Larrel, trying to avidly avoid diving too deep into her brother crisis, continued to back away slowly until she saw that girl Mina with her friend. In that instant it struck her that she'd been holding onto the book this whole time, and now that they'd used it to find the room, she had no reason to keep holding onto it for just herself.
She approached Mina with a somewhat embarrassed, apologetic look.
"Hey uh," she started. "I'm - I'm sorry about earlier I just - kind of got caught up in things and really wanted to find a way out of here. Would you want to look at the book together? You can hold it and! Whatever!"
Adamina lifted her chin and sniffed as she considered Larrel's words. "Of course," she replied, putting on a practiced smile. "I understand. You may continue to hold the book as well, if you'd like."
"And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus." Philippians 4:7
"All that is gold does not glitter, Not all those who wander are lost; The old that is strong does not wither, Deep roots are not reached by the frost."
"It appears to be a central room, obviously," said Edwin, glancing about once more. "There are quite a few doors for us to choose from. Not all of them require every one of us to unlock, either. We could either go in order or just randomly pick one and hope for the best."
"And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus." Philippians 4:7
"All that is gold does not glitter, Not all those who wander are lost; The old that is strong does not wither, Deep roots are not reached by the frost."
"We can figure something out!" Maahes protested, hugging her just a little bit tighter. "I've seen so many things while traveling. Something has to work, Auryon."
"Maybe," she murmurs, not very optimistic about finding one - or having Apophis let her find one - but glad that there seems to be someone on her side.
Until he finds out, the creature whispers in the back of her mind. Because you know he will, and when he does, he will see what you truly are - a monster.
I'm human, and I always will be.
You don't have to be out of Hell to have the devil in you.
"All that is gold does not glitter, Not all those who wander are lost; The old that is strong does not wither, Deep roots are not reached by the frost."
"I mean," Maahes continued on, oblivious to Auryon's internal debate with Apophis, "there's nothing to say that you can't go in a statis pod if we're unable to find one before you become free."
"I sold my soul, Leo, there's no going back from that. The moment I signed that deal it was set in stone - I literally belong to Apophis and a deal isn't something that's easily broken."
"All that is gold does not glitter, Not all those who wander are lost; The old that is strong does not wither, Deep roots are not reached by the frost."
He thought for a moment. That wasn't the sort of thing he could easily respond to, especially when it was such a sensitive topic to the person he was talking to. But he wanted to help her, despite not even knowing where to begin. No one deserved that. Not even someone who had signed their soul away to a devil.
"We can find a way," he said. "I always do. Auryon, I'm a demon. I'm bound to whatever my summoner tells me to do. It's a horrible, horrible thing for a person to live through. But haven't you noticed? I'm here on my own right now. I'm exploring the universe, and no one is controlling me. My-my last summoner died. Her charge gave me more freedom than I could ever imagine. You just have to keep holding on. It's taken me centuries upon centuries upon centuries to get to this point in my life, but I'm here now talking to you. Back when I was serving Ra, I thought that was an impossibility. But I'm finally like everyone else in the universe, Auryon. I'm free. And you can be too."
He fell silent. That was all he could say about the matter; even if he tried to say more, he doubted it would change her mind in any way that this conversation had not. This was the farthest he was going to get with her. But there was one thing he really needed to clarify, and he wanted to be as open as he could with her. "I kind of lied a little bit earlier," he admitted. "My name isn't Leo. That's just the alias I use when traveling to other worlds. My real name is Maahes."
Auryon tenses a little at the word 'demon,' but it's a word that could mean a lot of things to a lot of people - at least, Apophis didn't sense him as one, not in the same way she was one.
So, he knew it too; the binding if liberty, the complete lack of control and the inability to fight it. The guilt, too, probably. What kind of master would summon a demon and ask it to do good in the world?
Then came the matter of names. She didn't use her birth one. She never did; it was stupid for an assassin, and she didn't want her past uncovered. People knew she was a bit off her rocker. They didn't need to know that she'd actually been institutionalized for it nor did they need the details. But could she really call it her real name by now, the same pair of words that brought up so much, that Apophis used to further twist her already-confused mind?
". . .I. . .I've gone by a lot of names," she says. "Four, actually. Auryon is the one I'm used to being called by, though." Auryon pauses. "If. . .If y-"
Now, now, child, let's not go plotting against our master, shall we?
Her breath catches and she silences without reply to the snake.
There we go. Was it really that hard?
"All that is gold does not glitter, Not all those who wander are lost; The old that is strong does not wither, Deep roots are not reached by the frost."
"Auryon?" he asked. It sounded like she had been about to say something, and Maahes was getting the sneaking suspicion that she hadn't because Apophis cut her off.
You have to write the book that wants to be written. And if the book will be too difficult for grown-ups, then you write it for children. — Madeleine L'Engle, Author
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