"This one is no good," Lukas mumbles, hand pressed to a tree.

Maya shakes her head from where her palm is pressed to one several feet away, her brow furrowed. "This one too..."

Aiden has to stare for a bit longer, but he shakes his head at the tree he's touching as well. "This one's useless... damn, at this rate, night will fall first..."

Jesse hesitantly looks around at the trees. "Mm... what exactly are you looking for?"

"A tree," Aiden replies tersely, which doesn't help answer Jesse's question.

"... but there are trees everywhere..." Jesse goes over to a nearby one and presses their palm to a tree experimentally like the others are doing, before blinking. "... are you looking for one that doesn't feel hollow?"

Lukas pauses in checking the trees, before glancing at Jesse. "What?"

"This tree feels hollow. Are you looking for trees that don't feel hollow?" Jesse looks back at the tree, a little frown crossing their face as they pat the tree again. "I didn't know trees grew hollow in Cosmos..."

Now Lukas is definitely looking at Jesse. So are the other half demons. In fact, Maya and Lukas are regarding Jesse with a good amount of interest.

"... they don't."

This is from Aiden, who has stopped using his sharper tone in exchange for a slightly bemused one.

Jesse blinks at him.

Petra pipes up. "Trees don't feel 'hollow' or 'dense' to us unless you have a high magic sensitivity," she says, tapping the tree and feeling like she's clunking her fingers on the trunk- it's got the consistency of a sheet of metal to her. "So what you're doing is actually sensing the magic in the tree."

She pauses a second later. "I think. I'm not the magic expert here."

"No, no, you've got it," Lukas murmurs, shifting to a different tree and waiting for a minute before frowning and giving his head another little shake.

Jesse now blinks at her, before looking at the tree that they're pressing their palm against.

"... oh." They pause, before looking at Lukas. "Are some people just more sensitive to magic?"

Lukas hums, shifting his weight thoughtfully at the question. "Most demons do seem to have a genetic thing for magic sensitivity... and I guess some of us are less sensitive towards magic."

"Stop glaring at me, Lukas."

"No idea what you're talking about, Gill."

Jesse gives a tiny giggle as Lukas glances at the shorter human with an almost appraising tilt of his head. "Hm, I guess it could just be that you were born sensitive to magic... not like you would've sensed it much in your world."

Jesse purses their lips at that. They can feel him not saying some sort of detail, but they decide to let it slide, as he seems to be pretty urgent about finding a tree. "Oh, I see... that makes sense."

They shuffle over and try a different tree. "... this one's hollow too... does that mean we're lookin' for a tree that's got more magic?"

"Yes, but... it looks like we'll have to use one of these," Maya mumbles, frowning at the trees. "There aren't any really that have as much as I would like in the area."

Aiden's tone has gone straight back to irritated as he lets out a long sigh. It's more of a groan. "Fine."

Abruptly, Petra straightens up, making Jesse look up at the tall half-demon.

(Now that they think about it, she doesn't have an eyepatch or something covering her eyes like the others... why is that?)

"I didn't expect to meet you five here."

Jesse spins on their heel and almost falls over. Behind them, on the path, a demon has materialized, black hair pinned back in a low ponytail, although it's not a very long one, and his black beard is a little scraggly and unevenly cut. His armor is primarily black, with hints of blue peeking out beneath the black leather plates. He, seeming to follow some unspoken rule of demon fashion, is also wearing black boots.

His red irises are interrupted before reaching the pupils by a ring of dark blue.

Lukas relaxes, a smile coming over his lips. "That's what we should say to you, Ivor."

Ivor...?

Isn't he one of the demon lords?

Gill inclines his head politely at Ivor, who is perhaps a little shorter than Petra, though not by much. "You still searching for the new lord?"

Ivor gives a slightly frustrated hum, crossing his arms and listing to one side. "Yes... all I keep hearing is 'Not yet', although recently I've been getting 'soon', so that's something."

He surveys the faces of the five, Aiden looking stormy while Lukas looks worried. "... you seem troubled."

"We are troubled," is Aiden's rather blunt reply, "our stupid fool of a lord minus Petra forgot to give us our ID cards, so we can't enter Champion City."

"Ah, that. They started using those a month ago... so now you're searching for a tree?" Ivor glances around at the ones nearby distastefully. "You probably won't find a suitable one here, the ones closest to the roads have been drained of magic."

"We know, but... it's dangerous to stay out in the open during the night, especially with Jesse here..." Gill shifts and glances at Jesse, who is still touching a tree experimentally.

Ivor's brow furrows slightly. "... Jesse?"

Jesse blinks at him.

The demon lord slowly walks closer to them, covering a good amount of ground until he's right in front of Jesse. If they wanted, they could reach out and poke him. They can feel him scrutinizing them carefully.

"... you're the human that Romeo was talking about... the one without a wish?"

Jesse blinks at him again, having to tilt their head back to actually make eye contact with him.

They do have a wish. They have a wish that they want more than anything else; if they can have nothing else they would want this.

