Darkness Rising: Blood Moon

Chapter Two: Midnight Madness

By Mystoflare and Naoko

Kokuen

It was times like that that Kokuen wondered why he still bothered with a physical existence. This was the most pointless thing he could possibly do right now, he thought bitterly.

Despite being on a stretch of beach, he’s managed to find an outcropping of frozen rocks not far from the water’s edge. There, he perched, watching the gypsy children run and play from his solitary watch-post.

The older gypsies started up campfires to light the coming night, while others gathered stingray spines and sea roses from the shallows to barter with, and some were returning from trading with other caravans and nearby villages. They had few worries about the night, and what fears they did have were alleviated by the belief that the gods were watching over them.

He didn’t believe that a bit. After all, he thought bitterly to himself, he had encountered only one god, a cruel, irrational one. If other gods were really watching over the world, where were they when he would have needed their help the most? Where were they when he was being tortured and brutalized? Where were they when his parents, brothers, sisters and cousins had been slaughtered with less respect and more brutality than the animals they hunted?

As far as Kokuen was concerned, he was on his own. He’d hold to that until he saw proof to the contrary.

He shook his head and looked around, trying to remember where he was, here and now. In his head, Kokuen ran off the facts, to the best of his knowledge.

They were at the coast of Ardhann-Shyoko and Palsi, along the Nahoshi’mori Sea.

It was the Rialla festival. During these thirty-six days, war and battle were forbidden. Supposedly by divine edict, but Kokuen omitted that part to himself.

There was a threat, from True Humans. The five-fingered round-ears didn’t abide by native customs regarding holidays, or much else, for that matter.

Well, if the True Humans did decide to attack the gypsies, Kokuen thought grimly, they’d have to deal with him. He wasn’t about to let anyone harm his foster family, not after all they’d done for him. It just wasn’t right.

With that in mind, he slipped down from the glacial rock and slowly ambled over to join the gypsies. If he didn’t take the incentive to join in the festivities, they’d bodily drag him over to do so. He wasn’t about to give them the satisfaction of that, just yet.

“Well, the candied gum berries weren’t that bad, were they?”

Kokuen made a face at his companion. “Maybe to you, they weren’t. However, I’m not used to candied anything, remember? My race usually eats raw meat.”

“Savage.”

The demon made another face, this one definitely more irritation than anything else, even offended anger. “Just for that, I hope you get stuck in your present gender for the rest of the week. See how you like being picked on by the womenfolk like the rest of us men.”

The gender-shifter had the grace to look offended. Kokuen smirked. It wouldn’t last, he knew, but it was amusing while it did.

To his knowledge, his friend was, technically, born female. However, magic bloodlines did tend to result in unusual and unexpected powers, and being the child of a Faerie mother, Sellia, or Rociel, as her male form was called, was no exception. Despite being in the same body, sort of, Kokuen strongly suspected they were two very different and separate personalities. It wouldn’t surprise him in the least if Sellia…Rociel…whoever she or he was, decided to make the separation complete and permanent at some point.

The demon made a face again, and stuffed a few more pieces of candied food into his mouth. As he chewed silently, he started to feel slightly uneasy.

Strange…or perhaps not. There’s something on the wind, all the same… Suddenly, Kokuen’s blue eyes widened and his arm shot out.

Without warning, he shoved Rociel, as the gender-shifter was presently in male form, harshly to the side.

Barely a second later, the ground Rociel had been sitting on exploded in a fantastically bright fireball of green and gold flame. Sand, sand-crabs, shells and coral fragments flew into the air and both half-Faerie and demon threw their arms up to shield their faces. Kokuen could hear shouts and screams from a few of the other gypsies, who no doubt saw what happened.

It quickly got worse. Most of the gypsies started running further inland when more of the fireballs started falling on the beach from the ocean. If he squinted his eyes slightly, Kokuen could just make out a battered old ship in the distance, against an opaque background of thunderclouds. It was a native construct, but he had no doubt that whoever was behind the wheel was not friendly in the least.

A particularly loud scream made him turn back towards the fleeing gypsies, just in time to be seared by another fireball that landed nearby and exploded. Before he could even blink, he was knocked down by something being hurled at him by the explosion.

He wasn’t sure he didn’t hit his head on something, since his head was left with a dull throbbing, and he was seeing stars. After a brief moment of complete disorientation, he absently fumbled around to see what hit him. When his vision cleared, he felt bile rising in his throat.

