Breathe in the Embers

Part 8

The story of the mysterious demon hero spread quickly, especially since no one had ever heard of or seen such a thing before. After the rise of superpowers in the world, ever fewer people put any stock in religion. But this was no delirious sighting, no half mad rambling. Over a hundred people had seen her. Even more compelling, she had spoken to the campers just before saving them. They’d watched her for many minutes, all their stories lining up, and there was just no way to deny it.

A demon had manifested at Camp Coriolus. Her name was Lithuega. And she had saved them all, then disappeared completely.

Was it simply a new hero with some flashy costume? Some speculated that might be the case, but few believed it. Most people with powers were identified young and groomed to be heroes when they grew up. Few made it to their mid twenties, the age Lithuega appeared to be, without being discovered. Especially when their powers had a physical alteration associated with it. That was the real argument. Even if her powers hadn’t been noticed, the deep blue skin, the clear sky eyes, the tail and the horns. None of them were easily missed.

It was a real struggle for Martin to stay silent during that time. He was ecstatic, and had to constantly attribute it to his miraculous survival. Everyone said that hiding by the river shouldn’t have saved him from the smoke, from asphyxiation, and so he had rolled with the skepticism. He said that he had in fact passed out at one point, but had woken up minutes later completely fine. They assumed, as he wanted them to, that Lithuega had saved him, and his own excitement about the possibility only confirmed their theory.

No one looked any closer at the matter, or at Martin, and that’s precisely how he wanted it. At least for now.

With the camping trip thoroughly canceled, he had the next couple of weeks to recover, mostly with his family. There was a flood of reporters at first, but they tapered off quickly enough. Then he was alone when his parents went to work each day. And more importantly, had plenty of time to rest each night.

Martin smiled as he lay in bed, though it was only nine in the evening. His parents had assumed he needed more rest to recover from the wildfire, and he didn’t disabuse them of that belief. They gave him the space he truly needed, just not for the reasons they thought, and he was thoroughly grateful for that. He needed this time asleep, but not to be alone, and not to rest.

Lithuega was being most argumentative, and getting the details of a real contract hammered out with her was a nightly ordeal.

“Ah, Martin, is it that time again already?” Litheuga greeted without ever really greeting him, as was her custom. They floated in an indistinct world of gray shadows, a place he recognized from his prior sojourn here. It was evidently called the Null. Lithuega could put him here while she borrowed his vitality and form for herself, acting in the physical world in his place. At least she could if he allowed it. The relationship between them was far from typical for this kind of pact, because it had quickly become clear that Martin held the reins.

At first, Lithuega had been almost petulant about it. She was willing to discuss new terms, but the very idea that she could force Martin to do absolutely nothing grated on her. “Lithuega, nice to see you again.” he replied, as annoyingly pleasant as he could manage. If she was going to be difficult, he was going to pester her the only way he’d discovered how. By being oblivious to all her whining and manipulations, and being nothing but overtly friendly in return. “I trust your time was spent productively today?”

“I believe I have something approaching acceptability.” she replied, all confident bubbliness. It was her typical trick to catch him off guard, but the salesman persona hadn’t worked before and wouldn’t now. “If we can just hammer out the details as far as how often I can be on the physical plane, I think we will have an agreement.”

“I’m sure you do.” Martin replied with a faint smile. She’d said something similar every night prior to this one, and he doubted the deal she was about to exposit all over the place was beneficial to him in any significant way.

Lithuega narrowed her eyes, but that smile never wavered, nor did the simmering resentment that burned in those sky blue orbs. She hated not being in control, however frequently she had tried to pass this whole thing off as an amusing diversion. She was stuck with him, and what was worse, he didn’t have to agree to a deal at all. As Lithuega herself presumably did as a matter of course, whenever he wanted to, Martin could just use his will to overwhelm hers.

Which is why this was so hard to agree on.

“So we have agreed that I will remain for the duration of your life, and only upon your death, so long as I am not the cause directly or indirectly, will I get your soul.” Lithuega repeated, it being the first term he had suggested. It had been debated at length, but Martin refused to budge. She only gave way after he reminded her that their original agreement had been open ended, and impossible for her to ever fulfill, so technically he could withhold payment indefinitely. “When I am summoned, I am not permitted to do anything harmful to anyone, and obey all human laws. This limitation will be lifted as usual under the terms of self defense, or defense of others.”