But they feel so guilty that it's just something for themselves.

"Mmhm..."

Ivor looks at them for a moment longer, before glancing at Reuben at their feet. He squeals in response to the look he's receiving, butting his head against Jesse's leg.

"And a vessel creature, too..." He glances up at Jesse. "To keep your heart safe?"

"Yes, sir."

Ivor makes a faint face at that, and Jesse's pretty sure they can see Petra hiding a grin. "Please... don't call me that. Ivor's fine."

Jesse bobs their head at him.

He regards them for a minute longer, before giving a thoughtful hum and glancing at the others. "It's going to rain tonight. You said that you were looking for a tree. Did you find a suitable one yet?"

Jesse shakes their head, making him look back down at him. "All of the trees so far feel hollow."

The demon lord looks at them for a moment longer, brow furrowing. "... you can feel the magic in the tree?"

They bob their head again.

Ivor stares at them for a long, long moment, before looking back at Petra. "I believe I should avoid running around at night, considering I can't use light magic. Would you all mind if I stayed with you tonight?"

"We wouldn't mind at all," Lukas says quickly, inclining his head in a little bow.

Petra gives a displeased hum, glancing around at all the trees. "Yeah... though the tree is still a big issue."

The demon lord touches his lip, brow furrowing momentarily. "I see... in that case..."

He turns his palm up and turns to an area where nobody is standing, eyes gleaming momentarily... and then-

"Arboretum."

Instantly, a glowing white sprig pokes out of the ground, rapidly curling and elongating and growing, leafy branches expanding from it until the glow fades, revealing a huge, black-trunked tree that towers quite far above the other ones, red leaves waving in the breeze.

Jesse's eyes grow incredibly big at that.

"Ooh, awesome! As expected of Ivor," Maya says cheerfully, apparently not seeming quite as awed as Jesse is.

Aiden gives Ivor a small bow. "Thank you, Ivor."

He pauses, a scowl coming over his face a second later. "If only Romeo would learn from you."

Ivor hums, a soft laugh rumbling in his throat. "Romeo's still fairly inexperienced, but he has potential. He was picked for a reason." He pauses, regarding the half demons for a moment. "He is very much like you five."

"Please don't compare us to him," Aiden mutters, still scowling.

Another hum of laughter. "Very well."

Petra apparently notices Jesse's rather awe-struck expression and misinterprets it as slight confusion, because she begins explaining. Not that Jesse minds. "Ivor is the oldest demon alive in Cosmos..."

"Yeah, I think we mentioned he was one of the demons who helped close the door," Gill adds, helpfully.

Jesse blinks, glancing at Ivor, who looks back at them evenly. "Yeah, I... think you mentioned that."

Something occurs to them, and they tilt their head at the demon lord curiously a moment later. "You're the lord of the east, right?" At his confirming nod, they continue. "Why are you... here, then?"

"Ivor is... special. He can speak with 'the world', which..." Lukas frowns slightly, lips tilting downwards at the ends. Jesse gets the feeling he's trying to dumb it down so they understand more.

However, Ivor chimes in. "The world is the literal world of Cosmos." He spreads his hands, gesturing at everything. "The ground, the trees- I believe humans have a myth about the Earth Mother?"

Jesse nods immediately. "Yeah, although it depends on the mythology you're in. But Greek mythology talks about Gaia; she's the literal earth."

At least, Jesse's about ninety-nine percent that that is how the legend works.

"Yes. Imagine as if Cosmos itself is a huge, living demon. It can speak and communicate, but only with those that are willing to listen and understand it, or can understand it."

Jesse tries to imagine this, before slowly nodding. "Okay... that... that makes sense, I think."

Ivor gives them a look. Jesse gets the feeling that he's rather pleased, but he continues before they can dwell on it too much. "I search for and select rulers according to the world's judgement. Typically after a ruler dies due to an accident, or after a ruler abdicates, or some other reason, they are replaced quickly... but because Jupin is such an important district that it affects everyone, the world is much, much pickier, and it's easier to travel all over Cosmos and see if the answer changes rather than stay in Enchantra and try to ask over and over."

"Ah, I see..."

"This is a great conversation," Aiden interrupts, making Jesse jump and look around at him, "but let's get going before we get eaten alive out here. You can talk about demon magic in the tree."

And with that very kind note, he tenses his knees, backing up a few steps, before launching himself into the air, hundreds of times higher than the average human, and disappearing through the leaves with a rustle. Maya and Gill follow quickly, with Maya seeming to wait deliberately for Gill to go before springing into the tree.

Jesse's eyes grow rather, rather wide.

Petra gives Jesse a teasing smile, sticking her tongue out a little bit. "What's wrong? Can't jump that high?"

"... why are we jumping into a tree?"

Lukas opens his mouth to answer, Ivor glancing over at the blonde half-demon with a look that makes Jesse feel like he somewhat wishes the blonde was in a contract with him. Maybe because of the magic. Both do seem to like magic.

And then both stiffen.

