The Devil Others Know

The guard house was light inside, thanks to an abundance of magical lighting. There were no windows, so Kir wasn't entirely surprised to discover the place smelled like a locker room.

The lanky guard followed Kir, pushing him ahead until they arrived at a cell.

Kir's wings wound up scraping the top of the door, and he barely lowered them enough before the guard shoved him the rest of the way into the large, barred room, which was clearly more for waiting than long-term holding. He closed the door behind Kir with a clang before locking it.

In one corner was a bucket, which was oddly fly-free until he caught a glimpse of a dead one floating upside down in the obviously-not-water that was inside it.

In the other corner, a drunk beastkin in moderately well-to-do clothes was sleeping on the bench with his face toward the wall. He was very red panda-like, and just as tall as a regular person. His tail was tucked between his legs, but Kir could see a few patterns on it that were not found on earth's red pandas.

The cell's other occupant was a demonkin man, who strummed idly at a lute. He was dressed for travel in a duster jacket that hid some rather colorful clothes underneath. A narrow tricorn hat rested atop his head, and the tail gathered in his lap had a fuzzy puff of hair on the tip.

Three benches were present in the room, forming an open rectangle with the bars. They were narrow and up against the wall, which meant standing room only for Kir with his wings. He tried to be mindful of his tail so that it didn't touch the floor, which was littered with straw and detritus.

As Kir went to the back to lean, the other demonkin looked up.

"Welcome to perdition, brother," he said. "Coin for a story while you wait?" His voice was a clear tenor, very pleasant, and sold the image of a bard to Kir's mind.

"Sorry. Left my coin outside," Kir replied. "How long have you been in here?"

"Couple of hours. They like to make us wait, don't they," he grinned, then held out a hand. Kir noted an absence of claws. "Name's Lucifer."

Kir had just taken the man's hand when he immediately tensed. He had plenty of memories about how that name was regarded on Earth. "I'm Kir," he said, resuming his handshake. "That's... a unique name..."

Lucifer laughed as he withdrew the hand. "You think so? I've met a half dozen kin with it. It's very popular amongst our kind. When we're allowed to gather that is. Come's from The Tale of Lost Paradise," he chuckled.

Kir had to think for a moment. The title stirred a memory in him, some sort of class... English Literature? Lost Paradise... "Wait, you mean Paradise Lost?" he asked.

Lucifer shrugged. "Some bards call it that. That's not the fanciest name though. Some even change the names and endings around, but I try to steer true to the original by Readman the Bard. She is my muse, and I will honor her great works until I die!" he spoke with a dramatic leaning back and a hand on his heart.

Kir didn't want to tell him that her great works may have been plagiarized from Earth, especially since he didn't know all the details and for all he knew, Milton had come to this world as a girl. It felt unfair to potentially deprive Lucifer of his namesake, muse, and inspiration in one go... So he changed the subject.

"How come you don't have wings?" Kir asked.

Lucifer raised an eyebrow. "How come you do?" he asked back.

"Well... because my mom and dad had them I guess..." Kir scratched the side of his neck.

"There's your answer. My mom and dad didn't, so I don't. I'm fourth-generation... I think. Sometimes it does a skip, like with my sister. You must be first or second if you have those fancy reds... although I have to ask, got a little beastkin in ya?" He smirked in a way that was charming, and Kir realized he might have been hitting on him.

It made him blush a bit before he replied, "No, ah... not that I know..." he almost muttered. After his experience getting sold out by Morn he wasn't about to go blabbing that he was more of a "Generation Zero" than anyone could guess.

"So then you're a pure demon?" Lucifer asked.

"No, no! My mother definitely was not a demon... At least according to my father..." Kir made a calming gesture with his hands.

"Didn't know her?" Lucifer asked in an understanding tone.

"More like... didn't know either of them. I was raised by err... non-demon people... And I only had a brief talk with my dad, once, in my life. He was all about his contract with my mom and..."

Lucifer's eyes widened and his charming smile dropped away. "A contractual birth... that means your mom made a deal to have you... What did she get out of it?" His tone became curious and slightly intellectual, but the way he held himself spoke to something a bit... intrusive... that Kir wasn't comfortable with.

"I don't know," he admitted. "The contract was evaded or destroyed or something..."

"What!?" Lucifer shouted. "That sounds like an amazing tale! You must tell me everything you know!"

A guard from deeper in the structure shouted from out of sight. "Hey! Keep it down in there!"

Lucifer lowered his voice to something more conversational. "You have to tell me more about yourself. How epic was a battle of it to break the contract? Who's your father?"

"Err... it only took one spell, and he did kindof just hold it out like this," Kir extended an arm, "thinking it wouldn't work. And you really don't want to know who my father is..."

Lucifer nodded enthusiastically. "I get it, I get it. And where can I find you in the city? I want to hear all about what you have to say."

A loud clanging interrupted the conversation and a demonkin woman was led out by the arm past the cell. "Make sure you get my beauty marks!" she shouted back the way she came, only to be prodded into silence by the guard escorting her.

The guard returned with a mousy-looking woman. She looked mousy because she was small, instead of human ears she had big, golden-brown fluffy ones atop her head, with white internal fur, and a tail peeking out from a belted hole at the top of her skirt. Her hair and fur golden-brown in color. The tail was too big and fluffy to be a mouse tail, and a moment later Kir realized she resembled a human with fennec fox traits.

Aside from her skirt, Kir also noticed that her top was rather formal-looking, and had a crest over her heart. In other words, she looked nothing like the guards.

At the cell, the guard stopped, opening the door. "You two," he gestured at Kir and Lucifer. "You're next." He shoved Lucifer and then Kir to the front of him, telling them to move down the hall until there was a split. "Bard, you're on the left. You with the wings, you're on the right.

Lucifer turned to Kir right before they were separated. "Please, I must know in case we don't see each other."

"Shut up!" the guard said.

Kir made a split-second decision he hoped he wouldn't regret. "I'm going to be an Academy student."

That earned him a shove from the guard, and he made his way into an open door that led to a small, cubical room with two chairs and a table. The fennec-like girl followed behind him before they were locked in, and that's when Kir noticed that she was clutching a sketchbook against her chest.