Martin nodded, this being one of the terms Lithuega had actually been perfectly fine with. Evidently she wasn’t the type of demon to randomly murder people for funsies.

“In addition, I am not allowed to reveal our pact of my own accord, without express permission from you beforehand. This would fall under me endangering you indirectly, which is also something I am forbidden from doing.” Lithuega continued, pacing, eyes drifting upward as they tended to do when she recited the contract from memory. “As you so eloquently put it, anything I do to screw you over is going to break the contract.”

“That about sums it up.”

“Annoyingly open ended.” Lithuega commented dryly. “I would usually require that to be spelled out, but since you can basically make this go any way you want to, I suppose I shall simply have to accept it.”

“‘Of the two of us I am the only one who hasn't committed mutiny, therefore my word is the one we'll be trusting.’” Martin commented with a faint grin, receiving only a blank look in response. “Seriously? Pirates, Curse of the Black Pearl. Jack Sparrow to Captain Barbosa.” Still blank. Martin sighed. “Dear lord. I might have to add in a requirement that you educate yourself while you’re the one on the physical plane. I can’t be spending every night with someone who hasn’t seen any decent movies.”

“Speaking of which…” Lithuega replied, eager to get back on topic. He imagined she would be. He’d specified that she would be stuck here until they came to an agreement. “Each night when you sleep, your consciousness will be joining mine here, so we can be at least somewhat coordinated.” Which was something she had insisted on. If she was to avoid messing up his life, she needed to actually know what was going on.

“Right, which brings us to the topic at hand…” Martin urged, most of this already thoroughly hashed out. She was trying to get him complacent, and it wasn’t going to work.

Lithuega nodded. “As far as allocated time in the physical plane, you are willing to guarantee at least twenty hours weekly, your schedule and the secrecy of the pact permitting. And I am supposed to accept that any additional time will be granted out of the goodness of your heart.”

Martin sighed. “Well you did say that I don’t age in here, so the more often you show up, the slower I will age. People might notice things like that, and frankly, I don’t really want to be stuck at thirteen forever.” he was small enough already, and looked around ten. Any further slowing of his development would really suck. “We can talk about it. The important bit is that when you are on Earth, you behave in an admirable, brave, and… well in a way that helps the most people possible.”

“I’m afraid you may think that I’m a hero when I have in fact been cast as a villain.”

Martin colored slightly, the comment a little too close to the mark. “And we are going to change that.” he whispered, but she heard. She had some really sharp ears.

“A hero?” Lithuega asked, arching an eyebrow doubtfully. “This isn’t about your disillusionment with those superheroes on your world is it?” she grinned as his face got even darker. “Oh it is! Delightful. I didn’t know you wanted me to be a superhero. This all could have gone so much smoother if you told me. So what do you think? Lawful Good? Chaotic Good? Or full anti hero with some Neutral in there?”

“You know alignment charts but not pop culture?”

“You’d be surprised how often we are called by roleplay nerds.” Lithuega commented.

“No. I wouldn’t be. And Lawful Good.”

“Well given that I will be finding a scandalous outfit that shows off my assets to their best, did you have an identity in mind for me?” she asked, posing in the kinds of ridiculously sexy but somewhat heroic poses you see superheroines in on comic book covers. “Maybe something theological, like Tenth Circle. Though that is more villainy, isn’t it? Hmm… everything suggestive I can think of makes me sound like a stripper…”

Martin sighed again, knowing it would go this way when he brought it up. “Maybe something a little more modern? And definitely no stripper names.”

Lithuega turned to him with a knowing grin, tapping a finger thoughtfully on her chin. “You already have one in mind, don’t you my little Marty?”

“Martin.” he replied, rolling his eyes. “And yes, I suppose I do.”

“Well spit it out.”

Martin sighed, again, something he was doing far more frequently now. He’d known since the moment he found out her powers, but was a little embarrassed.

“Balrog.”