Outer Demon

And then there was that matter. By monster standards, Julie and himself were a married couple, now. Meaning that she considered him to be her husband. But when Esther had asked about that, Julie seemed uncertain and hesitant.

"So..." Joshua muttered. "She knows that I'm not certain about her, and was trying to be considerate."

Joshua sighed and sat up, holding out his hands and examining the swirls and lines on his palms. Concentrating intently on his right hand, he willed his power to the surface, and his hand dissolved into a black sludge. He turned his goo-hand back and forth, bringing it close to his eye for examination.

His hand didn't feel any different. It was like the goo was just an alternate form of his flesh, now. Or was his flesh an alternate form of the ooze?

He used his left index finger to scoop up a bit of his ooze, watching it slip off of him. It felt to the floor in slow drips.

Plip, plip, plip.

Joshua had heard a lot of terrible things about monsters. Warnings from books, rumors from travelers, tales from passing soldiers. But what did he actually know about monsters? He had only met one, and she was nothing like what he had expected. She was kind, intelligent, and even gentle.

Realistically, were there any downsides to being a monster? Had he lost something irreplaceable? The Divine Order monks and inquisitors would have said yes, they would have said that he was sick, corrupted. But Joshua didn't feel ill. On the contrary, he had never felt more alive!

His mind flashed back to the memory of his time in the cave before, making him grin. Yeah, that was definitely a convincing reason to accept it all.

He let out a long whistle, letting himself fall onto his back and cradling his head in his arms.

"So, Josh," he chuckled. "Let's recap. You are now a monster made of slime, but you can be human too, apparently. Perks of being a monster include incredible strength, enhanced senses, and amazing sex. And the downsides...? Well, I guess I can't go flaunting my true self around. If I'm a monster, people are going to assume that I'm a horrible, vicious beast."

"Like I did," he sighed, his humor evaporating.

Alright, that was a pretty significant downside. He would have to stay well away from Divine Order personnel in the future. If they learned about him, they might try to kill him.

Fluffy, white clouds were lazily drifting by overhead. Joshua quieted his mind for a while, simply watching them pass. The sky was beginning to grow a bit darker...it would be evening, soon. That meant the celebration wasn't far off.

He heard footsteps approaching from behind the garden box. He had a feeling that he already knew who it was.

"I thought I'd find you here," Esther smiled wryly, moving to lay down next to him.

"Est," he greeted.

"That's me," she sighed. "You know, I came here to try and help you out, but it looks like you've already sorted through your thoughts."

"I think so," he admitted. "I'll go and find Julie soon."

"That's probably for the best," Esther said. "She seemed pretty down when I came back in."

She turned her head and glared at her brother. "You didn't say something cruel to her, did you?"

"Not that I'm aware of," he blinked. "Hey, Est."

"Yeah?"

"Tell me how you learned about Julie."

"Oh, that?" His sister rolled her head back and cradled her head, mimicking his own position. "That was...I don't know, six, seven months ago? I was laying in the grass outside, stargazing."

"I thought I told you to stop doing that," he frowned. "You're going to get sick."

"I dress warmly," she huffed. "Besides, it's not like you're any better. You go out into the forest at night, that's way worse."

"I'm a hunter," he countered. "You're a village girl."

"Julie's a girl, too."

"Julie's a monster."

"So are you," Est frowned, raising an eyebrow at her brother.

"How do you feel about that?" he asked, eyes trained on the clouds.

"Why?" she asked. "Do you want me to feel different? Are you no longer my brother?"

Joshua let out a long sigh, but his lips curled upwards.

"You really do have the heart of an angel, Est."

"So I've been told," she giggled. "Anyway, I saw a dark flash that night. Like a bird flew overhead, but way bigger. And for a second...she was illuminated by the moon. I...saw her face, but I couldn't place it right away. The next day, I was walking by the herbalist's shop, and saw Julie through the window. She happened to look up at that moment, and I put two and two together when I saw that expressionless face of hers."

"Short story shortened," Esther sighed, "we became friends. Started meeting up more and more often. She told me what monsters were really like. One day, she told me that she thought she was in love with you."

"When was that?"

"Almost four months ago," she explained. "But she's apparently had her eye on you for longer than that."

Esther turned her head and looked at her brother seriously, waiting for him to meet her eyes.

