The Shop

(Gabe POV)

The capital is humongous! There are many types of buildings I’ve have not seen before. Not only that but there are lots of strange lights coming from the buildings and streetlights.

“Stop gawking!” Azz warned.

I took his warning and tried my best not to stare at every little thing that came my way. But it was really tempting to do so. The city was amazing. Nothing I’ve seen at home before.

After a while of walking, Azz and I stood in front of an old but neat little shop.

He grabbed the door handle, “You coming?”

I nodded before following him inside.

He took off his coat and hung it on a hook by the door, “Close the door behind you, will ya? It’s cold outside.”

I did as I was told. When I turned back to him, he had already placed his bag down on the floor and was talking to someone. The person in question was a young boy close to my age, maybe a little older. His hair was unusually long and tied neatly back into a ponytail. I couldn’t help but listen to the conversation.

“Anything new?”

The boy answered, “Nothing much to note besides some small orders. Did you find them?”

“Yes. His name is Gabe.” Azz motioned in my direction.

“You know, you gave Arthur quite the scare when you just rushed out like that.” he put his hands on his hips.

The blacksmith answered with a stretch, “You know I had to hurry. Otherwise, Gabe may have not made it.”

“As true as that may be, you didn’t have to act like that to my little brother. You know how frail he is.”

He rolled his eyes, “Anyways, let’s get back to business. I need you to show Gabe to the Guess room, it’s where he’ll be staying for a while. I’ve got some work to catch up on.”

The other nodded, “Yes, sir.”

Azz then walked away leaving me behind with him.

The boy came up to me and introduced himself, “Hi! My name is Raphael, but you can just call me Ralph. Me and my brother are Azz’s assistants. I help manage and run the shop while my younger brother helps out where he can and runs errands. Your Gabe, right?”

“Yeah?”

“Nice to meet you!” he stuck out his hand.

We shook hands before he noticed my bandaged arm, “What happened?”

I then explained quickly and in as much detail as I could muster, what had happened back at the inn.

“Yeah, that sounds like Azz alright.” He then offered, “Here, I’ll take you to your room. If you like, I can grab you a set of fresh bandages for your arm.”

I looked down and noticed how dirty and gross it felt, “I think I am going to take you up on your offer.”

“Alright! Follow me, your room is all the way downstairs to the right!”

Ralph then led me to the very back of the store where there was a door. He opened the door and there was the staircase that led to the basement. As soon as we finished descending the stairs, we passed quite a few rooms and portraits until we came to the guest room.

The guest room was a tidy room with some shelves, a closet, and a twin sized bed.

Ralph motioned over to the bed, “Why don’t you sit down? I will get the bandages.”

He left and I crossed over the room to the bed against the wall. I sat down and waited. Not long after, he came back with a box of bandages and a bottle of something.

“This is peroxide, it’s supposed to prevent infections. Hold out your hand.”

I did as I was told and he unwrapped the badges. He then grabbed some cotton balls and applied the peroxide to them. The other boy then started to dab it on my arm.

“Ouch!” I winced.

“Sorry! It’s supposed to hurt only for a little bit, I promise!” he apologized as he added some more to my arm.

Once he was done, the stinging sensation was only a dull feeling now as he wrapped my arm back up.

“Done.”

I looked at the fresh bandages and said, “thanks.”

“It’s no problem at all!” He then looked at me, “You look confused. Are you alright?”

“Yeah…. It’s just I thought I’d get some answers when I got here, but Azz just walked off.”

Ralph sighed and crossed his arms, “Yeah, he does that a lot…”

He seemed to be in deep thought for a moment before offering, “I know I can’t answer much, but I can answer a few things for you.”

If I had a tail, it would be wagging, “Really!?”

“Yup!” he pounded his chest.

I thought for a moment before asking my first question, “Demons are supposed to be all bad and scary from what I’ve been taught, why do they appear almost like angels and why are you guys helping me?”

He answered carefully, “All demons are either crafted or born different from each other. As a result, some may appear less frightful than others. The ones that are shaped like you or me tend to be more on the civilian side of The Dark World. Every demon has a different purpose: blacksmiths, castle soldiers, hunters, inn keepers….”

“Like my job as a knight back home?”

“Exactly.” He then added, “Also as for the ‘bad’ part of demons, not all demons are actually the bad guys. Some demons like to be portrayed as good people. A good example is of that Ava girl you mentioned. Of course, there are some worse demons like that tyrant, Lord Victor; the demon lord. But about fifteen percent of the demon population are seekers of good intentions.”

“Wow, you seem really knowledgeable.”

He smirked, “Thanks, I do try my best after all.” Ralph then frowned “Azz is smarter than me though…”

“Really?”

“Yeah, Azz is one of the wisest demons around.”

I looked straight into his eyes with a serious tone, “But who is Azz really? He told me that he was a blacksmith of sorts, but I don’t think I’ve ever heard of blacksmiths who save lives.”

He seemed astonished, “Wow! You catch on quick!” The boy then looked more serious than before, “You must not repeat this with outsiders, understand?”

“Okay??”

The young demon took a deep breath before starting, “Azz is the leader of a group of rebels who are currently working against the demon lord. It is a said that he used to be a fallen angel himself after being sent into The Dark World years ago for an unknown reason and has somehow kept a few of his memories.”

“Fallen Angels? Memories?” I questioned.

“How much do you know about corruption?” he didn’t look surpised

“That Angels slowly become demons with it.” I replied.

Ralph explained, “Yeah, but that’s not all. There are a lot of ‘phases’ those angels go through to become demons and one of them include losing their memory of their lives before becoming a demon.”

“WHAT!? Is that going to happen to me!?” I gasped.

“It’s sad but it’s true” he nodded. “Don’t worry, the process takes a long time and it doesn’t hurt. I’ll explain the stages later.”

“…”

“Those that are in a state between angel and demon are called fallen angels. They are basically half demon and half angel.” he continued. “Lord Victor wants to use these fallen angels and turn them into full demons quickly then use them to his advantage.”

“Why?” I just could not imagine them being any more use to him than regular demons.

“Fallen angels once they turn are stronger than an average demon.”

“Really?” I cocked my head.

“Yup.

“That’s where Azz comes in.” he started. “Azz goes out of his way to save fallen angels from that fate and make them our allies instead. That way, once our forces are powerful enough, we can overtake the castle and free all demons from his horrendous rule.”

“Are you sure it’ll work? If he is anything like the queen, he’ll be gifted with great god-like power.”

He sighed, “You can’t see if you don’t try, right?”

“I guess that’s true….”

Ralph turned away from me, “Alright, it’s getting late. I am going to stop here. Make sure to get some sleep, no doubt Azz will put you to work tomorrow.”

My mind whirled with a lot of unanswered questions as he closed the door behind him. But it did at least put some of my mind at ease to finally know what was going on around me.

I sighed as I laid down on the bed. Am I really going to forget about my Titus, Faith, mom, and dad? I hope not. It only gives me more reason to keep trying to get back home before any of that happens.

I closed my eyes and drifted off into a deep sleep.