He gasped and threw the half-skeletal head away from him, trying not to get sick. He recognized the poor man, a scribe and herbalist of the gypsies, as well as the first male lifemate of the tribe chieftess.

“Chichi-ue!”

Kokuen didn’t need to look to see the faces on the late man’s children. They ranged in age from eight and twelve years, to a tiny newborn, who was protectively clutched to her mother’s bosom. Regardless of age, no child should have been forced to see a family member murdered so gruesomely.

Something both hot and cold boiled up inside of Kokuen. He had an idea of how to take care of their attackers, and as long as the gypsies were out of the line of fire, he would be able to do it.

“Rociel!” he barked at the gender-shifter, who was trying to comfort the grieving mother. The half-Faerie looked up at him in confusion.

“Hai?”

“Get the gypsies further inland, at least to the forests,” he said grimly, “I’m going to take care of our uninvited and unwelcome guests.”

Rociel nodded his understanding; it was his preference to go there, anyways, to make sure his own family was all right.

Turning back towards the sea, Kokuen let the burning rage and cold bloodlust rise inside of him.

Overhead, thunderclouds rumbled angrily, lightning began to flash a myriad of colors, and sea winds started to rise and howl. The waves started to rise and crash further inland, soaking the demon’s loose pants to the knees, and sending plumes of sea foam up into the air.

Kokuen felt his form beginning to stretch and shift. His body began to lengthen and elongate, while his fingers grew into vicious claws, and the smoothness of his skin was replaced by the roughness of scales. His ears melted away and his hair grew down his spine, while his face began to stretch into a mouth filled with large, razor-sharp teeth.

As he entered the water, his mind was swiftly overcome by primal, animal thinking. All he knew was that he was going to make someone pay for what they’d done. And as far as he was concerned, they’d be deserving of every single thing he’d give them.

Horitamo

The sun had set quickly, being as it was the start of winter, and with the approach of nightfall, the entire palace…really, the entire city, was bustling with activity. The first twelve days, especially the first night, of Rialla were usually the times of greatest celebration out of all the year’s festivities.

Horitamo watched from one of the castle’s stone-shaped towers, not wanting to particularly interact with the rest of the people until necessary. His desire to be alone was not especially helped by the feeling of uneasiness that had been plaguing him for the last hour or so.

Still, he decided, it was no good to lock himself away. It would be considered extremely rude, if not an outright offense, for the Emperor to be absent when the celebration started. Even if he wanted to stay the night in his tower, there were visitors from several other countries to see to. Horitamo chided himself. No one turned away the royal families from the other Four Nations, and to do so was the height of rudeness for someone of his station.

“Horitamo-sama? Daijobu ka?”

He turned to the door where one of the serving girls peered in nervously. She fidgeted restlessly, and obviously hoped she wasn’t in trouble for disturbing him. Horitamo smiled gently at her.

“Hai, daijobu, Estella,” he told her with a nod, “I was just coming down now. Have any of the royals arrived yet?”

“Jolanthe-san says that Dai’inu-sama’s family is only several minutes away. Six in their party, I understand,” Estella tugged on her cat-like ear, a sign she wasn’t telling everything she knew about the matter. Horitamo ignored it, figuring it wasn’t anything bad, and he would find out for himself soon enough.

With a nod, he got to his feet and straightened out his robes. At least they were a relatively light material, yet still managed to retain heat. Perfect for the cooling winter weather like this night, he thought to himself. “Well, then, let’s go greet our guests, shall we, Estella?”

“Hai!”

The crossbreed servant girl cheerfully followed the somberly quiet emperor down the staircase of the tower and into the main hall. Horitamo had to smile to himself. It was hard to stay completely unhappy with Estella around; the young woman’s cheerfulness was infectious, and she was a devoted worker when it came to her livelihood, which she had no regrets about. He wished he could say the same about himself.

“Mattaku, Nyanko-chan, let the boy breathe.”

“My inu-chan!”

“Gyah!”

Horitamo blinked at the voices and looked back to Estella to find out what was going on. Estella couldn’t tell him anything if she wanted to; she was too busy trying to smother her laughter behind a four-fingered hand. Even if her expression were to say nothing, the positioning of her ears and the twitching of her tail told the Emperor all he needed to know. He shook his head with a smile before stepping outside to greet the new arrivals.

