A like-dislike relationship. That was the relationship Nova and Demi shared. If the 'like' and 'dislike' were to be measured, you'd see that the scale they're placed on would be equal, i.e., the 'like' and 'dislike' are equal in amount. But that also meant that a if a small pebble happened to fall on either side, the scale would tip into that side.
And a small pebble, was on the verge of falling.
"We're here." Nova said pointing at the orphanage. Demi slowed down and parked his car at a corner. They got off the car. Both of them were silent. Ever since Nova had told him they were just a few minutes away, they were silent.
Nova was anxious. She felt like running away from there. Demi stared her. Nova was playing with her hands and the strap of her sling back. He knew she was nervous to the point she stopped talking to him on the way there.
"So, lead the way." He told Nova. But she just kept walking and didn't say anything. "Nova? Nova...Nova!" He waved his hand in front of her when she still didn't respond.
"Ah! Yes?" She jumped. Demi was shocked. He didn't know she'd be this nervous. And that meant she knew something. She was hiding something.
"You can remove your hoodie now." Nova was wearing her hoodie for a long time now. She started wearing it suddenly, in the car and the reason was because her ears were freezing cause of the AC in the car. When Demi offered to lower the AC she disagreed saying that it was only her ears that were feeling cold. While in reality, her horn was coming out because she was nervous and she had put on the hoodie to hide it.
"No, it's fine. They'll need sometime to warm down." When they pushed the gate open, Priest Andrew was standing there, at the entrance of the orphanage. Nova ran and gave him a hug. "I'm back." He let go of her. "Welcome back. But who did you bring along?" He looked at Demi, who stood behind her.
"Oh, this Demi. He's my neighbour and...friend?" She looked at him, trying to see if he opposed to being called her friend but he just smiled. "Yeah. He's my friend."
"I see. Thank you for taking good care of Nova. Please do come in. The place may be messy but-"
"I actually came to learn more about the Half-demon." Demi cut through. He didn't want to act nice and do something that would offend such nice people. The priest stopped in his tracks. He muttered something and Nova quickly went out of Demi's sight.
"I see. I guess, since you're so honest and straightforward, I'd feel bad lying to you. Nova went to clear up my office. Let's go and talk over there. No one can interrupt us there." The priest led the way and Demi followed. Demi felt off about some things and decided to keep an eye out.
The priest opened a door and turned towards Demi. "Please enter." Nova was sitting on a sofa inside. She had finally taken off her hoodie. She had heard the priest whisper, "Your horn is out. Go and quickly calm down in my office. I'll take care of everything."
She had then gone to the office ahead of them to calm down and had finally calmed down. While she was still a little anxious, it wasn't so much that her horn would come out.
"Let me tell you what actually happened." Priest Andrew said as he and Demi sat down. "The thing is, we had actually brought the baby here. But she disappeared after sometime."
Demi searched the priest's face. He couldn't say if he was lying or not. "Then? There must be something that Nova's hiding." The priest looked at Nova sternly and she looked away.
"I can't tell you everything. Only Nova can. But I can tell you most important thing. It's that after the baby left, our orphanage was haunted by demons." When the priest spoke this time, Demi was 100 percent sure the man didn't lie. "What kind of demons?"
"Nothing I couldn't exorcise. They had become very few lately but began to increase soon after Nova left. Nova has enormous pure energy and I taught her how to control it a week or more ago."
"I see. That's why I couldn't sense it." Demi was actually really happy to hear the explanations. A person with high pure energy could not be a demon even if it were only half demon. The pure energy would destroy the demon part of the body and the person would ultimately die after experiencing excruciating, which would only grow as the person ages. So it was impossible for Nova to be a demon because she would have died long ago because of her pure energy. But that was all only if she actually had pure energy.
"Can I see her pure energy?" Demi stared at them, intently.
"Before I let you do that. I need to know your background. I can't trust you with everything even if Nova acknowledges you as a good person."