"... Jesse, don't turn around." Lukas's voice, to Jesse's slight dismay, has dropped an octave in warning.

The last time that happened, it got very bloody.

Petra glances over her shoulder. Or, well, more accurately, she turns her head halfway before it snaps back forward, staring intently at the tree. Her own expression has gone dead serious. "... Ivor, you're standing right next to Jesse. Can you get them into the tree?"

Jesse looks over at Ivor, who is also resolutely staring forward now. "Probably. You two aren't very skilled at light magic yet, right?"

"Lukas is better."

"Better is relative; the last time I got caught outside at night I still ended up with my arm nearly getting ripped off," Lukas mutters through gritted teeth. "I think we should just get up into the tree and put up the barrier."

Ivor hums, still staring ahead of him. "Since there's a hollow area, it should take a little less energy to put up the barrier. Just get into the tree."

Despite the almost casual tones that Jesse's about ninety percent sure the demons are using to not cause Jesse to panic, they're getting rather nervous.

Petra huffs. "That should be the easy part. Ready?"

Lukas raises his shoulders in a shrug. "Eh. Ready as we'll ever be. Go."

Petra blurs into the tree with a speed that rivals even Lukas's, while Lukas backs up and takes a running jump into another tree, rebounding and sending some leaves sprinkling from the much taller tree.

"My apologies if this makes you uncomfortable." Before Jesse can ask why they'd be uncomfortable, Ivor stoops down and grabs Jesse, spinning them around and almost tossing them over his shoulder so that he can carry them more effectively.

The moment he does, Jesse realizes why Lukas told them not to turn around.

A... creature that easily towers about ten feet tall is standing about two feet from the demon lord, glowing purple eyes staring right at them.

Grotesquely skinny limbs with black skin (as if charred or burnt or dyed) that stretches over bone and a torso that is ridiculously small and out of proportion with the limbs seems to what give it most of its height, the eyes burning with a strange lack of light that... somehow still emits light.

It's like a black light.

Jesse's eyes lock with the black light.

Instantly the thing's jaw drops—

- and continues dropping, barely connected to the skull by a string of sinew, purple pupils dilating as blackened, burnt-looking teeth are revealed, purple saliva dripping down its jaw and onto the ground, where it hisses and sizzles against the road.

It screams, an unearthly, screeching shriek that echoes in the air, ringing instantly appearing in Jesse's ears as they balk from it.

Don't scream.

Don't cry.

Ivor swears under his breath, tightening his grip on them. "Hang on. And don't look at it," he adds, after a moment of thought, "it doesn't like eye contact."

They wish he'd mentioned this before.

Jesse buries their head in his shoulder, replacing anything they can see with darkness, squeezing their eyes shut, doing anything they can to not look at that thing.

There is a pause, before Jesse feels the wind whip around them momentarily, rushing as the screech grows softer and farther away quite abruptly.

"Ivor, do you mind helping with the barrier? Aiden, Petra, and Gill are completely useless at it."

Jesse blinks their eyes open at Maya's voice, twisting around and seeing Maya and Lukas with their hands up and out. The walls around them are gnarled branches, arching around to make a little room, and a glowing orb is hovering above them.

"That's not our fault," Gill scowls at her. "You know we're not good at magic."

"That's exactly why it's your fault," Lukas hums back teasingly.

Ivor rolls his eyes. "You children and your bickering."

He carefully moves and sets Jesse down on the floor next to Petra, detangling their trembling fingers from his armor and setting their hands in their lap with a slowness Jesse doesn't expect. "Stay here for a moment, I need to help with the barrier."

Jesse nods quickly, hands still trembling. "Okay..."

He nods, giving them a quirk of his lips that they suspect is a sort of reassuring smile, before standing and moving to join Maya and Lukas, while the screams of the creature below still echo in Jesse's ear.


A/N: Huh, the part I wanted to get to ended up getting pushed to next chapter xD

Welp, there's another chapter done! What fun, we get attacked by an Enderman xD

Next chapter'll be lots of explaining about mechanics because I need that down somewhere xD

I use the 'xD' face too much...

Responses to reviews!

Toni42: Oof. Um. Yeah. Sorry xD / There's actually a specific reason for them being generalized; but it's also a note that while humans CAN be contracted in Cosmos... there hasn't been any for the longest time. This is the FIRST year in a long time that contracted humans have been walking around. Also, it's not been very long since the October Children have come; it's early December in the human world. / Again, he doesn't like 'em xD / Hehehe xD / Yes, the race xD / It's a tiny flame. It was mentioned at one point. / More is elaborated on next chapter xD

TheAmberShadow: Yep. / Hehe xD The claws are more like detachable gloves. / A bloody fight situation? Nope. / Hehe / That's acting flirtatious? / Indeed. / Hehehe :3 / Who said Radar's human? / Not quite yet, but an interesting thought xD / Yis :3 / xD / Indeed.

That's all for now! See ya, so long, and g'bye!

x.X. A.L. X.x