In the Holy Chambers

IN THE HOLY CHAMBERS

BY

SCHOLAR MILLEN
 1

MWEZI crouched in the corner of her room, her head between her knees. Her shoulders shook violently as she cried
silently. Ever since she was a child, Mwezi had imagined very many different versions of her life as a young adult, but
never did she think that at twenty-four her life would be such a complete mess to the point that even she could not
explain what was really going on. Therefore, just when the shaking of her shoulders ceased and her phone beeped, Mwezi
couldn’t help the sad sigh that escaped her when she saw the name on the text. She gripped the phone tightly and
hesitantly tapped on the message.

“Ma'am, its time.” She read the text aloud, paused, and then laughed. Maybe she still had one thing that
went right in her life.

***

The evening looked as dull as Mwezi felt seated on that black seat. She narrowed her eyes as she intensely stared at the
screen that was in front her. Mwezi watched as Linda grabbed her purse and took out her phone just on time to receive
the incoming call. She silently counted one - three before Linda’s expression changed from happy to shock then counted
again to three before hearing Linda’s wild wail, then,

“CUT” She shouted. Linda’s acting of that scene had been phenomenal and with no more scenes to shoot
for the day, not even retakes, the crew packed up and headed back to their places.

As Mwezi passed by Linda, she made sure to commend her for the good acting before stepping out of the building. Once
outside, the air seemed to shift and so did her mood. The mask of a radiant smile that had been on her face a minute ago
was suddenly replaced by a cold one that betrayed no emotion. She would have loved to go to her apartment and get cozy
with her blanket but no, she had a meeting with a certain scriptwriter to discuss the next project on her list.

***

Three hours later, Mwezi smiled as she strolled down the tarmac path towards her apartment. Few meters from her
house, she could hear voices singing. She crossed the road and followed the tiny path that led her to the voices. She stood
in front of a catholic church, one that she used to attend before she decided that maybe she should stop being hypocritical
and be true to herself. After all, she knew very well that the reason she attended mass was nothing close to worshipping
and thanking God. As she stood there lost in thought, a male voice vibrated through the speakers of the church.

"The gospel according to..."

Mwezi froze. She had not heard that voice in almost five years and just when she had given up, here he was; Father Petero
leading mass. Mwezi's hands started shaking as she clasped her purse tightly.

"The mass has just started." She whispered shakily to no one in particular.

"Didn't grandmother always say that we should always believe and hide in the power of the holy
trinity?"

She shook her head fervently and adjusted her backpack before taking slow steps towards the church. Mwezi smiled as
she slowly thought, 'In the name of that father, today I will attend the evening mass.' even though deep down she
understood that this was not what her grandmother meant when she had been teaching her about the holy trinity.

***

As it was a Wednesday, there weren’t a lot of people in the church, but Mwezi still ignored all the empty benches at the
center and went for the last at the corner. She gingerly put her bag on the space beside her and leaned back closing her
eyes. Mwezi was afraid. Afraid at what looking at Father Petero would do to her. Ever since the first day she had seen him
at her first mass as a Fresher, her heart never settled. All these years without seeing him had been torture to her, that is
why she buried herself in her work. Occasionally, she would wish that she had someone to talk to about what she was
feeling but she trusted no one to not judge her harshly. Letting out a sigh, Mwezi sat upright and opened her eyes and that
is when she felt it. The pull. The erratic beating of her heart. She narrowed her eyes as she looked at his handsome face
and frowned. Father Petero literally looked younger, way young than he did five years ago. After a moment of wondering,
Mwezi shrugged and decided that this time she will not lose him.

***

Father Petero had felt very peaceful as he led mass that evening. The congregation had been jovial and attentive just as he
liked. He was so happy that he couldn’t stop smiling. Even now as he walked out of the church, he felt elated, well, until
soft fingers brushed across his left arm and then he felt him stir. His smile slowly faded as a frown took form on his face.

“After ten years? Ten good years?” He mumbled as he hastened his steps
towards his Jeep. Today he was not going to stay put and interact with the worshippers like always. It wouldn’t end well.
He had to leave before HE completely woke up.

***

She frowned as she watched him quickly walk away. ‘What’s with him today?’ Mwezi couldn’t help but wonder. I mean,
for the time that she had known Father Petero, he had never left without interacting with the congregation outside the
church. He always told stories, made jokes, and offered advise but today something wasn’t right. She had intentionally
brushed her fingers against his arm with the hope that he would turn and look at her but instead he froze. He froze for a
second, stopped smiling and quickly walked away. Mwezi wanted to know why and being the overthinker that she was,
she let her thoughts break her heart. Did her touch repulse him so much even if he did not know her yet? Shaking her
head vigorously, she made her way out of the church and stood staring at the dust left by his retreating car. Hell no, she
was going to show him that her touch could also be nice. That her touch couldn’t possibly repulse anyone. She made up
her mind to prove her thought wrong. It was the only way that the dull ache in her heart would go away.
 2

150km/h. That was the speed. Father Petero knew the risks of over speeding, but he did not care. All he knew was that he
needed to be somewhere far from the rest of civilization as soon as possible. Lucky for him, the rough road towards his
cabin in Nong’ hills has always been deserted. As the temperature in his car dropped further, he knew that he was almost
out of time. How could a creature that lived in a burning place be as cold as this? He just couldn’t understand.

He panicked as his teeth started chattering. Just as he was about to lose his mind, he saw the cabin and the tears started
flowing. Father Petero parked the glorious black jeep and scrambled out of his car as he fumbled to locate the cabin key
among the many keys in his bunch. Just then his right arm straightened and became rigid making him stop.

“P, Relax!” A deep, husky voice said. Father Petero just stood still as he
watched his arm turn dark and white polka dots start forming on it. He opened his mouth to speak but his hand moved to
pat his cheek making him frown instead.

“You need not fear me. I can’t hurt you.” The voice continued loud and
clear in his head. Father Petero snorted. Then he burst into laughter and fell on his knees.

“Not what you showed me ten years ago.” He starkly replied and the voice
laughed heartily.

“Walk into the cabin, P, it is you I am waiting for because it is time.”

Father Petero’s heart started pumping so hard, it was a wonder that it hadn’t pumped out of his body yet.
 “What do you mean, ‘It is time’?”

He asked in a hoarse voice that was barely a whisper.

“You will see.” The deep husky voice silently replied and then went
completely quiet. Just then the dots on Father Petero’s arm started fading and his skin color went back to its original light
chocolate shade. Sighing, he stood and walked to his door.

“All I ever wanted was to be a good priest, serve in honesty…” He

whispered to himself, a devasted look clouding his face.

“…But how can I do that if I can’t even exorcise my own demons,

"How can I do that if I am a monster.”

With one violent push, he opened his door, whose hinges made it noticeably clear that they could use some greasing, but
Father Petero wasn’t in the mood to think about any of that. All he wanted to do was pass out on his bed, forget he was a
priest and forget that the monster in him had resurfaced.

***

She writhed on the sheets as she felt his fingers slightly trace her thighs and his mouth suck at her nipple. Arching her
back, she grabbed his hair just as his fingers lightly caressed the opening between her legs. A moan escaped her, and she
wanted more. Mwezi wanted his hands and mouth on her as his hard member penetrated her. She grabbed his hand and
directed it to her core which now felt hot. No lie, she was burning, burning with need, desires. She was hungry.

My dears, from a distance even the cat at the window, watching her bed would wonder why she was writhing, moaning,
and spreading her legs for no reason. Maybe it was just how humans slept? No, if I met the creature, I would tell it to be on
its way and not disturb the woman whose dream was as intense as they came. Anyway, Mwezi lay drenched in sweat as
she held tightly onto her blanket while tiny sounds filled the room. Suddenly, she rolled over and fell on the floor with a
loud thud. She slowly opened her eyes as she tried to catch her breath.
 “A wet dream?” She groaned as her hands slowly roamed her body to
confirm her doubts. Her hands stopped between her legs, and she gasped. Her panties were drenched. Mortified, she
covered her eyes with her hands and rolled over. Father Petero had felt so real that she had a hard time believing that all
that was a dream and maybe she was right. Was it really a dream? Not able to sleep anymore, Mwezi walked towards her
working space and proceeded to work on a screenplay that she had started a few weeks ago.

***

“See how badly she wants us, look at how she would writhe and
demand more of us.” Asmodo whispered to Father Petero as he showed him the image of Mwezi sleeping through the
mirror. They had watched as she writhed and moaned, and Father Petero was shocked that he had a hard-on so painful he
ached to touch it but no; according to him Onanism was a sin and there was no way he was doing it.

Father Petero has always been a jovial and soft-spoken person who always knew what he wanted and was never side
tracked. Even as a teenager, while his friends had girlfriends and had make out sessions in parties, he always stayed
behind and read widely on philosophy and theology. Therefore, before today, Father Petero had never paid attention to a
woman in any sexual manner and thus did not experience turn-ons.

Today as he stood watching the woman in that mirror, he felt things he had never felt in the thirty years of his life.
Embarrassed at his own thoughts, he closed his eyes and gritted his teeth. He was aching and angry thanks to that
monster inside him.

“That’s enough, Asmodo!” He coldly said and he heard Asmodo sigh as

his left hand which was dark and polka dotted again like the rest of his left body, lifted, caressed the mirror and the image
was gone. Father Petero vaguely understood that Asmodo had somehow planted an erotic dream in the woman’s mind,
and he did not know how. He could vaguely remember her from his congregation and that bothered him to no end.
 “Asmodo, that woman is an innocent child of God, you don’t have to
mess her up too. I am sure she would like to keep her view of me as the respected priest and not a man she should show
love and sexual attention.”

Asmodo twisted in Father Petero’s body and used part of him to create a clone that merely looked like a shadow and
stood in front of Father Petero. Then he laughed. Laughed and dramatically made as if to wipe tears from the corners of
his eyes.

“Respected catholic priest indeed!! I don’t blame you, but the amount
of lust for you in that light touch on your arm was what woke me. It was a light brush but the lust in it was heavy.”
Shadow Asmodo said and moved to place a hand on Father Petero, who was surprised that the shadow had some weight
on him.

“Do you understand what I am trying to say here?” Asmodo softly

asked. Of course, Father Petero wasn’t stupid, he could understand what Asmodo was trying to tell him, but he couldn’t
believe it. For all the years he had served as a priest, he had never thought that anyone would look at him and want him
for anything other than prayer, advise and confession of sin. I guess, he was oblivious to the fact that maybe there were
some who wanted to confess different kind of sins in different kind of ways in different places.

Father Petero closed his eyes and groaned.

“I will let you sleep for now.”

Asmodo said as his shadow glided back into Father Petero through the ears leaving a cold sensation on his body. As the
polka dots and dark color faded from the left side of his body, Father Petero heard Asmodo’s fading voice say,

“If you don’t believe me, check for her on Sunday during mass.”

Sighing, Father Petero walked back to his bed and lay on it. He did not want to think about anything but as he drifted to
sleep, he couldn’t help but wonder what Asmodo meant by ‘It is time’.
 3

Mwezi couldn’t stop looking at her reflection. No, she wasn’t dressed in a skimpy dress or exceedingly high heels. The
interesting anecdotes that her grandmother had told her as a warning to never wear skimpy clothes to church would
never allow her. They were terrifying, she wouldn’t forget even if she wanted to. Therefore, she had chosen a beautiful
free knee length floral dress with a pair of white flat shoes and a white purse to match the dazzling white flowers on the
black dress. As she stared at her reflection in the mirror, she couldn’t decide if she wanted to let her shoulder length
dreadlocks loose or tie them up into a ponytail. After much thought, she decided to tie them up into a ponytail because
according to her, none of them would cover her eyes and thus she won’t be distracted from her point of focus, Father
Petero. And so, with one last look at the mirror, Mwezi happily left her house with the promise of satisfying her lonely
heart.

***

“Does father seem ok to you?”

“No, even on Wednesday he left without talking to us, he never does that. I
wanted to invite him for Ugali and Chicken at my home.”

“Today at mass he was gloomy, he isn’t laughing like he always does.”

“I wonder what demons are causing him unhappiness.”

Father Petero froze where he stood while the old woman spoke. As he interacted with the believers after mass, he could
hear people whispering about him. He had ignored what many of them were saying but somehow that woman’s question
about the demons hit a nerve. Well, he understood that she had said it figuratively but still, he couldn’t help but feel self-
conscious. He was about to walk away when he felt soft fingers wrap around his arm. Then HE stirred.

“Good afternoon, Father.”

“See. That woman wants us boy.” Asmodo whispered in his head and
Father Petero ignored him. He forced a smile and shook her hand.

“Good afternoon...eerr, eerr…”

“Mwezi.” She supplied and Father Petero nodded, pulling back his hand.
The images of Mwezi writhing in pleasure kept flashing in his mind and Asmodo wasn’t helping his case with his laughing.

“Look at her eyeing you like she could devour you right here, right now.”
Asmodo said mockingly and Father Petero visibly flinched but quickly plastered a smile on his face when he saw her
frown.

“Is everything ok? You seem a little distracted.” She asked in her silky
voice, and he inwardly groaned. Rubbing his temple, he answered,

“I am sorry, I just have this headache that seems to get worse by the
minute.” He saw her face fill with worry and quickly added,

“But it’s nothing a little rest won’t fix.”

She nodded and Father Petero watched as relief took over her features and his eyes found themselves looking at her lips.
Asmodo chuckled and Father Petero knew he had to leave so he excused himself and quickly walked to his car.

In his car, Father Petero rested his head on the steering wheel and sighed. He knew there and then that he needed to ask
for leave. He couldn’t lead mass anymore. Not until his mess with Asmodo is fixed. That is, if he would ever be able to.

***
A smile formed on Mwezi’s lips as she watched Father Petero walk away. She felt ecstatic. Today, he didn’t run away from
her touch, and he had talked to her. Maybe for today she will leave it at that. Mwezi turned to walk towards her vehicle
and aa image of him on top of her flashed through her mind making her swallow. She shut her eyes and inhaled deeply.

“Don’t do it. It’s stupid.” She kept whispering to herself as she took one step
at a time towards her car. Once inside she saw Father Petero leaving his parking spot. Again, she shut her eyes. She clearly
was having some internal conflict that looked like would take forever but a few seconds later she opened her eyes and
started the engine, a determined look on her face. Mwezi surveyed the area and her eyes landed on the black Jeep exiting
the gate. Ah, it was time to follow her dreams.

***

“What’s wrong with you?” Father Petero asked as he took the right
turn from the church gate into the road. Asmodo sighed and resurfaced making the temperature in the car drop. By now
Father Petero had slightly gotten used to the freezing feeling he gets whenever Asmodo decided to take over half of his
body. Also, the hairy polka dots on his arms no longer freaked him out.

“I am the son of the demon of lust, I can’t help it, I am drawn out by
any lustful feels. I also feed on sex and every desire that comes with it.”

Father Petero choked on his saliva.

“I am sorry, you are the son of Asmodeus?”

“Well, technically, we both are sons of Asmodeus.”

Asmodo nonchalantly replied, not caring that he had just dropped a big bomb on his human half.

“What do you mean WE?” Father Petero asked his voice a little
hoarse. He opened his mouth to keep on talking when Asmodo’s half quickly pulled on the steering wheel as a loud hoot
came from the lorry that they had just narrowly missed. Just then he felt Asmodo taking over his entire body. Now he
could only see what Asmodo saw, and his voice could only be heard inside their head.

“If you can’t talk and drive then I might as well as save you the
trouble.” Asmodo said harshly as he sped right through a red light.

“You will get me arrested or worse, dead!” Father Petero whined.

“Relax and be quiet, you can’t die as easily as you think. Besides,
there are things that I need to say.” Asmodo paused to look right and left at the junction. Immediately he drove into the
highway, he proceeded.

“When I say WE, I mean, you and I are one. If I die you cease to
exist, if you die, I cease to exist. In other words, none of us can exist without the other.”

“Why?” Father Petero quietly asked.

“From the moment you were conceived I was inside you, as tiny as
you were. When you were born into this world, I was also inside you. I did not possess you; I was born when you were
born. I am you and you are me.”

“How is that even possible?”

“Because the man that our mother called husband for thirty years
was Asmodeus disguised as a human.”

Father Petero was in denial. He wanted to believe that all that had happened since yesterday was a dream. There was
silence as their car sped through streets until it finally made the left turn into the rough road that led to their cabin. Father
Petero suddenly burst into laughter.
 “Then isn’t it so ironical that the son of a demon is so committed to
being the servant of the lord. Preach about heaven. Help people walk in the holy trinity?”

Asmodo kept quiet for a few seconds before smiling.

“Even I did not see that one coming. I thought that when time came
for you and me to merge, I will find you in brothels, killing everyone who got in your way and having more sex. Not in a
priest’s robe, helping people curse our father and his kin. Father once came to me and told me to get you in line. I didn’t
understand then, but now I do.”

As Asmodo parked in front of the cabin, Father Petero let out a sigh.

“Let me guess, it’s time for the merging?”

Asmodo turned off the ignition and hummed then as if he had seen something funny, he burst into laughter.

“You know if you had just been like all the other boys and had sex
while twenty, I would have sufficed and merged with you at the time.”

Father Petero kept quiet as he tried to digest everything that he had just been told and let Asmodo oversee his body. Lost
in thought, he vaguely heard the door to the cabin open and Asmodo slump on the sofa. Just when he thought that he
could finally enjoy some peace and quiet with his thoughts, Asmodo rumbled,

“Prepare to feel some soft curvy bodies, priest.”

Not sure if he had understood him well, Father Petero for the first time in his life, cussed.

“Bloody Hell!!”

***
Almost ten miles away from the cabin, a maroon Range Rover was parked at the side of the road. Inside, Mwezi had a
frown on her face. When she had trailed Father Petero, she had expected him to head to the Nong’ Diocese but somehow
his path had led to the Nong’ hills. As far as she remembered, people no longer used this road. At some point it had even
been closed for reasons she did not understand. She had wanted to follow him, but this road would have alerted him. Her
plan had been to follow him into town, get pictures of him as he alighted his vehicle but all that changed when she had
seen him suddenly start speeding and running through red lights.

“Oh father, what are you hiding from the world?”

Mwezi whispered to nobody. She wanted to stay longer but decided against it. It was already 3:30 P.M and she had a
dinner date with her grandparents in the village. If she did not leave now, she wouldn’t make it in time, especially since
she had been told that the roads were muddy due to the heavy rains. Also, she didn’t want to irk her grandmother with
tardiness because then the dinner would turn into an entire lecture.

Giving the stretch one doubtful look, Mwezi reversed and took the right turn towards Nong’ village. She could always
come back this way tomorrow.

***

“Loosen up P or it’s going to hurt even more.” Father Petero felt ill. He couldn’t comprehend what
was happening. He had fallen asleep when suddenly his body started feeling very cold. Right now, he felt like his blood
was boiling. His interior felt hot.

“As… modo.” He whispered painfully. He needed to know what was happening to him.

“He is combining part of my essence with yours.” Asmodo gritted out.

He too was in pain. Not as intense as Father Petero’s but close.

Father Petero had many questions that he felt needed immediate answers, therefore, despite the pain he was in, he
opened his mouth to ask but instead of words, a scream tore from him. His body violently curved and bones could be
heard resetting. And were his internal organs enlarging? Wait a minute, he felt like his heart was tearing into two,
literally. Could all that be possible? Well, he just found out he was a demon’s son, surely, at this point, nothing could be
impossible.

Just when he thought that he couldn’t take it anymore, everything stopped. The pain, the irregular shift in temperature,
the snapping of bones.

Father Petero wanted to feel his heart. He wanted to confirm that the loud beating of the heart was that of one and not
two hearts because he could swear that he could feel two hearts beat violently in his chest.

“Well, that was intense but looks like we are finally complete.” A deep voice said lightly.

“Pete, As. Welcome home. This, is our final form.”

That wasn’t Asmodo. It even clear when Asmodo scoffed and then laughed softly. Father Petero lifted his head to speak
but he had no energy left.

“Did I just become a nest, for the demons?” He thought silently as he felt himself pass out.
 4
Yesterday, dinner at her grandparents’ place had been amazing. Well, that is until her grandmother had started insisting
on her bringing home the man she was in love with. She had tried to explain that she did not have a boyfriend yet, but her
grandmother didn’t want to hear any of that. According to her grandmother, it was noticeably clear that she was in love.

Mwezi sighed as she parked her range rover at the side of the rough road like the previous day. Yes, she was in love but
how could she tell her grandmother that the person she was in love with was a priest? That she was in love but there was
no hope for her when it comes to marriage? How could she tell her grandmother that the only contentment she got in love
was by watching the man she loved from afar, shaking his hands after mass and listening to his voice as he replies to her
greetings or led mass? No, she wasn’t about to tell anyone of fate’s game with her.

Looking at her watch, Mwezi felt her lips curve into a smile. 8 A.M huh. She had an hour and a half before the filming of the
day’s scenes. She had time to follow the road and hopefully, see Father Petero.

***

“English please! I do not understand the demon language.” Father Petero who was wide awake
and full of energy, complained. Since he woke up half an hour ago, all the two voices in his head had been doing was argue
and every time he talked to them, they replied in some weird language that he could understand.

