Lily had heard the approaching newcomer before she saw them, but didn’t react to it. Cassandra caught her eyes as she noticed the approaching woman, but received only a nod; an acknowledgement that she had noticed it too. She kept talking as if nothing had happened, ignoring the existence of the stranger until, finally, she came close enough to be heard, at which point she energetically introduced herself. The title she used grated on Lily’s nerves but it was a level of irritation she could easily keep hidden. Cassandra simply quirked an eyebrow at it, glancing cautiously at the golden-haired woman. 

Privately, in her own mind, Cassandra thought it somewhat amusing that her mother’s silver-white hair was offset by the golden-blonde of the other woman. Entertaining though it was, there were still alarm bells ringing. 

Neither Cassandra nor her mother had met this person before, that much was easy to spot due to how silent Lily had become. Not only that, but years of living with her had taught Cassandra to spot the subtle expression, that showed up even when her mother did her best to stay unexpressive. 

Mist, like millions of glittering tiny specks, started appearing around them in a cloud, as Lily finally deigned the meet the eyes of Malvvosia, as she had introduced herself. She found herself annoyed at the title, finding it far too much like those of the angels’. Pretentious. Arrogant. She decided in this moment that there was very little chance of her getting to like this individual, but it did raise the question as to the identity of Malvvosia. Friend, foe, or something else? 

[i]Most likely something else,[/i] she told herself and narrowed her eyes, letting the silence reign. She noticed the odd irises the other possessed; orange. Not a colour possible for a human, save for whatever few stumbled upon some sort of magic. She also had not reacted the way other humans had. Lily knew how those of the third realm reacted when they saw her in her current form, and it was always either wonderment, awe, or lust. Malvvosia possessed none of these, and the eyes… 

“You’re a demon,” she said and it wasn’t a question.

Malvvosia smiled wide, showing all her teeth and stretching her face somewhat to pull off such a large grin. The smile continued to grow and began to almost completely wrap around her head. Her form fluxed and undulated, limbs elongated, features blackened, and an extra set of eyes sprouted from her forehead. Without lowering her hand for the handshake she had yet to receive Malvvosia transformed into her more prefered appearance, giving her wings a flap and sending ragged feathers all over the place. “Perceptive thing you are. Was it the eyes? It’s always the eyes. For some reason I can’t get them a regular colour. Orange was the best I could muster.” 

“Among other things,” Lily replied calmly, “especially your lack of reaction to seeing two creatures neither demon, angel, nor human.”

Malvvosia managed to smile just a touch wider, any more the ends of each side of her mouth would touch behind her head. She left her hand raised, still awaiting the handshake she had initially offered. Mal began to wonder if the demoness before her was familiar with the human ritual. “I’ve been around for a while. Takes something particularly… out of my ordinary… to elicit a reaction.”

“More extraordinary than someone more beautiful than is physically possible?” asked Cassandra, taking a step forward to be beside Lily. She had her arms crossed, staring up at the large demon without fear. She’d seen her mother’s true form, at once less spectacular and more intimidating than this amalgamation of feathers and shadow. “Either your life has been truly spectacular, or you’re lying.” 

“Or she just does not think like humans do, [i]Fayette,[/i]” Lily said and glanced down at the still offered hand. She reached out and took it, allowing some of her demonic strength to come through her disguise, squeezing harder than she had to, while smiling grimly up at this Malvvosia. “But very well then, I am Lily. No superfluous titles.” 

Malvvosia gently shook Lily’s hand, quite pleased to have finally had the gesture acknowledge. She was surprised to find the demoness was clearly trying to squeeze harder than the ritual called for. She wondered if it was some demon variant and squeezed back, doing her best to match the other demons strength, though she found it difficult to restrain herself that much. Upon hearing Lily’s comment about titles Malvvosia’s smile vanished in a flash and she took up a look of sadness and concern “Oh no! That is truly terrible. They are great fun. You should ask a human to help you come up with one, humans have the best titles. I once attended a party where it took a gentleman a full minute to list all of his. I ended up having to kill him, but he did have such a wonderful name. I believe his tombstone was thrice as large to accommodate it.” Malvvosia then realized she had not yet introduced herself to the other demon present and so held out her free hand “Pleasure to meet you. I am Malvvosia, Thrasher of False Kings.” As she said her title again she looked back to Lily and gave a smile. 

Where Cassandra remained inexpressive when the title was repeated, Lily’s eyes narrowed. She knew Cassandra wasn’t complacent—the mist surrounding them was evidence of that—but she was starting to get more and more vexed at Malvvosia. She reached out and put her hand on Malvvosia’s wrist, pushing her hand down and out of the way. A clear sign, which Cassandra picked up on.