"Julie's a good girl," she said firmly. "If anyone here actually has the heart of an angel, it's her, monster or not. So you better make her happy, you got it?"

Joshua blinked at her. His sister rarely looked so serious.

Laughter rose up in his throat. It was a slow chuckle at first, which simmered into a hearty snicker.

"What's so funny?" she glared. Oh, if looks could kill, his sister would be a basilisk!

"It's not that," he cried, sitting up and wiping moisture from his eyes. "It's just...how do you always know the right thing to say?"

"It's my talent," she said seriously. "I have to do something to make sure I'm not 'just a village girl', as you so kindly put it."

"Sorry," he laughed. "Sorry, yeah. You're right, as always."

Standing up, he twisted his upper body around, stretching out his arms. He felt...free. The proverbial weight on his shoulders was gone.

He placed his hands on his hips, nodding confidently.

"You're off, then?" Est asked, still lying on the floor.

"Yep," he grinned. "Need to go set things right."

"Now there's the brother I know," she smiled.

"I owe you one, Est."

"You owe me a dozen," she corrected. When he frowned at her in confusion, she continued.

"I had to see you naked, under my also naked best friend," she frowned, raising an unimpressed eyebrow. "A dozen cookies. You have two days."

"Understood," he chuckled. "I'll do my best not to disappoint."

With that, he walked towards the edge of the roof, and stepped up, placing his foot on the raised lip of the roof.

"Hey!" Est shouted, scrambling to her feet. "What are-"

Joshua laughed and walked off the roof, hearing his sister gasp from behind him. The air rushed past him, and a second later...

Thud! His legs collided with the ground. Ripples tore up through his body, but there was no pain whatsoever, the force of the impact completely absorbed. So, he actually was still made of goo, even in his human form!

"Amazing!" he grinned. He would have to experiment a lot more in the coming days!

Holding his head to the sky, he laughed heartily at the insanity of it all. What fun this was going to be!

Est dashed to the lip of the roof, gripping it and peering over, scowling when she saw her perfectly intact brother laughing his head off.

"Three dozen!" she shouted, glaring daggers at him. "For nearly giving me a heart attack!"

"Sure!" he replied. Still chuckling to himself, he waved goodbye to her and started to walk off.

"Jeez," Est let out a breath, holding a hand over her chest to still her heart. She sat back down onto the roof, placing her hands behind her to support herself. She turned her eyes to the sky - soon, it would be dark enough for the first stars to feel comfortable. She couldn't see them now, but they were still there, of course.

"Thank you," she said, smiling in gratitude. "For giving us Julie."

********************

Opening the door to his home, he saw Julie idling on the kitchen table, sitting in a chair and resting her head on her chin. Her eyes raised when she saw him, and her mouth opened, but she hesitated and closed it again.

"I-" she started. "Um-"

"It's fine," he assured her, dismissing her uncertainty with a wave and giving her a warm smile. He pulled up a chair and sat next to her at the table. "Mind if I go first?"

"Go ahead," she nodded.

"I did some thinking," Joshua started. "I've realized that, Julie, everything you've done...even before last night, you've done everything for someone else. Saving my sister from fever. Intercepting me before I could attack the marauders on my own, making me...this, so we could save everyone. It's all been for someone else."

Glowing like a warm ember, his smile grew.

"Anyone who's that selfless can't possibly be called a monster," he chuckled. "So...I won't say that I forgive you, because you haven't done anything wrong. Not really. So...I accept."

"You accept?" she blinked.

"You," he laughed. "I accept you. And I'm...willing to give this a shot. Us, I mean."

"Really?" she asked excitedly. Her hands rushed to her face, her fingertips spreading out to cover her blush.

Damn, she was adorable.

"Do you really mean that?" she asked.

"Yeah," he nodded. "I don't know much about monsters, Julie. Or nightgaunts, or demon lords...honestly, I don't know much else other than hunting and looking out for my sister. Hell, I don't even know that much about you!"

"But I want to," he quickly added. "Get to know you. To learn about you...who you are, what you like."

Plip, plip, plip, went Julie's tears, splashing onto the table with a sound too faint for anyone to hear.

"Julie?" he asked. "You okay?"

She let her hands fall, revealing her tear-stained expression.

