“You’ll be fine.”
END OF BOOK ONE
CHAPTER ONE
Although the classroom for the first course, “Introduction to Demonic History”, wasn’t impossible to find, Lamia made sure Sophie was in the right place, at the right time, which meant ten minutes earlier. Taking in her surroundings, Sophie noticed the classroom was quite small, with a whiteboard and a video projector at the front. There weren’t many students, as this introductive course would only last two weeks, so the newcomers would get used to their new position as defenders of mankind before moving on to the real, complete course of Demonic History, where they would get to study the “Ars Goetia” with all its demons, enigmatic ranks, and complicated sigils.
Sophie was just about to open her history book when a petite blonde stopped right in front of her desk.
“Mind if I sit here?”
Her voice was loud and cheerful. The girl was practically bouncing on her feet, her flowery, frilly skirt seeming to have a will of its own. Sophie was happy to make new friends. “No. Please.”
“I’m May.”
“Oh, right! I’m sorry, I didn’t recognize you. Sophie.” The girl looked entirely different since the first time Sophie had seen her, at the Midnight Ceremony. Her hair was tied up in a messy ponytail, and she wasn’t wearing any make-up, which made her look very young.
“Nice to meet you.” May sat down next to
Sophie and started taking her books out of her bag. “Did you manage to read anything?” She motioned to her desk-mate’s History.
“No. I arrived three days ago and everything happened so quickly. I didn’t get the chance.”
“I came here last week. I went through three or four chapters. The first ones are quite boring. History and stuff. Except when you get to the Pantheon.”
“Right.” Sophie remembered that was exactly what she had intended to do before May interrupted her. She grabbed the book and turned a couple of pages.
“Here, let me help you.” May took the book from Sophie’s clumsy hands and flipped to page 24. “We have this course with Anahit. Here’s her profile.”
Every member of the Pantheon had one page in the History. On the top right corner of the page, there was a picture of the incubus or succubus, showing them in human form, a detail which was mentioned in a note underneath the photo: Incubus Humanus or Succubus Humana. Sophie made a mental note to ask someone, maybe Lamia, about the real faces of the Lure demons. She doubted May would be of much help. The pages contained little information, though, most surely ending up frustrating the students who were craving for more. Skimming down the page, Sophie read: “Anahit, The Lady of the Pomegranate; born from the seeds of a pomegranate grown in the Gehenna Tree; this fruit is a symbol of fertility and resurrection; Lady Anahit wears a ruby pomegranate on a gold necklace, which is said to have the ability to resurrect the dead.” The rest of the information was rather dry and factual: the studies she had written, the most important cases she had solved, and the way in which she had contributed to the development of the Academy. Sophie decided she hated dates and years. She wouldn’t remember them anyway. Instead, she couldn’t tear her eyes off the picture of the second in rank succubus.
“She’s beautiful,” she said.
“They’re all beautiful. It’s in their nature,” replied May.
“Well, yes, of course. But she’s my… you know…”
“Oh, I see.” Understanding what she meant, May got excited and flipped some other pages. “Mine are Erah and Tarini. We’ll get to see Tarini today in ‘Study of the Ancient Texts’.”
Sophie turned more pages until she found Tarini, The Wandering Star, and Erah, The Lord of the Changing Moon. The names didn’t make sense to her. She suddenly remembered about Ke-sar and wanted to look for his profile, but she didn’t have time as the classroom door opened and a beautiful woman made her way to the front of the room. Beautiful was an inappropriate word, however. Anahit was breathtaking. Sophie remembered the impression Lilith had made on her. She remembered her palms getting all sweaty. Now they were freezing.
?
As she walked between the two rows of desks, Anahit left a sweet scent behind her. That was the first thing Sophie noticed about the ghostly succubus. The air was filled with a fresh, citrus perfume, combined with the smell of winter, of snow and ice, which made the students imagine an arctic landscape full of frozen fruit. It was highly contradictory but, as Sophie would later find out, Anahit was a demon of contradictions. Unlike Lilith, Anahit was tall, slender, missing the exaggerated curves. She wore a long, white dress which delicately caressed her translucent skin. Her wavy chestnut hair fell down to her waist, and her faded blue gaze rested upon the students for a couple of seconds. After she had taken them all in, she smiled warmly and turned on the video projector. Her movements were fast, smooth and elegant.
“What you see in these pictures is the reason for which Lure Academy has been fighting for hundreds of years on behalf of mankind.” As she was talking in a hushed voice, Anahit pointed to the large screen behind her. There was a slideshow with pictures showing women burning at tall stakes, terrified people watching the envoys of the Holy Inquisition chanting prayers, banishing imaginary demons. And then, there were men hanging from the arms, their faces twisted in pain, while monks were interrogating them in unimaginable ways. “It was the year of 1466 AD when the Dark Forces came with the idea of reinventing a medieval weapon against mankind.”
Listening to Anahit’s voice, catching its every inflection, Sophie felt her heart beating faster and goosebumps rising on her skin.
“The Inquisitors were the successors of the Holy Brotherhood, now also known as the Elders, a hoard of blood-thirsty demons that took action between 1184 and 1230 all over Europe. The trials and death sentences didn’t last long, for in those times humans had greater faith and were able to banish the demons who were claiming to make justice in the name of Heaven. Humans were stronger, they were closer to nature and divinity, they fought evil alone and defeated it.”
Anahit made a short pause to make sure her words had the desired effect upon her new students.
“But the Dark Forces knew they would not always be that strong. So, they waited patiently for humans’ faith to weaken, and when that happened a new race of demons was created and sent right in the heart of the Church. The Inquisitors were similar to the Elders, but they were smarter, more wicked, powerful, and deadly creative. They were harder to be identified and banished, especially when humans themselves didn’t know whom to trust anymore. The Inquisitors were cruel. They were never satisfied and they always wanted more victims to burn at their stakes, more souls to feed off and then throw to the depths of Hell. Soon, it didn’t matter anymore if the men and women were sinners or not, they only wanted fresh blood. The incubi and succubi’s contribution did no longer count, for the Inquisitors were slaying sinners and innocents alike. But things got out of control when they began to make no difference between humans and… only half-humans.”
Making another pause, Anahit took the time to fix each student’s eyes with her own.
“Yes, the Inquisitors began to torture and burn even cambions. On the 16th of July, 1840, twelve little cambions were brought to the Office by mere peasants and accused of witchcraft. As some of you may know, young cambions can be easily recognized. Can anyone tell me why?”