ALTGS 25

Sometimes, Celestria wondered what her job really was.

People arrived in her office every few minutes, dropping off documents from others for reviews or delivering things that needed her signature. At the same time, she was arranging packets of information to present to the King, organizing meetings, helping to run the kingdom while preparing it to open again to the world after the... incident. It was tiring.

Tiring but not unfamiliar.

This was how it had been in her past life too. She remembered lofty office buildings. Neat suits. Corporate meetings and business partners. She also remembered the looks. Jealousy. Spite. Hate. She should never had ignored those looks.

There was a powerful knock at her door then.

My gosh, it was thunderous. Who in the world could it be? “Come in.” She said, a bit rattled by the sudden noise. The door swung open, and an unexpected visitor walked in. A demon taller than Lord, his black hair falling straight to his knees. Large, ashen horns sprouting from his forehead and curving into four tips. Pointed ears and smooth gray skin. Dark black eyes with shining golden irises glared unwaveringly ahead.

Well I’ll be damned... Celestria sat back, honestly taken by surprise. She would never have thought that Metaghrindar himself would ever visit her personally.

For a moment, she considered standing up to welcome him because of his position as Lord’s trusted right arm, but she decided against it. He was, after all, without a title. She had no obligation to do so. He strode up to her desk—a feat that took only about four steps with how large he was— and came to stand at the edge of it. Celestria had to tilt her head all the way back just to look him in the face.

With a quiet sigh, she looked back down at her work. She should really stop allowing herself to cater to demons. It made her feel strangely small.

“Metaghrindar. Welcome. How may I help you?” She said rather blandly as she resumed whatever she had been previously doing, clearly disinterested. What had she been working on again? Budgeting. Ah, budgeting. Infuriating.

There was silence. And then there was more. On and on it stretched like pulled taffy. Now that’s not normal, she thought, frowning lightly at the numbers she had written out.

Celestria stopped her work yet again, waited for a few seconds more in perplexion. Then she looked up.

On that sleek, smooth face of his, Metaghrindar had a strange look. One of frustration and internal struggle. Celestria immediately knew what that look was. The incredible urge to ask a question, but unbelievable pride held you back relentlessly. That was what she saw in those sharp golden eyes of his.

Slowly, she put her quill back in it’s holder then stood.

This demon and her did not get along. She didn’t really know what it was that she had done that had caused him to be so standoffish to her, but after many conversations with others, Celestria had learned that he acted that way towards all humans.

He had a bias.

But here he was, obviously fighting with his pride to ask something of her, a lowly human.

“Is there a particular document you need help with?” She asked again, trying to be as specific and non-judgmental as she could be now that she had seen what was happening. She had been too dismissive before, but now she stood and looked right into his face. At the change of tone in her voice, Metaghrindar finally looked at her, and then gave a wholly uncharacteristic sigh.

“Ever since you came here to work, I have not been a welcoming demon.” He slowly admitted.

“You have not, no.”

“And yet... I mean... will you really assist me?”

“Of course. If you are in need of it then I would be happy to.”

”But why? If someone has been hostile to you, you aren’t obligated to be anything more than hostile back.” He almost sounded like he was pleading. Pleading to be treated as he treated her. Well... Celestria restrained herself from showing her surprise at this sudden turn of events.

Taking a moment to think, she stared right at those bright golden irises.

“I’m not obligated to be nice to someone, yes. I choose to be nice. It’s all a matter of choice, really. It’s not at all hard to treat you like you treat me. But I don’t want to do that. You are fully capable in many things, Metaghrindar. But you forget that so am I. I’m not something to be written off just because I can’t do things that you can. There are things you are competent in, and there are things I’m competent in too. The point of a Kingdom is that different beings with different skills come together and fill in the gaps that they each have, and they build something solid. No being is perfect. Not humans, and certainly not demons either.

You are now a colleague, working under the King. I will maintain good relations with you because I still have to work with you, and you are someone that the King trusts. Besides, such tensions are not new. Everyone who works probably has them. Just the typical workplace friction, really. It’s all about how... professional you chose to be in such situations.”

This was truly how she felt. Not a single part of what she said was a lie. And yet the demon looked so shocked. Celestria had heard how demonic culture was like. The strong were the only ones who had any say. Anything that is weak is detested. Anyone that insulted you was to be obliterated. No collaboration. No seeing eye to eye. Just overwhelming others into listening to you. In all honestly, those same things were present in human cultures too, just not to the same degree and intensity as she had heard described to her. For Metaghrindar, who was second only to Lord, deferring to a weak human must feel like cutting bits of his soul away.

But he had come to ask anyway.

“Your love and dedication to Lord is truly something else. To come to a human for help.” She murmured. “Alright, Meta. I see that you are trying, and I will assist you. But you’re going to have to tell me what it is you need help with in the first place. Come.” Celestria picked up a few scrap pieces of parchment and her ink and quill, heading over to the couches on the other side of her office. Metaghrindar watched her walk, a mixture of relief and confusion. Her steps were much smaller and thus quicker than his, but with a few strides, he was right behind.

Placing the parchment on the desk and taking a seat, she indicated that he should sit. He did.

“Alright then, Meta. What do you need help with?”

“You are not calling me Metaghrindar any more.”

”Yes. It’s a stunningly beautiful name but it is also a long name. Besides, hasn’t Lord called you ‘Meta’ before?”

”He has, but he’s also the only one I let freely call me that.”

“Well, let’s change that to two, Meta. Now, what do you—“

“I don’t understand why any of the things I have to do are important. Why humans have to constantly consult with each other, or why they need to set a budget, or why you have to constantly spy on their enemy, or listen to public opinion. Why can’t you just... force everyone to do what you want?” He suddenly blurted, obviously having contained his questions for far too long now.

She did not mean to, but her jaw dropped in genuine shock. Wow. She hadn’t thought it would be this bad. Well, alright. With a resolute sigh, Celestria carefully set about explaining to a demon about the ever-perplexing nature of humanity itself.

The day had been too taxing.

Celestria had a headache of which the likes she had never felt before. Speaking to a demon about the human condition had been the biggest challenge she had ever encountered. But it had given her much-needed insight as to how exactly demons thought.

The biggest problem was that they were stunted when it came to empathy. It was not completely absent, but unless it was purposefully and willfully exercised, a demon would not empathize with others. But it was possible. She had spent many hours answering questions from Meta. Questions like why he needed to care if humans starved or not. Why he can’t take whatever it is he wants from humans. Why he can’t kill a human that annoys him. Well, it was not a matter of “can’t”, but more a matter of “shouldn’t”. Celestria was not so foolishly optimistic that she would expect his entire thought process to be uprooted in a single sitting, but she now had yet another job to do.

Dragging herself down the hallways, she noted with alarm that it would soon be nighttime. How long had she spent explaining why hanging humans outside a window for three days in the middle of winter was not a suggested method of punishing minor infractions? Picking up pace, she strode down the hall faster. It was improper for a noble woman to be outside her home after sunset, and if she dallied any longer, she would have to stay in the palace. Not that she disliked the palace, but she really wanted to avoid hanging around a place where unsavory rumors were bound to arise later. Well that... and the demons. She turned round the last corner and hastened her steps. But she came to a very sudden halt as her blood ran cold.

Didn’t something just flutter in the corner of her eye?