"Yes," she cried, rushing over to embrace Joshua. Wrapping her arms around him, she pulled him in for a tight hug, nuzzling her head into his shoulder. "I have never been this happy before!"

"It is kind of scary," she laughed, turning her head to look up at him. "How good it feels to be like this."

Joshua smiled and said nothing, accepting her embrace and rubbing his hands along her upper back. She was delightfully warm. Feeling her so close, like this...hah. She said that she didn't possess any magic, but that clearly wasn't true.

"Tell me two things," Joshua said softly, gently pulling away from the embrace.

"Of course," she nodded enthusiastically. "Anything."

He looked at her earnestly. Eyes shining with joy, she eagerly returned his gaze.

"Why did you fall in love with me?" he asked. "And when?"

"I have always thought that you were handsome," she blushed, locking her fingers behind her waist. She began to sway back and forth, ever-so-slightly. "Even when I first arrived. But it was around the time when I befriended Esther that I started...finding myself unable to look away from you."

He placed his chin between his thumb and index finger, nodding along as she explained.

"You said that everything I did was for someone else," she smiled, looking to the side. "I think that is true of you, too. Seeing how intense you were when it came to your sister's recovery from the fever, how you dived into the darkest parts of the forest without any hesitation...it...it sparked something within me. I do not really understand how to explain it."

"I think my father used an expression like this," she frowned, trying to recall the memory. "That it was one of those things that you can read and hear about, but you never truly understand it until you see it for yourself?"

"Makes sense," he nodded. "So what did you suddenly understand?"

"I do not really know," she admitted. "I think it might be too simple to say that I suddenly grasped the concept of love, of caring for someone else like that."

"Had you never encountered love before?" he frowned.

"My parents are wonderful people who love each other and their children very much," she said, shaking her head. "I am sorry that I can not find the words to explain the feeling. But I continued to look at you, and I felt like I was getting a better understanding of myself. Of monsters...of everything."

"My mother always told me," she continued. "That I would just know. I would know which human would be the right partner for me. I never understood what she meant..."

Julie locked her fingers together and placed them in her lap, looking down and smiling.

"It was your sister," she explained. "She was the one who helped me understand my feelings."

"Ah," Joshua said, snapping his fingers. "So you explained your thoughts to her, and she figured that you were in love with me?"

"Yes," Julie nodded. "I thought I was sick, at first! I even tried taking medicine!"

She gripped her arm and looked away with an embarrassed grimace. "But my remedies ending up making me actually sick..."

"I guess you were literally lovesick," he mused.

"I still do not understand everything," she admitted. "About why I love you."

"I'm no philosopher," Joshua said, "but nobody ever fully understands love, right? That's kind of the appealing wonder of it, right?"

"Yes," she beamed. "I think so too."

The room fell silent for a time. Looking into each other's eyes with all of the nauseatingly pure love of a new couple, they sighed happily, content to stare at each other for eternity, if the world would allow it. But alas, it would not, and Joshua's stomach grumbled loudly, reminding the pair that they were both quite hungry.

"We should probably get going soon," Julie giggled. "The town square should be prepared by now."

"But, wait!" she exclaimed, snapping her fingers. "You said there were two things you wanted to know?"

"Oh yeah," Joshua nodded. "Last night, you said that Julie was just an abbreviation. What's your full name?"

Her expression darkened instantly.

"It is complicated," she sighed. "And long. You will not be able to pronounce it on your first try."

"It can't be that bad," he said, swatting her reluctance away. "Come on, try me."

"There is one other thing," Julie blushed. "You should know that...to a nightgaunt, revealing one's full name is an important matter. A symbolic one."

"Oh," he exclaimed. "Sorry, I didn't know. Is there some kind of ceremony involved, or something?"

"Well...not really, but I suppose a human might consider it to be." Locking her fingers together again, Julie began to fidget nervously. The blush on her cheeks grew stronger, making her pale skin develop a bright patch of violet.

"It's something that's supposed to be reserved," she explained. "Only for a husband and his wife..."

"Oh," Joshua muttered. "I see."

"B-but, marriage means different things to humans and monsters!" Julie backpedaled. "So, we do not have to do that, if you are not comfortable with the idea! I mean, I do not-"

He held up his index finger and pressed it against her lips, silencing her without a word. She held her balled hands in front of her, her expression trembling nervously. Joshua's expression was blank and unreadable, mimicking Julie's own style. Then his lips curled upward, and he stepped forward, wrapping her in a warm embrace.

