Perfect Imposter

Training

        Siph smiled with glee as she pinned her opponent to the mat, one forearm over their throat and the other holding a dagger to their ribs. She pushed the blade more than was strictly necessary, but she wanted Isla to be sure that she had been beaten by a 'mere human' yet again.

    The sharp intake of breath from below her was just as satisfying as she had thought it would be, and she eased up and Isla's neck a bit. "Mercy," the angry demon growled. She was beaten but unwilling to submit.

    It was enough for Siph, she knew she was the best, and she didn't need her opponents actually to be humiliated in front of the whole world. The humiliation they carried in their hearts was quite enough for her.

    Assassin training was by far the best thing that had ever happened to Siph. It was far more challenging than any practice that Abalyant had put before her in the past. It had taken her months to catch up to the class he had thrown her in. Unexpectedly the whole level went for her throat instead of ignoring her as she had expected. They didn't care that Abalyant had raised her. The more it got around who she was, the more of a target she became. The other students- all genders and races- fought to pick her for sparring, but not because she was a favorite. Quite the opposite, they all wanted to beat her into the ground.

    Not a single member of her class thought a human belonged there in the first place. It didn't matter to them that Abalyant placed her himself. They thought the fact that Abalyant kept her only made him weaker. Of course, they weren't privy to his plans, and they would never speak such doubts to his face.

    Siph got up from the mats and held her hand out to help Isla up, but the young demon rolled to the side and spat a wad of black blood on Siph's boot. It didn't earn her the reaction she wanted, because Siph only laughed at the girl who was now on hands and knees before her. She kicked her violently in the abdomen, sending her flying back onto her back across the mat. "Looks like the only thing you're fit to fight is my boot, huh Isla?"

    The demon snarled and launched a poorly calculated attack at Siph's legs, but she merely stepped aside to dodge the attack and watch as the other girl went sprawling face first.

    "Stand still, you rodent; I'll crush your head in."

    "I highly doubt you'll ever have an opponent who will be willing just to stand still, Isla." The ice-cold voice of their trainer shut Isla up, and she got up to go shower while wiping blood from her lip. Carter looked down at Siph with a snarl. "Just because I stopped her doesn't mean I like you any better, Siphelia. You're only here because the boss insisted, and you will have to doubly prove yourself to me if you expect ever to earn the title of an assassin."

    Siph nodded her understanding, schooling her face to a calm and unemotional mask. She knew that there was no reply she could make that would help her case with Carter. Anger, sadness, aggression, all of it was just another excuse to show how easily someone else could manipulate you. Emotions were poison, and there was no way she was going to show any of them to this man and ruin the work she'd done so far to become less human in his eyes. "Understood, Carter." Her voice was flat and neutral, and in the back of her mind, she was applauding her self control.

    He looked at her for a moment longer.  Then he ordered her to the showers and moved on to the next mat. There were many students for him to watch over. The class was on a rolling schedule. New students came in every week, and a new class would graduate every week. You didn't get to start over if you didn't make it; once you washed out, you were a failure for life. Siph was working hard to be sure she never went down that path. She was hungry for this chance. There had never been anything in her life she wanted so badly. Abalyant had kept her from ever thinking about her future by reminding her that she had nowhere to go. His revelation that she would be returning to the human world on her 18th birthday had been remarkable, and even if she had to go as an assassin, she was thrilled to be heading out of hell. It was almost a joke to her - so many human souls fell into hell every day; hers would be the only one escaping.

    After her shower, she headed to the barracks. She had insisted on living there amongst the other troops. Abalyant had offered to let her remain at his home during her training time. She felt that his offer of kindness would've diminished her stature in the eyes of her trainers and peers. She also felt like he had been testing her. She was not the type of child to cling to a nursemaid's skirts and Abalyant was a terrible nursemaid.

    The barrack was a long building with small cubby-like rooms that were four walls, a trunk for clothes, a thin cot bed, and a stand for uniforms. Since Siph was merely in training, she didn't have official uniforms, so she would hang her exercise clothes on the stand after washing them so they could drip dry. There was a time allotted to each person once a week for laundry. However, Siph only had two training outfits, and she refused to stink all week. She washed her clothes during her short shower time before bed and changed between her two outfits. One of her many pet peeves was body odor, and she wasn't entirely sure why since no one else seemed to mind here. Most of these beings probably wouldn't shower at all if it weren't mandatory.

    She quickly placed her used clothes by her shower kit in a neatly folded pile and headed to the mess hall. If she didn't hurry, there would be no food fit for a human to eat left. She was sure that the demons were now eating that food first, or at least taking those options away, to make her life harder. Most demons didn't even like the same food as humans, so the only reason for it to be gone would be them throwing it out to keep it from her. She hadn't made any friends in the last six months, but making enemies was as simple as breathing. Luckily, she had kept to the top of her class. She was sure she would graduate and get her assignment as an assassin in spite of the troubles she had dealt with.

    Swiping a healthy portion of several human-friendly foods, and a few demon fares she had grown used to, Siph sat by herself in the corner of the dining hall and ate her food quickly enough to get out as soon as possible, but not so fast that it would make her sick. She did not like to waste food, especially for such a stupid reason.

    Looking up, Siph happened to catch the actual date on the news ticker that ran along the wall; its red LEDs were scrolling various assignments, troop movements, and announcements. Graduation was tomorrow for her level, which meant she would find out at dinner after her final written exam if she would be doomed or not. Strangely enough, she felt a slight twinge of nerves in her stomach. She may be a human, but the thought of leaving her home - hell - to go up to the human world - which she no longer knew - made her feel incredibly nervous. She still wasn't sure how she had even ended up with Abalyant; he was not the talkative type. She needed to find out her story before she left, so she was hoping he would at least give her some hints.