His second chance at a happy life

She was strong

It is crazy how one person can change your whole life. She was just a small girl fate took Grendel too, but she was different. When he finally found her, he spoke about how tough she was for a twelve-year-old. She was a tricky kid, he had spoken about her with an unfamiliar warmth I never saw from him. I knew that look; it was the same look I had when I had my daughter. She was his to protect. I smiled at the thought that fate had pulled him away to protect her that day, giving him new power; he was chosen for a higher calling like I was. The difference was she kept running from him, she was a scared kid and saw more than a child her age should have. Both the living and dead were a constant reminder she was alone, and her life was emptier than it had started. Grendel spent his days looking for her and when she was finally found he would try to help her anyway he could, without revealing himself to her. He would track her in disguise as being the voice to lead her out of harm's way using the necklace I made for Scarlet. I was shocked it was even in her possession, but he was grateful for it. To add to my surprise, the girl was becoming close to the Sanchez family.

"I'm telling you to just go over for a few hours. She has only just started her studies, but she is very powerful. I do believe she could help the boy." Grendel had come back for another report about the seer child he was assigned to by fate. Her name was Samantha, and she was being tracked by angels and their experiments, so he had to keep a close eye on her. Why or how she ended up with so much dark magic was unknown, but those that did know of her existence were determined to have her for one reason or another. However, Grendel had placed a cloaking spell on her, keeping her safe while she was gone and the other half of the pendent was always around his neck.

"I will go check it out, but only because you asked my friend." I sighed, looking over the surveillance paperwork that had started to pill up. We head to the gloomy town, and we place glamour over our forms.

"Do I have to look like this?" I looked through the car window at my form, he had me transform into a teenage boy. The glamour barely hid my large body. Sighing as I took another glance at this form, I was still tall with large muscles but only half the size of my demon form and my face was younger, "The Sanchez family knows me." He tsked at me, shaking his head. I looked over his appearance. He was a man in his twenties in running clothes.

"The older boys yes, but the younger sister and Samantha do not. Since parents are at work, and we need to remove the spirit as soon as we possibly can, it's better this way." I sigh and watch as the oldest walks to the front door.

"Emilio." I flagged him down before he closed the door.

"Arzoran?" He squinted, looking at me, "Is that you?" I walked up the steps glaring back at the large Italian man.

"Yes, I was hoping you could let me check on Jesus. It's been a while since I came by." I gloss over the way I looked and watch as Emilio goes pale,

"He is getting worse," he had muttered. The fifteen-year-old boy was overcome with sadness and worry. We head inside at a quick pace. A half an hour passed as I enhanced the wards around the sleeping corpse that was his twin. The parasite was stirring awake, and I had to put him under another sleeping spell. Emilio was right. He was getting thinner faster and his skin a ghostly white. When his younger sister and Samantha came home.

"This is my friend," Emilio looked at me as he tried to introduce me to the girls. However, my demon's name wasn't common in the human realm, so I interjected, saying the first name that popped into my head,

"Trevor. I am a friend of the family." I looked over both girls, then focused on the tall, dark chocolate hair-colored girl. She was thin and had a scowl on her face. I could smell the hint of fear in the air that came off of her along with a large amount of anger. She watched me as I looked them over with a look of caution. She tensed when I looked at the smaller girl with sad eyes who was looking over at the stares. I looked back at Samantha, and she seemed to have relaxed, she seemed worried about Ellie, and there was no doubt that, because of my large stature, it was as if she was overprotective of her only friend. I tried to smile to seem less intimidating, but had no success. Ellie said something, pulling Samantha's attention back, but I was focusing on cutting through the many barriers surrounding the child. We had taken a seat in the living room. When I had finished slicing through them all, she had a surplus of dark magic. By the time I returned my attention to the surrounding room, she looked like she had been in pain, and I had gotten close enough to get rid of her headache, but I'm doing, so her own barrier went back up. I sighed internally as I took a seat and went to removing the barrier to see how much power was in her aura. When I was finally able to read her strong wave when the young girl had come back with a haunted look. Samantha follows her upstairs; Emilio and I go with his look mirroring his sisters. I watched as she pulled the soul of Jesus out of the in-between and shoved him back into his body, focusing her magic on pushing the parasite out of his body, doing what even I couldn't do. I take hold of the thing as it was forced out of the teen's body and give the demon to Grandel to take it back to the Underworld for sentencing, to feed on a human's life force. I went back inside. Emilio was on the phone and the sister Ellie was tending to Jesus, while Samantha was dealing with the aftermath of using too much dark magic at once. I found a bottle of water and took her one,