"Julie," he sighed. "One way or another, I know that you're going to be a part of my life, now. So...I'm okay with it."

"J-Joshua?" she squeaked.

"I don't really get it either," he laughed. "But remember what you said last night? That we were a perfect match?"

Pulling their bodies closer together, they began to sway back and forth, moving to the rhythm of some unheard song.

"Thing is," he continued. "I was thinking about that, earlier. And...when we were connected...I dunno. I felt like I understood you on some primal level. I mean, we were part of a single body at one point, right? For something that crazy to work...our minds had to be connected in some way, right?"

"Yes," she said into his shoulder. "You are right."

"Mhm," he continued. "I remember feeling this weird sensation. When I was...on your back, I guess, I could barely pull my eyes away from you. I somehow knew that your feelings were genuine. And I just...wanted you. And now, I kind of feel the same thing."

"I mean," he coughed. "Not exactly the same. That was...madness. Burning, insanely intense. This is...different. It's comfortable. Looking at you makes me feel warm. I just want...to be near you."

"I want to make you happy," he concluded. "So if I'm your husband, now...sure. Count me in."

Letting out an excited, squeaky noise, Julie hugged him so tightly that it almost hurt.

"My head," she giggled. "Now it is on fire, too! I am so happy, I think I will go crazy!"

"Is there anything wrong with that?" he chuckled. "I'm fine with going crazy, but only if you go with me."

"Okay," she giggled, pushing herself back a little. "Then, are you ready for your first taste of real madness?"

"Ooh," he laughed. "Sounds sinister."

Winking at him, Julie brought her lips to her husband's head, and spoke into his ear, soft as a feather: "My full name is..."

"...Jul'leKhoi'ali'azk," she whispered.

Hearing the syllables sent tingles shivering down his spine. Her true name spoke volumes - it spoke of the stars, of the Abyss, of the deep love pouring out from her heart. It held everything that she embodied - and the name captured her identity perfectly.

"Wow," he shivered. "That...you weren't kidding. That was really something!"

"There is great power in names," she smiled coyly.

"Jul'le..." he started, losing track within a second. "Sorry. I'll get it soon enough, though, I promise!"

Leaning forward, she inclined her head and planted a brief kiss upon his lips.

"I will do something special for you, once you can say it without any mistakes," she purred.

"Quite the incentive," he grinned. Gods, this woman really knew how to rile him up! Rising heat began to stir across his body, making Joshua acutely aware of a burning desire to make his affections known.

"I want you," he growled. "I want to take you...to coat you..."

Inclining his head downwards, he leaned in and nibbled on her neck, her earlobe. Shudders of pleasure coursed through Julie, and she let out the softest, briefest of moans.

Oh, this wasn't good. If she made more sounds like that, he really wasn't going to be able to stop himself.

"I want you to embrace me," Julie said. Her tone was needy, bordering on a whine. "But we do not have time right now."

"I know," he sighed. "We have to go be heroes, or some such nonsense."

"Do not say that," she chided. "I am going to reveal to everyone that I am a monster, remember? Some may not take kindly to that. They may even react with hostility."

"Let them try," he growled, protectively clutching her. "I'm not going to let anyone lay so much as a finger on you."

"My hero," she smiled. "Although, that brings up a valid question."

"What's that?" he asked.

"What do you want to do?" Julie asked, tilting her head to the side. "About...your own nature, now. And about us. What do you want to reveal?"

"Might as well reveal everything," he sighed. "Keeping the fact that I'm a monster secret wouldn't last for very long; someone would see us eventually. And besides, lying to everyone would just give them a valid reason to hate us."

"Let us not reveal everything," Julie suggested. "Suppose we skip over the part explaining how we change forms. That...is far too intimate for me to feel comfortable explaining."

"Agreed," Joshua laughed. "I wasn't really keen on revealing that, in the first place."

Eyes darting to the side, Joshua's expression shifted into one of deep contemplation.

"Let's change their impression," he said after a moment, nodding seriously. "Let's show everyone that monsters aren't evil."

"I am with you every step of the way," Julie said. "But...please step in if I start faltering? I am still not sure what I will say to everyone...what if they hate me?"