Frozen stiff, Annabelle finally opens her mouth to form a lone word.

- Demon...

- Yes, I know it must be hard on you. Or at least it seems like it from a human’s point of view… Anyway, go somewhere quiet, we need to sort this out, I can’t just hover around you all day without uttering a single word or showing myself. You can lead the way.

After breaking off of the ice, she blew out a heavy breath as her pumping heart sent blood through all of her face’s vessels. Anna signals to follow her, breathing air in and out and taking a few gulps of water from her canteen.

- We’re… We’re nearly there. Everything is gonna be fine… Everything is gonna be… - she kept muttering.

The more we walk, less people I see. However, darker is the path and it’s closed off by the walls, leading to multiple hallways – a maze, perhaps. The feeble lights leading the way are those of the blood and shade butterflies, beings that live in 3 parallel dimensions, 2 of them being the physical and the spiritual. They are remarkably beautiful even to someone as numb to art as I, their mystical glow is mesmerizing.

Creatures such as these are allowed to exist only in event zones, dangerous places… Gates to a realm where everything can happen, and most likely do so.

A school right above an event zone… Makes sense she feared me to such extent, as demons used them extensively even in this era.

- It might not be late to tell you that it’s useless trying to bind me in three dimensions.

- T-that’s not my intention… If I am to speak to a demon, I really need to be careful not to attract any attention. The Academy’s walls are all connected to the Archmage’s rooms by runes, this is the only place there are none… At least, the only one I’ve been granted access…

‘How did he know… No, it doesn’t matter how, he can’t stop it from happening’.

- Human, you’re wasting my time. I cannot be bound by any kind of magic, even in this pitiable form I present you.

- I’ve told you that’s not it!

‘I have to get there quickly, who knows when he’ll possess me, when he’ll… I don’t even dare think about it!’

What worthless thoughts.

- As you wish. I can bid my time. For you, however, the sands tend for the bottom of the hourglass... And it’s wasted.

Half an hour passes by as we reach the end of the labyrinth, an open stone sphere with many engines working inside it. Divided in twelve arcs of thirty degrees are many overlapping incantations, and I can hear the sound of water running in between the gears and incantations, a link.

Reading her thoughts, I sense the incoming spell before it is even processed in her mind. I recognize all of the codes on her head and think of the appropriate spell, one that would completely counter her plans.

I want to show her the power I possess.

Immediately after she finishes processing the information, my body is cast towards the sphere in a spiraling motion, and I can hear the words being formed in Annabelle’s mind. Her worries are all gone, washed out by relief.

- Coexist – with this word, everything comes to a halt.

‘Huh, why isn’t it working?’ she starts worrying all over again. Relief is taken away by fear, which rapidly evolves into confusion of what should have been, and terror of what is to come.

- You did a good job. It’s amazing someone with so little inner energy to incantations is able to cast a spell that high of a level. As I thought, you tried to bind me with Dimensional Prison.

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- H-how did you…

- I told you it was useless. It wouldn’t have worked either way since I can just find my way out of the three dimensions, there are just so many ways to do so… But I chose specifically to cancel out your spell with another. A dimensional binding only works if even one of the rules that govern a realm conflicts with another. Coexistence is a word of power that allows me to live under different rules at the same time, as paradoxical as it sounds, much like the blood and shade butterflies.

- Then… What are you going to do with me…? - tears well down from her eyes and descend through her cheeks.

She’s at her limit. Casting such a powerful spell takes a very large toll on the body. Not to say it was an utter failure…

- What am I going to do… Hmm… That’s the point.

- Huh?

- I’ve got nothing to do. That’s why I’ll give you power to do… Things, that you desire to.

‘What is he saying? Can I even trust him to his words?’

- The fact I didn’t kill you should be proof enough that you can trust me. In fact, you did a very dangerous call by bringing me here, as you should be full aware I can summon an entire horde of the foulest demons out of your wildest nightmares to ravage the world… It would have been safer if you accepted your death.

