her eyes.

"K, woah. Pixie, that isn't cool. She can only know once she turns twenty. If you must fill her in, then fill her in on the realms. Do not bring her into it," Jacomus said abruptly.

"Very well, Jacomus. Now, Willow, listen closely because I will only say it once. I cannot disclose everything I know, but I can help you navigate everything that has happened. As for questions like who you are and what it has to do with you or any inquiries that revolve around you, I cannot answer them. Do you understand?"

Willow nodded, still in shock that her cat was able to speak. She finally worked up the courage to ask her first question. "What are those demon-like creatures that attacked us?"

"They are demons. We refer to them as fiends. They come from the Gehenna realm."

"Okay, uhm. What did they want with me? Is that a valid question?" Jacomus shot Willow an ominous look as she finished speaking.

"You are important to them."

"Why?" Willow asked though Jacomus interrupted. " That's not a valid question, next," he huffed. "Fine," she huffed back, "What are you?" she finished.

"I am what is called a Therianthrope. I am a shapeshifting being that can shift between animal, human, and animal-human hybrid. However, I do not choose the last option."

"That's pretty cool. My next question is, how did the demon, or fiend, hide as a human?"

"The fiend was higher-ranked, meaning it was closer to power with Satanas than it would be with the lesser fiends. The higher a fiend's power, the more abilities it has. This one sat at rank 7, with ten ranks. 1 is the lowest; they would be considered the weakest and stupidest of the fiends. A Chichi, the tiny fiend that tried attacking you last night, would be a rank 1 fiend. A rank 10 fiend would be Satanas himself. Since the fiend that Jacomus fought was a rank 7 fiend, no human could see it, not even in its human form."

"So, when I was talking to Enika at school?"

"Nobody saw her."

"Wow, okay. So I looked crazy, great. Is Jacomus human?"

"Pixie, don't answer that!" Jacomus shouted.

"Well, you only forbade me from answering questions regarding Willow herself. Besides shouting like that very well, you may have just answered her question. Didn't he, Willow?"

"Yeah, it's obvious. Well, what is he then? One of you can answer me."

"Fine," Jacomus began, "If somebody is going to tell you, it will be me. I am a Divine, or what humans might refer to as an Angel. However, we are called the Divine or Divine in the Caelum realm."

"Okay, I will address that later. Pixie, what are these realms you guys have spoken about?" Willow drew her attention back to Pixie, trying to cover the anger and betrayal she felt from Jacomus' answer.

"There are four realms. We are currently in the Terra realm, also known as Earth by the humans. Then there is the Caelum realm. This realm is where the Deos and Divines live harmoniously. Caelum roughly translates to Heaven in the human tongue. After that, we have the Gehenna realm. This is where Satanas and the fiends reside. It can be translated to Hell. The last realm separates all three main realms; if it ceased to exist, there would be no peace or harmony in any domain, and the Earth, as you know it, would be extinct from humans. It is called the Separatio realm."

"Oh, jesus fuck.