Chapter 2.

They continued to walk until the darkness of the hallway stepped away and left them in the bright light of late afternoon. Even though his eyes were still adjusting, Gavin could see that a massive, very wealthy-looking house stood there in front of them, making him stop and stare.

His family had never been "well-off", even with his father being a respected Inquisitor. His own home had consisted of woven sticks and tree roots, with sandy floors like most Human houses. Seeing a monument of white stone and mortar, only a step below a capitol, was extremely rare, and almost terrifying.

"Please tell me that is not your house," Gavin pleaded. Something about going into a building that large put him off, and there was no way that that entire house was just hers. There had to be other people living there. People that would want to know who he was.

"Not at all. We're simply walking towards a house for no reason," she said, rolling her eyes. "Now come here, there's someone I want you to meet," she turned, smiling at him for real this time.

"No offense, but I don't want to meet anyone," he told her. He had begun to dig his feet into the ground.

"Well, I'm sorry, but he is the only one who can help us start planning," she explained, blinking at him. "He will help us, I promise."

"Okay, but you better not tell him anything about me. What race is he anyway?"

"He's a Demon."

"I guess that's all right then. For a moment there, I was worried you were going to introduce me to some Angel."

"Yeah, about that. There is one person around here who's an Angel, but she shouldn't be home now, so you're good." She grabbed his wrist and began to pull him towards the mansion. At first, all Gavin wanted to do was pull away; he hated people touching him, but he realized he shouldn't. This girl was helping him, whether she knew it or not.

It had been a long time since Gavin had been inside any building outside of a tavern, but he had definitely never been in any one of this magnitude. The grandeur of everything, from the plush furniture and golden knick-knacks, both amazed, and scared him. He walked in warily, closing the heavy double doors behind him.

"So who is this friend of yours, and how is he supposed to help us?" Gavin asked, trying to break the overbearing silence that practically engulfed the place.

"He, ummm. Used to work for, umm, an organization," she stuttered.

"What organization? The Inquisitors?" He began to panic. Had he been tricked? How could he have been so foolish as to trust a complete stranger? After all these years…

"Yeah, but that was years ago. People can change..." she said, stopping at another large door labeled library. Eager to change the subject, she added, "He should be in here."

Gavin was terrified. Just because Aeiln knew someone and thought they had changed, didn't mean they had actually had. Just because she trusted this person, why should he have to? What if he was okay with half and halfs, but not Devolns? That was a whole other story. Gavin didn't have time to question it or turn back however, because this Demon was already sitting in a chair across from him, a sharp nose buried deep into a book as scarlet as his short hair.

"Hey Rowan, we need your help." Aeiln walked towards him, making him look up and smile at her. Catching notice of Gavin, he got up out of his chair, and was instantly at his side, gripping his right shoulder. Gavin's body quaked out of sheer intimidation. He knew that some Demons were fast due to their bodies having no weight, but it still both startled and impressed him.

"Oh Aeiln, did you finally get yourself a boyfriend?" he asked, his silky voice tickling the inside of Gavin's ear. Rowan pulled him right in front of him, bending down due his tall stature and smiled again, revealing sharp fangs. His eyes were closed behind thin spectacles but Gavin could tell he already approved of him. "Well at least he's a cute one. However..."

"I am not her boyfriend," Gavin enunciated, his attitude slipping out before he could stop it.

"Rowan!" Aeiln covered her face with her hands in exasperation. "I am allowed friends you know!"

"Ah, sorry then. Hi. Nice to meet you. I'm Rowan, but I suppose you already know that. How about I let you introduce yourself instead?"

"Gavin," he said, sending Aeiln a look that said: and don't you dare tell him anything else.

"Oooo. This one is very different. Interesting... Do you know what he is, Aeiln?" he asked, honing in on Gavin's face with his deep red eyes. In fact, with his paler skin, pointed ears, and youthful face, he fit the image of the average Demon to such a point that if Aeiln hadn't said that he used to be an Inquisitor, Gavin would never have expected him to be all that powerful. He had moved his hand from Gavin's shoulder to his chin and was turning his face from side-to-side, examining him.

