Always smiling this one. I continued watching them, okay with the fact that the body they had was soulless. I hoped the original occupant had been able to move on.
”You aren’t like a typical demon,” I say out loud. I shuffle closer to them, narrowing my eyes a bit and frowning slightly.
Caden
Location: Caden’s Home – Chicago, IL Skills:
I make my way back outside again to see Cassiopeia sitting closer to Nero with a frown on her face. Nero looked like one of those clowns with a grin on his face and head tilted sideways. It was eerie and oddly cute to see the two of them trying to figure the other one out.
”Cass, mon amour, why don’t you get started on the research? I think you’ve asked the demon for enough information for today.” She looked over at me and sighed.
”Ya, alright,” she said and headed to the library.
”Now is that a good thing or a bad thing?” I ask her as Caden joins us once again. Though I could continue entertaining her questions, I could tell she is wary of me. Like I had said, it’s smart to be that way towards demons. ”Leb wohl, mein kleines Kätzchen.” I laugh and watch her leave, sitting up to look up at Caden better. ”I was wondering where you had scurried off to Mein Prinz.” I sigh dramatically and pout at him. ”Does this mean we have to work now too?”
I raise an eyebrow at the nickname Nero used for Cassiopeia. I sat near them and chuckled. ”Das könnte ihr tatsächlich gefallen.” Cassiopeia loved cats and often told me she was one in a past life.
I pluck Nero’s glass from his possession and hand him a fresh drink. ”Ach nein. Wir haben noch etwas Zeit, bevor wir arbeiten müssen.” I sip my drink before stretching my legs out in front of me, stretching and sighing.
She might like that. / Oh, no. We have some time before we must work.
”Ihre Neugier erinnert mich an die einer Katze.” I explain with a small chuckle. Delighted that he brought me a new drink, I smile brightly at him before taking a sip as he talks. I could listen to him speak German forever. ” Ah, du wolltest mich also nur für dich haben?” I say coyly, taking the moment to watch him as he stretched.
“Her curiosity reminds me of a cat’s.” “Ah, so you just wanted me to yourself?”
”Sie sagt oft, dass sie in einem früheren Leben eine Katze war,” I say. I turn my head to the side and smile at them. ”So ähnlich.” I run a hand through my hair and over the back of my neck before letting my arm dangle over the armrest.
”Wo bleiben Sie?” I asked curiously.
She often says she was a cat in a past life. / Something like that. / Where are you staying?
Feeling impish, I tilt my head and smirk. ”Ich habe einen Ort, eigentlich nicht weit von hier.” I tell him honestly before I let out a little laugh. ”Eigentlich ist es eher ein Zufluchtsort für Katzen.”
I bit my bottom lip and let my teeth drag over it before adding, ”Ich glaube nicht einmal, dass es ein Bett gibt.” I threw him a wink.
”I have a place, not too far from here actually.”/“It's more of a cat sanctuary actually.”/“I don't even think there's a bed.”
I can’t help but track their movements, especially when their teeth graze their lips. It’s no secret that I find Nero interesting and attractive. There’s also something about their energy that is magnetic. I pull my attention from their lips and sip my drink.
”Ich habe sechs Schlafzimmer. Wenn Sie sich entscheiden, dass Sie eines Nachts ein Bett wünschen.”
I have six bedrooms. If you decide you want a bed for the night.
I stifle a giggle with my hand at his reaction, turning away for a moment so he doesn’t catch it. This boy has me acting like a ditsy milkmaid. I think to myself, taking a couple of deep breaths before i flop on my back, perpendicular on the lounge chair. I let my head hang over the edge near him and tucked my bent legs on the little room that was left at the other edge of the seat. ”Leben wie Gott in Frankreich.” I sigh dreamily before I look at him.
”The offer is tempting.” I tell him honestly.
Literal translation: Live like God in France Meaning: To live in luxury
Their carefree nature makes me smile. I shift after they lay down, sitting up and looking down at them. ”The offer stands for as long as the partnership is,” I say and stand. ”Unless you do something to piss off, Cassi,” I say with a grin. I finish my drink and set it on the table.
