Sublime Awakenings

Sublime Awakenings: Chapter 45

“Sooo,” Leon paused when Todd looked up from the counter at him, only continuing when the older boy returned to his task, “what are we gonna do today?”

Todd sighed at the kid's chipper disposition as he pored just enough milk into a bowl of cookies to make them moist. Brian had yet to break the news to him about his parents' probable demise because no bodies had been recovered, but two nights ago, the contents of Leon's grandfather's house had been found in a landfill. “We're going with Letta and one of my friends to buy some new clothes for Z-Jennifer. And then we're going to the grocery store. And tonight, after Brian's gets off of work, we're going to see Noddle on Ice.”

Moving the milk over another bowl, this one half full of genuine cereal, Todd filled it enough to cover the chunks of wheat, placing it on the table for Leon along with his own bowl of cookies. He put the milk back in the refrigerator, exchanging it for a bottle of chocolate syrup before taking a seat across from the eight-year-old who was eying his food jealously. This was going to be a long day.

The teenager had finally returned to skool on Wednesday, and, as expected, he had received a lot of unwanted attention from students and faculty alike. Everyone wanted to know what had really happened with Bitters at the elementary skool, and nearly everyone suddenly wanted to be his friend because of his newfound, and hopefully fleeting, semi-celebrity status. A food fight had even broken out on Thursday over whose table he was going to sit at at lunch, though luckily, Gaz had intervened to save him...and make him sit with her. And, of course, Dib had expected detailed reports from him as to Zim's every move, the problem with this being that he didn't care to actually monitor Zim's every irritating move.

“Squee, what the hell are you doing?”

He glanced up from his, now syrup-covered, cookies to see Letta standing beside the table giving him a disturbed look. “Making a cake.” Smiling at the shake of her head, he cut through the cookies easily with his spoon to take a bite.

“A cake?”

“Well, not the kind of cake you're used to.”

She snickered to herself, rolling her eyes at his repetition of her own words from the last time she had tried to make a cake. “Ha ha. It's funny because you don't know what it means.” Suddenly another thought occurred to her, prompting her to abruptly stop her laughter, pulling red-tinted sunglasses down to give Squee a more serious look. “You don't, do you?”

“No...” The boy shook his own head, meeting her gaze with resignation. “I don't want to, do I?”

“No.” Letta shot him a big smile as she poured himself a glass of orange juice. “I'll tell ya later.”

“Oh, thanks.” He dropped the sarcasm when she sat next to him, still looking oddly at his food, to give her a real explanation. “I'm trying to gain some weight.”

“God, I wish I had that problem.”

“Greetings, fellow beasts of stink! It is glaringly bright this filthy Earth-day, no?” Zim waltzed into the room of foodenings in a housecoat that had been lent to him by the Dib's head-manipulation-drone, taking a seat beside the boy that was supposed to be his...son. He cringed once again at the thought. At least he wouldn't be going to work with the manipulation-drone today. Though it was what the Earthlings called a “Friday”, probably in honor of the invention of the snack food know as “fries”, it was a skool holiday today. The one called Brian had work while the smeets where free, and he had decreed that it would do them all some good to get out of the house for a while.

“You!” He pointed one of the pink, stubby digits that he was currently reduced to at the Squeeky-kid. “Bring me waffles!”

Pausing with a spoon full of cookie an inch form his mouth, Todd blinked at the alien across from him. “Don't tell me what to do. Make it yourself.”

“But! You! I AM Z-I am your superior! You must do my bidding!” The human hand fell to the table as he felt at a loss. The other two were staring. “But...the Dib always made me waffles...and that...Brian-human-”

“Yeah, well, you're not my patient or my pet alien so you can get your own food.” The boy looked back up for a second. “And if you don't take a shower today, people are going to suspect things.” Actually that last part of just for his own comfort since the alien hadn't taken one since he-she?-had moved in.

“I am not the Dib's pet anything! The Dib is the one that belongs to ME, filthy Earth-child! And in the coming days of Irken domination, his serving of waffles to Zim will not be forgotten! And your refusal has been dually noted as well!” Zim smirked to himself, imagining the Squeeky-child being reassigned to the status of a lowly waffle-drone under his rule. He tried to ignore the dig about his personal hygiene, which he knew to be disgusting. Human bodies were so full of smell! But during his stay with the Dib, he had been taking gel showers in his moon base every couple days, and now he had nothing but...Earth-water. Thus far, his experiences with the toxic, polluted substance had not been pleasurable.

“Oh. Okay then. Zim.” Todd smiled to himself as he returned to eating his breakfast. Zim was so easy to manipulate. All you really had to do was hit him where he was most sensitive, namely his pride, and his whole facade would crumble like an old skool building. At least for a few seconds.

“I AM NOT ZIM! I am a normal, human Earth female! And you, son, will address me as such!”

“Sure. I know.” The alien had at first tried to fool them all, Todd included, into thinking that he was really just a confused Jeniffer, but that plan had been crushed after a few minutes of Zim and himself being alone in the same room. Of course, Todd himself had to pretend that Zim was the woman who had brought him into the world, but not that he liked her, around Brian and Membrane so that they wouldn't have cause to think him insane as well.

“FINE! Then you, Letta-worm! Fetch for me waffles!”

“Zim, right now you're like a log cabin republican to me.” It had taken a while, but Letta was now firmly convinced that the person sitting in front of her was actually Zim. Well, it was almost Zim. The personality just fit too well, and the group that he belonged to did have highly advanced technology. The backpack was the same that she had last seen Zim wearing in his basement before he had disappeared with Squee.

According to Dib, it interfaced with his brain so that it was basically a backup of his personality and memory that had attached itself to the nearest living host when debris fell on Zim's body from the collapsing building above. After that, it had activated some sort of forcefield around the new body in order to reach safety. So, it was kind ofZim. Or maybe it was Zim. What really made a person who they were besides personality and memories anyway? But then, what if there were two or three copies? Would they all be Zim? It was a moral problem that she really didn't want to think about, and luckily, it was going to be solved sometime soon if what the paranormal obsessed boy had told Squee while she had been listening in on the downstairs phone was true.

“How DARE you suggest that I dwell in such privative human living quarters! My dwelling unit was vastly superior to anything on this-er-this continent until...,” his rant lost momentum as he realized his mistake, quickly changing demeanor to something more upbeat, “why, until I came here to be with my darling offspring of course!” He smiled broadly. “And now! I bathe!”

