Chapter 48

“You seem awfully determined today.” Jewel said as Henry finished off another D.E.D. It was the end of their first week together, and Henry was finally nearing his goal. Following the gifting of the Chimera to him, he’d been hard at work focusing on trying to get his other D.E.D. to level 25 as quickly as possible, while keeping the Ultra-Rare D.E.D’s presence a secret from Jewel. He’d had a feeling if she found out about it, she would instantly stop training him. After all, she was ‘only stuck with him’, according to her own words, until his three D.E.D. reached level 25. Or, more appropriately, until one of his D.E.D. reached level 25. She didn’t care which. She had made it clear she was growing tired of babysitting him.

Henry glanced up at her, having been skimming his app as the fight concluded. His D.E.D. were level 23. If he got lucky, and the D.E.D. on their shift were all of a decent level, he could hit 25 today no problem. Or, of course, the other quick trick to leveling, though much more dangerous, would be if say…a Greater Rift opened up. Those were literally experience farms as long as people were careful.

“As you’ve said, the sooner I hit level 25, the better.” He said, offering her a smile. He’d been doing a little extra training on the side, at the cost of sleep. Every day after his shift was done, he’d patrol around for another hour or two. Doing so had two purposes. One, to level up his D.E.D., and two, to try and find any more viable D.E.D. for his team, or at least, for fusion purposes. Unfortunately, most of the D.E.D. he had encountered off shift were too close to other exorcists for him to try and get to in time, or, were common D.E.D. that were of such a low level they weren’t worth it. At least, not yet.

Henry figured once he finished up with Jewel, he would have a little more leeway when it came to his interactions with the powerful creatures. After all, he had seen a few over the past week, with her, that he would have loved to try and pact with. Jewel however, was a straight up murderhobo, and refused to allow him any such chance. That type of task, wasn’t why she was around. And she’d made it quite clear he and his ideals regarding D.E.D., had gotten on her nerves. Like Fire and Ice, he thought and chuckled, comparing himself and his Chimera to Jewel and her Yuki-Onna.

What would it be like, if he fused himself with his Chimera? He’d pondered that quite a few times over the past few days, but Jewel’s warning had been clear. The process was dangerous, and it was of utmost importance that an exorcist only did it with a D.E.D. that matched their personalities and views. Otherwise, bad things could happen. And not just death.

“And look, it only took you an entire week of wasting my time to realize that.” She said with a smirk. “Glad to see you actually can be taught. Maybe there’s hope for you yet.”

Henry chuckled as they walked back to the car. This was their level of interaction. Playful quips here and there, yet there was the underlying tension between the two. Henry was sure, given time, they could become true friends, but it would be a lot of work, and he wasn’t sure either of them was ready for such a thing.

“I told you’ve I’ve got plans to get stronger.” He said with a chuckle, “just because you don’t like my D.E.D. choices, doesn’t mean I’m lazy.”

Henry didn’t even have to glance at Jewel to know she had shot another disgusted look towards his Evil Eye. It had gotten to the point that even if for some reason the Evil Eye was actually useless, he would still keep it around. Just because it seemed like it caused all the other exorcists some sort of great pain or distaste. It was like a bad running joke, and Henry took no small sense of amusement from it. Jewel especially hated it though because it had come from Loki. Whom, he still wanted to know exactly why, seemed to have a very negative history with Jewel.

“After today, you are no longer my responsibility.” The Reaper said as she climbed into his car. He had a feeling she was going to miss, at the very least, the free rides. “So don’t come crying to me when your Evil Eye is eventually killed, and you realize how much essence you wasted on it.”

He scoffed at that as he started the car. Before he could retort though, an alarm went off, signaling what he’d been hoping for. A Greater Rift was opening. They’d been increasing in frequency, he knew that much, but there hadn’t been one for the last couple of days. So, Henry had really been hoping for one to happen today, so he could finish up. Not only that, he was more than a little anxious to watch his Bladed Drakeling evolve. He’d read about the process, and he knew it’s evolution, a Bladed Drake, was a rare level D.E.D. And while that still wouldn’t be his rarest D.E.D., maybe it would help the Chimera to recognize his power. Plus…who didn’t want a Drake in their party?

“Well you’re in luck,” he turned towards the location, his mood elevated even more. “After this rift, you’ll finally be done with me.”

He expected a response from Jewel, but instead, there was silence. Henry glanced over towards her, and noticed she was still looking down at her phone, her eyes wide. Something was amiss.

“Jewel?” Henry asked again. The incoming alert mentioned the Greater Rift was going to open at the Citadel Mall area, which was roughly 15 minutes away from them. He’d seen the location and the alert, and just gone on autopilot. However, the way Jewel was acting, he wondered if he’d missed something. He slowed his car and pulled off the side of the road for a moment, glancing down at his phone as he did.

“Jewel,” he said again, his voice questioning. “What’s a Varkoth?” It wasn’t a name he was used to, and he’d skimmed a list of the Tier 1 demons that came through the Greater Rifts. There were about ten different Tier 1 demons mentioned in the Exorcist notes, yet none of them, were named Varkoth.

Jewel shook her head, and he noticed her already pale complexion seemed to have grown even more pale. She looked at him, and her eyes, for the very first time, seemed to hold something other than just cold, icy steel. In them, he saw worry. In them, he saw fear.

Her voice was soft, and it seemed as if she was in her mind, in a different time and place, as she spoke. “It’s a Tier 3 Demon.” Her eyes shifted again as she looked at him. “And Varkoth isn’t the type…that’s his name. The name,” she paused, taking a deep breath, “the name he gave us the last time we battled him.”

“So, you’ve battled him before?” That didn’t make sense. Normally, they defeated Tiered Demons, and destroyed them, splitting their essence and preventing them from coming to Earth. Meaning, there shouldn’t be a ‘last time.’ And then of course, the fact it had a proper name, was foreboding.

Jewel laughed bitterly, “I couldn’t even scratch him. I tried, and I lost D.E.D. during the battle. I was on the away team for that fight,” she shivered. “I was useless.”