”Ich werde nachsehen, Cassi. Fühlen Sie sich frei, die Gegend zu erkunden.” I wink before heading back inside and to the library.
I'm going to check on, Cassi. Feel free to explore.
”If anything goes missing, it wasn’t me.” I tease him before I roll onto my stomach and watch him leave again with a sigh. I let myself space out while looking in the direction he left. Then I mentally chastise myself as I sit up and pull my legs closer to me and rest my chin on my knees. If I let myself get distracted, I might have a really annoying Leprechaun on my ass. Not that he could do much to me, but I didn’t want to deal with him breathing down my neck nor did I want him to rescind his offer.
”So tedious.” I mutter to myself before I spring up to my feet. I might as well take him up on his offer to explore, there were a few pieces that caught my attention on the way in that I wanted to take a closer look at. That idea is cut short by a ringing in my pocket. Sighing, I run a hand down my face before I answer. The only beings with this number were some of my higher ranked peons that knew only to call when necessary. ”Hoc bonum esse bonum.” I answer in Latin. I don’t know what languages these two know and I’m not trying to be secretive, but it was better safe than sorry to use a dead language.
“That human you asked us to check into? Nicholas Wu?”
”Sic, quid de eo?” I look around me to see if anyone is near. If it’s something to share with my new friends, I will, but I want to get all the information first.
“He went to the hospital he worked at and printed off some information about other patients that died like Lì Wu.” I sigh, running a hand through my hair at this news. The demon on the other line answers my next question before I ask. “He hasn’t done anything with it yet, but we figured you should know.”
Well of course he hasn’t done anything with it yet, there hasn’t been enough time for him to do so. ”Custodi me usque ad diem si mutationes.” I say before ending the call and slipping my phone back into my pocket. Dealing with this would be difficult with the red tape the city’s treaty places on everything. Hopefully the dumbass won’t do anything stupid to warrant any action. Would be much easier if I could just kill him and be done with it.
”This better be good.”/“Yes, what about him?”/“Keep me up to date if that changes.”
Once I reached the library, I didn’t waste any time gathering books and firing up the laptop. Research and writing were something I never shied away from, and when everything moved online, I was unstoppable. Although, there was still something about flipping through a hundred and a three-hundred-year-old text that was exhilarating. Some of the hundred-year-old books I was reading now, I remembered being first published.
Caden finally joins me and I look up as I’m writing down some notes. ”Finally. I was wondering if I was going to have to get headphones to block out the noise,” I joke, but was half serious.
Caden grins shamelessly and sits down across from me, pulling a book closer and cracks it open. ”There won’t be need for that. Each room is soundproof.” He winks at me and I roll my eyes.
After wandering around aimlessly for a bit, my earlier irritation has almost completely evaporated. Although I have a decent collection of items both in hell and at my home here, Caden’s collections are something to be admired. Most of them are in pristine condition that made me almost envious. It is a good reminder that I should have some of my imps clean up my antiquities.
I started to have to physically stop myself from swiping anything, so I change course and come across what I assume is the library. I peek my head around the doorframe slowly, seeing if I could eavesdrop on the conversation a little bit.
Finding things about a Chimera was actually reasonably easy. With modern society taking on a love for myth and mythology, many online writings about Chimera referenced older tales. Caden actually had some of the first printings of the Iliad and other Greek poetry. It was incredible to handle and backtrack the dates. However, online yielded the best results.
”Alright. I’ve found several ways to subdue and kill the Chimera. We can approach the situation traditionally or creatively,” I suggested. I pushed the laptop towards Caden so he could skim through the articles.
While waiting, I read over some books about how the original Chimera was killed. Part of me wanted to get a Chimera tattoo after all this. They were primarily female creatures and considered the representation of feminine evil. It was fascinating stuff, and I was also a fan of the irony.
