Demonic humanity

[Shaon]

I nodded, stiffly. Damn, I want a hood. And something better than rags to cover my back.

The unhooded Ginta ushered us to follow her, and put her hood back on.

I shivered, catching up with the apparent leader.

She spoke first.

"You must be freezing! Who came up with the idea of sending you out in such small clothing!"

I frowned.

"Our tailor's... out of commission, for the moment."

"It doesn't matter, we just need to get home faster... I'm Inuyasha, by the way."

I winced at the tacky name. She didn't notice, I think.

"You're lucky... one of our own has wings."

Glancing over the hooded group, I didn't notice anything unusual (for a DEMON) protruding.

There were three others, not counting the terribly-named Inuyasha.

The speeding walk into the untamed wilderness of the side of New Jersey's highways lasted for a long enough time, since we were quite looking forward to the thought of warmth and decent food.

But however long it actually was, we eventually entered what looked like a decrepit building not far off the shore.

It wasn't very decrepit on the inside.

Inuyasha, while taking off her outside clothing, explained.

"The people of this city... aren't very friendly to us. We have to hide."

Inuyasha was even more inaptly named than I previously thought.

She had large fox ears, a small set of whiskers, and, of course, nine tails. Go figure. Human-wise, though, she wasn't really very unusual. Curly-ish brunette hair that goes down to her shoulders is her only real distinguishing feature.

"I'll let you meet the rest. Roll call!"

Three other DEMONs ran into the room, one at a time.

First came a typical cat-girl, with black fur, wavy waist-length brown hair, and feathered wings, appearing through a door to the right of them.

"The Cat in the Crack~!"

Inuyasha sighed. "That's... Sakura. She changes her name every other day, I swear."

Next came a tame looking girl, with hair about the same shade as Hellcat's, and features of a Shiba-inu.

"Mitzuki," she said, with a bow.

"OH NO YOU AREN'T," a yell came from another room.

Slowly but surely, a fuming black-haired girl with identical DEMONic features as Mitzuki walked into the room


"I am Mitzuki," she said slowly.

"No you're not, I'm Mitzuki!"

Inuyasha backed away, dragging me with her, as the argument on names became a fight.

"They're both named Mitzuki." She said.

Out of the corner of my eye, I noticed someone in the corner. Turning my head to face it, I saw yet another DEMON.

"That's fine and all, but who is she?" I asked, pointing at the DEMON.

The mystery DEMON stood, speaking. She was a female, as well. Poor Hellcat.

"I," she said, "Am Ashen. I will be taking you to the Hermit."

[Ashen Rain]

~(May I take the time to add this?

*glee*

Thank you. You may now return to the story.)~

[Shaon]

((A word to the wise: I'm rewriting the beginning chapters. Keep a look out, there will be significant changes!))

[Shaon]

((Due to popular request, I'm finishing DH before continuing to rewrite. God this will make no sense.))

"Luce? You awake?"

Pitch black.

To humans, anyway. I can see fine. It's the middle of the night. I'm in the rafters.

"Maori?"

Eyes snapped open. Maori. I miss that name.

Tilted my head down. It was Hellcat. Alestis.

With skill I taught myself over these few months, I landed safely on the ground in front of him.

"What do you want, Alestis?" I said, using his true name, like he used mine.

"I just... I was thinking, and I couldn't get it out of my head."

He sat on the back of the dusty couch. I followed his lead.

"After I... left, you never met another DEMON again, right?"

I nodded.

"Then, don't you wonder how you became one?"

He raised a good question. After the initial confusion, I never really thought about it.

"You see, after I... left, I never really left. I joined the Berlin pack, like you did. But... still, after a while, I began to miss you. The others warned me never to leave the house while you were around, they didn't want to 'compromise the premises' or whatever. But... I disobeyed their orders. In the dark of night, I left and... I watched you. Just made sure you were there, that you were okay. You never saw me, until... when I visited, and you were not normal. You were... you were like me, a DEMON.

I'm sorry, Maori. I think... I think I'm the one that turned you into a DEMON."

He turned to hug me, but I didn't respond.

"That... that night, I had this dream. I still remember it as clear as day. I had a dream... you were by the window, and were asking me to play with you. I obeyed, and we... we flew away."

I turned to look at him.

