Th Aftermath

Congratulations? Was he honestly saying that to him despite knowing what he had just witnessed?

He watched as the ropes that bounded him to the chair got untied.

His shoulders skilled and his arms hung limp at his sides as if he had been weighed down by an invisible chain.

Few minutes ago he was clamoring to be freed for him to atleast exercise his hands. Now that he finally was, it didn't even occur to him to do so anymore.

The people began to disperse and Ed noticed the candles going off one by one.

Lorraine left too. She couldn't even stay back to apologize for how she had denied him.

Or at least offer a explanation to why she had done so. Even if he had trespassed, atleast she owed him that.

But she left like he bothers without even staring at him twice.

Day had returned again, Ed could see from the rooftop but there were no sunlight seeping into the hall, and neither was one black candle going off like the others.

"You'll need to let a demon take possession of you from now on. You need not to resist them doing so" a voice called his attention back.

He turned to see that it was the man who had been clad in black and had flipped the coin before.

Ed stared at him in stark horror and with a questioning eye that could kill.

Had he not witnessed what he just did? Why wasn't he behaving as if he did? And why didn't he say anything even as some of people who seemed like cleaners had picked the bones off the floor.

"Don't get too comfortable Ed. The ultimate decision on your life is still coming. Today was just a welcome party. Don't forget to cultivate your demons before then" he advised before turning to leave like the others.

Ed couldn't even stand up from where he sat any longer, not caring about the nails or about the possibilities of them pricking at his skin again.

"Do I have the liberty of choosing which demon I'd give possession of my body?" Ed hesitated before he was able to let he words out of his mouth.

He regretted saying that but somehow he had no choice. It sounded weird when he had heard himself say such, but whatever it was, he was currently fighting for his survival. Father Romillon wasn't there to save him and neither was he even sure he would be able to return to the monastery after this.

What demons were there to take possession of his body? If he were allowed to chose which one, how would he know which one to chose from the list of options he might be presented with since what has just transpired before him this wasn't the only thing that would decide whether he lived or not.

It meant that something greater and bigger than what he had just witnessed was coming and it might be something he might not be able to be lucky in.

The man paused in his steps and Ed managed to stand up from the chair he had almost brown accustomed to.

Now wasn't the time for him to brood over the boy who had been devoured to bones before him. Of course his screams and cures for help still rang in his head but right now, he had to do whatever it was he could to get out of this place alife, well and untouched.

And only when he has found a solution to his survival in this unknown place would he properly think of what he might have done to Lorraine to make her deny him that way. He must have done something because there was no way Lorraine would betray him.

And even if she did betray him, he had to find out the reasons, so he would surpass them. So that next time, she would be the one begging him to claim her.

"Yes" the man finally replied his question after a while. His emotions unbearable, likewise the tone of his voice.

He looked back at Ed and he noticed that his eyes were normal now, and no longer red like they had been before. They were calmer, and white, like a normal human's.

Waiting in vain for Ed to ask him another question as so he had thought he wanted to due to the way his curious eyes stared at him, the man turned to leave. But only a few meters before he could reach the door did Ed's next question actually come, unconventional and startling.

"How many demons do I need to give possession of my body for i to become the greatest at this place?"

Ed's voice was cold and void of emotions. It was as if he death he had witnessed right in front of him made it so. But he couldn't deny the authority with which he had asked him the question.

He stopped again as he almost reached for the door, turning as Ed's question had grabbed his entire attention.

This wasn't what he was used to. In all his years of working as the demon Baron of the legion, no new member has ever asked such a question.

Others had been concerned about what they stood to gain and the little power there was for them to attain after joining this place.

But this young boy's question was different. Different just like he was. Explains the energy he had felt from him when he interrogated him, but not to the whole.

He intrigued him and at the same time left him speechless, unsure of what to say to him, or even what to give as an answer to his question.

It couldn't be him. There was no way it would be him. He reminded himself again. And after staring back at Ed for a few minutes, he turned his back towards him again and began walking out.

Ed dragged himself out of the hall too, fearing that a black smoke might appear from nowhere for him as no one else was in the hall.

Cultivating his demons. The phrase echoed in Ed's mind like a dark mantra. It looked like what he had to learn how to do now, but the thought sent shivers down his spine. Did the demons grant powers? Were they the same dark smoke he had witnessed in the dark hall during the occult meeting? Were they the malevolent entities Father Romillon had always warned bout? The same ones he had witnessed earlier, feasting on the boy's flesh?

His heart raced as he wondered if he was doomed to become a host for these dark beings. Would his body be overrun by them, consumed by their evil presence?

He tried to stop himself from letting such thoughts overcloud him but he failed woefully.

As he walked on, his feet felt heavy, as if weighed down by the burden of his newfound fate. Sweat dripped from his face and his eyes scanned the surroundings with a growing sense of unease.

He finally reached the main hall where he found other boys like him had gathered. The moment he stepped inside, all eyes turned towards him and their gazes pierced and were unnerving.

Ed felt like an outsider and a stranger in a strange land and the weight of their collective stare made him want to shrink away.

But as he stood there recoiling from shame and built he couldn't explain, he saw a very familiar face walking right past him, a face he wouldn't in his darndest life believe would.