Hedgesville, West Virginia
Caspian Residence
Monday, August 12, 1996
7:15 AM

The flashing, red numbers of the alarm clock that sat on her nightstand caused her to bolt upright in her bed. Jennie stared at the clock with panic then looked around her bedroom. Staring down at her hands, she noticed cuts in her skin. "So I did run through the woods?" she questioned herself.

"Then?" she whispered, pushing herself out of the bed. Standing in the middle of her room, she eyed everything. "What Rem said..."

"Morning," came a shout as Jennie shuddered and looked to her window. Curtains blew back and forth in the soft wind as Kasei sat on a tree branch that grew close to the window. "Feeling any better than you did yesterday?"

"What are you?" she asked, rubbing at the back of her neck. A queasy sensation rushed through her stomach as she gazed at the boy.

Making a swift jump, Kasei landed inside her room and stepped up to her. He gave her a faint smile and placed his hands on her shoulders. "Rem told you," he said. "We're demons."

"Demon," she repeated, staring down at the ground. "What the hell is a demon?"

"Well," Kasei started, but paused. "Not sure how to explain it. We're..." He looked to the ceiling as he placed a finger to his lips. "...humans. Sort of. More like super humans." He cocked his head to the side and smiled pleasantly. "We're different. You know how there are different breeds of cats? Well, there are different breeds of humans. I’m part of the breed known as a demon. And like how your breeds can be broken down into nationalities, demons can, too."

"Really?" Jennie questioned with a blank gaze.

"Hai!" Kasei said with a smile as he leaned forward to where their noses touched. "I am an animal demon. Rem is an esper."

"Esper?" she asked.

"Someone who can use telekinesis and things like that," he replied. "You saw it. Rem teleported in front of you. That's his gift."

"What's yours?" she asked. The world around her was spinning as she was trying to absorb what he was telling her.

"I can change into a cat," Kasei said. He leaned back and cocked his head to the side. He reached up to his hat and pulled it off as a pair of blue-gray cat ears protruded through his blue hair.

"Oh my God!" Jennie screamed, backing away from him. She pointed a trembling finger at the ears as her eyes widened.

"I have a tail, too," Kasei said.

"Really?" she questioned as her voice became calm.

"Hai!" Kasei exclaimed as he began unbuttoning his pants. He slipped them off slightly as a long, gray-blue tail flicked into the air excitedly. "Here!" He snatched her hand in his and brought it to his tail. "Go on, feel it!"

Her fingers touched the furry tail as she realized it felt just like that of cat fur. A smile came to her lips as tilted her head to the side, stroking at Kasei's tail. "It's so soft," she whispered.

"Are you scared of me?" he asked, peering into her eyes.

Drawing her hand back, she looked into his eyes and opened her mouth as if she was contemplating it. "A little," she choked out.

"I won't hurt you," Kasei said as he reached out a hand, touching the side of her face lightly with his fingertips. His drew his hand around the back of her head and drew her close to him. "I came here to protect you. I could never hurt you."

His lips neared hers as Jennie gave him a sudden shove. "Don't get fresh with me!" she yelled as she crossed her arms over her chest. "I don't care what you are!"

"Sure," Kasei laughed.

"So..." Jennie whispered as she looked to the ground. "There isn't a rare pigment disease?"

"What?" Kasei asked with a twist of his eyebrows.

"Nick said that the reason why your hair is different colors is because of a rare pigment disease," Jennie replied, rubbing nervously at her arm.

"Oh," Kasei said with alarm. "No disease. Demons can have any color of hair. Purple, green, and even blue." He gave her a toothy grin. "Lately some people have been dying their hair various colors to imitate us."

"Oh," she mumbled.

The two stood in the middle of her room as Kasei held out his hand. She peered at his hand to find that he was holding her journal. Snatching it away from him, she cradled it to her chest. "Thanks," she muttered.

"Sorry I took it," Kasei whispered. "If it means anything, I didn't read it."

"It's okay," she said.

"The other girl in the house," Kasei said, looking to the ceiling while rocking back and forth on his feet. "She made breakfast. Want to go downstairs?"

"In a minute," she replied. "Go ahead."