"If it weren't for you watching me, I would be in a totally different mess now, Alestis. Do not feel guilty for what is unavoidable. And besides, I would still be a lonely student, if it weren't for all this."

At that, I returned the hug.

He stood up, but before he left, I asked a question.

"Why tell me this now?"

He frowned.

"Back when we were busier, when it was Unisus, Goron, and I... we visited the Hermit often. Usually just Goron and Unisus. But... the Hermit... he is strange. Visiting him often ends with you changing. And usually, not for the better. I just wanted to tell you before you found out on your own. Goodnight."

After he had left, I crawled back up the walls, to the cozy rafters while I thought myself to sleep.

---

I woke up to shining morning and an angry DEMON staring up at me.

"Lucifer, are you going to sleep there all day? We have a while to go!" Ashen yelled, waving a pair of wing covers the pack had prepared for me the night before.

[Shaon]

The wing covers fit quite snugly, to be optimistic. They're not made for my wings.

Nonetheless, I was a lot warmer now, seeing that we were reoutfitted by the Ginta pack. The wing slits were a lot less developed than the cover for the back of my shirt, but conserved heat better anyway.

We left at dawn, before the others awoke. Poor guys. The beach was far away, though.

The going was relatively easy, seeing that we're on the outskirts of a giant city that hates DEMONs. Nothing spectacular, though.

The beach was cold. Everything is cold when you're bare-footed, though.

Al was faring better, as was Ashen.

"The boat's this way," she would occasionally say, gesturing at a direction on the shoreline.

Following her ranting and searching for the phantom boat, I stepped on something sharp. It wasn't glass.

Jumping back with a quick "Ow," I looked at what I had stepped on.

It was, singlehandedly, the ugliest deformation of a horseshoe crab I've ever seen. Completely black, with spines every which way and unmoving eyes. I picked it up by the tail (which had the least spines) and called out for Hellcat and Ashen.

"Hey, any idea what this is?"

I got the reply I wasn't expecting.

"Do you mind?" Said the horseshoe crab.
---

[Maraha]

:3 I'm lovin' this story! Hurry up and make more of it! It's very interesting.

[Shaon]

Out of quite understandable surprise, I dropped the speaking abomination of radioactivity.

Upon hitting the ground, the crab began changing shape. The shell cracked and broke into several pieces. The sides (complete with spines) became animalistic hands, as the horseshoe crab turned into a rat with spines. The eyes morphed from large compound eyes to something resembling a human's eyes, as the odd... thing morphed into a DEMON, keeping the spines and adding some new ones, as well.

And, most interesting of all, his (as he was obviously a male) back was covered by a tattoo of the exact size and shape of his previous horseshoe crab form, also black. His spines were actually greenish.

He seemed to be just as surprised that I existed as I was surprised at his ability to turn into a horseshoe crab.

"Luc...i...fer...?" He muttered, completely astounded for some weird reason.

Ashen reappeared.

"Luce, the boat's-- Master?! What are you doing here?! Let me get you some clothes!"

And promptly ran off.

She ran back with a pair of pants. The man was apparently unfazed by the extreme cold, putting on the ripped and torn jeans as if it were a July afternoon.

Ashen was by his side, waiting for commands. Really obedient. Wonder why.

"So, Lucifer, why are you so near my humble abode?" Apparently the man regained his composure.

Ashen piped in.

"Sorry, I forgot to introduce you. Lucifer, this is the Hermit, Stingray. And, Master, although you already seem to know her, this is Lucifer."

"Yes, yes, I know him. Quite well, actually."

Okay, now I'm throughly confused. How does someone I've never met know me "quite well?" I voiced my confusion, obviously.

"What? You don't remember me? Ashen, ready the rowboat. We have a long ride."

Ashen saluted and ran off. Within seconds, she was just off the beach in the boat, then beached it for us to get on.

After we all entered the boat, Ashen pushed us off the shore and began rowing off into the distance.

The Hermit, Stingray, began first.

"You... don't know who I am. Lucifer, I've never known you to have such memory problems. We've known each other since we were children!"

"I... don't understand you, Hermit. Perhaps you are the one with memory problems?"

"I've... no, it's not possible. I don't even know why you still exist! I killed you!"
---

[Shaon]

What?!

Now I'm definitely unnerved.

