Return of the Runebound Professor

Lee sat on the curved top of the guest house, her legs stretched out before her as she watched the clouds move through the sky. It was chilly, but she wasn’t cold. A faint smoldering energy burned within her soul, seeping out into her body and keeping the chill at bay.

An ember swirled at Lee’s side, expanding out into Azel’s suited form with a small puff of smoke. “Fancy finding you here. You must be bored.”

“Not really,” Lee replied, not looking in Azel’s direction. There was currently a pie-shaped cloud floating overhead, and it was considerably more interesting than the other demon at the time.

Azel didn’t seem perturbed by her dismissal. “You’re fine with this, then? Sitting around on watch while they have fun?”

Lee shrugged. “I have fun too. It’s selfish to demand attention all the time. I’ll get my turn to get my Runes modified soon. I still need to figure out what I’m going to do to fix them. Again.”

“Selfish?” Azel was aghast. “Are you a demon, girl? Selfish? Of course you are!”

“Nah.”

“I – what?”

“Nah.”

“You can’t just say nah. You are a demon.” Azel’s eyes narrowed and he scooted along the roof to sit in front of Lee, who rotated around to look the other direction.

“Being a demon doesn’t mean I have to be a dick,” Lee said. “You’re the reason Moxie thought all demons were evil.”

“Evil is a term that the weak use to describe someone that does not behoove themselves to cowardly beliefs. We are not evil. We are powerful.”

“You are. You don’t get to decide what I am,” Lee corrected. “I’m Lee.”

A small puff of smoke rose up from Azel’s smoldering features. He pressed his lips together and shook his head. “You are deluded. Somewhere, you lost your way as a demon. Why do you allow them to treat you like this?”

“Like what?” Lee cocked her head to the side.

“See? This is the problem! You can’t even tell what’s wrong!”

“Neither can you. You’re just trying to annoy me. Annoying things is my job, and I like it that way.”

Azel ran his hands through his hair. “Noah and Moxie are flirting in her mindspace, I’m sure of it. And you’re fine with just sitting here?”

“Yep. Why wouldn’t I be?”

Azel stared at her. “Are you dense?”

“Only when I want to be. Why would I care if they smell like each other? I like them.”

For once, Azel seemed to be at a loss for words – at least, he was for a few seconds. He quickly recovered himself and sent Lee a smug look. “Because you aren’t there with them.”

“That’s fine. I’ll be there later. They need time alone just as much as everyone else does.”

“You’re kidding me. You’re okay with giving Noah away like this? You love him! You said it yourself.”

“Giving him away?” Lee’s brow furrowed. “What do you mean? He’s not an object. Nobody can take or give him. And you can love lots of people. Moxie said so.”

“That’s different.” Azel latched onto the line, his eyes intensifying as the flame within them burned brighter. “Even a fool could see that they’re in love. There isn’t going to be any room for you if that happens. If you don’t stop it.”

Lee nodded thoughtfully. “Oh, yeah. Moxie talked about that. Romantic love. That’s fine, though.”

Azel practically choked on the air. “What?”

“There are 2 kinds of love,” Lee said, holding two fingers up. “Romantic and platonic.”

“Exactly. And there’s only room for the two of them in romance.” Azel crossed his arms in front of his chest. “Leave things as they are, and you’ll be pushed aside. That’s why you need to–”

“Nope.”

“Stop that. You can’t just say no.”

“Yes I can. You’re wrong. There are two kinds of love, remember? The other one is the one between friends. It’s no better or worse than romantic love – it’s just a different kind. That’s what we have.”

“Do you really believe that?” Azel demanded. “You don’t think they’ll throw you to the side? You’re a demon, Lee. Once they’ve used you up, they’ll toss you to the side. You need to be proactive. You can’t just sit here and do nothing.”

“You know what?” Lee turned to meet Azel’s eyes. “I think you’re unhappy.”

Fire flared across Azel’s face before slipping back under his skin and vanishing into his suit. “You’ve completely lost it.”

“Then you’re just trying to cause trouble.” Lee glared at Azel. “It’s not going to work. I smell your lies – and I’m sure you know I can. If I’m wrong and you aren’t just lonely and bitter, what are you getting out of this?”

“I am trying to help you,” Azel snarled. “Demon to demon. We aren’t in the Damned Plains right now. We have to look out for one another, at least until the time comes when we’re strong enough that we don’t need the help. I’m just trying to fix your course.”

“You’re trying to fix something that isn’t broken.”

“Says the demon that doesn’t even know what emotion she feeds off.” Azel stood and brushed his hands off before straightening his suit and looking down the bridge of his nose at Lee. “At least I know who I am.”

“I do know who I am, though.”

“Is that so? Tell me, then. Who are you?”

“Lee.”

“That’s the name Noah gave you. It’s not who you are.”

