CODEX Part 2: The Secret Child of the Devil
Did You or Did You Not?

As soon as Zoe arrived, she couldn't help but notice how the small group made of two adults and an elderly man stood out in the restaurant. Suzy, the girl who once posed a threat to Zoe in Japan, was leisurely leaning in her chair, looking unbothered by how people were staring at her. She was dressed in all-black all-leather with black sunglasses looking like she belonged in the Matrix movies. The elderly man also known as the older inheritor and Zoe's mentor for about a year was dressed in a Christmas-y jumper and finally, James, the grandson of the inheritor and potentially the future inheritor sat in between the two poignant characters, looking like he wanted to be anywhere else but there.

James was the first to see Zoe walk in and quickly ushered her to their table before he gave her a side hug. The other two couldn't be bothered to get up.

"It's been a while," Zoe said with a smile before she glanced at the old inheritor. "Master," she said jokingly.

"Just sit, child. Don't draw attention to us." The older man whispered in an authoritarian tone.

The blue-eyed woman raised an eyebrow and stared at him, who looked like he was cosplaying a modern Santa Claus before she turned to Suzy. She would have said something if it was one of the demons, but these were not Eneizar and Iaosur.

"Do you know why we are here, Zoe?" The elder asked, leaning towards her.

"To visit me?" Zoe said playfully but he frowned. "Or not," She mumbled before glancing at Suzy. "Is it about the inheritor?"

"Did you sense him? Did you sense anything at all?" The elder asked, his eyes narrowing at the commander.

That was the question, wasn’t it? She had to measure her words carefully.

"No." She replied without a twitch. "I didn't feel anything and didn't see anything out of the ordinary."

The old man rubbed his forehead and sighed heavily.

"You shouldn't be worried. Even if the inheritor awakens, he's not your responsibility anymore," Zoe said but the older man and James shifted in their seats uncomfortably.

"The thing is Zoe...it is our bloodline and I'm not showing any signs of inheriting the mark. It should be on my left hand, but it's not. My father doesn't have it, I don't have it, so that only leaves us with one candidate. My younger brother, Jasper,"

"Where is he?" Zoe asked not aware that James had any brothers to begin with.

"He's been traveling around the world. The last time we heard anything from him was in Japan," James explained, which immediately worried Zoe.

The elder must have sensed something because the two met eyes and Zoe quickly changed the subject.

"Have you ever chosen an anchor for yourself? To balance out the demon within from your humanity," Zoe asked the older man, to which he glared at her. "I marked Ezekiel as my legacy," she explained drawing two quizzical looks and one furious glare.

"Why would you do that? He is not family nor your son." Suzy explained, confused by Zoe's decision.

"He tried to make a pact with the devil and luckily I was there to interfere. But I'm afraid he has been in Purgatory and met Beelzebub and-" Zoe stopped looking down at her hands, "I need him. My soul needs him,"

The older man blinked slowly and registered the words and tone she used. Zoe sounded desperate to keep her humanity, which was not bad.

"Is it Beelzebub's mark or does it look different?" The elder asked slowly.

Suzy and Caleb were surprised that she could use a different mark in the first place. Zoe bit her lower lip and fidgeted.

"It's different. It doesn't even show on his skin, it's more of a small print on his soul," She mumbled guiltily. "But it is the only way to keep him safe."

The old inheritor laughed and asked for another coffee. With one glance at Suzy and Caleb, the elder sent a silent message- they were to leave the two alone. Naturally, the two youngsters retreated to another table.

"He is only a mere human but he is precious to other people," the older man started, "Other people mean his family and friends. People who are not you. An anchor exists for its master, it becomes insignificant without its master, and Zoe, it can die without its master. Whatever you feel, whatever dangers surround you, it will also affect him."

"His soul is precious, especially for someone like Mammon, whose demons run to other masters. I need him and I need to know he is safe. If something bad happens, I need to make sure he will not end in hell," Zoe said leaning over the table, her eyes slightly changing colours.