“I think there have been enough introductions,” the Half-Demon said. “My name is Cassandra, if you need to know.”

“And again, with no titles,” Lily added quickly after Cassandra. “I could regale you with dozens I have received over the centuries, but they are ultimately useless and serve no purpose. My name is all you need to know if you are to interact with me.” She took half a step forward, putting herself in the way of Cassandra should anything happen. “But that is besides the point. I have not seen you before, so you are not with the council. What are your intentions here? Whose side are you on?” She smiled grimly, wide enough that her elongated canines, akin to fangs, showed. “And might I suggest you answer well, because if your goals run contrary to mine, you will be dead before you can cry for help.” 

“I suppose I don’t need to know.” Malvvosia wasn’t too happy her handshake had been rebuked but did her best to avoid showing her displeasure. She became more displeased as the demoness mocked the titles she found so pleasing. When the other woman made her threat Mal’s initially good mood had vanished. 

She no longer smiled and instead wore a frown that could stretch as large as her smile. Not that anyone could see her frown as it was only the whites of her teeth that revealed her expressions, and her teeth were not showing at that moment. Either she had been mistaken in her decision to introduce herself to the pair or she had managed to anger them somehow. 

In any other case Malvvosia would have killed someone who upset her so without a second thought, but she wished to help protect the humans. Confident in her skills as she was she knew, she could not fight off the forces of heaven and hell alone and would need help. There were no other options, she [i]had[/i] to ally herself with others. “I am here to protect humanity and its’ world. I do not care for you, or any other being but them. And before you threaten someone you should learn a thing or two about them first. I have killed more angels and demons then hairs on that vain head of yours. If, and that if is weak and impotent if indeed, you managed to kill me you would die but mere moments later from the wounds I left you with.” Malvvosia said every word with the confidence, that one can only earn from having actually done the things they boast of. “If you wish to protect the seals, we are not enemies.” At that, Lily’s lips twitched upwards. 

Malvvosia, having addressed every word to Lily thus far, then turned her attention towards Cassandra, the half-demon calmly meeting the gaze of the much larger demon. “As for you. I have seen true beauty, and this creature,” Mal gestured towards Lily, “pales in comparison to them. There is no angel or demon that can match the beauty of a human. We are fake, our features carefully molded by the hands of a deeper power than we understand. You think Lily is beautiful? I see a work of art to be sure, but that is far from a compliment. Any skilled artisan can make something beautiful beyond reality, especially when that artisan can bend reality to its’ whims. It takes a truly special artisan to be able to dip their hands into the chaos of existence and pull out anything but. And yes, my life has been truly spectacular as I have had the good fortune, the honor, to spend it amongst humanity.” 

Lily sighed, then giggled, but not condescendingly, or out of pity. Rather it was out of genuine mirth. The words of Malvvosia might have impressed anyone else, but to Lily they were a joke. “You are not the first to underestimate me,” she said having quelled her laughter. She looked up, narrowing her eyes and tilted her head to the side as she met Malvvosia’s eyes. “Nor will you be the last. But sit upon your tall branch for all you like, it’ll need but a breeze to snap it after all,” she added cryptically. She looked over her shoulder and caught Cassandra’s eyes, giving her a shallow nod. “She’s not an enemy, and she isn’t dangerous. You can relax.” Cassandra dipped her chin, the barest sign of acknowledgement, and the mist around them disappeared. 

Malvvosia, either not noticing the mist or not caring, bent low to look Lily in the eyes on equal levels “I do not underestimate anyone, or anything. I do not think any being beneath me, which is why I make a point to rise up and surpass others. My threat comes not from an underestimation of you, but from confidence in myself to rise to your level should you prove to be above mine. If I say you would die but moments after, it is not because I think you lesser, but because I would make it so.” 

Lily shrugged, a playful smile on her lips. “If you say so, but a confrontation between us would go contrary to our common goals, so let us leave at this shall we?” Her smile widened into a brief grin, before she reigned in her expression. She continued in a casual tone, “But if there i—” Cassandra silenced Lily with hand on her shoulder, earning the half-demon a puzzled look. 

“I’d like to say something, mama,” Cassandra said. “S'il vous plaît?” 

A second passed, the demoness’ brows furrowing before she quietly took a step back and let her daughter take the lead. 

Cassandra looked up at Malvvosia, her gaze flitting between each of the four eyes of the demon, curious rather than calculating. “I think you misunderstand humanity,” she said carefully after a while. “You claim to have lived among them, as have my mother for millennia, but moreso than you two I am [i]part[/i] of it. My father was a human, one of the best of their kind, and I think you are very wrong.”

