11 Who am I to You? (3)

The child scurried over to a place where the crests and lines seemed to converge while muttering to herself. 373 found herself drawn to the seal that was on the floor. Her cheeks were flushed with excitement. The seal was complex and was something she had only seen in the grimoires and the books about demons. Among the drawings she could recognize the King Solomon's Grand Pentacle and the Fifth Pentacle of Mars. Both were used to subdue and control demons and were recorded in a book she had read a few weeks ago. Yet to use both at the same time along with other enchantments? That was possible?

"Child, I am Astaroth – Duke of Hell and brother of King Lucifer and Beelzebub. I know the past, the future, and all the secrets of the world. Yet you, an insignificant infant, dare to disregard my presence?"

The melodic voice sounded angry, yet at the same time there was intrigue concealed behind his tone. 373 stopped admiring the seal on the floor and found herself unable to reply. She momentarily forgot that she was in a room with a demon. She sat down on the cold floor, her expression serious. She had sought the owner of the melodic voice because it seemed to understand her and what she wanted.

She turned to face the Duke of Hell. Her voice was timid as she spoke. "Can you answer my questions?"

The light around them seemed to dim as the shadows swirled around Astaroth. "I only answer the questions of my master. And only those who are qualified can create a contract with me."

373 stared long and hard at him before asking, "What's a contract?"

"You truly are an infant," Astaroth said. Golden eyes seemed to shine with mirth as his lips curved into a smile. "It is similar to what humans call a promise. However, a contract with a demon is one that grants the contractor with great power at the expense of the contractor's soul."

The little girl held her breath. If she had the demon's power, would she be able to escape Elisium along with Michael and Leon?

Before she could voice her thoughts, the demon in front of her chuckled. "Child, do you even understand what forming a contract with a demon means?"

After a few seconds of silence, 373 innocently replied, "I… can read about it."

"A demon is a creature that feeds on life. To use a demon's power, you would be burning your energy and life force while demonic miasma poisons your body," Astaroth explained. "An adult can become a shadow caster and live for a month. However, a child like you would last no longer than a day. It would be pointless to form a contract with me."

"What if I make a contract with a demon… but not use its power?" 373 asked.

The demon closed his beautiful eyes in contemplation. "That would defeat the purpose of the contract as you would be unable to use the demon's power but still become bound by the contract to sell your soul."

"Oh," 373 muttered. A defeated expression appeared on her face. She wanted power to escape Elisium. But she didn't want to leave Elisium only to die the next day. She abruptly stood and dusted her clothes. There was no use forming a contract with Astaroth. She might as well go back to her bed before someone discovered and undid her illusion spell.

The demon couldn't help but help but raise its eyebrows at the child who didn't spare him a second glance. "Leaving so soon, child?"

"No use being here." She said with a nod. As she turned to leave towards the imposing double doors, Astaroth's melodic voice echoed in her ears.

"Then, shall I make a proposition, pueri?"

373 stopped. Black eyes looked at the golden orbs that sparkled. The demon returned her gaze with his own as his lips quirked up. "If you can remove the seal on the ground that keeps my soul contained within this body, then I will consider owing you a favor and acknowledge you as my master. I will be your aide until I find a delicious morsel that shall become your substitute for my next meal..."

"Also," Astaroth continued, "If you manage to retrieve my body from this artifact, then I will spare your life and your soul. Either way, the contract would be nullified, and you would get to live out your life as an ordinary human being."

The female's eyebrows perked up as she listened to him. "You mean, if I can undo the seal, you'll become mine?"

If uttered by an adult woman, the words would have made up a very interesting proposal. 373 had no idea that her statement could have been taken in a different way. After all, she was a child. However, the demon in front of her wasn't an innocent youth. He was a Duke of Hell who had lived thousands of years and had seen how humanity had risen and fallen in those fleeting centuries. A mischievous glint appeared in his golden eyes as a smirk graced his perfectly shaped lips.

"Yes, I'll become yours," Astaroth answered. His voice held and oddly seductive undertone that 373 did not understand. "But a child breaking this seal is impossible, pueri."

Her black orbs shone with determination. "I can break it."

His honey-colored eyes glimmered as he teased her. "You cannot."

"I can, too."