“Oh, good.” Letta sighed as the impostor, the rather bad impostor, hurried out of the room. “That was really annoying.”

Leon nodded. “And smelly.” His eyes widened as he looked from his bland breakfast to Todd. “My mommy isn't gonna be like that when I get her back, is she?”

“Umm...I...uh...no?” Todd shook his head, having no clue how to answer the question. “I don't think you have to worry about that.”

“And yours will be better soon?”

“Well, we think so. But you have to remember that 'better' is a relative term, in this case meaning 'better than Zim'. But a lot of people who aren't very good are better than Zim. My...Jennifer...she's not the most...responsive...person. But she's not as annoying. Understand?”

“You don't like your mom?”

“Uh...no...not really. But I guess I don't really know her.”

“...oh....” The little boy gave the older a sad look that changed to contemplative as he gazed down into the completely yucky cereal.

Todd gave the blue, plastic clock on the kitchen wall a brief glance: 9:23AM. That didn't give him much time to be ready considering the early start they were trying to make. At least he had already gotten a shower. “I need to change.” He dumped the remaining quarter of his cookies, which had turned out to be a little too sweet with the syrup, into the trash before washing out his bowl and heading quickly up the stairs to exchange his sleeping clothes for some that would be more acceptable in public.

“Alright.” To avoid any risky questions from the child across from her, Letta flipped leisurely through a copy of Liberal Christian Living that her dad had left on the table that morning, not really bothering to read any of the articles all the way through as she savored the last of the orange juice. She was just about to switch to the National Geographic that came to their house for Squee, which would at least have better pictures, when the door bell rang. She dropped her empty glass in the sink, not bothering to wash it as Squee had done, on her way to let his strange little friend in.

On the porch, Pepito waved his mother goodbye as she slowly drove away when the door began to open. He turned around to face the blond girl, giving her a smile that was just a little too big to be completely real. “Buenos dias, senorita.”

“Yeah, uh, good morning?” She shrugged as she opened to door wider. “I took French, but come on in.”

“Thanks.”

“Squee and Zim are still getting ready.”

“Ah.”

“Do you want some coffee or something?”

“Sure. Thanks again.”

“No problem.”

He watched her make a quick dash for the kitchen, hearing her say something chastising to Leon about cookies. The boy made some retort about Todd doing it, so why couldn't he. The child sounded pretty normal so far.

“Because Todd's old enough to make his own decisions, jeez. But, uh, don't tell Dad anyway, okay?” Not giving the boy a chance to answer, Letta quickly made her way back into the living room where Pepito was still standing. “You can sit, you know.” She laughed a little.

With coffee in hand, he took a seat opposite Letta, on the couch that matched the arm chair that she had just claimed. For some reason, this felt far more awkward that it had any right to.

“So, let me ask you something.” She wished that she had a cup of coffee to peer dramatically over. Instead she slowly crossed her legs, bringing her hands together in her lap as she gave him a pointed look. “How do you feel about...Satan?”

Pepito choked on the coffee, accidentally letting some of the dark and mysterious substance slip into his windpipe. He spluttered, but managed to end a short series of coughs with a laugh. “Ha. What? Satan, really?” He paused to cough again. “I'm not really all that religious, so not very strongly, I guess.”

“Good answer.” Letta smiled. That was actually a very good answer in her book: much better than any answer that bothered to lend some kind of belief in Satan, even if it was to denounce the fictional being. “So all of that stuff with the game and the souls was-”

“A joke, yeah, something I read in a book. Sorry about that. Just thought it would lighten the mood, but I guess I was wrong.” He took a deep breath, abandoning the coffee on a smiley face coaster that lay on an end table to his right, which made him cringe a little at the “Smile! Jesus loves you!” text that ran around the face itself. Even aside from the Christian aspect, that was horribly tacky. At least his mother had good taste, even if it did tend to fall on the light and fluffy side.

“Yeah. Well, you can't really play with paranoid schizophrenics like that, especially when they're already stressed out.”

Pepito didn't know whether to smile or glare at her warning tone. It was actually kind of nice that she cared about Todd after his real family hadn't, but he was getting really sick of the way everyone always seemed to brush his friend's concerns away as delusions. “You really think he's that fragile?”

“Sometimes. You just have to watch his stress level.”

Okay, so that was true about Todd's stress, but that didn't mean that everything the boy said should be considered unreliable just because it wasn't fashionable or conventional to consider those things.

The young woman smirked at his sullen look. “You really like him, don't you?”

“Uh, yeah. That's why I'm his friend.”

“No, I mean you really like him. You weren't exactly stealthy at the park, you know.” She looked down and back up hesitantly. “I know that it seems like Todd is flirting back, but-I'm not trying to be a jerk or anything-but he probably has no idea what he's doing. He's spent so much time in the DHMI that he doesn't really know what's normal. And I'm pretty sure he likes girls.”

This time he couldn't force back the eye roll. This was one of the many things that really rubbed him the wrong way about modern, Western human society. Everything was broken down into false dichotomies, and anything that didn't fit into a socially constructed little box was ignored or persecuted. In the spiritual world, that type of shit wasn't really possible because spirits don't have a set sex, or race, or really even a set species, and, having been a part of demonic culture for so much of his life now, the idea was just as foreign to Pepito as being attracted to someone solely based on physical assets without taking the mind and soul into account.

He crossed his arms over his chest. “I like girls too. And boys. And, yes, I really like Todd.” He was tempted to add that he liked Todd more than any of the straight guys or lesbians that he had bedded, and there were quite a few because he enjoyed shattering people's illusions, especially about themselves. It was fun and a instant self-esteem booster. Of course, the truth was that he liked Todd more than anyone. But he did have to concede that the first part of her argument, about the other teen not quite knowing what was normal for friendships and gender roles, was true. It was actually another reason that he liked him so much. It made Todd less fake than most people. He wasn't overly conscious of things that might make him seem feminine or “gay” like most straight guys, and he didn't try to act feminine like some gay guys either. It was...refreshing.

“Oh, wow. Really? I mean, girls and boys?”

“Yes, really. And sometimes transsexual and intersexed people as well.” He could hear the “are you sure?” in her tone, and it annoyed him even more. But he really needed to get along with her for Todd, especially since he couldn't seem to maintain good terms with the waste lock. And yet seducing her to prove his point was probably out to the question too, so he was just going to have to tolerate it...for now. Damn it.

“Wow.”

“You've said that already.”