"I see. Then I shall tell you about my past. My parents were exorcists. But they were killed by a summoned Half-demon. Mammon, the devil of greed's son, prince Vassago. That demon wiped out my family. I was the only one who survived. Do you know anything about this?"
"The Bloody Mansion. Are you talking about that incident? A big gathering for exorcists held at the Salmon Manor and everyone was massacred. So, you are the Salmon's son who had disappeared without a trace."
"Yes."
"But how do I know you aren't possessed or anything?" The priest wanted to get rid of all his doubts and suspicions before he could put his trust in Demi.
Demi stood up and all of a sudden a light lit up through his entire body. "What beautiful and clear pure energy!" The priest smiled. "That is more than enough. I believe you." Priest Andrew turned to Nova. "Show him what Raymond taught you."
Nova just spread her arms wide open and her chest glowed brightly. Demi stared in awe. It took a lot of practice to pour our all the pure energy at the centre, the core, of a body. He nodded at her and she stopped. He had no choice but to believe it.
The door burst open and Raymond ran in. He gave Nova a hug. "Long time no see, Nova."
"You...! Where were you when I came to visit before?" Nova pulled out from the embrace. Raymond gave a nervous laugh. "I was out with friends."
"With friends? You asshole! Come here!" Nova put his arm around his neck and rubbed her knuckles on his head. "Hey! It hurts...let go." When they finally quietened down, Raymond saw Demi. He spread out a hand.
"Hello. I'm Nova's boyfriend." Raymond smirked.
Demi was shocked. He thought Nova liked her. Was it a lie?
Nova hit him on his head. "Who's boyfriend, huh? I should tell Dell." Nova teased him. "No. Please don't tell Dell. She'll kill me." He grovelled at her legs as she gave out a sinister laugh. While Raymond was a disciple, he was just going to be a exorcist and not a priest so he, right now, had a girlfriend, Dell.
"I'm kidding, man. Nova's, like, an elder sister to me. She's a very nice person." He spread out his hand, once again, and Demi shook it this time. He then bend down and whispered in Demi's ear. "You better treat her well, or I'll...." Nova pulled him back.
"What are you saying?" Nova looked embarrassed.
"You know what I mean, right?" Raymond looked at Demi. Demi smirked. "Yeah."
"What did you tell him, Raymond?" Nova's face was turning red.
"One of your habits when you were a kid-" Nova hit him and they began bickering. Priest Andrew just smiled looking at them
The door burst open again.
"Father, Nova, Raymond." A boy stood in front of him. He was one of the orphanage kids, Scott.
"What happened, Scott?" They asked as he was catching his breath.
"It's bad! The demons have come once again."
"What?" All of them stood up. Scott was a very bright and smart kid. He looked at Demi and at once knew that he had no idea of the situation. He looked at Nova. 'I shouldn't tell him anything that could put you in danger, right?' Nova heard his thoughts, smiled and nodded. He nodded back at her. Demi noticed them but decided that it wasn't the time to ask questions.
"This time, they're spreading fire. I evacuated everyone except Flora and Gavin who were in the room that the fire started in." He told them as they ran towards the room.
'You...You can't read Demi's thoughts, right? Just nod.' The priest thought and Nova heard it. She nodded. Till now, she never was able to read Demi's thoughts.
When they met for the first time, itself, she knew that she wasn't able to read his thoughts. It wasn't surprising. She had met many people whose thoughts she couldn't read but she wanted to know why she couldn't.
'I see. Quickly run away after we reach the room. We can't let out your true identity. Don't protest and just nod.' Nova glared at the priest but nodded.
They all stopped suddenly. Raymond clenched his hands tightly. The priest glared while Demi smirked. Nova looked shocked. Scott quickly ran ahead dodging what was in front of them.
Three ugly red demons, with black horns and wings were standing in front of them.
"Found. You." They licked their lips looking at Nova. "Finally, we can take-"
She smiled weakly. "You don't know about that, don't you?"
They glared at her and charged towards her. Nova took her stance.
"Bring it."