"You sure?" Kasei asked, tilting his head to the side while gazing at her.

"Positive," she answered.

"Alright," he stated, walking past her.

His shoulder brushed against hers as Jennie looked over her shoulder to Kasei as he opened her bedroom door and exited. When the door closed behind him, her legs gave in and she collapsed to the floor. She pressed a hand to her chest, feeling the heavily pounding sensation within.

"What the hell is going on around here?" she asked herself as her eyes searched her bedroom. "I have to get out of this NUT house."

Pushing herself forward, she grabbed her yellow backpack and began stuffing some of her belongings into the bag. She made her way to the window and tossed her backpack out. Watching it hit the ground below, she climbed out then tried to take a jump to the tree branch.

Her body slammed into the branch as she gripped it tightly with her hands, but her weight caused her body to drop. Clinging as strongly as she could with her hands, she held her breath. "Come on," she growled to herself as she began to slowly pull herself up.

The branch creaked slightly as Jennie looked to the ground as her hands slipped. Her eyes widened in horror as she began a descent to the earth below. She let out a scream as her body came to a stop in midair. "What?"

Hovering a foot above the ground, she flailed around and screamed as loudly as she could. Her eyes fell upon Rem who stood at the edge of the house with his hand extended out at her. With a wave of his hand, she crashed into the ground.

"How did you do that?" she asked.

"My dad wants to talk to you," Rem said, turning away from her and disappearing.

"What?" Jennie questioned as she got to her feet, grabbing her backpack, and rushed off after him.

Walking inside the house, she found Rem disappearing into the kitchen while she saw Nick standing in the doorway of the room in the far back of the hallway past the stairs. She headed toward him, eyeing him suspiciously.

"You had some questions for me," Nick said as she neared him. "I have some answers for you." He stepped into the room as Jennie followed uneasily.

Upon entering, she was greeted by the sight of large bookcases that were filled with various different kinds of books. The room itself was extremely dark while a desk sat in front of a large window in the far back.

"Have a seat," Nick said, waving to a chair that sat in front of the desk.

Nodding, Jennie sat down and watched as Nick took a seat behind the desk. The two stared at each other for a moment as she felt an awkwardness in her mind. Silence filled the room while they held their gazes.

"Well?" she asked.

"Yes," Nick replied.

"What?" Jennie questioned with a frustrated look.

"Nothing," he said with a sigh. "About what we are..."

"You're demons," she said distinctly. "Rem said that and Kasei tried to explain it to me. But I don't get why you're here. And why I wouldn't know about you people. If there are so many of you, why didn't I know anything about this until now? Humans...what I am...are we so stupid to not see what you are? Are we so easily fooled?"

"Hardly," Nick replied. "Our kind...well, we don't normally live on Earth. Very few of us do anyway. Demons normally live on Mid Caven, a world where our kind are as abundant as your kind is here. While humans in my world are much like how demons are on Earth, very few."

"But why so many here?" she asked in a child's voice. "In the past couple of days, I've met more than I ever had in my whole life. And my parents obviously knew what you were."

"They did," he said.

"And my parents helped you regardless," she stated. A composed look passed over her her face. "That means you aren't a bad person. My parents wouldn't have helped someone...who couldn't have helped themselves. They were always the kind to give a helping hand, but not a push. So they saw you as someone with great potential in life."

"Do you need a tissue?" Nick questioned.

Sitting up suddenly, Jennie looked to the man as she wiped away fallen tears with the back of her hand. "No," she said. "I'm fine. Tell me a little about yourself, please."

"Like I said before," he replied, "there's not much to tell."

"Please," she begged.

"When I was a child, my parents died protecting a young woman," Nick said. "I came here when I was ten to be raised by your parents. I was never really sure why, but it would seem like your parents and mine had been friends at some time."

Shifting in his seat, he looked to the ceiling for a moment then laughed. "I was a nasty kid," he replied. "I suppose it's not too hard to see where Rem gets it from. I was just as bad. But with time, I grew up. It was hard for me to be in a world of humans, but I had friends who looked out for me."

"Who?" she asked.

"Morey and his little brother," Nick replied.

"So...the Caspians and the Byrants are close friends?" she asked.

"Always," he said.

