"Focus, William!"
The elder demon's voice was sharp and commanding. William bowed his head toward the other demon, acknowledging his higher rank. "Yes, sir, I can do better."
Vincent nodded, a small smile on his face. It was his second day of training the newest demonic conversion in the realm, and the new arrival was already showing promise. –Master Lucifer knows how to pick the right candidates to become one of us.–
William had yet to have a successful realm-travel, and his frustration at the process was evident. He had always been a fast learner in his previous life, and his lack of success with stepping between the realms was aggravating him. Vincent was patient with him, encouraging him, but firm and commanding. The elder demon was not allowing Wiliam's focus to slip or his frustrations to get the better of him. Vincent had taken William to a main area in a heavily populated area of the UnderKingdom, where Lucifer would gather many of the Lost if he wished. There was a raised platform for their master to rise above the crowd.
"Try it again. We are not going to realm-travel a far distance, just from the stage to the black spire ahead of us." Vincent gestured to one of the many large and ominous black spires that rose from the ground, reaching toward the sky.
William nodded, and closed his newly-red eyes. He took a deep breath, and cleared his mind, putting all his concentration on the spire that Vincent had indicated. William took a step forward, and opened his eyes. His vision could not focus; and he distinctly and faintly heard Vincent speak; "Do not panic, William, this happens to everyone, you have Split. Splitting happens to everyone, well, most everyone, when they are learning. I will explain what happened after I fix the problem, okay?"
"...okay."
William's vision restored, and he no longer felt terrible. "What just happened to me? What is Splitting?"
The older demon's red eyes would not meet William's. "So, like I said, Splitting happens to most everyone when they are learning. Edward Split, Adam Split, and Hellena Split while I was teaching them too. It is a partial success of a realm travel. So your left half successfully made it to the spire. Your right half…did not."
William began to panic. "I was in two different places? I was two halves of myself? How did that not kill me?!"
Vincent gave a sigh, William's panic was unnecessary to him. "So, you know how we also call it "stepping between the realms"? That is because we step between the three realms, to the Realm Between the Realms. Splitting leaves part of you in one place, part of you in another, and part of you in the Realm Between the Realms. That is why you do not die. The Realm Between the Realms connects your halves when you emerge in two different places."
The new demon began to settle. "Okay, that makes me less…uneasy. How did you fix my Split?"
"That is simple. I just realm-travelled next to your Split half, and appeared next to your other Split half. Stepping between the realms while having my arm around your Split half brings you with me. It puts you back together. Again, Splitting happens to nearly everyone when they first learn, it really is alright."
William looked at his feet. "I have another question, but I don't want you to be frustrated with all the things I ask…"
Vincent gave a knowing smile. "Go ahead. I know you are a new convert, and there is so much to learn, so much to adapt to. What is it you wish to know?"
"I've seen you and the other three demons realm-travel. You all appear and disappear in a cloud of red smoke. Master Lucifer has his cloud of black smoke when he realm-travels. Will I eventually have the smoke too?" William's newly paper-white skin flushed with embarrassment; he had yet to have a successful realm-travel, he felt silly asking about something so trivial.
The elder demon nodded. "Yes. Once you master the realm-travelling, you will begin to have the same smoke as the rest of us. Do not worry, it is the sign of the demon. You are one of us, and you will carry the same marks as we do. Give yourself time, you have not yet spent a fortnight as a demon; you will develop your full range of abilities as you age. Your body is still adapting to its new form." Vincent's words were calming and reassuring, and William felt his tense body relax, no longer feeling foolish.
Vincent placed his arm around William, and encouraged him to step between the realms together. They moved together as a unit, and appeared in the Great Hall. William smiled; he could realm-travel with a guide, he knew he could do it himself with enough training.
"Our new recruit has arrived. How are we doing today, gentlemen?" Lucifer's words purred toward the demons from the throne, the Ruler of the UnderKingdom lounging casually.
The demons bowed toward their master, speaking together. "Greetings, Master Lucifer." The words still felt odd in William's mouth, but he was grateful for his second chance after his mental breakdown had caused him to murder his son's killer, so he made his best efforts to learn the realm's customs.
Lucifer grinned his devious smirk as the men spoke, and William looked up to see Edward sitting on a bench beside the throne. Lucifer waved his hand carelessly as he sat sideways in his throne, his feet over the arm. "Pull up a bench, men. Sit with us."
Vincent and William each grabbed an onyx bench from the wall of the Great Hall, pulling it toward the throne and their master. William felt that as the newest demon, he had not earned the right to sit close to Lucifer, and allowed Vincent to place his bench closer to the throne. As the others joined them, Edward quickly disappeared and reappeared with drinks, passing whiskey around to his master first, before finally taking a drink himself.
Lucifer sat straighter in his chair, his posture giving a commanding air. He swirled his drink, looking up from the liquid to his newest demon. "So, William, have you decided your path here?"
William had not been prepared to be addressed directly by his master, and fidgeted on his bench. –My path? What does he mean? I don't want to make a fool of myself in front of my lord, but I don't want to give the wrong answer here either…–
Edward's ruby eyes narrowed as he watched the new demon squirm, and he nodded. "Your path, William. There are several things a demon can do. Vincent and Hellena each go out into the several Cities of the Lost to ensure the torments are being carried through. Hellena is…particularly good at that. Mostly, the Tormentors set up the punishments of so many Lost that day. Some days for the Lost are punishments, some days there is nothingness."
"I chose not to be a Tormenter, but rather to serve Master Lucifer. I spend my days ensuring everything Master Lucifer needs or wants is tended to, and I also usher in the new arrivals to the UnderKingdom." Edward paused, placing his drink down before ensuring that the other men in the room still had enough in their glasses.
"Adam has his own task. He guards the Beyond. He keeps the Shapeless from passing into the UnderKingdom from the Aether Barrier. The Aether Barrier keeps the Shapeless in the Beyond; in their own space of torment and horror. To allow the Shapeless to pass into the UnderKingdom would allow beings of rage and revenge into a realm of the Lost. They are kept separate for a purpose; we do not want the Shapeless and the Lost to influence one another, to create chaos and relentless rampage upon us."
William fidgeted; Adam's chosen pathway was definitely not for him. –Could I perhaps forge my own path here? To become something…different? Something that speaks more to me?–
Vincent's sanguine gaze followed his student. "Your pathway needs not be decided now. Finish your drink, William, we will go back to working on your realm-travelling again."
Lucifer nodded. "Of course. Do not feel any rush to choose. Focus on your basics first. But I do look forward to hearing what you are interested in being, my dear William."
William nodded; he was ready to focus back on his training and forget the horrors of Adam's lifestyle, and the pressures his new master had placed on him to pick a pathway in his new life.