“We apologize.” Asmodo said to him nonchalantly while Asmias snorted.

For the few times that he had heard them interact, Father Petero could already tell that Asmias was very violent.

“I thought we were only two.” He said to Asmodo who chuckled.

“Asmias, introduce yourself to us.”

“My own human and demon don’t know me!!” Asmias exclaimed dramatically making Father
Petero roll his eyes.
 “I am Asmias. I am the darkest version of you and Asmodo. I am also you. So basically, you
are three in one not two as one. The only difference is, I don’t die when you die. All of you can die but I will still live. I have
in me part of Asmodo’s essence just as Asmodo’s essence has part of your essence.”

There was silence as Father Petero tried to digest what he was being told. Suddenly he shouted.

“Are you kidding Me? Are there any more demon going to resurrect for within you all?”

Asmodo and Asmias stayed silent for almost a minute before Asmias spoke.

“No, no more. The only reason I didn’t come out when As did is because your body wasn’t.
If I had adjusted it a few days ago, you would have died. Few Humans get to be a host to Asmodeus’ shadow demon and
Asmodeus’ son Asmodo.”

“Wait.” Father Petero said, rubbing his temples.

“You are a shadow demon? What does that mean?”

“It means,” Asmodo jumped in before Asmias could. “That he cannot take any form like I
can. He is always like a smoky shadow. Even right now, he is moving freely in our blood. All he can do. Is make our
physical form be an almost invisible shadow when there is light, take over our body cancelling out any of us temporarily,
also he oversees the healing of the physical injury.”

“So, he…”

“And he…” Asmodo interrupted Father Petero, “… cares about only himself. He is
everything that is dark.”

“Can you blame me though,” Asmias immediately said in a bored tone, “As, you are
supposed to be the one that moderates my evil thoughts and his extra kindness.”
Father Petero smiled for the first time since the emergence of his demons. He opened his mouth to speak but immediately
froze. A vehicle? Near his place?

“It’s roughly a half a kilometer away. Asmias, go check the situation.”

As Father Petero wondered about his demons’ abilities, he could hear Asmias snarling at Asmodo.

“I don’t take orders from anyone. I will only go check because I smell a female.”

Father Petero felt warm and watched as dark blue smoke left his pores. A few seconds later, they watched as the smoke
dispersed and then disappeared.

Ten minutes later, he returned and went directly into Father Petero’s body.

“I was right, it’s a female. Parked two hundred meters from here. She is headed
towards the cabin on foot.

“You two better stay put.”

Father Petero said as he walked towards the door. He inhaled and exhaled slowly before opening the door in front of him.

***

Mwezi looked lost as she stared at Father Petero.

“Damn!” She whispered as she internally chastised herself for not always
following her plan. She had planned to walk to the furthest end and peep through the window but no, her daring side had
decided to walk to the door first and even knock.

“Ms. Mwezi.” Father Petero said in a hoarse voice.

 “Father.” She deferentially addressed him, noting that he seemed taller and
more masculine than he was the previous day. She brushed off the thought thinking that maybe the priest robes covered
all the delicacies he carried.

“It’s interesting that you found this place. No one comes to this sides.
Please, come in.”

In his head, Father Petero could hear Asmodo groaning and Asmias scoffing.

“Grab that ass for us P.” Asmodo huskily pleaded, and it took almost all the
energy that Father had not to roll his eyes.

Mwezi sat on the furthest end of the sofa set and Father Petero sat next to her. He would have love to sit on a different
seat opposite her but alas, he had never thought it important to have seats in his cabin.

“Sorry, I haven’t made breakfast yet.”

“No, no, no. It’s not a problem.” Mwezi hastily answered as she
nervously rubbed her arms and bit her lips.

Father Petero nodded as he smiled sheepishly. He cleared his throat.

“What brings you to this sides?”

Mwezi looked startled for a second before quickly saying.

“I was passing by the highway when I saw that this murram road was
no longer being closed by the county government. I decided to check it out. After all, I have an hour to spare before work.”

Mwezi was amazed that she didn’t stutter while lying to a priest and Father Petero thought the reason she gave made
sense, but Asmodo was having none of that.
 “She reeks of lies.” Asmodo hissed and Father Petero mentally told him
to shut up.

Thirty minutes later, Mwezi had been served fresh juice and was talking animatedly to the priest. She was engrossed in
the conversation that she hadn’t noticed how close to him she had moved.

“If she keeps this up, kiss her.” Asmodo wildly said to Father Peter
but before he could react, Asmias said,

“Relax As, let me show our priest how it’s done.”

Father Peter didn’t understand what he meant until it was too late. He realized that his body no longer obeyed his
commands. It acted on its own. At least that was what he thought until he remembered that Asmias can take over his
body, leaving him no chance to control his actions. Father Petero was afraid. He did not trust Asmias to not do anything
that won’t taint his reputation as a priest.

***

Asmodo was entertained. He could feel Petero panic. He could feel the excitement in Asmias, and he could almost smell
the lust radiating from the woman beside them. He could feel it, this was going to end well.

***

Mwezi tried so hard to keep her mind on the conversation, but his lips were very distracting, his scent was intoxicating,
and his muscles attractively flexed with every movement. She ached to touch him. Kiss him. Even if it would only be once
in her lifetime, she wanted to do it. At some point in the conversation, Mwezi had gotten too comfortable that her habit of
laughing while hitting people’s shoulders surfaced. Whenever Asmias cracked a joke, she would laugh, slap his shoulder,
and think,

“Oh Father! You should have been a comedian.”

Soon she looked at the time and realized that it was time to leave, or she would surely be late.

“I should take my leave.” Mwezi said as she absent-mindedly brushed her fingers on
Father Petero’s arm. Asmias groaned and grabbed her wrist. Mwezi stiffened and for the first time since she sat down,
she looked ‘Father Petero’ in the eyes. Mwezi was sure that his pupils have always been brown and never navy blue.

“Miss. Mwezi. I might be a priest, but I am a man too.” Asmias said, his voice deeper
and husky interrupting her thoughts. Mwezi’s thighs involuntarily shut tight, and she could swear that Father’s nose
flared. Suddenly, the room had become too hot, and she used her free hand to undo the top button of her blouse. Asmias
hissed and pulled her to him, roughly. Before she could blink, his lips were on hers, his hands were on her waist and
before long she was sitting on his lap. And so, the marathon began. Heavy breathing, tongues fighting for dominance,
hands roaming wildly on each other’s body and a few seconds later Mwezi was grinding on his big man who was getting
bigger and harder by the minute. Good to know he wanted her as badly as she wanted him.

“Asmodo…” Father Petero groaned.

“I …am a priest …tell him to stop…” Father Petero could feel the desire. He could
feel the ache. He could feel the need to burry himself inside of her. His hands loved the feel of her perky breasts which
were no longer covered by her white bra. He could feel the longing to have his clothes ripped off, but the rational side
disagreed. He could hear Asmodo’s and Asmias’ grunts of approval and just for a second, he almost lost his rational side as
he felt his hands grab her round ass and Mwezi start grinding harder. He almost lost it as her soft moans started getting
louder. Father Petero was tempted to let Asmias keep showing his innocent self how it’s done but if he didn’t stop himself
and his demons now, he won’t be able to do it.

“Asmodo.” Father Petero moaned.

“Please.”

Asmodo relented.
 “Asmias, that’s enough.”

Asmias ignored Asmodo’s voice and moved his left arm from the ass to the breasts. He kneaded them roughly as he
started tongue fucking her mouth. He didn’t want to listen to anyone except her moans.

“Uh…. father…” Mwezi moaned, her voice full of need and Asmias stopped. He
would have preferred being called Daddy. He had Asmodo chuckle and that’s when he remembered that to the world, he
was supposedly a priest. Well part of him is an actual priest. He sighed and without warning, handed Father Petero
control of his body.

For a second, he froze as he realized that his left hand was still on her breast and right hand was still on her ass. Mwezi
sensed that something was wrong and stopped to look at him hazily. She frowned as she noted that his eyes were no
longer navy blue.

“We should stop.” Father Petero’s voice came out as a whisper, and he found
himself pinching her nipples softly. He mentally face-palmed and he heard his demons laugh at him. He needed her away
from him before he lost the thin thread of self-control that he had left.

***

“We should stop.” The words kept echoing in Mwezi’s mind and that’s when it hit her. She had been grinding on Father
Petero. She looked at his eyes, then to his hand which was still on her bare breasts and then back at his lips. As she felt
him set her on the seat beside him, she was mortified. She felt her soaked innerwear and felt even more embarrassed.

“I am sorry, this was a mistake. It shouldn’t have happened!” She heard him
softly say and it was enough to snap her out of her world of embarrassment. She felt hurt. Mwezi knew that something
would have to be said, but she did not want to hear that statement or anything like it. She closed her eyes and inwardly
sighed. Of course, he would say that. He was a priest after all, who for the time that she had known him, took his part in
the society seriously.
 “Can I use your bathroom?” She heard herself croak.

“Yes, it’s the door on your right before you enter the kitchen.”

She nodded and grabbed her bra which was now on the table next to her empty glass of juice. She chuckled. She couldn’t
even remember it being removed. Shaking her head, she stood and walked to the bathroom as Father Petero eyed her
behind which now that he had felt how glorious it was, couldn’t help the ache to touch it.

***

Almost fifteen minutes later, Mwezi emerged looking as fresh as she had before she had walked into his cabin. Father
Petero also felt calm. He had taken the fifteen minutes to scold Asmias and Asmodo and think things through. As he
watched her approach him, he did not know what to say but Mwezi made it easier as she just nodded and went straight to
the door. As she opened the knob, he called her name.

“Mwezi.” She stopped in her tracks but did not turn to look at him and he did
not ask her to. He did not know why he had called her name but then he heard himself say,

“Don’t call me father, just Petero.”

Mwezi slowly turned to look at him. For a moment she made as if to talk but instead, she just nodded and flashed him a
small smile before running out of the cabin.

As Mwezi ran to her car, she knew that she will never be the same and as Petero watched her dreads sway, he felt
something stir in his heart and Asmias growl,

“Priest!”

Asmodo was asleep. He wanted no part in Asmias’ drama. The lust that filled the room had sated him and all he wanted to
do now is sleep. Therefore, he ignored the other two voices and went completely silent. Well, that was until he had Asmias
plainly say,
 “Pete, next time I won’t stop. That female would make a good toy and
because I know that the priest in us will stop Asmodo and I, then he has to die.”

Asmodo knew that Asmias was crazy, he just hadn’t expected him to be this mad, he could already feel Petero panic for
the second time today, yet Asmias had only been awake for a few hours. Asmodo sighed in his sleep. He could only hope
that Asmias had said it figuratively because since he didn’t need the two of them to survive, his meaning might have very
well been literal.
 5

One week later.

“My people, it’s a wrap” Mwezi called enthusiastically as she walked away
from her seat towards her actors.

“Excuse me.” A voice stopped her.

“Yes.” Mwezi replied as she turned to the tall and dark-skinned man who
had an arresting face and mid-back long dreadlocks. She smiled as she looked at him from head to toe and whistled.

“Mwezi, my mother says females should not whistle.” The man jokingly
said and Mwezi burst into laughter. The heated moment with Father Petero, well no, with Petero might have been an
accident but to her, it was like a dream come true and therefore she felt happy, even lighter at heart.

“Anthony, Anthony.” She said in a sing song voice.

“It’s not every day I get to see my co-director adorn a slim fit double-
breasted suit. Normally you are in a grey sweat pant and t-shirt or hoodie.” Anthony scoffed and stepped beside her
before they proceeded to where the actors were.

“So, what’s the occasion?”

Anthony looked at her incredulously.

“You are the one that gave the theme for the wrap up party, and you
forget?”

Anthony watched as Mwezi’s eyes enlarged in recognition.

 “Crap!” She whispered.

He frowned as he looked at her. He had thought that she had feigned the not remembering part but looking at her, he
knew that she had been serious. There and then, Anthony knew that he had to ask before it was too late.

“Mwezi.” He called her softly and she tilted her head to look at him.

Anthony found himself staring at her lips and mentally chastised himself. Clearing his throat, he went straight to the
point.

“You seem distracted these days. You’ve come to set late, three
times this past week. Before, you were always thirty minutes early. Is everything ok?”

Mwezi stopped walking and turned to fully look at Anthony. The memory of her grinding on Petero crossed her mind and
she cleared her throat.

“Anthony, you don’t have to worry. I just had a few things to take
care of but now everything is settled. I will be back to being the most focused filmmaker you will ever meet.” She said the
last part dramatically to try and lighten the conversation making Anthony chuckle. Anthony’s eyes looked at her fisted left
hand and they narrowed. She was lying. Had she forgotten that they had known each other since their days in high
school? He knew her telltale signs.

“You are lying.” He quietly said and Mwezi’s eyes opened wide.

For a moment she started panicking thinking that maybe he had discovered her truth but immediately calmed down
when he said,

“It’s ok if you don’t want to tell me but you better not let it interfere
with your work.”
Mwezi nodded vigorously before grabbing his hand and dragging him towards the rest of the crew. She never did well in
prolonged serious conversations.

“Our people await us.” She said feigning an accent he couldn’t quite
place, but he was sure that he had heard it back in Nong’ village.

***

An hour later, everyone was leaving to prepare for the party later in the night. Mwezi was headed to her car when her
phone rang. She patted her black cargo pants and retrieved it from the pocket on her right thigh. Looking at the screen, a
smile formed on her lips. She had very few people in her life, and she held every one of them dear.

“Rosa!” She exclaimed and she had the thick feminine voice on
the other end of the phone, chuckle.

“It’s good to know you still remember my name.”

Rosa said and Mwezi rolled her eyes at that.

“Pleeeeaaase, it’s only been a day since we last talked.”

“Fiiine. Have you seen the news today?”

“No, why?” Mwezi asked, alarmed.

“Do you remember the priest who helped me rush my mother

to hospital, when we were in first year?”

“Of course.” Mwezi answered quietly as her heart started

pounding faster. Of course, she remembered the day Rosa’s mother had been run by a car. She remembered the priest
very well. She remembered every encounter she has ever had with him.
 “He is dead. His vehicle got into an accident and his entire
body was burned beyond recognition.”

Mwezi’s world stopped. Her breathing became labored. All she had heard was Dead. She had just gotten the hang of her
stalking him, I mean, of how to find contentment with loving him from a far and having random conversations with him
occasionally.

Like yesterday, she had ‘accidentally’ met him in the Nong’ cafeteria and spent an hour discussing poetry, religion and art.

“Yoh, Mwezi. Are you still there?” Rosa’s voice asked making
her jump out of her train of thoughts.

“Uhm…. Yes.” she replied in a shaky voice.

“That’s just sad… he was a good man….” She heard Rosa hum
and just at that time her phone gave the battery low warning. Mwezi felt saved.

“My phone is at one percent. Can we talk after I charge it?

She asked and vaguely heard Rosa say bye. Mwezi watched as her phone went off then threw it in her bag. Without
wasting time, she was enroute to Petero’s cabin.

***

Meanwhile, Asmias looked around Del club and liked what he saw. The spell had worked perfectly. He stood at the corner
of the underground room and watched as people shamelessly banged in public. On a normal day, in this place, people
drunk, danced, screwed in the bathrooms, did drugs, and there were few who didn’t mind having sex semi clothed in the
dark corners but tonight, they were all naked.

Asmias watched as a woman at the center shamelessly shoved her naked ass at the man behind her and greedily grabbed
the cock of the one in front of her and swirled her tongue on its tip. Asmias smirked. He looked at the time on his watch
and pouted. Why was it time already? Asmias looked at the view and shook his head. As much as he loved the smell of sex
and alcohol, he had to leave. He had to leave before the others awoke.

As Asmias walked out of the club and into the night, he couldn’t help but laugh. His spell would wear out in the morning;
almost all those people will not have the energy to lift a muscle and the rest will be too sore to walk. He felt proud as the
son of Asmodeus, the demon of lust.

***

Mwezi did not park meters away like she did the last time she dared to come to this place. She did not even think of
locking her car doors or rolling up her windows. All she wanted to do was confirm that the breaking news was wrong. She
was in denial.

She ran to his cabin door and frowned.

“Doesn’t Father, well, Petero know how to lock his door when leaving the house?”

Mwezi stood still, staring at the door which was slightly open. Suddenly her face lit up as she smiled widely.

“He must be inside…They were wrong!”

As she stood in the middle of the living room, Mwezi’s mouth involuntarily dropped open.

Everything was white and spotless. From the one love seat at the center, to the vase of fresh red roses on the glass table
next to it, to the bookshelf next to the fireplace that looked like someone hadn’t bothered to clean the ashes after use.

Mwezi closed her mouth and shook her head before walking into the kitchen which was also white except for the bottles
of ingredients. Wasting no time, she proceeded to quickly open the bedroom and absentmindedly, the toilet and
bathroom. I wonder what would have happened had she found someone lazily taking a shower in their birth suit or
peacefully releasing waste while whistling? Ah, well, I suppose that remains to be our brains’ homework because we must
follow Mwezi who did not waste any time in the house when she found no one.
Mwezi left the house half running half walking. She was mentally disturbed. The paint in the bedroom had smelled fresh.
The roses had been replaced today. She did not remember Petero’s cabin looking like that, but she thought that it looked
better that way. She quickly got into the car and buried her head in her hands. Part of her knew that Petero could have
replaced the roses before leaving for the day and that the door was open because his house was being worked on. She
didn’t want to accept it. She wanted the hope that had brought her to his cabin to stay as strong as it had been even if it
meant being best friends with denial. As Mwezi faced her internal battles in the car, she felt a hand on her shoulder. A part
of her wanted to run but alas, part of her wanted to turn. Maybe she would get to see him one last time.

***

He had scented her before he could even see the car. Any other day he would have been delighted but not today. He had
Petero and Asmodo to deal with. He needed them to sleep some more and now if he did not find a quiet place to
concentrate on resealing them, they would wake. He had a thought to get in and drag the woman out but halfway between
the door and the car, He had a thought; he had five minutes to spare. That is how a minute later, they were in the car
staring at each other.

Asmias saw the pain and brokenness in her the moment she had looked at him. Sorrow. Deep waves of sorrow emanated
from her and that’s when he realized that this woman, funny as it may sound to him, didn’t just lust after Petero, she loved
him. Amias mentally tsked, and thought that maybe, it was wise if she forgot about them, well, more like forget about
Petero, but before that, he needed to taste her one last time.

***

Mwezi was shocked when the man’s lips crashed on hers. She wanted to pull away, but her mind felt clouded. She couldn’t
think clearly. All she knew was that this lip looked different, but the taste was familiar. She kissed back. Five minutes
later, she was grabbing on his hoodie. Mwezi let out a frustrated groan. He seemed to know what she wanted because he
immediately helped her cross to the back seat. She looked into his eyes and saw the memorable blue pupils.
 “Petero.” She whispered in shock, and he nodded in answer before proceeding
with his assault on her lips. Mwezi happily adjusted herself on his hips and his hands automatically moved to her ass. She
moaned and at the same time, Asmias felt Asmodo stir. He had somehow forgotten that Asmodo’s strength grew with lust
sated on the vessel he occupied. Asmias cussed mentally. As much as he wanted the sexual escapade to go on, he couldn’t
risk it.

“Look into my eyes.” He softly whispered. A sound that was foreign to even he
himself. He smiled at Mwezi’s dazed look and leaned into her seductively.

“Go to sleep, you will wake up thirty minutes later, and will forget that you
ever knew a Father Petero. All memories of him and of you and him will be wiped.” He paused to plant soft kisses on her
neck to which she only responded with a nod and soft moan.

“Out of existence he shall be, not even in fantasy shall he exist. If ever, shall he
surface, thine seal shall keep at bay.” Asmias whispered and watched as Mwezi struggled against his spell. He watched as
mixed emotions played around in her eyes. He felt a tag in his heart and frowned. Did he care for her already? Asmias
softly lay her down on the seat and stepped out. He gave the car and its owner one long look before walking into the
cabin. He had thought that she would make a good sex toy, but today, when he had seen her pain, he didn’t understand
how, but a huge part of him did not want to be the cause of her pain ever again.

“Dang it!”

He cussed as he closed the door behind him and then HE Spoke.

“Asmias, you Bastard.”

Then he followed,

“For the love of God Asmias!”

Asmias rolled his eyes and proceeded to get a bottle of vodka from his collection before sitting on the floor. He counted
one to three, and then the shouting in his head began. Three in one vessel. So inconvenient for a fist fight if you ask me.

***

Thirty minutes later.

Mwezi stirred. Her head felt so heavy she couldn’t understand why.

“What trouble did you go looking for this time?” She whispered to herself
as she turned to the side and propped herself up with an elbow, hand supporting her head. Mwezi inhaled sharply and
frowned as she looked at the trees and bushes through the windscreen. Alright, she knew this place but what was she
doing here? Nobody lived in this side of Nong’. Mwezi sat upright and got out of the car. She stood staring at the cabin
before shaking her head and getting into the driver’s seat. She couldn’t help but think,

“That looks too neat for an abandoned building.”

