3
"If you give her to me, I promise I'll take care of her and all the monsters will go away. They won't hurt anyone anymore. They won't come here again."
A young girl, no older than 8, was quivering at the edge of the forest holding a blue-eyed white cat in her arms and staring at Cecilia. It was dark, but flashes of fiery light lit the sky behind Cecilia. Demons were exploding as they died; Kael was doing his part. Now if only the girl would do hers.
"You come find me if you decide, okay?" Cecilia turned and dashed off towards the fight in town.
Left behind, the girl started to cry and rubbed her face against the soft fur of her pet, "What should I do? I don't want to lose you again, but everyone…everyone is scared too."
"You think it's okay to leave such a decision to a child?" Kael shouted at her as she arrived at the fight and explained, "Stand back!"
Cecilia ignored him and stepped closer to his battle with a steely demon that had sharp edges jutting out all over its hard skin, "She'll have to learn one day. Maybe we can prevent one more demon from being created here."
"If she comes."
"Demon Eyes: Numb Skin."
The demon spun around wildly, "Where have you gone, exorcist? Not afraid are you?"
The demon howled as a hole split his chest, "not a chance," Kael smirked.
"Release," Cecilia said.
He was standing right in front of the demon; his glaive pierced right through the location of a heart, though none was there. He jumped back as the demon shattered and exploded, cursing exorcists as he died. From above a small contingent of canon-covered demons hovered in the sky.
Kael smirked, "Psht, level ones."
"Don't be so cocky, Kael."
"You would be too, if you knew how easy it was."
"This is serious, you know!" She shouted at him, but even she knew this wasn't a challenge for her friend. In fact, he rather enjoyed it.
Another explosion lit the sky as Kael spiked a demon with his glaive and jumped over to the next victim. He lifted his glaive above his head and drove it down into the petrified face of some nameless man and winced. A tongue of flame licked at his shoulder.
"Kael!"
Sitting contentedly on top of one of the remaining level ones, another demon laughed gleefully, "Got you exorcist!"
Cecilia heard his low growl from the ground; he didn't often get hit and he wasn't inclined to forget it now.
"Oh, fire, I like it!" a second demon added from atop one of the buildings in town, "Let's barbeque him before we kill him!"
Both demons, one a ball of fire, the other a fat metal man, charged forwards. With a cry the second demon spit and Kael slipped from his the building he had landed on and clutched at the shingles. A burst of flames engulfed the entire building as the fireball landed on it. Kael let go of the burning wood, legs jarred as he hit the ground heavily.
"What do you think?"
"Aren't we the perfect team?" the fat demon asked while chuckling, "my gasoline and his fire will set anything on fire easily!"
"Can your legs handle our speed? I'll get you next or I'll burn down the entire town," the fire demon jumped down nimbly, all limbs alight.
Cecilia saw Kael grimace as he stood straight, "Demon's Eyes: Numb Skin," she resumed her spell; the only help she could give.
"Oh? If you don't come out now we'll have to burn it all down to find you!"
"You don't want all the townspeople to die do you?"
They didn't lie. A second building caught fire with a belch from the fat demon and a touch from a sparking finger. A man and his wife dashed out of the building, screaming as they saw the two demons and almost making to run back inside. The fat demon blocked them against the doorway; it was back inside to burn or death by whatever means he gave. Again a hole appeared with no reason and thick gasoline flowed out of the demon's side.
"That's too bad, exorcist, but I can still start a fire on my own!" the fire demon continued to burn structures and people emerged, terrified.
"Stop it!" the girl was panting as tears still coursed down her cheeks, "I'll give her to you, just make them go away!"
"He's doing his best," Cecilia said, nodding towards Kael, though invisible to the demon.
"Why aren't you helping?" the girl pointed her finger angrily.
Cecilia frowned sadly, "I am, but I can't do very much."
Sometimes she really did wish she could join the fight. Not to kill, not to destroy or save the world, but just to help the person she cared about most; the one who always protected her. Then she remembered the exorcists' job, their pledge, their plans, and she did not regret her own position so much.
"Believe in him, he can do it. Come stand with me."
The girl walked over and Cecilia picked up her, the cat still in her arms, and held her as the fight continued. She noticed the little girl's furrowed eyebrows after a while and realised that even she was wondering why the demon seemed so lost and never looked at Kael.
She whispered in her ear, "I made him invisible."
"I can still see him!"
She smiled, "but the monsters can't."
The girl broke into a broad grin, "It's magic."
"Yes, but it's a secret," Cecilia laughed, "You have to promise to keep it."
"I will!"
The sky darkened though it was already black, except for the moon. Cecilia glanced up at the sky; there was a figure in front of the moon- two of them. With wide, unafraid eyes the girl was watching the fight intensely. Was it right to let a child watch such things? Even for a lesson?
"We should go find your mother," Cecilia turned away from the fight so she couldn't see. Kael would be fine even without her pointing out the other two, right? The girl peered over her shoulder at the fight as Cecilia walked away.
"But it's not over yet! I'm not going to give her to you until I know they're all gone."
Cecilia smiled softly, "He'll come find us when it's over. You should probably be in bed now and your mother must be worried."
The girl looked guilty for a second, "I'm always out late, so Mama doesn't worry about that anymore."
"Of course she worries."
"But I always come home, even after it's dark."
Cecilia shook her head, "Mamas always worry, because they don't know if the monsters are around or not. They never know if we're going to come home or not. Mamas are always scared."
"Oh," she was quiet for a moment, "my mama lives over there, in the flower shop."
Clashes of metal on metal resonated behind them as Cecilia walked, as calmly as she could force herself, away from Kael. She knocked on the door and a worn looking woman's face brightened instantly at the sight of her and the girl.
"Katie! I was so worried about you!" she took her daughter from the stranger's arms, "What's this you've brought home? A kitty… This is where you've been every day? Playing with this cat?"
"Yes…"
The woman looked back at Cecilia, "I'm sorry, ever since the stray that lived in the alley beside our house…left, Katie's been very lonely. I can't have an animal in the shop, you see. Thank you for bringing her home."
"Mama, she's not leaving yet!" Katie interrupted as her mother seemed about to say goodbye," She's waiting here until that man comes back."
"A man?"
Katie nodded vigorously, "Yea, he's fighting the monsters for us and then they're gonna take care of my kitty, right?"
Cecilia smiled at the child, "that's right. He'll be back soon."
The woman was taken aback at her daughter welcoming a stranger in, "Oh, well then come inside. My name is Maria and this is my daughter Katie."
"Sophie", she said easily, "but I'd like to go meet my friend- the man who is fighting the monsters. I have to make sure-" she couldn't say admit she was worried for him or Katie would panic too, "I have to make sure he can find his way here afterwards."
Cecilia waved and broke into a sprint as soon as she was out of sight down the street. More explosions echoed in the fire-lit night, but there was no more screaming.
'Kael must still be killing them," Cecilia sighed in relief.
She skidded to a halt where the street met the town's open central market. Kael was there, impaling another level one, but there were also…two exorcists.