"You enslaved him! And he doesn't even know it. Your emotions will make him go insane. That's how the endless knot works. Endless connection to your master." He took care to emphasize the last word.

"I can bend some rules," Zoe said in her defence.

"Bend but not break." The elder advised.

The discussion with the older inheritor ended quickly after that. The elder kept looking at Zoe as if she was a bomb ready to explode at any given moment but he didn't say anything else.

James wanted to stay and talk to Zoe more therefore, Suzy was the one to take the gramps home. She wasn't happy at all and kept glaring at everything on the way to the car. But once they were alone, James lit a cigarette and looked up at the sky.

"Did you really not sense anything?" James asked as if he knew Zoe lied. "How would it feel when you meet him? How does he look in your eyes?"

"I don't know. But I'll feel it. Why? Are you worried about your brother?" Zoe asked tilting her head to the side.

"I'm not sure. You obviously don’t sense anything with me so it must be him. That's why I'd like it if you could come and check it out," James said and turned his whole body to Zoe, "Next week, my brother's coming back from Japan. Jasper doesn't even know about our family curse so if it is him, then I'd like you to be the one to guide him through all the weird stuff,"

Zoe placed her hands in her coat's pockets and looked the other way. It was her turn to sweat over the matter. She never thought about what would happen once the young inheritor was found and what it would mean for her.

It was Sunday morning and she was dead tired after she had the most serious and intense talk with Ezekiel. When her phone rang, she was ready to throw it away but she couldn't do that. Instead, she responded.

The caller started in a bright tone, way too joyful for a morning.

"Good morning!"

It was Dan, she could immediately recognize his voice. She mumbled something incoherent but Dan was unfazed, he only chuckled.

"I'm going to church today. Do you want to come?"

"...church?" She asked, getting up and rubbing her head groggily, "Sure...what could go wrong," Zoe trailed thinking that it may not be as bad as it sounded.

"Great! Meet me in front of my store. It's not far from there."

She agreed and hung up even though she hadn't been in a church in a long time. She knew exactly how to dress and how to act but it was still so weird.

Zoe met him in front of his store and they started to walk towards the church. Daniel seemed very content for some reason.

"I didn't think you would agree to come," he said out of nowhere. "You don't seem like the type to go to church,"

"I haven't been to a church ever since my mother forced me to enter one in Italy," Zoe replied sounding like it was natural for her mother to force her to do things.

Back then, as soon as she stepped inside the church she felt unwanted. It felt like there was no sanctuary where she could replace safety, nor a place that would accept her as she was.

"Well, is good we're going now, isn't it?"

Of course, it was going to fail miserably.

Once she placed her foot on holy ground, she started to feel uncomfortable. There wasn't a specific force that made her sick, she was just scared that there might be. The simple idea of being judged by God was intimidating.

Zoe closed her eyes and concentrated on the image that churches had in general. It was a sacred place and she had to remind herself that nothing was going to happen and that she was overreacting. But Zoe was a stranger and Dan was a regular and she could see the inquisitive stares of the older ladies.

Dan walked forward, since he knew the priest so she remained alone, feeling the eyes of old ladies boring into the back of her head.

"Is that Daniel's new girlfriend?"

"Is she? She doesn't seem faithful. And doesn't seem to know where she is either. Are we at a funeral, why is she dressed in black?"

She was used to people staring at her from the side and labelling her without really knowing what they were talking about but it was still uncomfortable. They weren't even hiding the fact that they were openly judging her either, they were quite proud of doing it.

"Is she from a good family? She looks rich,"

Zoe chuckled to herself, mostly because the older ladies were spot on. Either she walked or stood in a way that screamed rich, or older ladies had a sixth sense for such things. Zoe leaned towards the latter, honestly. She looked down at her palm and couldn't help but feel itchy.

