Martinsburg, West Virginia
Illustrations
Monday, August 19, 1996
11:56 AM

Gazing upwards to the large words that framed the top of the store, Jennie‘s face reddened as she bit her bottom lip. “Your store is named 'Illustrations'? Isn’t that kind of…you know…lame?”
“I didn’t name it,” Riley muttered as he slipped a key into the door‘s lock. “Let‘s blame it on someone else, okay?” He pushed the door open and stepped inside while Jennie and Kasei followed.
“Can‘t you just rename it?” Jennie asked, scanning the walls that were covered with shelves of books. “Wow, there’s a lot of shit here.”
“It’s not shit,” Riley said as if insulted by her remark.
“Sorry,” she mumbled, turning into an aisle that contained a variety of foreign novels. “Most of these are really old.”
Running a finger across the spines the books, she glanced over her shoulder to find Riley had disappeared from her sight, Kasei was still close behind her.
“Something wrong?” Kasei questioned, cocking his head to the side while his cat ears perked up. His eyes widened as if curious to know what was wrong with her.
“Nothing,” she said as she cracked a small smile. She turned her attention back to the hardbacks. “So…do you like to read, Kasei?”
“A little,” he stated. “But I have better things to do.”
“Oh, like what?” she questioned, but stopped abruptly.
A tightness formed in her chest when she caught sight of a novel on the highest platform on the shelf. Her eyes focused on the spine, at the words, and experienced a peculiar chill rush through her as she softly read aloud the words ’Sigphere’.
“I tried out Rem‘s Playstation,” Kasei said. “I‘m really getting into video games. But nothing beats my all-time favorite thing.” He cracked a toothy grin as he leaned forward on the top of his toes, eyeing Jennie with playfulness. “Cute girls.”
“Can you give me a hand?” she asked, ignoring him completely, as she pointed to the book. “Think you could reach it?”
“What?” Kasei questioned, looking to where she was pointing. He stood straight up as a look of disappointment crossed his face. His lips pouted slightly. “I can try.”
Stepping past Jennie and leaning forward, he stood on his tiptoes and reached as high as he could, barely touching the base of the book. “Hang on.”
Jumping a little, he flicked his finger underneath the book’s spine. The hardback moved out a few inches as Kasei repeated the same action. Tilting forward then slipping off the shelf, the book dropped to the ground.
“Thanks!” Jennie said as she clenched her hands into fists excitedly for a brief moment before bending down to pick up the manuscript. Her fingers gripped the heavy tome as she tried to lift it off the ground. “Damn, it’s heavy.”
“Didn’t think humans were that weak,” Kasei said with a laugh. He glanced around, spotting a table with chairs at the end of the aisle. “If you can manage to drag the book down there, you can put it on the table.”
“Then stop standing there,” she shouted, “and help me!”
“Hai!” he exclaimed as he reached down, picking the book up with ease.
Jennie’s eyes narrowed as she watched Kasei walk the book to the table and place it down. He turned to look at her then said with snide humor, “Need help turning the pages, too?”
“Quit taunting me,” she muttered, taking a seat at the table. She tried to open the book and found it would budge. “What?” She stared at the cover and read aloud, “’Sigphere‘. Why can’t I open it?”
“The books in this store are for demons,” someone said over her shoulder as Jennie peered up to find Riley had returned. He reached out a hand, flipping open the book. “So it takes a demon to open these books.”
“Oh,” Jennie whispered, “then why bring me here?”
“For you to learn about us,” Riley replied, “and about what you are.”
The green haired man placed a hand on top of Jennie’s head as he leaned down, looking at the opening page inside the tome. “You chose the perfect book to teach you about it, too. The author was someone who knew quite a bit about demons and angels as well as the goddess. And not too many people can really understand her.”
“Why‘s that?” Jennie questioned as she flipped through the pages of the book.
“Women themselves are hard to understand,“ Riley said with a smile, “but take a supreme being who has no limits to her powers and try to figure out her motives…it’s not easy. I don’t think anyone can do it. Except maybe Lot.”
“Lot?” Jennie asked.
“The human that the goddess loved,” Riley stated. “He was the brother to Yaozu.”