As she started the engine, she couldn’t help but look at the cabin one more time. Something told her that she had been in
there before. Shaking her head, she figured that, maybe she was just dreaming up things. Deciding not to over think it, she
brushed her concerns aside with the thought that her curiosity is what had brought her to this sides of the area.

“Oi Mwezi, you should pay more attention to your adventurous

activities or next time you might find yourself in a den of lions.” She said rather loudly as she slowly drove into the road
and then dangerously accelerated. She had suddenly remembered that she had only two hours to find a proper dress and
shoes for the wrap up party. During the drive, as Mwezi continued to jovially convince herself, she still couldn’t shake off
the feeling that she was forgetting something particularly important.

***

“Enough.” Asmias replied in a bored tone. He had deliberately stayed quiet until he
had heard the roaring of the vehicle fade into the distance. With the rage coming from the two of them, it was possible
that the cabin wouldn’t remain as quiet and dark as it was. He wasn’t sure, but he wasn’t going to risk anything that would
unseal that woman’s memories.

“Unbind the bound within the world within.” Asmias chanted three times and
immediately Asmodo’s shadow human jumped out from within, and his right part of the body became lighter skinned and
smoother, and his navy-blue pupil turned into a shed of noticeably light blue and light brown. He had expected that from
Asmodo but not Petero. I mean, even Petero was shocked by himself. His anger arose power that he did not know he had.

“Well, P, I didn’t know you already had the ability to surface physically.”

Asmodo chuckled and turn to look at Asmias’ navy-blue pupil.

“You son of a bitch!” Asmodo spat before Petero could answer him and Asmias
hissed as he placed his glass and bottle of vodka aside.

“Tssssk… Asmodo, mother said not to use foul language.”

Asmias dramatically lifted the right palm to his right side and covered it.

“What does any of you even know about mother?”

Asmodo turned to look at him and Asmias stretched his half of the face a half a meter away so he could turn to look at
Petero’s half.

“What?” He asked looking from Asmias to Asmodo.

“Just because we were dormant then, doesn’t mean we were not awake. We’ve
had awareness and grown with you, well a little faster than you but still, yes, what I just said.” Asmodo quietly supplied
and Asmias added,

“Your memories are our memories. We only have added memories of father
visiting from whatever hell occasionally when you, being the human that you are, was asleep.”
There was silence as Petero processed what he was being told.

“I see.” He murmured a few seconds later not knowing what more to say to
that.

Asmodo stared at him for a moment and then tilted his head to look at Asmias whose half of the face was still stretched
half a meter away from the body.

“What the fudge did you do Asmias? We were in the car and next thing we
know our essence is sealed inside one of the hearts and we can barely stay awake. Right now, I can still feel you blocking
away your memories of the time you functioned alone.”

Asmias looked at Asmodo and then at Petero who was silently waiting for him to explain. He burst into laughter. Uhm no,
more like, he chuckled, and then chuckled, then laughed softly as his tempo rose until he was laughing so loud that the
others cringed. His laughter stopped as abruptly as his chuckling had begun. Then he hoarsely whispered,

“I killed the goddamned priest.”

Petero and Asmodo looked at each and at that moment they were sure that Asmias was a psychopath.

“What do you mean?” Petero coldly asked as he turned to looked at Asmias

but instead of words Asmias closed his eyes and opened his memories to them.

Before he could even go through them, Asmodo could feel the darkness in them.

“Motherfucker!” he muttered under his breath before closing his eyes

to sort through the maze of memories. When Asmias had opened his mind to them as it should be, he toyed around
making his memories a puzzle. If it was compulsory for them to see, they might as well as sweat while at it.

Asmias watched as Petero keenly watched Asmodo and did what he was doing. Ten minutes later, he watched their
contorted expressions with a smirk on his face.
 6
Dressed in a white Asymmetrical Ruched cocktail dress that did not fail to accentuate her broad hips and round ass,
Mwezi walked into Kafira film hall. Her black platform heels announced her arrival and her loose dread locks brought
attention to her almost bare shoulders as they softly bounced.

“When, in disgrace with fortune and men’s eyes, I all alone…” Anthony’s voice
trailed off as he said, “… beweep my out-cast state…” He forgot all about Shakespeare’s sonnet 29 and Linda as he not
discreetly eyed Mwezi from head to toe. He had known that she was hot, but today she was on fire. Anthony sighed sadly
as he remembered that he and Mwezi had mutually agreed to the concept of, ‘let’s always keep it professional’ from the
very beginning when they had become co- directors and slowly, friends.

“Anthoniooo…” She said dramatically as she approached them and stood

directly beside him.

“Tsk, walk on us madam, we are your carpet.” He enthusiastically replied as

he stepped aside to let the rest of the people greet her. Mwezi laughed and nodded before turning to Linda, Eric, Matt,
Juwa and the rest of her actors.

“Mmmmh, eeeh, hmm, Mwezi, you’ve decided eh.” Juwa said dramatically,
her rough voice loud enough to reach the door. Mwezi laughed, took a glass of white wine from the server beside her and
turned to reply.

“It’s not every day I get an occasion that allows me to wear heels and
dresses, so when the opportunity presents itself, I use it to the fullest.”

Juwa nodded vigorously and was about to start nodding when a short and slim man, with a huge grey-white afro on his
head, black tuxedo and black- gold sharpshooters coughed roughly beside them.

“Juwa, still as noisy as a hornbill I see.”

Juwa chuckled and turned to shake his hand.

“Grandpa.” She said excitedly making him laugh. He turned to the rest of
the people who respectfully shook his hand as some nervously excused themselves after their turns. The old man shook
his head, a small smile on his lips. He still did not understand why many of his employees feared him.

“Mr. Francis Juwa.” Mwezi addressed softly as she bent to hug him.

It had been an exceedingly long time since she had seen him. Mr. Francis might be her boss but he and Juwa were like her
second family. When she had been alone after her parents and siblings passed, she had nowhere to go. She did not even
know whether her grandparents were alive or not. She had almost lost hope in everything when the Juwas took her in at
the age of sixteen.

“Ah, Mwezi…” he patted her back and pulled back to look up at her face.

“I will be one of the happiest people when you resume your flat heeled
shoes.” He commented and they laughed. Immediately the laughter died his face become serious.

“Anthony, Mwezi, I would like to borrow you for a few minutes.”

“Of course.” Anthony and Mwezi replied in unison without hesitation.

Mwezi moved to place her glass of wine on the table, but Francis stopped her.

“Come on, it’s a party. Carry the damn drinks and bring me one.”

Anthony and Mwezi looked at each other and shook their heads. Looks like, not even age would ever change that man.

Five minutes later, they were seated round a round table, almost eight meters from the door, approximately ten meters
from the podium and almost six meters away from the rest of the people in the party.

“Now...” Francis said before clearing his throat.

 “In two weeks, I need you to pack your bags for an eight-months trip.”

Mwezi paused mid swirling her wine and Anthony did not look surprised at all. Before any of them asked questions, the
excited old man continued.

“There is a film series we plan to do based on the ancient King

Monolos. We need you to research widely on him, his life, the documented and non-documented. Also, if possible,
get the details of the book, The Lesser Key of Solomon. Actually, mostly get the details of that book.”

The three people exchanged looks.

“Where are we headed?”

Mwezi asked after a few seconds.

Francis Juwa laughed softly, raised his glass of red wine, and motioned for the others to do so.

“Let’s make a toast to, Elasri.”

Mwezi smiled as the glasses clicked and that’s when it hit her. Elasri! She froze. Then freaked.

“Elasriiiiiii!!!” She shrieked but all the old man did was laugh like a
maniac and whispered,

“Yes child, Elasri. The holy city.”

***

“Elasri???” The three voices exclaimed as they looked at the

hourglass shaped woman in front of them. She was dressed in tight brown leather, from shoulder to toe. She had
awfully long black-orange hair that fell almost to her waist, her face was slightly dark, and her lips were full and so
were her breasts. Oh, and she had two scars next to her eyes on both sides of her head.
When Asmodo and Petero had finally cracked through Asmias’ memories, they had been pissed at everything, except for
his decision to find a corpse, and replicate Petero’s DNA and prints onto the man before crashing their black jeep
and setting it on fire. Practically, he had killed the priest, so Petero was free to deal with all the changes happening
to him. Part of him was glad that he wouldn’t have to worry about the diocese while at it but part of him felt guilty
for lying. Either way he had understood the situation and felt that the lie was for everyone’s good. He had therefore
focused on the other things Asmias had done, like the spell at the club and with Mwezi. He and Asmodo had been in
the middle of scolding him when the beautiful woman in front of them had appeared.

“So, let me get this straight, you want us to go to Elasri to retrieve

the original copy of the grimoire ‘The Lesser Key of Solomon’, make sure it’s a complete set before bringing it back,
and make sure we find it before the head of the wizards, Manalok gets to it?”

Petero asked plainly.

“Yes, that’s basically it.”

“This should be easy. I might even have enough time to bed all the
women of Elasri.” Asmodo murmured enthusiastically, making Asmias cheer, Petero scoff and Dhiadia laugh
melodiously.

“Oh, you are definitely Asmodeus’ son.” She jovially said moving
closer to them. Asmodo’s shadow human had returned to their body Petero was in charge now, he looked different,
because Asmias had changed most of his physical attributes because if he is dead, the DNA, prints and physical
attributes had to die too. Changing all that wasn’t easy, but he mostly dwelled in there by circulating in the blood,
there was almost nothing he couldn’t do to the body.

Dhiadia placed her hands gently, on his cheeks.

“I wonder how he feels about having such a complicated

creature as his son.”
She narrowed her eyes as she looked at the face which was half Petero and half Asmodo and an extra mouth just under
the chin which Asmias used to be heard outside of their heads.

“You need to learn to function as one. All the arguing must end
because only in agreement will your minds be one and only then can your body be one.”

Dhiadia said as she stepped away from them.

“You need to completely be one, three hearts, one mind, one

body.”

“What do you mean?” Asmias asked.

“When your three separate selves be in sync.” Dhiadia

explained as she surveyed through the books on the shelf in cabin.

“Each of your essence will completely merge, the shadow

demon, the demon of lust and human parts will be one to form a triphilli, the child of a demon and Nephilim, born
with a shadow demon whose existence is caused by too much of a kind heart from the child. His existence is always
to make sure the dark and the light in the demo-human is balanced.”

Petero covered his forehead with his hand as his head began to hurt.

“Is nothing in the demon world a simple affair?” He asked,

annoyance evident in his tone.

Dhiadia laughed.

“Not really. Anyway, if you manage to get to the final form, you
will be a beast. Any of you can take over at any time, without any changes in physical appearance of course.”
Dhiadia explained as she delicately pulled a theology book from the shelf.
 “You will be a single person but with three personalities. I
think the humans will say that you have a personality disorder. Also…” Dhiadia paused to smell the roses in the
vase. “…you will have three hearts, one human heart for Petero, two demon hearts for Asmias and Asmodo… If
Asmodo’s dies, yours Petero will die, if yours dies, his will be injured to near death. Asmias won’t be injured, nor
will he die, but he will only be weaker than an ill human.”

There was silence except for Dhiadia’s boot heels which made loud sound as she slowly walked around the cabin touching
everything and anything.

“Will we still be able to interact as three individuals?” Petero

asked quietly as he slumped down the seat.

“Of course, but internally.”

There was absolute silence as Dhiadia also stopped at the door. Asmias and Asmodo had retreated and were unusually
quiet although he could tell that they were awake. Not knowing what to say, Petero just stared at Dhiadia who
seeing that there were no more questions, adjusted the book under her arm and turned to walk out but before
taking the three stairs to the ground outside, she said,

“And before I forget, you won’t be going alone. That new phone
I gifted you, turn it on. You will get a call. You will be going as a demonologist and paranormal expert. I believe you
will be going as their advisor. Ah and early warning, be wary, the wizard we rival is part of the team of five going to
Elasri.”

Before Petero could respond, she had already walked out and was on her black scooter riding away.

“If she had a scooter, why did she teleport in?” Petero asked
rather loudly and Asmodo chuckled,

“Because we were too loud to hear her knock?”

Petero nodded then cussed as he realized that none of their three brains had bothered to ask for her name and how to
find her and boy, was she also a demo-human or was she a pure-bred demon like Asmodeus, or was she something
else?

He would remember to ask her those questions next time they meet. That is if they ever meet again.

***

“Christian Demonology”

He whispered, his cat-like eyes still staring at the book on the table beside him.

“At least they were being taught about demons.”

Dhiadia scoffed then burst into laughter.

“Even though everything in there is clearly based on assumption.

There is so much about us that is not accurate in that book.”

The tall slender man in a yellow suit straightened out the collar of his black shirt and adjusted his yellow tie before
turning from the window. He looked at Dhiadia from head to toe and smiled.

“Other than the scars on your face, you haven’t changed in five hundred
years.”

Dhiadia cocked her head to the side and laughed softly,

“You haven’t changed at all in five hundred years. Still with the…” She
paused as she swept her gaze up and down his clothes.

“…knack for the weird colors. Bright pink, bright blue, bright yellow,
yadda yadda. Sometimes I wonder if you are male.”
The man chuckled as his slitted pupils changed from yellow to black. He opened his arms and Dhiadia immediately threw
herself at him, head resting on his muscular chest.

“I’ve missed you brother.” She whispered, holding onto him tightly.

“As have I sister.” He replied then pecked the top of her head.

They stood, locked in that embrace for two minutes before letting go of each other.

Dhiadia noisily plopped on the sofa set beside her as her brother bent to pick the glass of champagne on the table.

“Do you think they will manage to get the book before the wizard
does?”

He quietly asked and Dhiadia looked him in the eyes for a few seconds before cracking. She laughed so hard as she
remembered how she had found those creatures at each other’s throats. If they didn’t share one body, the human
might have been hospitalized while the two demons would have needed a month’s rest to recover.

“Oh, your sons will do fine Asmodeus. With the kind of energy they
have, the holy chambers shouldn’t be a problem at all. Well, as long as they aren’t distracted by boobs and thighs.”

Asmodeus laughed softly then nodded slowly as he watched Dhiadia wipe tears from the corners of her eyes. Suddenly, he
felt the urge to visit. He needed to know what part of their existence managed to crack up his sister. I mean, she
always smiles but only laughs once in what? Five years? He needed to know.
 7

Two weeks later.

They were late. He was patient but He was not. The other did not care at all.

“Humans!” Asmias spat.

Petero only chuckled. Asmodo did not even speak a word.

“How can Asmodo sleep at this hour? Its 9A.M!”

This time Asmias yelled in his head making Petero cringe.

Petero somehow understood Asmias’ frustration. I mean, they had been waiting at Kafira Entertainment from 8AM, which
was the allocated time.

“Can’t we just go to Elasri by ourselves, why do we have to stick

around with a bunch of useless people who only know how to waste time?” Asmias continued to pour out his
grievances to Petero who at a time like this just kept quiet and left him to it. Asmodo on the other hand did not have
that kind of tolerance.

“Shut up Asmias.” He snarled.

“Guys, please. Its morning and I already have a headache. I don’t

shout when you are in control so don’t shout when I am trying to look sane in front of everyone else. Especially you
Asmias.”

Before any of the two could answer, a voice interrupted them from behind him.
 “Excuse me sir, are you ok?”

Ah, yes, she had heard him talk to himself. Petero face-palmed, cussed under his breath, forced a smile on his face and
turned to face the woman whose eyes widened the moment he faced her.

“I am ok.”

“Uhm…eerr, ok…I …uhm…” She responded after violently

blinking several times. That man was hot! She shook her head to clear her thoughts then stretched her arm for a
handshake.

“I am Nicole Juwa, you must be the paranormal expert.”

Petero took her hands in his as a genuine smile replaced the fake smile that had been on his face.

“Yes, I am. I am Asmodo Pete Asmi-as.”

Juwa frowned as she let her arm drop to her side.

“That is one unique name you have there. Sounds,

otherworldly.”

“Oh, you have no idea.” Petero murmured.

“Pardon?” She asked leaning in.

Petero quickly shook his head and before he could explain, loud laughter from different voices interrupted.

“Oh.” Mwezi said and abruptly halted her steps. She looked at
Juwa and then at Petero. Asmias went silent. He watched through Pete’s eyes as Mwezi’s face contorted into a
frown. He feared that somehow his spell might have worn off. Asmodo kept quiet too, watching through Pete. They
 wanted to know if she remembered anything because as much as Petero’s body looked different, his facial features
partly looked like the original body.

“You look familiar.” Mwezi said, not breaking her eye

contact. She looked like she was trying to remember something. Asmias sighed in relief, but Asmodo only frowned.

“Do I remind you of someone?” Petero asked, a small smile

on his face.

“No, but I feel like you look like someone I know; someone
I’ve closely interacted with before.”

Petero did not know what to say to that. Well, he couldn’t even think of an answer as the memory of him kissing her and
her grinding on him crossed his mind.

There was silence as Asmodo Pete Asmias and Mwezi stared at one another silently while the rest of the people in the
lounge alternated their gaze between the two of them. Well, it was that odd moment where no one, ah, almost no
one knows what’s going on.

***

Mwezi didn’t understand what was going on with her. She had looked at that man and felt some sense of familiarity but at
the same time she felt lost. Common sense told her that she couldn’t be so close to a man that she had never met in
her entire life, but her heart disagreed. She felt like she knew him. They had interacted before. She felt like he was
an important part of her life. But how could she forget an important part of her life?

After Mwezi convinced herself that maybe she was just making things up, she seemed to be doing a lot of that of late, she
started thinking of how to apologize for the awkward moment she had caused but Mr. Francis beat her to it.

“Please forgive her, she’s always been so lively.”

Petero snapped out of it and turned his head to look at the old geezer.

“Ah Mr. Juwa, it’s no problem.” He happily replied after casting a

quick glance at Mwezi who was now staring at her phone, a frown still on her face.

Mr. Francis Juwa nodded and then cleared his throat.

“Also, forgive us, for keeping you. Our car broke down on the
way here.”

Petero was always a forgiving man, but his demon parts were not, thus as he uttered his forgiveness, Asmias scolded him
so loudly, it took almost everything he had not to shout aloud in front of these people as he mentally shushed him.

“Very well, I shall now introduce the team before we leave for
the airport.” He paused as everyone nodded then proceeded.

“This is Mwezi Isany, Head of the film department.” He said and

she nodded,

“Anthony Alufwa, heads the animation department.”

He turned to his left,

“My granddaughter Nicole Juwa…”

“Grandfather, we’ve already met.”

Mr. Juwa chuckled,

“Ah, you never waste a second my dear. Anyway, she is head

of music department.”
 “Finally, this is Douglas Mwito, Head of the gaming
department.”

“It’s a pleasure to meet you.” Douglas murmured.

Turning to Petero, Mr. Juwa pointed his cane at him and said,

“Your turn.”

Petero cleared his throat and prepared to officially say his new name. The name that Asmias had placed on every official
document when he had ‘killed the Priest’.

“I will be your paranormal advisor, Asmodo Pete Asmi-as.”

He was still getting used to the sound of it.

“Mr. Juwa, if all the heads of your departments are here, it

means that they have very capable assistants.”

“Yes, actually, all my employees are very capable.” He

replied as he looked at his people. He wasn’t feared in the industry for nothing. Mr. Juwa tolerated zero amount of non-
sense, laziness, and mediocre work. He was shrewd and thus very picky. Therefore, all his employees were among the
best in the industry.

Petero smiled and nodded at his answer. He looked at his watch and quietly said.

“Lovely, we must leave now, that is, if we still plan on

catching the flight.”

The others nodded in agreement and walked out. Behind the group, Nicole Juwa absent-mindedly stared at Mwezi’s
retreating back. Something wasn’t right. She couldn’t exactly tell what it was. But something was wrong with those two
and she was going to find out. If Mwezi was in trouble, she was going to protect her.
 8
“High Wizard, forgive me for I come bearing unwelcome news.” The woman
in the cream cloak said, bowing to the man covered in white. The room was dimly lit but one could tell that almost
everything inside was designer made of wood. The tall man whose white, waist-length hair swayed softly on his white
cloak, turned from the window to look at the lady bowing.

“Stand.” He said in his authoritative voice.

The woman uncovered her head and stood upright.

“What is it?” He proceeded in a soft tone.

“Two of Asmodeus’ sons are nowhere to be found, and the human is dead.” She
said and handed him the tablet to see the news for himself. For a few seconds there was silence as he read the e-
newspaper.

“Did you visit the site?” He asked as he sat cross legged on the floor, ignoring the
sofa sets which were only seven steps away. The woman, who was now beside his sitting form, turned her neck so she
could see him.

“Yes, we did, if you check the gallery, there is a folder containing the pictures of
the site taken by our people.”

She stood quietly and watched as he swiped through the pictures. Suddenly, he stopped on the last one. He frowned as he
stared at the tree on the far end of the frame. He zoomed in and chuckled.

“My, my, Asmodeus. You wouldn’t just let your son die Mmmmh?” The high
wizard murmured as he twisted oddly to adjust his crossed feet then aloud, he said,

“Linmer, the priest is a live.”

