Mabel _______________________________ Uncrossing her arms Mabel stuck her hands into her pockets and took a more casual posture. This was clearly going to take a while. "Well I don't have a firm answer for you Eric. To either question" She said, sounding surprisingly compassionate for a woman who had locked three men into a room for weeks "I guess I should begin by telling you that I am a telepathic demon. A vampire to be specific. My special ability allows me to read your minds, and also your souls. "You Eric are a Guardian class demon, which is a type of terror. What this means for you is your transformation will be longer than Ashburn, who is a humanoid demon. I won't say what type he is because I can tell he doesn't want me to" She said looking over at Ashburn who was looking away embarrassed to be called out "Anyway..." she continued "I can not read what your final form is but as a guardian you will most likely be significantly larger than you are now, and have dramatic changes to your form. I would guess a couple of months, and Ashburn a month and a half since his soul seems to prefer to do a slow and steady change rather than fast and dramatic. "Now for your second question I will have to provide you some insight into the demon world. We demons have a long legacy, at least as long as homo-sapiens have existed or soon after. During this time we have established many traditions and some of those traditions have become laws enforced by other demons. Although we lack a true government, these laws are basically understood regulations all demons follow and enforce. Its kind of like social customs for humans. "The most important of these have to do with transformations" Mabel looked at the ceiling to avoid their faces "You see each of you either has a father or grandfather that is a full realized demon. These men are responsible for ensuring you transition into demons, and were supposed to be watching you for your whole lives and turn you before you were at risk of death. Or if not them another member of your demon family. Somehow the three of you got lost. I have no idea how, but right now there are many demons that would kill me for transforming you. Unsealing your soul is a sacred rite I have taken from your families. This is unforgivable and I am stuck with the risk of what they will do when they find out. "But that isn't your problem. Nobody in demon-kind would blame you for what I did. Right now I am trying to find your families, because they are supposed to help you transition into demonhood. So the answer to your second question is again that I do not know. It will be at least a few months since we can't transport you while you are weak, and maybe even after your transformed you'll be stuck here until I can find somebody to pawn you off on." Ashburn ______________________________________ Ash stared in silence as Mrs. Mabel gave her revelations. Not only did she reveal that Ash was a humanoid demon (something he had been hoping for) but that he had a whole family in this new demon world. A family that had abandoned him to rot in this cold cellar without even watching him. But it also answered a major question in his life. His mother had been adopted, and even though she knew her biological mother she had refused to answer anything about his grandfather. All she said was she was a scared teenage mother and had put Ash's mother up for adoption as soon as she was born. "That mother f*cker" Ashburn mumbled as tears started running down his cheeks "THAT MOTHER F*CKER KILLED MY MOM!!" he cried shrilly "He could have saved her! He could have unsealed her! But he let her die! He abandoned his own daughter and grandson!" He sobbed into his lap, his burger sitting untouched on the end of his cot Mabel __________________________________ Mabel reached her mind out gently to read Ash's, and trough the connection she could feel his pain. It was a pain that was so deep it even hurt her leather thick heart. Ash had always felt proud of his family, and never even though anything bad about his unknown grandfather. Through the connection she got flashes of memory. Ash playing with his mom in the swings, Ash naming a stuffed bear "grandpa" and giving it to his grandma. So many memories of a full and loving childhood, all lived with him thinking his grandpa was some mysterious good guy. Ash had even dreamed he was anything from a secret spy, to a guardian angel. A small smile crossed her face at the irony. Ashburn was a fallen angel demon, and she could tell he would be a good one. A gentle heart combined with a fighting spirit would make him a hell of a demon. Looking at Eric she gestured with her head towards the sobbing kid sitting on the middle cot. After all she sure as h*ll wasn't going to be able to make the guy feel any better.