Chapter 1; Humans and Demons and Abominations.


Buzz. Buzz. Buzz.
Odessa blearily opened her eyes, that damn buzzing was going to drive her crazy! She sat up, expecting to see Arlon sitting in his throne, grinning from ear to ear at his power over her, but all she saw was a small meadow, a tiny pond, a few trees scattered around, and…metal bars? What was going on? If she was in the wilderness, there wouldn’t be metal bars. That means she must be…
A roar sounded to her left and her head snapped towards the sound. There, maybe 20 feet away, was a lion. The lion was small by any standard, but it was still very dangerous, at least to a human. Odessa smirked, her beauty alone would give it pause, but she thought she might give it a little more to worry about. She looked the beast in the eye, preparing to use a few demon tricks on it. She was shocked, however, to find that she couldn’t use any. Her powers were…gone. The lion roared even louder and began to advance. Odessa, for the first time in her life, felt fear. It was only a tingle, barely noticeable, but to her it felt like a tsunami crashing down on her. She was helpless. The lion charged her and she screamed, closing her eyes tight. After a minute of nothing, she opened them to find the lion was gone.
“Huh?”
“Hello there, Odessa.”
Odessa looked up to see an Incubus in the air, staring at her. “Zaebos? Is that you?”
Zaebos flipped upside down and grinned at her. “Why yes it is. You seem to be in a bad way. Anything I can do to help?”
Odessa glared. She knew what his form of helping was and she wanted nothing to do with it. “Get your mind out of the gutter and get me out of this cage. I assume you stopped time?”
“Yes, I did. You should be nicer to those who are helping you. Look in the pond, your powers are gone.”
Odessa gulped and slowly walked over to the still pond. She peered over and looked at her face. It was her face, but something was missing. She was a succubus, her appearance should be able to mesmerize anyone, but the face she saw lacked any luster, any charm, any beauty. She spun around and glared at Zaebos.
“Come now, don’t give me that look. Now that you’re powerless, angry is very ugly on you.”
“SHUT UP!”
Zaebos chuckled and grabbed her arm, dragging her out of the cage. “Ya ya, fine. Just tell me when to let time start, but don’t take too long, stopping time is against the rules, as you very well know.”
Odessa glared at him. “Just start time as soon as I leave the Zoo.”
Zaebos saluted. “As you wish, your stoniness.”
Odessa turned her back on him and started walking towards the exit. It turned out that the buzzing she heard was the motor to a small children’s toy. She was near the exit when time suddenly started. She cursed, but that was as far as she got before being bowled over. “OW! Damn that Zaebos…”
“Zaebos?”
Odessa looked over to see a man staring at her. The man had a rather handsome face, blue piercing eyes, and was staring, rather pointedly, at her breasts.
“Never seen boobs before?”
The man jerked his gaze up. He blushed. “Uh, sorry about that. That’s an…interesting outift.” He said, trying, and failing, to avoid looking at the strange woman’s figure. Odessa looked around. She was indeed standing out. Her clothing wasn’t exactly skin tight, but it still left very little to the imagination. She would have already had everyone else drooling from the mouth already, but all she could do now was impress one person?
“I know this, why are you still here?”
The man looked at her, slightly put off by her aggressive attitude. “I only wanted to make sure that you were all right.”
“Well, I am, so no need for a human like you to worry.”
The man’s expression turned to one of confusion. “Human? You aren’t human yourself?”
Odessa snorted. “No, I am a demon, so leave before I decide to end your pitiful existence.”
“It seems to me that you are the one who is the more pitiable of the two of us.” Odessa’s mouth dropped. To think this man would be stupid enough to insult a demon.
“So you think I am weak? Is that it?”
“Strength has nothing to do with it. I pity you because you are so close-minded. You’re constantly putting down humans, is there a reason? What exactly makes demons better?”
“They’re stronger, faster, smarter, they are superior.”
His expression didn’t change. “Prove it then.”
Odessa looked him in the eyes for the first time. “What do you mean, you want to fight?”
He smiled at her. “Yes, I do. I would love to see these demon powers of yours.”
Odessa looked away, irritated that she couldn’t just kill the man. “When I get my powers back, you will experience them in all their fury.”


Arlon sat in his chair, awaiting word. He straightened up when he saw Zaebos fly through the door. “Any word?”
“She’s fine, a little pissed, but fine.”
Arlon heaved a sigh of relief. “that’s good, I suppose, but how long will she last in the human world?”
Zaebos picked dirt from his sleeve, lazily saying, “She has a place to stay. She already made a friend, but that’s not what really worries you is it?”
Arlon looked at him, his gaze cold. “No, it isn’t. Let’s go Zaebos. It’s time to get to work, before she comes back and kills us.”
Zaebos smiled as Arlon stood. “Casting her out was a smart move. Who knows when she would have acted on her plan, eh? Well, it doesn’t really matter. She’s gonna die in only a few days anyway.”
Arlon glanced at him. “You are heartless. You show no mercy, even to your sister?”
Zaebos took to the sky. “None, but remember, she isn’t my sister by blood.”