The next day,
Lucifer made Juin go through all the books they borrowed from the public library, especially on the books that listed down the supernatural beings. After all, Lucifer did not know all the types of supernatural beings, especially those from other dimensions. Hence, he had to study them just in case.
Of course, such a situation was rare, since The Nightmare Rift was often visited by beings from other dimensions and the high-ranked creatures within The Nightmare Rift would also visit other dimensions from time to time.
"Can I take a break now?" Juin asked as he massaged his thighs. "I've been reading for hours…"
"You can," Lucifer said nonchalantly as he lay floating in midair, "if you are ready for more training…"
"Urgghhhh…" Juin groaned as he banged his head against the table a couple of times.
It was a good thing that Wesley had gone out to play or he would have to call for help again.
As Juin continued to fill in his brain with as much information as possible, Lucifer could not help but glance at him from time to time.
"Hey, vessel…"
"Mm?" Juin replied absentmindedly.
"How much of your life do you remember?"
Juin stopped reading and looked up at Lucifer. "Not much… Why?"
"I'm curious."
Juin thought for a while before saying, "I don't remember much. Just that I spent all my time with…"
His expression changed slightly when he thought of his old friend. He then looked down at the book and continued reading.
"With Ashton?"
There was a moment of silence before Juin nodded and murmured, "Yeah…"
"Is there anyone else? Like someone older maybe?" Based on what he found out from Mrs. Martin yesterday, someone had been protecting Juin, and this person had to be near Juin from a long time ago.
Juin shook his head. "At the orphanage, it had always been me and Ashton. Other than Max, Ashton didn't like it whenever I talked to others, so we had always played together. It wasn't like I needed anyone else anyway."
"What about the accident?"
"Nothing much. I don't remember much about it. The therapist said that the memory loss was due to shock." He then shrugged nonchalantly. Perhaps it was best that he could not remember. He was already having a hard time with the little memory that he could remember. Somehow, he had a feeling that if he figured everything out, he might not be able to take it.
"Aren't you curious?" Lucifer asked while trying not to show his eagerness.
Juin hesitated for a moment before shaking his head. "No… Not really…"
"What if--"
"Your Majesty, no offense, but I don't want to talk about this, alright?" Juin said clearly as he kept his eyes on the book. He knew he would be punished for this, but Ashton was one of the topics that he would willingly take the punishment for instead of talking about it.
Lucifer wondered if he should burn his vessel for being insolent, but in the end, he decided not to. "It wouldn't be good to force him now…" he thought. He had to get Juin's body and mind up to an acceptable level before forcing the memory out of him.
Besides, he just needed to tire Juin out one afternoon so that he could always take over Juin's body and visit the orphanage, which was only a couple of minutes walk away.
…
The next day,
Early morning, after breakfast, Juin walked Wesley to the bus stop and waited for him to get on the school bus before heading to Max's house.
He had called Max yesterday, so he knew around what time they would leave the house. Since they were driving, it meant that they did not have to go so early compared to taking the bus. So, Juin took his time walking to Max's house.
"Juin…"
"What?"
Lucifer was standing on Juin's shoulders, much to the latter's discomfort even though Lucifer weighed nothing, when he said, "Don't stop walking. Someone's watching us…"
Juin stopped for a split second before continuing to walk at the same pace. "W-who?" he asked, shivering a little from the thought of the person watching him. It was still extremely early in the morning; the sun wasn't even fully up! Whoever that was, it was just pure creepy!
His eyes glanced around, but he could not see anyone.
"I don't know… I sensed it the moment we stepped out of the house. It was a very subtle aura, barely noticeable," Lucifer said as he looked behind Juin. If not for his heightened sense after signing Ka'Za's Soul Contract with Juin, he would have missed it.
From a distance, he saw a cat perch on a tree branch while watching their every move. With a smirk, he murmured, "Shapeshifter?"
"Shapeshifter?" Juin's eyes widened slightly. "Wait! A werewolf?!"
"No…" Lucifer shook his head. He stared at the cat for a long time before saying, "No, not a shapeshifter. But someone is watching us from far away."
"Huh?" Juin was confused. "From far away?"
"Remember what you read yesterday? Some beings could send their familiars to do things for them. That's what's happening now, I believe… Anyway, I think that person is just watching us for now."
Believing that whoever watched them could not harm them at the moment, Lucifer turned away from the cat and said, "You need to get stronger, faster. Stronger enemies are coming. They are only watching you know, but they aren't going to be so passive forever. Stop being such a wuss. When you get to the new school earlier, you need to get new underlings. The more eyes and ears you have, the better prepared you would be."
Juin nearly puked out his breakfast. "What do you mean new underlings? I don't even have an old one! Besides, who would be my underling?"
"Beat them up until they submit to you!" Lucifer snarled as he punched his right fist into his left opened palm.
"I would consider myself lucky if they don't strip me naked and tie me to a flag pole!"
Lucifer floated down from Juin's head and was now walking next to him. "Why are you so useless? Let me takeover your body then! I'll beat up the alpha at the school, then everyone else can be your b*tch!"
"Hell, no!" Juin snapped as he looked at Lucifer, wondering if all demon kings were same like him. If he allowed Lucifer to take over his body while at school, Juin was worried that he would no longer have a school to attend when he took back his body.