Joke
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"Your world…?" He repeated, completely frozen in place. That had to be a joke, right? She was taking him into another world? Her world? He clenched his jaw tightly. Thinking that it couldn't be possible was a waste. It could be a lie, but even if this being in front of him was lying he had little choice. The safest course of action was to assume that it was real, keep a composed head and further analyze the situation. Losing control of his emotions right now could spell his demise. He had almost reached out to hurt the alien, which disguised itself as a little girl, and who knows what might've happened if he did. 'Keep your emotions under control,' he told himself, locking away his frustration, and finally regarded her again, "So, you're taking me to another world?"

"Well, it's not exactly another world," she said as she twirled a strand of her multi-colored hair on her fingers, "I guess you can call it another dimension. It's not that different from your own, not that you remember," he flinched and formed his hands into fists, "You'll see soon enough," she said and grinned, "There are so many interesting things happening. I'm sure you'll have plenty of fun."

"But why?" he said with a tremble in his voice, "Why would you do this?"

"I have a mission, to find a suitable heir for my master. That is my duty," her eyes turned cold as she said that and a shiver ran down his spine. There was something about the tone she used, it sounded so raw and relentless. Then, it was gone. Her features softened and she pouted, "You know, I've been searching for a long time. I have no idea what the current situation looks like, things were getting messy when I left. But I finally found you," she jumped and embraced him, and they both fell. As he tried to get a hold of himself, he felt her warm breath on his ears and he heard her whisper, "You have no idea how happy it makes me."

He found himself in a weird spot, as the… 'Not alien, not girl, for sure not a deity, whatever she is- or it is, you know what? fuck it,' "What are you?" he said while laying down under the almost non-existent weight of that thing sitting on his stomach.

She sat straight and stared at him with her entrancing pale eyes the color of amethysts, "My existence is a little bit complicated. If I use terms you can understand, I guess you can say I'm a sentient weapon. The core of the Friaskil."

"So this appearance of yours…" he mumbled in a low voice to himself as he thought.

"I have no control over it," she said and checked herself over, "It varies from person to person. Sometimes I take the shape of one's parents, other times I look like family members, significant others or close friends. In your case, we'll find out. Anyway, you'll have the chance to get to know me thoroughly later, I promise, so let's continue where we left off."

He had to stop himself from groaning when he learned that she would stay around after this. She was getting on his nerves already. He shook his head and returned to the topic at hand, "You said you were looking for an heir for your master, right?" he asked and she nodded, "Am I that heir?" she nodded again and his eyebrow began to twitch, "I suppose your master is someone important, so what am I expected to do? Also, will you move so we can stand up again?"

"I won't move. And your assumption is correct, my master is the Demon Queen, Lilith. Mmm, I'm not sure what she expected of you, but she was-"

"Hold on, did you say Demon Queen?" he interrupted.

"Yup," she said.

"Just making sure, not human?" he asked

"Not human," she said.

"Truly?" he insisted.

"Yup," she said.

"Goddamn it, your master's not human!? What the actual hell is going on!? Fuck this, fuck this, fuck- Okay, that's enough. Sorry about that, everything's under control now. So, you were saying?"

"Well-"

"No, you know what? It's not okay," he pushed the girl off and sat, "This doesn't make any sense! You said you were looking for a long time! You must have searched your dimension! And then you went to who knows how many dimensions more! Surely, there must've been a suitable fucking Demon heir, who is, you know, an actual demon! I'm a human! How can I be heir to the Demon Queen!?" after his outburst he glared at the weapon-girl, waiting for an answer, as he gasped for air.

Thankfully, she seemed amused and not angered in the slightest, "I did search my dimension and a couple of others, but the thing is… there wasn't anyone worthy. The demon's population isn't great and my master didn't specify much, so I expanded my hunting grounds. I kept looking and searching until…" she pointed a finger at him.

His head was beginning to hurt. He allowed himself to fall on his back and looked straight up to a sky filled with colors. There wasn't much to be done. At least he was still alive. What a fucking joke, "Alright. Then what were you saying? What does your master expect?"

"Like I said, she didn't specify much and it's been a long time. She wanted someone who could carry on the Demon King's will and achieve his ambition. Someone that could share her views of the world. Someone capable of understanding their struggle and restoring their pride," she said and softly touched his cheeks, beaming when he didn't flinch or retreat, "I'm sure you'll understand when you meet her. She can explain it better than I do."