”Do you think we need to worry about Nic? Should we have told him what was going on?” I asked Caden.
Caden
Location: Caden’s Home – Chicago, IL Skills:
I was grateful Cassiopeia was able to find decent information. It sounded like a ball of lead had killed the original Chimera after the lead ball had been shoved into her mouth, which turned molten due to her fire-breathing ability. The only tricky part would be getting close enough to do that.
I jotted down some of my own notes along with a few names of those I could contact when Cassi brought up Nic. I looked at her and shrugged.
”It might have been easier, but he deserves a chance to move on from all this. I’m just not confident he will listen. He was starting to connect the dots that this was a pattern. If another kill comes in before we get the Chimera, it may be hard to deter him.’
I duck my head back quickly so I’m not visible through the doorframe. Is this the same Nic, again?? I think to myself. Biting my lip, I start coming up with potential next steps based on the new information like I’m trying to solve an equation. I will need to review the treaty again, but I’m sure if the human does end up connecting the dots and discovering our supernatural world… I stop my train of thoughts, not wanting to dive into this new issue blind. It was something to chew on for sure, but I needed more information. Not wanting to get caught just loitering in the hallway, I saunter into the room.
”So Caden,” I say casually. ”How do you keep track of your collectibles?” Aiming to tease him, I start fiddling with some of the oddities in the library with a smirk.
I understood Cassiopeia’s worry, and frankly, I didn’t believe Nic would drop this after his display at the police station or at Cassi’s shop. He had anger underneath the calm surface, and it would have come out if he didn’t have such control. Working as a head nurse at the hospital wasn’t going to make his frustration of the grief of his loss any easier. Besides, people in health care were always looking for answers.
I look behind me at the sound of Nero’s voice, and smirk as he fiddles with some of the long swords I have in the library. ”I have everything catalogued and an incredible memory. You wouldn’t be thinking about lightening my collection, would you?”
”I wouldn’t dream of it.” I tell him with a wink. Putting my hands behind my back innocently, I peer closely at the swords like I’m trying to place their origin. It looks like there is no concern for my overhearing of their earlier conversation. Maybe it isn’t a big deal like I’m making it out to be, but Crowley had specified that I was coming here to clean up a mess. If the mess means Nicholas Wu then so be it.
Turning to Caden, I ask, ”What century are these from?” I don’t really care, but teasing him has become a lot of fun for me.
I smirked, having the feeling Nero was either stalling or searching for something. He didn't seem the type to make small talk for no reason. ”Thirteen century. It was used during the hundred years war,” I inform him. ”Are you looking for something specific, Nero?”
Out of the corner of my eye, Cassiopeia looks up and sets what she was reading aside, watching Nero and I converse.
I mirror his smirk. ”Just need to know for auctioning them off.” I say offhandedly, turning back to look at them. Thirteenth century sounds familiar to me though, like that curtain blocking my human memories is shifting just enough to let me peek through. However, I choose to ignore it and instead spin around to face them both.
”Have we found any info on our beastie yet?” I ask instead of dwelling on some old swords.
Caden laughs fully at Nero’s comment. I give my friend a sideways glance. Someone was thoroughly enjoying themselves. I look back at my notes and offer them to Nero.
”It went well, actually. There is quite a bit of lore on Greek Mythology. Humans are rather obsessed with it in this century as well. I read several newer articles on how to deal with Chimera and where the creatures originate from, and cross-referenced it with the original texts or “first-hand” accounts. Seems Bellerophon killed the creature by shoving a ball of lead into her mouth which turned molten.”
”So ein gutes Kätzchen.” I coo to Cassiopeia. The mention of molten lead makes my left hand twitch, but I’m determined to ignore it. I don’t want to see beyond the curtain, that means facing human emotions and that seems tedious.
Making sure to sway my hips as I walk, I take a seat on the table Cassiopeia’s been working at. ”Anything on trapping it?” I ask with a tilt of my head. Knowing how to kill it was a good start, but not good enough.
