A Demon Wanders the School Halls

Now that Seth had run off, Alesha had some time to herself. What she would do with it was up in the air, though. Should she figure out a way to complete her quest? Maybe adjust to this world a bit first? She wasn't sure. So she decided to wander for now, observing her surroundings, and take the opportunity to complete her quest if it came up. 

As she wandered, she got several passing glances from students clad in dark wizards' robes, which clearly served as the school uniform. The robes were a deep blue color with the school's purple logo on the right breast. Not all of the students were human, either. Mixed in with the humans, Alesha saw what she could only guess were a few different varieties of elf, as well as the occasional half-orc and even some kind of human-sized fairy. He was taller than she was, with moth wings and antennae. This, together with the world's slightly lower gravity and the way students casually discussed magic, really drove home that she was on another world right now.

Just how far from her world was this one? If the boy who'd summoned her had really heard of the same beast that had attacked Faxton, did that mean their stars were relatively close to one another? The System had already confirmed the existence of dragons in the Milky Way, so was it possible that she hadn't even left her galaxy? It was strange to consider. She'd always expected that the Summonings she'd read about in web novels and comics would take humans from Earth (or whatever human-inhabited planet) to entirely different dimensions, but what if that wasn't the case? What if, in the grand scheme of things, she hadn't even left the quadrant of the galaxy that she was from?! There was a lot to think about and it was all very disconcerting.

With a chuckle, she realized that was a very apt word to describe her existence these last few days. Ever since waking up in the hospital after the attack on Faxton, her life had been nothing BUT disconcerting! 

One after another, the "truths" she'd taken for granted were summarily uprooted and/or completely overturned. Dragons are a myth? Nope, they're real. You live your whole life with only one person in your head? Not at all, have a super-chatty System commentating on every aspect of your life 24/7. A life form stays the species it's DNA codes it to be from the moment it's conceived? Nope, you're going to undergo "evolution," a concept that's supposed to apply to a whole species over hundreds and thousands of years, overnight! Not to mention acquire a bloodline that neither of your parents possess and oh, you didn't have at birth. 

Now, after all that, she was summoned to another world and practically forced into a Demonic Contract, with her as the demon? Things had certainly taken quite the strange turn. It was hard to believe that it hadn't even been 100 hours since she'd awoken from her short coma. 

Thoughts turning towards home, she wondered what her family was up to. It had probably been around an hour or two since arriving in this world. She'd vanished just before dinner, what would they do when they found her missing? Would they be scared and worried for her? It pained Alesha to think about it, knowing there was nothing she could do to alleviate their fears, if they had any. She could only hope against hope (unlikely as it was) that as she continued to stay disappeared, they wouldn't contact the police and report her missing. When she returned, she would have no easy explanation as for how and why she disappeared… and she didn't relish the thought of trying to come up with one later. It wasn't like she could say, "Ah, so I was summoned as a demon to another world and had to help this kid out with his Dark Wizard examination. I'd have declined but they threatened to kill me if I did, so I was kind of forced into it. Sorry." 

If the Alliance believed her, who knew what kinds of intense interrogation they'd put her through, and what kind of experimentation or studies they'd do on her afterwards. And if they didn't? Well, they'd certainly detain her in some sort of mental hospital or something. Neither possibility was particularly attractive. And the idea of some other thing that she couldn't think of happening was just as scary.

Alesha was now meandering down the main hall of the Academy. Dozens of large portraits lined each side of the huge main hall, each framed by a unique frame that complimented the painting it held. Some of the portraits were of Dark Wizards who were quite old, while others looked like children; some were incredibly dry and poised, while others were shockingly lax, even downright kooky. A few portraits were even of Dark Summoners alongside particular demons. Alesha stopped in front of one such portrait that caught her eye.

In this one, a wizened man with a kind smile squinted at the viewer, shriveled form hunched over in a plush red chair. Behind the chair, a creepy, tall demon clad in a vibrant red circus ringleader's coat smiled so wide it literally took up half his head, which was rather like a combination between a frog and a lizard. His mouth was stuffed full of thick, sharp teeth fitted together so perfectly they reminded Alesha of a zipper. The demon's white-gloved hands rested on top of the back of the chair. He wore a navy blue top hat with a single gold ribbon on top of his otherwise bare head, purple slitted eyes smiling malevolently at the viewer. The rest of the demon was cropped from the image.

Beneath the portrait, a mounted plaque proclaimed, "Harold Selvenon the Dark Summoner and Zorhellian Fa Qinfeerus, "Spawn of Loki" Demon. Widely acclaimed for taking down the Erthellon Syndicate together during the reign of King Uther the Third. After this portrait was painted, Harold paid the agreed price for the demon's services and allowed Zorhellian to torture him then eat him alive. Students are cautioned against making similar deals, and encouraged to be more prudent in their dealings with demons."

"Yikes," Alesha said, having taken a subconscious step back after reading the portrait's plaque. Still, though, she felt a strange sort of admiration for the pair. She was impressed with Harold for being so cheerful despite knowing what was coming, as well as for having the guts to make such a drastic deal in the first place. What sort of threat did the Erthellon Syndicate pose that he had been willing to be tortured then eaten alive by a demon to get rid of it? What sort of man had the courage to do so?

As for the demon, she wasn't sure why she felt a sense of admiration for it. Was it for having the guts to ask for something so brash, then follow through with it? Or was it for being so powerful that such a deal wasn't outlandish to begin with?

[I'm not certain, but that demon might be a variety of Chaos Demon,] the System interjected. [That might explain why you feel admiration for it. Your instincts are marking it as a being to be admired, and possibly emulated.]

Seriously?! This statement from the System made Alesha want to take back the admiration she felt for the creature. That terrifying demon was possibly tied to the same powers of Chaos she was?!

However, Alesha found she couldn't. If she was honest with herself, the knowledge that such a demon was associated with the powers of Chaos made her excited. It made her eager to discover what she could do, become, and get away with as she grew in strength. 

It was this reaction, her own eagerness to discover what she could do with the powers of Chaos, that scared her the most. Maybe the people of this world were right… maybe, on the inside, she really had become a demon.