There was a suspicion growing in the back of his head and he was lost in it, trying to find the hidden clues in her words. He didn't know when, but he had sat straight at some point. He didn't notice either when she placed her hands on his face again, "You said… that the demon's population wasn't great. Does that mean there aren't many alive?" she looked slightly surprised and nodded, "Why?"

"There was a war," she said.

He waited for a few seconds until it was certain she wasn't going to elaborate further, "A war… between demons and humans, right?" she nodded wordlessly, "And by the looks of it, the humans won."

"You're precisely right," she said with a growing smile.

A deafening silence followed her statement. Time seemed to slow down to a crawl. Then, his hand shot forward and gripped her small neck with unrestrained strength, "Is this some kind of sick joke? Tell me. Do you find it funny?" he spoke devoid of any emotion, not in his eyes or his tone, "Understand their struggle? Restore their pride? Me, a human? They were at war with my race and they lost. Don't you find it ironic and humiliating that the one suited to be the demon heir is a human?"

She said nothing, but her smile never faltered. She didn't seem to acknowledge the fact that he was strangling her.

"Won't your master take it as a slap to his face? You must've thought about this. Having a human rule over them is like accepting their inferiority. That's a cruel, sick joke. And you seem like the type that enjoys those. Am I wrong?" he said, but she merely stared, unmoving, "Hey. Answer me."

He tightened his grip until she placed a delicate hand on top of his own, "You have such a twisted concept of me already, huh? That was awfully quick, I knew you wouldn't disappoint," she gently traced a finger on his forearm, then his bicep, up to his neck, his chin and finally his tightly sealed lips, "You're not wrong, but you are not right either. I'll give you a point though. I had a mission, but I also have something that I want. You're the perfect combination of the two."

He gritted his teeth in frustration but didn't let go of her neck. Why didn't he have any say in this? Why did she decide to take him and that was it? Why him? This was so unfair.

She suddenly clicked her tongue in annoyance. "It seems we're almost there. And we were just beginning to open up. Not fair," she said.

He opened and closed his mouth multiple times, but no words came out.

"Oh that's right, your memories. Just so you know, this is your only chance to start a new life with no attachments, are you sure-"

"Give them back, just give me my memories back," he said, tired.

"Alright then," she snapped her fingers and his head was overwhelmed with information. If he thought he had a headache before, this was a million times worse. All of his senses turned off to concentrate on the experiences replaying in his brain. His name. He was… Alexander. Alexander Pierce. A philosophy teacher at the Academy. He remembered his childhood, the face of his parents, his brother, his school, his friends, his first girlfriend, all the way to his current job, his colleagues, his students, his home. All the things he was leaving behind. He hoped there was a way to return, though he dared not to ask that aloud. He didn't want to know that answer.

After he processed the overload of information, he looked up, stretching his neck as far as he could, and opened his eyes again. His vision was clouded with unshed tears. He wiped them off with the back of his hand.

"Are you okay?" a voice he dreaded to hear asked, coming from underneath him.

"Yes," he sniffled. Even though it was not her, it couldn't possibly be her, he refused to look down. To think he… with his own hands he… 'It isn't her. Snap out of it. It looks like her, but it isn't her. She's… the weapon-girl. It isn't her fault either, she can't control it,' he thought, "I'm fine. I'm sorry for attacking you out of nowhere, it seems I was unable to keep my emotions under control."

"Don't worry, I can take it. It's not like you can harm me anyway. Don't blame yourself, it happens. Emotions can easily overwhelm you if you have no experience in dealing with them and you had all your experiences sealed. Taking that into account you were surprisingly calm," she said, "Also, I find it curious that you were so absolutely certain you were a human," she added in a small voice afterward, mumbling some other things he couldn't make out.

"I think I have way more questions than before," just as he finished saying that, the sound of glass breaking took his attention. There was a crack on the sky and it was getting bigger.

"Looks like you'll have to wait," she said.

"If I'm to be the heir to the Demon Queen," he started, ignoring her words, "Does that mean I'll have the body of a demon?"

"That's right," she said and he could practically hear the smirk on her face. Shards were falling off the ceiling and disappearing into white dust before they hit the ground. Beyond the iridescent walls awaited a dark, hungry nothingness that seemed to devour it all.

"I suppose I get one chance and one chance only. If I die, it's over. Isn't that how it works?" he said, hoping that she would correct him.

"Yes, that's how it is," she said.

Of course, of course it was. A part of him wished to take this as a forceful but potentially fun vacation, but deep down he knew it would be a shitstorm, "I swear, if I don't wake up in a luxurious mansion, I'll-"

The darkness engulfed him.

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