Part 1: Alboino - Chapter 2
Time in the demon world was a strange thing; although it moved in the same fashion as the human world, in minutes, days and years, they were a lot slower than in the human one and the sky never changed from the purplish tint and the sun and moon never showed so the only way to tell the time was with a clock of some kind.
Humans and demons drifted seamlessly between the two worlds, golden gateways marking the points where people could cross between them but while someone could be in the demon world for a week, a whole month could pass in the human world. And a month in the human world could be little more than a day for the demon one.
So when Rin opened her eyes, the world looked the same as when she closed them, glancing around the room she was in. She hadn't noticed the chest of draws on the other side of the room before, a mirror and vase with flowers on it. Carefully she climbed out of the bed and walked over to the mirror, looking up at herself.
She still had the master's shirt on but she was amazed how clean she looked and how short her hair was. Kusu had been forced to cut it almost to the roots, uneven and rough around the edges. She didn't like it but she was glad how smooth it was and the fact it didn't itch anymore.
After staring at her appearance for a bit, she walked over to the main door and pulled it further open, looking around but the hallway was empty so she walked back the way she'd come the night before, back to the kitchen with its brewing section. Kusu was inside it, grinding something in a pestle and mortal but she looked up as the door opened.
"Ah, good morning Rin. Did you sleep well?"
"Yes ma'am."
"Now I told you to call me Kusu." She sighed, wiping her hands on her apron once more. "Would you like some breakfast?"
Rin didn't get a chance to answer as Kusu pulled a plate from a cupboard and filled it with some thick pieces of bacon from a pan, two boiled eggs, some fresh bread and another glass of cold milk. "There you go, sit down and eat it up."
With a nod, the girl sat and ate, a little faster than the meal she had the night before. She had decided that either these demons weren't going to hurt her or that they already had killed her and she was now in heaven. Either way, she was going to be happy for as long as this lasted.
As she finished the last bit of bacon, Kusu came over to her with a small bundle of dark blue fabric. "I was able to get this from Asmella across the road. It is too small for her girls now but it should fit you." She said, holding out a long sleeved blue dress complete with white lace and bows and began to judge the size between the child and the dress. "Might need to take the sleeves up a little."
Rin couldn't believe how good all this was; for a long time all she had to wear were the things she found in the rubbish that others had thrown out. She saw demons and humans walking around in outfits like this but she never thought she would have one with its floral pattern and ribbons.
After washing her hands and face, Kusu helped Rin change into the dress, smoothing down the edges and using some ribbons to hold the extra-long sleeves in place. "Oh you look lovely!" She cooed, brushing her hair back. "Simply adorable. It really suits you."
"It's very pretty." Rin agreed, unable to help herself from doing a twirl in it.
"Now why don't you go and show Master Tarn? I'm sure he would love to see you in your new dress and he did ask to speak to you when you woke up." She pointed to the door behind her. "He's in there. Just knock before you go in."
Swallowing, Rin nodded and walked over to the door, stopping before it to glance back behind her then knocking gently on the wood.
"Enter." Called from the other side.
Doing so, Rin looked around the room; most of the four walls were covered with bookshelves but the content was clearly all over the floor in semi neat piles, surrounding a small table in the middle, up over the chairs and most were around the desk on the forth wall under the only window in the room.
Tarn was sat at the desk, writing in a large thick tome but then glanced back to see who was at the door. "Ah! Rin, good morning!" He said, turning back to put a ribbon on the page and closed the book. "How are you feeling?"
"Well sir." She said with a nod, her fingers messing with the lace near her wrist.
"You look lovely in that dress by the way." He smiled at her. "Kusu was right, you are very pretty."
She gave him a shy smile, not sure what to say to such praise.
"And, before I forget, I have something for you." He said, opening a draw and pulling out a small bottle with a clear liquid inside. "This will help your hair grow back. Just take one spoonful before bed for three days. You'll have lovely long hair by the end of the week."
Taking the bottle, Rin nodded. "Thank you sir."
"You're welcome. Now, you and I need to talk." He sighed then moved from his desk to one of the chairs in the room that wasn't covered by books and lounged comfortably in it. "So, Kusu has explained what is going on right?"
"She…" She started then looked down at her bare feet.
"Go on?"
"She… said you are going to make my wish come true."
