"Well, love, do you like the dress?" She repeated the question as I stood there in shock.

“How did you know?”

She laughed, “Your measurements, sweetie, I have a good eye for these sorts of things.” Honestly, I couldn't believe it, could she really recognize me off my body type alone? Was that even possible? “And besides, not many demons come shopping in this city, not with how closely the Shepherds monitor us.”  

“So, Isaiah was not joking, we really are demons,” there was of course a chance that she too was in on the joke, but I somehow doubted that.

“We are,” she answered curtly, “how much do you know about demons?”

“Not much, to be honest,” I shook my head as I tried to recall anything I had been told up to that point, “in fact I know next to nothing. The school only teaches that demons are an enemy of Yezua, and have all been eradicated.”

“Well, Yezua certainly is our enemy, though we are not gone yet,” she let out a deep mournful sigh, “perhaps I can tell you the tale over lunch, teach you about your heritage.”

Finally, the answers I had always wanted, I nodded eagerly, “yes please, I would like that.”

“Very well, I know Izzy always loves hearing the stories of old, so this will be a treat for the both of you,” she smiled at me and waved, “come love, I’ll show you the way to our dining room.” I nodded and followed her into the door which led to a small little studio, or workshop, then through another door that hid a flight of stairs. “Oh, you never answered the question, do you like your dress?”

“I do, I love it,” I never got to properly thank her for making it, “but, I told you it was for my sister,” a detail I myself nearly forgot.

“I have made dresses for the princess’ before, none had the measurements you described,” I suppose I had never thought of that. Come to think of it, she did address me as ‘your highness’ back then too, so I suppose she had always known. So much for keeping a low profile.

"You did a really amazing job, it is a beautiful dress."

"Thank you love, my favorite little assistant helped design it, actually," she chuckled.

Reaching the top of the stairs, we entered her apartment, where I was greeted by a flavorful aroma. “This way, my little Izzy should be done cooking soon,” she spoke in a sing-song voice. The shop may have been decorated for the holidays, but it had seemed as though they took a minimalist approach to decorating their own home. The den, where the stairs had led to, was sparse in the ways of nick-knacks or other trivial items, and simply had been occupied by a sofa, three armchairs, a television and a coffee table. Honestly, I was rather surprised, Notalie had seemed a bit… eccentric, and I expected something more elaborate and artsy of her home. “Come now, the dining room is this way,” she called to me, and I followed.

“Um, Notalie,” I grabbed her by the sleeve and feebly tried to form words.

“What is it, love?”

“Could you, keep it a secret,” I twiddled my thumbs, turning my face down as I spoke, “from Isaiah, I mean, like not let him know about the dress?”

She looked at me with a sullen dullness for a moment, then smiled, “don’t worry, I am not in the business of telling other people's secrets. If you wish to let them know then I will leave that to you."

“Thank you,” honestly though, I was not sure I would ever be able to tell him. I trusted him, of course, but that was not a secret I could just so easily reveal. I knew he loved me, but our relationship was still new and I did not wish to do anything that could potentially endanger our bond. Still, a part of me did think how it would be nice to not hide that part of myself. It would even potentially increase our time we could spend together. 

"So, about the history of demons," Notalie began to say as Isaiah sat plates of hot food in front of us at the dining room table.

"Is this an omelet?" It was most certainly an egg-based dish, but something about it seemed different from the kind I typically ate.

"Omurice, an omelet served over fried rice," Isaiah smiled and took a seat beside me, "it's a foreign recipe I learned watchin a streamer."

A peculiar combination, but it smelled good, so I certainly was not going to complain. Scooping up a bit of rice and egg with my fork, I took a bite and lost myself in the savory flavor of the dish.

“So you like it?” Isaiah asked with a wide grin.

“Mhm,” I nodded before shoveling another bite of food into my mouth.

“My little Izzy is quite the cook, if it wasn’t for their rambunctious nature, they’d make an excellent housewife one day.”

“Mah! Don’t tease me in front of Bonbon like that!” Isaiah huffed, then settled down in the seat next to me.

“So, as I was saying, demons,” she started and I leaned in to listen, excited that she would give me the answers I longed for, “long ago this world was empty, though not barren. Some say it was always that way, others say the previous life here had wiped itself out, but either way it was now a completely empty world in terms of people. A perfect canvas for a new goddess to practice on,” she started to explain. This much I had learned in school, though the reason most often given for the barren world by the Shepherds was divine punishment for the people who came before.

 “So Isarael came to this world seeking to create a new race, the demons,” she continued, “she wished to create us as a people free from the stigmas and norms of her own world, making the demons a bigender race. Then created for them a society where all would be free and equal to each other.”

“Bigender? So, then demons are both male and female?” For a moment my heart fluttered, was I not just some odd boy with weird desires?

“Originally, yes, we were made all the same, well at least in that regard. However, the demons of today are not like the demons of then,” she sighed, “for it was not long until another arrived in this world. Yezua, the enemy of Isarael.”

“Yezua and Isarael were once the same person, but something caused their soul to split apart,” Isaiah added in.

“That is only technically correct. There was another girl that Isarael was once part of, and Yezua was also a part of that girl, so it is more accurate to say they share the same soul-seed,” Notalie corrected.

“Soul-seed?” I was certain I heard the term before, just never in an official capacity, I had read the phrase in 'Fairy Dust'.     

“A soul-seed is the original soul of a person. All life in all worlds comes from a single place, the Goddess of existence, Barbelael. Normally in each world there is but a single soul per soul-seed, but in the case of Isarael, Yezua and the one they spawned from, something had happened to cause their seed to split and birth multiple people.”

