Demon

"Members of your government came and forced you to go to their headquarters in…?"

"Spain." Izzie stood on the dais of the Round Room, Xemnas, Xigbar, and Saix all sitting in their respective thrones. She crossed her arms as she glared up at the silver-haired man some fifty feet above her. "I knew it was a bad idea to send anyone back to Blackfoot Creek! We're not doing this again, you hear me? Absolutely no one is to go back to my home world."

Xemnas listened quietly, his head resting on one of his fists. "I suppose it is true that they are dangerous," He said, his eyes looking at Izzie, but not seeing her.

"Suppose?" Izzie repeated through clenched teeth, her body shifting as if she were about to lean into a crouch.

"Izzie," Saix said her name softly, quietly, his voice just a low murmur and unheard by either of the other two men. She hissed under her breath, but stayed in her spot, glaring wildly at Xemnas.

"Why didn't they just kill you two right away?" Xigbar asked. "I thought they kept their secret under lock and key."

"Atticus is fond of me," Izzie replied lowly. "He holds out in hope that one day I'll decide to join his guard. He'd hate to have to kill me over a life he deems unworthy. Besides that…" She trailed off then, glancing up to Saix. Xemnas lifted his chin.

"Besides that…?" He pressed.

"Atticus and Ramir said I was a demon," Saix answered in place of Izzie. Xemnas and Xigbar turned to look at him, both with their eyebrows raised.

"A powerful clan of vampires, resorting to name calling?" Xigbar said with a grin. "That's hilarious."

"No, they meant that I was actually a demon. Atticus said I have the blood of a demon in my veins, but it's diluted. Likely some great grandparent was a demon."

"So how does that work?" Xigbar asked. "Vampires don't exist in any world but hers, but demons exist everywhere?"

"Well I don't know if you want to be that black and white about it," Izzie replied. "Vampires are a very small minority in the supernatural world. Demons are much, much more common, and way more diverse. Saix's heritage could be from a subspecies those in my world have never heard of."

"So you believe them?" Saix asked.

"I think it makes a lot of sense. You can hold your own against us, and you were even strong enough to get Charles off me. Atticus couldn't read your mind properly, and Ramir's power didn't affect you."

"What is Ramir's power?" Xemnas questioned.

"He has the ability to cause illusions of pain. It doesn't work on me, but I've heard it's similar to the feeling of turning…a pain Saix has felt before." Izzie's body shuddered as she remembered Saix's screams.

Xemnas looked over to Saix. "This gift didn't work on you?"

"It did," He replied. "But it wasn't what I could call painful. It felt like indigestion at worst." Izzie let out a high-pitched laugh, shaking her head slightly.

"Indigestion," she repeated. "With anyone else, they'd have been flat on their backs, completely incapacitated."

"So then, what are demons like? What makes them so special?" Xemnas asked Izzie. She took a deep breath, her eyebrows furrowing as she thought about it.

"Well-and I'm just going off the demons I've met so don't hold me to this-full-blooded demons rival vampires in all ways, only, demons age, albeit extremely slowly. Most also have the ability to teleport."

"So, basically, mortal vampires?" Xigbar said. Izzie shook her head.

"No. Demons do not need to consume blood to survive. Instead, they steal energy from other living beings. That's why they age very slowly."

"And what does that mean for Saix?" Xemnas asked. "What are the advantages to having demonic ancestry?"

"Well, the bloodline is weak. Most of the rest of my kind can't sense any such ancestry because it's so weak. Atticus, Ramir, and I all could because we've been in contact with demons before and know what they smell and look like. I had a hunch there was something different about Saix, but I didn't want to jump to conclusions,"

"What was the hunch based off?" Saix asked her. As weird as it was, this was kind of interesting. It was only speculation, but anything having to do with his heritage was something he wanted to hear. When we first met, I knew your scent was different than everyone else's. It has a sweet edge to it. And I also thought you were, well, prettier than everyone else," Izzie held up a finger to Xigbar, stopping him from speaking right as he opened his mouth. "Atticus said the same thing as well. You're more beautiful than a human, not quite coming to the level of a vampire or a full-blooded demon. He said you are otherworldly, which is a pretty good description. And then back when Xemnas had me spar against the six of you, you were the only one I had to use more of my strength against. I was at like two percent with everyone else, but with you, I had to double my effort. It might not sound like much to you, but it's quite significant. All things considered, I should have been able to take you down as easily as I did the other five." Izzie looked back to Xemnas. "So when you think about it, even though his heritage is generations old, his mind is still resistant to the powers of my kind. He's still physically and mentally powerful, to the point that he can offer resistance to attacks from us. I think whoever he's related to was extremely powerful."