"I'm not here to be some sort of specimen," Gavin snapped, as he pushed away his hand.

"He's a Devoln," Aeiln piped up proudly.

"Interesting... very interesting..."

"I hate you," came Gavin's dry reply, craning his neck so it was directed at Aeiln rather than Rowan.

Aeiln rolled her eyes, ran over to Gavin, then took hold of his upper arm, dragging him out into the hallway. "Rowan, we'll be right back!" she blurted.

Once the door was closed, Aeiln turned to face him. "What was that for?"

"Why would you tell him what I am? That is my information to give, not yours," he whispered fiercely, his hands clenching into fists and his lip curling in disgust.

Before he could duck, Aeiln reached out and slapped him on the arm. "Does it matter? He's a full Demon, and one of the most powerful at that. He can tell those things right off the bat. Why do you think he asked me if I knew what you are?"

Gavin felt his face start to drain of color, and his heart pace quickened. "He can't tell specific types... right?"

"Sort of, why?"

"Great," he sighed. "I've only met one other Demon before, so I don't really know their limits."

"What type are you?" she asked innocently.

"No." He turned away so as not to face her. He knew it was rude, and that it wasn't even the correct way to answer the question, but he needed more time for that. He still couldn't completely trust her, and even if he could…

"No what?"

"You're mad if you think I'm telling you anything after that."

"Fine, don't tell me. I'll find out sooner or later," she disclosed haughtily, tapping her fingers against her skull.

"Good luck with that," he provoked, although she was right. If they were going to be making this deal, she was going to be around him. A lot. He was going to have to transform in front of her some time. He blushed as he remembered almost doing it before. Granted, being held to the floor was a good enough reason, but still, he should have better control of himself by this point.

As Aeiln opened her mouth, probably to reprimand him again, another person entered. "Vesper," she cursed, using the name of one of the oldest known Demons. Gavin was surprised, not because she had cursed, but had used a Demon curse instead of an Angel one. He wondered if she had any other language preferences, then asked himself why he cared so much, kicking the useless train of thought out of his mind.

Turning to finally look, there was now another girl, which he could tell immediately was not a Demon, although whether she was Human or Angel, that he couldn't decipher. She was taller than Aeiln, with waist long brown hair and sky blue eyes. However, he had learned a long time ago that people weren't exactly as they always looked, and there was nothing stopping her from being one of... them... Also put off by the fact that Aeiln had cursed, he sent her a nasty look as well and tried to focus on a suddenly very interesting picture on the wall.

"Hey Sera. You aren't supposed to be home. Why are you here?" she asked none too pleasantly.

"Aeiln?" Sera beamed sweetly, as if she hadn't even seen her, or heard her swear. She ran in and gave her such a giant hug that it made Gavin sidestep to be sure he was nowhere near it. "Where the Hell have you been? It's been ages... Ooooohhh, and who is this?" she asked in her high-pitched tone, finally noticing Gavin. How slow can someone be? he thought to himself. "Is he your friend? I didn't know you even had any!"

"I am not her friend. We just met an hour ago," Gavin disclosed. He already didn't like her. Even though she seemed nice, there was just something about her that aggravated him, although he had no idea why.

"Well, hi! My name is Sera, and you are?"

He rolled his eyes. "Gavin." Suddenly, Eldrazi's voice popped up from inside the depths of his soul, as he always did whenever he wanted to tell him something.

*{You know, at this rate, you should start charging for your name. Heck, keep it up and we'd have enough to buy a house almost as good as this one.}*

*Sssh!* Gavin thought back. Although no one could hear Eldrazi, whenever he spoke it was hard to pay attention to much else.

"Well, if you couldn't tell, I'm Aeiln's sister."

"Half-sister," Aeiln corrected, giving her another dirty look.

"Oh, okay..." Gavin sensed Aeiln's tension towards her even more than his own and he backed away a bit, because you never knew with someone of her power.

"All right Sera, you need to leave. We're going to talk. By ourselves. Bye," and Aeiln pushed her out the door and shut it in her face.

"I mean, I'm not fond of her either, but was that necessary?" Gavin questioned, concern in his voice.