Zoe noticed Dan walking out but he got pulled aside by a lady and her daughter. They probably knew each other because they kept being touchy with each other, a trait that Zoe did not possess. Standing there all by herself, she couldn't help but think about Ezekiel and how it was the right choice to make him her anchor. Without Ezekiel, she felt empty and without Mehrdir...well, that was another story. Her right hand twitched and that was when she felt the ghost of someone's hand grabbing hers. She looked quickly to the side but saw no one. But someone was holding her hand tightly, making her feel better.

"Hey! Sorry it took so long. Let's go in," Dan approached her and grabbed the same hand, pulling her after him.

It didn't feel the same.

"Are you alright?"

Zoe didn't feel anything. At first, she thought something would happen since she was a demon and had already gone to Hell a few times but no fire, no earthquake, and nothing bad happened. Zoe was careful to look at every painting in the church, at every candle, at the apse, at the priests, and sighed in relief when she realized that her presence in the church did not make a difference.

A few minutes later she felt her right hand twitch again and the same ghostly energy surrounding her. Zoe glanced over her shoulder and swore she saw Mehrdir's back. Her heart started to beat faster as she felt the anticipation of a spontaneous meeting.

"I'll come back before it starts. There's someone I know here," Zoe mumbled before running in the same direction she noticed his back, "A dead end?" She stopped in front of the confession box, sighing in disappointment.

She wasn't paying attention to her surroundings so she didn't see the man walking out of the shadows.

"What are you doing here, Zoe?" He asked standing in between the front of the church and her. He almost looked like he was unhappy she made it so far inside.

“Who are you?” She asked feeling disappointed. But the man approached her and his eyes got sucked into themselves before a familiar orange coloured his pupils. "Oh,"

“Not who you were expecting,” The stranger replied before he grabbed her hand and dragged her outside.

"I didn't know God allows former angels to enter churches," she added seeing how laid back Beelzebub walked.

"God allows more than you imagine," Beelzebub explained, glancing over his shoulder.

Beelzebub took Zoe to a nearby park, where he let her go and they started to walk side by side in the same rhythm. Zoe couldn't help but replace his appearance odd: the body was of a man in his forties, but his hair was still bright red and his clothes looked worn out. He looked like a journalist who had recently come from a war zone and didn't have enough time to change.

“It’s such a sunny day. Makes me all positive and happy. Don’t you think so too?” Beelzebub asked with a sarcastic grin.

“No.”

Beelzebub batted his eyelids at her and smirked.

“Of course not. Here you are, with me, when just a few minutes ago you had such a holy date. Of course, you didn't hurry to me, you expected to meet that greedy little vermin,” Beelzebub started with a smirk, “I know everything that happens in my orchard, Zoe. Do you think I didn’t know why Mehrdir left Mammon and came to me? He begged to work under me,” his smirk widened before he repeated what he found most important, “He begged.”

“You knew he was obsessed with me and you still sent him to me as my guardian?”

“His obsession with the commander only grew after he saw you,” the demon prince chuckled darkly, “A young, little girl from a good family. So pure, so perfectly easy to break. You were the epitome of what Mehrdir hated when he was alive. You had everything that Mehrdir sold his soul for. How could I refuse him?”

“And you let him,” She said, her chin tensing in annoyance. “You let him break me.”

“I did tell Hiset to keep an eye on you but Mehrdir is a sly bastard. When he saw Hiset’s eyes soften at the sight of your face, he came to me and gave me all these bullshit reasons to change your guardian. And I did. I sent him.” Beelzebub said, amused by Zoe's reaction.

She bit the inside of her cheek and felt a knot in her stomach.

“But his obsession dimmed once he started to know you, the human Zoe. You were weak, you didn't know anything, and it allowed him to play with you however he wanted. He started to push you into dangerous situations, only to come and rescue you just before it got bad. It wasn't about your mark anymore. The less you knew, the weaker you were."