“Ah, Horitamo-san!” said the eldest male, the father of the family, “It’s been a while since we’d last met, hasn’t it?”

Horitamo smiled at the man. “Hai, it’s been several years, Dai’inu-sama. And have you and Kazehana-sama expanded your family, again?”

“Oh, not lately, child,” Kazehana, the woman in question, answered for her mate, “Though Tai-chan did have a little fling, which got us Yasha-chan. He’s so kawaii, you can’t help but like him, really.” She smiled.

“Yasha?” Horitamo asked, raising an eyebrow. Suddenly, he was forced to sidestep quickly, as, out of the corner of his eye, he saw a couple of children running toward him.

“Go ‘way!” shouted the first to run by. The little boy-no, not little, Horitamo corrected himself on closer inspection-was clearly Dai’inu-sama’s, with wide gold eyes almost identical in color to his father’s, and the same silver-white mane of hair. However, he sported a pair of dog-like ears nestled on top of his head, and behind him was a disturbingly fluffy canine tail, which was laughably cute on a teenager.

The child following him, Horitamo thought, was no doubt a girl. Despite a dark complexion, he could very clearly make out the pair of stripes on her cheek, and the pointed ears that marked Gandahrahns. Her fluffy mane of hair was blond in color, and her eyes, while a relatively common green hue, had vertical slits for pupils, indicative of feline heritage. After watching her pounce her intended prey, he knew that she wasn’t the same race as Dai’inu-sama and his family.

“My kawaii inu-chan!”

Horitamo chuckled before turning back to Dai’inu-sama and Kazehana. “I take it she’s being fostered? I can’t imagine she’s one of your kinfolk.”

“Hai, you might say that,” Dai’inu-sama nodded, “She’s Akiko-sama’s fourth pup, Nyanko’obake. I understand she has three full-blood siblings. Their father passed away when she was just weaned, but Akiko-sama’s taken another mate, so they’re hardly bereft of a father-figure.”

“She’ll be staying with you, then?”

“Hai.”

Horitamo turned to Estella and Yolantha, ordering them to make sure there were appropriate rooms for the young ones. That done, he invited the family indoors, partly to stay out of the way while the staff finished up the last festival preparations. The invitation was accepted, and, with thanks, Horitamo was told they would call for help if they needed any. Nodding understanding, he left the family to let them get settled in.

Walking to his own rooms, trying to cautiously avoid being seen by any of the household, he hoped that the festival’s opening feast would be uneventful. He still had a faint sense of uneasiness; it was the most he could hope for.

The opening feast certainly proved to be a much less quieter affair than the previous year. Still, Horitamo thought, with a smile, it was always enjoyable to have children around during the festivities.

Nyanko had, very loudly, insisted on a seat next to Yasha. Yasha’s older siblings, Kireihana and Hideyoshi, were trying their best to ignore the boy’s complaints of being tormented, though Kireihana had a hard time trying not to laugh herself silly at the neko’s antics. Dai’inu-sama was egging Nyanko on, grinning like mad, while Kazehana tried, in vain, to stop her mate from taunting the children. Horitamo felt sorry for the woman, who looked slightly embarrassed about the entire thing, despite her good-natured smile.

“It’s nice to see a family so comfortable with each other, ne, Horitamo-sama?”

Horitamo looked up as Estella smiled, setting down a large try bearing an assortment of desserts. Yasha promptly ignored Nyanko as he stared at the selection, apparently trying to decide what he wanted, at which point his father stopped his good-natured teasing, and Nyanko looked huffy that her friend wasn’t paying attention to her now.

“Saa, enjoy dessert, minna--!”

Estella was suddenly cut off as Yasha snatched up several of the deserts, and promptly started eating, at a speed that made it unlikely that he actually tasted the food. She and a few of the others at the table took on expressions of embarrassed amusement.

“Ah, nice to see a boy with such a healthy appetite, ne?” Estella said tactfully, with a smile.

“Hn,” Horitamo stood up suddenly, earning him several concerned stares. He bowed respectfully to his guests. “Gomen, minna, but I feel a bit unwell. I’ll be outside to get some fresh air, if anyone needs me.”

With that, the Emperor quietly and quickly let the dining hall.

