waking up a she-devil

Harold explains Lilith’s history to the three of us. How she first contacted the Royal Guard about her mother, how Livia was already severely hurt by the time the Royal Guard got there, and that she has been in a coma ever since. I mostly find it unbelievable that Mr. Enzo had a demon wife living under the mansion this whole time. For my whole life, I have known him to be a rich but kind man who was always very much concerned with the well-being of our village. Yet now I am supposed to accept that while Amelia and I were playing tag with Oliver and Emma, Lilith had been there too? Hidden away underground, where nobody knew of her? That is all so surreal. Though, as I am thinking this over, there is one thing that just does not make sense to me.

“But why tell us all of this?” I ask Harold. “We didn’t know about Livia living in Merton. Or are you planning to do something against Enzo? Do you want us to spy on him or something?”

“Nothing of the sort.” Harold answers. “See, due to Lilith having a human father and demon mother, she has a few interesting things about her. One of them being that she can switch between her human and demon versions.”

Harold then looks over at Lilith and, as if understanding what was expected of her, Lilith switched to her demon version, with batlike wings growing from her back and a pair of horns appearing from under her hair and even a clubbed tail growing out of her behind. Though her skin remains the same color. I am honestly shocked that someone could be a demon and we see her every day and we don’t ever notice.

“One of the other benefits Lilith has is a keen sense of detecting demonic energies.” Harold continues. He then turns to me and says, “Which recently she has been detecting coming from you.”

I am flabbergasted at Harold’s accusation. “Me? What is that supposed to mean? That I am some kind of demon?”

“Nobody is accusing you of being a demon, Darx.” Harold quickly replies.

“Yeah!” Amelia jumps in. “I have known Darx my whole life and there is no way he could be a demon.”

It was a good idea for me to take Amelia with me. She is going to stand by me regardless what happens. Though I am getting worried why Kiara is saying nothing. I turn to her and ask, “Aren’t you going to say anything?”

Kiara stares at me for a moment and then calmly say, “You did make a contract with an elemental owl, did you not?”

“Yeah.” I ask confused. “What does that have to do with anything?”

“That owl was no ordinary spirit.” Kiara explains. “I am not sure exactly what kind of being it was, but I could definitely sense something ominous about it. Perhaps that owl is the origin of the demonic energy coming from you.”

“Yes! Like Kiara says. It’s the owl spirit I made a contract with.” I quickly tell Harold. Kiara may be on the quiet side, but that’s just because her mind is already searching for solutions.

“We actually don’t care how you generate the demonic energy, Darx.” Harold tells us. “In fact, we want you to produce some and give it to Livia here.”

Harold’s words make me blink a few times. “What?”

“We have been trying to wake Livia for several years, and so far without success.” Harold explains. “We have already tried having Lilith produce some and send it into her mother’s body, but since Lilith is half human, she can only donate a little bit. The demonic energy Lilith sensed from you however was far greater. So, we were hoping that you would create some and use it to wake up Livia.”

“You want to wake up a demon?” I ask. “Right here? In the castle?”

Zhoron takes over from Harold and says, “Livia is only a B-rank. With an A-rank like you and an S-rank like me, I am sure we can handle her if she becomes aggressive. Then there is also Wendy who can cancel any magical abilities she has. She’ll be under control.”

I shake my head in disbelief. “I just don’t get it. If you want a demon that is awake, Lilith right here. You can use her to infiltrate the demon kingdom, right?”

“Lilith was born and raised in our kingdom. She knows nothing about the demon lands.” Harold says. “But if Livia were to wake up, she would be able to tell us many things without the need to send a scout and put their life in danger. About the demon provinces, the dukes, their legions and their S-ranks.”

I see. So, they need Livia awake to get information out of her, preferably before the war starts. And apparently the demon energy from the owl I can summon is their next attempt.

“I don’t know if I even can draw demon energy from the owl.” I say. “And it is too dangerous to summon the owl here …”

“You can do it.” Lilith interrupts. “Remember that fight you had against the wargs? Wendy and me were both there. You were exuding a huge amount of demon energy during that fight. Whatever you did to call on that, just do it again and it will work.”

The only thing I remember from that fight is that I was angry at Kase. If that is all it takes, maybe it’ll be easier then I expect.

“Alright.” I say. “I’ve never consciously summoned demon energy before, so I am not promising anything. But if you think this will help, then I will try it.”