“I am who I decide I am. And, for all your complaints that I don’t know what emotion I feed off, I feel perfectly happy. On the other hand, you’re miserable. It smells so strong that I couldn’t miss it if I wanted to. So – between the two of us – who really doesn’t know themselves?”

Azel ground his teeth. “It won’t last. The only thing that lasts is power. Put your faith in others and they’ll rip you to shreds if they betray you. A demon can only rely on themselves.”

“If.”

“What?”

“You said if,” Lee pointed out. “And part of having friends is believing in them. I wouldn’t be friends with them if I didn’t trust them. For all that power you’re talking about, you’re still trapped inside Noah’s soul. And, if you try to take revenge when you come out, we’ll kill you.”

“As if you could stand against me.” Azel let out a bassy chuckle. “I’d rip you to shreds.”

“Me, sure. Me and Moxie, maybe. Me, Moxie, and Noah, less likely. And if we had Silvertide and Revin as well? Who knows. We’ve got friends, Azel. You’re alone. You don’t have to be, though. If you didn’t constantly choose to be a dick, you could have friends too.”

“You understand nothing. Everything that comes out of your mouth is tainted by the folly of youth that should be reserved for stupid humans, not demons.”

“And everything that you say seems like you’re scared,” Lee countered. “Why are you here, Azel? I’ve never heard anything about demons trying to help each other out. I’m not stupid. I can tell you want something. You’d have better luck just asking me for it than all this roundabout stuff.”

“Even if I did, it would be pointless. You’re lost,” Azel spat. “No demon left in you at all. Giving you my Runes was a waste.”

“Does that mean you’ll give up on whatever this is?”

Azel sent Lee a cold smile. “No. You’ll come to see the truth soon enough. We’re demons. Moxie was right about one thing – we are the same. You’re just like me.”

“You know, the more you say that, the less I believe you.” Lee stood up as well. Even though she stood more than a head shorter than Azel, she matched his gaze without flinching. “You came to talk to me because Noah and Moxie made you feel how you’re saying I should, didn’t they? You’re lonely.”

“Lonely?” Azel cackled. “Me? A Rank 5 Demon, lonely? On the contrary. I long for solitude more than anything else. I have been subjected to this… vile company for far too long.”

“Right,” Lee drawled. “I don’t believe you. I think you wanted to talk to someone and were fed up with getting told to screw off, so you came here. But, you don’t know how to just talk to someone normally, so you tried to rile me up and get emotions out of me. Isn’t that right?”

“You are wrong. Completely and utterly wrong.”

“You say that, but I know how it feels to be hungry. I’m usually hungry.” Lee’s stomach rumbled, proving her point. “But you can’t feel love toward food. It tastes good, but you can’t love it, because it can’t love you back.”

Azel gave her a blank stare, baffled. “What is that meant to mean?”

“Figure it out yourself,” Lee replied. “But if you keep trying to get us to hate each other – well, first, it won’t work. But if you’re the demon you claim to be that only looks out for himself and nobody else, then you should realize that you’re going to stay unhappy if you don’t change.”

Azel smoldered. His entire body shimmered in a haze of heat, but it didn’t expand far enough to reach Lee. It was nothing but showmanship. She was pretty sure Azel physically wasn’t even there with her – her Runes were running hot.

He’s using the Runes he gave me to form a basic connection. Not enough to do anything but talk. It would be pretty easy to just cut them off and force him away, but then he’d go bother Noah and Moxie.

Azel didn’t respond. His body burnt away, turning into smoke and fading into the air. Lee watched the space where he’d been for a few moments, then returned her attention to the clouds passing by above.

She felt bad for Azel. She’d been on the Damned Plains for around twenty years. He’d been on them for hundreds. The idea of being trapped in the hellscape for that long, without friends or anyone to speak to, filled her with dread.

I wonder if I’d be just like him if I’d been there for all that time. I just wish he’d stop trying to manipulate everyone. If he keeps this up, we’re going to have to find a way to kill him.

Lee sat back down at the roof and returned her gaze to the sky, trying to see if she could spot any more shapes floating within them. But, to her annoyance, the clouds had pulled back during her conversation with Azel. All that remained was clear sky.

Letting out a sigh, Lee tapped her fingers against her chin. It wouldn’t be long until Moxie and Noah finished up working on the runes. Hopefully, they’d be successful. But, even if they weren’t, Lee refused to let Azel dampen her mood.

A sudden weight settled down on Lee’s lap. She looked down in surprise to find that Mascot had somehow completely evaded both her eyes and nose to curl up on top of her. The cat’s red antlers shimmered with energy as it let out a low purr.

Lee stared at Mascot for a few seconds, then repressed a snicker. The cat looked up at her, as if to ask what’s so funny?

“I was looking at clouds that kind of look like things,” Lee said. “But you’re a thing that kind of looks like a cloud.”

Mascot sniffed. The cat curled up, entirely unamused by Lee’s joke. There wasn’t going to be any more moving now, so all she could do was wait. Fortunately, that had been her plan anyway.

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