Storyteller's Universe // See Through
Carry On
“You alright man?”
I’m pulled away from my thoughts by Asher. I’m leaning against a wall of the building we just fought a demon in. There are numerous wounds on my back, the stinging pain of mending muscle and skin.
“I can regenerate, I will be fine in half an hour.”
“No, I’m asking why you aren’t a jerk anymore.”
I shake my head.
“You better tell me what’s up with the guy.”
“His grandfather was an ex-member of The Faithful and when the Veil was lifted he found grandpappy’s books on demons and demonology. He thought he’s smarter than all the possession cases in those tomes and wanted to summon one.”
Of course the possession was intentional, that’s why there wasn't any faith paraphernalia in the entire house, he hid them somewhere.
“What did he need a demon for?”
“After becoming unveiled, a lot of things clicked about his family and got upset — nothing of it was passed down onto him. Just wanted to have a more interesting life. His words, not mine.”
“If he craves an ‘interesting life,’ he will get himself into trouble again. Point him in a safer direction, explain to him what thaumaturgy is.”
“Okay, no, for real, where’s the asshole I came here with?”
“Or even better, I heard there’s a vacancy at PERSA, why don’t you hire him and get off my ass?”
“There he is!”
He walks up and sits next to me. He offers me his vape pen, I decline.
“I checked the readings, RERA consistent with the rest of Nix, slightly above the expected baseline. Nothing that would suggest the cause of mass unveiling came from here. You were right.”
Damn right.
“That concludes your part. You can go sightseeing or whatever while we finish up here.”
“No, I’m sticking with you.”
The fox looks at me quizzically.
“The deal, remember? ‘I, Ariel blah blah, will aid you on your mission.’ Nothing about stopping at the exorcism. You shook on it.”
“You annoying motherfucker... That’s on me though, I should know better than to make deals with tricky bastards like you.”
“No tricks, I worded myself wrong and now I’m stuck with you.”
Asher breathes out a sigh of frustration, rubs his temples. He probably thinks I’m lying, I wonder if he would feel worse if I told him it’s true.
“What’s your job here anyway?”
“Find out what’s the cause of the mass unveiling.”
“The werewolf could be a good lead.”
The fox blows a vape cloud, before looking at me puzzled.
“What now? Who?”
“The old lady we talked to at the bus stop? The one who talked our ear off about all the creatures she can now see in the forest? She mentioned a werewolf among them, someone who was already unveiled before the incident could have some good insight.”
Asher gets up from the ground and pats dust off of his jeans. He’s thinking about something while hitting the pen.
“You’re ‘forced’ to help me, I get that. But you aren’t an asshole about it for once, seriously what is up with you?”
“Pray tell why do you care?”
The fox furrows his eyebrows and mulls over it for a good moment.
“Yeah, right, I don’t. You said you’ll be good in 30 minutes. Want a coffee?”
“Sure.”
As Asher leaves I’m back to thinking about the demon’s words.