I approach the bed that Livia is in and place one of my hands on her arm while I place the other on her shoulder. I take a nervous breath and close my eyes. I start by thinking about the owl and pull demonic energy from him. Even though my eyes are closed, I can sense him near. Standing right behind me, larger then I am.

“I need your energy”. I ask in my mind. Let it pass through me, please.” But all the owl does is just stare at me and judge. When it comes to the other summons I have, they always did what I asked of them without refusal. This owl instead has often refused to do as I wanted. I start losing my patience with it and imagine saying, “Listen you. If you didn’t want to listen to me, then why did you even offer a contract with me to begin with. Now, do as I say.”

The owl doesn’t respond. It just changes the angle of his head a little. But somehow, I get a message that I am supposed to focus on my fear, embrace my anger, and that I should let my hate flow. These things are the opposite of the virtues my mother thought me, but I guess demonic energy is evil and if I want to summon them from this owl, I have ****.

Thinking back of the fight against the wargs, I recall that I had Kase on my mind, so I focus on him. On all the times he has wronged me. **** me in the Merton, trying to prevent me from getting my awakening, sabotaging the tournament. Also, the way he has mistreated Amelia. How he took advantage of her. What a vile monster he is. He may be human by birth, but if anyone deserves to look like a demon, it is him. That bastard has no morals and just takes whatever he can. If only I am able to come across him in a dungeon. Just us and nobody else around. I would rid the world from him and enjoy it.

Suddenly, I get startled by loud gasping and I open my eyes to see the demon woman in front of me wide awake. Here eyes are wide open and are darting from left to right in abject fear.

Lilith quickly steps forward and her mother’s hands. “It’s ok, mom. You’re safe now. Mom, look at me. You’re with friends. You don’t have to be afraid.”

Livia’s eyes seem to focus on Lilith and recognizing her daughter, she seems to relax. She tries to raise her arms and give Lilith a hug, but due to the years of being in a coma, she is too weak to really succeed.

I take a step back and give Lilith space. But as I check on the other people, I see Harold staring at me with wide eyed fear as well. Zhoron has both his hands on his spear and both Kiara and Amelia have taken a step back.

“Why are you looking at me like that?” I demand with a rough voice.

Out of all the people, only Wendy takes a step closer and says, “It’s nothing.” Then she gives me a tap on my shoulder. “You did well, Darx. Thank you.”

Immediately after, a feeling of relaxation washes over me. And as I relax, so does everybody around me. Almost like an ominous presence has been magically cast out of this room. Harold then comes over to me and thanks me for waking Livia up. I am not sure if I did right by waking up a demon though. But Lilith has been very helpful in the past and she is now crying tears of joy. I have a feeling this stuff is going to be a lot more complicated then it first appears to be.

For the next hour, Lilith told her mother about all the things she has been through for the last couple of years. I actually find it hard to believe that these two are mother and daughter. Livia looks not much older than Lilith, so it feels more like it’s 2 sisters talking to each other.

Zhoron had preferred to go straight to questioning Livia, but Harold insisted that now that Livia is awake it would be best to put her mind at ease. As Lilith tells her stories, Wendy presents Livia with some food and Amelia offers to cast some healing spells on her legs. The idea is to help Livia gain some strength so she could at least walk, even if it is a little.

“You know, you people are a lot different from Enzo.” Livia suddenly says to all of us.

Harold takes the lead and answers, “That is because we are not like Enzo. As individuals, each of us is different. I am sure it is not much dissimilar in the demon kingdom.”

“You all look at demons like me with disdain, do you not?” Livia asks.

Frankly, I feel called out. My whole life, I did have a negative idea about demons. Though thinking back of my reasons for thinking bad about them, I feel a lot of that was influenced by the fall of Zrephia.

“Is it not also true that a lot of demons have a negative opinion of humans?” Harold replies. “Is it then alright for me to say things like ‘all demons are the same?’”

“I guess you’re right. I shouldn’t be seeing races in a simplified way like that.” Livia apologizes. “Especially not the people who have kept me alive throughout my coma. You have my gratitude.”

“You are most gracious, Lady Livia.” Harold says. “But if I may be so bold. Could you perchance indulge my curiosity and tell me why you chose to leave to demon kingdom?”

Livia ponders her answer for a moment, then answers, “Yeah, I should have expected you to be curious about that. I guess you deserve to know. I just don’t really know where to start.”

“In my opinion, it has always been best to start a story at the beginning.” Harold suggests.

“Oooooohhh.” Livia sighs. “It all began a loooong time ago.”