Linmer crouched so she could see what he was pointing at.

“Asmodeus’ palm star.”

“So, you know about it Linmer.”

“Of course, I know about it, I was there when he saved us both from the dark
wizard a hundred years ago.” Linmer replied and turned her face away from the high wizard’s scrutinizing gaze. Of
course, she remembered clearly how close she had come to being raped and offered as a direct sacrifice to Lucifer. She
never forgot how Orthanos almost died fighting against a hundred high up dark wizards just to save her. Up to date she
never understood why Asmodeus was there, or why he saved them. By the look of relief in Orthanos’ eyes, she knew that
they had a certain kind of relationship, but she couldn’t pinpoint what kind. For many years she had wanted to ask why a
prince of hell would take interest in the last in the line of pure-bred white wizards, but Orthanos avoided the matter every
time she brought it up.

“I see.” Orthanos handed the tablet to Linmer and stood. He was about to waltz,
well, teleport out of there when a heavy female voice stopped him.

“Don’t even think about it Orthanos.”

“But ma’” He pouted as he watched the tall, dark-skinned, peach shaped

woman, slowly approach him. Linmer stood next to the sofa set staring at him in amusement. Orthanos is known as the
no-nonsense high wizard so to her, even after serving beside him for over five hundred years, she still couldn’t believe
that he could be so childish.

“You will probably be gone for fifty years again. Don’t leave us with a destroyed
house.” Arthanias said calmly, a frown on her face. Orthanos was about to argue out why it would be convenient for him
to teleport but immediately, his father strode in, his shiny white hair sweeping the flow after his golden coat. Orthanos’
mouth opened and closed like that of a fish. As he watched Erthenis wrap his arm around Arthanias, he smiled lightly and
kept quiet. With his mother, he had a five percent chance of winning the argument, but with his father here, he had zero.
Linmer choked as she tried to not explode in laughter.

“Orthanos.” Erthenis called to his son, his voice heavy. Orthanos’ spine
straightened as he looked into his father’s eyes.

“Yes father.”

“Are you heading out?” He asked nonchalantly.

“Yes, I am going to try and locate the demon Asmodeus’ sons.”

Erthenis nodded.

“Should we leave the building so you can teleport.” He warmly said before
sarcastically adding.

“After all, you are the most subtle of my children.”

Orthanos chuckled and was tempted to answer yes, but one look from his mother and he found himself answering,

“No need, I will take the Hummer to the airport.”

“You’ve grown wise, my son.”

Orthanos shook his head and started walking towards the door. As he passed by his mother, he stopped and lightly
squeezed her arm then whispered,

“Until next time Ma.”

“At least take Linmer with you.” She whispered as she tilted her head slightly
to look at him.
 “No need, I will be back before you know it.”

Arthanias nodded and together with her husband, turned to watch their son’s retreating back.

“Don’t forget about the hair and cloak. We don’t want to freak out the
humans.”

Orthanos only chuckled and took the stairs to the ground floor. As he descended, he unbuttoned and unzipped his cloak,
revealing, a black pull neck accompanying the white eight-piece suit on his body. He snapped his fingers and his hair
changed into a slightly shorter ponytail. He thought about leaving it white but decided to make it as black as his mother’s.

Three hours later, he was in a plane to Nong’.

***

As luck had it, Mwezi’s seat on the plane was next to Petero’s seat. At first, she felt anxious. She didn’t know what was
wrong with her. She had never had a problem sitting next to male strangers but today something was wrong. The man
beside her did something to her insides but that’s not what bothered her. He smelt familiar; his demeanor was familiar.
An hour into the five-hour flight, her anxiety started fading as they talked about poetry and art. Mwezi felt like maybe she
could just try and focus on the present and deal with her worries later.

On the other hand, Petero had been observing Mwezi closely. He frowned and thought that maybe if she still remembered
him clearly, she wouldn’t be as tormented as she looked now.

“Asmias!!” Petero could hear Asmodo growl in his head. Somehow, he

understood how he felt even though he couldn’t understand why Asmodo was stuck on Mwezi when he was a demon of
lust who wanted to bed every woman he saw as beautiful.

“I don’t know why, but when I found her at our cabin on the day it was
announced that you had died,” Asmias’ whisper broke through his thoughts.
 “When I saw her in her car, I couldn’t bear the wave of pain that was
emanating from her. The first thing I thought of, was if she didn’t know you, she wouldn’t feel the pain.”

The interior of Petero’s head was silent as they internalized what had just been said, then on cue, Petero and Asmodo
shouted in unison,

“You can care about people?”

Asmias snorted and roughly said,

“I am going to sleep. Asmodo, try and keep the ass lusting to a minimum. I
would like to sleep comfortably.”

Petero and Asmodo would have liked to sleep too but Mwezi kept fidgeting. Forty-five minutes into the flight Asmodo
sighed and said,

“I will go crazy if this goes on for the next four hours.”

“What do you want me to do now?”

“Talk to her or something. Anything to keep her mind occupied by what is

not bothering her.”

“Like what?”

“P.” He shouted making Petero wince.

“You don’t have to shout.”

Asmodo was silent for a while. Suddenly he remembered that at the café sometime back, Petero and Mwezi had talked
widely on Art and literature.
 “Let me talk to her?”

Petero stilled for a moment then exploded.

“Like hell you will. Besides, remember the effects of coming out now.”

Asmodo quietly cussed. He hummed for a while and then suddenly laughed.

“Asmias, wake up. I need you to try and balance the effects on the skin
when I come out.”

Asmias grunted and went silent. For a few seconds, Petero and Asmodo thought he would refuse until they heard him
laugh softly and say,

“Fine. Head out, I will purify his blood.”

And that is how Asmodo and Mwezi happened to talk about every random thing they could find until Mwezi fell asleep
halfway through the Journey. Asmodo wanted to follow suit but when he was about to close his eyes, he felt the hairs on
the back of his neck rise. He stiffened. A chill went through his body and Asmodo’s hands curled into fists. He needed
Petero, who was in deep sleep, to wake and take over. If he were in charge, this presence would affect them less. He didn’t
know what was going on but the man who just passed by their seat was not human at all. He was one of the strongest
beings in existence. Asmodo was about to wake Petero but stopped when Asmias loudly said,

“That man, is here.”

Well, his brother should manage this since he seemed to know what was going on, but, well, was leaving him in charge, a
clever idea? He didn’t know, but the chill was getting to him, and he couldn’t hold on any longer. Thus, five seconds later,
Asmias had taken over.

***

Orthanos’ plane had just landed on the lands of Nong’ airport when not far away, he sensed a particular aura.
 “Asmodeus.” The High Wizard frowned and murmured.

His plan had been to head to the out scats of town. Check out the house that he had purchased while on the plane. He
closed his eyes and inhaled softly.

“Maybe it is fate that we meet once again, Asmodeus.”

Orthanos removed his coat and threw it over his shoulder. He looked nothing like the High Wizard at all. Any human
would think that this, light-chocolate boy, with a shiny black ponytail was just a rich playboy.

“Wii look at that hair!?

“Isn’t he handsome?”

“I would surely not reject a one-night stand with that one.”

He had heard all those whispers on and off the plane, but he wasn’t interested in these females, still, he found them
amusing and wore a smile on his face. Shaking his head, Orthanos followed the aura and stopped not far from a group of
people with big luggage.

“Why is a dark wizard among the group of humans. They never

socialize.” He turned to the man talking animatedly and frowned,

“A demon too?” After staring for a while, he whispered,

“No. That one is partially human. He is the one giving off Asmodeus’
aura, well, it’s a little bit different.”

Orthanos paused to think for a while, then his lips formed a smile revealing one of the whitest set of teeth you will ever
see.
 “He must be the priest. But to change his appearance!! His demon
must be one of those gene altering demons.” Orthanos was amused. He never saw one of those demons, just read about
them in demonology history classes back at the witch and wizards boarding school.

He chuckled. This was turning out better than expected. Tired of holding his coat over his shoulder, he threw it across his
left arm and whispered.

“To everything my ears shall be open.”

Suddenly every conversation graced his ears. He laughed as he heard a man boast of how he was successfully cheating on
his wife.

“Humans, they no longer cherish the concept of love nor the

holiness of marriage, do they?”

Orthanos sighed sadly, shook his head, and focused on the conversation of the team of six. He listened to Nicole doubt the
man named Pete, yadda, yadda until he stopped at Mr. Francis Juwa’s conversation with the man carrying within him
Asmodeus’ aura. Immediately he learned that they were headed to Elasri and realized that they had thirty minutes before
departure. He decided, a last-minute ticket he must get. Lucky for him, an old man had suddenly fallen ill and could not
board today, so a seat was free.

***

Aboard the plane, Orthanos could see the team seated a distance away from him. It wasn’t exactly what he had in mind,
but he was a patient man. Halfway through the plane he was bored. He had read all the magazines, watched the human
movies and after he had seen one with witches and wizards flying on broom sticks while wearing pointed hats, he just
couldn’t anymore. He felt that the hat was an insult to the wizards’ sense of fashion. Orthanos had turned to his neighbor
and tried conversing with the male teenager beside him, but he seemed too grieved by leaving behind his girlfriend.
When all his attempts at finding something to do failed, Orthanos sighed and closed his eyes as he leaned back on his seat.
For the umpteenth time today, he wished that he had brought along Linmer not for extra protection as his mother
wanted, but just for company. She has always made him laugh.

“Maybe I will ask mother to send her over once I get to Elasri.”

He whispered as he idly watched the clouds through the window. Suddenly, an idea to have fun popped up in his mind. He
could evaluate if that man is the priest, or another of the three. Orthanos sighed, wishing his sister Elilia were here. They
would have done lots of mischievous things but alas, she had departed twenty years ago to travel the world. Orthanos
sulked as he walked to the bathroom. Was he not enough good company for her?

***

In the bathroom, Orthanos made sure that no one was coming after him. He looked at his reflection in the mirror. If he
were going to unleash part of his Aura, he needed to disguise himself, he couldn’t let his face be known. He very much
liked his reputation of being known by name only. He closed his eyes and muttered,

“From head to toe, let my wish be the command.”

Suddenly, in front of the mirror stood a very dark-skinned young man, with a grey ponytail, a white hoodie, black
sweatpants, and white sport shoes. He cringed. He liked his original self, better. Well, this would work. He let lose part of
his concealed aura and passed beside Petero twice. He stood far behind him and watched as Petero’s hands folded into
fists. Well, well, well, the holy light wouldn’t have bothered a human.

“Oh, this one is not the priest.”

He was about to turn and leave when he heard the hoarse voice.

“That man, is here.”

He had forgotten to cancel out the hear all spell. Orthanos narrowed his eyes as he stared at Petero. That body was home
to more than one soul. He watched as Petero’s body relaxed and heard Petero ask sleepily,

“What is it now?” Then he noticed that Asmias was the one in charge and
panicked.

“Asmodo, you’ve let him take control? In a plane full of people?”

Orthanos chuckled but his concentration was cut short when an airhostess tapped him.

“Excuse me sir? You’ve been standing here for a while. May I help you?”

Orthanos mentally face palmed at his carelessness.

“Sorry, I am looking for the bathroom.” He said, flashing the lady a shy
smile.

As he was being directed to the bathroom, Orthanos mentally cancelled out the hear all spell. He smiled. Who would have
thought that Asmodeus’ sons were three in one body? He was sure about it because his spell only allowed him to hear
individual souls speak not people’s thoughts.

Absent mindedly, Orthanos changed into his earlier form just then, the door to the bathroom opened and two people
entered. For the man on the left, he didn’t recognize his navy-blue pupils, but he recognized that face and body. On the
right, he immediately recognized the catlike eyes and curly hair. Orthanos frowned when he realized that the airhostess
was no longer there and that he was in the bathroom. Not recalling at what time he had parted ways with the airhostess,
at what time, he changed into his earlier form, Orthanos’ frown deepened. Oh, Whatever, that didn’t matter now. The men
in front of him were more amusing.

“Orthanos.” Asmodeus spoke softly, as he straightened his spine and

pocketed.
 “My, my, Asmodeus. It’s been what? A hundred years? Yet you can still
recognize me even with my looks tweaked.”

“Whatever form or look you wear, it’s very difficult to not recognize you.”

As Asmodeus and Orthanos stepped into each other’s brief embrace, Asmias stared mouth wide open. His father had been
on the same plane? He even has friends.

“Asmi-as.” Orthanos called to him.

“I am High white wizard Orthanos, I presume you already know this man
in hot pink. Now please, get rid of that lost look on your face.” Orthanos said and laughed heartily.

Asmias would recognize his father even in darkness but what shocked him, was that he hugged the head of the white
wizards. I mean, weren’t white wizards supposed to be cursing and locking up the princes of hell?

“AM SORRY, WTF IS GOING ON HERE?” He loudly asked in frustration.

He couldn’t understand this union.

 9

Mwezi lay at the center of the king-sized bed. Her bed sheets and duvet on the floor. She lay there facing up, one leg
stretched, the other folded. Her right hand rested on her left boob and the left hand was sprawled across the bed. Her
light night dress was folded up to her waist, exposing her thighs and bare center. Mwezi was one of those that appreciated
the art of letting things breathe. She looked like she was having a dream, for she kept turning and tracing her boobs with
her hands. A few seconds later, she spread her legs a little bit and moaned. Ah, well, I suppose we call what dream she was
having, a wet dream.

When Mwezi had woken up in the plane, she had, had a bad migraine. After that, every time she tried to think as to why
she thought she knew Pete, her head would feel like exploding. Like something was trying to push its way to the front of
her mind but something was blocking it. Thus, when they arrived and checked-in, she had excused herself, saying she
needed to rest, and she had not lied. Once inside her room, she took a quick shower and went to sleep.

Right now, as she slept. She moaned and writhed. She kept parting her thighs asking for more. She looked like she was
guiding someone towards her neatly shaved center. Suddenly she stilled. Mwezi abruptly sat on the bed breathing heavily.
She looked at herself and quickly shut tight her thighs. She did not bother with smoothening her night dress as she lazily
dropped her head on the pillow.

“Fuck!” She cussed as she threw her right arm across her eyes. After a
few seconds of silence, she frowned. She felt like she had, had a similar dream before but wait a minute, why was she
dreaming of sex with a priest and most importantly,

“Why does that man, resemble Pete so much?”

Burning with desire and unanswered questions, she felt frustrated. Mwezi groaned and walked out of bed. She just,
couldn’t sleep anymore.
***

Two hours later, Pete found himself dressed in black t-shirt and black khaki trousers, with white sports shoes as he
walked out of a pub a woman in his arm.

“Asmodo, just find us a girlfriend. Instead of hooking up every night with

different females.”

Asmodo and Asmias both laughed loudly. Oh, since they had entered the pub, they had been very lively. Too lively that
Petero found it annoying.

“What is funny?” He felt frustrated. According to him, what they were doing
was wrong. Now that he was no longer a priest, he did not mind having one woman but even with that, the concept of no
sex before marriage still lingered somewhere at the back of his mind. He had held Asmodo and Asmias back successfully,
barring them from sleeping around but he knew it was only a matter of time. After all, Asmodo was a demon of lust just
like his father.

“Girlfriends mean attachment. We are not looking for attachment We only

want sex.” Asmodo supplied.

“Now that I think about it, Asmias did the right thing making that woman
forget you. She came loving and all we did was come lusting. Although she did look like she could satisfy me for years all
by herself.”

Petero growled surprising himself and the others.

“Chill out P.”

“You are all stupid bastards. At least you are not thinking of hurting her.”
Somehow, Petero had taken a liking to Mwezi. Every time he saw her, he felt a tug in his heart and now that she did not
remember him anymore, he felt a certain wave of sadness engulf him.

“Pete, we hate feeling sad, and you are spreading your wave of sadness
to us.” Asmias said.

“Did, you actually take some romantic liking to that woman?” Asmodo
quietly asked but Petero did not answer.

“Hey, we can’t get into things like that. It will only end up in a chain of
teary women.” Asmodo said in an attempt to calm Petero down.

“Can’t we at least try?” Petero silently asked and after a minute when he
did not get an answer, he retreated to the furthest part of the brain. As he drifted off, he could hear loud female laughter.
Maybe he could talk to their father, of the three demons, he looked like one who would listen.

***

“There is no doubt about it, the demon Asmodeus is close by, so are his
sons.”

Mwezi stopped in her tracks when she heard the whispers. All her life, she did not actually believe that demons walked
the earth with humans but whoever was having that conversation seemed to believe they did and more so, knew how to
track them. Mwezi couldn’t resist the temptation to eavesdrop.

“What do you mean, let them be for now? What if they are after the
grimoire like we are?” Ah, he sounded exasperated.

“Yes. My lord. As you wish.”

Mwezi’s eyes went wider. My Looorddd?????

 “Wait, I also thought I should inform you that there is also a powerful
white wizard lurking around…. I do not think, it’s the high white wizard. He has never left his place or so we all assume.
Yes, I will look out for Asmodeus.”

Just then the man went silent. Mwezi wanted to see who was talking, but as she was about to take the turn, someone
tapped her shoulder from behind.

“Are you waiting for someone?”

She recognized that voice instantly. It sounded a little raspy this early morning, but it was him. She slowly turned, a bright
smile on her face.

“Good morning, Pete.” She was a lot more comfortable with him after
their interaction in the plane. Suddenly, she was reminded of the man in her dream, and blushed. She looked away but
Petero did not fail to notice. Being the gentleman he was, he ignored the request from Asmodo and Asmias to tease her
and let her be.

“Good morning!” He replied lightly, they had sensed a presence like

that of Orthanos’, just a little less powerful and a lot darker. They had agreed to check it out but while following it, they
found Mwezi eavesdropping on a conversation which according to them belonged to their target because the aura seemed
to be concentrated just around the corner. That aside, that was certainly a dark wizard, and certainly one of the people in
their team. He had sensed that aura during their interaction, only that at the time, it was a lot suppressed.

“Also, I wasn’t waiting for anyone.” Mwezi answered, interrupting

his train of thoughts. Petero had forgotten that he had asked a question, so he tilted his head and said,

“Pardon?”

“You asked me earlier if I was waiting for someone. No, I wasn’t.”

Mwezi replied then licked her lips. An action which did not go unnoticed to Petero. He mouthed an oh and then absent-
mindedly nodded. As they stood there in awkward silence. Asmodo and Asmias groaned.

“P, you need to learn how to keep a conversation going.” Asmodo

whined, just then, Mwezi’s alarm rang saving them from that situation.

“It’s time. Let’s head to the rendezvous point.” Mwezi said happily.
She seemed to be happier than the previous day. Petero noted and smiled. Shaking his head, he turned to follow her.

“I can’t deal with humans. I am going to sleep. I ate well

yesterday.” Asmias said and Asmodo granted in agreement. Oh, Petero knew just how well they ate. He could feel the
pleasure too you know. They had gone at it until the woman passed out. Petero had never heard Asmodo and Asmias
laugh so hard like when they watched him freak out after he realized that maybe that woman was dead because of too
much sex.

Well, now wasn’t the time to reminisce. He felt his head go completely quiet and for the first time in a long while. It felt
like he was back to his old self. Just he and himself in his head, and a dormant beast.

“Are you ok Pete?”

Mwezi’s voice brought him back to the present and he realized that they had already reached the parking lot. Pete nodded
and answered with a smile,

“Uhm, yeah, I’m ok. Just a little distracted with wondering what
the holy chambers would be like.”

It looked like Mwezi was debating whether to believe him or not as she stared at him, her eyes narrowed. After a while,
she smiled and slowly said,

“Ok.”
Suddenly, someone cleared his throat beside them.

“A little too close don’t you think?” Anthony said as he

childishly put his hand between them. Mwezi’s eyes immediately lit up as she turned to face him.

“Anthony!! You are such a child.”

Anthony only smirked and turned to shake Petero’s hand.

“Good morning, Mr. demonologist.”

“Good morning to you Director sir.” He replied as they clasped

each other’s hand. Petero froze, Asmodo woke up, Asmias cussed, then returned to sleep, and Anthony narrowed his eyes.

“I know you find each other’s skin smooth, but I don’t think you
will fit through the car door while holding each other.”

Mwezi’s voice broke their moment and they let go of each other like nothing had happened. Anthony turned to Mwezi and
frowned.

“You know I very much, prefer women.” He glanced at Petero

who was frowning then continued in a lower voice,

“Like I’ve proven before. Not too long ago.”

Petero wasn’t supposed to hear, but his hearing was a little sharper than that of other humans. He felt jealous and angry.
In fact, he was so angry and jealous that the intensity woke Asmias and had Asmodo laughing. They watched as Mwezi’s
eyes widened and then she nervously tucked a lock behind her ear before leaning forward to whisper.

“Anthony!! We were both drunk after that party.”

 “Yes, yes, I know, but doesn’t that prove my point?” Anthony
wiggled his eyebrows and Petero’s fists clenched at his sides. If he didn’t leave now, he would break that man’s nose. He
walked away without excusing himself.

