This fanfic is an experiment in multiple regards: 1. I generally do not write in first person perspective, 2. I fused the mythology of a tabletop RPG called "Demon: The Fallen" with Ace Attorney to create a coherent background for Demon!Simon, although this is not a crossover per se and should be comprehensible without knowing anything about it, and 3. this is my first fanfic based on a piece of fanart. You can find the image at www DOT pixiv DOT net SLASH member_illust DOT php?mode=manga&illust_id=42628994 - fix the link by replacing the capslock parts with the symbols and removing the spaces. I'm not sure if my little writing experiment succeeded or not - I'll leave that up to you to decide!

She has already been on to me when I am forced to reveal myself, I know that. Still, I never intended for her to find out. The truth must be as unbelievable as it must be terrifying, after all.

Two weeks after my release from the clink, we are on our way to her place after a shared dinner, taking a 'shortcut' she suggested, leading through back alleys in which foul-smelling dumpsters outnumber human beings. My senses are on high alert – it is too quiet. Athena seems unbothered, having told me that she has taken this path numerous times before without any problems.

This time, a problem finds us. A ruffian featuring tattoos and a blue bandana, making him recognizable as a member of the Crips, saunters into our way.

"Care to donate to a good cause?"

I can handle him – he does not appear weak, but he is half a head smaller than me, and his only weapon seems to be a jackknife.

"I don't believe that we care for your cause."

I ready myself to overpower him, when I sense others in our vicinity before I see them.

They step out between buildings, behind trash containers, from back door entranceways. There are twelve young men in all, and some of them carry guns.

Athena steps closer to me as if to seek reassurance, although she seems ready to at least try and fight her way out of this.

Still, this is no battle I am willing to participate in with all the limitations of my human façade, unarmed, and with her at risk. My Visage will enable me to make short work of the danger we are in, although I am loath to use my Lores on her after what happened the last time. There is only one way to proceed.

"Athena, do me a favor," I mutter in her direction. "Close your eyes for about ten seconds."

I can hear the fear she is trying to bite back in her voice, mingled with confusion, when she asks hesitatingly, "Why…?"

"Trust me."

When I dare to redirect my gaze to her, taking my eyes off our would-be assailants in front of us for a moment, her eyelids are shut.

For the first time in seven years, I unleash what I am. It is the first time I have willingly done so since my ascendance to this realm.

The air flimmers around me and gains a strangely thickened quality, a palpable darkness that nevertheless cannot be seen, imbued with a faint sulfuric scent. I know my eyes to be glowing in their natural rusty red, the color of drying blood, can feel my teeth and nails elongating, and then my wings unfold in a rush of sleek black feathers, their span wide enough to take up the entire width of the alleyway.

I stare down the ringleader, my smirk revealing my fangs. I hope that Athena won't ask questions about the note of gravel my voice has gained when I direct the full power of my persuasion at him, commanding, "Leave us."

As a man, the entire group turns tail and runs.

I am about to rein in my Visage once more when I hear her terrified gasp beside me.

Damn it. Either I was too slow, or she could not help but peek.

I fold my wings on my back, turn towards Athena, and notice immediately how pale she is, smell the cold sweat of fear emerging on her brow.

I sigh. "Don't be afraid, Athena. I would never harm you."

Her eyes are still wide and fearful when she asks, "Wh… what are you, and what have you done with Simon…?"

This is what I have been trying to avoid, especially considering that my story is disturbingly similar to that of our greatest enemy.

"I am Simon Blackquill, or at least the Simon Blackquill you have always known."

I hesitate, but now, I must share the truth. I will have to use my Lore later, should she be too distraught by it, but if I do not tell her now, her distrust might remain even beyond my erasure of this memory.

"This body was in a major car accident when it was but nine years old – the same crash which killed his parents. It spent eight months in a coma, and at some point during this period, the soul known as Simon Blackquill was whisked away from this realm. I was next in line to ascend from the Abyss, and claimed the now unoccupied body as my own."

Athena gulps audibly. "So… even back when I got to know you, you were like this?"

I nod wordlessly.

Somehow, this affirmation enables her to regain some of her composure. Brave, brave girl – the Visage of a Fallen is usually more than enough to send mortals running screaming, if it does not completely destroy their mental fortitude in one fell swoop.

She takes a deep breath. "I… I think I always kind of knew that there was something different about you. Sometimes in court, when you were getting angry, I thought I saw your eyes flash to a different color for just a moment, but it was really hard to tell, since you were so far away… and then, there was this thing where you'd slice Taka's feathers in half without touching them, but somehow, up to now, I've never really thought about how you were able to do that…"

Of course she had not – while I cannot help but use some of my lower level abilities to my advantage in trials on instinct, obfuscating them without showing my Visage is so easy as to be almost unconscious. Mortals would notice them, of course, but subconsciously explain such occurrences away to themselves.

I concentrate briefly, closing the fingers of my right hand, and the handle of my flaming sword appears between them.

"This is how."

Athena gapes at the celestial weapon, but there is no fear left in her eyes – only awe.

"Wow. So… you're really not human?"

The wry smirk on my features is all but automatic as I once more banish the blade.

"It's a bit more complicated than that. My current body is human, but my essence is not. Overall, though, you are correct. I am an Elohim, or at least that is how we were known before the Fall."

She puts the pieces together. "'The Fall…', 'ascending…' Are you saying you're a, a…"

Even though she does not say it out loud, I know she has caught on. "Yes. Long before I was temporarily imprisoned in this realm, I spent millennia being confined in Hell."

Will she shrink away in terror, knowing that I am what mankind has termed a 'demon?' Will my affiliation with the Lightbringer instill the instinctual flight response of her kind, one of the banes placed upon us by God after our rebellion?

When Athena can finally bring herself to look at me again, she smiles.

"My guardian angel is a demon. I'm actually not surprised. It's not like my life has ever been normal."

Now, I am surprised. My Visage is still unleashed, its intimidating force must be close to crushing her spirit, and here she stands and looks as though it does not bother her at all.