“He’s in a strange mood, isn’t he, Tai-chan?” Kazehana asked her mate. Dai’inu-sama nodded.

“Hai, but it’s not our way to interfere if he doesn’t want us to.”

Nyanko made a face at Yasha, before turning to Dai’inu-sama with an insufferably cute expression. “Chichi-ue?” she asked sweetly.

“Hai, Nyanko-chan?”

“I’m full. Can I go play outside while waiting for Yasha-chan to finish eating?” She had an adorable expression that few could say ‘no’ to, never mind a kindly man like her foster father. Dai’inu-sama smiled.

“Hai, Nyanko-chan, you can,” he nodded, “Just be careful, ne? We don’t want anything to happen to you.”

“Wai!” Nyanko nodded. “Arrigatou, Chichi-ue! Nyanko will call if she needs help or anything!” Literally jumping up out of her chair, she took off for the door to the outside, where Horitamo went. Kazehana looked at her mate with concern.

“Was that a smart thing, Tai-chan?” she asked, “Nyanko-chan’s just a pup, you know.”

“Nyanko-chan’s just extremely active, not lacking in intelligence, Kaze-chan,” Dai’inu-sama smiled, “Besides, we all know what Horitamo-san’s capable of. I believe wholeheartedly that he will see to it that no harm befalls Nyanko while we’re here.”

“Hn,” Kazehana made a face, but nodded. Her mate knew well enough, since one didn’t inherit a kingdom without proving they could provide and protect.

Rubbing his arms briskly, Horitamo looked around the open garden to see if he was alone. It was cool out, not as cold as it would soon get, with a breeze occasionally blowing a bit of warm air in. Despite an insulating jacket of leather over his three layers of silken robes, he was still shivering. Now he was sure it wasn’t the weather making him shake.

“Oniisan?”

Horitamo turned in surprise to look for whoever addressed him. It took him a moment to consider looking down, where he found his uninvited companion.

It was definitely Nyanko’obake, he thought to himself. The young nekoyoukai girl was wearing the distinctly bamboo-patterned red cheongsam pants set that she arrived at the dining table in, with similarly patterned tabi-socks and woven sandals. Despite now sporting a pair of feline ears, and a long cat-tail, it would have been hard to miss her.

“Hai, Nyanko-chan?”

Nyanko’s ears suddenly folded down, and she seemed to be looking past Horitamo at something. At the same time, there was something on the wind, a sense of…fear. Dark. Unidentifiable.

Suddenly, Horitamo turned so that Nyanko was behind him. His hand was reaching for the sword sheathed at his hip, and already drawing it when he saw what was before him.

The young man standing before him seemed to be looking at the stars, slightly outlined by moonlight that shone down on the gardens. He looked rather ghostly, with bone-white skin that glowed in the dark, and midnight-black hair just barely stood out against the night sky. The man’s left eye, the only one visible from that angle, rolled slightly to look at Horitamo. Horitamo met the blood-red gaze, while Nyanko clutched to his robe fearfully.

“You’re troubled,” the young man stated simply.

The Emperor raised a slender eyebrow, but didn’t answer. Nyanko whimpered against his robes.

“You don’t remember your child-days, do you? I’m surprised that doesn’t bother you.”

“How can I be bothered by something I don’t remember?” Horitamo asked skeptically. The pale man chuckled.

“Of course. But don’t you wonder what it was like when you were a child? If anything was different from the way it is now? Wouldn’t you like to know why you are as you are?”

“At the moment,” Horitamo started acidly, “I don’t think the past matters.”

“Oh, it matters, believe me,” the pale man said, “Because if you can’t remember the past, then whatever mistakes you have made, you may well be doomed to repeat it. And what will those mistakes cost you now?”

“You are mad,” Horitamo said defensively, his lips faintly curling up into a snarl. The pale man’s lip turned upward in a smirk.

“Madness, my friend, is subjective, like reality. Life. Death. Being.”

Slowly, the pale man turned to directly face Horitamo and Nyanko. The sight that met them made the Emperor take a step back, and earned a shocked gasp from the kitten.

The left side of the pale man’s face was indeed very beautiful, but the right side of his face and throat was bare of skin. Polished, white bone gleamed under the moonlight, the ghastly frozen grin of a skull peering at them, while an empty black eye socket stared them in the face.

