99 Learning About Demons

Friday 27th August 2010, 12:05.

Rhode Island,

Happy Harbour,

Mount Justice.

"It's a pleasure to finally meet you, Esau Jacobson, I am Jason Blood."

"Nice to meet you." Esau greeted with a smile, reaching forward to shake hands with the man. "I'm sorry if this sounds rude, but why are you here?"

Jason smiled in turn, taking no offence and indicating for Esau to sit at the table. "I'm here to talk about your powers." "Here, he looked towards Kaldur and Batman. "If you wouldn't mind, I believe this would be best done in private. Plus, I know you also have other matters to attend to."

"Why?" Esau questioned, looking at the two. "What's happening?"

"We have another mission." Kaldur answered.

Esau immediately turned to Batman. "Why wasn't I informed?" His tone was sharp, frustrated at being kept in the dark clear to see.

The caped crusader remained stoic and unperturbed by this. "You aren't going."

Esau frowned deeply, not liking this at all and he looked ready to argue until Kaldur placed one hand on his shoulder. "Don't worry, my friend. We will be fine and I do believe that remaining here will be better for you and the team in the long run." Kaldur said, his tone and words having a calming effect on Esau who understood what the Atlantean was hinting at.

His powers were strong and had great potential, in the future they could give the team an additional powerhouse and catapult Esau higher up the power hierarchy within the world of Heroes and Villains. However, they were currently a source of major concern considering Esau had only managed to gain a basic measure of control over his powers. While that in of itself was a massive improvement, nearly doubling his physical abilities compared to what they were before, it was not nearly enough to close the gap between him and the likes of Kaldur and Superboy.

However, from what Esau had seen from the Kitsune, the portion of the power that he had control of was just under half of what was available to him. Yet even that was only the first stage of his powers, there being nine more Kitsunes that Esau had no doubt were stronger than each other, the more tails they possessed.

Not only that, but the difference in how they used their powers was clear to see.

The Kitsune had used its healing factor in a way Esau had not thought of, focusing purely on healing a single eye at a quicker rate, rather than both at a slower rate, though at the same time. It was something Esau had never even imagined doing and doubted he could replicate anywhere near as effectively with his own healing abilities.

"Alright." Esau relented with a sigh and with that, Kaldur and Batman left, leaving Esau and Jason in the room.

"So, shall we begin?" Jason asked.

"Yeah, let's do this." Esau asked, coming across a little irritated but Jason didn't take it to heart.

It was obvious to him that the young man was focused on the information about the mission, though he still needed Esau's attention on him at this time.

So, keeping an amicable smile on his face, Jason began. "To start things off, can I ask what you know about Demons?"

"Demons?" Esau asked unsurely, caught flat-footed by the surprise question. "Are you saying my powers are linked to Demons?"

"Most definitely." Jason replies bluntly. "But could you humour me and answer the question?"

"Right, sorry." Esau apologised. "So, Demons? Not much, and I doubt what I know about them is actually real considering it's based on fantasy films and whatnot. But I guess, they're powerful and evil beings focused on destruction?"

"That is, for the most part, correct." Jason agreed. "You see, Demons are malevolent beings that usually inhabit the many layers of Hell. They fall into one of three categories. Either Fallen Angels, Hellions or inter-dimensional beings. The term Demon has a very broad spectrum of meanings, but the vast majority of them are Hellions. Those born from the sins of mortal souls that endure punishment in Hell. They are like you said, beings focused purely upon destruction, lacking much in the way of intelligence."

Esau listened intently, the whole aspect of Demons and Hell being a strange thing to him because even though he had grown to accept the world as being much larger than he imagined, it was still taking some getting used to. There were still many wild and crazy things he did not expect to be real, Demons were one of them and now he had to prepare for them.

"So, Demons are real, they're hellbent on destruction and lack any real intelligence?" Esau briefly summarised, a little unsurely as he did so.

"Yes and no." Jason replied. "That is the case for Hellions. As I said, many are birthed from the sins of mortals, hundreds could be born from a single mortal depending on the life they lived. Yet upon their birth, Hellions live for one purpose and that is a desire to satisfy their hunger for more power, often resulting in them killing one another. Only after having lived for centuries or accumulating vast amounts of power do Hellions sometimes develop intelligence. There are rare exceptions to this case, but Hellions are often mindless. Fallen Angels and inter-dimensional beings are always intelligent."

Esau nodded his head, beginning to get an understanding of things. "So, my powers belong to a Demon?"

This is where Jason paused. "Not necessarily." He admitted. "I have, during the course of our conversation, being studying the makeup of your powers. You have not encountered a Demon and through a contract, gained a portion of its power. Nor have you had a Demon sealed inside of you. The power you have, is entirely demonic in essence, but also entirely yours."

"How can that be?"

"There is no other way to put this." Jason sighed. "However, you are not entirely human. You are a Half-Demon."

"Half-Demon?" Esau repeated, his eyes going wide in shock. "How? How am I? How do you know this? How can you tell? Who are you?" Towards the end, the shock of the revelation seemed to wear off as he started to demand answers from Jason.

