Just A Pawn - Chapter 7 Mirrors And Wisdom

Pawn stood in front of a large mirror which was installed within Ember and Lance’s home, she had just gotten out of the bath.

…Her first bath in ten years.

She rubbed the steam from the mirror’s surface with her hand, and then proceeded to stare into it, looking over every detail of the reflection displayed within.

Her eyes, though basically still blue, were now the smallest bit closer to purple, and they gave off a totally different impression then they had previously done, containing equal parts determination and weariness, like she had seen on the faces of some of the older combat spirits as they went off to war.

The previously waist length blond hair, now reached down to her ankles, and was silver-grey rather than blond, not due to time, spirits needn’t worry about such things, the changes were due to mindset.

Beings which are made of energy such as fairies, demons, and spirits, normally do not have their appearances determined by things like time or genetics like those of the mundane realms, but by their way they subconsciously think of themselves.

A spirit who does evil while truly believing themselves to be good, will have their appearance remain completely unchanged, while one who only believes themselves to be bad may change drastically despite their ‘bad deeds’ only being imagined.

There are other ways as well, such as absorbing incompatible energies, blessings, curses, willpower, but most of all, perspective and belief.

As Pawn had spent the last decade in the demon realm, surrounded by demonic energy, she was rather surprised that her appearance had changed so little in spite of it.

“…Now then… lets see what the ‘real’ damage is…” said Pawn hesitantly as she brought out the part of herself which displayed a spirit’s nature more than anything else… her wings.

A spirit’s wings were, in a literal sense, an extension of their soul’s essence, being both fragile and revealing towards their nature, in a similar manner that the Index menu functioned towards their physical bodies their wings functioned towards their soul.

As well as life threatening if damaged due to the actions of an external source…

Thus they were kept hidden by all but the most prideful of spirits, and only shown to those who one trusted absolutely.

They would naturally become visible if used for their intended purpose, to fly, but they would only be ‘displayed’ to, and allowed to be ‘inspected’ by, those they trust most, and themselves if they could bear it.

Not all spirits were brave enough to look upon the representation of their own soul in that manner though…

Pawn had only ever willingly shown her wings to three people, not counting herself, one of which, of course, was Lumin… while the other two were either missing or dead.

Pawn stood there briefly looking over what had become of her wings… the wings which would directly reflect what existed within herself…

…

“…I see… I suppose that makes sense…” Was all she said upon seeing them, before no longer being able to stand the sight and quickly retracting them back into herself.

“I suppose… I should get dressed now, eh, can’t spend the whole day in just a towel,” she said, quickly changing both her train of thought and her clothing.

She got dressed in a dark green robe and leather boot which the twins had provided to her, seemingly created by Lace herself, using whatever demonic abilities she possessed.

(Using the power of a demon to make clothing…) mused Pawn as she got dressed, finding the concept quite strange.

She then she turned once again towards the mirror, and reexamined herself.

…

“Hmm… one last change,” she declared, then withdrawing a pair of scissors from a nearby drawer.

Pawn gripped a handful of her hair so that only a few inches of it remained between her hand and her head, and then with scissors held within the other hand-

-Snip!

All but 3 or 4 inches of the gripped hair fell to the floor without a sound.

-Snip!

-Snip!

…

Meanwhile in the spirit realm…

Lumin stood at the edge of a large round white table, large enough to fit 50 people with little effort, made entirely from beautiful marble, it matched well with the equally beautiful white marble room in which it was contained.

A large spherical ‘stone of truth’ sat at the tables centre, it would turn black upon a lie being spoken in its presence.

The room consisted only of a floor, pillars, and ceiling, reminiscent of some ancient Greek architecture, out side of which were only clouds and a blue skies, clouds below, seemingly acting as the building’s foundation, and an empty clear sky above.

Currently sitting at the large table were four similarly dressed people, Lumin, Franklin, and two other highly ranked female spirits, while another four low ranked spirits were present as their attendants, each standing behind their respective masters.

“…So your saying your sister is still alive, eh, even after all this time…?” Questioned Franklin, though he sounded unconvinced.

“I believe that to be the case, as of recently,” replied Lumin sharply.

“Why’s that?” questioned one of the other highly ranked spirits curtly in a lazy sounding tone, she sat tiredly at the tables edge, elbows on the table and head resting upon them, Snu, dispel of the god of relaxation.

“There have been many sightings… by my ‘associates’ in the demon realm, they were being monitored via truth magic as I questioned them, so I know they speak the truth… though her appearance has changed I am certain it has to be my sister,” replied Lumin, though unwilling to go into detail.

“And why oh why should we care about that mischievous sister of yours, pray tell?” the tables fourth resident inquired in an arrogant tone, he was named Victor, a self proclaimed prodigy of the god of humility.

He was handsome beyond all reason, short blond hair, both golden wings and eyes constantly on display, perfect appearance-wise.

But his personality on the other hand, made him living proof of the expression ‘don’t judge a book by its cover.’

“A treacherous little thing, trapped for the foreseeable future in the demon realm, what is so urgent about this meeting that even ‘MY’ presence was required!?” he questioned in a borderline scream, throwing his arms around dramatically as he spoke.

…Like an actor drunk out of his wits.

(I hate these people… all of them… so much…) thought Lumin impatiently, barely holding back the urge to remove a dozen or so of his teeth with a single flick of her wrist.

