23 Chapter 23 Cherry
Grey picked up the small girl, who couldn't be more than four or five, and carried her as they all fled. The death of the demon, and the destruction of the portal had left the room unstable. Dust and stones were starting to fall as they ran.
They didn't stop until they were completely outside of the sewers.
"I'm tired," said Cherry, the little girl.
"Let us head back to Bob's bar to rest," said Grey, as everyone nodded in agreement.
"We can decide what to do with the child there," said Airow.
"Surely, we can't keep her with us, it would be far too dangerous!" said Grey.
They made their way back to the city gates, to see that Ray's group had been very successful in hunting the demons within the city. People were talking about how courageous they had been then entire way to Bob's bar. All signs of a fight outside the bar had disappeared, and they ducked inside without any trouble.
Sitting down at an empty table, Bob approached from behind the bar.
"A round of food and drinks for everyone?" he asked.
"Oh, yes!" exclaimed Guit, not having as much trouble climbing into his chair, as he had before coming to the city. His human form was taller now that his true form was.
"Yes, please," said Grey, sitting Cherry down in her own chair.
"It'll be two silver for the kid," said Bob, motioning to Cherry.
Airow pulled out two silver and handed them over.
"Spill it, kid, what was your dad up to in this city?" asked Guit, eyeing her seriously.
"Guit!" exclaimed Grey, horrified.
"No, it's okay," said Cherry, holding up her tiny hand at Grey. "I'm used to how rude demons can be."
Airow tried to hide his smile, but finally gave up when it was obvious no one else was trying to hide one. Even Guit had a bit of a smile at the small girl's words.
"My daddy was being used by the elder demon to keep people from bothering it. If he failed, the demon was going to kill me."
"Like a puppet?" asked Guit.
"Yea, that's what it was. Daddy had to keep the people praying to him, so the elder demon got power, because daddy looked more like them then the demon did. But he was a dailmond, not a demon, so he tried to do good things for the people, instead of bad things, like the demon would have."
"I guess that explains why the elder demon was using him, but it still seems like a lot of effort just to avoid using a human form," said Grey.
"No, you don't understand," said Guit. "It's way more than that! The elder demon used him in dealing with the humans, yeah, but he was also the sacrifice if anyone came to steal his power, or oppose him. While the opponent went up against the Juggler, the real threat could show up in the background and slaughter them. We were super lucky that Argen was there to stop him!"
Argen shrugged as he picked up the cup of hot tea that Bob set down in front of him.
"The things we need to decide are, what to do with the little girl, and how to deal with the elder angel that's going to show up soon, now that another portal has been destroyed," said Airow.
"I'm half demon, so if you don't keep me safe, other demons can take me and use me," she said, picking up her fork and stabbing the piece of ham on her plate.
"Use you how?" asked Grey, not sure she wanted the answer.
"Oh, the normal things that demons use kids for, killing, sex, keeping portals opened, torture. Daddy kept me safe from all of that, but because we were prisoners, I still know that they do those things. Though, now that he's dead, I'm going to start aging again."
Grey shook her head in sorrow, too horrified to answer.
"Aging?" asked Guit, shoving a huge helping of eggs into his mouth. Yolk dribbled down his chin, onto the table.
"Yeah, when daddy got catched, he cursed me to stay little like this in mind and body, until the day he died. That way I couldn't be used by some of the demons without killing him. He said he was too important. But now that he's gone, I'm going to grow up. I miss him," she said, putting her fork down and pulling her knees up in her chair, to hug them.
Grey looked at Airow, who seemed perplexed. They felt horrible that the little girl was orphaned, but she confused them. A normal child of her age would be howling in sadness or exhibiting some form of grief. She just seemed exhausted.
"I'll take you up to the room to rest," said Airow, not caring for the food that had been set before him. He was sure it was delicious, having come from Bob, but it just didn't compare to the manna he missed.
"Airow, take your food with you, so you can eat. It does us no good if you grow weak from hunger," said Grey.
"As you command," he murmured, nodding. He took his plate as he led the little girl up the flight of stairs to the room.
"She's cute," said Guit, stabbing his piece of ham and ripping a bite out of it.
"She's off limits!" declared Grey, horrified that she even had to say it.
"Eh, I don't care for them that young, but there's something about her," said Guit with a shake of his head.
Sipping from her mug, Grey felt herself growing sleepy. They had been incredibly busy, with very little time to rest. If there was a fallen elder angel about to attack them, they needed all of the rest they could get.
When the rest of them reached the room to rest, they found Airow sitting in the corner of the room, holding Cherry in his lap. She was curled around one of his arms, fast asleep.
With a tired shake of her head at the cute scene, Grey moved over to the bed and climbed into it.