“Yeah. Uh, Todd's probably ready by now. You can go up and get him if you want. It's the last bedroom on the right upstairs. And, uh, see if you guys can hurry Zim up too.”

“Right.” Pepito shot her a tight-lipped smile as he left the room, glad to have finally shut her up. Following the girl's instructions, he soon came to a stop outside the bedroom door. Even though he rejected modesty, he did have manners. And, no, they weren't the same thing at all, thank you very much. Modesty involved a false expression of being humble so that one could impress others...really more an inversion of healthy pride than its opposite, while manners were the unspoken rules of the social contract that civilization required: social lubrication. They were a show of respect to those with whom one interacted, which he would always try to put forth until someone proved themselves unworthy of his respect...which happened quite a bit actually. Once this happened, he would smite them as he saw fit.

He knocked on the door, softly at first, then harder after there was no reply. Finally, he took it upon himself to open the door a crack. “Amigo?”

When the sound of his friend's voice managed to slip through the noise that Letta's hair dryer made, Todd quickly switched it off, pulling his shirt over his head on the way to answer the door. “Hi.” He opened the door widely, closing it after the other had passed through.

“Hi.” Pepito gave a him a quick once over, from his bare feet to his newly blow-dried, shorter hair, watching the other run a hand quickly through it. Todd's hair really was much more manageable than his own. It hardly needed product, whether shorter or longer, making it perfect for touching. But he resisted the urge, sure that Todd wouldn't appreciate that just yet. “You almost ready?”

“Almost.”

Pepito took in his surroundings, plopping down and lying back on the rainbow-print bed. He reached over to pick up what turned out to be a yearbook from pile on the nearby desk. “Nice room by the way.”

Sitting on the end of the bed, beside his sprawled friend, to put on socks and shoes, Todd frowned at the pink yet again. “Yeah, it's Letta's.”

“Aww. For a moment there I thought that you shared my fascination with Catholic skool girls.” He nudged the teen with a booted foot, gesturing to the pictures of said skool girls that were displayed throughout the room.

“You like Catholic skool girls?” Todd paused his tying of the second pair of shoe strings to shoot the other an quizzical look.

“Well, as far as skool girls go, the Catholic ones tend to be the kinkiest. The boys aren't bad either, but their uniforms aren't as enticing.” Shrugging, the half-demon turned the book in his hands around to show off said uniforms. “There's something about repressive environments that makes people really want to go all out when they get the chance.”

Laughing a little, Todd shook his head. “I don't even know why I bother being surprised anymore.”

“Because life's more interesting that way. And because you know it makes you look adorable when you get all excitable.”

“Yeah? I know a whole lot of psychiatric staff that would whole-heartedly disagree with you there.” His hand unconsciously ran over the vein in his left arm where he usually received tranquilizing shots whenever he refused the pills.

“Well, they're all just a bunch of blind, bitter morons.” Pepito closed the book, sitting up beside the other. “Want me to blow them up?”

“No.”

“Sure?”

“Yeah. Thanks, though...I think.”

“Any time.”

“That reminds me, last night Brian told me something that's kind of...interesting.”

“Oh, yeah?”

“He said that my grandfather died, apparently sometime the night before my parents' funeral...of spontaneous human combustion. In his will he left my father a lot of money, which now goes to me.”

“Oh. Well, that's good...isn't it?”

Todd sighed. “For me, I guess it is. I can't pretend that I liked Hatey at all or that the world isn't a better place now that he's not in it. And the inheritance will help with college and stuff...I could probably get a car. But I think you know why I brought it up.”

Pepito raised a brow, suggesting that he didn't.

“Oh Hell, did you do it?”

“Noooo, Amigo. I didn't...” He stopped suddenly, realizing that his lies were probably going beyond the point of necessity now. “Okay, I did. But I told you I was going to, remember? And I did it before I knew your mother was still among the living. What if he had tried to get custody of you? Mother would have tried her best to intervene, but with only your testimony to go on about his insanity...well, it wouldn't be easy.”

Todd smiled at the redirection that the answer had taken, leaning over to surprise the other with a hug. “Thanks.”

“Seriously?” In shock, Pepito returned the hug loosely. He had never expected Todd to thank him for killing someone.

“Yeah. I hadn't even considered that he might try to adopt me. And I'm glad you told me the truth, because, really, I probably wouldn't have believed you if you had denied it anyway. I mean, come on, spontaneous human combustion?”

“Hey, it happens sometimes.”

Todd pulled back to give him a incredulous glance, brow creasing slightly. “Spontaneous? Just for no external reason at all or because old, overweight people fall asleep with a cigarette?”

“Heh. Sometimes it's drunk people too. Hatey overdosed on cough syrup.”

“But he didn't smoke.”

Pepito shrugged, then smirked. “They found cigarettes at the scene.”

“Nice.” The word came out partly sarcastic, and Todd frowned at himself. He probably shouldn't have been taking someone's death so flippantly, but it was hard to find any real sympathy for the old man that quite likely would have made a second attempt on his life.

“Now we just need to get Zim out of your mother's body, and see if she's still in there somewhere.” Though even then Todd might not be able to live with her. Considering her previous state of existence, Pepito would be surprised if she was even capable remembering her last name, much less of holding down a job. Brian might be willing to take the boy in until graduation, which was less than two years away, but if not he was certain that his parents would be receptive to doing so...especially now that Todd had the key.

“Oh yeah, Dib said that the new body should be ready in a few days time. He, uh, wants me to be there...in the moon base, in case Jennifer wakes up after the pak is removed. Do you maybe wanna come? You wouldn't have to help or anything.”

“I'd love to. I've never been off world before. And you know I don't mind helping you, Amigo.”

“Helping me doesn't have to involve killing Zim, does it? Because Dib is really paranoid about that.”

“And with good reason, but no. I suppose I don't have to kill him if you don't want me to. Although, if he ever puts you in that kind of danger again I'll have to.” It was probably a bad idea to kill two people that Todd knew, for Todd and on separate occasions, in less than a weeks time anyway. It might make the boy think that he thought that killing was the answer, and a very easy one, to all of life's problems. It wasn't, and he didn't. Not to all of them.

“Thanks again.”

Damn! Too late. He was going to have to work on that. Hopefully, things would calm down enough that he could. He cleared his throat. “So, is Leon still doing alright? How's your relationship with him?”

Todd sighed. “Research for your father?”

“Not exactly.”

