My Little Songbird

“Cerise!” A loud call from her side, pulls Cerise Riven out from her daze. Her head slowly turns to her friend, she frowns and asks, “What?” Lynn Williams hesitates at the pair of dead-fish eyes, and cold tone that her friend gave her. After a second, she gives Cerise an apologetic smile. It was followed by more coaxing. “Hey, I’m really sorry. He’s been begging for me to make you two have dinner together,” Lynn says, but Cerise just shoots her a disappointed look. “I already told you, I don’t like unhygienic men.” “But he promised to help me have my promotion if I make you have dinner with him. You know I really need it.” Cerise only frowned more at Lynn’s excuse. She wanted to scold her friend for making her go and have a date with a man she did not like. However, when the face of Lynn’s adorable three-year-old girl flashes in her eyes, Cerise chose not to say anything more about it. Anyway, it was just a simple dinner, and Lynn actually ate with them. She’ll probably forget about the dinner the next day. “Fine,” she said. “Just please inform me next time, before setting me up with a stranger.” Lynn nodded, but she pouted her lips and mumbled, “But he wasn’t even a stranger.” Of course, her words did not go unnoticed by Cerise, but the woman pretended as if she heard nothing. Knowing that she got ignored, Lynn continues pouting. She quietly follows Cerise to exit the restaurant. Even as Cerise called for a taxi, Lynn still stayed silent. When Cerise noticed her friend’s strangeness, she finds Lynn messaging her mother about her little daughter. The corner of her lips curls up a bit at the sight. “Here’s your ride,” Cerise gestures towards the taxi that she just called. The chilly night breeze passes by the two and Lynn does not hesitate to go inside. “Thank you, my best friend!” She laughs when Cerise rolls her eyes. “Just take care and go to your baby girl.” The two waved at each other, and when the taxi starts moving, Cerise takes out her phone and takes a photo of the car’s plate number. She watched until the yellow taxi was not visible anymore. Her hands dive into the deep pockets of her coat, before Cerise finally starts leaving. Although it was almost midnight, there were still plenty of people in the streets. However, this did not make Cerise let her guard down. Even in an empty street, the scariest and the ones that you have to be wary of, are other people. Ghosts are not scary anymore when you realize that humans are the ones that can kill you. —•— “f**k!” Is what Elias Arthur Zebulon first thought to say, when he realizes that he’s on Earth. He was just examining a dimensional rift that was found in his territory, when he accidentally got pulled in. Not only did he find himself in another world, but he’s also injured. As a great demon, small injuries like the one that he had now, are usually not concerning at all. He can even compare it to a red ant’s bite. However, perhaps it was because the injuries are caused by a powerful causality, his self-healing is not only slowed, but Arthur is also in a lot more pain than he expected. He can feel his head throb as he walks into a dark alley. His body bumps into rolling glass bottles, damp boxes, and tin garbage cans, causing disturbance among the creatures that lived there. It was a small isolated area, mainly full of garbage and cats. Fortunately, Arthur was the only one who was examining the dimensional rift at the time. If there had been other demons with him, they would also be pulled here—or worse, in different worlds. Once the monarchs of those worlds finds out that there are demons that entered their territories without permission, they would take it as a challenge to their authority. Powerful beings are often irrational and does not listen to logic. Explaining to them would be like punching cotton. Arthur does not fear a fight with a monarch, but he is unsure of his victory if it’s with multiple monarchs at once. The second reason why he doesn’t want this accident to be known by a monarch, is because Arthur thinks it’s a pain to deal with something he had no control of. Therefore, as the first step of covering his sudden appearance on Earth, Arthur transforms into a cat. If he disguises as a human and someone finds his injured state, they would definitely start a fuss. Since there were a lot of cats in the dark alley, he decided to disguise into one. Though his injury is still visible, Arthur does not believe his luck to be so bad as to encounter a human who will show sympathy for an injured stray cat. He had no other choice since he could not even cover his injury using illusionary magic. It’s the damned dimensional rift’s fault. After his transformation, Arthur hears an approaching footsteps. Arthur still did not believe that this person was a human who will pick up a dying cat (at least that’s what it looks like) in a smelly and dirty alley. So he passed out without a worry. —•— “Is this okay?” A soft voice wakes Arthur in his sleep. Although he just gained his consciousness back, he was still alert and did not open his eyes immediately. He pretended to still be asleep, but he was not calm inside at all. It seems that a human really did picked him up from the alley, and the human even wrapped a fabric around the injury on his belly. Well, his cat form’s stomach, that is. Irritation builds up inside Arthur as he acts like a sleeping cat. A meddlesome human, great. “I’m sorry, black kitty. I can only bring you to the vet tomorrow.” The voice belonging to a woman—Arthur realizes—seemed emotionless. Arthur started to think if the human who brought him home, is really sympathetic, or if she’s just being moved by guilt. A fair amount of humans tend to feel guilty at the thought of turning away from a distressed animal. Especially an animal that is rather close to humanity. The woman releases a sigh, before moving away. When Arthur senses that he was finally alone, he opens his eyes and transforms back into his demon form. Contrary to a lot of myths, demons tend to look a lot similar to humans in their forms. The only differences are the unnatural hair, eyes, or skin colors. All demons are also beautiful, and have abilities that humans can only dream of having. Elias Arthur Zebulon is a great demon, and the monarch of the demon realm. Not only was he the most stunning demon, but he’s also the most powerful one. When his pair of bright golden eyes darts down at his small wound, rage fills them. His pride as a great demon was shaken by this small injury that he did not even usually bat an eye on. Moreover, a human touched