“Remember the fundamental rule of this world, Horitamo,” said the half-skeletal man, “It is your belief that dictates much of what happens to you. And if you don’t know what you truly believe in, and why, you are vulnerable. You have to know yourself, completely, before you can know what you believe. It all depends on what you have, right here.” A skeletal hand came up, and tapped Horitamo’s forehead with a bony digit.

Turning away, the half-skeleton’s black hair swept around behind him, billowing on the breeze, as he started to walk away. “By the way,” he said, “I suggest that you and yours leave by tomorrow night. It won’t be safe here.”

Horitamo stepped forward as if to stop him. “Matte!”

The man turned back to look at the Emperor, who straightened himself up in an imperious manner. Horitamo looked directly at him, his gaze clearly stating he was not about to back away until he got an answer.

“At least tell me who you are, to lecture me on such matters like a First One, then warn me like you know what’s to come.”

The fleshed half of the pale face smiled, while the skeletal half remained in it’s frozen grin. “The five-fingers call me Madness. But you may call me Alcuin.”

Alcuin…Horitamo searched his few memories for why that name sounded familiar. Then it dawned on him. The embodiment of Madness. An aspect of Death.

Alcuin turned away again, and walked. As he did, a breeze came through the garden, and as his two watchers looked on, the half-skeletal form seemed to vanish like fog, blown away bit by bit on the wind. When he was gone, Horitamo stared at the area where the spirit was, unsure if he was truly gone, at least physically.

“Oniichan?” Nyanko’s whisper broke into his thoughts, “I want to go back inside.”

“Hai, Nyanko-chan,” Horitamo pat her hair gently, “We should go back inside. It’s getting cooler. And I’m sure Yasha finished eating, hm?” He smiled at the neko.

“Wai!” Nyanko nodded and smiled. The Emperor couldn’t help smiling, himself. He took joy in the innocent happiness of the child. It took his mind off other, unsettling things.

Lucifer/Dennis

Maybe he cared too much about people, but to Lucifer, it was only natural. Often, survival depended on people working together. They were friends and family, and anyone would want to see their offspring survive. When teamwork wasn’t the only means of survival and self-preservation, everyone understood, and thus, no one got upset when a friend or family member did something for their own benefit before others. It was a system that worked well, and had been refined in the last several thousand years.

Unfortunately, the Prince of Hell thought to himself, that didn’t seem to be the case at all for the True Human encampment he was presently watching.

“Say, remember that time we had the one tied up in the dungeons and-“

A glare from her husband silenced the oukami, and she offered him an innocent look.

“Just asking.”

It was a rare occasion that would make Natsuko, Lucifer’s first wife, listen to him. Of course, given the circumstances, this could be classified as a “rare occasion.”

**At least talk this way, if you’re going to,** Lucifer replied mentally, his gaze already back on the encampment below.

Natsuko, wondering what could possibly be so interesting among a bunch of beasts, also glanced down. **I still say we should just fry them all,** she muttered.

**Not if they have Janmei and Lucien,** Lucifer reminded her.

Natsuko visibly deflated. “Oh,” she said aloud, clearly affected by the reminder.

Lucifer put an arm around her shoulder, managing a soft smile.** We’ll get them back,** he assured her. **Just keep your eye out.**

Natsuko nodded, allowing herself to be held by him, which was also a rare occurrence.

They were silent for a few moments, watching the humans together. For almost ten minutes, there was nothing of interest, then…

**Look at that.**

Lucifer turned his head to where his wife was pointing. **What is it?**

**The beasts can’t have green hair, can they?**

He blinked. **I don’t think so.** Peering closer, he decided this warranted a second look. **Stay here.**

“Not on your life,” Natsuko snapped, grabbing onto his shirtfront.

Sweating faintly, Lucifer opted not to argue. **All right, but be careful. I don’t want to lose two wives to them.**

**We haven’t lost one yet,** Natsuko reminded him as he picked her up to fly down to the True Humans.

**Perhaps not. We’ll see.**

The camp was in an uproar half an hour later. Reports ran amok about a huge shadow flying over the camp, like a giant bat out of Hell. There was a kind of sickeningly orderly panic and desperation, now, Dennis thought, listening to the camp announcements over their black boxes.

He wondered what they were panicked about now. His people…those people, he thought bitterly, got panicked about most anything. It was as if they believed the whole of existence was out to get them, for no reason at all. It was a damn stupid belief, he thought.

