Jared flinched like she had slapped him. “What?”
She sniffed. “It seems quite obvious to me, looking at these, that you were quite the troubled child, were you not?” She began to flip through the papers. “Breaking a child’s collarbone at age six. Effectively castrating a teacher at age nine. Eating a raw bird?” She looked up at him skeptically. “Explain yourself.”
Jared shifted uncomfortably. “I was young and stupid. Why? Are you trying to say I did those things because I was a demon?”
“Obviously. The only real question is, what were your motivations? Contrary to popular belief, merely inspiring chaos is not a typical motivation for a demon. What were you after in each of these instances?”
“I don’t know!” Jared shouted. “There was no reason. I was just…. so angry all of the time.”
She raised her eyebrows. “That’s a motivation. Why? Angry at the world in general? Or at the ones you harmed?”
“Both.” He shook his head. “I hated everyone and everything without cause.”
“No. You hated everyone and everything without just cause. According to a human philosophy, of course.” She peered at him curiously. “So tell me. What did you think was your cause at the time?”
Jared hesitated. “For what?”
“Anything. The collarbone incident, for example.”
He scowled. “He was picking on someone. Taunting her, pulling her hair. Sure, that’s mean, but that’s a far cry from breaking someone’s neck!”
She sniffed. “This friend. Was she close to you?”
“Not really. We were classmates. Partners for a project at the time, I think. The details are fuzzy.”
She nodded knowingly. “Did you ever pick on a girl?”
Jared blinked. “Uh….” He paused and frowned. “Nothing really comes to mind…”
“Interesting. What about the bird? You just found and ate a bird? Raw?”
“I didn’t find it.” He shuddered. “I caught it and killed it. Squeezed it to death in one hand.” He had been eight years old that time. “I was just hungry.”
She rolled her eyes. “Then I believe my assumptions are correct. Everything I’m reading and that you are telling me indicate that you are of the Perronaught line.”
At his blank stare, she went on. “I suppose the closest thing you would know of to a Perronaught would be a Dragon.”
He scoffed. “A dragon? So can I like transform or something?”
She pinched the bridge of her nose. “Those myths are almost entirely symbolic, not literal. Leave it to humans to use winged lizards to represent what they cannot hope to understand by themselves. Perronaught’s are juggernauts of unreasonable proportions. Due to their rarity, little is known about them save one thing. They are virtually immortal.”
Jared cocked his head to one side. “If I’m actually immortal, why do I need your protection?”
“I said virtually. They can be killed, even if the method is kept rather secret. Why do you think they are so rare?” She pursed her lips. “Humans are instrumental in the process, that much is sure. As for the rest…” She shrugged. “If you ever do discover the secret to your demise, I would advise you to keep it VERY secret. There are many Lords that would do a great deal to learn that particular bit of trivia.”
“Is that it? Basically I’m just really hard to kill?”
She chuckled. “Oh, no. That’s simply the only thing we know for certain about your abilities. Fire may be involved, as may flight, depending on the truthfulness of the human myths.”
“More important than your particular gifts is how to strengthen yourself.” She sighed. “You know nothing of ‘magic’, do you?”
“Nothing more than what you’ve told me.”
“From the beginning then.” She took a deep breath and put her hands together under her chin. “Unlike modern scientific beliefs, matter is not universally categorized. Rather, there are four states that it can be sorted into, only two of which that are easily detected.”
“First, there is terrestria, the physical world that you are familiar with. Rocks, metals, elements and minerals all fall into this category. Second is phenomena, categorized as most living things. Animals, plants, you and I all contain phenomena attributes. Third is psyche, attributed to conscious living things. This is harder to detect and measure and is only present in us and humans.”
“Last is the noumena, what you might think of as a soul. It is nearly impossible to truly identify, and it is only possessed by humans. The philosophy of many demons is based around the notion that we have only this life, while humans may continue on elsewhere. Therefore, one should claim what they can from them.”
“Wait, wait, wait.” Jared held up a hand. “You’re telling me I don’t have a soul?”
Miss Senguine smirked. “Can you see why a church going demon sounds so ridiculous? You don’t have a soul. We don’t have many facts on the afterlife for humans, but we have good reason to suspect that they will continue existing long after they leave this mortal plane. You and I? This is all we’ve got.”
Jared bit his lip. “I don’t believe you.”
She shrugged. “That isn’t my concern. Are you ready for me to continue?”
He nodded, and she went on. “Unlike humans, demons are capable of manipulating higher and more complex forms of matter. The extent of humans is limited control over their psyche and phenomena, their mind and body. We can do much more. Similar to how they can manipulate their body, we can manipulate outside matter. This is what you call magic.”
Jared nodded slowly. “Okay. So what makes demons different from each other?”
“A good question. Mostly it comes down to natural talents in different manipulations. Designating a human as ‘creative,’ for example, would be a shallow analysis. Are they an artist? A singer? A writer? Some bloodlines have a fondness and familiarity with moving stone, while others are skilled with fire. Some possess powerful control over the psyche, while others are effective at moderating their phenomena.”
“So what are your powers?”
Miss Senguine pursed her lips. “I’m not sure I want to divulge that information at the moment. I would still like some secrets, you know.”
It was worth a shot. If she was mind-controlling him somehow, he would’ve liked to know. “How do I get stronger?”
“Now we’re getting somewhere.” She stood and began pacing. “There are two methods, both of which are rather important. You need to gain control and skill to properly use your gifts, as well as increase your total capacity.” She stopped to look at him. “Think of human wrestlers. Skill is useful, but ultimately size adds more to the fight. Very few one-hundred-pound men could take on a heavy-weight champion, regardless of their training.”
“To increase your ‘size’, so to speak, you simply need to eat.”
Jared blinked. “Eat? Like, food?”
“No. It depends on what nourishes your other gifts.” She tapped her nose with a finger. “Demons can eat a variety of things, which humans provide in copious amounts. For example, when the soul leaves the body, there is a rather large outpouring of energy. Many demons can consume this energy to sustain themselves. In other words, they can eat Death. Some devour psychic energy in the form of powerful emotion, while others can transform massive quantities of normal calories into traces of demonic energy. In your case, however, I believe you feed on feminine essence.”