“I’m sorry about the way I reacted… I was just really surprised to learn what you are is all… I’m not mad or anything.”

Her body slumps down as some of the tenseness relieves. Hearing an apology out of me wasn’t something she was expecting at that moment. She actually wasn’t sure what she was expecting. Having no experience with humans outside of books left her completely unprepared about how we interact with each other.

“Y-you don’t need to say sorry. I was expecting a response like that anyways. My parents warned me about how dangerous it would be for me here. I’m just happy you didn’t kill me.”

We both shared an awkward laugh with each other then went back to silence. I took it as an opportunity to sit up from my laying position.

As I got upright, I made eye contact with Dog, who was sitting and watching me the whole time. His smile and wagging tail helped to further comfort me. Enough so that I was able to ask Naomi “So why are you here?”

A look of glee shown in her eye as she took a deep breath before saying “When I was little I used to read so many books about that human world that I just got obsessed with it, even after my parents told me there was a ban on Dream magic it was still my main goal to visit one day, and now that I’m old enough I finally made the trip here!”

Saying everything in one breath left her panting after she was done speaking. That combined with the goofy smile laid on her face left me with no doubt she was telling the truth. It was actually kind of cute. To see her so enthusiastically talking about my world, I couldn’t help myself but to smile too.

“I’m glad that you were finally able to live out your life’s goal. But wasn’t it hard to leave your family? And weren’t you or your family nervous about you coming here when it’s so dangerous?”

She shrugged her shoulders “Well not really. I mean I have a closer relationship with my parents than most demons do, but there wasn’t too much emotion behind my leaving. They were still worried though. Especially after I told them I was going to try and change everyone’s mind about Dream demons. But honestly that was just my overconfidence speaking. I really have no idea how a 20 year old demon would be able to change everyone’s minds.”

Every word she said sounded so nonchalant, but also a bit restrained. It felt like she was holding back a bit. Which of course was all my fault for yelling at her. I was actually kind of afraid that she wouldn’t want to stick around me anymore. And for some reason that just made me sad. So I had to do something to make sure she stayed.

“If you’re really planning on doing that, then would it be okay if I still showed you around? Because I had a lot of fun today.”

A lot of restraint was used to hide her smile and to not explode in excitement “Really? So then… does that mean I can still stay here in your house with you?”

As soon as I responded “Yes. I would love for you to stay here.” all that restraint went away and she threw her arms up in excitement “Oh my gosh thank you! You have no idea how much that means to me!”

Seeing her invisible tail aggressively wagging got a giggle out of me. And that giggle distracted me enough that I wasn’t preparing myself for when she suddenly leaned over to give me a hug.

Having her hug me for the first time was nerve-wracking. My hands hovered above her body as I didn’t know if I should hug her back. Though as the hug went on, my hands slowly lowered until I placed them on back where her wings hand grown from.

“Your body is so warm! It feels so nice!” she said through a giddy laugh with her head pressed against mine. Which I shared the same sentiment. The body I was holding on to was just as warm as mine. And that heat felt so nice after the last four years felt so cold.

As my body began relaxing and sinking into the hug, Dog barked to snap me back to reality. I immediately take my hands off of her and pull back. It was hard to look at Naomi so I gave all my attention to Dog “Sorry about that. I didn’t mean to ignore you.”

While scratching his hips and watching him kick his leg, I thought about the conversation we were having before I was put to sleep. About Dog actually being a demon. It was such an unbelievable thought that I was tuning it out until that moment. But now that it was in my mind, I needed to know more.

“Naomi… what you were saying about Dog being a demon… that still doesn’t make sense. I should have only been able to summon a spirit.”

She looks down at Dog and pets him with me “It’s the truth though. You’re a demon, right Dog?” he looks up at me and barks from his laying position, then Naomi stops petting him and brings her attention to me “See?”

My head started to hurt after hearing them continuing to say that. I was so confused that I had no idea how to respond. That’s when Naomi gently placed her hand on mine and asked “Would you like to know his name?”

All thought instantly left my head and my heart stopped beating for a moment. I looked at her big eyes and dimpled smile that confirmed she knew the thing I’ve been dying to learn since summoning Dog. My voice didn’t come out the first time I tried. But after a second attempt, I was just barely able to squeeze out a hoarse “Yes.”

