Deus Ex Machina chp 1

Chapter 1

Tyberius knew that something is amiss the moment he saw the three human girls enter his shack.  He was certain because he has never seen them before and he knew all of the human residing in the Demon Realm. This could only mean that the portal to the human world has been opened again. He made a show of looking through his cupboard, pretending to not notice their presence, as he watched the girls out of the corner of his eye.

As they stepped closer, he realized that only one of them was human. The other two...

Spirit manifestation, he thought, narrowing his eyes, And such strong ones too.

He had never seen anything like that before. Normally a spirit manifestation would still be somewhat translucent. These two girls would have passed for regular human beings had it not been for the unearthly blue glow surrounding them and their pale blue eyes, tell-tale signs that they were not beings of the world.

The human was looking around his shack, looking both nervous and interested. The black-haired spirit was tapping her foot impatiently, her arms crossed, and grumbling something about "wasting time" while the white-haired spirit patted her shoulder placatingly.

"May I help you?" he finally asked them.

The human jumped, and for a brief moment fear flashed across her face before being replace by a look of fierce determination.

"I have a sick friend who needs some medicine," she said, "Do you have anything I can give him?"

Tyberius noted with amusement that although she tried to act calm, her voice still trembled slightly.

"I'm afraid I ran out of a very important ingredient," he told her. After a brief pause, he added, "I need some wyrd vegetable. Why don't you find some for me and I'll let you have the remedy for free?"

"Sure," the human said, "Where can I find one?"

"They grow wild in the wilderness and thrive in extreme heat."

"Very informative," the black-haired spirit said snidely, earning her a glare from the white-haired spirit.

"Nox, don't be rude."

"Cut it out, you two!" the human said exasperatedly. She momentarily turned back to him to say  "We'll be back soon," before stalking out the door, the two spirits following her.

Well, that was interesting, Tyberius thought, once the girls were out of sight. Now to report this to the master.

The inhabitants of Sheian Lyr may only know him as an apothecary, but he was also there as a lookout. One could almost say that he was a spy. Sheian Lyr was the closest village to the place where the demon realm connects to the human world. Most, if not all humans who pass through the portal ended up in that village one way or another, and it was his job to report any activity pertaining to the human world to his master.

He had been lying when he said that he ran out of an important ingredient for the remedy. The wyrd vegetable was only an optional sweetening ingredient. In fact, he actually still had a few bottles of the remedy in his cupboard. He even purposely refrained from telling them where the exact place to find the wyrd vegetables is. He needed to keep them busy – and most importantly away from him – while he reported the situation to his master. He didn't know whether or not his master was busy at the moment and he needed to make sure there was enough time for his master to respond before the girls return. He had noted the resemblance between the three and it was entirely possible that the human was the one who conjured up the spirits. Were that the case, it meant that the human was a very powerful sorcerer and she needed to be watched.

Tyberius reached into a hidden pocket in his cloak and pulled out a thin metallic box; the  communication device his master had given him.

"New human girl sighted in Sheian Lyr, accompanied by two very strong spirit manifestations," he spoke into the box. "The spirit manifestations resembled the girl, except one had white hair while the other was black-haired like the girl. Both spirit manifestations look almost fully human. The girl might be a very powerful sorcerer."

After he had finished speaking, he tapped the box once. The metallic thing glowed and he knew that his report had been sent. He never understood what exactly the object was or how it worked and his master never explained it to him. Frankly, he didn't really care about it anyway. All he needed to know was how to operate the box and that was enough for him.

Not too long after, the box pulsed and glowed, and then he heard his master voice speak. His reply was simply, "I will look into the matter."

He stared at the box briefly, the returned it into his pocket with a shrug. Since his master had no  new orders for him, he supposed he should find something to do while he waited for the girls to return.
~~*~~*~~*~~*~~
He was doing his 7839th single-handed handstand when he heard footsteps outside his door. He hurriedly stood back up and straightened his appearance just as the human girl and her spirit companions walked in. They now had a darkling with them. He choked back a laugh upon seeing their disheveled appearance. They must have gotten into a scuffle or two with the monsters lurking in the area.

"I've brought the wyrd vegetable you requested," the human said wearily, handing him the pale pink plant, "Can you make me a remedy for my friend?"

"Excellent", he said, grinning. Hopefully they will think that he was just glad to get hold of the "important ingredient", not because he was laughing at them.

He dumped the vegetable into his mixing pot. Earlier, he had poured a flask of the remedy inside the pot. The remedy was boiling by the time the girls returned, making it look like he had been brewing the potion for quite some time.

As he stirred the pot, something occurred to him. The human had said something about a friend needing the remedy. He was sure that they haven't been around long enough to make new friends. Does that mean that there was another human with them?

Oh well, it wouldn't hurt to try and get some information out of them.

"Do you know how your friend got sick?" he asked casually, "I haven't had anyone ask for a remedy in a very long time."

The white-haired spirit answered him, "Oh, he wasn't exactly a friend, but he asked for our help so we agreed to help him. He was already sick when we saw him."

Tyberius smirked. They were falling for his bait. Good.

"I don't think I have seen you three before," he spoke again, "Are you new here?"

The spirits and the human looked at each other awkwardly and said nothing – all the more reason for him to be suspicious. The darkling looked like it was about to say something, but the human ordered it to be quiet and it obeyed. He raised an eyebrow. The human could control darklings too? He would have to tell the master about this too later.

Finally the black-haired spirit answered, "We're just passing through."

"Oh."

It was obvious that he wouldn't get anything more out of them; the black-haired spirit's I-dare-you-to-ask-more-questions glare was a sure sign of that. He wordlessly "finished" the remedy, poured it back into its flask, and handed the flask to the human.

"Hey, I asked for remedy, not poison!" the human protested, but the white-haired spirit shushed her.

"Come, Mel, we should leave before you anger him," he heard her tell the human, and he had to roll his eyes at that. Did he really look like he gets angry that easily? Some of his brothers maybe (namely Derez), but not him.

The spirit briefly explained to the human about how the demon realm works differently than the mortal world (obviously), then the four girls (should he count the darkling as a "girl" too?) left his shack.

So, he thought, Judging by what the black-haired spirit said about them "just passing through", it is safe to assume that they are trying to return to the human world. He would still have to report that regardless. The white-haired spirit had also let slip that the black-haired spirit was named "Nox" and the human named "Mel". He didn't know if those names held any importance at all, but he the master would surely appreciate any detail he could offer.

Tyberius reached into his cloak and pulled out the metallic box again.