Risen Demon

Sanctuary

  "Follow me, " Eliza said. She didn't know why she was trusting this demon. Something about his demeanour, his attitude, his everything, seemed unworthy of demonhood. But she didn't have time to dwell on that fact. Instead, she held her hand up to the demon, hoping he would take it so she could lead him to a safer place.

  "I'll pass on the hand holding. I can follow just fine without," he said, waving his hand in a way that signalled for her to put her's down. She was confused as to why he didn't want to do so but put it down anyway.

  "Fine then. Let's go," she said and she started towards a nearby hedge. The demon followed suit.

  Not long after they started did they reach their destination. A seemingly normal and frankly unimportant part of a hedge that lined the side of the small town.

  "Hiding in a bush." the demon ridiculed naively. "Genius!" he continued sarcastically. "Why didn't I think of that before?"

  "Shut up!" Eliza requested. Surprisingly, the talkative demon complied.

  "Now, this isn't just some random bush. Allow me to show you."

  Suddenly, a small, almost door-like section of the hedge faded back, as if it were merely an illusion. The demon seemed surprised but made no comment, as if still following Eliza's demand.

  "In here it's safe. And my friends will be able to keep an eye on you to see if you will do anything stupid. Think you can manage that?" Eliza said, welcoming him into the small passage.

  "What do you think I am, some god damn devil's advocate?" the demon remarked. Eliza somewhat remembered that phrase: devil's advocate. She heard someone say that it was slang used by demons who didn't follow their leader.

  As the demon stepped through the passage, Eliza saw him slightly sway.

  "Are you okay?" she asked.

  "Yeah, just a little... lightheaded, I guess. I'll be fi..." he started to lean against the walls of the passage like he was about to fall.

  "Here let me help." she insisted. She grabbed him at the sides to help him gain balance, but as soon as she did, he screamed out. Shocked by the sudden noise, she dropped him.

  "What happened? Were you hurt there?" she questioned, trying to make sense of all this.

  "No, no. Just.. don't touch me... please." he requested, taking deep breaths in between. Eliza was confused but respected his wishes. He slowly but surely stood up, wincing slightly as he straightened his spine.

~~~~

  Alex didn't know why he was so dizzy but felt he could get through it. It was the pain of his transforming body he was concerned about. Still, he carried on through the bushes, the angel following close behind.

  At the end, he couldn't believe his eyes. The space was massive. A small garden containing a lake that sparkled in the calming light was on his left, while a small set of houses a bit larger than those in the village were on the right. All of it seemed to glow in a warm, conciliating gold.

  "Enchanteur," he exclaimed, forgetting to keep an eye on his French.

  "What?" the angel asked, clearly not understanding.

  "Oh, sorry. This just looks so... beautiful."

  "Well, get used to it. You'll be staying here for a while."

  "Oh? If that's the case, we might as well learn each other's names," he suggested, tired of thinking of her as "the angel."

  "No thanks," she replied. "I can't be sure if you're cursed or not."

  "I can assure you I'm not. If you need any proof..." he hesitated to say his next words. "You could touch my arm for a bit. Make it quick though."

~~~~

  Eliza couldn't believe what she was hearing. A demon allowing an angel to touch him. All she knew about the act was that it transformed the part that was touched and if they were hurt by it, the curse was not cast. She remembered earlier, how he was in pain when she picked him up. He must have transformed where she touched.

  "I already have," she said as the realization came to her.

  "Oh, right. That." the now seemingly innocent demon remembered.

  Eliza didn't dwell on it any longer. "My name's Elizabeth. Although people most commonly call me Eliza."

  "Alexander," he said. "Nice to meet you, I guess."

  Suddenly, as soon as he said that, Alexander fell to the ground.

A/N

Holy shit, this chapter was long. I know there are a ton of confusing topics in here, so allow me to explain.

Transforming: A demon doesn't have just one form. As you can probably see in the cover art, a demon can transform into a more stereotypical form. I'll save you the details for now, but I will say not all demons look the same in this form.

Curse: Demons that are cursed will be more likely to be devils advocates. This also takes away the pain of transforming.

Hope that cleared some things up. I'm done here.