Fifteen minutes later, everyone was ready and set to go but Petero was nowhere to be seen. When Mwezi offered to go
look for him, Nicole Juwa narrowed her eyes. At first, she had thought that he was cute, but the more she observed him,
the more she was convinced that something about him was off. Despite all her worries, she did not stop Mwezi, because
she didn’t yet know how to explain her gut feeling to her.

***

Petero was still furious. Not like before, but every time he remembered her in his arms. And then the thought of her with
another man, his anger got fueled. Asmias and Asmodo who had never known that their ever-calm half had the capacity to
get this angry at anything, decided to silently watch the show from inside. Asmias was extremely interested in knowing
what he would do next.

Petero was pacing in his balcony when he heard the door being knocked. He had ignored every other knock but not this
time. He smelt her. She still smelt the same as she did back in his cabin. He took long strides and opened the door. The
moment she peeped, he grabbed her and pinned her to the wall. Without wasting a moment, he crushed his lips on hers
and roughly kissed her. Mwezi was startled and stood still. Suddenly images kept flashing through her mind. In her
memory, the way he held her now is the way the priest had held her in that cabin. Feeling a sense of familiarity, she
wrapped her hands around his neck and responded to the kiss.

“Mine, mine, mine. I will kiss his memories away from you.” Petero
kept thinking and Asmodo was bursting with laughter. They could all hear him because he kept murmuring in his head.

“I have to warn her to stay away from other men.”

By this time, he had lifted her and Mwezi had her legs circled around his waist, and nails digging into his neck. Asmias and
Asmodo were enjoying this but knew they had to stop him before he spoke what mustn’t be spoken. When Petero broke
the kiss, his eyes were glowing. His gaze roamed around her face and so did hers roam around his. Asmias tried to take
over and for the first time, he failed.

“Well, this isn’t going to end well.” Asmodo whispered and Asmias
cussed.

“Someone should have mentioned that high intensity of his

emotions can, shut us in!!”

“P, you need to calm down and think before speaking.”

Asmodo and Asmias tried to talk him out of it but to no avail. When Petero was about to open his mouth to speak. He
spoke.

“Son, we are to pleasure women, not wound them.”

Asmodo and Asmias were shocked. Just how the hell can he?

“Since we came in contact officially in the plane, I am able to

mind link you.”

They were about to ask questions, but he shushed them.

“Tsk, now is not the time. I need to enjoy my Priestly beast’s

show.”

Whatever Asmodeus had said somehow worked because Petero looked at Mwezi’s lip and frowned when he saw blood.
Maybe he had been a little too rough. Returning to his senses, he placed Mwezi on the ground, bringing her back to her
senses too. Petero gently caressed her bruised lip, and before he realized what he was doing, he licked it gently and kissed
her softly. Remembering that Mwezi no longer remembered him, he immediately pulled back and …blushed? Alas, Petero
blushed and Mwezi chuckled.
 “Aaaaah, show is over father, he is back to his normal self.”

Asmias said dramatically. Hearing what Asmias said, Petero froze. Father? Asmodeus? Why was he in his head? He was
about to ask when Mwezi asked something that made all of them quiet.

“Father Petero?”

Mwezi asked frantically. Somehow, when Asmias’ navy-blue pupils had flashed in Petero’s eyes during his failed attempt
to take over. Something had unlocked in Mwezi’s mind. All the blocked memories had come back. In her car she had been
sure that it was him. Even now she was a hundred percent sure that it was him. His appearance might be a little different,
his eyes as she had noticed, changed colors, but it was her Father Petero.

Asmodo wanted to ask Asmodeus for guidance but didn’t get a chance.

“Well, this is my cue to leave, I shall return to my drinking

escapades. See you around sons.” He hastily replied as he ghosted out of the mind link, shutting it down.

Asmias sneered.

“Hasn’t changed one bit that one.”

Mwezi frowned when she saw that Petero wasn’t talking.

“You are he, aren’t you? Did you fake your own death
father?”

Petero debated for a while. If he said yes, he would have her. If he said no, she will never be his again. But no was the best
choice judging by what Asmodo and Asmias had said the previous night. They would only go sleep around and hurt her
feelings. He was against their behavior but as luck would have it, he was solidly a package, for eternity.

“The man you speak of died in a fiery accident. You

remember, don’t you?”
Mwezi frowned,

“Then why were you at his house? Why did you kiss me
then, why did you kiss me now? Why do you smell like him, why are you like him?” By the end of the rant, she was almost
shouting.

Petero sighed before coldly answering,

“I can’t always have answers to all your questions and if I

did, some are none of your business.”

Mwezi stilled at his tone and words. She felt hurt. Mwezi softly caressed her lips and walked to the door. She stopped
before opening it.

“We are late, everyone is waiting.” She said and then

coldly added,

“Don’t go around kissing women you can’t be honest

with. Don’t ever grab me like you did today. I will kill you.”

Without waiting for his reply, she walked out, gently closing the door behind her. No matter how angry Mwezi was, she
never banged other people’s properties. From the furthest corner of the corridor, Orthanos watched, listened, and
laughed. They sure were Asmodeus’ children. This time he could tell, that was the priests doing. Maybe he would hang
around longer, things were getting interesting. As he stood enjoying, his phone rang.

“Linmer?” He said gently but what came from the other

end was a cold shrill voice,

“Don’t Linmer me Orthanos when you go around

forgetting what you are sent to do.”
 Orthanos’s mouth dropped open and formed a silent O. He had indeed forgotten what had brought him here. Before he
could reply, Linmer hang up. Out of official wizard duties, Linmer was like his best friend. As much as he was the high
wizard, he wouldn’t scold her for screaming at him at times like this. Orthanos sighed. He walked to Petero’s door.

“If you lot are done ruining your love life, get out, you
already made us an hour late.”

Petero chuckled coldly. He could tell it was the high wizard Orthanos. He couldn’t tell what he was up to now and he
didn’t care. He didn’t like himself now, he didn’t like his other selves, and neither was he in the mood to talk to anyone. He
finished wearing the eye contacts and asked Asmias to deal today. He would spend the entire day sleeping after all, he
drove away the woman he cared about very coldly.

As Asmias walked out the door, he nodded at Orthanos. Today he didn’t walk fast, he slowed his pace, so he walked side
by side with Orthanos. Maybe he could get an explanation of his relationship with Asmodeus.

***

Mwezi was angry. In her memory Father Petero had been the best of the best. Soft-spoken but assertive, kind, patient, and
no matter how angry he got, never spoke badly to anyone. Then again, she hadn’t really known him that well. Then again,
Father Petero ‘died’, this man here resembled him alright, and some tiny mannerisms are the same, ones that people can’t
just happen to randomly share. She was convinced that it was him. Right now, Mwezi was seated next to Nicole and
Anthony in the middle seat. She had watched as he had entered the front seat and his eyes had gone wide open as he
looked at their very sophisticated driver. She and Nicole had doubted that he was their driver because compared to all the
other drivers that they had seen, this one was handsome, with nice long hair, very fluent English and his body was
adorned in expensive clothes.

“You…” She heard Asmias say in surprise. She groaned inwardly because to
her Pete’s accent was even the same as Petero’s. She watched as the driver nodded happily.

“Damn right boy. Now get in.”

Ah, so they knew each other. She watched as Asmias smiled beautifully, shook his head and hopped in.

“You are mad.” Asmias said playfully as he belted up and Orthanos only
hummed in response.

Mwezi who had been observing them and listening in on their conversation got angry again. When she had gotten into the
car. She had gradually calmed down but now seeing him smile like that after kissing her then talking coldly to her, she
was angered again.

“Hey, are you ok?” Nicole patted her arm. She gave Nicole a strained
smile and replied softly,

“Never been better.”

As Orthanos started the car, Mwezi leaned back and looked outside the window.

“Whatever, I will just assume he doesn’t exist.”

She muttered before closing her eyes.

***

Petero had tried to sleep but there were so many thoughts in his head that didn’t allow him. He hated himself lately. He
has never been one to lose his patience, never said hurtful words to anyone intentionally. Hell, he had never felt jealous
because of a woman. During the road trip to the holy chambers, he still couldn’t comprehend how he had behaved. He had
never intended to kiss her in the first place. He never intended to behave in a feral way but even now the thought of her
bedding anyone else pissed him beyond his comprehension. Memories of that kiss flashed through his head, and he could
swear, he almost got a hard-on again. He wanted to, but he just couldn’t find it in him to regret it.
 “P…You need to reign in your thoughts.” Asmodo whispered hoarsely.
They could all feel the changes in Petero’s feelings and Asmias suffered the most because he had to manage those which
brought upon physical reactions.

“Sorry.” He apologized softly and sighed.

He should just accept that he had changed.

Orthanos had watched Asmias struggle to contain himself the entire trip.

“Must be difficult to contain a body that is being run by three minds.”

He thought and laughed.

Well, by the way different expressions were swimming across his face, he could guess that the human was the
troublemaker because demons didn’t feel that many emotions. He was about to inform everyone that they will be arriving
in seven minutes when he noticed Asmias freeze then grimace. Orthanos was enjoying this too much, the notification
could wait a little longer. He needed to know what had the bad ass Asmias freezing in his seat. Not long after, he saw him
casually throw an arm across his thighs. Boy was hard down there!! By the look on his face, it wasn’t his doing. Orthanos
laughed out loud. He laughed so hard that Asmias partly growled.

“If you do not concentrate on driving, you will kill us all.” Orthanos
only laughed louder. By this time everyone in the car had stopped whatever conversation they were having and was
watching them.

“Or…Adams.” Linmer called warningly. For a moment she, almost gave

away Orthanos’s real name. Orthanos could be heard trying to control his laughter but failing miserably.

“I apologize.” Linmer only shook her head and smiled. To everyone,

Orthanos said,
 “Gather your things, we have two minutes before we arrive and alight.”

He watched through the mirror as everyone looked at him amusement evident on their faces, well, except for Anthony’s.
Orthanos narrowed his eyes as they met his and then looked back at the road.

“You sure sound like a high commander.” Anthony coldly asked, his
eyes narrowed.

Asmias’s, Orthanos’s and Linmer’s heads snapped up at the same time to look at him. Orthanos smiled softly and
answered,

“You never know, maybe I am one.” At that Anthony froze and

Orthanos’ eyes found Linmer’s in the mirror. She nodded and Orthanos went back to looking at the road.

***

A minute later, they had arrived in front of what looked like an abandoned castle. It is often referred to as the holy ruins
by the people of Elasri. It’s been said that those who went nosing about, never returned. The outside environment was
beautiful, trees and flowers planted in a way that they outlined a path, but the building looked like a castle that was falling
apart, even the stairs at the entry door looked like they could give away the moment you stepped on them.

Mwezi shook her head as she carried her backpack and jumped from the vehicle. She needed to concentrate on what
brought her here, the matter of Pete and Petero would have to wait.

“This looks ready to swallow us!” Douglas, the head of the game
department said excitedly and Mr. Francis Juwa looked at him like he was insane.

“Grandpa, I’ve never known you to be a quiet man.” Nicole said

animatedly making Anthony and Mwezi laugh. True, the old man, hadn’t spoken a single word since they began their
journey. He laughed nervously and said,
 “Just thinking of some things.”

Linmer and Orthanos exchanged a glance before Orthanos cleared his throat.

“This is the Holy ruins. Lin and I, will be your guides.” He said turning
to point at Lin who frowned. Orthanos smirked. He knew that she hated being pointed at and that is precisely why he did
it. Orthanos looked at Mwezi, Anthony, Douglas, Francis and Asmias one by one, dead in the eye. His smile was gone and
now he wore a serious look.

“Under no circumstances should you touch anything and no matter

what happens, no running, hiding comes first.” There was silence as the atmosphere became tense before Douglas
randomly asked,

“Aren’t you just a driver?”

Orthanos, Asmias and Linmer laughed while the rest looked at him in horror.

“Are you trying to anger the person who has our safety in his
hands?”

Nicole asked but Orthanos only shook his head and lightly said,

“Oh no, don’t worry, I understand why he would think that.”

Looking Douglas in the eye with such intensity that made him squirm, he continued.

“Doug, my guy, I am a lot of things, a driver is just one of them.”

He cleared his throat and looked at the rest of them and said,

“Do not be deceived by looks, especially in there or you won’t

live to see tomorrow.”
Everyone nodded, Mwezi seemed to have forgotten her earlier predicament as she excitedly chatted with Nicole. Linmer
walked before the others to the opening and opened the rusted doors.

“Let’s go.”

Douglas, Nicole, Anthony and Mwezi went in after her, but Francis grabbed Asmias to the side and whispered.

“I don’t know what you are.” Asmias froze while Petero and
Asmodo paused whatever story they had going on. None said a thing, so the old man continued. “I sense demon, human, a
different kind of demon. I am not sure. Well, doesn’t matter. You don’t give off the aura of evil so I will get straight to the
point. I’ve seen how she looked at you and you looked at her.” He paused to laugh, “well, that was before one of you did
something stupid and now you are ignoring each other.” Asmias who had regained his composure laughed softly. At least
the old man wasn’t about to throw a fit.

“Take care of her.” He said and Asmias froze again before

laughing but the old man grabbed his hand and frantically said,

“Promise me, that you will take care of her!”

Asmias narrowed his eyes as he looked at the man leaning on his cane. He was no ordinary human like many assumed
him to be. Also, something wasn’t right but regardless.

“Say yes Asmias.” Asmodo urged him.

“We were going to take care of her either way.” Petero said.

Asmias didn’t like the feel of this one bit, but he nodded and answered.

“With everything we’ve, I mean, I’ve got, I will take care of

her.”
He watched as the old man visibly relaxed. Francis took his cane and started walking towards the door where the rest
were now waiting. Three steps away he stopped and chuckled.

“You don’t have to hide your nature from me son. I can tell
that you are not alone in there.”

Asmias smiled and shook his head. He was about to follow when his arm was grabbed again.

“What is with y’all grabbing me?” He asked in annoyance

and Orthanos only laughed.

“The only way you can take care of her is if the three of
you learn to be in sync. Complete your merging just like your auntie told you or you won’t even be able to take care of
yourselves.”

Asmias’ jaw dropped.

“Auntie?!” He exclaimed.

“Dhiadia.”

Asmias was about to ask questions, but Orthanos started walking away.

“Come, we are delaying the others, again.”

Asmodeus has a sister. Just why the hell didn’t anyone explain his family tree to him? Asmias shook his head and deciding
to put on hold his questions for later, he followed Orthanos and silently joined the group.
 10

One by one, they entered the holy chambers. To Petero, it looked like an old cathedral, just without the benches. To Nicole,
Mwezi and Douglas it looked like an abandoned castle that belongeth to the people of God centuries ago. To Francis Juwa,
it looked like the castle of death teleported from hell because he could feel it, the evil within was growing by the minute.
Something was here that hadn’t been before. To Anthony it was a gold mine for power and to Orthanos and Linmer, it was
just a disguise.

“I know that we are here to research on the new film and game that is being
worked on.” Mwezi said softly as she moved closer to Anthony, “But, we also need to find the Grimoire, ‘The lesser key of
Solomon’, where do we begin?”

Anthony’s lips stretched into a small smile as his thoughts started flying around. Mwezi was an ordinary human, she
probably saw this large empty hall full of cobwebs and ancient designs as just a tourist attraction site. He wasn’t just a
human, so he could recognize the runes that looked like wall decoration. The grimoire was there indeed, and it was split
into five parts. For Mr. Juwa to know of its existence and location, it meant that he was no ordinary human. I mean, he is
human alright just one of those born to counteract the world of the supernatural. Those that ensured that the
supernatural creatures including wizards, did not interfere with the daily life of the many humans.

“Anthony?” Mwezi called for the third time, her tone showing how impatient
she was becoming.

Mwezi’s voice snapped him out of his thoughts.

“I apologize. I was just trying to think of where an ancient book would be kept
in a ruined castle like this. If you look around, do you think there is a secret passage in this place?”

Mwezi looked at Anthony then started surveying the place thoughtfully.

 “Be sure to think out of the box as you look around.”

Mwezi nodded and grabbed a water bottle from her bag before moving to inform the rest of their team.

“OK, let’s do this.”

I tell you; she was very enthusiastic.

***

Meanwhile, Asmias, Asmodo and Pete were having one of those rare conversations as they lagged. You know, the kinds
where they must put aside their differences and share their knowledge and opinions? That one.

“Dhiadia said …” Petero started but Asmias cut him short and corrected him
excitedly,

“Dhiadia Auntie.”

Asmodo and Petero sighed. Somehow, ever since Orthanos had mentioned that Dhiadia was their auntie, Asmias had been
super excited. They couldn’t comprehend why Asmias who has never warmed up to anything except women and casting
lustful spells was overexcited about having an auntie. Deciding against arguing, Petero continued.

“So, Dhiadia Auntie said that we need to make sure that the Grimoire is a
complete set. Also, she said that we should get it before the head of the wizards gets to it.”

Asmias stopped and they all stared at Orthanos for a second before Asmodo said,

“Wait, not Orthanos. Remember she mentioned Manalok, she meant

Manalok the high Dark wizard.” They all let out sighs of relief and Asmias picked up the mantle.
 “When I was researching on the Grimoire, I realized that, only the oldest
of every species even among wizards know about it. To be precise, those that were present during the war that led to the
sealing of the grimoire a hundred years ago.”

“So, you didn’t find anything useful?” Asmodo asked, disappointment

evident in his voice and Asmias sneered.

“Patience brother, patience.”

“Dang it, just get to the point you will open up your memories, we will
read the rest from there.”

Asmias snorted and proceeded.

“Fine!... Dhiadia Auntie said the grimoire should be complete because it

has five parts, well, books. It is divided into five books—the Ars Goetia, Ars Theurgia-Goetia, Ars Paulina, Ars Almadel,
and Ars Notoria.”

“I think I read something like that during my book worming days.”

Petero said making Asmodo and Asmias sneer in unison.

“You are still a bookworm, Priest.”

“Don’t call me priest. I no longer deserve the title.”

Asmodo chuckled and Asmias just shook his head.

“Anyway, during the sealing, it was split into five. They are all in the
holy chamber that’s hidden underneath this ruin, but the holy chamber has five holy cave-like spots. They must be
unsealed at the same time or the spell hiding them won’t be broken.”

There was silence as they all digested the information. Suddenly Asmodo asked,
 “By any chance are the entrances sealed by codes written in form of
runes?”

“Yes, that is why I asked you to study the ancient runes as you’ve
always been good with any kind of language and symbols.”

As the three conversed, Asmias had somehow forgotten about his surroundings and the rest of the people. He had
stopped in his tracks. When the others turned to him as their paranormal expert to ask him a question, they found that he
was far behind and wasn’t even walking. He looked like he was having a deep conversation with himself.

***

“Oi, I hope they aren’t disagreeing again.” Orthanos thought in annoyance. At first, he wondered why Dhiadia, and the
other two guardians of the seals were not present? Why had Asmodeus sent the boys to retrieve the Grimoire when it was
agreed that under no circumstance would it ever be unsealed by anyone from any species? Right now, as he felt the
darkness underneath, he kind of understood. The grimoire might already be unsealed but still within, in that case, their
job was to kill the intruders, find it and destroy it.

“Asmodo.” He shouted impatiently and he could feel everyone’s eyes on him.

He almost rolled his eyes. Yes, he had been a happy and bubbly fella, even tried to lighten Mwezi’s mood before but hey,
he also had various kinds of moods and right now, they needed to head out before they disturb whatever was in the holy
chamber. He hadn’t come to fight, he was only investigating and having fun. Besides, fights regarding the grimoire tended
to be messy and he didn’t want any of that. Well, not until the council of the supernatural had decided on what to do.

He was about to call again but Asmias snapped from whatever was going on and took long strides towards them. Mwezi
started scolding him as he neared them.

“You are always in your own world and lagging. Do you think we have time to
always wait for you?”
Everyone else was quiet waiting for Asmias’ reaction but immediately he passed through what was once a fountain at the
center of the room he stopped, his pose was frozen, and his eyes were wide open.

Orthanos and Linmer who had observed keenly looked at each other and frowned. Something wasn’t right.

“So now, you are being dramatic?” Nicole asked coldly.

“That’s not it, child, learn to be a little sensitive to your surroundings.”

Francis harshly said to his granddaughter. There was silence for a few seconds as they waited for him to speak or move
but there was none. Suddenly one of the runes at the center glowed for a few seconds then burned out. Immediately,
Asmias fell heavily on his knees and his eyes were shifting from navy-blue to light brown as his skin was changing from
the plain dark chocolate to having polka dots on and off.

Something was off. Petero tried to control their body. He stretched his hand towards Orthanos and said,

“It’s coming.”

Orthanos tried to grab Petero’s hand, but he got electrocuted. Whatever was happening wasn’t just bad, it was terrible.
Somehow, it’s aura electrocuted them even from a distance. Somehow, Orthanos had known that the sons of Asmodeus
were a rare and special existence but the fact that an aura can affect them to the point of electrocution shows that there is
something about them that not even themselves know about.