“I see, that is rather much to take in, but I think I might understand.” I would have liked to ask for a better explanation later, but for that time I just wanted to know about demons.

Notalie laughed, “yes, it is all rather convoluted, it gets weirder when you consider that time moves differently for each world, so souls-seeds may even be at different points of their life. Izzy is only sixteen, but another who shares the same soul-seed could be six, and another fifty-nine,” her explanation only made things more complicated.

"So, what happened when Yezua arrived?" I tried to steer the conversation back in the proper direction.

"Oh yes, Yezua, he created his own race, sort of. More accurately he copied a race that had already existed inside his own world. After this he waged a war against Isarael and the demons, seeking to claim Anarchia for his own. As a result, Isarael was injured and  forced away from our world, Yezua pursuing her back to her home in order to kill her."

"So, Isarael is a girl?" I interjected, "I remember the texts in school referred to her as a man."

"Before becoming a goddess, she was born a man, but her soul was that of a woman's, and she identifies as a woman. As a goddess she was able to alter her form to match that of her soul," she clarified, "anyways, after the war the humans enslaved what little demons were left, and eventually our two races mixed, essentially eradicating the demon race of old."

"So then, how are we here?"

"The demon genes are recessive, but not gone. That is why we do rarely see demonic traits pop up," she wore sorrow and anguish on her face, as though she mourned for the demons of the olden days, "though, I am certain you know how society treats those who are born with such traits."

I nodded, "vaguely, to be honest I never knew there was another like me till I met Isaiah, but I myself had been always told to hide my eyes from others. I can only imagine how the public would react if they knew the prince was a demon."

"It's a shame, the demonic traits we are told to hide are such beautiful traits. Truly, I wish Izzy and you could proudly reveal your eyes without fear of consequences,"

"I guess we're lucky, we lost most of our more obvious traits, like horns and other cool stuff," Isaiah added, "but the one thing we still got is our pretty pink and blue eyes, and silver hair! It'd be great if we could show them off."

Though all my life I had been told it was a curse, I admit my eyes were something I found beautiful, knowing that they were a trait of a dormant bloodline gave me a new perspective, now I could enjoy their beauty proudly, even if I had to conceal one eye behind a patch. There was, however, another trait I had wondered if we kept, "you said demons were all bigendered, does that perhaps apply to modern demons as well?"

"Not in a physical sense, no," Notalie answered, "the human blood in us typically results in characteristics of a single sex. Though this does lead to demons having dysphoria, as our bodies are at odds with our souls." It made sense, it made perfect sense, why I hated my body, why I wished to be… different. I really had a hard time believing in gods, but if this story was true, then it would explain everything about me. I was not just a weird boy with unusual desires, I truly was meant to be different. I was a girl, or both, I am not entirely sure, but regardless I was not simply a boy.

"Done eatin?" Isaiah's question broke my train of thought.

"Oh, yes," I was so engrossed in the conversation I almost did not realize I had been eating that entire time. A shame, I would have loved to savor the food my boyfriend cooked for me.

"Alright, Imma go wash the dishes then," he picked up our plates and kissed my cheek, "love you~" 

With that simple kiss he broke me down into a pile of mush yet again, my brain nearly ceasing all functions. I barely could say "I love you," back as he left the room.

"Aw, you two are honestly just the cutest," his mother teased, "I am happy my Izzy found such an adorable boyfriend."

"Thank you…" I managed to squeak out. Regaining my form, I thought about what she just said and thought to ask her a favor, "actually, could you… that is, I think I… perhaps," confidence left me, I was once again a feeble little creature, "I think I would rather be referred to as… as Isaiah's girlf… girlfriend," it was a struggle but I said it. I finally said it, and to my boyfriend's mother of all people, but saying it felt liberating.

"Of course, Izzy has such an adorable girlfriend," hearing he call me a girl, call me her child's girlfriend sent a wave of emotions over me that I was unsure I could entirely digest in a single sitting, "did that make you happy, sweetie?"

I nodded, a soft little "mhm" being all I could think to say. Finally acknowledged as a girl, in person at least, I had experimented with telling people I was a girl in forums and chat rooms in the V-space, but I had always considered that a form of roleplay. No, being called a girl by the person looking me in the eyes had a much stronger impact, roleplay did not compare in the slightest. Still, the more I ruminated on it, the more I felt unready to reveal myself to any other, “could you perhaps, not tell Isaiah this either?”

She frowned but nodded, “it is a shame you feel the need to hide this from Izzy, but I will respect your wishes, love, you may tell them when you’re ready.”

“Thank you,” it was nice to know there were other people like me, other demons, even if we were few in numbers, we still existed in this world connected by a shared experience. Thinking back to the day I had Arasa bring me to this little boutique, I would have never imagined it would change so much about my life. How could I have known? Perhaps in some ways, coming here the first time was lifesaving even.

As I sat at that table talking with Notalie, I was reminded of something. A person I had met the first time I came here, a girl who worked inside the shop. The more I thought about it, the more I realized why that girl Isaiah drew in his sketchbook looked so familiar, it had to be her. Honestly, I could not believe it had taken me that long to remember her.  I would have to ask, we were friends after all, "so, whatever happened to Isabel? Does she still work for you?"

For whatever reason my question caused her to laugh, in fact she laughed quite a bit, almost hysterically, it honestly made me feel rather silly. It was such an innocent question, why would it cause her to laugh so much? "Oh sweetie," she wiped her eye, "why not go say hi to her, she's in the kitchen."

Jojo_Auteur

I apologize for the rather lore heavy chapter, the next chapter will be filled with more cute gay antics. Though it will be in the form of a flash back