"Um...demons are..." She paused in her words as she looked to the ground. "They're special?"

"Yes, we are," he said.

"Perfect," she whispered.

"What?" he asked.

"You're perfect," Jennie said. She looked up at Nick and shook her head. "I'm human. As human as humanly possible. I get bad hair days, zits and bad breath. I noticed that the first day."

Nick gazed at her as he then looked away. "We're not that perfect," he mumbled. "Although it's true that we have some extraordinary gifts. No bad hair since our hair tends to have a mind of its own. Our skin is very durable. We don't get pimples or rashes like humans would. Bad breath isn't something we worry about and our eye sight is always good. I don't quite understand why Janiston wears glasses. Should look into that one day."

"But because we're like that, we find humans to be very unique and beautiful," he whispered. "I married one after all."

Jennie looked at Nick in bewilderment as he picked up a framed photograph and handed it to her. Taking it in her hands, she looked at the image. A young woman stood outside in a driveway with a small child attached to her hip.

"That's Lynnea," he said, "with Rem just a few days before she died."

"She pretty," Jennie whispered. "What did she die from?"

"Not what," he said. "But who?"

"What?" she questioned.

"She died protecting you," Nick said.

Gazing at the image of the woman with amber colored hair and blue eyes, Jennie abruptly placed the picture back on the desk. "Why would she want to protect me when she had her own children to look after?"

"She was the Seraph," Nick said.

"The Seraph?" she questioned with confusion.

"This is where your story will begin," he said as he pulled out a large book from out a desk drawer. Placing the book down on top of the desk, he pushed it to her.

"My story?" she asked.

"Your story," he repeated.

Picking up the heavy book, she gazed at the worn cover. "'Scions of Solace'," she said aloud as she read the cover. She opened the book to the first few pages and found various maps. "Mid Caven. That's the world you said you were from. Looks just like Earth."

"There are three worlds," Nick said. "Mid Caven, Earth, and Airlye. Airlye is the world of angels."

"Angels?" she asked. "So there are demons and angels?"

"Yes," Nick whispered. "But angels aren't as beautiful as they sound. Although they look much like biblical seraphim, they have hearts that are very wicked. Nothing good can come out of an angel."

Turning the page, she was faced with a woman with rainbow hair that flowed to the ground and glowing, blue eyes. "Wow, she's gorgeous."

"That is the goddess of our worlds," Nick said.

"Goddess?" she repeated.

"Alitheea, the goddess of our creation," he replied.

"So...how is this my story?" she asked. "All I see in this book are images of maps and pictures of people who are definitely not like me."

Reaching across the desk, he turned a few pages then leaned back in his chair. "That's the Seraph of the goddess," Nick said.

"You said your wife was the Seraph. So she's the Seraph to the goddess," Jennie said, placing two and two together. "Okay, and she supposedly protected me from...something."

"Yes," Nick replied.

Looking to the ceiling with a confused gaze, she blinked. "Why?"

"Read the book," he said, pointing to a paragraph.

"Fine," she groaned. "Once a Seraph conceives a child, her birthright is concluded and she births the new generation of Scions. Nine months after the Seraph' child is born a female child is born to become the new Seraph."

"Nine months?" she asked with obvious bewilderment.

"Lynnea protected you because you're the new Seraph," Nick said.

"A Seraph's duty is to restore the goddess' soul?" Jennie read out loud.

"Should I explain?" he asked as she nodded frantically. "There is a legend that begins a few thousands of years ago and it states that there was a great war that broke out between the two worlds of Earth and Mid Caven. This war began when the goddess fell in love with two brothers. One brother was human and the other was a demon. She loved the human brother more which caused a jealousy in the demon brother. Eventually the jealousy grew to where the demon killed the human."

"Oh," Jennie replied, visualizing the story in her mind.

"When the goddess learned of what happened, she was enraged and began the war between the races. Humans against the demons. She did all she could to protect the humans. Even by relocating them to Earth. When she felt that the humans were safe, she cursed the whole demon nation with immortality. We can stop our aging and heal our wounds. It's more a curse than you probably would believe."

"Don't get me wrong," Nick said. "We can die, but it takes a lot to kill a demon. Actually, there is only one thing in all three worlds that can damage us."