Orthanos sighed. It looked like pretend time as a driver and guide was over. He undid his spell and, on his place, stood his
original form. Waist-length white hair, white ankle length coat that covered the golden trouser and vest inside, and white
shoes that matched his coat. Linmer did the same, and on her place stood her in mid-back length black hair, cream ankle
length coat that covered the leather trouser and vest that she was wearing inside, knee-length flat heeled boots that
matched the coat that she wore.
As they turned to lift Petero, something moved above them dropping little debris beside them. Without wasting a second,
Linmer and Orthanos unsheathed their swords of hell fire and holy water. The swords glowed. Nicole screamed. Mwezi
and Douglas held on to each other. Mr. Francis Juwa took out a gun and bottle of holy water. Anthony took out his stuff.

Alas, I suppose matters of life and death can reveal any one’s true nature.

“Protect from what haunts thee.” Orthanos murmured as he tapped Petero’s

forehead. Three seconds later he had stopped groaning in pain and Orthanos helped him to his feet before joining Linmer
a little farther from the pillar. One less person to defend while fighting was a good thing. They turned to look at Anthony
and smiled. I guess one more fighter on your side was also a good thing, despite who he was.

“I see you are well, Maverick.” Linmer said, a sinister smile grazing her lips.
Their last encounter had been bloody. Francis’s eyes opened wide. Well, a dark wizard had snuck into his company, and
he hadn’t noticed. Old age must be catching up to him. Before anyone could say anything, a voice rang out.

“Orthanos.”

The voice was soft but masculine. Everyone quickly looked up. A man in a cream suit jumped from one of the pillars at the
center to the ground beside Petero. Orthanos exchanged a look with Linmer before sheathing his sword and walking
towards him. Asmodeus had news of importance that he hadn’t bothered to share with anyone before or he wouldn’t have
bothered to bring his colorful clothing to such a place.

***

When she had seen Petero fall on his knees, her heart had almost leaped out of her chest. She was angry, pissed, irritated
but somehow, she still cared. Maybe it was because whenever she looked at him, all she saw was Father Petero even if
everyone else couldn’t see that.

“He is in pain.” Mwezi whispered as she tried to walk to him. Francis quickly
grabbed her arm and pulled back.
 “I wouldn’t do that if I were you.”

“But…”

“Listen to grandfather.” Nicole said softly as she stared at Petero’s

constantly changing skin color and eye color.

Mwezi stopped struggling and followed her gaze. A gasp left her mouth. She recognized the light brown pupils, so did she
recognize the navy-blue ones. As she listened to him talk to Orthanos, it was like three people talking. She frowned. Was
he really, truly not Father Petero? Had she really been overthinking things? Before she could think further, a sound came
from above and she and Douglas were clinging onto each other like children. Suddenly there was light and whoever she
thought was Adams, was now being called Orthanos and he looked like an angel. On his hand was a glowing sword that
was dripping fluid. Beside her, Anthony was in a grey cloak with a stuff in his hand and oh, did the Lin woman just call him
Maverick?

“What the hell is going on here?” Douglas shouted in frustration while

letting go of Mwezi. He was as confused as she was. Suddenly whatever was up there called Orthanos and landed. Well, for
starters, it could talk and walk gracefully on two feet. Wait, it was even elegantly dressed. If it were not for the glowing
cat-like eyes, she would have passed it off as an extraordinarily rich human.

“Asmodeus.” Anthony, well, let’s address him by his real name now that
his identity is out. Maverick and Francis exclaimed. Mwezi looked at them, then at the man with cat-like eyes. She had
read the name Asmodeus in books. Did a woman out there name her child after a demon or was he one of the princes of
hell? She moved forward when she saw Orthanos sheathe his sword and Petero’s shocked face form a small smile.

“Hey, hey, hey, you are supposed to kill it. Ki-ll i-t not put away your
weapons.” Mwezi was panicking. That thing looked human but gave her chills. Every time she looked at it, she saw death.

Asmodeus, Orthanos, Linmer and Petero laughed. Maverick, Mwezi, Douglas, Francis and Nicole looked at them, confusion
gracing their faces.
 “Sons, Keep that woman.” Asmodeus said lightly while pointing at Mwezi
with his chin. Mwezi’s mouth dropped open in shock. Sons? Before she could speak, Asmodeus addressed her.

“Call me Asmodeus, demon of lust.” Mwezi froze for a moment then

leaned on Douglas for support. Demons walked the earth. She had kissed a demon’s child. She watched as Petero put a
hand on Asmodeus’ shoulder and say,

“Father, that’s not how you introduce yourself to humans.”

There was silence as they watched Asmodeus tap his chin in thought. Then he nodded and replied,

“Whatever you say, my priestly son.”

Mwezi frowned. Priestly son?

“Father Petero?”

“Aye, that’s he.”

Asmodeus replied nonchalantly and Petero sent him a death glare while Mwezi looked like she was about to faint at any
moment. How did the son of a demon, end up being a priest? Before anyone could ask questions, the sound of heels
approaching from the door sounded. The moment rays of light hit her face. Asmias shouted.

“Dhiadia Auntie.”

Mwezi couldn’t anymore. Another demon had arrived. She sat flat on the ground and pulled out her bottle of water. It was
only her first day of the research period and she felt like she had collected too much information for her own good.

***

Dhiadia chuckled.
 “You seem more receptive than before, Asmi-as.” She said loudly as
she approached them. She punched Asmodeus’s shoulder so hard, he sent her a glare, but she wasn’t paying attention as
she pecked Orthanos’ cheeks and patted Linmer’s. The others looked on eyes wide. Especially, Maverick? He still didn’t
understand how a white wizard could tolerate being friends or being touched by, according to him, “Vile and cunning
creatures.” To him, they were to be killed or enslaved as servants.

“Yes, now I shall always visit, and have you train me in all your
cunning spells and tricks. Isn’t that what aunties are for?” Now Petero and Asmodo finally understood Asmias’s
excitement; He saw an Auntie as an opportunity to upgrade his level of mischief. Asmodeus lifted a brow as he looked at
his son and sister.

“I am no demon of lust sweetie. I am a warrior.” Dhiadia said, her

face devoid of emotion then suddenly her lips broke into a menacing smile.

“But yes, I have a couple of fun tricks I could teach you.”

Asmias opened his mouth to reply but Orthanos interrupted.

“I bet this is going to be entertaining, I would like for you to count

me in but for now we need to deal with whatever is coming from beneath or we all die.” He spoke while motioning for the
others to come close.

He turned to Maverick and in his authoritative tone said,

“I know that you belong to the dark wizards and probably feel like
you don’t need to listen to me, but we are trying to survive here, today we are both on the same side, I would appreciate if
you kept it that way, any tricks and I will put you down. Am I clear?”

Maverick tried to ignore but the powerful aura that Orthanos emitted was somewhat intimidating thus a few seconds
later he was bowing in respect and agreement.
 “Yes, my lord.”

Mwezi and Nicole watched who they thought to be Anthony with wide eyes. Just how many people in their lives were real
and who were fake?

They returned their attention to Orthanos when he addressed Asmodeus.

“What news brings you here?”

Asmodeus and Dhiadia exchanged a look. She nodded and Asmodeus started explaining.

“As you know, Dhiadia is one of the guardians of the holy

chambers. They mostly scout out because it’s impossible, or so we thought, to get into the holy chambers from under
because of the protection spell.” Orthanos, Linmer and Francis nodded as they looked intently at Asmodeus.

“A month ago, she communicated with me, you know, through

the ball of life. She could feel a life force inside the seal.”

“That seal took six varied species to cast, what do you mean, a
life force inside?” Orthanos asked, a frown creasing his handsome face. Dhiadia chuckled,

“At first I had thought that during the sealing, a faerie had left a
bird’s egg within but every day, the life force grew rapidly and into something darker.”

“I took the matter to the council head. The Fallen Angel

Astaire, decided that we should wait and see if whatever is in there will be able to break the seal.” Asmodeus said.

There was silence for a few seconds and then Dhiadia proceeded to explain.

“The day I came to your cabin Pete, I had come from this
place. All guardians on the outside just vanished. I was inside so I was sure that whatever was underneath wasn’t the one
that did that. It has a master. That means that the seal was broken.”
Dhiadia turned to Orthanos and said,

“You, the high white wizard is known to be well read,

sweetie, tell me, what creature could easily break a seal that needs, a powerful fallen angel, a man of the cloth among the
humans, a high rank demon, high rank witch, high rank wizard and a royal faerie to undo?”

Orthanos narrowed his eyes in thought then suddenly they opened wide.

“Alas! If it is what I think it is, then it’s a long story, also, we

need to take this convo far, far from here. That thing is intelligent and has no master.”

Asmias clutched his chest and gritted out,

“I think, it might be a little late for that.”

“Oh hell no.” Orthanos cussed as he walked towards Nicole,

Douglas and Mwezi.

“I need you to get your acts together and run for the door,
once out do not stop.” He threw the key to Mwezi.

“Remember your tail is on fire. Don’t stop, no matter what.”

When he turned to the others and noticed that unlike Douglas, Mwezi and Nicole were still there, he snapped his fingers
and put them in a large piece of cotton. Before he could throw them towards the door, Nicole screamed,

“No, no, no what about grandfather?”

Orthanos paused then smiled,

“Juwa here is the human representative of the council, and

no fellow member of mine in the council is unable to fight.”
Orthanos smiled wider when he saw their facial expressions.

“Hold on, I am giving you a free ride to the door.”

The cotton landed three meters from the door just at the time Douglas arrived too. Mwezi looked behind one time, but she
saw Petero kneeling in pain again and froze.

“I need you Asmodo to create a clone that will leave with

Asmias’ shadow in it just as Dhiadia taught you during training. And you need to leave Petero’s body from one of the
clones too. Asmias, you need to use the biology knowledge to ensure you split your auras cleanly. if you are in separate
vessels, the aura’s effect won’t be electrocuting.” She could vaguely hear Asmodeus tell Petero and while she ignored
Nicole’s tagging on her belt, she saw Petero split into three, now there was the human him, with the face she knew before
his alleged death. There was the other him with darker skin and a faintly polka dotted body, then there was him with
navy-blue pupils.

“If you can make them have your exact physical

attributes, you learned well.” Dhiadia noted with pride.

“Of course.” They all replied in unison and their voices

were all different. Different but beautiful. Mwezi forgot the danger around and stood mesmerized by them. Before she
could walk towards Petero, Douglas roughly pulled her arm.

“You can romance later. We need to leave.” His voice

brought her out of whatever trance she was in. She nodded and they turned to run. A meter and a half to the door, the
building started shaking, a meter to the door, part of it started collapsing, closing off their only way out. Ah, looks like this
was going to be a longer day to all of them.
 11

“We are Fucked!”

“Shit!”

“Bloody hell.”

“Holy shit”

The cusses could be heard flying around as everyone watched the building cave in. East, west, north, and south did not
look good. The building was collapsing rapidly. The first person Orthanos looked for was Linmer. Somehow, he needed for
her to be fine.

“She has fought alongside you for two hundred years and kept up with your
spirit and childishness, she can definitely take care of herself.”

Dhiadia said to him while retrieving two daggers that had been warming the sides of her thighs.

“Besides, you need to find us a way out, it’s getting rather congested here.”

That demon! Orthanos looked at Asmodeus and sneered.

“You are the demon here.”

Before Asmodeus could give whatever smart answer he had in mind, the trembling stopped and the caving in halted.
Mwezi and her team also joined the rest of the people. There was silence as they all surveyed around them.

“Why… does this…feel…feel like the calm before the storm.” Nicole said as
she bent, hands on her knees, and her breathing heavy. She is slightly big bodied and can’t remember the last time she ran
so her trying to outrun the debris that kept falling behind them took a lot out of her. Anyway, Nicole wasn’t wrong. Three
seconds after she spoke, the runes around the center started glowing. Dimly at first, and then brightly.

“Orthanos…” Linmer whispered and Mwezi turned to look at her. This was
the first time that she had heard that woman sound uncertain. She watched, eyes narrowed, as Linmer took a step back,
her eyes going wide with shock. It was like she was watching a gothic scene. What the hell were those runes? Even
Asmodeus and Dhiadia took steps back. Mwezi subconsciously moved too and looked at Petero. He and the other him
were having a deep conversation. Suddenly he froze as he frantically looked around.

“Orthanos…” Linmer whispered again this time frantically. Orthanos only

swallowed and exchanged looks with Asmodeus before lifting his staff, he didn’t know what to do but he would sure try.

“I know.” He said softly and turned to look Linmer in the eyes. The fear
he saw in them hurt him, awakening his anger. The last time these runes were activated, a very naked Linmer had been
tied right where they were standing now, and Lesser demons were chanting spells to awaken lucifer. Apparently, there
was a warlock, last of his line who had heard a rumor that if he awakened the ever-slumbering Lucifer and grant him the
blood and flesh of a pure-blooded female who was virgin, he would be granted the power of hell. A hundred years ago,
when Orthanos had found Linmer, she was wide awake with snakes gliding around her body while one sucked blood from
her neck.

“Uhm, so, I hope you realize that we are all stuck in the sacrificial
circle of Lucifer.” Asmodo’s calm voice broke through Orthanos’ thoughts.

“Can someone tell me, that this is a nightmare and that it will soon
end?”

Douglas spoke for the first time since the runes started glowing and Nicole added,

“I do not even understand half of what you all are speaking right
now.”
Normally Orthanos would have given a witty reply but the spell he was casting to delay the maturity time of the runes
was taking a toll on him. High wizard or not he couldn’t hold them much longer.

“Maverick, you dark wizards specialize in harnessing demon’s

powers?” He gritted out and Maverick knowing what situation they were in, did not hesitate to answer.

“Yes.”

Orthanos chuckled painfully.

“Quite the high wizard I am. I seem to always rely on a demon.”

He muttered then tilting his head so he could address Asmodeus.

“Asmodeus, this time I ask for your help.”

Asmodeus who had been pocketing and humming like the world around him wasn’t about to burn paused his humming
briefly then continued. When everyone thought that he wouldn’t help, he spoke.

“I will only allow a wizard to defile me this once for two reasons.
One, because I consider you a friend Orthanos, two, I don’t want Lucifer to wake now. My father can be such a pain
especially when Lilith refuses to warm his bed and pet him.”

If Mwezi, Nicole and Douglas were not panicking, they would have dropped their bags, made fire, and listened to Lilith’s
and Lucifer’s love story.

That speech was a go ahead for Maverick to harness part of Asmodeus powers and channel them as a booster to Orthanos.
The electrical sound made during the process brought Linmer out of her scared trance. She hurriedly stood and walked
towards Orthanos.

“You cannot. You know the risks.” She worriedly said but Orthanos
just smiled and ignored her. He knew using a demon’s power as fuel could turn him into a dark warlock, but he needed
the rest of them to leave alive plus he couldn’t let Lucifer rise to the surface. It would be hell on earth. If all of them were
sacrificed the intensity of their aura and power could be enough not only to wake Lucifer but to Open the gates of hell for
him.

“Orthanos.” Linmer who always spoke coldly, never pleaded with

him like other people, was pleading. Asmodeus looked from one to the other, then to his son and Mwezi, who were
dangerously close to each other. Was everyone in that circle in love with another?

“Mer, Asmodeus is filtering the Aura that, that boy is harnessing

along with his powers.” Dhiadia said to her and paused her play with the daggers. She held both on one hand and pointed
at Orthanos’ glowing stuff. “If he were not, the reflection from his stuff would be black, not white.” Linmer considered
what Dhiadia had said and then stepped back.

“He will soon run out of gas and…” Mwezi hesitantly pointed at
Asmodeus before continuing, “…even if he is a demon, he will surely run out of gas too. We need to find a way out of here.
Surely there must be a way to break whatever this is.”

They, except for Orthanos all looked at Mwezi. Petero smiled. Since they split, Asmodo and Asmias had kept their distance
from her. They watched as Petero looked at her with a smitten smile and then exchanged looks.

“You make a good point. There might be a way. The seal keeping us
in this circle has a weak point.” Mr. Francis spoke for the first time since the drama started. He looked calm but the beads
of sweat around his face gave away the anxiety he was trying so hard to hide.

“This is the only time I have appreciated the human ability to nose
around where they are not supposed to.” Asmodeus commented and started humming. Francis sat next to Asmodeus in
the council, so he knew his habits well. To avoid a lot of unnecessary talk, he ignored him and went on.

“This hall is directly above the Holy Chamber. There is a pipe

connecting this to the Holy Chamber. Since the Holy Chamber is where everything begins and mostly ends, creatures don’t
have a way in and out because its entrance is also sealed. Thus, whoever created this sacrificial circle did not bother to
strengthen the power on the sealing rune that is right at this center.”

Asmodeus and Dhiadia looked like they were thinking seriously about something.

“But? I can sense a but there.” Mwezi asked when Mr. Francis
did not continue.

Everyone turned to look at Francis expectantly. He frowned and in a low tone said,

“The power we have won’t be enough. It would be easy if we

had an angel, demon, and a blessed man of cloth. As I stand here, we lack an angel.”

Everyone was quiet for a few minutes.

“Can half an angel do?” Orthanos and Asmodeus asked in

unison and Mwezi jumped,

“We better try, from where I stand, it doesn’t look like we

have a choice.”

Everyone nodded.

“But who is half angel here?”

Maverick asked. Asmodeus didn’t answer, instead, he asked Orthanos,

“Can you hold out on your own for a few seconds

Orthanos?”

Orthanos mumbled a yes. Asmodeus turned to Maverick his eyes glowing yellow. He hated wizards and witches except for
Orthanos, his father, mother, sister and Linmer.
 “Now, unbind me wizard.” Asmodeus spoke coldly and
Maverick quickly undid the spell binding Asmodeus to the ground.

Asmodeus adjusted and dusted his suit before walking towards Petero. Asmodo and Asmias narrowed their eyes at him.

“Father?” Asmodo asked tightly. Asmodeus ignored them

and stood in front of Petero. Mwezi who had watched everything silently now straightened her spine and subconsciously
moved in front of Petero. Ooh, she might be angry with him, but boy, that wouldn’t stop her from trying to protect him
even from a demon. Petero smiled but shook it off when he realized that he didn’t know Asmodeus well, and he just might
hurt Mwezi.

“Asmodeus.” Petero called warningly pulling Mwezi behind

him. Before anyone could blink, Asmodeus’ right hand was in Petero’s chest. Petero gasped, his hand sliding off Mwezi’s
arm, Asmodo fell to his knees, Asmias clasped his chest and Mwezi froze, her eyes glued to where the demon’s hand
penetrated Petero’s human chest. A tear dropped from her eye, then she screamed. When Asmodeus twisted his hand in
Petero’s chest making a scream leave his and Asmodo’s lips, Mwezi quickly lunged forward, scratching Asmodeus’ face.

“You dare not kill him.” She sobbed while scratching

Asmodeus whose face kept healing. Dhiadia grabbed her firmly she couldn’t even twist her body.

A minute later, Asmodeus dropped Petero’s body to the ground and Dhiadia let go of Mwezi. As Asmodo and Asmias tried
to regain their breath, Mwezi rushed to Petero’s side. She slid to the ground, tears rapidly leaving her eyes as her hands
roamed gingerly on his bloody chest.

“No, no, no.” She kept whispering.

He couldn’t die, not without giving her answers, not without telling her if he could love her now that he was no longer a
priest. Petero couldn’t die without kissing her and making her laugh one more time.

***
He struggled to breathe. Everything was on fire, his stomach, throat, chest, name them all. From a distance he could hear
sobbing sounds. Petero struggled to open his eyes, but they burned painfully. Wait, was he dying?

“Did my demon father just try to kill me?” He thought angrily.

Slowly by slowly his anger turned to panic when he felt the energy leaving his body. Just when he thought it was over, he
felt his body lift from the ground.

“That definitely wasn’t me.” He thought and mentally frowned. He

tried to fight his body’s movement but met resistance. He felt a jolt of electricity pass through him, and a silky soft voice
say to him,

“Allow me to put some sense into your father.” His thoughts paused
for a second. He knew that voice. It’s been fifteen years since he last heard it but even if it would have been a thousand
years, he would still recognize it. He trusted her then, he would trust her now.

***

Mwezi was furious, if she knew how to kill demons other than trying to rebuke them in prayer, she would have ended
Asmodeus and his sister. How could they just stand there with smiles on their faces as they watch their kin bleed out? She
had been desperately trying to stop the bleeding on his chest, but it wouldn’t stop.

“Just how much blood does this man have?” She thought. Nicole was
beside her, helping her with whatever she asked for. Five minutes passed, ten minutes and then he started going limp. His
hands which had been folded tightly into fists started loosening. Mwezi who had calmed down started panicking and
crying again. He couldn’t die on her!! He just wasn’t allowed to. Mwezi held onto his body tightly and started whispering
inaudible pleas in his ear. A few seconds later, when it looked like he was gone, his body started levitating. Startled, Mwezi
pulled her body back and watched Petero’s body slowly lower to its feet.
 “You sure took your time Pete.” Asmodeus said nonchalantly,
stepping towards him. They all watched as he slowly opened his eyes. Nicole was the first to gasp when his eyes glowed
brightly. She didn’t know what to think of this man anymore. When Asmodeus stretched his hand to touch Petero, Mwezi
subconsciously moved in front of him. He only chuckled and dropped his arm.

