THE QUEST

"Your father won't take it lightly with you." Feturi said to Yuki as they took a stroll in the castle.

"Why? It's for a good cause." She argued.

"Yuki, the law is that no demon is permitted to stay on earth for more than three days without returning home. We both know that you would never find her in at least two years."

"Sometimes I wonder why you were made my guardian." Yuki sighed in frustration.

"That's because there are things I know that you can never understand." She smiled. "Six thousand years is not a child's play." She added with a pat on Yuki's shoulder.

"Look, in situations like this I'm very positive that there's an alternative. We just need to...."

"Yuki, stop being rebellious. You're the child of the demon lord. It was and still is a very big shame to the whole of Mystika and especially your father, that his son, the crown prince, violated the golden rule. Do you want to follow the footsteps of your brother?" She interrupted.

"I'm not doing the same thing he did. I'm just getting revenge for him. That's all!"

"No demon can be in the midst of humans for a long time without developing human emotions." Feturi warned.

"I'm more than immune to things like that." She countered.

"You have no idea what you're talking about. Your brother learnt the hard way, you're not even as hardened as he is."

"So what are you insinuating?"

"Don't think of leaving this place."

"So, what? Are we just going to sit here and let things be? We're not going to get revenge for Zuki?"

"You talk like I'm a part of this. What do you mean 'we'?"

"I just need your help. You're the only person that has the information I need."

"Well, I can't help you because I won't deliberately push you into danger. Humans mean no good for us so don't bring up this topic again and I'll pretend you never made mention of a thing like this. Am I clear?" Feturi asked sternly. It was time for the elders meeting and she had to leave immediately to get to the venue on time.

"Yes." Yuki grumbled. She knew there was no other way she could convince Feturi so she decided not to push things further. She would find a way by herself. Revenge was all that mattered as far as she was concerned and she would do everything possible in her power to get it.

"Good. We'll talk later." She smiled and vanished, leaving Yuki alone at the entrance of the castle.

Yuki sighed as she walked briskly through the hallway to her room. She needed a perfect strategy, but her head was completely blank of thoughts on what to do.

She had been working effortlessly to come up with different plans which didn't end up well and her last option was Feturi but the result was also fruitless. She needed to quickly come up with something and the fact that she wasn't getting any inspiration annoyed her. Her watch beeped, waking her up from her thoughts. It was a reminder of an expired contract.

She smiled as she teleported herself to her home on earth. This was one of the things she enjoyed as a demon. She had made so many deals with humans in desperate need for something and took their souls as an exchange for it.

"What do I wear?" She thought out loud as she searched through her wardrobe. She fondled between a black and a red hooded trench coat and decided to wear the black one, since she was not in a great mood.

She snapped her fingers —one of the methods of using her powers— and she was immediately dressed up; black hooded trench coat over a black blazer dress with black tall boots. Then she took out her favourite black mask, wore her hood up, and teleported once more to meet Jaita, the unfortunate human whose time on earth was up.

"You're few minutes late." Jaita said as she walked into her room. She was seated beside her window and was clearly waiting for Yuki judging by the way she spoke to her and the door was slightly opened too.

"What do you mean?" Yuki asked in confusion because this was the first time a human was never afraid of their death day. In fact this one right here even reminded her that she was late.

"This is 3:40pm, the last time we met was eight years ago and we sealed our deal at exactly 3:35pm. That's the time you were supposed to be here right? I was beginning to think you had forgotten about me." She smiled.

'Maybe this lady is tired of life', Yuki thought. She opened her right hand, and a black card stock paper fastened with an orange ribbon appeared. It was the contract they signed eight years ago when Jaita was stranded in the car accident that took her parents life.

"You remember this?" She asked waving it slightly. Jaita nodded and smiled faintly. How could she not remember the only option she had to survive and avenge her parents death. She was just fifteen years old when the accident happened, but she could still remember it as though it happened the day before.

She was grateful to Yuki for giving her a chance to avenge her parents death despite what it cost her and since she was able to do just that, she didn't bother to play games with Yuki, knowing fully well that it would be meaningless.

"Our agreement was that you'll die of a fire accident." Yuki stated.

"I remember."

"That'll happen the moment I leave this place." Yuki added, and the paper in her hand immediately caught fire.

"Okay." She whispered

"Why are you not objecting anything I say?" Yuki blurted out. "Other humans usually run round and struggle and fight when this time comes."

"Not everybody are the same. I knew what I was getting into before I agreed to it. And I accomplished what I wanted so there's no point in stressing you."

Yuki smiled at this point.

"I like your mindset. There's no point in stressing me. If only others can be like you." She said and turned to leave but stopped suddenly as she got to the door post. Something had crossed her mind.

Turning swiftly she squinted at her. "Is it that you're tired of this life?"

"Huh?"

"Are you not so bothered to leave this earth because you're tired of life?"

"No. I've stated my reasons."

She smiled. "How about we make another deal?"

"I'm not interested. What's the point of signing another contract when a day like this would come eight years later. I had a purpose of living these past eight years but there's nothing that would motivate me for the next eight years. So no, thank you."

"It's a lifelong something. It's a deal to counter this current deal. Look, I only make deals with desperate people and there's nothing you need badly now, so I'm making this deal for myself and not for you."