"What?" Jennie asked as Nick smirked.

"Should I really tell you that?" he asked.

Giving him a disappointed look, she looked away from him and puffed out her cheeks as her lips pouted. "No fair," she replied. "I want to know everything!"

"Fine," he said with a laugh. "Angels have a metal that can hurt demons. When it cuts into our skin, the wound can't heal properly. We're left with scars. And if our hearts are pierced or our heads lopped off by an angel weapon, then we're as good as dead."

"Oh," she whispered, thinking about it.

"We're a little off the subject," he said. "Shortly after cursing us, the demon who started the whole mess killed her in revenge of what she had done to his people. On her deathbed, she placed one extra curse on him. He was not allowed to leave his castle and would be the source of Mid Caven's life. When he is killed by another being, that being then will become the next food source for Mid Caven to devour."

The room became silent as the two stared at each other. "That's it?" she asked.

"More or less," Nick replied. "You're the new Seraph who must undergo the legends."

"Oh," she whispered. "That means I have to..."

"Save us," Nick said.

"Save you?" she asked.

"From the curse," he replied. "The goddess created the legend of the Seraph to be the only source of our salvation. We want to be like you. We want to die of old age instead of constantly being tortured with life. And the only way for us to find this hope is for you to fix the pasts' mistakes."

"How can someone fix the past? What's done is done," she replied coldly.

"I'm sure you will understand with time," Nick said. "I got Lynnea pregnant before she could finish her task. You're going to have to be extremely cautious around the guys. You can't let them touch you."

"You don't have to tell me twice," she said with a nod. "Um, I have a question." She gazed inside the book, looking at the various images of demons. "Who are the Scions of Solace?"

"Those are your bodyguards," Nick replied. "They are the most important persons in your life now. They are born from older Scions of the previous Seraph. Your Scions are the children of my friends. And my own child."

"Oh, so Rem is my bodyguard," Jennie said. "AH! That's what he meant yesterday!" She sat with a smile on her face as if she solved a mystery, but her happy expression changed. "The reason why my parents died was because of this?"

"Your family was being murdered even before you were born," Nick said. "The demon who oversees Mid Caven was trying to exterminate any hope for the rest of us. He wants everyone to suffer his curse."

Glaring to the ground, Jennie slammed the book shut and stood up. "This man is the cause of my pain?" she asked. "He was the one who killed everyone?"

"He is," Nick replied.

Looking up to Nick with a soft smile, she gave him a pleasant gaze that turned cold and distant. "Then he's going to die by my hands!" she screamed, slamming her hands on top of the book harshly.

"Wait a minute!" Nick yelled. "Don?t go wild here. You aren't going to do this alone! You have your Scions!"

"Scions my ass!" she shouted. "None of them were around when my parents were killed, so I don't need them."

"That?s not the point now!" Nichola screamed. "You belong to them and they belong to you. You can't push them to the side."

Walking off, Jennie looked over her shoulder with a cold, heartless expression. "Go to hell," she whispered unemotionally. "I don't need you."

Her heart ached as she reviewed the story in her mind. "Doesn't make sense," she whispered, cocking her head to the side slightly as she headed to her bedroom. "Scions of Solace? And a Seraph? I've never heard of anything like this before. My parents never said anything. Demons and angels? They're nuts!"

"What?"

Stopping in the upstairs hallway in front of her room, Jennie found Reikoku staring at her. "Nothing," she muttered, going for her door. Her hand reached out for the doorknob as he grabbed her hand.

"What's wrong?" he asked.

"Leave me alone," she shouted, whipping her hand free. She entered into her room and slammed the door behind her. Leaning against the door, she sighed to herself.

"If you need me, I'm always here," she heard being said through the door. "I don't want to see you hurt."

His words were gentle and sincere. She had never heard someone speak like that to her before. Tears flowed from her eyes as she began sobbing. Sliding down the door, she hit the ground and curled up into a ball. "Reiyl, could you get me a glass of water?" she asked.

"Sure," she heard as she listened to his feet move away from the door. She closed her eyes for a moment as she replayed the whole scene with Nick again. Images flowed through her mind as she felt her mind drift off into blackness.