"Because Esau, I have a lot of experience with Demons." Jason started. "My own...unique situation allows me to sense Demons around me. While you're not entirely Demon, you're not entirely human either. That is why you have access to these powers, it's all but impossible for a human to use a Demons powers without one of three things happening."

Here, Jason raised one hand up, one finger extended.

"The first is if you make a deal with a Demon. You reach out for a Demon, express your desire and why you need that power and the Demon, if finding you worthy will gift you a portion of their power in return for anything they so desire. In most cases, the soul of the human they make a deal with. What many of those humans do not know is, that the power of the Demon they are using is slowly killing them, like a cancerous tumour."

Another finger was raised.

"The second is by being possessed by a Demon. This could be for any number of reasons. The Demon's body could have been destroyed and so seeks out a host to use until it can reclaim a more suitable body, or it could be because the Demon was sealed inside a host by a Wizard."

Esau raised a brow when he heard the subtle sound of bitterness when Jason mentioned the last bit.

However, Jason continued on before he could ask about it. "The third and final one is by being a Demon yourself or," he indicated to Esau. "A half-Demon."

Here, he remained sielnt, Esau trying to fully understand and come to terms with the information he had been given, though still struggling to wrap his head around it. Not only did he learn that Demons are real, but that he was also a Half-Demon himself, no longer entirely human as he had initially thought.

How was one meant to deal with that sudden revelation?

Realising the internal struggle within the young man, Jason reached forward and placed a comforting hand on his shoulder. "I apologise, Esau. I understand that this must be a lot to understand."

"It's alright." Esau shook his head. "I'm thankful that you're not trying to hide this from me."

"Even so, this is a lot to come to terms with. I too, know what it feels like to suddenly have your whole world tipped on its head. To suddenly realise that everything you knew about the world and more importantly, yourself was not entirely true."

"How?" Esau asked imploringly and Jason hesitated for a few moments.

"My situation is the second option from the list I described. Residing within me is a powerful Demon, known as Etrigan." Jason explained. "It has gifted me with many things, one of which is an incredibly long life, sometimes I wonder if I am actually immortal. But, despite what many would deem a gift worth any measure of sacrifice. For me, it is a curse."

Jason frowned sadly, the memory of a beautiful young woman and a young girl running happily through lush green fields.

The sound of a child's laughter tittering through his mind.

"Many centuries ago, my wife and child were killed. I was the only survivor and I had no clue who killed them or how they died. One day we were playing in the fields and doing work on the farm I owned and the next, they were dead. It was only later, that I discovered it was me who killed them, an after effect of me being fused with Etrigan caused an explosion of power that killed them instantly." Jason described sadly, the pain having subsided over the many centuries he had lived, but still present.

"I'm sorry." Esau didn't know what else to say.

"Don't be, I over my long life have come to terms. with what happened and while I spent many years trying to find a way to separate myself from Etrigan, we have come to a truce of sorts. I now dedicate myself to keeping the world safe from Demons, though I do also occasionally deal with common thugs here and there."

Jason paused.

"What I am trying to say, Esau." He said firmly. "Is that you may feel disheartened, scared or even horrified at learning the truth of your powers and yourself. However, it is not your blood that makes you who you are. It is the decision you make that shape who you are and the path upon which you walk. Your powers are strong and so long as you believe in yourself and the path upon which you walk, they will serve you well."

Seeing Esau still silent, looking at the floor in thought, Jason reached into his coat pocket and pulled out a small black card.

"I prepared this just in case." He placed the card on the table, Esau sparing a brief glance at it. "If you have any questions or desire any help in learning more about your powers, ring this number. I doubt I will be much help, the source of our powers is different, but I can assure you that I will give you all the aid that I can."

As Jason went to get up, Esau finally spoke once more. "In my head, there's a Kitsune." He stated, Jason pausing partially out of his chair, slowly sitting back down moments later. "It's split into different versions of itself, each with a different number of tails."

"A Kyūbi no Kitsune." Jason murmured.

"I fought against a version of it, the weakest one." Esau continued. "But it was thanks to the Tower of Fate that I was restrained. Barbara told me that my powers had become active and I know that when I was in Cadmus, I was trapped in my mind again. But in reality, I was going berserk attacking everyone around me."

Jason nodded his head. "I see." He said, before getting to his feet. "My offer doesn't change, Esau. But when you wish to challenge the Kitsune within your mind, let me know and come to Gotham. I will watch over and make sure that nothing bad happens.

"Thanks." Esau said shortly, not entirely comfortable with asking for help.

His experience with mentors had not been good, having been betrayed or having turned against them personally because of differing opinions. Esau wasn't looking for another, but he did need help to overcome the current hurdles in his path or else he'd quickly reach his limits. Now that the world was much wider than it was before with even greater threats to face, Esau couldn't afford to let his powers go undeveloped or mastered.

He needed help to overcome this obstacle.