She giggles and gives Dog a quick glance before telling me “His name is Hama, and he’s been really excited to tell you.”

Hearing that made me flinch. My head shot over to him, where he was now standing and wagging his tail “Y-your name is Hama?” he instantly barked in response and spun around in a circle once. After which he kept barking hard enough to lift his front legs off the ground with each bark.

My eyes began to water up. Hama stopped his barking and braced himself for when I picked him up. I held him close to my chest and tightly hugged him with both arms “Hama, I finally know your name!”

The happiness I was feeling in that moment hadn’t been felt by me for a long time. My body felt lighter and my heart more full. He began licking my face as I kept saying his name over and over again. I was trying to make up for the four years that I missed.

After Naomi had felt she gave us an adequate amount of time to celebrate, she continued talking “Yeah he’s been begging me to tell you the whole time… so sorry I kept it from you… but it is a little intimidating talking to him.”

With most of my attention on Hama, I didn’t think to much into what she had said “Why would you be intimidated by this little guy?”

“Well it’s not every day that you get to casually speak to an elder like this. I mean I’ve read about demons like him in books, but I never thought I would meet one as powerful as him in real life!”

I instantly halt the affection I’m giving him. She’s got my full attention now. I held Hama out in front of my with both of my hands to look at him. He was giving me a smirk as I asked Naomi “What do you mean by him being a powerful demon?”

She cranked her head to the side “Well you know, he’s been alive for a really long time and built up his strength quiet a bit. Did you not know that?”

When I looked back to him, his eyes were looking up and away from me as he was pretending to not be flattered “No, I didn’t. But if that were true, and he really was this super powerful demon, then why would he choose to be a Pomeranian as a familiar?”

He turned to Naomi where the two had a quick conversation before she relayed to me “Because he’s cute!”

I looked back at Hama, and his ears were now pulled back with his head pointing down but his wide eyes looking up at me. I say to him “Okay you don’t have to prove it to me. Don’t I tell you all the time that you’re cute?” which he gives me a quick kiss on the nose as response.

Even though the moment was really nice, there was still so many unanswered questions. There was still so many uncertainties about what was happening and all I wanted was some clarification “Then does that mean I somehow summoned the wrong familiar? Or is he just the first demon for Fire witches?”

She laughed as if that were a silly question “Of course he’s in the right place! You just have him pegged for the wrong magic!”

My head flinched back in confusion. And before I could ask about what she meant, she casually blurted out “He can’t use Fire magic, because he’s actually a Blood demon!”

There may have been some laughing going around, but I didn’t find anything funny. All I could do was stare at her with my mouth open in shock. What in the world was happening? First I hugged a demon that I was taught to be extremely dangerous, and now I’m being told I’ve used the wrong magic my entire life? Someone must have been pranking me, right? Because there’s no way this could all be real.

“No no no, that’s not possible. You’ve seen me do my Fire magic, right? So that could only mean I’m a Fire witch. How are you saying I have a Blood familiar when I can’t use Blood magic? This all must be a mistake right? Yeah that’s really the only thing that makes sense! It must have been a mistake when I summoned Hama!”

Naomi could see how white my face had gotten and could feel the panic filling up inside of me. She put her hand on my shoulder and spoke to me in a soft tone “Evelyn… it’s not possible for there to be a mistake. A demon being summoned isn’t random. They’re able to find a perfect pairing through meditation and are usually bonded to you before you even know what type of magic you possess. Hama has been tied to you for almost your entire life. He’s where he’s suppose to be.”

It was hard to find the words to match was I was thinking. I had to look down because even just making eye contact with Naomi felt hard. My brain was a complete scrambled mess and I was surprised to get any words out at all “But… I’m a Fire witch…”

With me short-circuiting, Naomi finally realized how vague about everything she had been. So she finally cleared any misunderstandings “That’s true, you are a Fire witch, but that’s not all. Because you’re also capable of doing Blood magic.”

She then gently brought my head up to where we were looking directly into each others eyes “Evelyn. You’re a dual caster.”