The Demon Inheritance

THREE

"Yes." I move my black hair out of my face, and look over at the abyss. "The only bad part about closing the barrier is that, until Croma creates the cure to his people's infertility on this temporary dimension and another dimension in which we can live without collapse, there will no new Kalos members."

"How unfortunate... The angels can't be produced until Croma is better, either. And faeries can't, either. We're all out of luck, but I see ya'll are cursed with it not until Croma is healthy, but until another dimension is made..." Carter scratches his head. "Is it true the daughters of Croma can actually procreate, as the first inventions of destruction and creation?" When I, Ebony, tense, he says, "I'm sorry, the question is rather personal..."

I shook my head. "No, it isn't personal. Jupus and I can both have children, and can be impregnated by any male. I understand that you are curious. After all, the birth of another creature is a curious thing... I have heard that in the new dimension, we will also have to eat to live."

The man gapes in shock. "I suppose we'll have to drink and sleep too, won't we? I've heard about this, but I never imagined that those rumors would be true..." He wipes the grime from his cheek with the sleeve of his outfit. "I apologize, Ebony. I have taken up time you could be using to supervise."

I dip my head. "Likewise. You have time you should have spent building. I'll leave you to that, Carter." Without another word to him, my character walks off, gazing into the abyss. Although it was never directly stated, I knew that my being had once come from there. I was, as all demons were, not born in the dimension of eternal creation. Instead, I had come from that gaping hole that stood at the end of the land. Briefly, the images of before I crossed into my current dimension flashed against my mind. I used to be locked away with all the other female demons, but had my own quarters because I was daughter of the god - the Dark - there. My quarters were made from nothingness, as was everything else there. My state was dreamlike because of the unstable reality. Male and female demons could not speak with each other, both were treated nastily by the Dark, and I dreamed of a better place. A place that was forbidden to even think about: Croma. The journey through the dimensions was dangerous; it could rip you apart like a black hole and kill you, through the hole you went from being made out of nothing into being something material, and with one wrong movement, you could be shredded to bits. However, I took that risk. I fell in without a name or identity, only known as the Dark's daughter. Nevertheless, they took me in. Croma held me close as his adoptive daughter, and his daughter, Jupus, took me as a sister. For my black hair and coal-ish eyes that all demons have, I was given the name 'Ebony'. Then, other demons followed after into the path of goodness into the dimension where people were accepted. I was the first of the empire called "Kalos", which became the second most proud name in the land. The first was my sisters empire of angels, "Murondoes", and I did not mind that.

I gaze into the hole, glad to be rid of that nightmarish place's sight. I'd no longer have to even look at it. The only downside, as Carter said, is no more new Kalos citizens.

Something catches my eye below, struggling in the dip of land between a low wall that will become a barrier and the pit of chaos. It looks like it's bleeding. It clutches its reddened arm, and staggers up the elevation. Close behind it is a demon with inky black skin, which I recognize is a guard, whose job is to keep aspiring demons from crossing over.

I begin gliding down the slope, seeming to fly rather than run down the grass that gradually becomes dead the closer it grown to the hole. I break down the barrier for a minute, shouting for the workers to stand back to where they won't risk falling. I unsheathe my sword, dig my feet in the soil to keep from sliding in, and point my sword in the face of the coming evil. "I suggest you go back, damnation!" My shoulders twitch, a singal for the workers to step away.