Kate was happy. Very happy. Fury’s food was incredible, Uttu’s drinks were beyond amazing, and everyone was having a great time. After a long series of initial questions by her human friends and everyone finishing their food, conversations shifted and groups formed to talk about other topics. Adelina was discussing art and human culture with Azazel, Lucifer and Uttu. On the other side of the big table, War, Fury, Jorogumo and Lucifer had joined Evelyn to talk about games. Between those two groups sat Apollyon and Sariel, currently waiting for Kate to return from Fury’s food cart, where the demon had left big bowls of snacks for everyone.

Kate was carefully filling her plate with all manners of intriguing treats when Yumi approached her. The Noppera-Bo had not joined the others after dinner was done and seemed a little shy to approach anyone for that matter.

“Hey, Kate.”

“Yes?”

“So… uhm, how do you do that?”

“Do what?”

Yumi awkwardly tapped her fingertips together. “To be so relaxed around the Grand Justiciar and Apollyon. I mean, one killed God and the other is the most renowned war veteran in all of Hell. How do you just hang out with such monumental people?”

Kate shrugged. “When I met Polly I had no idea about her history. If I had met you instead, I would have been equally amazed back then. When you meet a demon for the first time, it doesn’t matter how important that demon is. When I met Sariel, I think it helped that she intended to befriend me. I didn’t seek her out, she desired what she called a ‘more casual rapport’ with me. We then just talked a bit. Have you done that with those two? Just tried to have a chat?”

“No…”

“Have you talked to them at all?”

“To Grand Justiciar Sariel, but only about our duties. I never spoke with Apollyon.”

“Well then. You will join us for the rest of this party and get to know your heroes. They aren’t as aloof as you make them sound.”

“Okay…”

Kate led Yumi back to the table, placing the plate in the middle of it.

“Justiciar Yumi.” Apollyon smiled. “You seemed a little lonely, are you alright?”

Yumi shrunk a little in her seat. “Yea… I’m fine.”

Kate nudged her and she corrected herself. “Actually, I’ve been a little lonely, yes. You all are so important, it’s hard to talk to anyone.”

Apollyon frowned and looked at Sariel, who already mirrored that expression. “We are not more than you or better than you or worth more than you. We are just demons.”

Sariel nodded in agreement. “Yes. And I truly wish that my work did not distance me from other demons. Yet, I still feel closer to you than I ever felt to any angel.”

Yumi hesitated, unsure what to say. “Grand Justiciar-“

“No. No more titles. I am just Sariel.”

“Okay… Uhm, I never did anything important unlike you two. It still feels weird to just talk.”

“No.” Apollyon shook her head. “You did something very important to me. Your conversation with Kate aided her in accepting the possibility of becoming something she does not have full control over. That is something I could have never discussed the same way you can.”

“Yea! That honestly really helped.” Kate smiled at Yumi.

“I am glad I could help.”

“You really did. And you seem like someone awesome, I’d love it if you hung out with us more.”

“I don’t know. What are you doing when you hang out?”

“Food, games, that kind of stuff. We found a trading card game called Heroes that we are playing a lot.”

“A card game… sounds like fun.”

“It is! And it’s something where even a human can beat Polly.”

“I think I will try it out. Who else will be there?”

“Evelyn, Adelina and of course us librarians.”

“Oh!” Yumi’s expression lit up again. “I would love to spend more time with your two human friends. They have accepted me really quickly and seem like really fun people.”

“I was actually going to ask about that. You, Uttu and Joro are all in proper demon form when I came out, I suppose you had a little talk with Adelina and Evelyn about yourself?”

“Well, we tried to have that talk but both insisted we go full demon. Evelyn was a little surprised by me but there were no problems at all.”

“That is amazing. I expected a little trouble, but I am super happy this went well. Makes me feel like a bit of an arse though… having needed an entire day to warm up to Joro and Uttu.”

Apollyon gave Kate a reassuring smile. “You have not seen them since then, and today you had no issues sitting beside them, even hugging them without hesitation. There are always things someone will need a little time to get used to. For Yumi, it is spending time with demons that she perceives to be of higher standing. Adelina had to warm up to ‘hanging out’ with anyone at all. You accept Joro and Uttu for who and what they are and that is what is important. Your previous hesitation does not make us think lesser of you.”