“We agreed not to risk that, Asmodeus.” Petero’s voice could be

heard in the entire hall, but its tone was soft and less masculine. Douglas’s mouth dropped open. Asmias’s eyes widened,
could be in recognition or shock or both.

“Ariel?” Asmodeus asked excitedly. Who knew that a demon could

get so excited?

“My love.” Ariel replied coldly making Asmodeus visibly wince.

Douglas shook his head. Did they always show their love coldly?

“It seemed like a good gamble at the time. He might have

inherited your angelic side and Lucifer’s genes after all, he is his grandfather.”

Asmodeus explained nervously. Angering Ariel was one thing, he had learned the hard way, which was never a clever
idea. Mwezi raised an eyebrow.

“She always tames you man.” Orthanos gritted out. He was

exhausted and straining from the length of time that he had to hold up the counter spell.

“Also, if you could just speed things up a little bit, that would be
great.”

Everyone turned to look at him.

 “Because my son survived and I like Orthy enough to not want him
to suffer longer than necessary, I will let it go for now. I am back as Arisol. Three more years to my maturity in that girl.
You will answer to me then, my love.”

Nicole couldn’t hold it in.

“I am sorry what?”

Douglas nodded and Francis answered.

“Sometimes when a fallen angel dies, they are reborn. If they

lived a good life even after disobeying heaven, they are reborn with their powers and vice versa. Asmodeus and Ariel have
been together for over five hundred years. In that time, she has been killed twice. Every time by Lilith, Asmodeus’ mother.
She doesn’t want a daughter in law with angelic blood. Heaven disgusts her.” Francis threw a glance at Asmodeus and
then continued, “He has been acting as Arisol’s secret guardian since she was born. Can’t let her die before his wife’s
angelic soul is matured. That would be the end of her.”

Nicole was about to ask more questions but was stopped by Linmer who kept looking worriedly at Orthanos and back at
them.

“Can we tell stories later?”

Francis murmured his apologies. Before anyone else could speak Ariel talked.

“Pete’s angelic side is awakened. It would have killed him if I had

not intervened. Asmodeus, if you do anything against what we agreed again, I will personally kill you.”

Maverick snorted. It was clear that he was holding in bouts of laughter. He wasn’t the only one, Francis, Linmer, Nicole,
Mwezi and Douglas too were struggling with keeping it in. Asmodo and Asmias are the only ones who dared to laugh
loudly. Petero’s lips curled into a smile and this time a soft feminine voice could be heard.
 “You need to find a way to think as one.” She said, addressing
Asmodo and Asmias.

“It’s the only way you will be able to protect yourselves from
whatever is coming. You are one, so act like it.”

Before Asmodo and Asmias could recover from their shock, before anyone could ask her a question, the glow in Pete’s
eyes vanished. Ariel was gone. Petero didn’t fall, he blinked rapidly and then stopped. Without thinking about it, Mwezi
jumped to hug him, and he, held her tightly. Realizing what she was doing she quickly pulled away and angrily looked
away. Oh ok, so she was back to being angry at him.

“Well then, now we have angel abilities, a man of cloth, and

demons.” Asmodeus addressed Francis. “What next?”

Francis adjusted his walking stick and walked to the center. He stopped in the middle of what looked like the seal of
Solomon. He stood at the center of the Hexagram and said,

“Normally, the angel and the demon stand at the tips on the
same side, the man of God stands on one of the lonely tips. At the same time, the man of God sprinkles holy water and
prays the prayer to unbind, the demon chants the demonic unsealing words while directing their power of destruction to
what looks like a drawing of the keyhole at the center. The angel uses the power of heaven to create a reaction with the
power of destruction. The imbalance in the energy will unsettle the flow of magic in the spell sealing us in thus shattering
it.”

Everyone was silent as they looked at Petero.

“Father.” Petero addressed him with a frown. “If I think

logically, I need my demons on this one, you are the one going to do the demon’s part, besides, you are stronger.”
To everyone’s surprise, Asmodeus glanced at Orthanos struggling to keep the sacrificial spell from fully activating, and
then quietly walked to one of the tips.

“What? I need to enjoy earth a little more.” Asmodeus

shrugged and then pointed at the glowing runes on the walls. “If that spell activates and goes through, Lucifer comes to
the surface, and boom, it is the beginning of Armageddon. I am not in the mood for battles of heaven and hell right now.”

Everyone looked at Asmodeus like he had grown two heads. Petero cleared his throat and turned to look at his demons
who for some reason, have looked distracted ever since their mother visited.

“I don’t have enough power to do this on my own. A little

help?”

So, Asmodo and Asmias returned to their body quietly and sighed.

“Can we focus for a little while?” Petero asked them quietly

and they just grunted, after a second, Asmias said,

“Of course, I want to see mother again.” For a demon who

was supposed to be without any form of feeling, Asmias sure loved family. They are probably the only people who made
him not to do evil. Petero smiled as he realized, Asmias, might be hardheaded and handled things in the way he and
Asmodo disliked, but he would never willingly harm them, even if he exists in a way that he doesn’t require their
existence to stay alive.

“Very well then, Asmodo, could you please create one of

your shadow clones and Asmias, please transfer my angelic biology to it, then please occupy it and back it up. Asmodo you
are with the priest me, just like the old days in mass only this time, you are awake.” Asmodo only grunted and Asmias did
not reply.
Few seconds later, there stood two Peteros this time identical in every feature. Angelic Petero took his place and Petero
took his position at the tip. Linmer handed him a huge bottle of holy water. The three looked at each other and nodded.
Then it began.

“In the name of the father…”

“Power of darkness, open thy jaws…”

The two began in unison and Petero’s clone opened a torch of heavenly power from his palm. It was weak at first. Asmias
cussed in his head and decided to try and copy the nature of its energy so he could supply to him. It wasn’t easy but it
worked. The center of the circle shone brightly and on the image of the keyhole at the center, a rune started glowing.
Looks like Francis knew what he was talking about. Asmodeus lifted his hands while chanting.

“Power of darkness, open thy jaws, swallow thine chains,

free thy disciple.” A bolt of black electricity shot through his palm as he repeated the phrase. He turned his hands in circles
and created a big ball of black electricity then shot it on the rune where Petero’s clone and Asmias were shooting
heavenly fire. There was a small tremor.

“In the name of the father, the son, and the holy spirit, I
unbind the chains of the devil.” Every time Petero spoke the prayer and poured holy water on the two powers fighting at
the center, the ball of black electricity and heaven’s white fire kept growing.

Mr. Francis Juwa face palmed, he had forgotten to mention something.

“Grandpa? Nicole questioned shakily.” Whatever was

happening was making the ruined hall as cold as frozen water.

“I might have forgotten to mention that if the power is

too strong, the seal and its holder, in this case, the floor, will explode in the process of shattering the spell.”
Mwezi didn’t know whether to laugh or cry.

“Grandpa.” Nicole said weakly. She didn’t know what

to say anymore.

True to that forgotten warning, when Asmodeus and Petero got to the sixth round, the rune at the center kept glowing
brightly, two seconds later, it exploded. One second there were screams of panic, the next, people were going under along
with the entire floor. Ah, I wonder who will live to see the next hour after all, it was an exceedingly long fall into the holy
chambers.
 12

The fall seemed endless. Mwezi had her eyes closed. She was too scared to even scream. Was she going to die now? In her
professional and love lives, she had so many pending dreams. After what felt like eternity, she began to hear sharp
screams and then thuds. Mwezi’s eyes involuntarily shut tighter as she waited for her turn.

“This is the end, huh?”

She counted one up to five before she felt herself land on something solid. The pain. Mwezi waited for the pain to attack
but none came. Instead, two huge arms wrapped around her torso. She slowly opened one eye after the other. She looked
down at the arms around her and froze for a second as her brain recognized those hands. Without warning, she started
twisting in the man’s arms to stand.

“I wouldn’t do that if I were you?” The husky voice sounded so

close to her ear that his breath tickled her neck. Mwezi stilled and then blushed as she realized that her ass was directly
above Petero’s fleshy arrow.

“Let me go.” She said, her voice hoarse. Petero immediately let go
of her and she did not waste any time in getting off him. As her hands touched the rock-hard ground, a thought crossed
her mind. If she fell on him, he must have fallen on the hard ground. On those stones that were pricking her palm.

“Are you hurt?” Mwezi quickly asked while crouching beside him.
Petero smiled and winced. Linmer cast a spell to cushion them, but he still felt some of the impact when Mwezi landed
directly on top of him.

“She has pretty lips, doesn’t she? Kiss her and replenish my
energy.” Asmodo said playfully. Oh, so he was back to talking and guess what, according to Petero, he was only back with
nonsense. Asmias snorted and yawned. Asmodo had let go of the clone when the explosion happened, so they were back
to three in one.

“Hey, did you just zone out again?” Mwezi asked softly while
waving her hand in front of his eyes. Petero snapped back to reality and sat upright.

“I’m ok. Linmer provided a cushioning spell.” Petero replied

making Mwezi sigh in relief. She keenly looked at his face and thought,

“If he had wanted to change his face, he should have completely

changed everything, either way, he did a decent job.”

Petero’s eyes traveled to Mwezi’s lips and Asmodo kept urging him to move in and close the distance which, with him
seated and her crouching, there wasn’t much to cover.

“Now, if we are all done loving each other, we need to fix the slight
problem we have here.” Asmodeus said plainly while staring into the distance. Mwezi and Petero snapped out of their
trances and looked around to make sure that everybody made it in one piece. Satisfied, they followed everyone’s gaze.
Whatever Asmodeus was calling a slight problem, was huge. Mwezi immediately jumped to her feet and Petero followed
suit. It looked like the fight wasn’t over.

“Orthanos…” Linmer called in warning as the human beast with

eight tails and glowing eyes moved towards them. It was huge. About eight feet tall with scaly like skin and tails long
enough that they rolled up almost to her waist. It had exceptionally long silky hair and very feminine curves. Orthanos
unsheathed his sword but stumbled. Looks like that spell took a toll on him.

“Looks like today our savior needs saving.” Asmodeus said and
moved to stand next to Orthanos. He delicately put his hand on his shoulder and muttered.

“Like a hundred years ago, let’s fight together, one more time.”
Asmodeus snapped his fingers, and his colorful suit was immediately replaced with black leather from head to toe.

“That serious, Asmodeus?” Dhiadia asked as she walked to

stand beside her brother. She threw a glance at Petero then threw him a sword.

“That serious. Well, unless you want to enlist mother’s help

then maybe not.”

Dhiadia shuddered and took a fighting stance.

“Then what are we waiting for, let’s fight that and get out of
here.”

Asmodeus, Linmer, Orthanos and Dhiadia took the front line, Maverick, Francis and Petero took the back sheltering,
Douglas, Mwezi and Nicole at the center. After all, a creature with eight tails and intelligence could decide to attack from
anywhere.

“So, you escaped.” The towering creature spoke in a soft

feminine voice. Orthanos frowned. I mean, it did look female, with the beautiful round face, long silky hair, and curvy
bottom, but if his knowledge served him right, female justice renderers did not exist. There have only been rumors of
male ones which were always sent to places of war to destroy the causes of war. Object or human, they were incinerated.

“Asmodeus, you haven’t changed a single bit since the last

war between the fallen angels and the off springs of lucifer.” It continued while dangerously swinging all its eight tails.
Asmodeus looked high up because she was that tall.

“Have we met before?”

The creature laughed heartily and then burned what looked like two books. Tsk. The grimoire.
 “Do ask your mother about it.”

She said absent-mindedly as her eyes lingered on Douglas who looked like he could shit his pants at any time. She sniffed
wildly and then chuckled. Before they could blink, she was in front of them. Damn, she was fast and now so close. In fact,
so close that some of their swords were burning through her scale like skin.

“I smell fear, me like fear.” She hissed and directed one of

her tails at them, making them scatter. She started moving slowly, towards Douglas. Oh, he knew her alright. Orthanos
knew this creature but for some reason, he had always assumed she was male.

“Daa, the most feared ancient justice renderer. The

perverted one who feeds on fear.” Orthanos said loudly. They all watched as the creature stopped its actions mid-way. She
moved back and turned her attention to Orthanos.

“You must be one of the extra intelligent ones I have heard

about.”

Orthanos sheathed his sword and straightened his spine making everyone look at him like he had lost his mind. That
creature had beautiful feminine lips but razor like teeth, didn’t he worry that she would eat him up? But Orthanos knew
about her. She would only fight or attack if she smelt your fear of her or if you attacked her first. At this point, he decided
he would rather try talking than fight. His insides were burning, he wouldn’t be able to defend let alone attack.

“Maybe, maybe not. What brings you here?”

Daa hissed and moved closer to Orthanos.

“The grimoire. The cause of the war.”

Orthanos and Asmodeus looked around and noticed that the Holy Chambers which were always five, were destroyed and
now it was only one spacious room that looked like it would collapse any minute from now. Their eyes roamed back to
the two big books wrapped around her tails and then back at her.
 “You are a hundred years late.” Orthanos said but a little bit
of laughter could be heard in his voice. The laughter became loud when the big creature pouted. It pouted!!!

“Already? I only took a detour to see a certain male so we

could entangle our tails a little bit and get warm.” The creature said in a small voice. Her face contorted into a frown,
smirk, anger, frown and then a full-blown smile. Orthanos cringed. Maybe she should just maintain her scary default face.

“Anyway, I still got what I came for.” She said, happily

shooting fire from her tails and burning the books and the walls.

“Could you keep your aim to the books only.” Orthanos

said, not minding one bit that she was burning them. He was relieved. That book had spells that could end an entire
existence. Spells that some people would not hesitate to use. Orthanos frowned as he remembered something. He turned
to look at Maverick and oh. His thoughts were right. The dark wizard was seething in anger as he watched the books burn.
So, he indeed came seeking ‘The lesser Key of Solomon’ grimoire. Manalok was planning a war, wasn’t he?

While lost in his thoughts, Maverick did what none of them had expected; he attacked Daa.

“Bloody fool!” Asmodeus and Dhiadia cussed at the same

time. He had just ruined their chances of walking out of there like they were just coming from a meeting. Daa wouldn’t
attack them directly, only him, but her tails hit everything and every corner as they swayed wildly mirroring her anger.
She growled and grabbed Maverick. The stones started shaking with every growl of hers and the walls started cracking
with the intensity that the tails hit them with. In her anger, Daa started expanding, growing taller. She was a frightening
female I tell you. Very frightening that even Douglas couldn’t hold it in. The man peed his pants.

“Run!” Dhiadia shouted. If they stayed another second, no

one was getting out alive. According to Orthanos, her scales contained poison that could kill any species.

“Don’t let the tails hit you. You will die.”

Mwezi stopped to look at Maverick who was now bleeding profusely but still trying to gorge out Daa’s eyes.

“Anthony!” She screamed. He might have lied to her about

who he was, but she only knew him as Anthony the film director, her partner and friend who always looked out for her no
matter what. Petero cussed and looked at Mwezi then at Anthony.

“Ah, no sir, we are not doing it for any female, do you see
that? There is plenty of women out there.” Asmias spoke coldly.

“Besides, saving another man for her? Forget it”

Asmodo huffed.

Mwezi looked like she would go there, and that, Petero did not want.

“Son, don’t even think about it.” Asmodeus who had

been way ahead, escaping the tails like it was a game, came back when he realized that, I quote, “His son and that woman.”
were nowhere to be seen.

“Can’t he at least be saved?” She pleaded and Petero

only shook his head. Mwezi looked at Petero, before he could guess her thoughts, she had leaped back to Daa. She ran but
got distracted when the loud sound of Maverick’s bones being crushed sounded across. Everyone paused to look, and the
sight was bloody and fleshy. That man Mwezi was running to save was a goner. Asmodeus and Petero watched as one of
the tails headed directly for Mwezi. Before he could think about what he was doing, his body had moved. Like before,
when Asmias tried to take over, he failed. The two in his head watched as he stopped next to Mwezi and pushed her to the
ground beside him. To the open space between two tails. He tried to jump too but he wasn’t fast enough. The tail landed
directly across his back to the shoulder, narrowly missing his head.

“You fool.” Asmias hissed in pain.

 “This thing is heavy; how does she swing it around like it’s
just another ponytail.” Asmodo complained. Petero tried to move but it felt like his back was being torn into two. A loud
scream left his lips.

Dhiadia who was almost out, came back fast. It was easy now that Daa was no longer flying her tails around. She was
about to try slashing Daa’s tail when Daa turned around, blood all over her mouth. Was she grinning?

“You too?” She asked sweetly and Dhiadia snarled.

“I just need to get my nephew from under your tail.”

Daa looked at Petero and quickly lifted her tail.

“Oh dear.” Daa said softly. Mwezi hadn’t moved from the
ground and Nicole who had seen everything happen only knelt beside her and placed a comforting arm on her shoulder.

Daa narrowed her eyes as she looked at Petero’s bleeding back and then at an angry Asmodeus who had started clouding
the hall with darkness. He loved his sons. He was a demon yes, but he loved them. They were a gift from his Ariel, how
could he not love them. To see them hurt because of a woman who couldn’t logically analyze the situation, made him
furious.

“Your offspring.” Daa said firmly and smirked. Asmodeus

tilted his head waiting to hear what she had to say.

“I was going to say, that one is already dead, but if he is

yours and he smells like that woman who was once the angel of birds and tailed creatures, he might not have instantly
died. By the way, last I checked, she fell from grace because of loving a prince of hell.” Asmodeus’ eyes started glowing
dangerously yellow.

“Get to your point Daa.” He snarled.

Daa narrowed her eyes at him,

“Watch your tone with me, demon. Anyway, since he has

two demons and angelic blood, he might live for half a day.” Daa turned to leave but before she destroyed her way to a
portal behind her, she added,

“You require the tears of one of us to heal the wounds. I

am not about to cry, but Lilith has tortured and killed one of us before, she might have an antidote.”

As Daa walked into the portal, everything quietened and the aura in the room was no longer suffocating, well, except for
the darkness that was collecting around Asmodeus who was looking at Mwezi with murderous intent. Orthanos who had
been creating a way out, came and stood between Asmodeus and Mwezi.

“Don’t touch her Asmodeus.” Francis is the one that

spoke. He knew too well from experience that Asmodeus’ calm and attractive nature turned into waves of disaster when
he was angry.

“Her stupidity is killing my son.” He spoke coldly and

made to move closer to Mwezi, but Orthanos stopped him.

Francis didn’t talk again because from the way Asmodeus’s eyes were glowing, he was full demon mode, beyond talking
to.

Orthanos gestured for Linmer to take Mwezi and the others out of there so he could handle Asmodeus. He wanted to
teleport Asmodeus out of here and like his mother said before, buildings collapse when he does that.

Douglas, Nicole, Mwezi and Dhiadia who was carrying Petero, gathered around Linmer and she teleported them out of
there to the outside, close to the car. Immediately after, the building behind them collapsed. As everyone except for
Dhiadia and Mwezi watched the ruins sink in horror, Linmer smiled. Maybe they should find a way to subdue part of
Orthanos’ immense power.
 13

Ever since she watched that poisonous tail fall on Petero, Mwezi had been lost. She kept hearing the creature’s words,
“Half a day” ring through her mind. It was all her fault. Always acting without thinking properly. If he dies this time, it will
be her fault. Right now, she stood beside the car and numbly watched as Dhiadia adjusted him on her lap and wiped sweat
off his forehead. She wanted to take care of him, it should be her taking care of him but how could she dare touch him
when she was the one that almost got him killed? Five minutes later, Dhiadia threw him on her shoulder and walked
towards Mwezi.

“Just like my brother, I itch to have your throat torn out, but
unlike him, I am sensible to know that this stupid boy might never forgive if we did.”

Mwezi subconsciously stretched her arm to touch Petero, but Dhiadia swatted her hand away and spoke coldly.

“Until you learn to use your head, stay away from my nephew
or you will only bring him death.”

Without waiting for a reply from her, Dhiadia vanished. Mwezi watched the spot where they had been for a few seconds
before falling to her knees. She wept. For the second time that day Mwezi cried for Petero only this time, she felt like it
was her own doing.

***

The ride to the hotel was long. She couldn’t stand the pitiful glances being thrown her way by Douglas and Nicole, that’s
why the moment Linmer parked the vehicle, she immediately got out and ran to her room. Their place of research was
ruined, the book that they had been sent to retrieve was now ashes, what else could there be for her to do in this holy
city? She had only been here one night and one day, but she was changed. It all changed in the Holy Chambers.
 “Pete” She whispered brokenly. Mwezi sat on the bed and stared
at her reflection in the dressing mirror across the room. Dhiadia took him away, will I ever see him again? Are they going
to keep him in hell? She wished that she could summon demons. That way, she could summon Asmodeus or Dhiadia and
find out if he made it. Even if they would be angry at her, she was willing to try.

For a few minutes, there was only sounds of other guests talking and laughing outside, then sobs joined the ambience.
After a few minutes of crying her heart out, Mwezi walked to her laptop and booked the next flight from Elasri to Nong’.
She was pleased that she didn’t have to wait until the following morning because the plane was leaving in two hours. She
would go home. She would talk to her grandmother about her current troubles, maybe then her heart could find answers.