“He's been relatively normal...especially considering who his father supposedly is.” Personally, he still found the prospect doubtful, but if he went as far as a DNA test and it turned out to be true, then...who knew what would happen then. Nothing good. He shrugged. “He's smart for a little kid. He likes to read...and critique things and make up new storylines. His mother is-was a writer of children's books, and they used to do it together. He still doesn't know that she and his granddad are dead.”

Pepito nodded. Reading, writing and smarts. Todd was probably going to get attached. “And your relationship?”

“Awkward.” He laughed. “I guess I make it that way because I'm always questioning why he does things in the back of my mind, whether Shmee is there watching or influencing or even controlling sometimes. He likes me too much, I think.”

“How so?”

“Okay, say I'm watching TV in the living room alone. Or reading alone. Or doing almost anything outside of my room or the bathroom. If he's not really occupied with something else, he'll just drift in and sit by me and ask me questions.”

“Questions?”

“Mostly normal stuff like what words mean or questions about what we're watching or how to do something that I'm currently doing. Sometimes little kid questions like my favorite food and color...but it's almost more like he's confirming it for himself, like he already knew, than like he's just getting to know me. That's what you wanted to know, right?”

“Yeah, it is. It sounds like Bitters broke the connection between the two of you when she merged Shmee and the child. Or it could just be staticy now, muffled by his being in another body.”

Todd shivered a little at the thought of still having a paradisaic energy being attached to his person, even one that had saved his life. “Great.”

“I could find out for sure, if you want me to.”

“Really? How?”

“Shmee is an energy being. Even though he's not from this planet, I do have a lot of experience with astral or energy beings...and the spiritual aspects of the body, enough to tell if he's still connected anyway.”

“That was pretty vague, Pepito.” All he had really said was that he had the ability to find out again! Maybe the procedure was painful or something.

“I'll need to give you a type of check-up, basically.”

“Are you asking me to play doctor with you? Because I don't do that until at least the third date. And this isn't a date.” Never mind that he had never actually been on a date.

“Ha. Would it be creepy if I asked you out on a date-or three- now?”

“Just a bit.”

“Later then.” His grin waned as he became more serious. “Really, Todd, don't you want to know?”

Todd looked down with a sigh. “...yes.”

“And you trust me, right?”

The boy meet Pepito's gaze with honest, but reluctant, resolution. “...yes...mostly.” He bit his lip, feeling like he could kick himself. Pepito had never done anything to deserve his personal mistrust except be born who he was, and they had been friends long enough that that shouldn't matter anymore.

“Then just lay down and relax, okay?” He cracked a small smile. “Oh, and, uh, unbutton your pants.”

“I...fine. But this better not be like last time. And it's really embarrassing, so no more smart ass comments.”

“Agreed,” Pepito stood up so that Todd could lie down lengthwise, “but it's not as if I've never seen you naked, you know.”

Kicking off his newly tied shoes, Todd felt his face heat up at the reminder that Pepito, Dib and Gaz had all probably seen him nude...and at least one of them probably had to touch him to clean the blood off. That was awkward, and he found that he wasn't sure that he wanted to know the details, even though there should have been nothing sexual about the event. He nodded it away with a brief acknowledgment as he did as the other had advised, unbuttoning his jeans and laying back down on top of the covers, scooting to the inside so that Pepito would have room to site upon the bed if he wanted while he did...whatever it was he was about to do. God, this was weird.

Discarding his own footwear and crawling back onto the bed on his knees, Pepito made himself comfortable beside Todd's prone form. “I'll need you to take deep, calming breaths. This may sound stupid, but imagine that you're exhaling all your stress and inhaling tranquility.” He would have told him to imagine a place where he felt safe and happy, but he thought, sadly, that Todd might not have a place like that. This place, his counselor's house, was probably as close as he had gotten. Pepito decided that he would fix that someday.

Todd was vaguely aware of his mouth forming a small smile. Everything was so serene and warm that it was hard to remember why he had been resistant to the idea to begin with. And then Pepito's hand touched his arm, very softly running up and down, and the warmth increased ten fold.

“Is this okay, Squee?” Pepito paid close attention, probing Todd's soul just the tiniest bit as the boy became progressively used to the feeling. When Todd shifted closer, mumbling an accenting sound, he used his other hand to lift his shirt, moving his hand over the chakras in his neck and chest in a soothing manner. He knew those weren't places that a parasitic energy creature was likely to attach itself, but it was better to ease into the place that he was going to have to touch.

Slowly, his hand traveled downward, rubbing circles just under Todd's belly button as the other one unzipped the pants. He felt Todd's muscles tense up briefly, but they soon relaxed again, allowing him to slip his fingers under the underwear that was exposed when the pants were unzipped. He had to bite his lip to subdue a rush of unwelcome hormones as he continued the rubbing motion on his friends lower abdomen that even he had to admit was unavoidably suggestive.

Todd wasn't sure how long it had taken him to adjust to the feeling of Pepito's hand down his pants because at the moment time felt like it was made of polyester, but he had eventually managed to relax again, even though he thought relaxing a very perilous thing to do under the circumstances. Suddenly, though the hand didn't deviate form its course, Pepito's touch felt deeper, stronger. The warmth was magnified again, but this time it felt almost like an explosion. His breath caught, and, despite the embarrassment, his eyes flew open to meet Pepito's, even as it felt like energy was still circulating through his body from the point of contact. “What...what was that?”

“Don't worry, Todd. That's just...an inevitable consequence of being touched in your pelvic chakra so directly.” The half-demon closed his eyes in concentration, his fingers centering in on one particular spot in the very middle of the area. “Do you feel that? It's a laceration from where Shmee reattached himself to you, right over an old one. That one's got a lot of scar tissue, like it was never really allowed to heal over the years. It seems that since his race doesn't usually let go of someone until they die, they don't have to worry about dislodging without causing injury.”

“S-scar tissue?” Todd looked down at the pink, creamy skin that had grown even pinker under Pepito's touch. He had accumulated a good deal of scars over the years, but as far as he knew, none of them were on his lower abdomen.

“A spiritual scar, Amigo. Because Shmee is an anaphasic life form. He uses those pointed tentacles of his to latch on here.” He touched the scar again, with a little more pressure, watching as Todd squirmed.

“I...think I felt it. But he's not attached anymore?”

“No, he's not, but it wouldn't be good to leave the damage here. Can you feel this?” Pepito's hand stilled over the scars, shaking just a little as he summoned up healing energy, letting it flow through his hand, being directed by his hand, to wrap around the wounds.

