Changes (2)

"'Clavicula Salomonis'? What's this doing here? Did Master come down here to check on the seals? Or did you manage to convince one of our researchers to break the seal without telling him that you were going to eat his soul?" Asha Claire asked, her high-pitched voice reverberating in the quiet hallway like the clatter of broken plates. The woman cleared her throat and stared at the book she hadn't seen in a long time, her eyebrows shooting up and hiding behind her bangs.

It truly had been a long time since she had last visited this secret room that both she and Silas Fidi had constructed in Elisium. The last time Asha Claire had seen the demon she had trapped was some ten-odd years ago – Elisium had just been built and they had found a little girl who caught both hers and Silas Fidi's attention.

The female child's talent was unique. Her body, even more so. The child was born with miasma: the dark energy that was poison to anything alive and was the same energy the demons fed on. The amount of miasma flowing through her veins was quite small, almost unnoticeable. But it had sparked the curiosity in the master-disciple pair which made them want the little girl.

If they merged the child's body with a demon's, would she survive?

If they exchanged the girl's blood with that of a demon's, would the child gain eternal life?

Would it enable Asha Claire to live forever?

Starting from that day, the Great Apothecary's successor had went through great pains to acquire the little child's body from under her parent's noses. With the use of her Talent, she planned a flawless accident that couldn't be traced back to her or her Master. She waited for a couple of years before she executed her plan. The woman even made sure that the child's injuries were severe enough to threaten the child's life but could be cured by either her or the Great Apothecary.

But the child disappeared. And apparently, there was no way to track her. All that remained was a damnable demon that neither cowered at her presence nor acknowledge her existence. The demon never saw her as it's captor. He had acted like a king on a throne and not a prisoner chained to the wall.

The female researcher had collected holy artifacts: a Cross from Calvary, the chains that were used in the Holy Crusades – all to torture the Duke of Hell and put him in unbearable pain. Yet the demon didn't flinch. Even as he weakened, he continued to treat her like an insignificant spec of dust on the floor that he could choose to ignore or blow off if he wanted to.

Asha Claire stared up at the Duke of Hell. Astaroth closed his golden eyes, his figure becoming still and oddly reminiscent of a marble sculpture. She didn't know why, but the Duke of Hell's attitude always rubbed her the wrong way. The blue-haired woman's expression darkened as she bit her lips and seethed. "You..."

"You always act like you don't care, that all beings are beneath you," Asha began as she walked towards Astaroth's unmoving silhouette. The more she recalled the amount of effort she had wasted on capturing the girl and the demon, the redder her face became. Her steps were heavy like the hatred behind her voice. Her frustration was apparent. "But I own you. I trapped you. You have no right to look down on me!"

The demon's eyelids cracked by just a fraction, giving Asha Claire a glimpse of the golden orbs that lay behind them. Although the seals on the floor and the enchanted artifacts kept him chained to the room, he had not lost his cold and royal demeanor. The demon's chin was tilted upward, almost like he had pride to spare. Even when Asha Claire kicked the book across the floor, Astaroth's expression remained uncaring and passive. The Duke of Hell maintained his silence. His lips didn't move by even a millimeter. His chin was tilted upward while his eyes continued to look down, just like a monarch looking at a commoner.

"You're always looking down on me! But I'm the future Great Apothecary! I'm the legitimate successor of Silas Fidi! You don't have the right to look down on me!" Asha Claire stomped her foot on the floor. Every time she brought her foot down, the place she stepped on formed cracks that scattered through the rest of the wide room.

She screeched. "Gah! I don't even know why I came down here in the first place! Why did I come here? Think. Think!"

Her long thin fingers found the contours of her face. She massaged the sides of her wide forehead as she continued to pace around the room.

"Calm down. Calm down." She chanted. "I'm here to check on the demon's state. The bug upstairs that's planning on stealing from Master hasn't discovered this place. The seal is intact and no matter how many souls it feeds on, the demon won't be able to escape."

