A New Path

"I…", Vanya began, sounding completely different from before. Her commanding, authoritative air was completely gone; replaced by a nervous, but still calculating demeanor. She had made up her mind, but was now having trouble actually going through with it.

"You don't have the strength to fight me right now, do you?"

Jason was so stunned by the way she spoke that he didn't fully grasp what she was saying at first. The way her hands fiddled with her vest, the way she spoke, eloquent and full of emotion…It didn't match the image that had been put into his head.

He had even watched those demons ripping people's heads off and crushing bodies as they fled. They were monstrous and terrifying. And yet, this woman sounded as human as he was.

Of course, after his surprise wore off, he had to deal with what she had just said.

"Ummm…" he began, but broke off. He needed to be able to think on his feet if he was going to make it out of this, but what could he say to that? More importantly, how did she know?

"Who told you this?" he asked finally.

"So it is true," Vanya said, gaining confidence word by word. "The tellers never lie, but I still couldn't believe it when I saw your aura. And you obviously aren't completely helpless. That was some decent illusion magic you did back there."

"I didn't say that I wasn't…"

"You didn't kill me on the spot for asking and then make your own gate back to the homeland," Vanya said. She had almost completely changed once again, now much more laid back, as if she were chatting with an old friend. "You don't have to worry though, I think you mostly convinced the others, and I won't tell them your secret."

Jason stared at her blankly. "Thanks…" How did someone respond to this?

"I still have to know though," she said, eyes narrowing onto Nora who was no longer holding onto Jason. "What is with the human girl? I don't understand what you possibly could gain from holding onto her like that."

Nora stomped forward towards Vanya before Jason could respond. "I'm standing right here, you know. You can talk to me if you have something to say."

Vanya didn't move, she just stared at the girl in front of her. The demon was sitting on the ground, but her head still rose well above Nora's standing in front of her. Jason didn't blame her. He was just as bewildered as the demon. Vanya looked towards Jason.

"She is with me," he said, hoping that the girl wouldn't contradict anything he said. Actually, he probably had better stick closer to the truth for that very reason. "Her family was…attacked by the bandits that you killed."

He was wary of scaring her too much, but Nora was entirely unfazed. "I want to become a demon like you. I'm going to be strong enough that I don't have to worry about anything."

Vanya continued staring at Jason as she spoke, "I see. We'll have to see what we can do then."

Nora seemed excited at the prospect and she jumped a little bit as she bounded back to Jason's side. He smiled at her excitement, though inwardly he couldn't fathom what she was thinking right now. "So what else do you know about me," he asked Vanya.

"It isn't what I know," she said. "It's what the tellers told me."

"Who are the tellers?" The words came out before he had the chance to stop them, and he instantly saw that they were a mistake.

"You really are human aren't you?" she said to herself. "The tellers said that you would be, but somehow I assumed that they were speaking figuratively in some way." She stood up sharply, drawing her sword from the sheath on her back. "They said you would be human, but I can't just put my trust in you that easily," she said.

"How do I know that you aren't just some kind of spy sent by the humans to help them win this war once and for all? For all of these years, only they have been granted a true hero, so why now? Why only now after thousands of years do we get a hero to fight with us, and why is it one of those disgusting creatures?"

Jason could see that she wasn't angry. Not really anyway. It wasn't that he thought she wouldn't kill him. He couldn't afford to think that, but the way she talked seemed so…frustrated?

"We can't trust the forces of darkness," the sparrow said suddenly. She had been silent for so long, Jason had nearly forgotten she was there.

"How can you be so sure," Jason thought back at it. "She doesn't seem anything like you said she would be."

"I just know that the forces of darkness can't be trusted," the sparrow said, though it seemed confused as well.

"You don't really know any of this stuff do you?" Jason realized. "You don't know anything about the forces of darkness or why I need to go to the capital, you just know that I need to do it." Jason was feeling more sympathetic towards the sparrow, but he could only take it so far. "Surely you can see how hard it is for me to just accept what you're saying when everything that I see seems to be showing me the opposite," Jason thought.

"Well? Answer me!" Jason jumped, realizing that Vanya was addressing him again. It wasn't easy holding two conversations at once. It was all just so ridiculous.

He had been tossed into this world with no knowledge on what to do, and it seemed like his "guide" or whatever the sparrow was supposed to be had barely any more knowledge than he did. It was all fine and dandy for it to say humans are good and demons are bad, but Jason hadn't had a single decent interaction with a human since he got here, and this demon woman seemed far more sensible and reasonable than anyone else he had met, though that wasn't really saying much. It was easy for it to say, "go to the capital and overthrow the evil hero," but actually doing it?.