"Cannot."

"CAN." She hissed. Creases appeared at the space between her brows. She inflated her cheeks like a little angry chipmunk.

The demon laughed. "If you insist, allow me to make this promise unbreakable."

Black wisps appeared from the floor and touched the space below her left collarbone. A black pattern star decorated with intersecting lines and fleur-de-lis shaped tear drops bloomed on her chest.

"This is mark is my mark – a symbol of my promise to you. It is something that only you and I can identify, unless you willingly decide to show it to someone else," Astaroth said, "No matter where you are, I will find you as long as you bear my mark. As long as you have this mark, ego sum semper tecum."

She tilted her head as her lips curved into a frown. "In English?"

The demon chuckled. He translated the words for her.

"I am always with you."

***

A flash of bright red flashed inside a dark deserted hallway that was surrounded by machinery. This was Michael's hideout whenever he wanted to run away from the normal hustle and bustle of Elisium. But what he was running away from wasn't the experiments or the sight of blood. He was running away from the memory the little girl had brought out from his consciousness – a he had kept in a corner of his mind for so long. Yet now, the memory was flowing out like waters breaking free from the dam he had created to keep it in.

Michael leaned on the wall and slowly slumped to the cold floor. He felt suffocated, like the air around him had disappeared. He couldn't hear the hum of machinery or the audible vibrations from the cooling system. He was still replaying what Aria had shown him. If he closed his eyes, he would be able to see the infinite blue sky, the meadow that seemed to stretched forever, the little girl with black intelligent orbs, the plastic ring that she wore on her little finger, and the flower crown that embraced her earth-colored hair.

A smile made its way to Michael's lips, but it didn't reach his eyes. His orbs held a deep longing and sadness that he couldn't hide. He had never met her parents, could vaguely remember her last name. But Michael knew that she was named after a song – her mother's favorite song: "Aria Dalla Suite no.3 in Re Maggiore."

Her name was Aria Asterope.

Back then, he was nine years old and the little brown-haired girl was five. Yet Michael could clearly remember everything like it was yesterday. He could still hear her small voice, could still feel her warm hand inside his. He could still remember looping his little finger around hers as the female innocently declared: 'Let's get married when we get older!'

Then, after a year, the Great Apothecary took her away. Maria Caelum told him that Aria had an accident – that in order to save the child, the Silas Fidi had put her under a Cryogenic Sleep in a glass tube, like a princess frozen in time.

Her explanation was complicated. She said too much and explained too much. It almost seemed like his mother was trying to convince herself instead of her grieving son.

Every day, he would ask his mother if Aria had woken up. Every single day she would tell him to wait a little longer. For five years, Michael Caelum waited for the girl to return. Until one day, neither her mother nor her coworkers could remember that Aria had existed. The glass tube was empty. The girl with ebony eyes and brown hair had disappeared from the face of the earth. Her existence had been chalked up as his imaginary friend.

But he could remember her. Aria still existed in Michael's memories. To him, Aria Asterope was still alive.

He retraced his mother's steps and as he studied in Luminae Academy, Michael aimed for an internship under the Great Apothecary just to look for the little female. After three more years, he stepped foot inside Elisium. The laboratory's records on Aria Asterope had been erased.

He found a classroom with an old phonograph and a record of the song that she was named after. He didn't think that the antique would lead him to the girl he was searching for. But it did. And that was the most important thing to him.

He was seventeen, almost eighteen. She looked like she just turned eight. She didn't know him. She didn't even know her own name. But Aria was still Aria. She was still the same little girl who held his hand under the infinite sky that embraced the world. She still had black eyes that had an immeasurable depth and hair that was the color of earth. She was still the same little girl who promised to marry him. She was still the same girl who had taken a piece of his heart and his soul.

Michael rubbed his face with his hands. A tired look was plastered on his face but his eyes were gleaming with determination. He understood that Silas Fidi had taken her away because she had a power not even the Great Apothecary could explain. However, Michael Caelum was no longer the innocent child who could only wait and listen to his mother. He was no longer the weakling from eight years ago. He had found the person that he had been seeking. This time, he was going to protect her and watch over her like the guardian angel that she never had.

This time, he was going to save her. Even if it cost his life.