"Yes, that was very necessary, because she would have insisted on helping, and I'm pretty sure neither of us want some ditzy Angel hanging around."

Gavin scoffed, another strange preference. "At least we both agree on Angels being stupid, no offence."

"No, it's okay, but I do feel like the first step before we start planning out our deal should be to get to know each other. Maybe see what else we agree on. If we are going to work together, we should at least become loose friends. Or close," she added, a hopeful lilt in her tone.

"Is this a ploy to try and get me to open up? Because I am not going to fall for it."

"No, it's not. I have been a part of the Wars before, and this is where everyone starts off. So, describe yourself. Go on, I'm curious."

"I'm Gavin, and I'm a Devoln... I was spared as a kid until... stuff happened and I've been running since I was ten. Is that good enough?"

She gave him a blank stare in return. I'd say that's a yes, Eldrazi whispered.

"YOU'RE A DEVOLN!" she exclaimed with fake surprise. "Sorry, and no, that is not enough. Tell me what you're hiding."

"What? I literally just told you more about me than I have ever told anyone else. I'm not hiding anything. I am practically bearing myself to the world!"

Suddenly with superhuman speed, Aeiln pushed him into one of the rooms, throwing him against the wall. It wasn't meant to be painful so much as to prove a point. "You are definitely hiding something and we're going to sit here until you decide to tell me."

"What more do you want from me?" Gavin asked defeatedly. "I'm sorry I can't tell you things, but I still don't, still CAN'T completely trust you. Just give me some time... Like you said, it's not like I can hide it forever."

"And how am I supposed to trust you when you refuse to tell me anything about yourself. I thought you'd trust me. You're the only person I've ever met that's like me, at least somewhat. I thought maybe we could connect. That maybe you'd be willing to help where everyone else has called me mad!" She paused to take a breath, deciding to back off a bit for the time being. "This is your room for the night. I don't want to make you uncomfortable, but keep in mind you're not the only one who's had a rough life," she whispered, walking out and closing the door behind her.

As the door shut, Gavin slumped to the floor, wondering how rough her life possibly could have been. She had a place to live, and a rather nice one at that. She had a family, even if she didn't appreciate them. What more could she want? He was then hit with the familiar feeling of nausea along with a crippling migraine, and a shudder flung itself through his body. Seeing a bed on the other side of the room, he went to stand up and nearly fell down again as the world spun and his vision became surrounded by black fog. Catching himself on the wall, he limped over to the bed and sat down. He pulled the covers around his body and transformed, feeling some of the sickness fade away as Eldrazi came to co-pilot his body, their features changing to match the balance within them.

The dark room became easier to see in, and across from him he could make out a vintage mirror, reflecting his slitted yellow eyes back at him. Pulling off his cloak and tunic, he watched his reflection copy every move, from the swinging of his feet, speckled with a few green scales, to the twitching of his tail behind him as he removed his belt and the two dagger attached. It had been a while since he had gotten a good look at himself, and he was more than a little ashamed to see how streaked his skin was with dirt, how many bits of grass and leaves were tucked behind his pointed ears. How had Aeiln wanted to work with a wreck like this, he would never know. Suddenly feeling a bit nauseous, he broke his gaze and lay down on the bed. It was much softer than they had expected, and his aching muscles accepted it in a heartbeat.

"{You know you feel like this because you pushed it for too long today,}" Eldrazi scolded him, his words coming out of Gavin's mouth, in a voice not his own. Gavin sighed; it was not the first time he had heard this, nor would it be the last, but he really wasn't in the mood for it right now. "{How long do you plan to keep going like this? It's going to be the death of us!}"

"{Sorry 'Drazi,}" Gavin replied, using the old childish nickname he had invented in his younger years. Even though he was long past that stage, he knew that it always lessened his anger. "I'll try not to have it happen again."

"{Yeah right. You know as well as I do that you're just going to keep doing whatever the hell you want.}"

"{Mhm, now let me get some sleep for Akasha's sake. Night.}"

He couldn't remember if Eldrazi had said anything after that. He was completely exhausted from the day's strange events, and when he closed his eyes, the blackness consumed his fatigued mind.