"Are you okay?" I headed upstairs and to the bathroom where she was staring at the mirror. I had knocked before speaking and stayed in the bathroom entrance when I spoke, but she jumped ten feet in the air. I took a step back and put my hands where she could see them. "You look like you could use some water." I let her look over again. She was like a wild cat in the corner. She didn't take the bottle, so instead, I stood there still as a board until she moved. Even then, I said and did nothing until she spoke,

"Why do you keep staring at me?" She asked in a dry voice before sipping the water at first, then taking a bigger swallow. Her body was probably dehydrated and tired from the large amount of power that ran through her body.

"I'm sorry?"

"Why, Do, You, Keep Staring?" She asked this time slowly and coated in annoyance. I lean on the wall on the opposite side of the hallway and shrug,

"I was amazed by the strength that you have." Her eyes narrowed. We stood there in a stare-down until Emilio came up and hugged Samantha than me, thanking us before checking on his family. Slowly the silence was filled with the rest of the family.

Years passed and Grendel had begun to pester me to allow a gateway from my palace to a secure home in the human realm to travel quicker. I allowed it and put my attention on the angels. They tried to sneak into the underworld with destructive angels making tears in the most deserted location. In my daily duties, I also had to deal with the strange creatures in the south who had ventured further north, causing my army to get stretched thin. Frustrated, I had to deal with the angels first. In order to show them rather than tell, I dismembered many of the angels we captured and sent them back through the hole they created and for a while they stayed away. Once that was taken care of, I headed south and took care of the other headache before going back home to rest. Life was quietly filled with paperwork and court trials that I was living life in a haze most of the time, only being present for the more important parts, but otherwise the days would blur along with the faces and names. Grendel was the most interesting thing that would pass through my doors with his chest puffed out like, as he puts it, "orso papa" He had taken the direct approach and introduced himself after the Sanchez boy woke up telling her and her grandmother everything that involved himself. Since I met Samantha in glamour, we both thought it was best to stay that way due to the lingering hatred of Silvia. However, he had begun pestering me to visit earth once again in glamour.

"Come and see for yourself. She took her time to learn, but she had mastery of controlling the dark magic." He was boasting again as he insisted on giving an in-person report on the seer and the others in the area. With him on earth so often to see what was happening, he had taken control of overseeing of the humans with magic. It gave me time to focus on the Underworld and for a while I thought that was my ending fate. He had been there for thirteen years at the time of the report, when he came insisting, I visit earth for a day.

"I do not see the point in going." I sigh. I was at my desk doing paperwork like I have been doing for the last few foggy years.

"Because I think you were wrong about why fate brought us to this bloodline." I looked at him, the large demon was in his original form sipping a cup of tea someone brought him. His cup matches the floral Victorian chair he was sitting on. It was always a sight to witness. But whatever makes him comfortable will be here. I stop writing and give him my full attention. "If she was this strong at only eighteen, imagine the things she could accomplish with the all-powerful demon king teaching her all he knows. She could even be the key to keeping the tears from happening." I lean back in my chair.

"Why would she be willing to learn more about dark magic? Doesn't she know that is a dangerous route?" I inquired, crossing my arms.

"For the same reason you do, to get rid of the damn angels, they have been wandering around Washington lately and are talking to seers even the ghosts are acting strange when they are around.I believe she is strong enough to resist the demon transformation." I sigh and nod, releasing the tension in my back.

"I will visit when I can." He laughs,

"So, we'll see you tomorrow?" I raised a brow,

"What makes you say that?"

"Because you only have paperwork left, a domani!" With a wave he vanishes. The next day, I visit his home on earth, making sure to be in glamour as a young twenty-year-old man. When I stepped into his living room, they were already both there.

"Your late," the girl at the table said, looking at her book as she spoke. She was taller than the last time I saw her, more filled out with meat on her bones.

