Someone had finally summoned her. Someone had finally, finally summoned Jasy. See, the thing with summoning demons, is that they have to (almost) exactly match the criteria that the summoner specified. Or rather, the demon had to be able to deliver what the summoner was seeking. And since most summonings were motivated by greed or lust or despair, Jasy rarely got a chance to leave. 

Her moral — or rather, amoral, for demons at least — failing was that she really meant humans no harm. She didn’t want to hurt people. She didn’t want to scare them. She didn’t want to fetch them riches, or warm bodies, or death. She just wanted to be a part of something that was so vibrant, so alive, so joyous. She wanted life, and the only way to get it was to be summoned out of the abyss. But demons that meant people no harm and simply wanted to coexist were not in high demand. 

Well. 

They weren’t in demand at all, anymore. 

Jasy was ruminating on this when she felt it. A tentative tug somewhere in her mind, someone hesitantly reaching out for her energy. And then the pathway opened up, flames erupting in front of her, the doorway to the human world opening right. In. Front. Of. Her. She stared a moment in shock. Truthfully, part of her didn’t believe it was real. And the doorway already seemed so wavery, like it might snuff out at any moment. Whatever the summoner was doing, they seemed very unsure about this. 

Part of Jasy felt guilty for capitalizing on unsurity; she felt like maybe she should stay in hell, and preserve whatever peace of mind they still had. But summons rarely came for her, and she so desperately wanted to live. 

So with mounting trepidation and excitement, she stepped through. She was not wasting this opportunity. 

And that was how she found herself staring at the blank door that some skinny boy had run out of and slammed just a moment before. He had seemed rather surprised to see her, which was just a touch concerning because if he had summoned her accidentally…well, that was a can of worms she really didn’t want to deal with. So instead, she looked around his room. Earth had clearly changed a lot since she’d been here last. She didn’t know the year of her last visit, but she had felt that she had been lurking in the abyss for quite a long time, and her surroundings seemed to reflect that. 

The boy had an interestingly decorated room. The walls were a soft shade of green, sage or lamb’s ear in tone. Watercolor paintings and inkings decorated the wall and little pieces of paper folded into little shapes hung from the ceiling. His bed was neatly made up with grey sheets, and in the corner there appeared to be a desk, cluttered with papers and books and strange looking, shiny devices. Behind her lay a smoldering pile of ashes in a heavy metal dish. She crouched down to examine it, running reddish brown fingers through the still warm ashes. Jasy was mesmerized with the sight of her fingers, the physicality of her body, with the way she could feel the residual heat from the fire that must’ve burned and the cool air that flowed in from an open window. Her thick waves of brown black hair softly tickled her neck and the back of her head, and the drapey black dress that hung loosely off her shoulders was a little bit coarse and a little bit soft. 

Abruptly, she heard the latch on the door click and it swung inward to reveal the boy from before, looking wary and a touch panicked. He had a thin face with vaguely elfin features: large brown eyes, a small nose that pointed ever so slightly upwards, and somewhat pointed ears. A mop of curly brown hair tumbled over his forehead and into his eyes, cowlicks sticking up all over, the somewhat close cut sides and back doing absolutely nothing to tame the thick mane. 

He peered out from under this mess to stare plaintively at Jasy, looking very, very out of his element. 

“You summoned?” she asked simply, not entirely sure what to do with this blatantly confused human. Tthe summons had felt hesitant and tentative, as if the summoner himself didn’t entirely have faith in the merit of summoning a demon. (A good policy to have that; a good rule of thumb to have is not to trust demons as far as you can throw them. And they’re at the very least, people-sized. You can’t throw them very far.). 

This seemed to snap the boy out of whatever panic induced fugue he was marinating in, and he replied, “Yes! Yes, I summoned you. Um, not you specifically. Just. A demon. Any demon—well, a nice demon, who wouldn’t, you know, demand my first born child or my soul or whatever…” 

Jasy blinked, her brows furrowing in concern.  “I assure you, I have no intention of stealing either your child or your soul. I don’t want to steal anything of yours, truthfully.” Was this the reputation of demons in this world? Jacy thought. No wonder he had raced out of the room like a cat on fire. He must’ve been fearing for his life. 

(If you must know, he wasn’t. He just panicked. He truly had not expected the summons to work.)

The boy just stared at her blinking for a few moments. 

“Um right, so…uh. I don’t really, I don’t really have any kinda wish or pact to make or anything. Like, I don’t have any particular reason for summoning you in the first place…I was just, I was just bored I guess.” He rubs the back of his neck awkwardly, as Jasy felt concern welling up deep inside her. If there’s no reason for her to be here, then— 

“So I guess, I guess you can go back to where you came from? The void, or hell, or—” 

“No!” She lurches towards him, the salt circle preventing her from going any further as he reels backwards. She didn’t mean to shout, didn’t mean to frighten him, but she was so desperate. She couldn’t go back to that empty, lifeless place, not when she was finally here, in the human realm, alive for the first time. 

“Please,” she begged, in a softer voice. “Don’t send me back. I promise not to hurt you, or anyone else. I just can’t go back. I can’t,” her voice breaking slightly on the last word. 

He said nothing, still pressed flat against the wall, but his eyes softened. Maybe it was the fear in her voice, or the fact that she was the one begging him for mercy, for amnesty, but eventually he sighed, running a hand through already tousled curls. 

“You promise that? You promise that you will do absolutely no one any harm while you’re, while you’re here?” he asked her, waving a hand loosely around to emphasize. 

Jasy nodded emphatically. “Yes! Yes, I swear it. I shall not intentionally harm anyone while I’m on earth.” 

He eyed her for another minute, then abruptly dropped to the floor, sitting in front of her. He busied himself for a moment wrapping his frankly enormous knitted sweater around himself for a moment. Fidgeting with his cuffs, he finally said, “Look, if this is going to work, we need to set some ground rules. Honestly I don’t, I don’t really think I should just let you loose in the world? I promise I’m not trying to keep you captive, it’s just…I don’t know, you’re a demon, you’re magic, I don’t even know if you know how the world works. You’ve got elf ears and horns for god’s sake!” 

Jasy self consciously lifted a hand to her ears, felt the points of them, so unlike this boys softly curved ones. 

“And more than that,” he continues, “I summoned you here. One way or another, I’m responsible for you now and it’s not really like you can get by in the world by yourself. You don’t even look old enough to be living by yourself. You look…you look my age…” he trailed off, staring at her still. Jasy didn’t say anything. She didn’t know where this was going. He blinked, resetting seemingly, from whatever thoughts he had been lost in. He did that a lot, she noted. 

“Right, so. My mom can’t know you exist. At least, not like you do now. She’s fine to think you’re a friend I guess—” 

“Is that what we are?” 

“Um…I don’t- I don’t have an answer for that. Anyways, you need someplace to stay for now, and it can’t be in my room. Because my mom would know and besides, I don’t know you and you don’t know me and that would be…yeah. Either way! My closet is large enough that you can sleep there and have privacy and all that. We can talk about this more tomorrow morning,” he finished around a yawn. “That sound good?” 

“Yes! That sounds wonderful,” Jasy replies, gratitude welling up inside her despite this boy’s chronic hesitancy. “Thank you. Your kindness…it means a lot to me.” 

He nodded, looking unsure of what to do with that information. Finally, he nudged a toe through the salt circle. Then he stood up and offered her a hand, hauling her to her feet. “I’m Staples.” 

“Jasy,” and for the first time that night, he smiled.