He swallowed hard, feeling his breath pick up as the first prickles of panic started to gnaw at his mind. It was a familiar, unwelcome feeling that he was still struggled with on occasion. And this did seem to be a worthy occasion. “Pepito, are you...touching my...soul?”

“Yes.” Breathing evenly to focus on a task that he had not often preformed, Pepito let his free hand find Todd's own, squeezing it reassuringly, but not daring to give that question the full attention that it probably deserved. “I would never hurt you, Todd. Just try to stay relaxed.”

Todd nodded even though the other's eyes were still closed, returning the grip on the hand. He let his own eyes drift slowly shut as he felt another familiar feeling: Pepito was sending him the slothful energies again, but this time, he supposed, he wasn't supposed to be fighting them. In all likelihood he had probably been feeling their effects from the very beginning of the exercise, but it had been more subtle before now. He gave in to them, letting his body and mind release their tension as a tingling, electric heat coiled within his abdomen. In many ways it was a wholly new sensation, while at the same time containing elements of things that he had experienced before. The hot tingling, for example: that was likely something that not many teenagers could mistake. He thought that that realization would have brought the panic back, this time to near maximum capacity, had he not been practically high on the forth deadly sin.

But that wasn't all that was familiar. Something much bigger was happening, the importance of which overrode his surrender to apathy toward his current situation. As the energy wound its way around his spiritual injury, tightening as it went, an invisible bond seemed to lock his soul with Pepito's. It was as if a barrier had been torn away, exposing the truth of eternity. It was akin to the experience he had had in the void, but this time through someone else's eyes. The oneness of the universe, of Pepito and himself, blinded him to anything else that might be happening. He suspected that if he had been in the middle of some action, he would have found himself inexplicably frozen, unable to master simple motor commands because this feeling, this love, was too strong to allow him a personal and singular identity that could function on such a small and insignificant scale.

The feeling ebbed, leaving him with a desperate need to bring it back to its former glory, along with an equally desperate throbbing further down. He opened his eyes, feeling himself sit up without ever having decided to do so. “Pepi?”

Pepito's eyes blinked open at the soft sound of Todd's voice, glad that the boy had managed to hold back any insecurities until he was finished with the healing process. “Yes, Amigo?”

“Kiss me? Please?”

With his hand still in place, he looked deeply into Todd's eyes, easily making out lust, which wasn't a surprising outcome with all things considered, and something else, something more. He knew that he should have more control over this situation, that what they were both feeling, what they were both no doubt seeing reflected back at themselves, was a product of his previous ministrations, of the necessary connection that was required to heal the spiritual injury.

“Todd...” The name came out as a whisper laced in longing, making what had meant to be a deterrent into something that fell more than short of that function. Pepito took in the scent of oatmeal and almond as he felt Todd sit up further, an arm reaching around his chest to pull him closer. The other boy seemed to hesitate, seemed to be examining his own eyes, his expression, closely, before scooting even nearer so that their lips were almost touching.

Being closer to Pepito eleviated his need only slightly, seeming at the same time fuel it like an addiction. His fingers dug into the fabric of the other's shirt as they both leaned closer and closer, finally meeting in a gentle kiss that was entirely too intoxicating. The next was harder and longer, but it still wasn't enough. He wasn't really sure what could be...if anything could be. That was kind of scary, but he didn't want to stop; he wasn't sure that he could stop.

Pepito had to rearrange himself with less grace than he would have liked when Todd lay back, pulling him down and on top of him. Technically, he could have moved his hand by now, even with the energy still attached. He should have, but the desire to keep it there was immense. He pushed Todd back into the pillows, returning the kisses as fiercely as he was receiving them. His hand moved down further, feeling the beginnings of hair that was a little courser than that on Todd's head. Todd moaned into his mouth, and he wanted to go even further, though he knew that soon enough he wouldn't need to, if the forming budge against his leg was any indication.

Very much defying his own wishes, the half-demon moved his hand up instead, running it up and down Todd's chest again. This time he could feel his soul much more deeply because their energies were still attached, and it was incredible: soft and comfortable and delightfully fulfilling, like a surprise trip to a favorite vacation spot where you always wished you could live. He pulled back from the kissing to laugh a little, figuring that that was exactly how best friends were supposed to feel. But a good best friend probably wouldn't be doing what he was doing right now. Sighing, he kissed Todd one last time before summoning up the will power, and he did need a lot, to stop. Sitting up, he withdrew the energy bond slowly, paying no heed to Todd's needy groan at the automatic distance that fell between them.

Todd's breath quickened again as all contact was broken, but the small burst of panic was quickly sated with an intense wave of calm from Pepito, whom he was looking up at with watery eyes. When he had calmed down to the point of almost wanting to go back to sleep, he felt the manipulative feeling leave as well. This time he was okay with it, and his mind started to clear. He immediately turned beat-red, rezipping and buttoning his pants and wanting to hide under the covers. “Ummm...”

Pepito looked away sheepishly. “Sorry, Todd. I didn't...mean for that to go as far as it did.”

Sitting up again, and hugging a pillow to his chest, the boy shook his head. “It...uh, it was my fault. I started it. But it was really weird. It was like I couldn't even help it almost.”

“Yes. That can happen sometimes when you're completely open to someone else's soul. Especially when that person happens to be touching your Sacral Chakra. It's, uh, related to things like emotional need, sex drive, relationships and addictions.” He looked back to Todd, meeting his eyes in a meaningful way. “Also violence and creativity.”

“Oh.” Todd's mouth fell open when the implications sunk in. “Oh. Shmee.”

“Yes. That's why he would prefer to connect with a host there. That way he could fuel or suppress certain factors to his liking and feed more easily and directly.”

“So, was that...was that not real? I mean, emotionally, was it just-”

“Mostly...I think. It's hard to say really. I don't usually touch anyone deep enough for them to lose conscious control.” Or for himself to start to as well! “I think that was more of a spirit and soul thing than a mind thing, if you know what I mean.”

He continued when Todd gave him a curious look. “Spirit is what animates living things; it's where the connection to the sublime comes from and it exists beyond space and time and matter. Souls are kind of an individualized and more developed form of Spirit. Not all living things have them...individual cells like sperm and ovum don't, for example. They are developed to different levels and in different ways in different species and to some extent different people within the same species. They usually lie beneath the surface of your conscious mind. It contains a lot of memory and emotion that is communicated back and forth from and to the mind. And the mind, obviously, is the ego, the individual, waking self. It's the part of you that will actually die when you do.

