The Guardian - A My Inner Demons AU Fanfic

Chapter Eight - It Could Always Be Worse...

Cloud Kitty was resting peacefully on the kitchen counter when the sound of multiple Daemos running through the portal caught its attention, interrupting its nap. It gave a worried look as it stood, watching events unfold.

"Hold on a moment, Asch!" Rhys shouted, exasperated.

"What?!" Asch whirled around, coming to a stop outside Ava's bedroom door.

"We should trust Noi to court Ava."

"Why are we trusting Noi with such a task? This isn't something we can play around with here."

"Asch is right. It should be someone Asch can trust with Ava." Pierce sounded deadly serious.

"And the best person to trust would be myself."

"No, me!" Leif glared at the prince. "Noi hesitates to kill, and Asch, you haven't killed enough!"

"Do not challenge me, Leif. I - "

"Silence!" Rhys sighed. "I understand Noi is probably the lesser option on Daemos, but here on Ee-urth, Noi seems to have an advantage. Humans seem... less suspicious of him. Emerald certainly doesn't suspect any - "

"It doesn't matter! We're going to ensure Noi doesn't fail, or if he does, we take his place."

"How?!"

In one smooth motion, Asch hid his horns and faded from view. "Any more questions?" Hearing no immediate objections, the Daemos prince turned and stalked down the hallway.

"Your Majesty, do not use magic so recklessly! We can't - "

Leif let out a harsh laugh. "I'm for this!" He copied Asch's actions, following close behind.

"Leif, no! We can't run out of - " Rhys cut himself off as he heard a now-familiar sound, turning to see Pierce had also gone translucent. "PIERCE?! You too?!" The bespectacled Daemos gave a loud cry of frustration before he too followed suit. 

* * * * *

Emerald paused her music, taking off her headphones and listening intently: she was positive she'd heard one of the Daemos yelling outside. She sighed as she stood, opening her bedroom door. "C'mon, you guys. Would it kill you to - "

The woman stopped short, surprised to see... absolutely nothing. No Daemos, no Ava or her parents, not even Johnny Cat or that weird fluffy-lavender cat-like "spirit". For the first time in what felt like forever, she was completely alone.

"Nope," Emerald declared, shutting her door and shoving her headphones back down over her ears. She kept whispering "nope nope nopety-nope" until her music resumed, drowning out the overwhelming silence.

'I'm just going to assume they're all staying nice and quiet in their little portal room. If I can get this done, maybe I'll go to the restaurant and see how Ava's holding up.' Feeling better with a plan, she focused on the article in front of her.

Just to be safe, she placed her phone face-up on the desk next to her keyboard. 'Hopefully Ava and Noi don't freak out and blow their cover...'

* * * * *

"This is terrible! I have no idea how to be on a date, I've never been on one!" Ava stared down at her phone, frantically wondering if it was too late to text Emerald and demand step-by-step guidance. She stopped when she noticed Noi staring at her from the corner of her eye. "What?"

Blushing lightly, the smallest Daemos gave a small chuckle. "Thanks for choosing me."

"Huh?"

"It's just... I didn't think I would be trusted with something this important."