"So what if you get tired of this agreement? What happens to me?"

"I can't get tired of it. And perhaps something like that happens I cannot break my own end of the bargain. I'm a demon. We're known for keeping our words."

"What's the deal?" Jaita asked after contemplating for a while.

"Be my human acquaintance!" Yuki smiled.

She flinched, cleared her throat and spoke up. "You didn't have to shout, you know?"

"Did I? I'm sorry. So what do you have to say?"

"I won't die when you leave?"

"You won't." Yuki assured her.

'Why should I refuse?' Jaita thought. She wasn't going to die again.

"Okay. I'm in."

Again, Yuki opened her right hand and a black card stock paper fastened with an orange ribbon appeared.

"I thought you destroyed that few minutes ago?" Jaita asked curiously.

"It's a new one." She replied and it was indeed a new one.

After taking out the ribbon, she snapped her fingers and a fancy golden pen appeared. After writing down the terms and condition of their new agreement —all of which took place with the paper floating on the air and the pen doing the write up on its own— it was time to seal the deal.

"Your thumb?" Yuki requested as she made some movements with her index finger. A needle-like crystalline object then appeared, which she used to prick Jaita's thumb as well as hers, so she could draw their bloods for them to sign the deal.

After they did that, the ribbon fastened itself to the paper and once again it disappeared into thin air.

"I've got a publishing company. The famous Pearlson." At the mention of Pearlson, Jaita's eyes widened. "I'm a writer of novels too." She added. "I don't know if you've ever heard of Hidden Treasure and The Last Rite. Those are my most successful novels." She bragged to an open-mouthed Jaita.

"You're Yuki Taikiru?" Jaita managed to ask while Yuki nodded in response. "How come I didn't recognise you in pictures?" She added.

"That's because you can't recognise a demon unless they want you to. And in most cases it is the day your contract ends with them." She explained.

Suddenly, as if she was being remoted, Jaita jumped on Yuki with wide arms. "Wow, I can't believe my favourite idol, Yuki, is right before me!" She squealed.

"What are you doing?" Yuki asked, wriggling herself free from her hug with a frown on her face.

"I'm expressing my happiness. You're supposed to return the hug by opening your arms wide to hold me close to yourself." She replied with a grin.

"You don't look like a child. Why are you being so childish?" She asked and smacked her head.

"Ow!" She scowled.

"That's very disrespectful. I'm definitely older than you."

Yuki plastered a full smirk on her face. "How old are you?"

"How old do you think I am? I'm twenty three." She replied with a smug look on her face.

"Do you know how old I am?" Yuki asked, her smirk not fading a beat.

"How old can you be? You don't look like someone that's even up to twenty."

She sighed. "You forget that I'm a demon. I'm five hundred years old. There's a big gap," she paused to emphasise that with her hands, "between our ages."

She cleared her throat. "Whatever."

"I was arriving at something before you interrupted me and that's one thing I..... in fact let's start with the rules and regulations of this partnership.

One, you are not permitted to interrupt while I'm speaking.

Rule two, you're not allowed to disturb me when I'm busy.

Three, you look like someone who loves arguments, therefore, on no account should you disagree with me. I'm always right, don't raise your voice at me. Whatever I say stands whether you are pleased with it or not.

Four..." she paused, "there's no four for now. As time goes on, other rules would be added. Am I clear?"

"Things are not done that way, you cannot....."

"Can you state rule three for me?" Yuki asked with a straight face.

"Listen to me fir...."

"Rule three?" Yuki prompted with her hands.

"On no account should I disagree with you." She grumbled.

"Now," she paused, "not only did you break the third rule, you also broke the first rule; 'you're not permitted to interrupt while I'm speaking'. You must be wondering how you broke the first rule, but it's very clear. When I asked you if you understood what I said, your answer was supposed to be a simple 'yes' so I could move on, but you refused to do that. I wonder why humans are so complicated." She shook her head in dissatisfaction.

"Anyways, what I was going to say, before you interrupted me the first time is that you would be working with the company as my personal assistant beginning from tomorrow. It's a one in a million opportunity, so I hope you won't plan on wasting it. I'll be here first thing tomorrow morning to pick you up. How's that?"

"Awesome." Jaita smiled, hoping not to piss her off by making the wrong statement.

"Good. Nice doing business with you." She said and vanished after they shook hands.

"Find her and avenge Zuki," Yuki smiled to herself as she walked into her living room. She knew she would never be able to accomplish her mission alone that's why she decided to get a human acquaintance.

After all, she knew little or nothing about humans and she was very sure Jaita would be of a very great help to her.

But a human acquaintance wasn't enough for her. A human acquaintance could never be close to enough, to unravel certain things she needed to know.

"Fuafo!" She clapped her hands excitedly, but sighed in disappointment almost immediately.

Fuafo was known as the oldest living Mystikan and also the wisest, with a lot of powers. He was described as one with answers to every mystery, but no one had ever seen him. Hence, he was regarded as a myth. Only Zuki and Yuki truly believed that he existed, even though there was no way to prove his existence.

After racking her brain in vain, she decided to take things one step at a time and wait for things to fall in place naturally, just as she unexpectedly got a human acquaintance.