"All spirits have an innate attraction, and here I don't necessarily mean sexual attraction specifically, to each other because at a fundamental level they're all a part of the same primordial being. Souls are more discriminating as to attraction, but not in the same way that minds are. Soul attraction isn't about mundane or material things, but about a type of personal spiritual fulfillment. It's resolution is often described as a feeling of coming home. Most people don't know their souls well enough to understand when this is happening, and they often feel like they don't understand or know why they feel attraction to a particular person, place, belief system, what have you. There is sometimes a sense of destiny or that they have meet that person in a previous life...sometimes they have.” Pepito smiled, feeling as though he was explaining the spiritual equivalent of the birds and the bees.

“That's kind of like the three part psychology model.”

“Heh. Yeah, but more like Jung's than Freud's. But it's been a part of magical traditions for a long time. Take the Lovers card in Tarot: Adam and Eve and the Angel. Adam, the middle-self, represents the self-conscious intellect, while Eve represents the soul or lower-self and the Angel represents the God-self or Spirit. Magic is done by connection with the God-self, but in order for that to happen, your mind must know your soul.”

“Adam and Eve and the 'Angel'? That sounds very...Satanic...” He hadn't really thought that the more mainstream occult was very saturated with Satanic imagery before, despite what Father Fred had said in Church.

Pepito smiled. “Doesn't it though? Especially how the Fall, on an individual level, is understood as the hight of spiritual growth. And I didn't even read that in a Satanic source.”

“Really? That's kind of odd.” Todd let out a small laugh, glad for the small, but enlightening, conversation that seemed to distract from and ease the awkwardness of the situation, though he was still bothered by something. “Do you think that Shmee's attached to Lee in a similar way?”

“I would have to examine him to tell for sure...but...I don't think I'll personally be healing him if it's attached there. Even I have an age limit...well, in human terms anyway. But, according to Bitters' computer, they've been fully merged. Shmee may be feeding on him, in fact, he probably is, but not in the same way that he would feed on a host. In theory, every cell is connected to Shmee's energy.”

“Then should they be inseparable, but you said something at the park about your father thinking maybe not.”

“Well, likely they are, but...similar mergers sometimes occur between demons and humans. Like anaphasic life forms, demons are made of a kind of energy, so it should be a very similar process.”

“You mean like possession?”

“Yes, possession...and absorption.”

“Absorption?”

“I'm not sure there's a simple word for it, but it's basically when a demon, or a human soul in some cases, embraces a soul so strongly that it leaves its natural body and well, merges, with their energy, their soul. At first the soul is strong, but over time it weakens and it's voice dies down. It becomes a part of the one who took it so much so that it can't really be said to exist as a sentient being anymore.”

Eyes widening as some of the previous panic returned, Todd scooted back, though he couldn't go far with the headboard of the bed two feet behind him. His grip on the pillow tightened like it used to with Shmee when he was younger. He felt bad again when it earned him a hurt look from Pepito, and he forced a small smile.

“I guess you can see now why I didn't tell you this before I checked for an attachment.”

Todd nodded. “S-sorry, Pep. It's just...have you ever-”

“No. And it's not something that's very common or favorably looked upon by most demons either. There are stories about it, of course. Humans tell horror stories about it sometimes...about demons who feed on souls that make them more powerful as they're absorbed, such as that Teddy Crueger person. Demons tend to tale tragedies about it.”

“Tragedies?”

“Well, it is pretty tragic a lot of the time. In one story a Knight of Hell falls in love with a mortal woman who is married to a man that he was charged to kill. She was faithful both to that man, whom she loved, and to her religion. Because of this the knight allowed her husband to live, and only dared approach her in the human guise of a kind old woman. Years passed, and the husband died of natural causes and the old woman died as well. The knight approached her again, this time as a handsome man. The woman adored him as he adored her, but would not agree to a romantic relationship as her religion forbade her from remarrying. She wanted to go to Heaven to be with her husband. So they continued their friendship until she was very aged. He was at her bedside when the time came, and that was when it happened.

"He couldn't bare the thought of existing without her, knowing that she was forever out of reach. So he took her soul into himself, allowing her body to die. He tried to keep her happy within himself, but she was doleful and frightened. Though the fear passed, through much effort on his part, she was never truly happy in that state. They retained a type of friendship for several more years, but every day the woman was little less herself and a little more him. She talked to him less, and the things that she said were out of character. Eventually, the knight had to force any communication that he might want from her, but couldn't tell if it was really she that replied or a figment that he had created in her likeness to replace his love, who had ceased to be.”

“That's...terrible. Is it a true story?”

“It's a fiction based on elements from several true stories.”

“Why...why does that happen? Is it related to the soul attraction that you were talking about...the resolution?”

“There are different reasons and motivations.” Pepito sighed. If he had been talking about the birds and bees a moment ago, he felt like this might be something like the equivalent of rape-murder. “Some have their source in aggression or a quest for power-we've had human souls try to gain demon status that way before in Hell- and some are more like the story I just told you. I suppose it is a kind of dysfunctional resolution in cases like that. It fulfills the attraction completely for a brief period, but after one soul has been completely absorbed, and after they've been known so completely, the pain of their absence as another being is overwhelming and sometimes never ending.”

Todd looked down at the rainbow patterned pillow he was still holding, biting the side of his lip again. He tensed a little when he felt the mattress shift as Pepito scooted close to him, but he remained where he was this time, meeting his gaze again when the other gave the key around his neck a small tug. “Does it ever happen on accident? During something like what we did?”

“Rarely. With young demons or newly discarnate souls that don't have enough experience or self-control. They sometimes go deeper than they can handle and get carried away. But I know what I'm doing, okay? I wouldn't have offered had I thought that might happen. Even if I lost control, the key wouldn't let it happen. It would match every pull on your soul with an equal one to keep you alive.

“Even if my soul doesn't want to fight it?” The words came out in a whisper.

“Yes. Look, Todd, don't worry about that, alright? I only needed to go that deep for healing such old and traumatic damage. It wouldn't have happened if our souls had merely touched, and it's not going to be a frequent occurrence. You don't need to be afraid of this.”

Todd's hand reached up to enclose Pepito's, which was still holding the key. “And I can't do it to you either, right?”

“No, Amigo. Even if you had the power, the lock has the same very basic protection that I told you about when I gave you the key. And I should probably mention that without a solid knowledge of healing, you should steer clear of being brutally maimed; I've heard it's even less fun when you can't die.”