"Killed... me? You-you must be mistaken or something, I can't be dead-"

"Yes, perhaps. Perhaps there's two Lucifers, but that would make even less sense... Bah, I'll explain it better when we get to the boat."

The boat was already looming in the distance, so the rest of the boat trip was in relative silence.

The boat was old and wooden. It's a miracle it still floats.

We climbed on via a ladder that had so many barnacles on its lower rungs I'm surprised my feet weren't cut off.

Once we got onto the top rung and into the boat, the scene wasn't much better. Like I said, decrepit.

"Lucifer, I wish to speak with you, alone."

God, what, is he going to kill me?

Al seemed to see that it was a good idea. He didn't sound like he had any bad intentions, either.

Against my good will, I followed him into the trapdoor, into the insides of the ship.

There, he sat on a hammock and gestured me to do so.

"Please, get comfortable. I have a long story for you."
---

This story starts fifty or so years ago, with the foundation of a company who's name is forever lost.

They were founded under one idea: To take over the world. They had several separate plans: Lie in wait until they find alien life, create giant arachnid-themed monsters, or genetically engineer a virus that will take over the mind and body of a victim and bend it to their will. It's obvious which one won.

They never had a true name for their virus, just dubbed it whatever their logo looked like at the time. They ended up with DEMON.

There were five original test subjects, that lived. We don't know how many died.

First were Spider, the Gentle, and Lucifer, the Mighty.

They were the N and the E of DEMON.

Yes, Lucifer. He looked just like you, except more male and older.

Spider and Lucifer were constantly at odds with each other, and had to be kept away, for fear of Lucifer killing his elder. He was a bit... mentally unstable, you see.

Next came Zebra, the Social, and myself, Stingray, the Hermit.

Zebra and I were opposites, at the least.

I kept mostly to myself, yet Zebra spent all of her time socializing with Spider and Lucifer.

Spider helped raise me, while Lucifer and Zebra became close. Nothing more than platonicism, though, since we considered ourselves family.

These were the four originals, D, E, M, and N.

What about the O, you say?

She isn't truely one of us. She wasn't a stolen embryo, exposed to the virus cells while still unborn.

No. By the time I was born, they had perfected the virus, all except one part: reproduction. You see, the virus is supposed to spread to other humans, completely stealthily. However, their only experiments never truly been a human, they did not know how well the reproductive stage worked.

So, one of the workers (I believe for whatever reason, they called him Serps) adopted a child for their cause.

Her name was Katrina, if I remember correctly. She doesn't go by that name anymore, however.

The worker placed his new child with us. Spider and I immediately took the child in, fearing what would happen if the three-year-old was put in Lucifer's hands.

As predicted by the scientists, one morning, a month after she was put in with us, she became a DEMON. Just woke up, as if nothing ever happened.

Only then did the Scientists give her a name.

She took to the name immediately, refusing to be called by her original name.

That name was Unisus.
---

Then I realized who the girl was.

I saw the hooves.

The wings.

The horn.
---
We were kept like this for several years, as Lucifer became more and more unstable and us three began to fear for our lives.

Eventually, we made a break for it.
---
A muffled yell.

"Come on-" something I couldn't understand. "-Got to get going!"

Leaving a doorway that was not meant to be opened.

Two children were fleeing.

Not children, DEMONs.
---
Unisus and I, we managed it. Spider, however, was caught by the scientists and... incapacitated.
---
On the ground, what the children were apparently fleeing from, was the mortally wounded, yet somehow still conscious, body of a spidery DEMON.

The male child was pulling the female along, but the girl stopped, turning back to the spider.

Then I realized who the girl was.
---
We were tailed by Zebra and Lucifer, however. It's a miracle we weren't killed that very night.
---
Sometimes it really sucks to look like Satan.

This is one of those times.

Unisus immediately fell to the ground, stumbling back into the surrounding forest with terror shining in her eyes.

"Sting" immediately picked her back up, resuming their fleeing.
---
"Rather, we should follow them. Make sure the others don't know where we've run off too, and I'll see where they're going."

Zebra nodded, and I snapped open my wings, using the gusts from the storm and my enhanced strength to lift myself into flight.
---
We weren't caught by him, and ran free for several more years.

Until... until we saw them.

We remained too long in the same place.

The DEMON outbreak began.

