“So, you two are actually together?” Andrew sat in the restaurant of the library with his friends and most of the gauntlet demons.
Kate shrugged. “In a way? We don’t do the normal retionship model, like in general.”
“You truly are some cult, right? Some shadowy society who has been here since the dawn of historical records running this pce. At least it sounds like that to me.”
“Not a cult, but you could call it a shadowy society. There is no ritual stuff, no belief system, no control over the people here. Just the secrecy needed to keep humanity as a whole from meddling with our affairs and to allow us to be neutral in all matters of this world. The one job this pce has is to archive everything humans write, with a few tiny exceptions like most diaries and random notes.”
“I can see why that needs special protection. I suppose I’m not allowed to just spread what you told me on the internet and tell everyone how awesome you people are at pying Heroes?”
“I won’t tell you not to do that, but we have people dedicated to keeping stuff under wraps. If more than we tolerate leaks out, we will take action. If that action means silencing you, I can’t stop that. So, I suggest not boasting about your time here.”
“I’ll make sure my buddies know that too. Thank you anyway. This was an amazing day and the food you got here is awesome too, thank you for the dinner and the snacks. Thank you in general.”
“It was a team effort and without Oliver’s little nudge, this wouldn’t have taken pce.”
“Fair enough, I will have to go thank everyone then. This has been a great birthday gift and maybe, just maybe, we can do this again.”
“I am sure we can. Will you be around next week for the festival? There will be more of our people here for that too.”
“I didn’t pn to, but I can make some time. Meeting more of the secret ancient library society sounds like a fun thing.”
“You will also be able to watch me and Apollyon do some sword fighting on stage.”
Andrew raised his eyebrows. “I can’t miss that now, can I? Speaking of things I can’t miss, I need to find Death for that friendly rematch. She wanted to expin how that deck of hers works. But before I go, can I ask you something, Apollyon?”
“I cannot promise an answer, but you may ask.” Apollyon and the other demons had switched to their human disguises after the gauntlet was over.
“How quickly can you do all that makeup? And how did you do the thing where you appeared like a foot or so taller than now? That was incredible.”
“Experience and a few secret tricks. There is also posture. Have you noticed that Kate now towers over you? She did hit a little growth spurt, but those heels and simply standing properly do a bit of work as well.”
“Right, I didn’t really want to ask about that but damn you got tall, Kate.”
“There’s fresh air up here.” Kate chuckled. “I mean, tall women are hot and now I am one too. It’s amazing.”
“I mean, you were always attractive but you seem to have really found who you want to be and that is indeed quite hot, if I’m allowed to say that.”
“Well, thank you. But you do know that I’m not interested in guys.”
“Oh, I know, I just wanted to be supportive and make sure you know that I think you’re awesome. Honestly, I was stupid in school. I know we weren’t really friends but I should have checked by the hospital a few times after the accident. You weren’t in any of the cliques, most people didn’t care much at all that you were gone. I felt a bit bad and there was that annoying thought that you would have even less of a social life once you got back to school. I was relieved that you got along so well with Olli, but I was still too ashamed of not making sure you were okay that I still didn’t really talk to you. I’m sorry, I’m truly sorry. I wanted to apologize for that for years.”
“As you said, we weren’t really close. I wasn’t close to anyone. I didn’t expect any visitors and, yes, that drove me to be even more reclusive. But that’s in the past and those scars have healed. You are here now and you have made a good effort to be a friend. I agreed to this not because I always wanted to be your friend back then. I agreed because even from a distance, you were always a good person, and Oliver is one of my few remaining friends outside this group. That we reconnected might as well be a good side effect of just doing him a favour. I’d be happy to keep in touch and have you around every so often. Friendships grow from there.”
Andrew smiled and nodded. “That they do. We should catch up a bit more ter, there is much I want to ask you and much I want to tell you. But now I really need to find Death, can’t keep her waiting forever.”
“You’d be surprised how patient we all can be. Have fun though and talk to you ter.”
Oliver and Kate found a nice corner of the restaurant to talk after Apollyon had left to take over library duties from Amaterasu. Leaving the poor Kami all alone to deal with any visitors for the entire day would have been quite rude.
“Did you do the same little show with everyone?”
Kate raised an eyebrow. “Cuddling with Polly and being spoiled rotten by her?”
“Yes.”
“That’s more or less a normal date for us if I let her. Just that this time, I presented human.”
“If you let her?”
“If I didn’t have duties here, and she didn’t either, we would spend all day just snuggling and snacking and parading each other out to our friends to make them recognize how awesome we think the other is. And then some more sex and snuggles. But over here in reality we try to keep the days we spoil each other special. She often insists on doing things for me but for events like her birthday, I will do something special for her.”
“Your retionship is wonderful to watch. I’m gd you found your pce here, but I have told you that more than often enough. What I actually wanted to talk about is the other demons you invited, I don’t know much about anyone from Hell, so maybe you could enlighten me who they are.”
“Sure, you know enough already that a little more won’t harm anyone. Where do you want to begin?”
“With Sariel, please.”
“Grand Justiciar Sariel, fallen angel and most devout protector of who we are and, well, our stuff. She can be a bit direct but saying that she means well is a severe understatement. She cares so much about other people that she neglects herself at times. She actually created the justiciars after defecting from the heavens.”
“She was quite intense but seemed to have a lot of fun. Hard to tell what part of her was just show and what wasn’t.”
“Yes, that sounds like Sariel. Let's just say that she isn't as violent as she portrayed herself today. Anyone else you haven’t met before?”
“Uh, Lucifer and the four riders. I think I did meet everyone else before.”
Kate nodded. “Lucifer is the administrator of Hell, she does all the paperwork, so people know where property lines are, when certain events take pce, she organizes all the stuff when you want to move, all those things. From what I’ve seen she didn’t really put on a show today, just making a few jokes about our reputation in this world.”
“She seemed super rexed and confident.”
“I have never seen her stressed before, same with the four riders. They are so calm despite being in some of the most important positions in all of Hell.”
“And those four couldn’t be more different if they tried. I understand War, Death and Famine, but Pestilence seems impenetrable to me.”
“Really?” Kate joked. “I thought her silence said everything needed. But really, I can't tell you much about her. We went for dinner a while ago and just had a great time together not saying anything. She opened her mind for me to read and let me know that way that she loved that evening. We are meeting up for a quiet night every so often, it’s actually very nice. Her thoughts are quiet too and I feel like I can be alone in her company. Sometimes I really need that. She doesn’t like talking in general though and prefers limited company. When I asked her if she wanted to join us today, she was actually eager to py. I was a bit surprised but catching her thoughts, it makes sense. This was a controlled and limited way of having contact with others who will have a positive experience because of her. And she likes it when people have a good time.”
“Is it bad I really want to talk to her?”
Kate shook her head. “Not at all. Just respect her wishes if she tells you to leave, but she is still here and if she wanted to be left alone she would have gone back to Hell already. Go, have a little chat. I think she will appreciate being told how fun this was.”
“I’ll go find her then, talk to you ter before I leave.”
“She’s in the newspaper section near the front door. I'll talk to you ter.”
Oliver got up, gave a little wave, and left the restaurant to meet a potential new friend.