Letting out a sigh of relief, Todd suddenly appreciated the key like never before, at the same time making a mental note to spend less time with Nny...or at least less time anywhere near his basement. He was startled when Pepito used their linked hands to pull him closer, placing a quick kiss on his lips before letting go and retreating into his own personal space.

“Are we all better now?”

“Yeah.” He managed a real smile. “Sorry about that. I think I'll probably always be a little paranoid about certain things. I mean not about you. Just about situations like that...and parasites...and other microscopic creatures that live in beds, vinegar and drinking water.”

Pepito laughed, knowing that the list could easily keep going if Todd had felt like be through. “It's fine, Squee.”

“So,” Squee let himself relax more, moving a little closer himself this time, “demons write fiction? I mean demons in Hell?”

“Yes. Actually, Hell has a printing press. But my point, before we went off on that tangent, was that there have been instances when absorptions have been reversed, and obviously possessions usually aren't intended to last for large lengths of time and can be forcefully aborted in many cases. In Leon's case, I'm not really sure which situation would be a better comparison. Absorption is more difficult to remedy and time sensitive at that. Also, I don't know how stable Shmee's energy pattern would be afterwards if we managed to extract him.”

“But you think that he needs to be extracted?” It was a worrisome prospect because Todd didn't know if that would harm Shmee or Leon or if one of them was harming the other in their current state. He still kind of wished that that information hadn't gotten out to his little circle of friends. Mr. Diablo had, of course, found out via the All Seeing Eye when he had used it to find him, and had shared the information with his son. And Zim had told Dib, who had told Gaz. It was a very small victory that Letta had yet to find out.

“Perhaps. Although, as I said before, there may be a way to talk to him without doing that. It may be possible to simply bring Shmee's personality to the surface for questioning. There is a very real possibility-no, make that a probability- that Bitters' people are still going ahead with their plan. It doesn't make sense for her to have been the only one on this planet doing research because that would be extremely inefficient. ”

“That's what Dib said too. Ugh.” He buried his head in the pillow, effectively muffling his next words. “Why can't this problem just go away?”

“Heh.” Pepito pulled the pillow away, throwing it further back on the bed. “Sorry I don't have ultimate comic powers, Amigo. But the focus shouldn't be on you so much anymore, so you don't have to be very involved with the investigation if you don't want.”

“Yeah, right,” he laughed “then I would have to break in a whole new set of friends. But really, I think I want to help. I own you guys for helping me with Shmee. Plus, quiting now would be like stopping in the middle of a book.”

“Very well.” Pepito was tempted to kiss him again, but instead busied himself with putting his sneakers back on. “I finally talked to Father about the Nephilim.”

“O-oh. What did he say?”

“Well, you know how the Christian Bible is a convoluted and plagiarized rendition of history and mythology, right? You mentioned that the flood story is a rip off of the Epic of Gilgamesh, which was referred to a flood from Sumerian mythology at the park.”

“Yeah.”

“Well, the flood was a more localized event, and not a complete flooding of all land on Earth. There isn't enough water on Earth for that.”

Todd nodded a little impatiently. “I know.”

“Good. Since it was a localized flood, Noah and his family were never the only people left behind, so there would have been survivors. And Father says that other people besides the Hebrews gained some angelic traits during that time anyway. Most people who exhibit preternatural abilities, like being able to see and talk to energy beings, read minds, and other such things without instruction are descended from them. Even so, regular humans can learn some of those skills with a lot of effort, and training can help people descended from the Watchers or similar sources become more adept as well.”

“People...like me?”

“Yes. Father traced the genealogy on your mother's side back to one of the leaders of the two hundred Watchers by the name of Penemue. I think you'll at least like this part: he taught humanity the secrets of writing.”

A small grin formed on Todd's at the last information face. He had already decided that he was going to try his best not to let the probable confirmation of his having a small amount of distant nonhuman ancestry bother him weeks ago. “I do like that part.”

“I'm glad you're taking this so well.” Once his shoe strings were tied again, Pepito rested one foot on the frame of the bed, elevating his leg for that he could plant his elbow on his knee and the side of his face on his hand to give the other a sideways smile in return. “ It's an advantage over other humans in many ways. Except in the context of Bitters' plan.”

“The one percent that she wanted to take?”

“To harvest, yes. And...people like me too. Apparently we're much better hosts than regular humans. ”

“Like you as in...”

“As in human children and decedents of my father or his demons...I'm not the only one, you know. Your ancestors and my father were angels from two separate rebellions, but the species and the outcome of mixing with humans is roughly the same. All but ten percent of that group of angels were imprisoned in a place of total darkness. Only twenty remain as demons to move between Heaven and Hell, tempting humans...which basically means teaching them things that Jehovah doesn't want them to know...along with seducing them most likely.

“Probably part of the one percent are descended from energy beings that are gods and demons in other religions as well. We're kind of the blurry line where those astral realities converge, which is perfect for Shmee's race, meaning that all of us, and possibly the Earth in the process, are in danger. That's why we need to find out what Shmee knows about the plan.”

Todd slowly shook his head in the affirmative, taking in all the new information. Pepito seemed like an endless well of knowledge, and even though some of it...most of it...managed to reach new levels of disturbing, he found that he was still very interested. “So, how would we-” He stopped mid sentence when the door burst open, and Letta fumed in, annoyance seeming to radiate from her body.

“Todd! What are you two doing just sitting around! It's been almost an hour, and you don't even have your shoes on!”

“Uh, sorry, Letta. We lost track of time.”

“There's a digital clock right there!” She pointed sharply at her old night stand.

“Oh.” Todd followed the path of her finger, eyes lingering no the clock like he had never seen it before. “Well...Zim is still in the bathroom anyway.”

“God fucking damn it! Okay, put your shoes on, and be ready to go in like five minutes. We'll drag his ass wet if we have to.” She left the bedroom door open, striding into the hall to bang on the bathroom door. “Zim, what the hell are you still doing in there? We're about to leave!”

Todd cringed, leaning over to speak softly to Pepito. “Sorry. She usually gets like that when she's running late for some kind of deadline.”

“Humm.” That was very similar to Pepito's own reactions to stress, though he thought he had a much higher tolerance threshold than the girl now, after the years of practice with subduing his anger to help keep his infernal nature well hidden.

“ZIM! Jennifer! Whatever! You better say something before I come in there!” God! This was like practice for parenthood of the most annoying brat in the word! Her hand gripped the knob, ready to turn just as a desperate voice sounded from within.