- How am I supposed to react?! I’ve never seen a demon in my entire life! What am I supposed to do? I have no affinity for magic, that’s why I teach, so that my knowledge becomes of use for those with talent!

I hover down and put myself right in front of her, my serene eyes staring deeply into her soul.

- It doesn’t concern me what you are, your titles, your joys and fears. For me, you are just another human, and Annabelle is an empty word. I am a Demon King, I’ve destroyed everything once and could do so again, because death is all I’ve ever known. That’s the reason for my existence, such is the weight of my name.

Strangely enough, I sense a tingling in that spiritual body, and a warm feeling encompasses the human’s face at hearing my words.

- However, if I am stripped of my name, power is left. No more death, no more destruction. All that’s left is pure energy, unbound. Only with this energy will Annabelle hold true meaning as a word.

- The word of power…

- You seem to be aware of what I’m talking about… Everything is energy, and energy is volatile enough to be manipulated, it can’t be created and it can’t be destroyed. It’s present in all beings, living and non living, abstract or palpable. Animals, elements, vibrations, thoughts, it’s all energy. Words, however, seem to carry more than the energy.

- A word promotes movement and change, be it meaningful or not. Some words carry enough meaning to not only promote movement, but accelerate it… If there’s enough knowledge of the process and it’s possible for it to happen, you can pack it in a word, and move it towards a goal… That is the theorem of the word of power… Yet no one’s been able to use it that way.

- Yet, you’ve seen me do it. It is the truth, though much more complicated than that. A unique name promotes movement just by existing, and the more people aware of it, the greater is the movement generated towards a goal. My name is gone, those who once knew it are no longer. As of now I’m just energy…

Her face, now clarified of my true purpose, accepts it without any fear. Humans don’t wish for happiness, rather they wish to do something meaningful, but only a few can truly shake the world… I know you’ve been longing for this since you’ve been born, girl, and I don’t particularly mind giving you a chance. I have no use for this anymore.

- It seems very outdated to say that with great powers come great responsibilities. I’d rather say, with great powers come great consequences… Though I’d like to force you into it, it’s something you must decide, otherwise it’s pointless. Do you wish for power? Annabelle.

Her lungs fill with air, it is not confidence nor the feeling of greatness welling up. It is just curiosity, the chance to leap out of the cycle and start anew.

- I don’t know…

‘Words of a demon, are you playing with me? But… An opportunity like this won’t appear ever again in my life, or even in my next ones… With power, what can I do? Is it even worth it, risking my life for it? If I change, I hope it’s for the best… I honestly don’t know, but I’ll go for it’…

- I don’t know if I truly wish for it. But for now, I accept. No, not for now, I will carry this decision for the rest of my life, or death if it shall be.

I grin, something I’ve never done before. Then, before I mutter the final words and seal the pact with the human, a flash of light passes through my eyes as the butterflies’ crowd us in a whirlwind of red and black, all noises rendered by the scathing wind.

- Mend soul.

As if being shattered to a million pieces, my spirit breaks apart and rains down on Annabelle’s soul. I can see it cowering inside the vessel, a little girl afraid of being hurt, yet curious to what causes it.

My spirit is stitched into her soul, I can feel all of her memories, all of her emotions being shone upon me like a prism, just as my power devours that of hers and completely overwrites her capabilities.

- Arghhhhh! – She screams loudly as a hurricane of energy emerges from her body, breaking the butterflies into many glowing shards, I, too, feel her pain, her anguish. All of the doubts piling up one after another, yet the feeling of power keeping her from losing her consciousness.

Finally it ends, tranquility and silence.

- Huff… Did it…Huff… Work?

Taking control of the body momentarily, I summon a glass mirror for her to see our eyes.

The left one, yellow, Annabelle’s.

The right one, red, mine.

- Now, we are one. You as Annabelle, the human, and I, the power behind the name.