Demonic Devourer's Development

The only sound in my ears was the loud thumping of my blood. The rest faded away at the sight before me. So familiar. But unlike so many people, I couldn't close my ears, avert my eyes, and do nothing.

I raised the box of baked goods like a weapon and charged at the red-haired woman, screaming, "Let him go!"

She reacted that instant, but with no surprise or shock. Her eyes flew to me, her upper lip curled into a snarl, and with a powerful swing, she basically threw Gi at me.

From the impact, the air left my lungs. Breathless, I fell on the hard cobblestones, dropping the box in the process, with Gi landing heavily on top of me, only to spring up the next moment. But instead of letting me lie here and suffer the red-haired woman's wrath, he grabbed me be an arm with a force unnatural in someone so small and pulled me up after him.

"Damn it, you shouldn't have meddled in this. Now run!"

I didn't have a choice—Gi's fingers were like a steel manacle. He basically dragged me by an arm a good block away from the raging woman, and by the end of this mad escape, my hand felt like it was about to be torn off.

The woman didn't chase us far.

Finally, Gi stopped in a quiet alleyway and let me go. Today, he didn't wear the hooded cloak I've seen him in before, and his white face was in full view and lit by the sun. He squinted at me with lips pressed in a hard line.

"Now she'll be even more pissed off. What the hell were you doing?" he accused me.

"I was helping you! Damn, I probably lost my job now because of that, and you blame me?"

Gi tsked. "I didn't need help."

"That woman was attacking you. You so did!" I stabbed my finger at his chest.

He batted it away. "So what? Yvenna attacks everyone except Bishop, and that's a fucking miracle. I'll just run off and hide until she cools off a little."

The calm and casualness with which Gi spoke of this made my gut churn and burn. I grit my teeth. "You can't be serious. Are you living with her, or what?"

"Yvenna? No, the mountain help me! I live with Bishop. You've seen him—I showed you. Yvenna just trains me. Get it? We were training! Well, we were about to, until she got pissed off…" Gi added under his breath, "If she wanted to eat that damn apple, she shouldn't have put it where I could just see it and think it was for everyone!"

My anger gave way to utter confusion. "Huh?"

Gi gave me a look people usually spare for cockroaches. "Why am I even bothering with you?" He turned and began to walk away.

At this moment, my brain finally reconnected with my body. "Wait!" I jumped after to grab him by a sleeve. "Wait, please!"

"What?" Gi sent me an unfriendly look from over the shoulder, one that immediately made me drop my hand. But not my determination.

"How did you become so strong? Can you teach me too? Please! I'll… I don't have much money, or almost any at all, but I can give you them all. Or if you need something, I can have it done. Just, please!"

Gi opened his mouth, then closed it and frowned in thought. I waited with bated breath for his reply.

"Ask Bishop. And don't piss off Yvenna again. She'll kick your ass, kid or no."

⠀⠀

Turned out, I wasn't fired for the broken package. Yvenna didn't complain, or anything, so I worked the rest of the day. All the running around gave me plenty of time to think about what Gi said before leaving me there.

Besides that, I couldn't stop thinking about Yvenna and what she was doing with Gi. Training, really? If this was true, it was… awesome. Though, I still didn't like one bit the way she raged at Gi, and then at me. I swore to myself that if I saw something like today again, I'd interfere no matter what Gi said.

That evening, I went to Bishop's house. Maybe the old man was too suspiciously good, but if Gi said he could help me get stronger… then the risk was worth it.

On my cautious knock, Bishop opened the door. At the sight of me, he smiled with—from what I could judge—genuine joy.

"Hello, child. I was unsure if I will see you again, but I was glad to hear from Gi that you were doing fine. Your clothes, though, still seem too haggard for bad weather… Did you came to take me on my offer?"

I shook my head and bit my lip. "Mister Bishop, Gi said you can teach me how to be stronger. Like him!"

"Truly?" Bishop raised his brows. "Well, well. May I ask, what do you want to be strong for?"

I clenched my fists. "So I could protect myself, and others!"

Bishop's smile widened. "What a noble goal. But what others will you protect? If two people fight, how will you decide which of them to help?"

"The weaker, of course!"

"But what if they are even?"

That made me pause. Bishop didn't wait for my answer—he shook his head and opened the door a little wider. "Why won't you tell me your name and come in? This is quite a philosophical conversation, and inappropriate for talking on a porch. Besides, Gi seems to have taken a liking to you, and the other way around. He's at home now. Wouldn't you want to talk and play together?"

"Play?" the word seemed foreign on my lips. Bishop's smile turned sad.

"Yes, play. Children like you should play a lot, instead of thinking about becoming stronger… But many forget how in our cruel world. Come—I can see your suspicions, and they are wise, but at this point, also cowardly.. I will not harm you."

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