a Demonathon Adventure
The Demon Cabinet
The room called "The Demon Cabinet" seems like an interesting exhibition. After all, most of the guests at the Grand Hotel are demons. You suppose it would be like going to a museum and seeing something like "Anthropology" as an entire display. Your demon doesn't seem to notice the irony, or perhaps doesn't really care. They're looking around the various collections of statues and drawings with wide-eyed interest. Every once in a while, they stop you and tell you a story about the demon: who they are, what they do, and how humans mostly got it all wrong.
"Oh these two," your demon says laughing at the stone behind a pane of glass. "Pazuzu and Lamashtu."
"What about them?" you ask.
"This one snatches babies," they say. "And this one scares off the one who snatches babies."
You look at your demon, confused at how cut-and-dry this tale is. All the other ones have been detailed and funny. There has to be more than that!
Your demon shakes their head. "They're enemies. I'm not sure how exactly they became enemies. Neither one of them wants to talk about it. Either way, the very sight of each other drives them into a rage." Your demon leans in and whispers. "Which is why it's so funny that they're put in the same exhibition right next to each other. Can you imagine?"
Prompt:
Read a book about rivals
or broken relationships
You try not to snort at that. You're sure that, wherever they are, Lamashtu and Pazuzu aren't happy about the Hotel's choice to put them together.
"I'm considering changing it," a rumbling voice says from behind you. You turn and find a large demon with four arms and big round eyes behind you. He'd be more intimidating, except that he's wearing a white apron with a name tag and has half-moon glasses riding on the end of his nose. He scratches his chin thoughtfully. "I'm already feeling the ire from the statues. And I'm fond of a little change. What do you think?"
You agree that it might not be best to put enemies next to each other, even if they're just statues. He sighs and walks up to the glass. With one set of hands, he picks up the three-inch-thick glass like it's nothing, then picks up the Pazuzu statue with the other set of hands. Once the glass is back in place, he takes the end of his apron to lightly dust a crevice.
"I'm Mara, by the way," he says, putting out a hand to shake yours. "If you see anything else that needs a little switch, let me know. I enjoy a good bit of change."
Helper Demon Mara:
Re-do your TBR
You thank Mara and watch as he wanders off to another part of the cabinet. You're not sure if the statue of an Assyrian demon goes well with a Mayan god, but you don't say anything. The way the Demon Cabinet is laid out doesn't seem to make much sense to you, though the clustered organization does tell a kind of story. Perhaps you just don't know the story yet...
When you and your demon are satisfied here, you decide to move on. Would you like to go to the hall next door, or go back to the main lobby to choose a different cabinet?