“That‘s been bothering me,” she said as she looked to Riley with bewildered eyes. “How can you have brothers that one is demon and the other is human?”
“Simple really. Demon blood and human blood can’t mix,“ Riley remarked with a smile. “Take Rem for example. He could have been born human or demon because his mother was human and his father is demon.“
“Okay,“ Jennie whispered, “So there is no such thing as a half-demon?“
“Well,“ Riley mumbled as he stood up, looking to the ceiling of the store. He frowned for a moment then sighed heavily. “It‘s deemed impossible. With humans and demons, it‘s never happened. But…”
“Rowen is a half-demon,” Kasei interrupted, feeling dejected that he was being ignored. He sat on the other end of the table with his arms crossed over his chest, his ears bared back, and his tail swishing back and forth with annoyance.
“That guy,” Jennie choked. She envisioned the red-head from before as she stiffened in her seat. “He’s a half-demon?”
“Yeah,” Riley whispered, “half demon and half angel. The only of his kind.”
“That‘s great,” was all Jennie could manage to strangle out as Kasei leaned across the table, grabbing a hold of her hand.
“Don’t worry about it,“ he said with a large smile, “I won’t let him touch you. I promise you that, okay?“
“Sure,“ Jennie said with a small laugh. Kasei’s reassurance did make her feel a little more at ease as she looked back to the book. Flipping through the pages, she gazed at various pictures until she stopped at one.
It contained a young man drawn in a very detailed manner. He sat in a stately chair, wearing an extensive costume that consisted of expensive-looking fabrics of various pale-blue colors embroidered with silver threads. Even his hair appeared to be long, braided, and twisted into a fashionable position. “Who is this?”
“Yaozu,” Riley said, looking over her shoulder.
Something inside her body lurched as a nauseous sensation overwhelmed her. The man in the image was exceedingly charismatic. More so than any of the other demons she had met. He was the epitome of masculine beauty. Even with the strange horns that came protruding out of his hair, the stain glass-dragon wings on his back, and the dragon tail that swirled around his legs, she had never seen someone who was that stunningly attractive before.
“For the love of God!” Jennie shouted, standing up abruptly, knocking back her chair. “I’m fighting THIS guy?! He puts women to shame. He‘s so freaking beautiful. It makes me SICK!” She seemed blue in the face as she choked on her words as her eyes burned with ardent passion. “He’s too pretty. Too freaking pretty!”
Slamming a fist down on the picture, she growled. “He’s going down. No pretty boy deserves to live!”
“She‘s scaring me,” Kasei whispered with wide, frightened eyes as he drew his hands to his face. “Riley?”
“Yeah,” Riley said with a chuckle as he picked up Jennie‘s fallen chair. “It’s okay. She just discovered the essence of desire.”
“Nani?” Kasei questioned, getting up and making his way around the table. He grabbed a hold of Riley’s sleeve and peered up at the man.
“She wants to kill Yaozu,” he answered, smiling down at the younger boy.
“Oh,” Kasei mumbled as he watched Jennie take her seat.
“It has a profile on him.” Jennie sighed loudly, pointing to the page opposite the picture. “Shuai-Xu Yaozu, the lord of all demons, is a chaotic man who seeks nothing more than the destruction of humankind. A little over six feet tall with bluish-white hair and dark blue eyes, he is said to have had many wives and children. He takes what he wants and gives nothing in return. He stays hidden away in his castle...the scourge of all virgins.”
“Scourge of all virgins? Does it actually say that?” Riley questioned with a look of contemplation. “I don’t remember that...”
“I added it,” Jennie said with a shake of her head. “He sounds like it anyway.”
Arms draped over her shoulders as Kasei pressed his right cheek against her left cheek. “Can we go now?” he asked. “I don’t want to stay here all day. It’s making my nose itch.” He pawed at his nose for a moment before nuzzling it against her face. “Please.”
Standing up Jennie looked to Riley as he closed the book for her. She placed her hands on the cover, staring at the skillfully designed cover. Her fingers ran across the silver line-art of a dragon then stared at the woman who stood behind the dragon with her arms opened. “Welcome home...that‘s what she‘s saying to him...”