She saw when Xemnas's lips twitched-the most minute contraction-and her eyes narrowed.

"This has been quite interesting," He mused quietly. Xigbar looked over to him, leaning on his right elbow, and Saix, seeing Izzie's expression, frowned. "Though, I don't think it is smart to cut off all contact to your world."

"Were you not listening to me?" Izzie growled. "The Council are unforgiving. The fact that Saix warped us out of there before Atticus was ready to let us go is-"

"If there are Heartless going unchecked in your world, then there will be no home for you to return to. Is that something you want?" Izzie pressed her lips tightly together, her hands balling into tight little fists at her sides. Xemnas gazed smugly down at her for a long while before he continued, "I won't have my agents sent there every day, but every so often. And if we detect more Heartless, the frequency will increase. If you want your world to stay safe, this is the best option, wouldn't you agree?" She growled at him; he smiled. "Saix, because of your unanticipated absence, I had no choice but to give everyone tomorrow off. I need you to catch up on your work tomorrow, however,"

He lowered his head. "Yes, sir."

"Good. Dismissed."

…

Saix was exhausted, that was a given. He only ever prepared missions two days in advance, so as Xemnas had said, there were no missions ready for tomorrow. Making missions for two different days wasn't necessarily hard, but it was annoying. Though, somehow, it didn't annoy him as much as it would normally.

He twisted the shower off and stepped out of the tub, grabbing his towel and running his hair through its folds. When he looked in the mirror, he barely recognized himself. He looked…more alive. More than ever before. His cheeks had color to them, and there was a spark of something or another in his eyes, but he couldn't put his finger on what exactly it was. Someone loved him. The most important, most impossible person in the world. And even though a part of Saix still believed he shouldn't have been able to feel anything at all for her, he knew he loved her too. That weird, warm, light thing in his chest was getting bigger, swelling to ten times its initial size. That thought-the thought that he loved her-made his cheeks flush even more. Weird how that didn't bother him so much.

He finished drying himself and pulled on his pajamas, opening the bathroom door and stepping out into his bedroom. He found her sitting on the edge of his bed, her arms crossed, her expression still sour.

"Still irritated?" He asked.

"It's like he's asking for one of you to be killed," She grumbled back. "I oughtta kick his butt." Saix let out a breath, moving to sit beside her.

"As much as I'd love to see that, I don't think that's a good idea."

"Hmph." Izzie let her arms fall, her hands plopping onto her lap, and she turned her head to look at him. "You seem oddly energized for someone who was in mortal peril not even two hours ago."

He turned away, embarrassed. "I do not."

Izzie giggled, reaching up and combing her fingers through his still damp hair. The gentle pull felt nice. As she pulled her hand back, the light glinted off something on her left ring finger, and Saix glanced at it.

It was a ring, made from gold, with a delicate design on its band and a glinting gem in its center. It seemed very old, the band tarnished and dull, the gem cloudy, and it was out of place with the rest of her jewelry, which was all new, silver, and shiny. Izzie noticed that Saix had noticed it, and she looked at it as well, smiling sheepishly.

"I should…take this off now, shouldn't I?" She asked quietly.

"Is it…"

"It's the wedding ring my husband gave me on our wedding day. He'd made it at the local blacksmith's."

"You've worn this since 1508?" Izzie nodded. Now that Saix thought about it, he remembered catching glimpses of it before, but he never cared all that much…granted, he'd been forcing himself not to care, but still. He took Izzie's hand in his and looked more closely at the ring that'd been sitting on her finger for five-hundred and twelve years, turning her hand over to see the other side. "It's well taken-care of," He mumbled. "You'd think it'd be more warped than it is." Izzie let out a small laugh.

"It's been on a stone finger for most of its life. Hard to wear it down when there's no destructive oils on my body."

"You really loved him, didn't you?"

Izzie sighed a little, and looked up to Saix, moving her hand to cup his cheek. "Yes. But I love you now. That's why maybe I should…take it off."