"Ah… The bug," Asha Claire muttered. All traces of anger disappeared from her face and she became a stoic unfeeling creature as her eyes studied an artifact in the room. She walked towards the Iron Maiden – the metallic human-shaped casket that was lined with spikes and lightly tapped its exterior. The casket let out a hollow ding. Her lips rose up.

"Maybe I should use this monolithic antique on it once I figure out who it is?"

Her long fingers caressed the surface of the iron torture device. She imagined putting an actual human being inside the Iron Maiden before slowly pushing down on the spiked cover. Her eyes glimmered as she got caught up in her fantasy, her smile growing bigger. After a moment, the light in her eyes died and the smile disappeared. She harrumphed. "Damn. Cleaning after the bloody mess would be too troublesome. Master wouldn't like it. Might as well not."

Asha Claire was too absorbed in her own thoughts that she did not notice the usually stoic demon stare at the metallic artifact with raised eyebrows. The moment she had snapped out from her trance, Astaroth's gaze was aimed at the double-doors that served as the only exit of the room. Asha Claire's puckered lips formed a sneer that showed a row of big teeth. She tapped the Iron Maiden with her foot and strode towards the doors before kicking them open with a bang.

"Give up. I've already re-written the spells behind the Doors of Destiny," the female researcher muttered and shook her head, sending her blue hair swishing left and right. "They're nothing but double doors with restrictive seals that won't allow anyone other than me and Master to enter this room."

"Besides, what is destiny when I can change it with my power? All the rules in the world can be changed by those who hold unquestionable strength. " Asha Claire smirked. "I'll become immortal. I'll become the most powerful Magno Deorum and make you bow down to me! You better look forward to it!"

The woman opened her mouth and a shrill laugh escaped her lips and echoed in the hall. She left the room and slammed the double-doors shut. Her gaze looked forward and never once glanced at the place that she left. Asha Claire was the same as her master in that respect : their eyes were transfixed on their respective goals and where they were going. Everything else, even the past, was insignificant. What mattered most to them was the future.

However, unknown to the woman who just left the room, the Iron Maiden wasn't empty. As soon as the secret chamber had become free from Asha Claire's stifling presence, a small female child opened the metallic torture device with one hand while carrying a piece of bread in the other. 373's eye brows were knitted together as her lips were pressed in a frown. The sound of clanging metal and high pitched screaming were still reverberating in her ears. Unfortunately for her, the sounds weren't muffled by the container. She helplessly made her way to her book which lied discarded on the floor while her ears slightly throbbed in pain.

373 looked up, her eyes glancing at the demon from across the room. Astaroth's eyes were staring right back at her and there was a mysterious glimmer in his golden orbs. Unlike the cold shoulder he had shown earlier, his face was full of life. His lips quirked and moved in a mesmerizing manner as he spoke with mirth.

"And that is how you ignore people, child," He said. The little girl in front of him couldn't help but release a long breath.

"She's crazy," 373 said. Black orbs studied the gigantic doors and the single dusty foot mark on its surface. Then, she shot the demon a glare before saying, "You're crazy."

Lighthearted male laughter rang inside the room. Astaroth's lips quirked up into a smile that would have made any grown woman swoon. "Then, do not become like us when you grow older."

Golden eyes studied the brown-haired female who was studying the runes on the floor like nothing had happened. He seemed to be considering something in the silence of the room. With a meaningful breath, the demon spoke. Although the words he spoke, weren't words one would expect from a demon.

"Shall I give you a piece of advice, pueri? The scales may tip in favor of those who have strength, but strength will always be relative," Astaroth began, his voice mellow and his words cryptic. "Strength is not absolute. Strength is not permanent. However, to become strong is a choice. And a choice, once made, is permanent – irreversible."

"Fate is something that cannot be controlled. But choices still ultimately shape your destiny." The demon's eyes closed – like a man recalling a distant past. When he opened his eyes, the female child could see a tempest swirling in their depths.

"Choose to become strong," he said. "Choose your own destiny."

The little girl stared at him curiously. Then, she replied with a nod and quietly said, 'okay'.