"I wasn't given a specific time," I responded in an equally dry tone as hers. She looks up with a scowl at the large man on the couch relaxing with one leg up watching TV.

"Grendel! You had one job delivering a message that included telling him the time and place." She hissed, throwing the textbook at him. He swiftly dodged and caught the book before it made contact with the wall.

"He's here isn't he?" He waved the book in the air before setting it on the table. We both glare at him.

"Well, some people are busy taking entrance exams and filling out college applications, so I have a tight schedule." She looks at me with a huff. Her curly hair started to fall out of its clip as she wiped her head to stare at me.

"Trevor, right?"

"I'm sorry what?" I blinked, looking at the angry girl in front of me.

"Your name, Trevor, any last name to go with that? Ellie was surprised she couldn't even find you on any social media." I gave Grendel a look of confusion,

"I don't have any," I responded, looking back at her and answering slowly.

"Well anyway, I was lucky that Grendel knew how to get a hold of you. Are you a seer in the mountains or something?" She rests her head on her hand and raised a brow, "Was that no social or no last name?"

"Have a seat anywhere she's going to ask lots of questions." Grendel turned the TV off and I sat there answering many questions. It was hard to give full answers since Grendel didn't want her to know I was a demon. Once she was satisfied, she sighed and said,

"Alright, well, if you are fine with it, we will set a schedule, and we can start my next level of training." I scoffed, crossing my arm,

"Why should I train you?" Grendel looked at me, bewildered. She also had a look of shock on her face,

"But he said." She looked, pointing at Grendel. I follow her finger to the large man with a guilty look sitting up on the couch.

"Whatever he said was probably a lie sorry, I am not one to freely teach others anymore. I have responsibilities and so, I am also crunched for time. So, if I am going to consider training you, you must tell me why?" I had chosen the seat across from her at the table. Leaning back in the chair, I stare at her coldly.

"I am a powerful seer." She starts, her head held high and I laugh. I see her cheeks go red.

"Great start, please excuse my rudeness. Continue." I nod and try to stop my laughing.

"Right, well, I am strong and can do many things with dark magic, but as great as Grendel is, he clearly knows only so much. He once mentioned how strong you were and how you are able to harness ten times the amount of dark magic than anyone. I know that with your help I can close the ripples that the pale man keeps using along with any others that come through. I have created a spell that will keep being where they belong forever."

"You have a high thought of yourself." Her brows raised,

"Would you like to see my powers? Grendel has a training room in the basement." She mimicked my pose and glared at me. I looked over my shoulder to Grendel. He gave me the okay and I agreed. She stood,

"Fine, let's go."

"I really thought you had a shot there, Alba." I was standing in the middle of the mat as she again tried to break my barrier by leaving enough magic to attack, but everything had blown up in her face. "Don't feel too bad he's had more time to practice." Grendel was trying to help her up as she was flung back from hitting the barrier again. She hits the mat in anger, stands on her own and gets back into fighting position. I sighed and left the fighting area to sit at the booth,

"Hey!" She shouted still in her fighting stance. I take a seat and sip the tea Grendel brought down.

"I'm done," I say in an even tone. Her stance faulters.

"What but I haven't won!? Isn't that what you wanted?" I rest my head on my knuckles with a raised brow.

"When did I say that? You were demonstrating your powers. The palpability of you defeating me never existed." Glaring at me, she came to sit down.

"Why?" I drink more tea,

"What?" I asked her question, with one making her scowl deeper.

"Why couldn't I win?" I shrug.

"Because I am the most powerful dark wielder there is. It is as simple as that." My answer made her mad, but I watched as she slowly fizzled out into disappointment. I laugh and she glares once more.

"My apologies, I do not mean to laugh at you." I pat her head feeling her jump as I touched her gently. "I understand why Grendel thinks highly of you. I will teach you. We can go with whatever schedule you wish." She looked at me, her face a fierce red. I tilt my head, confused by the look.

After that, we followed her lead to set up when to meet. We did it once a week until her busy season hit then it was once a month. I willingly changed my schedule for whatever matched hers and years passed in a louder and more interesting pattern. I found brightening my life.