"You don't have to do that." She frowned.

"I don't?"

"No," Saix shook his head. "I know your husband will always have a place in your heart, and I know that I…have a bigger place. It's not like I'm jealous or anything. If you want to keep wearing it, then keep wearing it." Izzie stared at him for a moment, then smiled, leaning forward and placing a kiss on his cheek. He couldn't stop his heart from reacting; it kicked up excitedly, making her chuckle. As she settled back, she said,

"Then, how about I move it?" Saix watched as she pulled the ring from her left ring finger and placed it on her right ring finger. "That way, the spot's open." He blinked, feeling his face become uncomfortably hot. She didn't say it, but there was no way she wasn't thinking it-that maybe one day, she and Saix would be married. She looked up at him, and, seeing the expression on his face, gave him a look. "Relax, Saix."

"I am relaxed." He replied indignantly. Izzie shook her head, chuckling. A quiet came over the room for few moments, and the only sound that could be heard was the ticking of the clock. It was not an uncomfortable silence. Saix looked over to Izzie, who lifted her face, meeting his gaze curiously.

"What is it?" She asked.

"Being mates means being together forever, right?" Saix replied. She nodded. "So then, how would that work, with me being a demon?" Izzie tilted her head, her eyebrows furrowing.

"What do you mean?"

"Even as I am now, I'm aging. Every day, I get older. As long as I'm mortal, I'm going to die one day, Izzie."

Izzie stared at him for a good minute, then sighed. "Oh…I see what you're talking about. You want to be a vampire."

"Ideally, I'd like to stay mortal," Izzie blinked, taken aback by that statement. Saix continued, "I never thought life was anything special. I never had anything going for me, even when I was human. I was an orphan, and I grew up in the orphanage. I never had a family, and I only had one friend, two if you count the girl Lea and I knew for that short while. To be honest, it always just felt like life was dragging me along by the scruff of my neck. Eternal life was not something I ever held in high regard." He stopped then, turning his eyes away and seeming to deliberate on telling her anything more. She waited, and after a couple minutes, he spoke again. "I wish there was a way that you could become human again, but I know there's not. You can't grow old with me, and you said that you have no intention of living without me. I know you're serious about that. So if I stay mortal, and I die, then you'll follow me, and I don't want that. You can't leave Iris behind."

Izzie was silent for a moment. "So you would become a vampire for me, not because you want to," She muttered.

"I would do anything…if it meant that you were alive and happy." Saix said this very quietly, his face turning pink, and his eyes directed at some random point next to the dresser. "I never thought I'd have anyone that I would lay down my life for, no questions asked, ever again. I didn't want that ever again. But I don't hate it. So, when I'm human again, when I'm normal again, I think…I shouldn't stay that way."

"But you want to stay mortal."

"If you could be mortal with me. But you can't."

Izzie let out a breath, smiling gently, and lifted a hand, running her fingers through his hair. "Well, it's not something we have to worry about right this second. You're only twenty-five." He gave her a look.

"Don't make me wait until I look like I could be your grandfather."

"You won't look like my grandfather at thirty-five or forty," She replied nonchalantly, earning her an even more dirty look. She ignored that and continued, "But, as far as your demonic heritage goes, I'm not sure how different you'd be as a vampire. You might not even be any different at all, because it's several generations old. If you had no special power as a human, you'd probably be a normal vampire." Saix huffed at the term "normal vampire", but didn't say anything else. He just sat and enjoyed the feeling of Izzie's fingers as they continued stroking his hair, closing his eyes against the pleasant sensation. Izzie smiled, bringing the tips of her fingers down and across his cheek, running her index finger lightly over his bottom lip. He opened his eyes again.

"Can you…say it again?" He asked her quietly. She tilted her head.

"Say what again?"

"You know…that you…love…me." He muttered those last two words under his breath, but Izzie heard them loud and clear, and she smiled widely.

"I love you, Saix." She said. A weird feeling shot through his chest. Unlike the first time, it wasn't embarrassment, but rather, a shock of electricity that left warmth when it passed. Saix wasn't good with words. He was not an affectionate person, and even though he didn't like cheesy words or mushy actions, he liked when Izzie told him she loved him. He reached up, taking the hand on his face and pulling her closer to him, his other hand coming around her waist, and kissed her again.

…