“You’re right.”

“It might also help our two humans that they got confronted with the full spectrum of demons over a very short time. You had months, they had less than a cycle before meeting those of us who are further from humans than any of us librarians are.”

“I didn’t think of that, but they have done really well considering.”

“They have. And I feel proud of them.”

Kate nodded and finally reached for the snacks.

Apollyon turned to the faceless demon. “Anyway, Yumi, I wish to get to know you better. I have my Heroes deck here, of course. If Kate can loan you hers, we can get to know each other over a game.”

Yumi looked surprised. “Uh, yes, sure.”

“Hold on.” Kate interrupted. “I will give you my deck for this, but I also want to try something.”

She reached out, trying to grab her deck box from her apartment on earth. After a few attempts, she just held it in her hand. There was no trick to it, she just had to want it enough.

“Here you go.” She handed Yumi the box. “That was remarkably easy.”

“Magic is something intuitive. Certain actions are easier than others of course, but generally all magic works like what you just did.” Apollyon looked very proud of Kate.

“I should try some other stuff while you play then. And maybe reach out for the dice too.” Kate tried that and succeeded on the second attempt this time.

The other groups had noticed what she just did and looked suitable impressed and proud. It felt like she was taking more steps towards being a proper demon and that was an amazing feeling.

 

Kate guided Yumi’s gameplay for the first two rounds, until everyone else gathered around to watch. For Jorogumo, this was the perfect opportunity to pull Kate aside for a small chat.

“Do you have a moment for me?”

“Yea, sure.”

Joro and Kate took the seats on the end of the table, to make room for everyone to watch the games unfold.

“I have a few things I want to talk to you about actually. Firstly, did you notice something about yourself in the last, I don’t know, hour?”

“No? What do you mean?”

“You have grown. A solid two or three inches already, your clothes don’t fit properly anymore. Also…” Joro reached towards Kate’s forehead, brushing aside the young demon’s hair to run her fingers over a small bump, just above the right temple. “You are growing horns.”

Kate reached up, checking the bumps on both sides. “Oh… I really am, wow.”

“It seems like you have a few aspects you are already sure about wanting. Speaking of wanting, your inability to age will make living among humans difficult in a few years. Adelina has so far avoided questions by moving often, but I assume you don’t want to do that. You should think about a home here, in Hell.”

Kate nodded thoughtfully. “I thought about it already, and I came to the conclusion that I want to move here, but I don’t know where in Hell exactly. I want to go travel around, look at places, meet the local demons, all that stuff, and then decide where I want to live.”

“That’s a good plan. When you have found the place you want to call home, I will help you plan it. Since we don’t have any standardized houses or even furniture, we need to make everything from scratch. That means we won’t just plan your house, but we get to create every tiny detail, every chair, every doorknob, everything to your exact specifications. I won’t lie, it will take a while, but I am sure you will love it.”

“That sounds like a lot of fun and work.”

“It will be, but I will help you. There are some tricks and ideas I can offer to help you decide on what you want.”

“I think I will need that, thank you.”

Joro smiled. “This will be fun. But, until we can work on all that, you need a temporary home, a place where you can wake up if your body gets destroyed and where you can retreat to if you need time alone. Doesn’t have to be fancy, but I won’t just let you wake up on a random street.”

“Yea… I suppose I need that… any suggestions?”

“Many, but I think I have one that you will like the most: a small house, two floors, bedroom upstairs, combined kitchen and living room downstairs, since you like cooking. Maybe add a small outdoor seating area, nothing too fancy, just something homely to start with. Maybe down the path from here, towards the river. It will be simple conjured stuff, though we can start planning furniture in there to use later, if you want. What do you say?”

“That will take time too, won’t it? It still seems like quite the endeavour, and what will happen to the house when I move?”

“Everything you don’t want to take with you will simply be removed. It’s all conjured anyway, the house, the bed, everything.”

“Okay… sounds good then.”

“I will have it done in about four cycles. Don’t get yourself killed until then.”

“I’d prefer to not get killed at all, but I will try.” Kate chuckled.