(no subject)

[itwillbeokay]

Clementine was getting used to seeing them.

Well, used to might not be the right word. She was certainly better and more sure about seeing them, and a lot of that had both to do with not keeping it a secret any longer as well as her time with Yukio. He had offered to train her, and since she had taken him up on it - with Andrea's permission - she was starting to get an introduction on how to handle things. In a way, she found herself reminded of the memories of the things Lee taught her about survival.

At least here she didn't have to worry all the time about what was happening. Life could almost be normal. Almost.

It was another training day. She left Bailey at home as much as the dog had wanted to come, and went to where she'd been told to meet Yukio. Even though she left early to the edge of the town, he was already there waiting for her when she got there.

"Good morning, Mister Yukio," she said, politely, as she approached. He really came off as a teacher to her, and she always treated him as such.

Comments

[itwillbeokay]

"Um, so why do they come to where we are? Especially the ones that don't want to hurt anyone," she wondered. She had heard of Satan through the religion she was brought up with, but he wasn't the kind of person she thought was supposed to rule over things like the ones she was seeing. Maybe the scary bug, or the angry looking lizard -

It wasn't the end to her questions, though, as she continue to look at them curiously. "And what happens when something is taken over? Do they always stay like that, or does um, does exorcising the things in them make them normal again? Does it hurt the lizard that something has it possessed? That wouldn't be good."

[contrition]

"Some may prefer Assiah to Gehenna. From what I've heard, the two worlds are very different in construct and feel," shared Yukio, careful to offer all of his knowledge with a grain of salt. He'd never been to Gehenna, had never had even the amount of insight that Rin experienced during the unraveling of his powers. "Our world is a relatively peaceful one, and plentiful."

The golem continued to walk around the perimeter of its circle, swinging its arms heavily with a happy rustling of leaves.

"Exorcising the possessed body will certainly expel the demon, often dealing a fatal injury as well. It depends on the approach. What happens to the possessed body depends. If the demon is stronger than the vessel allows, then the vessel may very likely perish. In the cases of the demons I've gathered here, there shouldn't be a problem. The coal tars, in particular," he explained, gesturing to the cat-like balls of soot, "have inhabited a non-living material, which will be unaltered if and when we exorcise it."

His jaw hardened briefly. It was impossible not to think of what had happened to Father Fujimoto when talking about possession.

[itwillbeokay]

"Oh, that's sad," she frowned, watching the little golem. At least it didn't attach to anything that would be very hurt if it had to be exorcised. "Are we supposed to exorcise all of them because they shouldn't be here? Or is okay to leave the nice ones alone?"

She couldn't imagine the golem doing anything mean, but maybe the ones people don't - what did he call it? Tame? - had to go back to where they came from.

[contrition]

Seeing the distance that Clementine kept from the demons, Yukio decided to lead by example, dropping down and sitting himself a couple of feet away from the specimens he'd lined up. If she wanted to more closely examine them, that was fine. If she was observant, it would probably even help. She would note the differences in the way that the demons moved, so that if she came across any that were an active problem, she might better evade them.

He hooked his arms over his knees, relaxed and easy.

"You don't have to exorcise all demons. In fact, where I'm from, there are many demons who live peacefully in Assiah. Who are contributing members to society. The headmaster at the school I teach, for instance, is a powerful demon himself. Like any other sentient being, we assess the danger that is posed to us and react accordingly. There are those who would automatically target demons. You'll find I'm not one of them."

He tilted his head. "I have, after all, a brother who exhibits the physiology of a demon."

[itwillbeokay]

Clementine did follow in his wake, moving closer. She wasn't sure about getting close to the big moth, but she did crouch down near the coal ones.

They looked a little like black cats. It was really strange. She paused at the mention of Rin, feeling bad about her question the second he was brought up. It really was hard to imagine him as anything but who she knew him as. She would have to adjust her view on what demons looked like, she knew that. Moving on to peer at the little waving golem helped. She debated whether she should apologize because she hadn't even considered Rin, but she decided to drop it.

"That's good, 'cause I can't see some of these being mean just 'cause they're not from here," she replied, looking thoughtful. "I don't think I'd want to hurt one only 'cause they're demons either."

[contrition]

In Clementine, Yukio could see the reasons to teach children about demons early. At this age, they were open-minded, able to pull away from the misconceptions that society liked to pass around — and perhaps that was why Father Fujimoto had started early with Yukio. Having had the sight, it made more sense to teach him what he needed to stay safe, while also providing the wisdom to know when he had to.

Still, he wondered if he was being coercive. Perhaps at some point, he needed to speak with Clementine's guardian.

"There are some demons that don't mind being trapped. But all could potentially work up to the point of being dangerous. Like anything else, it depends on need and personality," said Yukio. "This Greeman golem may be one of the most naturally peaceful demons I've yet to encounter, but I've also seen one grow to twice my size and rampage through a forest."

[itwillbeokay]

It was hard to imagine something so happy doing something like that. She wondered if that happened when they got mad? It felt like there had to be a cause.

"That sounds scary. Did something happen that made it do that?" she asked, looking away from the little demon and up at Yukio again.

[contrition]

"When faced with a threat, or when a threat is raised against something it cares for. To be honest, the reasons for a demonic rampage vary as much as they might in any other type of living creature. The more complex the creature's thought process, the more potential roads to violence. Golems are not the most advanced thinkers, so their aggression tends to be triggered more simply," Yukio shared, meeting Clementine's gaze fully before he raised a hand over the coal tars.

"One thing that I would like for you to notice is the order that I have placed these demons in. There are five different elemental categories that demons fall under, and each has strength against a type, and a weakness against another." Yukio gestured towards each demon as he went through the categories. "In order — decay and rot are strong against air, air is strong against earth, earth is strong against water, water is strong against fire, and fire is strong against decay."

[itwillbeokay]

Clementine could understand that. If she were in that position she'd probably get big too if she could. She still hoped she didn't have to ever see that, it sounded scary. Her focus went right on Yukio when he started to teach, though, and she listened quietly as he explained the significance of the demons in front of them.

"Does knowing what's strong against what help a lot?" she wondered. She assumed the answer was yes already, because he never did seem to teach her anything she didn't have to know.