The Qualifications

**Aileen POV**

The idea of wrong footing the demon lord filled me with pure glee. He would think I'm trying to understand him, when I'm really trying to save lives. If he thought I was just going to sit back and do nothing about my situation; well he would see soon. I'm not just going to be a little doll staying with an abusive owner. I may not be much of a physical threat to him, but he would see what I lacked in brawn, I made up for in brain. I would go through all these books and find what I needed.
Devon came back handing me an old journal? I scanned the pages and marked the ones with three names that I did recognize.
Lena had mentioned them. She wrote that she didn't want me to meet the same fate as them. Shiuku had mentioned three girls as well. My stomach was churning again, this could be what happened to them. On the cover there was a fourth name, Shion. Near the end of the book I also noticed my name. I didn't want to read what he's written about me. Right now, I don't think I could handle it.
I opened the journal to the first girl's name. Brintini was written in careful cursive print. Reading down I was saddened to find that all of it was written in cursive. At least he didn't have bad handwriting. To my left, Devon stayed absolutely quiet, as did any unwanted voices. I was able to concentrate completely on the page in front of me.
Three pages were dedicated to meeting her, bringing her to live with him, talking of babies, their plans to destroy the DSS, and how much he was starting to fall for her. He writes very affectionately towards her. Surprisingly there was little jealousy reading about his love for another woman. I may have some anger that he never declared anything besides respect for me, but I wasn't as hurt as I would have guessed.
On page four things took a turn. He starts talking about her never leaving his side. She wants him to stop in his plans since the final guardian will not be born for centuries. Shiuku doesn't want to take a break, but he does want a child. Brintini loves the idea, and yearns for him to stay home to take care of his family. He tries to do that wanting to love her. The DSS starts making strides against demons. He blames his feelings for his true love and kills her. Power and putting humans in their place was more important. As sad as Brintini's fate was, Shiuku had already given me that spoiler.
Okay, off to the second girl. He mentioned that there were three qualifications that I made when picking me to bear his offspring. Brintini gave me the first; chances were high the two next girls would reveal the others.
Devon left the room to go grab some food whispering something about it being Jacob's shift. There was only one exit to the library, so Jacob could stay safely outside. I still needed the man alive for as long as Devon was acting postal service. Keeping his distance was in everyone's best interest. On to Rachel. Reading through the first bit she seemed perfect for Shiuku's plans. Rachel kept to herself, slept with Shiuku at night, and went about her day with no word or problem. Shiuku is impressed by how self-sufficient she was. He writes of great progress with her. In fact, it seems like they barely communicate. He treats her more like a conjugal visit. Two pages through and that's mostly what he writes. But something happens on page three.
She left. Rachel escaped! So that was why she was okay with being treated so poorly. Did Shiuku kill her for fleeing? He is clearly pissed at this part. The writing was sloppier and there were drops of ink. I'd wager he broke a quill or two.
In the middle of page four he learns how to use the mind ability to stalk. He uses it to zone in on where his baby maker had fled to. Shiuku is upset to see her on DSS property. Until he sees her attack a squad leader. The girl went so far that when she started losing, she threatened a child's life on DSS property. Rachel hadn't betrayed him. She was trying to be useful, so she could be more to him. Rachel wanted to be cared for just like Brintini. They kill her. The DSS killed Shiuku's second woman while protecting a small kid.
Two girls down. Devon returned with a plate of warm cookies. "Thought something sweet might work wonders on any bad news. Find anything interesting."
I was about to answer when he added, "cookie first. It can't be good and you should eat before you're unable. How's your balance doing now?"
Carefully, I stretched out my legs. My head was no longer woozy from the demon's blows, so I hopped out of my seat. That should be enough to prove I was feeling better. Chances were I wouldn't need crutches to leave.
"I think that's the first time you've really ordered me. I kinda like this si-" I shoved a cookie in my mouth before I could finish. Damn that man could tear past my defenses.
Devon wouldn't let me say anything until I'd eaten a half a dozen. Was his plan to make me so fat that Shiuku would not want me anymore? I looked up at him. A chocolate chip rested at the corner of Devon's lips. The little piece of chocolate taunted me.
"Aileen?"
"Er...I wanted to know... what the qualification I might have passed from this girl?" I explained the situation Shiuku had written about Rachel.
Devon pinched his eyebrows together. "It wasn't an accident that you ended up coming in contact with a member of the DSS. They would take you in and train you. You won't go back to try to kill a squad leader for love would you?"
"Of course not! I'm a member of the DSS and my job is to protect the weak!" I said passionately.
He clicked his tongue. "Bingo. You won't die like Rachel did. You won't personally fight against the DSS." He ate the last cookie on the plate without bothering to ask if I would like it. He wasn't as nice as he seemed to be after all! "So what about the third girl?"
"I'm going to read that now."
My fingers moved to find the third dog-tag I had made. Amy was the final girl before me. Devon saw me start to dither. His hands fell to my shoulders, massaging the tension out gently. The sentiment moved me more than I cared to acknowledge. I stretched out cracking my back on the wooden chair thinking of the first two conditions. Not falling in love with him and being strong while not taking on any member of the DSS. Shiuku can't have a child if the DSS kills the Mother before being pregnant.
Amy.
Amy was shorter than he liked, but trained with her boxer brother often enough. The girl believes love just slows down a girl's potential and hates living in men's shadows. She loathed the idea of being a housewife, but at the time; that was all a girl was for. Well that's one check mark for her and I could relate to the 'woman's role' bull from my dimension. According to Shiuku himself, he created a hurricane that killed all in her town, minus Amy. The waves do wash her up near where a squad leader is vacationing. They take her in and train her.
*Devon...You're squeezing on my shoulders a bit too much right.*.. I internally complained.
A few years pass and now the girl is a second in command. This is the best time for him to abduct her. They make a deal that he will save her family. Amy falls for the trick, believing he will revive her family from the dead, and he marks her. Shiuku admits in his writing that it is impossible and no one can bring the dead back to life. Things go well for a while and he describes how good she is in bed. Despite being a fighter, she was not very dominating in bed. Well Shiuku did have his kink. Did he call her 'little one' too? He never mentions the nickname in here. He refers to her as either Amy, or slave.
There are more pages about her than any of the other girls. Shiuku is getting excited that the young lady will become pregnant soon. Everything was so great with sex, no questions being asked, no love, and him leaving for great periods of time with no hassel; he doesn't see her start to become depressed. Depressed...No, I could already see where this was going. I think Devon could as well. The previous painful pressure on my shoulders was replaced with soothing caresses to my back.
Amy started acting strangely, not responding much to anything. She would sleep, eat, and sometimes walk aimlessly around the room. No one would see or hear from her for days. Soon she began eating less and becoming sickly. Shiuku confronts her and tries to force feed her. He writes how much he despises how frail she appears now. The demons no longer respect her and treat her as any other human. They do not fear her as they should. One demon is stupidly bold enough to try and take the girl for himself. That day was a bloodbath for many of Shiuku's men. He complains about the setback of having to kill so many soldiers.
The two of them do not have much interaction after the incident. She again stops eating and Shiuku is forced to come back home. He is enraged after getting the report of his babymakers condition. When he barges into their room she whines asking for her family. Amy is lonely. Shiuku loses his cool, calls her weak, and hits her before storming out. I don't want to read what comes next. I know what comes next.
Once more the handwriting gets sloppy. Whether it was from sadness, or anger, I could not tell. Either could have made darker wavy letters. He simply writes, *I should have had someone watching her. The damn human girl commited suicide.*