“Haa… the reason she was banished was due to her loose morals, and unfathomable potential, a bad combination, it’s against the rules to ‘kill’ one of our own after all, but not if a demon does it for us, however- ugh… how can I say this without hurting your endless pride?” she began, at first trying to explain while not hurting the ‘stupid one’s’ feelings, but ultimately decided to give up, as she didn’t like him anyway.

“What, how dare-!?” began Victor, totally offended.

“No, just… shut up and listen…-” Lumin coldly interrupted, releasing a pressure that cause a cold chill to travel down his spine.

“-if she is still alive even after all this time, she’ll continue to grow until she reaches us… even if we hide all the way up here,-” she continued, motioning towards her surroundings as she spoke.

“Both of my sisters, younger, and older have far more potential than I do, and I could kill you at your best using only an eyelash as a weapon, you glorified Pride demon!” declared Lumin as she glared at the man, who she thought had no right being a disciple, especially of humility, but another voice soon cut her off.

“SILENCE!” androgynous voice boomed throughout the hall, originating from someplace unknown.

Lumin immediately obeyed and fell silent… as most would when commanded to do so by a god, Victor just sunk quietly into his seat.

“Tell me what is it you are proposing, wisdom god’s disciple, Lumin Nova!?” the voice questioned, now in a ‘slightly’ softer tone, but still loud tone.

“I-…I propose we lay siege of the demon realm,” Lumin declared resolutely after briefly faltering from the pressure.

And everyone in the room went silent… even the voice.

Then, a full 30 seconds of silence later, he finally responded

“…Very well”

The ‘stone of truth’ never once darkened throughout the entire conversation.

…

Later, in the demon realm…

“So demons abilities are both strengthen and weakened by their nature…?” asked Pawn in a confused tone, Ember had been trying to explain how demon abilities ‘functioned’ to her.

It had been only a week or so since they had taken Pawn in, she was trying to learn more about demons, as she felt she was on the verge of becoming one herself and needed to know which type she should try to become.

“Yes! I mean…- Yes?” Ember replied, at first with certainty, then gave a less certain one.

“Lace… help me…” said Ember as she looked pleadingly towards Lace.

“Leave it to me, I’m super smart you know~!” replied Lace, giving a thumbs up and dawning a smug expression.

Pawn gave an odd look towards the two of them, it was both questioning, and doubtful, mostly doubtful.

“…N-no need to be so openly dubious, she is actually really smart… book smart at least,” commented Ember upon seeing the look on Pawn’s face, though once again loosing much of her conviction near the end of her sentence.

“First things first! Ahem! Quiet in my classroom!” yelled Lace, understandably not liking herself as the current topic of the conversation.

“…Great, now she’s in teacher mode,” muttered Ember sarcastically.

Lace just continued, ignoring her ‘student’s’ comment.

“Now then, putting it simply, demons are no different from spirits in most regards, the only differences being, the energy they require to survive, and the aspects which they follow-”

“-Lust, Gluttony, Greed, Sloth, Wrath, Envy, and Pride are the most common, but that doesn’t really tell you much, it’s all how you use it after all, so long as it’s ‘somewhat’ related to the aspect in question-”

“-Myself for example, I am a sloth demon, and I like clothes, thus over the years my ability became one that manipulates fabric to form ‘comfortable’ or ‘uncomfortable’ things, comfort, of course, being a sub-aspect of sloth-”

“-Someone else however may use it differently, Ember has near endless stamina via manipulating the slothful nature of herself, and our mother can-… ‘could’ manipulate and create dreams, father could do the same for day dreams-” Lace finally concluded, having to take a deep breath.

Pawn now felt shocked and a little guilty towards Lace, she had assumed her to be a well-intentioned idiot all the way to the core.

Though that doesn’t mean that Pawn disliked that part of her.

“Y-your thinking something bad about me, aren’t you?” asked Lace, she had expected praise rather than the weird look she was currently receiving.

“I’m just impressed is all, it’s… unexpected” said Pawn while avoiding eye contact.

“But why though!?” questioned Lace childishly as she gripped Pawn’s shoulder.

…a minute or so later

(But what if a demon had a focus that…) Pawn thought as a mischievous smile crossed her face.

…And then after a long moment of thinking, Pawn asked a question.

“What if I-… Ahem! I mean a wrath demon, wanted only to do one specific thing, and only against one specific person, would its power increase proportionally in strength due to being so focused?” she asked, gaining a weird look from both Ember and Lace.

“…Y-yes… with enough ‘dedication’… they might be unbeatable against that ‘one specific person’… but, only that one person, they’d be mostly powerless against anything else… and it would be mostly permanent as well…” Lace said, knowing what Pawn was implying.

She looked as if she had swallowed something extremely bitter as she spoke.

Lace then after a bit more conversing, left the room to return to her seam-stressing.

(So if I allow myself to fully become a demon, potentially I could just-) began Pawn, thinking about the prospect as she walked, she was about to leave the room as well.

But her thoughts were promptly interrupted by Ember’s voice.

“…If you follow such a path, don’t bother coming back, just go away, I don’t want Lace to see you in such a state… even if you did save us way back then,” declared Ember both coldly and quietly, so that Lace couldn’t hear, no room for negotiation was heard in her tone.

At these words Pawn stopped walking, but didn’t turn back, she just stood motionless in the doorway.

…And a long silence followed