It was night by the time Kasey paused to rest. She sat down on a fallen tree. Why the tree had fallen was the last thing on her mind. what was on her mind was how broken her legs felt. And how badly her arm ached. It might've been basically healed, but it was still sore from the whole event. Kasey took off her bag and pulled out a water bottle and an apple. She took a few short swigs of the water before putting it away and putting the bag back on. She slowly ate the apple as she used her demon eye's powers again to peer around her. She was alone for now.
The phone she stole chimed and Kasey jumped before peering down at the screen. It was a message.
"Have you not arrived?"
Kasey sighed and texted back, "a few miles north still."
"I see."
Kasey took another bite of her apple as she jumped down from the tree and continued her walk.
Shobek paced back in forth on the lawn while Belasco went around the whole house to make sure he wasn't mistaken. But Shobek knew she wasn't here. And he also knew that whatever she was up to, was not a good thing.
"I checked!" Belasco finally called from the front door. "You're right. She's gone. But I am also missin my phone and a bag. And they also took some food rations. Which...doesn't make sense."
Shobek paused, staring at Belasco in confusion. "Indeed. Since a demon can just teleport her away, there would be no need for food. Unless they planned to walk her all the way there."
"But she would've put up a huge fight about it and burned down the house." Belasco put his hands in his hoodie pockets as he watched Shobek.
"Did she just leave then?" Shobek walked back into the house and sat down on the couch, covering his mouth, thinking.
"I don't understand why she would though," Belasco stated, following behind him.
"Well, if she DID just leave, she couldn't have gone too far. We can still catch her... But we need to figure out where she had gone. She probably took your phone to use the map. So where would she be heading?" Shobek stood up and walked back outside.
"Uh, if I was a weak ass human I would stay inside," Belasco responded while pulling out a phone.
"I thought she took your phone?" Shobek asked, looking at the small device Belasco held.
"Why do you think I only own one?" Belasco asked smiling. "I always keep an extra."
"Can we track your main phone then?" Shobek asked.
"Oh, no. She took my backup, this is my main." Belasco answered lifting up the phone and pointing to it.
Shobek gritted his teeth slightly as he re-asked his question, "can you track it?"
Belasco grimaced, "I don't want some bitch tracking me!"
Shobek covered his face with one hand while the other rested on his hip, "so no?"
"No! Of course not! I keep my location secret, twenty-four-seven!" Belasco snorted, crossing his arms.
Shobek threw up his hands in frustration, "Fine! Any ideas where she had gone, though?"
Belasco looked back down at the phone and looked carefully at the screen, "Nope."
"You're as useless as Apophis." Shobek stormed back into the house and flopped down on the couch, sighing. Belasco followed close on his heels.
"Rude," Belasco responded while swiping his finger across the phone screen. "At least I'm more popular! I got a few texts from somebody. Oh, gross, it's THAT guy."
Shobek laid his head back as he took a deep breath to calm himself down.
"Wait, I didn't send him these messages.....Oh. OH. OH! I'm not useless after all, friend! I know where Kasey is goin!"
Shobek lifted his head and looked at Belasco doubtfully, "where?"
"To meet up with Mammon!" Belasco showed Shobek the phone screen cheerfully.
Kasey walked in silence for awhile until she heard the phone chime again, looking down at the screen she paused then looked around her.
"I see you."
Kasey did a three-sixty turn and frowned when she still couldn't see him. Finally, she called out, "where are you?"
Mammon stepped out from behind a few trees and smiled, "Why not use that demon eye to find me?"
Kasey paused before answering, "I can't use it properly without it causing me pain."
Mammon frowned and nodded, "that makes sense. It's made for a demon's body. Not a human's. Now, how about we go somewhere a little more private? That isn't your phone, so I am sure they will be heading to that set of coordinates very soon if they haven't already arrived, that is."
She instantly frowned, "how would they know the location? I have his phone."
Mammon looked over his long sharp nails casually as he answer, "oh, Belasco has two. So unless you grabbed both, they are probably coming after you right now. Though I am sure you'd prefer to have your questions answered by then?"
Kasey slowly nodded, "Can you promise not to kill me or sell me? If I say I'm leaving, you will simply bring me back to this location and leave it at that. Okay?"
Mammon hid his frown behind a smile, "So you will only come with me if I swear to bring you back to this location as soon as you say that you are ready to leave?"
Hesitating, Kasey slowly added, "you can't do anything to refrain me from speaking either."
Grinning, he nodded, "fine, fine. So be it. It's a deal."
Kasey took Mammon's outstretched hand and watched in amazement as chains of light appeared around their arms before disappearing again. "what....?"
Mammon smiled and hooked his arm around her shoulder, "that makes it so that neither party can break their end of the deal. Though I usually only make deals with people that can offer me something valuable in return, I find that I have a small soft spot for you. Now, shall we be off?"