I'm supposed to push away the nice demon lady and help the humans who don't want anything to do with me. Then I have to go to the capital where the people will try to kill me, and even if I avoid them, I have to fight the hero. And the hero, by the way, has tons of awesome magic powers that I should have, but don't because of reasons. He had had enough.

"Vanya, I have no idea what I am doing here and I don't know what I'm supposed to do. I don't know who to fight for and who to fight against, and I don't even know how to get the power that I'm supposed to have. All I know is that all of the humans that I've talked to have wanted nothing to do with me, and while I can't say the same for all of you, you at least, seem like a decent person. I don't know why you and the humans have been fighting like this for so long, but if I'm going to be a part of it, I don't have any more connection to the humans than to you. If that means I have to die, then so be it. I never asked to live this life anyway. Just please don't hurt the girl whatever you do to me."

"Well, I suppose that makes my job a lot easier," Vanya said, approaching Jason, sword still drawn. She looked dead serious, and tired to boot, but there was the hint of a smile that didn't touch her eyes. Not a smile of amusement, a sort of ironic smile. The smile of someone who knew from the start what she would have to do, but still hadn't wanted to do it.

Vanya continued forward until she was just in front of Jason. Another time he might have flinched back in fear. He probably should have, but he was just too tired to care anymore. This second life had barely lasted a single day and he still felt like it may have been too long.

Vanya tossed the sword in the air, flipping her grip, and drove it into the ground in front of Jason. He sighed, not knowing if it was relief at avoiding death or frustration at avoiding death.

"I already knew most of that," Vanya said sitting down in front of her sword. She had driven it down nearly to the hilt in the dry ground. "The girl is a surprise, but the rest was exactly as the tellers predicted." Even seated, she loomed over Jason. He hadn't felt this small since he was a kid.

"So you aren't going to kill me?" he asked carefully.

"Well I could," she said, wringing her hands. "I think most everyone else would expect me to. I think even I would expect myself to if I didn't know what little I did, but the tellers said that you were the only hope of ending this war."

She studied Jason as if to figure out what about him was special. Jason didn't feel particularly special. Or if he did then it wasn't the good kind of special. Too many people had too high expectations for him. He would have felt bad if he wasn't feeling so much self pity lately.

"If you think I'll be useful for helping you win, then I'm afraid you might be disappointed."

"I never said you would help us win," Vanya said, face downcast. "I said that you were the key to ending the war." What she left unspoken didn't make Jason feel any better.

"When are you going to take us to the demon city?" asked a voice from Jason's side. He had almost forgotten she was still there.

"Why are you so intent on going there?" Jason asked the girl. He still hadn't even introduced himself to her. How was she?

"Why do you want to go to our homeland?" Vanya asked for him. Her voice was gentle now; gentle but firm.

"Because you are strong," Nora said with fire in her voice. "My dad…" she gave the first sign of hesitation that Jason had seen. "My dad always said that you weren't as evil as everyone said. He said you aren't like the bandits out here. He said that demons have honor the same as men and if he had to choose between bandits and demons he would choose the demons every time."

Vanya and Jason looked at the girl. Jason couldn't help admiring her. She had conviction that he just couldn't seem to find anymore. What she said was crazy, but it was less crazy now that he had met Vanya, and more importantly, it gave her fire.

When Jason thought about it, she was in a strikingly similar situation to him. His family may not have been killed, but they were just as far out of reach as her's. He felt ashamed at how easily he was giving into hopelessness. Hadn't he resolved just yesterday to become a man that his family would be proud of? Even if they never saw him again.

"Well, I guess we're fighting with the demons then," Jason said standing up. He wouldn't give in yet. He couldn't give up while this little girl was so willing to fight on even after what she just went through.

Nora's eyes lit up at that. It wasn't the giddy smile that a girl her age should have. She wasn't smiling at all, but Jason could feel the determination in her eyes radiating from her. "So we're going then?"

"Not yet," Vanya interrupted. "You wouldn't make it five steps if we went back now."

Jason was confused. "So what are we doing then?"

"You don't know? We have to help you regain enough power to be recognized as the Demon Resplendent. The tellers said that you would know where to go."

Know where to go? Demon Resplendent? He didn't know anything…The sparrow had flown out of its hiding place in the grass somewhere. She cocked her head at him without saying anything, and he already knew what she was going to say.