“NO! Do not enter the cleansing room that holds the shame of my former glory! ZIM commands you to stay put!”

“Whatever,” the girl murmured to herself before raising her voice once again, “I hope you're decent!” She pulled the door open. “Oh! Holy shit!” Todd and Pepito came up behind her to view the gruesome scene before she was able to find intelligible words. “What happened? Do you need help?”

“I require no help from the likes of you, hymun! I need no one! Now close the door and let me be!” He moved forward a little too quickly for the undocile human legs, slipping all too easily in the fluid that had leaked from that PATHETIC body when he had attempted to upgrade it to something closer to Irken standards, at least in appearance. Before reaching his goal of the door knob, he went crashing to the ground, where the house coat that he had just dawned would no doubt be stained for life.

Pepito had to hold back a laugh at the sight of the Irken-possessed woman semi-nude with bleeding cuts and abrasions covering nearly every visible bit of skin flailing around on the floor like some retarded evolutionary dead end. “Why did you shave all your hair off? That's...not really going to help you blend in.”

“Make silence, worm-child! I...I will blend in with a wig! A WIG, as is fitting to one such as myself!” Zim pulled himself to his not-so-mighty human feet once more because dramatic yelling didn't feel as effective from the floor. “And I will have no more of this filthy FUR all over the meat-body that I inhabit! Or these, these horrible...things!”

Todd looked to the carpeted floor of the hall when Zim ripped open the house coat to display his mother's breasts, though the unexpected, momentary image that was now burned into his brain was enough to tell him that the alien had probably tried to cut them off. And just when he thought nothing could make him even more traumatized!

“What are they good for! Absolutely NOTHING! What sort of miserable specimen grows ridiculously humongous lumps of FAT on it's body for no reason!”

Letta shook her head, wishing dearly that her dad was home to take care of the lunatic. “Zim, those are there for a reason. Why do you have such issues with hating womens' bodies?”

“LIES! In what you people call 'mammals', mammary glads and nipples are there for a reason, but this, THIS! It's completely uncalled for! What other species has inflated mammary glads when it's not feeding young! As if that process wasn't disgusting enough!” He grit the fragile and flat human teeth together, irritated even more by the griding noise it produced. His issue wasn't with the female body! It was with the human female body! Superior, Irken women didn't have mammary glads at all! Much less such freakishly repulsive features as these!

“The mammary glads aren't actually filled out of season; they're just surrounded by fatty tissue for aesthetic purposes,” Pepito chimed in almost happily.

“Aesthetic purposes! You think this looks appealing!” Taking hold of the revolting slabs of calorie storage, Zim pulled them both in opposite directions, as if he might get lucky and they would come right off. They didn't, but a lot more liquid the color of his old eyes ran down the human body. “Eww.”

“Fuck, Zim, you really do need help. You have to stop the bleeding before you need a hospital!” Then her dad would be in deep shit, even though the institution had demanded he come in to work today, and he would never trust her with anything like this again. He probably wouldn't let Todd stay the night with her either.

“NOO! Stay away! I'm warning you!”

“Someone get some towels and alcohol from the linen closet!”

Only daring to look up once he had turned around, Todd made his way back into Letta's room to get the small amount of healing ointment that was leftover from his various scarps with death. On his way back, he stopped, staring at the phone. There was really only one person who could deal with this kind of insanity.


END CHAPTER 17!
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This chapter title should be exposition cause there is a lot of it. It's kind of slow and I didn't get to the place I had intended to get to, but w/e. Think of it like a roller coaster with two peeks. The first part started slow, the hit the peak, the the falling action was really fast. Now, in part two, were at the slow part again. Hopefully the action will build again eventually.


Notes:

-The "not the kind of cake you're used to" thing is a joke from Boy Meets World. I probably shouldn't have used it here cause it falls kind of flat if you don't know the whole pic, so: Cory and Shaun are best friends (with lots of gay subtext). Shaun goes out with a girl that doesn't want him seeing Cory anymore, so the two sneak around together. They meet at their fav place to play pool and Tapanga (Cory's gf) tells Shaun's gf, who shows up there and catches them together just as Shaun is wiping chalk from Cory's nose. So, she's all like "Shaun, what is this?" And he says, gesturing toward Cory, "This? This is cake. Well, obviously it's not cake; not the kind you're used to." And the word cake is sometimes slang for sex (sometimes specific sexual acts).

-Sanskrit cakraṃ चक्रं, Phonetic pronunciation "chukr", Pali: chakka, Tibetan: khorlo, Malay: cakera) is a Sanskrit word that translates as wheel or disc. Chakra is a philosophical concept used to describe wheel-like vortices which exist in the surface of the etheric double of man.[1] The Chakras are said to be "force centers" or whorls of energy permeating, from a point on the physical body, the layers of the subtle bodies in an ever-increasing fan-shaped formation. Rotating vortices of subtle matter, they are considered the focal points for the reception and transmission of energies.[2] There are seven major chakras or energy centers (also understood as wheels of light) located within the subtle body. Hindu and New Age tradition believe the chakras interact with the body's ductless endocrine glands and lymphatic system by feeding in good bio-energies and disposing of unwanted bio-energies.[3]

Svadisthana: The Sacral Chakra
Svadisthana or adhishthana is located in the sacrum (hence the name) is considered to correspond to the testes or the ovaries that produce the various sex hormones involved in the reproductive cycle. Svadisthana is also considered to be related to, more generally, the genitourinary system and the adrenals. The Sacral Chakra is symbolized by a lotus with six petals, and corrosponds to the colour orange. The key issues involving Svadisthana are relationships, violence, addictions, basic emotional needs, and pleasure. Physically, Svadisthana governs reproduction, mentally it governs creativity, emotionally it governs joy, and spiritually it governs enthusiasm
-http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chakra#The_Seven_Major_Chakras

-Most of what Pepito says about the three part model of the soul (including the part about Adam, Eve and the Angel) is from True Magick: A Beginner's Guide by Amber K, with some interpretation.

- Teddy Crueger = Freddy Krueger.

-Penemue, ("The Inside") in Enoch lore,[1] was one of the Watchers/Grigori. He "taught mankind the art of writing with ink and paper, and thereby many sinned from eternity to eternity and until this day. For man was not created for such a purpose."[2]
Penemue also taught "the children of men the bitter and the sweet and the secrets of wisdom."[2] He is one of the curers of stupidity in man mentioned in Bereshith Rabba
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Penemue
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grigori#Partial_List_of_Grigori