The Curator watched impassively as the demon immediately began pounding on the protoglass barriers of his new prison. Not two minutes after stirring awake, and already the nascent creature was readily throwing tantrums. If she weren’t so mentally spent, The Curator would have found this behaviour fascinating.
“Y͜o͏ų can’̷t c̀onta̷in m̧e! ̡ Į a͘m á GO̶D!͜” the demon hissed in defiance through the protoglass, punctuating the statement with a few more solid, genuinely threatening thumps. He sneered in displeasure for a moment upon realizing his captor didn’t even blink, then the sneer morphed into an unsettling grin. “B́e͘si͠d̴e͢s, ҉you҉’̴re̴ ̡al̸re͡ad͜y ͜to̡o la̵te. ͟ ̴Į’̷m͡ j͘u҉s͠t͝ one͢ ̴óf m͡a̧ny ͞now͢. ̷I͟’͢m̵ e̕veryw̴h͞ere!̕”̡ Cruel, triumphant, smug laughter rang through the room, even muted as it was by the containment’s material.
The demon’s laughter began to peter out; The Curator was still standing there, just standing, in exactly the same place, adamantly stoic, her gaze hard but contemplative.
“W҉h͟at? ͡ ͠No ͟r̛i̶ghteou̡s̕ r̴etoŕţs?͡ ̧ ͜No͝ ͝p͜i͘t̛h́y͏ c̶om͝men̶t̨ar̷y?”̷ jeered the captive. “͏Or͝ a̡re you͟ ̀ju̕s̷t ͝u͠pset ҉tha͞t yo҉u̴r met҉a̵l pe̛t’̕s̛ ̛sacri̕f̵ic͠e͘ ̷was ̴fǫr͏ no͠t͡h̷i͘n͞g?̧ ̷ T͝ha͟t ҉fo̵r ̡ąl̴l ͜yo̶ur̀ ͏o͢t̀h͏ęr̢w͘o͜rl͘d͟l͡y̕ p̵owe̢r͡, y̛ou̸ onl͠y go̴t a͘ ̢sliver͜ of̢ ̴th̡e̶ ͠w̕hole̢?”̨
Silence.
A dark, amused cackle. “S͞o̷me̸ ̧gu҉ard̷i̷a҉n̕ of̨ ̸t̕h̸e͝ ͜multi͟ve̸rs̕ȩ ͡you̷ ̀ar̢e, ͘kįtt͠y ͟cat.̨”
“For a ‘god’, you clearly have no idea what you're talking about.”
The demon stiffened in momentary surprise at the Curator’s reply; then another, lower chuckle drifted through the protoglass. “̨The̢n e͢n͟lig͢hten͝ m͜e.͟”
“I am a Curator. My duty is to preserve. ‘Preservation’ and ‘protection’ are two very different concepts, demon.” A pause; too short to let anyone else get another word edgewise. “I do not need the whole as you claim. I only need the sliver, which I already have.” She stepped forward once, a single, simple movement that simultaneously asserted her authority and showed a defiance of her own. “You. You are a specimen to be observed and studied, and from what we learn, we can deal with your kith and kin in the wild.”
The demon hissed and glared. “I̷’d li͟ke͡ t͏o s͞eé yo̸u͏ t̛r̷y̴.͢”
“It’s only a matter of time really.” The Curator’s expression remained reserved and businesslike. “Already, I can see that you’re thriving just from the attention I am giving you.” She tilted her head for a moment as if in thought. “What would happen if I were to just … turn away?”
The Curator slowly made a move to step away and turn her back; even as she shifted her weight, the demon frantically began to pound his fists on the protoglass, screeching at the top of his lungs through the thickly layered, otherworldly enamel. “̵NO̶!͝ ́N͞o. Do͠n’t̡ ͢y͟ou D̵A̷R͠E̴ ͘t̸ur̢n͜ ̨y̛o͟ur̀ ̷back̶ ̀ơn m͝e!!”
“Or you will what?” asked The Curator as she faced the demon again, her tone even, difficult to discern. “… disappear?”
The demon recoiled sharply away at the word ‘disappear’.
“Fascinating.” The Curator rubbed her chin lightly, watching the incarcerated creature all the while. “I was not certain that hypothesis held any water.” She dropped her arms to either side, smoothly clasping her hands behind the small of her back. “… but it apparently does.” A brief flicker of pity crossed her face. “As I said before, it’s only a matter of time, and time is something I have a surplus of now in regards to you and your ‘influence’.” She took a step forward. “The influence you need to bolster your ‘godlike’ strength will inevitably wane, you realize. You are doomed to be forgotten like so many others before you who claimed deity.” She continued striding forward, slowly, meteredly. “A mockery, a memory, a footnote, a meme … and then nothing at all.” She came up to the glass, right next to it, eye to eye with her captive. “One by one, all your other fragments will die of … let’s call it a starvation of sorts, until your ‘infestation’ is manageable. All we need to do until then is damage control …”
The demon stared at her, its countenance now frozen in an expression of combined terror, realization and perhaps the slightest hint of lingering denial.
The Curator’s face never changed, not even once, as the unmistakable aura of teleportation magic rose on an unspoken cue around her frame.
“… and here, you will remain, a lone specimen in my eternal archives, until and beyond the day of divine reconciliation, forever … and all alone.”
Perhaps the demon was still hoping she would give him the luxury of screaming abuse at her back while she would demonstratively walk away from him; it certainly seemed that way, the manner in which he was already drawing in breath, eyes narrowing in preparation for whatever foul litany he would attempt to claw back some semblance of personal validity with.
She took a single step back, the magic enveloping her in an elaborate web that made her gestalt shimmer and warp … and within the next pulse of thought, she was gone from the room.
The demon sat transfixed for several heartbeats, if such a creature could have been imagined with a beating heart; eyes widening, then limbs beginning to quiver, and then he threw himself, fists flailing, at the smooth, unyielding inside of his transparent cage, but with the source of his defiance now denied him, all he could do was fill the rest of the chamber with the rebounding echoes of his screams.
It would take a long while before silence would settle once more.
A silence punctuated by broken sobs.