Within an hour she had managed to trade a few gold coins for multiple plates of Stuffed Grape Leaves, Spanakopita, and Baklava, as well as learn about all the odd happenings around the province. Most elders were turned off by her appearance but the youth in the area had no problem answering her list of questions - as long as she answered theirs as well, which ranged from "Who did you hair" to "What's that thing dangling for your hip?"
By the time she began to make her way towards a local church the sun had dropped out of the sky - leaving just a faint trace of itself via orange streaks.
"I know another portal opened as I reached town, I wonder who followed me....." she'd think to herself, before making her way inside the building and then up to the top of it's bell tower.
Sitting atop the towers circular roof wasn't possible, however she found it quite easy to swing her legs over the side of the window-like openings, and from her current vantage point she'd be able to see the entire town easily as well as the wooded area that led to the Temple and beyond.
"A pied piper.....I wonder what kind of tune such a spirit plays.....maybe it's slow an entrancing, or perhaps it's energetic and joyful!"
Imi's excited thoughts would begin to settle down as an hour, then two, passed. She had noticed a group of trees moving far off in the distance within the first hour and figured it was the other demon spirit in the area, but she was determined to wait for the one luring children.
"Perhaps the demon left this small town..." she muttered as she fiddled with her hair, however no sooner did she begin to complain did a light melody begin to play. It was so soft at first that she thought maybe she was just hearing music from someones house, however as the flute continued to play Imi would spot a young girl, no older than eight, skipping down the road - soon to be followed by a handful of others.
"Well look at that...." the Zodiac whispered, before jumping down to the roof of the chapel and then to the road.
Imi followed the trail of children, albeit at a distance, until they suddenly detoured off the road and headed into the woods.
"Oh great." she complained. Thankfully though there was enough moonlight that she could see where was going, the children however seemed to be using the music as direction instead of their eyes.
After several minutes of dodging through trees Imi would finally make her way out into a clearing a couple hundred yards from the Temple of Poseidon. The Children were dancing hand in hand in a circle, all but one, who was aimlessly walking towards the edge of the cliff.
"No!" Imi would call out, but she was too late - the young boy would walk off the edge.
Within seconds she'd be there herself, peering down expecting to see a small body laying on rocks. However instead she'd see a young lanky boy staring up at her.
"What the...." was all she'd be able to get out before the boy disappeared.
"Now you're not a kid, are you?" a child-like voice said behind her, causing Imi to turn around sharply, where she'd come face-to-face with the same boy who had just been staring up at her.
"You...."
It was obvious for more than one reason that this was the demon she was looking for, but the most obvious in the moment was the golden pan flute he was holding.
"Me? What about me....I'm just a boy."
The smile on the demons childish face was growing annoying, but instead of getting angry Imi would begin to smile herself.
"Oh but of course, so-" she'd pause and take a few steps closer to the boy as she unhooked her meteor hammer from her hip - keeping it at it's shrunken size for the time being. "-you'd have no problem with holding an enchanted object then - would you not?"
As she held out the weapon the grin on the boys face would quickly vanishing, and the smirk on her own would grow.
"What's the matter? Oh, could it be that you're afraid?"
"Pfft, afraid? Of that small thing, not in the least woman."
"Cute, but we both know you couldn't touch this without showing your true form......but if you wish to play dumb by all means, play dumb, it really doesn't matter."
Without another word Imi would flick the Meteor Hammer down towards the ground, causing it to steadily grow until it reached it's full size. The boy would jump back several yards but he was well within range of her weapon, an he'd be unable to escape it as Imi slung the Hammer towards him - wrapping the chain around his waist.
Much like expected the enchanted weapon caused a reaction that forced the demon to transform into it's true form.
As the boy grew into a warped humanoid figure with greyish green skin, standing nearly three stories tall, Imi would uncoil her weapon from around the demons waist as the children suddenly stopped dancing - their trance being broken as the pan flute - now enlarged in proportion with the spirit - hit the ground.
"Celestial wench!" the demon bellowed as he struck at the ground with a clenched fist.
Imi easily dodged the attack and created three clones of herself in a circle around the creature.
"Now what did you do with that boy, the one who went off the cliff side, is he-"
A deep chuckle would escape the malevolent spirits mouth, causing a scowl to form on Imi's face.
"The boy? Well I ate his heart of course, how do you think I kept my youthful appearance girl!?"
"Well then..."
Imi an each of her clones would in unison spin their Meteor Hammers up in the air, much like a cowboy would a lasso, for a brief moment before one by one wrapping the chain around the demons neck. Once secure they'd twist their chain so that the circular hammers would each release a blade - pinning the creates neck in place.
"Y-you....filthy we-"
"-not that word again for crying out loud!" she interrupted, before pulling the target towards the ground.
A loud scream, one mixed with frustration and pain, would escape the demons mouth as his back hit the the ground hard - causing the blades to rip at his neck.
"You eat the hearts of children, yes?" Imi's fifth replication would taunt after appearing on the chest of the pied piper. "Well...I fillet the hearts of beasts."
In a blink of an eye Imi's 5th replication would unsheathed both swords and plunge them into the heart of the demon. For good measure she'd twist the blades in a complete circle to cement the deed.
After the demon disintegrated into a black powder Imi's replications would disappear in a poof of white dust, leaving only her true self standing with a fully extended Meteor Hammer.
The sound of whimpering children would snap her back into reality and cause her to shrink the chained weapon.
"Einai entaxei...."* she'd say as she hooked the shrunken Meteor Hammer back to her hip, trying to reassure them everything would be okay in their native tongue, but as she approached them they simply cowered more. However when the ground began to shake the children would suddenly all run behind her.
"Don't worry, it's far enough away - we're fine. Let me walk you home."
She'd repeat her statement in Geek as she squatted down to their level, all in a bid to earn their trust.
The children were uneasy at first, but when the ground shook again they were more than willing to use Imi as their escort.
"Kali nichta!"* she'd say to the children before they ran back towards their houses. The ground had vibrated a few more times during their walk an Imi could sense it was the other demon spirit.
"Why couldn't there just be one?" she'd complain with a sigh, before backtracking to the edge of the woods.
After taking a second to estimate what direction the spirit was Imi would slowly but sure begin to head towards it.
* Einai entaxei = "It's okay" in Greek.
Kali nichta = "Goodnight" in Greek.