Nodding slightly to his question, Kasey watched as Mammon lifted his hand to make a black inky mirror appear in front of them. He then pulled her along with him into the mirror-like portal. Kasey stepped into a room that looked like an office with a red-carpeted floor and mahogany bookshelves and a writing desk. Mammon quickly escorted Kasey to a chair in front of the desk before he walked around to sit behind it.
"Now, you have some questions for me, Kas?" Mammon asked smiling as he crossed his legs and put his fingertips together.
"I want to know how to overstep my human boundaries and to get stronger quicker. I need to be on par with the other demons here, or else I am most certainly going to die. Even if I train for years down here, there is no way I stand a chance..." Kasey blurted out before thinking.
Mammon paused, caught off guard by her sudden boldness, "You fear your own weakness then?"
"I...Don't want to be a burden to anyone. And I want to be able to pay people back when they help me. Like you. I need to get stronger so I can eventually pay you back for all that you've done to help me so far..." Kasey looked down, she felt like she was sitting in front of a principal right now and her heart was racing faster than she wanted it to.
"Well, I hate to be the one to tell you this, but you can't ever surpass your own human weaknesses." Mammon slowly uncrossed his legs and leaned forward on the desk. Kasey's heart sank, she figured that was going to be the case, but hope still had a way to tell her she could be wrong. "Unless you stopped being human..."
Kasey looked up at him confused, "what?"
Mammon slowly stood up and walked around the table to lean on it in front of her, "you could always become a full-fledged demon. Then your power would be far stronger than it is now. You are only partially demon right now. But if you were able to become a REAL demon, you'd be very powerful."
"A...demon. I can become stronger by becoming a demon? Is that even possible?" Kasey slowly asked, thinking it over.
"Well, I'd have to gather a few things, but that wouldn't take too long. But yes, it is." Mammon watched the girl in front of him think it over.
"Will...it hurt...?" Kasey has had her fair share of pain. She wasn't sure if she could take much more.
Mammon shrugged, "demon pain tolerance is higher than a human, but I suppose it might hurt a bit. Like a shot from the doctor."
Kasey looked at him skeptically before looking at her still aching arm, "what would it take...?"
"I would have to strike a deal with Pyro to get your heart back. But that shouldn't be too hard. And the other things...well... those shouldn't be hard to collect either. Although, I should warn you, with power comes many consequences."
"Consequences?" Kasey looked up at him, worried.
Mammon nodded, "for instance, you can be tracked by your power. Especially if you don't know how to control it at first. Those sudden spikes of power, even the smallest spark, can be sensed by other demons. But with power comes a whole bunch of opportunities! If I were you, I would risk it!"
Kasey slowly nodded, weighing the pros and cons in her head. She suddenly paused and widened her eyes, "wait, what do you want out of this?"
Mammon put a hand to his chest as if her words hurt him, "Kas, didn't I tell you I had a soft spot for you? I just want to help a hurting friend! That's all..."
"No, you must want something else. What is it?" Kasey watched his movements carefully before Mammon sighed.
"I want you to keep your brute of a boyfriend from killing me first, and secondly, if you ever lose control, you cannot destroy any of my business! Otherwise, you will work to pay back whatever you destroy!" Mammon crossed his arms and watched Kasey closely.
"I don't have a boyfriend." She calmly replied, though her fingers started to fidget with each other.
"Whatever. Just keep him from killing me after this encounter. Oh, and please do something about your pesky ex as well. He's been annoying me day in and day out." Mammon walked to the double doors behind Kasey.
"My ex? I don't have an ex." Kasey's face twisted into one of confusion as she turned around to watch him.
"Samael has been searching for you nonstop. And since I have the most information he's been coming to me for days asking about you." Mammon replied while he peeked outside and waved a servant over. He quietly gave her instructions and waved her off as he turned back to Kasey. "He started to look ragged at this point. I'm pretty sure he doesn't sleep anymore. You really should send him a message."
"He was sent to kill me, why would I talk to him?" Kasey turned back around and crossed her arms.
Mammon chuckled, "because he's also the one that spared your life. And is determined to protect you."
Kasey slumped down in the chair, "I don't want people to protect me...I want to be able to protect myself..."
"But you are still only human. You have your limits." Mammon replied, walking over to her. "unless...you make the deal that is. I unlock your demonic potential, and you keep me from death's door at the hands of Shobek and figure out how to send that pesky Samael away. And perhaps come visit me again sometime?"
Kasey slowly stood up and crossed her arms nervously, "will it be okay if I change my mind later on...?"
Mammon paused and smiled, "I don't see why not."
Kasey hesitated for another moment before sighing and taking Mammon's outstretched hand, "It's a deal then."
"Wonderful." Mammon smiled and shook her hand as the chains again wrapped around their arms and disappeared. "This is going to be fun!"