The Chronicles of Isabelle Clement

Small Isabelle Clement sat in front of the window on a beautiful sunny day. As long as the petite five year-old could remember, (which, in all fairness, is not a long time to the rest of the world), she had been different from here peers. In the small town of Dina, nestled high into the mountains, higher than great mountain city of Arriel not more than five miles away, everyone knew each other. Except, they did not know Isabelle, and she did not know them. This was because she was different, and Isabelle knew that. Unlike other children in her village she could not go out and play. She could only sit in front of the window with the hood of her cloak pulled over her head.  Still, she turned from her perch, and looked to her father, Asmodeus. “Papa, can I go outside to play today?” her small, forked tail flicked in excitement under her skirts. Asmodeus sat in a rocker with a book in his hands, and a pipe in his mouth. The man looked no older than eighteen. Yet, he still had a child of the age of five. Of course, looks could be deceiving. “Izzy,” he set his book down on the small end table beside him, and patted his lap. Izzy knew what the signal meant, and begrudgingly left her spot at the window sill. Her small, pale feet padded across the floor and she crawled into his lap. He pulled her the rest of the way up, and ran a hand through the silvery hair that they both shared. “Little one, we’ve had this talk before. You know why you can’t go outside.”  Izzy tugged her hood down, and nestled in her silvery white locks was a pair of dainty black horns which sat along the top of her head, keeping her hair from falling into her eyes. “Because of my horns. Other kids don’t have them, and they might tell their mommies and daddies I have them.”  Asmodeus smiled sadly and nodded, the skin around his amber eyes crinkling. “Yes, love, and they might come harm us because-”  “Because they don’t like demons, or half demons.”  Once again Asmodeus nodded. Izzy was small, but she could see the sadness in her father’s eyes. The same amber eyes she had. “Yes, darling. Maybe someday the world will be more kind to you and me, but today is not that day, and unfortunately, neither is the morrow. In the meantime, your mother should have that potion ready by your birthday.” “The one that will make me look normal?” Asmodeus chuckled and ruffled her hair. “Human. Normal is a concept humans conceived to make them feel more secure and in control of their lives. In actuality, there is no such thing.” Izzy frowned. She was fairly certain her father was wrong. Normal was most certainly real, but she knew better than to argue.  “Your father is right, dove.” Izzy swiveled her head to see her mother enter the room carrying a tray of cookies and milk. Her mother was a beautiful woman with raven hair and large, saucer-like eyes the color of early evening; a deep and entrancing blue. “Normal is nothing to be proud of. I wasn’t even normal before I met your father.”  “That’s right. Your mother is what we demons call a temptress.” Asmodeus smirked, and Izzy’s mother set the tray of cookies down on the coffee table only to playfully swat the back of his head.  “Sorceress, and Izzy will be one too someday if she likes.”  “If she likes, Clara. Yesterday she told me she would like to grow up to be a princess like in the story I read her.”  Clara smiled, and bent down to kiss Izzy’s cheek. “Well, she can certainly be whatever she likes.”  “I wanna be a sorceress like mommy!” Asmodeus and Clara laughed. Izzy could be whatever she liked, and they wouldn’t mind, but they exchanged worried glances. Would the world be okay with whatever she chose to be? Would the world even accept her existence? They hoped it would.  Later that night, after Izzy was sound asleep in her bed, Asmodeus and Clara were turning in for the night themselves. They had put out all of the lamps, and started a fire in the hearth of their bedroom. The warm glowing light illuminated them as they changed into their night clothes. Clara let her hair out of her clip, and Asmodeus slipped on a pair of light trousers, leaving his torso bare. He sat beside her. “Have you made any progress on the potion?” He asked, his eyes seeming to flicker with their own light source. With a sigh, Clara sat on the bed, and ran her fingers through her hair, trying to untangle her wavy locks. “Some. I think it should be ready to test soon.”  “By her birthday?” “I hope before that. I would love to take her to townsquare for her birthday, but. . she would have to try the potion before then. To see if it lasts long enough.” At the news, Asmodeus pursed his lips, and glanced down at his hands. He did not regret marrying a human, and he certainly did not regret having a child with her, but he did regret being what he was. He had regretted for years. There was a time he embraced his true nature. He used his powers of seduction to woo any woman he saw fit. He ruined marriages. He left spawn wherever he pleased in order to cause chaos, but now he truly realized the burden he had left on those children. Izzy’s horns had started developing a year ago, and when they did they had to leave Ariel, Clara’s home in order to protect the child. It was safer to be somewhere where no one knew they had a child. In Dina, everyone thought Asmodeus and Clara were childless. This was to protect Izzy, but it was still painful to watch as the child did not understand why she could not be like other children.   Clara’s soft hand touched his, and he flicked his gaze to find hers. The eyes he had grown to love so many years ago. Well, it didn’t seem like long to him. After all, he was immortal, but Clara was not. Already he could see she looked more mature. She was twenty when they had met. She was now twenty-seven. Youth still rolled off of her in waves, but there was more maturity in the set of her jaw, and the pout of her lips. Motherhood suited her, and for that it made the demon love her that much more. “Asmodeus, what’s wrong?”  Asmodeus chuckled, and gently grasped her small her hand in his large one before bringing her hand to his lips and pressing a kiss to the back of it. Her skin was so soft. It never ceased to amaze him. “You know me so well, love of mine. I’m worried for our daughter is all. Worried that I have cursed her. The followers of Seriphina will never accept her.”  Clara cupped his cheek. “You underestimate humans once again, darling. I am a follower of Seraphine as you often forget, and yet I love you and my halfling daughter with my entire being.”  “You are not like other humans, Clara. You’re kind, and you don’t believe the hogwash the church spews about the Goddess Seraphine. They would rather tear their eyes out than believe she loves all of her creations, even the magical ones.”  “Or orcs, or fae, or-” Clara offered. “I know. She loves all of them. Even Samael who betrayed her and wanted to destroy the humans because of her favoritism. Even Arriel who told the first humans that they were better than all of her other creations because they were pure and free of magic. I know, but they do not know this. The church follows Arriel’s teachings. . .” He shook his head. “And they do not listen to those who are different from them. You were almost hunted down because one of your fellow witches was caught. . I can’t imagine what they would do to Izzy. . .”  “Neither can I darling, but all we can do is teach Izzy how to take care of herself, and treat others with the kindness they may not show her.”  Asmodeus closed his eyes. “I know.”