We saw how this happened. Unisus and I split up.

We never really met since, though we do get into contact occasionally.

Unisus, as far as I know, has been safe ever since. She runs a pack, I think.

Lucifer was always tailing me, however. When I first obtained this boat, he found me.

He blamed me for this whole incident, blamed me for this outbreak. He wanted to kill me.

He wanted to kill me. I had no choice. I killed him.
---

[3kul]

[Maraha]

You know what, Shaon? This story is WAY better than the one I wrote about my english Blueberry who kills everyone.

Which I have yet to finish...

and post...

Myeh.

Anyway! I love this story! Hurry and post more. :3

[Shaon]

"He obviously isn't you, though. As creepy the resemblances and shared name is," Stingray finished, "you obviously aren't him."

Obviously.

Obviously what?

Obviously I've been mistaken for some kind of HORRIBLE SERIAL KILLER THAT WAS RESPONSIBLE FOR STARTING THE DEMONIC PLAGUE.

"Obviously." Was all I could respond with.

"But... I don't know..."

... what?

"They're still alive. There's still a few left."

"A few left... of what?"

"The scientists! They're still here! These aren't coincidences! They're reengineered their virus to recreate their greatest success, they're here..."

Stingray's screaming ramble went into a screeching halt.

"Lucifer... I'm sorry. There's nothing I could've done."

He opened the door.

"Lucifer!"

[Shaon]

Hellcat.

Hellcat was being held hostage, at gunpoint by several bodyguards.

Helicopters hovered above the decrepit boat, completely silent.

A voice boomed out from them.

"Lucifer! Surrender and we will not harm your friend."

Hellcat was at stake.

Alestis was at stake.

I was at stake.

They didn't stand a chance.

They couldn't possibly harm me.

And they didn't.

Even as I kneeled over the last remaining bodyguard, even as his blood pooled out from under him, even as my best friend quivered in fear and alienation, I felt no fear.

In fact, I felt euphoria.

Suddenly, I understood.

Everything was simple logic. How didn't I know this before?

I began laughing. It was so simple!

Even as the pain started in my hands, I continued laughing. My place in everything -- It was so obvious.

The pain shot through my shoulders. I wasn't meant to be a simple DEMON, I was meant for more!

I continued laughing even as the pain reached my head and I blacked out.
---

And so now I finish this journal, the story of someone who wanted to be normal but just couldn't.

The story of someone who had their wish granted, and found out the consequence.

This is goodbye.

Lucifer.

February 14th, 2013.
---

[Shaon]

Dear die-ary,

Life's actually been pretty usual here.

Goron's been failing at cooking, Unisus is a bit on-fire-y but otherwise is okay, and we ran out of shoes. I think the nuns from the thrift store down the street will be here next week. That's what Goron said.

Hellcat came back the other day. He's not acting like he usually does. Won't cook or speak or really do anything. Doesn't respond to anything on how the trip went or other such things.

I won't tell him about what happened last week. I don't think he'll like it.

You see, last week is when I got this journal. The adventure went a bit like this:

I was dreaming dreams of getting truckloads of shoes when I was rudely awakened from my dreams by a loud banging of someone about to smash through my window.

Even if I was half awake by the time I opened the blinds, I wouldnt've been for long.

Because quickly, the intruder was inside, and was also named Lucifer.

I think, anyway.

I mean, she looked sorta like Lucifer, but also kinda didn't -- I mean, she had the same DEMON and human features but also some new ones.

Also she could fly.

She shoved a nondescript black book into my arms.

"Take it," she mumbled.

"Luce...?" Was all I can say.

"Take it," she said, louder and more demanding.

"Luce, why are you-"

"Take it! I can't have it, it's not mine anymore," she began rambling, and poised for taking off back out of the window.

"Luce, where are you going?" Was the only sentence I could make out.

"I hear..." she looked down, then glared at the dark sky.

"I hear there's good prospects in Terminus."

((End.))

[3kul]

What? I suddenly feel very lost, is it really the end now?

Your work's as interesting to read as ever Shaon, but is there any chance that you could explain what's just happened to me?

[Felbeast Foundation]

okay, lucifer the first, infected lucifer 2, not Hellcat.

DEMON had almost no mutation from 1 to 2. in fact, some of the memories were transferred.