"Anastasia? Are you in here?" I called, creaking the door to my room open. I peered inside the dark room, no response. I flicked the makeshift switch I had the technicians create and the crystals flickered to life.
I'll explain more about them later, as they will be important.
Anastasia lied hidden under the sheets in my bed with her back turned toward me. "Anastasia? Are you awake?" I asked, slowly walking toward the bed. She sighed and turned toward me, her face flushed red. She's been crying to say the least. My sheets looked a little burnt. Flammable tears?
"Hey... Tyler." She sniffled.
"Hey, Anastasia." I replied, unsure of what to say next. I was going to try and let my body and subconscious do its thing. "Do you mind if I sit down?"
"Oh... it's your bed after all..." she sighed, sitting up. I sat down next to her and she said with her hands on her knees, her legs hanging over the side of the bed.
"Are you okay? I want to hear what's on your mind." I said, placing a hand on her's.
"I'm not okay!" She shouted pulling away. "I... Sorry. I'm just... not sure what to think." She looked down at her hands, tightly gripping her skirt. "I shouldn't have come with you. I know that you didn't know what your abilities did, but I'm just trying to figure out what will happen to me."
"What do you think could happen? You're a living, breathing... human? Humanoid? I'm not helping..." I mumbled.
Anastasia chuckled for a second before returning to her depressed state. "You could say I'm a demon. I'm happy you'd rather think of me as a human." She weakly smiled.
"Anastasia." I grabbed her hands. "I've never seen you as anything else but human since you've shown me this form. What do you think could happen?"
Anastasia was momentarily in shock. After seeming to clear her head, she practically tackled me into a hug and she ended up on top of me, gripping me as if she would lose me if she let go even just a bit. "Tyler, you don't know how thankful I am for having met you." She said, her head resting on my shoulder.
"You realize you also changed my life too, right?" I asked her, now with my hands wrapped around her waist.
She sniffled and pushed herself up on me, looking down at me with a smile. "I know... I'm glad we met each other, but I can't help but throw my mind into the darkest place." She lied down on me again. "Most demons have a chance at rebirth. If a demon hasn't committed any crimes or done anything evil, they could be reborn as a human and take a chance at going to heaven. That's how it worked, where I came from."
"You're afraid that you won't get that chance here and because of what you saw. Anastasia," I ran my hands through her maroon hair, "If I had to go and fight with this world's laws, I would. You will have a chance at rebirth, I'm sure of it. Now, could you tell me what rebirth means to you? Take your mind away from dark thoughts for a bit." I insisted.
Anastasia pushed herself up and nodded. She then rolled to my right side to lie down next to me. She threw an arm over my chest, still holding me tight.
"Rebirth to me is what I've been fighting for since my family dragged me down to the underworld with them. An angel and the creator had a war and the world's creator won, banishing the angel and other conspirators to the underworld. I didn't agree with my family, but I was under their name and I was banished to hell.
"The angel became the ruler of the underworld and divided the conspirators into different groups, my family thrown into the hellhound group. I was given the other form, but it isn't one I choose to stay in unless necessary. When I was summoned, I felt this weird feeling, like I needed to protect something, and it happened to be you. I turned into a hellhound and tore the attackers' throats out." Anastasia bit down the air, then sighed. "I'm hoping that it doesn't keep me from rebirth."
"Anastasia... I had no clue about your past. I've heard a similar story to this one, but not the underworld. So... were you an angel at one point in time?" I asked her and she smiled for a couple of seconds.
"Yeah... a time long past." She rested her head on my bicep. "Rebirth would be a chance to regain the role I had under the creator. I've yearned for it and I've avoided the ruler for a long time. You could say I'm like the underworld's fugitive. Or... was. I don't know what the... other me is now."
"The other you shouldn't matter to you." I said, rubbing her arm. "You're your own self now. I summoned you on reflex and I'm sorry for that. But you're here now and my closest ally. So please, keep your head up. You're not a duplicate. You're my first and most special partner in this world." I said to her.
Anastasia began to snivel and broke down into tears, wailing in my arms. So it wasn't flammable tears. Instead, it was her hair sparking flames and I held her while making sure I didn't catch fire in the process.
When she calmed down, we laid down and stared up at the white ceiling above us. "Tyler... I just wanted to say thank you for everything." She gripped my shirt and warmly smiled, straddling me. Once again, never expected anything like this to happen until I was like thirty... maybe older.
I'm not very outgoing, okay?
"I-I-I-I... you're... welcome." I stuttered like a broken record.
Anastasia smirked, knowing I was uncomfortable. "This you is soo cute!" She giggled. "Don't worry, I'll make a man out of you someday." She walked her right hand up my chest. "But for now, you can stay just the way you are." She lowered her body down onto mine and kissed me on the lips.
It wasn't a quick one either.
Now I might have short circuited and kinda just fell limp under her. She giggled and rolled onto her side to lie down next to me. "Good night, Tyler. You should be more confident in your abilities. You might not have realized it, but you're a really good listener and a really good person. Don't ever let yourself change." She wrapped her arm around my chest again and my heart was thumping faster than a metal drummer's kick-drum.
"Good... night..." I breathed. Anastasia reached over and flicked the switch I had installed next to the bed and the crystal's light shut off, leaving the room dark. I'm not sure how well Anastasia could see, but I was pretty sure I looked flushed red and practically braindead, because I felt hot all night long.
YOU ARE READING
Summoner of all Trades
Fantasy"Two years to the day, the body of Tyler Collins hasn't been found. In an attempt to save a fellow student's life, he threw himself in front of a car to throw her away from the moving vehicle." "Some claim it was a freak accident, his body not found...