“So what was I? His toy?" she asked feeling her heart heavy. "Why did he send Eneizar, then? Eneizar can't lie,"

Beelzebub seemed surprised before he started to laugh.

"Eneizar owed Mehrdir a favour from a long time ago, but it wasn't Mehrdir who asked, it was Eneizar himself who offered his time. I can only guess Lucifer was curious about the commander. We could say you got lucky, otherwise Mehrdir would have kept you in the dark for a long time."

"And you're not bothered that he endangers me?"

He smiled and eyed her like a mischievous bastard.

“Not at all. I’m curious, if anything. Much has changed since Mehrdir became your guardian. You marked him as your mate,” Beelzebub replied with a wide smile that looked creepy more than anything else, “And you even marked a human. Ha!"

“Is this the reason you came to the Upworld? To make fun of me?”

Beelzebub stopped, and Zoe noticed they returned to the church, they were on the street across the entry.

“There are worse beings in the world than demons, Zoe. Don't lose yourself in the small details, real evil comes from within humans, not from outside,” Beelzebub said out of nowhere.

“Ezekiel is not a small detail. I'll make sure he doesn't end in hell no matter what,"

"What about the young inheritor?"

"Why do you care? Lucifer seems to be the only one with a real interest in what the inheritor could become," Zoe asked genuinely curious.

“It is not about his potential. He can live and die and go to Heaven for all I care. Lucifer never cared until you came along, so you better take care of him,” He mumbled, leaning towards her.

"Doesn't he have demons protecting him as well? Just like I do, a guardian,"

"There was no need until now because Lucifer was never genuinely interested in the inheritor. It was a punishment he had bestowed upon a man's bloodline because he lied to Lucifer. That's all,"

“And what did I do so amazingly well that he changed his mind?" Zoe asked with a roll of her eyes.

"Became involved. Marked other demons. Ezekiel. Been to hell, shall I continue?"

"...no,"

"The prophecy you heard, the words on the wall, they are meaningless. Friction is caused by decisions taken on a whim. Common demons can do whatever they want, but fallen angels cannot. Because if fallen angels step out of line too often then others get involved," he said pointing up at the sky.

"So what do you want me to do?"

“You should go back to your date,” Beelzebub suddenly changed the subject. “You’ve been gone for-"

“Two hours.”

Zoe swore she was gone for a few minutes but time with Beelzebub felt different.

“You said you saw someone you knew and disappeared for two hours,” Dan repeated, making her swallow nervously.

She felt a lot of things but not apologetic because she found out some good information.

“I’m sorry, I got lost. I haven't been in this neighbourhood before,”

She was a big girl and seemed like the kind of person who was good with direction which only made her lie worse.

“I’m just a little bit mad because you could have texted me or something but you didn’t.”

She gulped and didn’t have the guts to look into his eyes moreover, she felt like she shouldn’t look into his eyes. She started to blink quickly and felt as if she had sand in her eyes.

Dan frowned when he saw her rub her eyes to the point they got red.

“Are you alright? Are you crying Don't cry, I didn't-”

“I think something got into my eyes,” she interrupted him, but it was much worse than words could describe.

“Let me take a look,”

He took a step forward and touched her arm but she pushed him away harshly.

“No! I mean, it’s ok. I can get it out myself.”

Dan rolled his eyes and pulled her hands away from her face. He grabbed her head and kept it in one place.

“Open your eyes, please,” Dan asked her nicely yet his tone sounded firmer than before.

She felt as if someone was breathing on her face before she heard him.

“Open your eyes, Zoe. It’s alright,” Mehrdir whispered into her ear.

It had such a big effect on her and her actions that she instantly opened her eyes and met Dan’s worried expression. In his eyes, she could see her reflection and there was nothing yellow or remotely demonic on her face.

Yet at the same time, she felt disappointed. No matter how much she encouraged herself to go out with Daniel and move on she just couldn't. She was stuck with an insufferable demon.