him. A human. Arthur dislikes having touched by humans—no, he despises it. Fortunately, after having a short rest, his wound was healing steadily and he can now go back to his own realm. But before that, he needs to get rid of evidence of his unannounced appearance. While wearing a cold expression, Arthur observes the living room where the human left him. There were no pictures that are usually displayed in a human home, but there were a lot of books. The bookshelves were full and a lot of books are scattered all around the room. A few crystals also acted as a decoration; and to that, Arthur raised an eyebrow. The only dominant smell that surrounded the small home belongs to the woman, and Arthur figures out that she lives alone. Perfect. His steps were silent as he approaches the bathroom. The sound of the running water can be heard inside and the human seemed to be taking a bath. An evil grin is plastered on Arthur’s face when he stopped in front of the door. He can make it look like she slipped while taking a bath, and the monarch of this world would not even now. Inside the bathroom, Cerise did not notice the strange movement of the water on the floor, as she scrubs her body. She was clueless to the point of singing a lullaby in front of death. And death froze. Her calming voice filled the bathroom as it echoed on the walls. Though she was taking a bath, Cerise did not let her singing sound sloppy in the slightest. If a child were to listen to her right now, there’s a high chance that they would feel sleepy. Strangely, Arthur could feel himself calming down. The anger that bubbled inside his chest was also starting to subside. How odd. It’s no secret in the demon realm, that Arthur listens to music; naturally, he’s heard a lot of different types of singing and voices. Even met singers who were actual professionals and used precise techniques when singing. But Arthur found out that he actually liked the voice of the woman that saved him, out of all that he had heard. It would be a shame to miss out on something that piqued his interest. These days, nothing but boredom filled Arthur’s days. His hobby of listening to music was not that fulfilling anymore. It’s one of the reasons why he recklessly went to the dimensional rift, since that has been the most intriguing thing that he discovered after a while. Now that he has found a new and probably safer interest, Arthur decided to take the woman with him in his realm. If she resists and wants to escape, Arthur will shower her with treasures. Humans are like dragons—greedy for riches. The woman proved him wrong about the whole saving-an-injured-animal situation, but she will definitely not prove him wrong this time. Especially when Earth has become more materialistic. Even if a human does not want to harbor greed, the society will change them when in face of poverty. It just depends on wether they have enough greed to survive, or if they are overly greedy. Either way, it will work for Arthur. With a clear resolution in his mind, Arthur silently goes back to the living room of the small apartment, and turns back into a black cat. Since he still did not want to alert anyone and he’s not in a hurry, he will just wait for the woman to fall asleep and take her away. Even if they find out that I took a human, I would probably be bored of her already. They can take her back after I’m satisfied. When Cerise finishes taking a shower, she goes to check on the black cat and finds that it is still unconscious. Her face that has been emotionless for pretty much the whole day, shows a tinge of concern. What if I wake up tomorrow and find that it’s dead? The thought that entered her mind bothered her so much, and Cerise shakes her head to brush it away. The terrible things that occasionally enters her mind, does not scare Cerise that much anymore. She carefully reaches out her hand and rubs the cat behind its ear. The cat moved its head a little and Cerise releases a sigh. Wait a minute. Her hand pauses and Arthur feels amused inside. He does not hate her touch this time since she will become his new entertainment. The demon can forgive such act for now. “This cat is not that dirty and stinky for an animal that came from that dark alley. Is it a missing pet?” Cerise asks no one in particular, before she decides to also have the vet check the cat for a microchip tomorrow. Before she walks to her room, Cerise softly says, “Please don’t die.” Her voice was still calm and did not really contain any emotion. She left the black cat in her living room, but Cerise did not go to sleep immediately. The only light source left in her bedroom, was her bedside lamp, and occasionally, the sound of pages being flipped can also be heard. Cerise stayed until 3 AM before feeling that the book was not interesting enough to deprive her of sleep. It would be fine even if she finishes it tomorrow, or the day after tomorrow. Since her eyes were already heavy, Cerise falls into a deep slumber fast after the lamp was turned off. In the dark, emerges Arthur who is back in his demon form. Impatience can be seen in his eyes. He really was not in a hurry, but he also did not expect the woman to stay up so late. The demon had to use magic in order to make her sleepy. Arthur wishes he could use a bigger spell to make her directly fall unconscious, but he had not used his magic on humans for a long time. If he accidentally uses too much, the human might wake up an i***t. An accident that will cause him more trouble than good. She needs to sing for me first, before anything happens to her. Arthur carries the woman with one arm on her back and the other on the crook of her knees. Because of his strength’s capability, the woman felt light in Arthur’s arms. He is reminded of how frail humans are. Since this woman was a pet that he has to keep alive, Arthur will give her a good room in his castle with the best accommodation. If she behaves like a good little bird, Arthur might even grant her a wish. Thinking about not feeling bored for a long time, puts the demon in a good mood. With Cerise in his arms, Arthur travels back into his own realm—creating a temporary dimensional rift inside the small apartment. Inhaling the air of his own land made him even more excited. There really was such a huge difference in a world full of creatures that are close to nature. The demon is curious. What kind of expression will the woman have? Will she tremble in fear upon realization? How exciting. Arthur takes a glance at Cerise’s sleeping face, he grins and whispers, “Welcome to your pretty cage, little songbird.”