“Patriarchs, get to your homes and secure them immediately!”

That was no surprise, he thought. What was said next, however, very much was.

“The Apocalypse is upon us! Save your souls and those of your sons from the Devil! And do away with the Unmen of your homes before they drag you down into the fiery pits of Hell with them!”

“N-“ Dennis stopped himself before he used a term that the ‘heathens’ used, “What? What Apocalypse is this? The angels are not here, nor have the children been taken by the Rapture!”

The announcer lashed at him with a steel-tipped cat-o-nine tails. The razor-sharp edges scored his cheek, leaving a series of thin, bleeding markings on his face. The announced glared at him.

“Questioning the will of God, Patriarch?”

“Of course not. I apologize for sounding like that.”

Returning back to his home, he corralled the sixteen Unmen of the household together. Seven of them were fully grown, the rest were the size of his youngest son. He locked them up in the back of the wooden building he called his home, despite one of them trying to attack him. Locking the door, he waited until their howls and screeches died down to silence, telling him that ran out of air in the small room. That, he thought, was a mercy.

He shuddered to think what his sons would be forced to do. And himself. But…what about Mina? She had to go somewhere else…

“Dennis-sama?” A thin woman stepped out of another room, a baby of six or seven months balanced on her hip. The baby had clearly been crying, but was now calm, hiccupping around the chubby thumb he had placed in his mouth. “What’s going on?” the child’s mother whispered, her blue eyes filled with fear.

“I’m sorry, Mina-chan…” He took a deep breath, “There’s something I have to do…something very unpleasant. I want to stay with you…but if they find out I’m still alive, then we’ll all be dead. Please, take Shelley with you, take what you need, and go to the outhouse in the back. Stay there until nightfall, then go, as fast and far as you can. Don’t stay here.”

It killed him to know that he might never see her again, and that he was, essentially, abandoning their child…his child. But he wanted them to live, and there was only death that would await them here.

Mina’s eyes began to fill with tears, and she shifted Shel, who pulled his thumb out of his mouth and reached towards Dennis. “Why can’t you come with us?”

Dennis gently took Shelley, hugging him one last time. He wiped away the tears tickling at his eyes as he looked to Mina. This woman had opened his eyes to everything that was dark and cruel about his people. He just wished he’d realized it sooner.

“Something…someone, is coming. I think it’s one of your people, Mina-chan,” he said, “I want to go with you…but I’m still like other True Humans…and I know this world distrusts us, marked by five fingers and round ears. The other Patriarchs think this is the end of the world. I know one of them might not kill his sons and himself, he’ll stay to see everything, but if he finds out any others know it’s not what it seems, we’ll be killed. If it’s one of your people, Mina-chan…go with them. You’ll be safer, you and Shel. If I can…” tears spilled from his eyes, “I’ll find you again. I promise.”

Mina covered her mouth, her own eyes beginning to water. “Dennis-sama…” She didn’t know what to say. She didn’t know of anything she could say to convince him there was some way he would be safe with her…Was it mostly just wishful thinking on her part, that there could be a place in this world for them together?

Noticing his parents’ tears, Shel’s lip began to quiver. “Babah?” he whimpered, looking up at his father.

Gently, Mina removed the boy from Dennis’s arms. There was little else she could do with the time she had than escape, guaranteeing at least Shel’s survival, and hopefully her own.

“Mina-chan? I want you to have something…to remember me by, for you and Shel both.”

Taking her pale hand in his, Dennis placed a cross-less rosary in her palm, a long string of flawless white and pale blue beads. He’d crushed the cross long ago, having lost all faith he had, and now it came to represent the ‘heathens’ he’d come to sympathize with, and one that he came to care for. He closed her hand over the beads and kissed Mina on the cheek.

“I know you’ll be safe, Mina-chan, and Shel. I promise, if I can…I’ll find you again.”

Mina was too stunned to reply, and just stared dumbly at the object in her hands. “Dennis…”

Shel began to wail, somehow realizing that his life was about to change forever.

Dennis pat the boy’s hair. “I know you’ll be alright, Shel. Sayonara, Mina-chan, Shel-chan.”

Mina turned away, unable to say her goodbye, and held Shel to her chest, stroking his head in an attempt to calm him. The boy sniffled, but refused to calm completely until his mother cradled him like an infant and gave him the beads to hold onto. Sending one last look towards her paramour, she started for the hiding place Dennis had said to go to.