“Humanity is not beautiful. It is ugly. Disorganised. A chaotic mess of cultures and peoples that at once both want to love and kill each other. They lie, they scheme, they murder and take advantage of each other at every turn, because that is just who they are.” She paused, pressing her lips into a thing line, her brows furrowing. 

Behind her, Lily smiled. There was a fire in Cassandra’s words, one that reminded her of a small child from decades ago. This was her daughter, a demon and a human, and the best of both worlds. The power of the demons, and the defiance of humanity. 

Cassandra continued, looking down. “You call humans real, and both daemons and angels fake… but I think it’s the other way around. Humans lie, cheat, and put on masks, but daemons [i]revel[/i] in what they are, revel in their power and what they are. If a daemon is wrathful, you will know. If a daemon is greedy, you will know. If a daemon is prideful,” she glanced briefly over her shoulder at Lily, a glint in her eyes, then looked back at Malvvosia, “you will know. And angels are the same—Try as they might to justify their actions, they never hide what they want; control. And while others may see it as tyranny, they’ll see it as peace. As being [i]Right[/i]. But not humans. You call yourself the Thrasher of False Kings, so surely you have met kings—humans—who were not what they pretended to be… And yet, maybe none of what I have said thus far is true.” 

She held out her hands, palms up, and above them three small, transparent figures sprang into existence. One had feathery wings, another had hooves and horn, and a third, in the centre, had neither. It was plain, and like any human you would see on the street. The images hovered up until they were eye level with Malvvosia. “We may look different,” she continued slowly, the image of a small, beating heart, and a brain appearing in each of the figures, “but we are all the same inside. We all carry the same seven sins, the same beating hearts, and in the end we all think the same, too.” She pressed her palms together, the figures vanishing. 

“My mother is beautiful beyond compare, any human would agree,” she said calmly. “She is no more false than you, or I, or the angels. Because though we may look different, we are alike as people. Her ability to become another, is no more fake than a human woman’s cosmetics, oui?” 

If not because it would have ruined the mood and any effect the speech might have had, Lily might have applauded the speech. Though there were some things she disagreed with, the greater whole she could get behind. She settled for a wide smile instead, corners of her eyes crinkling as pride for her daughter swelled in her chest. 

Malvvosia tilted her head and regarded Cassandra for a while. While everything she said was the naive ramblings of a child, it still showed a deeper level of thoughtfulness she was not used to seeing in those of her kind. Mal reasoned that might be attributed to Cassandra’s better half. The young half-demon seemed to view all beings as being equal, a laughable thought, but an earnest one. Malvvosia smiled her wide smile and laughed heartily, the top of her head threatening to come off as it was only attached to the rest of her body by a small tab on the back of her head. “Oh my, even when only half of you is there you’re so deeply interesting.” Mal did her best to quell her laughter though it took a moment, something which Lily noticed. “My apologies Sunflower...oh wait. You had given me your name...Cassandra. My apologies Casssssssandra.” Malvvosia liked the way that name rolled off her tongue and elected to start naming humans after the half-demon before her. “You are mistaken, but, you are the best kind of mistaken. I do hope you live as long as I for I have no doubts you will find more truth than either one of us knows right now.”  

Malvvosia giggled and turned to Lily “I do not like you one bit and I regret choosing you to befriend. But I pay my compliments all the same as your daughter is shaping up rather well. You should set her loose on the world for a few millennia.” Malvvosia straightened up and laughed heartily one more, causing both Lily and Cassandra to tense up. 

While not as volatile as her mother, Cassandra was not without her own pride, and the way with which she was treated tested even her patience. She breathed in deeply through her nose, placing on hand on her chest, and breathed out through her mouth. 

“I appreciate your compliments,” she said slowly, interrupting Lily who had just opened her mouth to say something herself, “and yet I am still sorry, that you are unable to see the world as I see it. You pretend to know humans, to speak for us, and to know what we are really like, but you don’t really understand what it’s all about, what we are about.” She looked upon Malvvosia with something like pity, as if she really felt sorry at the demon’s inability to accept that she was in error. “The same arrogance and certainty of your own importance I see in both humans and angels. You may say your title is just for fun, but your acceptance of it tells us that you consider yourself above others—worthy of judging them. Of judging us. If you truly thought humanity superior, you would not allow yourself to judge them. Only our peers can judge each other, and until you realise that none are superior over the other, you will remain ignorant.” She shook her head and stepped away. “I hope you are willing to learn. Until next time, Malvvosia, and thank you for wanting to protect this world.” She smiled sadly at her and turned, saying no more, having surprised even Lily with both her tone and words. 

Yet the elder demoness said nothing either, instead silently follow her daughter towards the spires of Aquapolis, and whatever lay within. Neither looked back.