"That is what I will aim to do. Not many demons still celebrate Satremon but I believe it is important to keep these traditions alive. Satremon is all about helping others, those less fortunate than yourself. You see Rin, it is said that when you help others, good things will happen to you in return. And the more you can help them, the more you get back, if not in this life then in the one beyond." He leant forward in his seat a bit and nodded to her. "So, what is your wish Little Rin?"
She looked down at her toes once more, silent and waiting for the demon to speak again but when he didn't say anything, she lifted her eyes to look at him before quickly looking back down.
A few more minutes of tense silence filled the air then Tarn sighed, crossing his legs and resting his head on his hand. "Rin, I'm sure you don't know this… and I know I don't look it but I'm a very powerful demon. Whatever your wish is, I'm sure I can grant it. But you need to tell me what it is first."
Again silence but then she sighed. "You can't." She whispered at last, clasping her hands together before her around the bottle.
"Can't what?"
"Can't… help me."
He leant forwards to his knees and looked at her with a softer smile and confusion. "Why can't I help you Rin? Come on, be honest with me."
"'Cause…" She whispered, her body choking. "'Cause I'll be dead."
Her words had him stunned but then he smiled. "Don't be silly Rin. You're not going to die. Neither Kusu nor I will do anything to hurt you. You can stay here as long as you want. You can help in the shop and around the house. You won't be hungry or without anything for as long as you want to stay with me. And if you want to leave I will ensure you are settled for life."
Oddly the girl sobbed and shook her head again. "I'll be dead when the snow falls." She sniffed, tears rolling down her cheeks.
"Rin…"
"I'm cursed." She finally confessed, looking up at him with eyes filled with tears and leaking down her cheeks. "I'm cursed to die when the first snow flake falls."
The demon frowned then quickly stood up, moving some books from the middle of the room to create a space. Then he went to the side and picked up a wooden box, placed it in the space he just created, pointing on to it. "Stand on that." He ordered then walked to his desk, rummaging to find something in the draws.
Wiping away her tears, Rin stood on the box as asked and watched as Tarn found what he was looking for and returned with a small crystal on a string hanging from his hand. He held it towards her so she could see it better. "Now, listen here Rin." He explained, looking her in the eye. "I'm going to prove to you that you are not cursed, alright. Now, if you were cursed, this crystal would glow when you put it around your neck." He held it towards her and nodded. "Now, put it on and see for yourself."
With a small nod, the girl wiped her face once more and reached out for the crystal to take hold of the string. As soon as her hand was even near it however, the clear stone shone a bright green.
Tarn couldn't stop the gasp as he watched, taking it back from her hand and the glow vanished but when he returned it to even near her skin, it began to glow once more.
"Oh my." He said, looking her over before taking her still out stretched hand and forced the stone into her palm. Once he let go, the crystal flew out of her hand and into the closest wall where it smashed into shards.
"Gods above." He swore, looking at the remains in horror before turning at the girl who was looking terrified herself. He finally swallowed and nodded, holding out a hand to her. "Don't move Rin." He said then hurried around the room picking up bits from different places and putting them in a metal bowl that he then placed on the floor near the box.
Holding his hand out over the mixture, he began muttering lowly, his words indistinguishable but it was clearly having an effect of some kind as a yellowish glow began to appear around her wrists, hovering over her clothes.
As Tarn continued, the glow became more defined and clear, gradually becoming shapes and then some form of writing. When they were as clear as they were going to get, Tarn stopped and reached out his hand to hold her wrist gently, using his grip to turn her hand left and right to look over the writing. "This is ancient magic." He said to himself and to her. "Powerful and old. I've never seen anything like it before." He turned his eyes to the child. "Who did this to you?"
"I… I don't remember." She said, looking downwards.
"Then how do you know about the snowfall?"
"A… a blind demoness… she found me in the street and… she told me that… at the first snow fall… my life will be no more." She looked up at him a little. "So I came to the demon world to slow the curse down."
"Of course, in the human world, winter is almost here… whereas it's only just spring now. But even here… you can't stop time, only slow it." He sighed softly. "That soothsayer was right, the speed this curse is working, by the winter it will…" He stopped himself, letting her hand fall and looked away to his books, thinking. "Winter in the demon world is years away. At least 10 human ones. As long as you remain in this world you will be safe and 10 years is a long time for a human. Long enough for me to find a way to break this curse." He turned back and smiled at her, reaching out and cupping her cheek. "You will see spring again Rin and you will see it many times to come. I promise you."
She tried to look grateful for his words and tried to believe him but even if he was lying, winter for the demons was a very long time away and in that time, she could have a life with Tarn and Kusu.