Dennis wiped the tears from his eyes as he watched the only things that gave his life meaning walked away. It was for their own safety, he knew, but that didn’t make it any easier to bear. Once again, he cursed that he had to be born into such a race, where life had no value and the very concept of free choices was considered wicked. Maybe past the portal of death, things would be different, he thought.

“Gods…” Lucifer whispered to himself, “Such agony…sorrow…” He mentally cursed the telepathic gifts that let him pick up on such feelings. Little wonder True Humans were so cruel and closed off to the rest of the world, he thought. Feeling such emotions, that weren’t even his own, would drive anyone mad.

Suddenly, he felt the painful agony and sorrow spike dramatically, and he groaned as pain exploded in his head. Clutching at his head, the world around him went white, and he was only vaguely aware that he was falling.

“Lucifer!” Natsuko’s voice pierced the pain-fog, and he latched to her voice as an anchor. He’d never been more thankful for the fact that oukamiyoukai, Natsuko’s race, weren’t as telepathically sensitive as other Gandahrahns. It would spare her the worst of the agony that burst through his mind.

He snapped out of the pain as they hit the ground. Despite being momentarily stunned, he managed to sit up. Natsuko looked at him worriedly, and he managed a weak smile in her direction. This got him a clawed hand batting his black-feathered wings, and a grateful smirk.

“Why aren’t the beasts attacking us?” she wondered, “You’d think that landing in the middle of their territory would get their attention.”

“And you’d enjoy the fight, I’m sure,” Lucifer said. Looking around, he realized there were still presences, but not living ones.

The souls who were present definitely noticed them. Some of them, mostly children, saw Lucifer and Natsuko, and immediately started screaming, before their ghostly forms disappeared on the wind like smoke.

“’Course I would,” the oukami confirmed, snorting. What member of her race didn’t enjoy a good fight? Looking around, Natsuko saw nothing but the deserted encampment. She was not bothered by the left-behind echoes her husband was, and instead resumed the search for the green-haired figure she had seen moments before, racing towards one of the smaller buildings behind the creatures’ “homes”. “I think it’s over that way.”

Lucifer seemed to be turning a slight shade of green. “Those people…it’s like watching the ancient peoples committing seppuku…only these…they’re even taking the children with them.”

“What are you talking about?” Natsuko asked, giving him a curious look over her shoulder. “They’re beasts, I thought we established that. If they’re going to kill themselves and their pups, all the better for us that we don’t have to get rid of more of them.”

“I know…but to never be a child, without a childhood…” Lucifer shook his head, “I can’t imagine that.”

He sniffed the air, trying to see if he’d be able to find the stranger with the green hair by scent.

There was a certain scent on the air…like arctic air, or a biting winter breeze, with a faint trace of flowers, like a meadow. It made him feel vaguely nostalgic. “There’s someone here…smell that?”

Natsuko nodded. “Definitely not an outhouse.” She covered her nose. “The rest of that stench is, however.” She pushed Lucifer forward a bit. “You open it, I’m not going any nearer. With my sense of smell, it’d probably knock me out.”

“Don’t be a coward, Wolfy,” Lucifer smirked, using his affectionate nickname for her. Without hesitation, he opened the door to the nearest house. The sight that met his eyes made him pale to ghost-white, before he turned to vomit.

The sight before him was gruesome, to say the least. Three bodies were laid out on the floor, two of them no doubt children. One of them lacked a head, and rested in a pool of blood. The other child-body looked to have collapsed, his (for Lucifer could see it was male) throat cut open almost to the point of being decapitated. Half his head was missing, cut off at an angle. Lucifer slumped to the floor as he realized an object with fur before him was the upper half of the child’s head. One eye was missing, the other staring blankly out of its place as it slowly glazed over with white. The boy had just killed himself.

Another body, just behind the half-headed boy, was definitely an older male. His throat was likewise cut, and a blade in each hand showed he did the deed to the younger child. One eye was gone, apparently gouged out by his own hand, and the blood staining his face only made his razor-sharp features stand out in sharp relief. Yet, despite the destruction around him, his face seemed almost…peaceful.

