The Miscreants of Xiphoid Camp

» 2125-2126 « Chapter 0 - It's sort of a prologue

Avior Viator's parents did not know that he knew about the demons.

He was seven years old when he had overheard his uncle talking to his parents in a hushed, anxious tone late one night. Several months ago, he had discovered that one of the air vents in his bedroom connected with one in the kitchen, providing an excellent way to spy on private conversations. Now he laid on the floor of his room with his ear pressed up against it and listened closely.

"...don't understand. Why would the boy be of any more importance to the demons than, say, Ocean Cobb?"

At the time, Avior did not know who Ocean Cobb was. Later he would learn that she had been a rather popular singer in the 2090s. And he did not know who 'the boy' was. Perhaps his uncle was talking about Ocean Cobb's brother. But why would 'the demons' (whatever THEY were) need Ocean Cobb's brother?

He continued to listen to the conversation. His father was speaking now. "...know how they are, Lennart. wildly dangerous and unpredictable creatures, and we have evidence that they want him for their own,"

Who did they want?

"Yes, Alrik, I understand that," his uncle said. "But the boy is only seven! What could a demon possibly need him for?"

And there it was again. Demons. What demons? There were no demons. What did they mean by demons? Avior felt bad for Ocean Cobb's brother. He was also seven, and he sure wouldn't want to get snatched by the demons.

The door to his room opened and Avior jerked away from the vent, eyes wide.

His older brother stepped in. "Hey," he said, "why are you lying on the floor?"

Avior blinked. There was no point in telling a lie. "Hi Archer! I'm listening to Father and Uncle Lennart," he said matter-of-factly.

Archer frowned. "You shouldn't do that," He admonished. "Please tell me they're talking about age-appropriate things. Avior, what are they talking about?"

"Demons," Avior replied. "I don't get it. What're demons?"

Archer inhaled sharply. "I... don't know," he said uncertainly, and quite unconvincingly, as well

"You really don't know? At all?" Avior pressed. Archer was thirteen. He had a phone. He knew things.

Archer shook his head. "No, sorry," he said shortly.

"And again," he said, opening the door to leave, "do. Not. Listen. To. Their. Conversations."

"Okay," Avior said. Archer left. Avior counted his retreating footsteps until he stopped hearing them, then put his ear back against the air vent, but eavesdropping had lost its appeal with Archer's warning still lingering in the air. Even without lying on the floor, he could still catch snatches of conversation.

"...Demons..." (again)

"...Unsafe to stay..."

"...There's always Xiphoid..."

Marcus Gill's parents had made sure he knew about the demons.

His mom, Beatriz, had sat down with him one day about a month after his eighth birthday.

"Do you know what the word 'demon' means?" she asked.

Marcus stared at her blankly. He did, in theory, but for some reason he didn't feel sure that he really did at all.

"It's sort of like an evil spirit," his other mom, Lulu, explained.

"Oh," Marcus said. "I knew that,"

He shifted uncomfortably on the worn loveseat, picking at a loose thread on the pillow beside him. This conversation felt serious, like when he found out that Peepaw died, or when he found out he was adopted.

Beatriz glanced at Lulu for reassurance and then looked Marcus straight in the eyes. "Demons are like monsters from stories," she said. "They like to hurt innocent people, and we don't know why."

Marcus considered this for a moment. "I hate demons," he said. "They don't exist, right?"

Lulu reached out and took Beatriz's hand. "Well, uh, that's sort of the problem here. They're not supposed to exist, but..." she trailed off.

"But they do anyway," Marcus said, nodding sagely. He liked to think that he was very smart for his age. "Are people trying to get rid of them?" he asked.

"Yes, but there's still a lot we don't know. Your mom and I just wanted you to be prepared, in case the demon situation gets worse," Beatriz said.

"Which it won't!" Lulu interjected quickly. "Don't worry about it. It's probably nothing anyway,"

"Okay!" Marcus said cheerfully. He hopped off the couch. "I'm gonna go now," he said, waving. He skipped out of the room and disappeared down the hallway.

Lulu sunk into the couch beside her wife. "That went a lot better than I expected. You were right. We had nothing to worry about," she smiled. "Marcus is so much more mature than we give him credit for,"

At that precise moment, Marcus was in his room, at his computer, looking up 'how to get rid of demons'.

He clearly took after Beatriz. Lulu was the only thing keeping the family grounded. Without her, Marcus and Beatriz would probably be in some far away desert, searching for either a stray dog or an elusive cactus that, thanks to magical reasons, held the power to create world peace.

Marcus scrolled through ten pages of search results with varying degrees of integrity, hunting for something that would give an eight year old the exact power needed to annihilate a demon.

He came upon an interesting word with even more interesting context.

"XIPHOID CAMP. LOOKING TO KILL DEMONS AND HONE MAGICAL ABILITY?"

Here is where we will make our futures.