"A goat."
"What?"
Even Sage turned to stare at Baelor. While he wasn't entirely sure of the answer himself, he knew it definitely wasn't a damn goat.
Kito blinked slowly. "A... goat?"
"Of course not, you cerulean jackass! It's grief!" Baelor snapped, his frustration boiling over. He looked like he'd been through this torturous process one too many times.
Kito's grin returned, sharp and predatory. "Ah, but you got it wrong, my dear friend. Your first answer was 'goat.'"
"You manipulative little—"
"The correct answer was indeed grief." Kito's smile widened impossibly. "But rules are rules. You failed."
"This is ridiculous," Baelor muttered.
"I'm sorry, my friends, but since you've failed..." Kito rubbed his tiny hands together gleefully. "If you want to continue, I'll have to raise the stakes. You'll get three guesses this time, but the penalty for failure will be... more substantial."
Sage felt ice in his veins. "What kind of penalty?"
"Oh, I'll explain that after you lose. But I promise you, whoever gets the final answer wrong will be the one to pay." His blue eyes glittered with malice. "The price will be... personal."
"We accept," Baelor said quickly, but Sage caught the tension in his voice.
"Wonderful! But first..." Kito conjured what appeared to be a contract written in flowing, luminescent script that hurt to look at directly. "Just a small formality."
Every instinct Sage had screamed that this was a trap. But what choice did they have? They'd come too far to turn back now.
They signed.
"Excellent! Now then..." Kito cleared his throat theatrically. "Riddle me this: I am always coming but never arrive. Tomorrow I am yesterday, and yesterday I am tomorrow. The faster you chase me, the further I flee, yet stand still and I will overtake you. Kings and beggars wait for me equally, but none can possess me. What am I?"
Baelor barely hesitated. "Time."
The answer felt right to Sage. Time was always approaching but never quite here, always just out of reach.
Kito tsked. "Close, so very close... but no."
Baelor's expression darkened. Translucent spectacles materialized on his monkey face as he concentrated harder.
"Getting scholarly on me now?" Kito taunted.
"Death," Baelor said with more confidence.
This time Sage was certain. Death fit perfectly, everyone waited for it equally, no one could truly possess it, and the harder you ran from it, the more it seemed to chase you.
Kito's laugh was like breaking glass. "Wrong again! Down to your final chance, oh wise Baelor. Though perhaps..." His gaze slid to Sage with calculating interest. "Perhaps the boy should take this one? After all, you've already failed twice. What are the odds you'll suddenly get it right?"
Sage looked between them. Kito had a point, Baelor had missed both previous answers. But something about the demon's eagerness to have Sage answer made his skin crawl.
"Can you repeat it?" Sage asked.
"With absolute pleasure." Kito's voice dripped honey over poison. "I am always coming but never arrive. Tomorrow I am yesterday, and yesterday I am tomorrow. The faster you chase me, the further I flee, yet stand still and I will overtake you. Kings and beggars wait for me equally, but none can possess me. What am I?"
"I've got it!" Baelor suddenly exclaimed, his eyes lighting up behind the spectacles.
Kito held up a finger. "Ah ah ah. You've had your turns, my friend. Our young human here signed the contract too—let him speak. Your answer won't count."
"You scheming bastard! You're changing the rules as you go!" Baelor's form flickered with rage.
"Rules?" Kito turned to Sage with mock innocence. "What do you think, dear boy? Should I let Baelor answer? He has been wrong twice already. Are you confident he'll suddenly develop wisdom?"
The manipulation was so obvious it made Sage's teeth ache. But doubt crept in anyway. Baelor had been wrong both times...
Sage closed his eyes, running through the riddle again. 'Always coming but never arrive... Tomorrow I am yesterday...'
"I have it," he said quietly.
"Kid, wait." Baelor's voice carried genuine worry. "Are you absolutely certain? If you're wrong, this twisted little nightmare will make you pay in ways you can't imagine."
"Come now, Sage," Kito purred. "I have complete faith in you. Much more than I have in our bumbling friend here."
Sage looked at the demon's expectant face, then at Baelor's worried expression. The answer felt right in his mind, fitting every part of the riddle perfectly.
"Tomorrow," he said clearly. "The answer is tomorrow."
Kito's smile began small, then stretched wider, and wider still, until it split his face unnaturally.
Then he began to laugh.
"AHAHAHAHAHAHA! OH, THIS IS RICH! AHAHAHAHAHAHA!"
The laughter echoed off the mountain walls, multiplying into a chorus of mockery. Sage's stomach dropped as realization hit him.
"AHAHAHA! OH, BAELOR! YOUR FACE! AHAHAHAHA!"
Kito was literally rolling in the air now, clutching his sides as his laughter grew more maniacal. Baelor's expression had gone from worried to murderous.
And Sage knew, with horrible certainty, that he'd just walked directly into whatever trap Kito had been setting from the beginning.
The laughter grew louder and louder until it abruptly stopped.
Kito straightened up, wiping tears from his eyes. "Haah! What a good one..."
Baelor spoke through gritted teeth. "Come on, what will you have us do?"
"Mmh? What? You got it right."
Sage blinked in confusion.
Kito cleared his throat and recited: "I am always coming but never arrive. Tomorrow I am yesterday, and yesterday I am tomorrow. The faster you chase me, the further I flee, yet stand still and I will overtake you. Kings and beggars wait for me equally, but none can possess me. I am Tomorrow. The boy got it right."
Sage's frown slowly turned into a smile of relief. But something still bothered him.
"Then why were you laughing so hard?" he asked.
Baelor looked equally suspicious, his eyes narrowed at the blue demon.
"Ahh, human friend, don't mind me!" Kito waved dismissively. "I was laughing at this red buffoon here. Haha! He talks such a big game about being the smartest demon around, but a boy not even twenty years old got it right on his first try! AHAHAHAHA!"
He burst into laughter again, slapping his knee.
Baelor's eye twitched. He suddenly lunged forward to kick Kito, but the blue demon dissolved into smoke just before impact.
Kito rematerialized on Sage's shoulder, still chuckling. "Haha, good laugh! Excellent job, boy. You're definitely smarter than Baelor here."
Baelor took a deep breath, visibly restraining himself, and spoke with forced calm. "If you're finished with your comedy routine, open the cave. We have more important things to do than stroke your ego."
"Okay, okay..." Kito's curiosity got the better of him. "But if I may ask, what are you really looking for in there?"
"None of your goddamn business. See you later, Kito... or preferably not. Ahahahaha... idiot." Baelor forced out a mocking laugh of his own, clearly still pissed.
Sage couldn't help but find the whole exchange amusing. For all their power, these demons bickered like children.