***

It was so quiet inside his head. Asmias was nowhere to be seen and Asmodo was not talking to him anymore. Petero tried
to open his eyes but couldn’t. He tried to sit but was rewarded with sharp pains that made him cry out. At that time in the
Holy Chambers, his body had moved by itself, when he had seen Mwezi almost get hit, his brain had stopped and the next
thing he knew was that he needed to save her.

“Lilith.”

He heard Dhiadia’s voice. Wait, was he in hell? At Lilith’s place?

“I have nothing to do with the child of that half-breed angel.”

Lilith spoke coldly as she walked slowly to her collection of skulls.

“He is more of two demons than angel.”

Lilith paused and turned to look at Petero who was on a table nearby.

“Oooh?” Lilith said, getting all excited. She walked towards

Petero and placed her hand on his head.
 “Mmmmh, you seem to not be lying my child. I do dislike the
little bit that smells like Lucifer’s angelic side and that woman’s too.”

Lilith stood and turned to look at Dhiadia. She licked her full lips, tied her hair into a long ponytail and adjusted her huge
boobs in her black dress.

“Tell you what, get my son here and I shall give him the
antidote so he can save my grandson.”

Dhiadia looked at Lilith and shook her head. Same old, same old. Dhiadia was however worried that her mind link
wouldn’t get through to Asmodeus because when angry, he blocked everything out. If not, knowing Orthanos, he might
have knocked the demon out. Oh, she wasn’t wrong.

***

Orthanos dragged Asmodeus to a bed. He had the energy to lift him, but he would just feel odd carrying that ancient
demon like an infant. After five seconds, Orthanos adjusted the room temperature in Asmodeus’ house and then snapped
his fingers to adjust his appearance. He smoothened out the black suit, tied his hair into a neat ponytail, smiled at the
mirror and walked out.

“If I were sure that you wouldn’t blow everything in your path
in anger, I wouldn’t have knocked you out and put you under the sleeping spell.”

Orthanos murmured as he walked towards a navy-blue wrangler. He drove to the other side of town to get the female,
Arisol. That was the only way he knew that would easily bring Asmodeus back to his senses.

***

Mwezi pulled her luggage out of the room and walked into the corridor. Before she could take two steps away from her
door, a voice stopped her.
 “Running away, are we?”

Mwezi quickly turned in panic but immediately relaxed after seeing that it was only Mr. Francis.

“I am only going home. Anthony is dead. Pete is almost

dead because of me. I have caused much damage already.”

Mr. Francis leaned on the wall and smiled.

“He wouldn’t have done it if he didn’t love you.”

Mwezi remembered how coldly he had talked to her earlier in the day. She also recalled how he kept saving her in the
ruins and sighed. Could it be that his coldness to her in the morning was to keep her from him? But if that were the case,
why did he kiss her?

“Are you still with me?”

Francis’s voice brought her back to the present.

“Running won’t solve any of your problems. Even if you left,

you’d still be haunted.”

Mwezi dropped her suitcase and walked towards Mr. Francis. She took his hands in hers and pleaded.

“Then help me. You sit in the council of the supernatural

you must know how to summon a demon, please help me.”

Mr. Francis froze for a few seconds then sighed. He had always hoped that Nicole and Mwezi would stay away from the
supernatural world but looks like fate was against his plans. This one was even in love with the son of a demon. He looked
Mwezi in the eyes, trying to read what she had in mind. After a minute, he asked slowly,

“Who do you want to summon?”

Mwezi bit her trembling lips before whispering,

“Asmodeus.”

Francis inhaled sharply and moved back. So, he had guessed correctly.

“Be careful with whom you summon, child.”

That wasn’t a no, so he would help her, wouldn’t he? Mwezi’s sad face lit up. She smiled widely and hugged the old man
who only chuckled and whispered,

“Just don’t walk into your own death.”

***

Orthanos parked his car outside by the road and walked towards a black gate. Ariel sure was lucky. She is always reborn
into rich families. Arisol’s house was only a fifteen-minute ride from Asmodeus’ house. Orthanos pocketed the car keys
and stopped in front of the gate. He was about to ring the doorbell when it opened and a slender girl wearing black
sweatpants with a matching hoodie and black sports shoes walked out. She had exceptionally beautiful round eyes and
curly afro on her head.

“Take me to him.” She said to Orthanos, without greeting.

Orthanos frowned and looked at the lady’s face more keenly.

“Ariel?”

When she had said she was near maturity, he thought that the Arisol girl was probably fifteen or twelve. This one looked
nineteen, twenty.

“Just how old are you right now?”

 “I am twenty. It should have been a year before my soul
merged with Arisol’s but there was a change in mystic energy, and it happened earlier.” Ariel explained, a smile on her
face making her look even more ethereal. Must have been the spell they had cast in the ruins. Orthanos face-palmed but
then another question came to mind.

“How did you know that I was coming?”

Ariel frowned and looked at the sky.

“Immediately after the shift in mystic energy. I felt the

cloud of his dark aura. Even the birds stopped flying around for a while. He is angry, isn’t he?”

She asked this time looking Orthanos in the eyes. Orthanos looked at her and scowled.

“Something bad happened.” She was stating, not

asking. Orthanos gave Ariel a small smile and said,

“How about we make sure that he doesn’t burn down

the entire city and then I will tell you everything.”

Ariel nodded and walked towards the wrangler. Orthanos watched her with his eyes narrowed. Something about that
woman always scared him. He shook his head and walked after her. Yes, he will only tell her after Asmodeus is back to his
senses. It wouldn’t do if both went berserk.

***

The moment they entered Asmodeus’s house Ariel ran to his room.

“Undo the spell.”

Orthanos tapped his forehead and immediately, Asmodeus woke his eyes glowing yellow. Brighter than before. Now, he
was angry at Orthanos too.
 “I will rip your head off.”

He snarled and leaped out of bed. Not seeing Ariel, he started walking towards Orthanos.

“I wouldn’t do that my love.”

Ariel’s silky voice stilled Asmodeus. She stood from where she had been crouching and wrapped her hands around his
body.

“Ariel.” Asmodeus called to her softly and

smiled. His eyes slowly stopped glowing. After a minute they were back to black. Orthanos exhaled in relief but then he
stiffened the next moment when Ariel asked,

“Tell me my love, what makes you so angry?”

Asmodeus’s anger returned but in minimum quantities.

“My son is almost dying because of that woman. I

will kill her.”

Asmodeus immediately bit his tongue when he realized to whom had he just blurted that casually. Ariel’s arms dropped
from around him and the room suddenly became cold. She was furious.

“My love, where is my son?” Ariel asked, trying

so hard to keep calm.

Orthanos, seeing that the cat had got Asmodeus’ tongue, bluntly explained to her every detail and when he was done, he
was surprised to see that she was calm.

“For love huh?”

She asked quietly and Orthanos nodded. Ariel turned to Asmodeus and asked,
 “If I acted stupidly and my life were in danger,
would you risk yours to save mine?”

Asmodeus nodded without hesitating, and she proceeded, a small smile on her lips.

“Orthanos is your friend, if he were in danger,

would you have tried to save him?”

Asmodeus tilted his head and smiled as he realized what Ariel was trying to say. She did make a good point. The only
mistake that, that woman made was to lose focus in the middle of danger.

“Now…” Ariel said while walking to the door,

“Take me to my son.”

She did not wait for them to reply, Ariel just walked out the door. Thirty seconds later she returned to the room only to
find the two men staring at the open door. Before she could say anything, Asmodeus spoke,

“That’s not a wise idea.”

“What part about me seeing my sick son, is not

wise?” Ariel replied, her voice void of any emotion.

“He is at my mother’s place.” Asmodeus said

and moved to hug her.

“Lilith. Then take me to Lilith’s place. I want to

see my son and then talk to this Mwezi woman.” She replied happily and hugged him tighter. Asmodeus only looked at
Orthanos from above her head and Orthanos only shrugged, a huge smile on his face. He did like stubborn women. After a
while, he said,
 “Well, I hate to say this, but Asmodeus and
Dhiadia…” he paused and frowned then continued, “…now Asmodo and Asmias, are the only demons I take a liking to. I
shall not go to Lilith, if I do, I am killing her.” Asmodeus and Ariel looked at Orthanos with raised eyebrows.

“See you after a hundred years?” Asmodeus

asked and Orthanos only laughed and said,

“Let’s hope that it’s not during another

catastrophe.” To Ariel he said, “It’s good to have you back.”

She nodded. They watched as Orthanos stood there silently then started moving about as if preparing to teleport out of
there. On seeing that, Asmodeus quickly said,

“Not my house, friend.”

Orthanos only shook his head as Ariel laughed.

“I was only looking for my car keys.”

They watched as he left, a cute pout on his face. Once the door was shut behind him, Ariel turned to Asmodeus,

“Shall we?”

Asmodeus only nodded and teleported them out of there and straight into his mother’s compound.

***

After an hour of trying to contact Asmodeus and failing, Dhiadia started pacing around the room.

“Oh please, if he is my grandson, then he won’t die easily.”

Lilith said nonchalantly while picking up a snake and petting it. Dhiadia didn’t want to be worked into salt by Lilith, so she
avoided retorting. She only glanced at Petero and cussed. He was getting worse by the minute, groaning and whimpering,
it was driving her crazy. She was about to try and contact him again but stopped when Lilith stood abruptly and inhaled
deeply.

“Not again.” She growled. Immediately after, Asmodeus

walked in from the torture chamber with Ariel beside him. Dhiadia narrowed her eyes, trying to place that face but she
couldn’t just then Ariel smiled, and her eyes widened in recognition.

“Already?” Dhiadia asked and moved forward towards

them. Ariel nodded and looked around. Her eyes stopped at the man on the table.

“Pete!” She exclaimed and ran towards the trembling figure.

“Don’t touch my grandson.” Lilith’s cold voice rung from

across the room, but Ariel ignored her saying,

“He is my son.”

Asmodeus quickly walked to his mother and hugged her before an argument ensued.

“Lilith please.” He whispered in her ears, and she chuckled,

whispering,

“Call me mamma first, then I will let your excuse of a lover

be.”

Asmodeus was enraged but he didn’t want to fight, even with Dhiadia and Ariel, he was barely a match for Lilith. So,
attempting a fight while protecting his son, would be pure stupidity.

“Mamma please.” He whispered hoarsely and Lilith let out

a squeal of joy.

“That’s my boy.”
Asmodeus broke the hug and walked to where his son and wife were. He looked at Petero’s head, cradled in Ariel’s arms.
The pain in her eyes infuriated him. His son is not allowed to cause her pain. As if reading his thoughts, Ariel softly said,

“Don’t you even for once think about scolding my boy.”

Asmodeus was dissatisfied but said nothing. Dhiadia walked towards Lilith and murmured,

“You said that you will give him the antidote after you see
your son. Your son is here.”

Lilith stared at Dhiadia for a few seconds and walked towards a big skull. Another one of her big kills I suppose. She took
out of it what looked like a mouse’s skull and walked towards Petero. She handed the antidote to Ariel who grimaced. Just
as Petero was fed the antidote, Asmodeus clutched his head in pain. Lilith got furious. Who dared to summon her son!!

***

Mwezi and Francis stood at the edge of the summoning circle in her hotel room as she patiently waited for Asmodeus to
accept her call. Ten minutes had passed, and nothing had happened. She looked at Francis and raised her eyebrow. She
was about to speak when black smoke started rising from the center, taking the form of a beautiful curvaceous woman
who apparently loved exposing half of her skin. She only covered her boobs and groin, nothing else.

Francis and Mwezi looked at each other wondering if they had summoned the wrong demon but when the summon was
complete Francis gasped and quickly moved back almost falling flat on his ass. Mwezi jumped to hold him.

“What is it?”

Francis shook his head and frowned. He did not understand. For another demon to answer another demon’s call, he/she
had to be given permission to answer. It rarely happened. Was Asmodeus that held up that he would grant his mother,
LILITH, a free pass to the outside world?
 “I would be disappointed if this spell could
actually hold my son.” Lilith sneered and walked towards the bed. Francis panicked and Mwezi was just at a loss. She just
walked out of the protection circle like it was nothing.

“That is Lilith. The greater demon and mother

of one of the princes of hell.”

Mwezi had watched Lilith in movies, and she looked nothing like what she was seeing right now.

“My son wanted to stay by his lover’s side and

watch his son come to so he gave me the pass to answer the call on two conditions, I shall return to hell, and I shall not go
killing whoever is summoning.” She looked at Mwezi from head to toe making her squirm.

“His guess wasn’t wrong; it is indeed my

grandson’s lover.”

Mwezi blushed and Lilith smiled.

“Thank you for being stupid, now I get to see

my grandson. When I learnt that he was a priest, I was irked that he might end up in heaven and I will never see him.”

Mwezi’s heart and brain were in a mess. Was she that horrid that even the greater demon would take a liking to her?

“What do you want?”

Lilith asked absent-mindedly as she stood from the bed and started surveying the room. Mwezi looked at Francis who
was standing next to her silently. He nodded and she asked,

“Please, can I see Pete, I just want to know if

he is alive. Even if it’s only once, please let me see him.”
Lilith loved when people begged her so when Mwezi pleaded she stopped looking at the painting on the wall and turned
to look at her. She stared at her for almost a minute before happily saying,

“You don’t look like you will try to defy me

in my own house. As long you never stop my grandson from visiting you can forever stay with him.” Then she added
coldly, “If you ever stop him, I will smite you.”

Mwezi who was rejoicing at first, froze and thought, “She really is a demon after all.”

Francis now understood why Lilith kept killing Ariel and was suddenly worried for Mwezi. Asmodeus made his choice to
stay away from Lilith and Ariel is always blamed. If Petero does the same, Mwezi will be blamed. Mwezi is only human, if
Lilith kills her, she won’t return like Ariel.

“Are you sure that you want to go with her?”

He asked softly and Mwezi nodded,

“He was a priest, I always thought that I will

never have a chance with him, then this happened and now, I might have a chance. Can’t I at least try and find my
happiness?”

Francis did not answer, he only nodded and patted her shoulder. He was afraid that if he spoke, he would cry. Lilith
walked to the circle and said,

“There is a certain succubus awaiting torture,

so I am leaving. Are you coming with me?”

Mwezi and Francis froze and then looked at each other. Was she really making the right decision? Deciding not to
overthink it, she stepped into the circle. All she was doing, was finding her love.

***
When Lilith walked in with Mwezi, everyone was shocked. This was the first time she had brought to her place a human
who wasn’t to be used for her torture games.

“What, at least she seems better than that

half-breed angel” Lilith said coldly and headed straight for the torture chamber. Mwezi threw Ariel an apologetic glance
and was relieved when she only smiled at her. Wait, Ariel? Petero’s mother? Someone will have to fill her in later. For
now, she stood at the center nervously looking from Asmodeus to Petero. She clearly remembered that he wanted her
head for putting her son in that condition. She looked at Dhiadia who was looking at her thoughtfully.

“You are a very reckless woman, aren’t you?”

Dhiadia addressed her softly. There was no trace of the anger or disgust that was there in her voice before.

“You even dared to summon Asmodeus and

blindly follow LILITH.”

Before she could stop herself, Mwezi moved forward and quickly said,

“I had to know that at least Petero is alive, I

had to know that he will make it, or I wouldn’t be able to live with myself.”

Everyone silently stared at her. Ariel slowly placed Petero’s head back on the table and walked towards her.

“He will live. My son will survive and then

you two can honestly talk to each other.”

Ariel’s soothing voice was so gentle and kind that Mwezi couldn’t help bursting into tears.

“I am so sorry.”

She sobbed and Ariel only hugged her, shushing her.

 “You were only trying to save a friend,
next time just try not to zone out in the middle of battle and try to be vigilant, so you can give him less chances to die.”

Mwezi nodded and kept crying while Ariel shushed her like she was a baby. Asmodeus only shook his head and went after
his mother while Dhiadia only smiled. Ariel amazed her how she could be such a cold person, yet so warm at times.
 EPILOGUE
A Week Later

Petero was back to himself, Asmodo and Asmias were no longer that mad at him. The moment he had woken, and it was
established that he had the energy to breathe, run and as his father said, have sex, Lilith shooed them all out of her house.
She loved when her sons and grandsons visited, but not when they stayed too long, especially with their wives. Petero
smiled as he remembered his mother and father laughing and fighting. Maybe one day, when Asmodo and Asmias were
ready, he could have that too. He was getting some milk from the refrigerator when the sound of a car engine filled the air.

Ever since he returned to Nong’ three days ago, he and Mwezi hadn’t talked. She had gone to see her grandparents
together with Mr. Francis and Nicole while he, had to set up a few things for his new life as he was no longer a priest. To
be truthful, Petero dreaded having a conversation because he knew that it would end in pain. He walked to the window
and saw the maroon range rover parked not far from his door. He silently counted, one, two, three and then there was a
knock on the door. He immediately strode to the door and threw it open. He stood there staring at her dressed in a
beautiful, white, floral dress and flat shoes.

“Can we talk?” She asked and he quietly let her in.

Three hours later, he was done explaining and narrating about his demons and why he faked his death and Mwezi was
amused. They were now laughing at the seat when they recalled how Lilith kinda looked cute while shooing them out of
hell. Accidentally, Mwezi hit Petero with her hand.

“I am so sorry.” She said frantically while trying to rub his chin

with her finger. Petero caught them and looked into her eyes. He wanted to kiss her so badly, but he stopped himself.

“I can’t” He whispered hoarsely and watched a flash of pain

pass through her eyes.
 “You can’t what?” She whispered back, moving in closer to
him, her lips brushing his. If he was going to say that this won’t happen because of his demon sides, then she would steal
her last kiss with him.

“I don’t want to end up hurting you.”

It was clear to her, that he was struggling to let her go.

“Actually…” Asmodo, who had been quiet ever since he had a

talk with their mother three days ago, spoke. “…They said, that even if we are demons, since we are not born of dark
human souls that go to hell, we are capable of love.”

Petero was stunned for a moment and waited hopefully for him to get to the point but this time, Asmias is the one that
spoke.

“What he is trying to say is, as long as I am allowed to still

spread lust, we can try at this love one woman thing.”

Petero was ecstatic that he did not even hear what Mwezi had said, he was just shocked by her act of kissing him. If he had
listened, he would have known that she was bidding him goodbye forever.

Just as he had started responding to the kiss, which was turning passionate with every second, she cut it short and ran.
She was leaving and there were tears dropping from her eyes.

“I know that I am not the smartest when it comes to love,

but I believe that this is the part where you run after her?” Asmodo wittily said and Asmias chuckled. That jogged Petero’s
mind back to reality and he stood, running after her. He caught up with her when she was about to enter the car.

***
Mwezi was startled when he grabbed her hand. She was hurting and just couldn’t do it anymore. She was prepared to
drive him away, but she was crashed against the car by Petero’s heavy body. She could feel the outline of his body against
hers, but it was pure torture. If he wasn’t willing to try, why won’t he just let her be?

“If you could have us as a three souls one man package,

we could try and make it work.” Petero said, breathing heavily. Mwezi was shocked but before she could gather her
thoughts, Petero’s pupils turned navy-blue. From his earlier explanation, this should be Asmias.

“Maybe, just maybe, we could learn to be loyal to you

like our father is to our mother.”

She watched Petero’s head became polka dotted and knew that this time, Asmodo had something to say.

“I will try to not stare at asses, but can I be allowed to

bless lost people by casting lustful spells?”

Mwezi didn’t know whether to cry or laugh so she did both. Few seconds later, her mouth was on Petero’s and by the
differences in the temperature of his lips, it looked like they were alternating. She wrapped her arms around his neck and
smiled against his lips.

“Doesn’t she taste better than all those females?”

Petero couldn’t help but ask and Asmias and Asmodo grunted in unison. Their mind and body were in sync.

“Let’s show her that now she is ours.”

The three voices said in unison as they deepened the kiss and grabbed her ass. Mwezi jumped up and circled her legs
around his waist. This kiss was more intense than any other they had shared, so much that she quickly got lost into it. As
he walked with her into the house, the thoughts, and actions of the three souls mirrored each other, for the first time
Petero felt like the three of them were controlling the body together. When they finally placed her on their bed, Mwezi’s
hands caressed their hair. She broke the kiss when she felt the hair grow longer.
 “Your hair.” She whispered against their skin making them
hard.

“It’s now grey and black.” She continued as she looked at

his face. “Your eyes have changed color. They are bright green now
with cat like slits.”

Asmias, Asmodo and Petero groaned and that’s when it hit them. For the first time, they strongly wanted the same thing,
they were in sync. They all felt like they were in charge of the body. This change was their final form. They all lowered
their head to the crook of her neck and started tracing kisses while caressing her bare skin under the dress. As Mwezi felt
their shaft in her, their kisses trailing on her naked skin. As she moaned and writhed under them the entire night, she
couldn’t help but feel over the moon. Finally, he was hers, no that’s not right. Finally, they were all hers.

THE END.