Chapter Text
A circle of ancient runes is drawn into the floor. A piece of chalk runs along the outer circle, until it meets its beginning. With that, the symbol is complete. Flames roar to life in the center of the circle, and a demon materializes within them. Light red skin, with dark violet hair, pale gold horns and fangs, and muted lavender wings spread behind. In a single word, she’s beautiful. Those are the thoughts racing through the mind of the girl kneeling in front of the circle. She’s awoken from her stupor when she meets the demon’s eyes, bright red slits in pools of the darkest black. She stumbles, and begins to read off of a paper she had prepared.
“Oh great demon. I have called you here to this world to fulfill my greatest wish. Please, erase my birth from history. Make it so I never existed. Please.”
A look of shock crossed the demon’s face. She paused for a moment, then she spoke. “I am sorry, Luna Mathews. But I could never do such a thing. Regardless of anything, I could never deprive this world of your beauty. “
Luna began to cry. Softly at first, and then the tears flooded forth. “What beauty? I have nothing to live for. My mother is dead, my father spends most of his time on business trips so we don’t starve, I don’t have any friends, everyone at school is terrible to me. Please. It would be better if I wasn’t here”
“That is the furthest thing from the truth, Luna. Let me tell you something. In our roll as demons, we need to see the deepest depths of someone’s heart. To do this, we are able to see someone’s soul, the core of their identity. And your soul. Your soul is the single most beautiful thing I’ve ever seen.”
“But then… why? Why do they all hate me? The things they say… the things they do…”
“Those people. Those people are absolute monsters. And that’s coming from a demon~. You absolutely do not deserve that. Please. Listen. You have to trust me when I say that you are the most beautiful, gorgeous, wonderful person I’ve seen in the last 450 years. So please, don’t take that amazing soul away from this world.”
“But how? How do I? How do I survive, when I’m so lonely? When I hurt so much?”
“I’ll help you. I… I can’t give you what you asked for. I absolutely can not do that. But I can give you something else. If you’d like… if you’ll have me… I’d be honored to be your friend.”
“A friend? A real friend? You actually want to be my friend?”
“Of course, Luna. I’d like nothing more than to be the best friend I can be for you.”
“Then… can I have a hug?”
“Of course Luna. Once we make the deal official, I’ll be free to do anything and everything I’d need to do as your friend. All I need is a physical sign of contract.”
“Right. Would a pinky promise work?”
“That’s absolutely adorable. Yes, a pinky promise would do wonderfully.”
The two reached their hands into the circle at the end of the ring, the only place that both a sealed demon and someone outside the seal can make contact. They extended and linked their smallest fingers. “Luna Mathew, I swear, on all that I am, that I will be the very best friend you could have, for as long as you’ll have me.”
With that, the seal shifted. The ring flowed, then moved up through the air and shrank into a ring of tattoos around Luna’s wrist. Lilith was free. And now, she could do what she had wanted to do since the moment she was summoned.
Lilith grabbed the girl before her, and pulled her into a great big hug.