Natsuko, who usually had quite the constitution for dealing with blood, gore, and the like, turned away, covering her mouth, and looked quite on the verge of being violently sick herself. She leaned against the outside wall of the structure to regain her senses, unable to look any longer than a few seconds. “They’re going to eradicate themselves from the face of the planet,” she whispered hoarsely. “We won’t have to do anything at all.”

Lucifer looked again, and blinked in disbelief. “Mite…”

Sitting on the old man was, to his eyes, a soul. A figure that looked much like the body, but somewhat transparent, with a blue coloring. One eye was still missing, but there was the hint of Transformation to him…the round ears were slightly pointed, and his hands were wider than a normal True Humans, as if to make way for another finger.

The ghostly figure looked up at Lucifer, and an expression of slight panic seemed to cross his face.

“Prince of Darkness!” he declared. Lucifer raised an eyebrow.

“Do you truly believe that, strange one? Or should I say, ‘Dennis’?” Lucifer noticed the name-patch on the body’s shirtfront, and took it to be either a personal or family name. The look on the spirit’s face became one of curiosity, mixed with fear, and a touch of hope.

Taking a breath, Natsuko peeked back inside, surprised to hear a second voice joining Lucifer’s. She was even more surprised to see the spirit of the True Human there, not only because she was shocked to discover at least some of them possessed souls, but because she was rarely perceptive enough to the workings of the world beyond to notice anything like this. Yet, here he was, one of the beasts, soul not only existent, but intact and speaking.

“Why am I still here? Why didn’t you let me go on to Heaven?” Dennis asked. Lucifer shook his head.

“You’re here because you’re different, I imagine,” Lucifer said honestly. “Tell me…did you truly believe in what you were doing?”

“No.”

“What were you doing, anyhow?” Natsuko interjected. “What in the world could make an entire village kill themselves and their pups?”

“It was you…they saw you, and it convinced them that it was the End. When the End is upon us, we’re to kill all the Unmen…sorry, women, because they’re supposedly able to drag us to eternal torture in Hell. Then, we’re to end our lives and the lives of our sons, to insure we make it to Heaven with no sins.”

“Taking your own lives is a sin against your people, and insult to your intelligence,” Lucifer said with a grimace, “If you want to live, live. Don’t kill yourselves just because you’re afraid of something that might never happen in your lifetimes. Believe me, even in ten thousand years, not a whole lot usually happens.”

“Yeah, his mother is a testament to that,” Natsuko declared, throwing her thumb in Lucifer’s direction. Snorting, she went on to the one thing that interested her. “What’s someone with green hair doing in your…village?” she asked, wrinkling her nose; she didn’t like acknowledging that this beast-town was a civilization of any sort.

“Green hair?” Dennis blinked in surprise that she was addressing him at all; Natsuko wasn’t the most sociable, after all. “Oh…Mina-chan…please, take care of her for me. And Shel. They deserve better than anything I could have ever given them.”

“Green hair…Mina…” Lucifer looked thoughtful. “Gods above…could it be…?”

Turning her attention away from the Human, Natsuko instead glanced at Lucifer. **What is it?**

**I think it’s Minako…my step-mother, and the mother of my half-brother, Kenjo.**

Natsuko nodded faintly. **Maybe that’s what that smell was…** She trailed off, turning back towards the door and putting her sharper nose to the job. Lucifer may have been undoubtedly better at magic (not difficult, given the extent of Natsuko’s use of magic was sending), but when it came to tracking, Natsuko was the one for the task.

It didn’t take her long to catch the strange, fleeting whiff of ice and flowers again, and she followed it several feet outside of the house to a small building that smelled much worse than the rest of the place. She turned away, coughing to avoid choking. **Minako?**

Slowly, the door opened a crack. Upon seeing a fellow Gandahrahn, the woman inside opened the door the rest of the way. “Iie, it’s Mina,” she corrected.

“Close enough,” Natsuko said, covering a sneeze. “Let’s get out of here, huh?”

Lucifer looked at the baby boy in Mina’s arms and, characteristically, almost squealed with excitement. “Ah, kawaii, Mina-chan!”

Natsuko snickered. Her husband always was easily overwhelmed by anything he considered to be cute, she knew from experience. Turning to Mina, she helped the woman out of the outhouse.

“It could just be Lucifer’s idiocy, but I think there’s someone you should probably meet, Mina-san. We’ll take you to him, but first, we might need your help with something.”

“I’ll do what I can. I’m not sure how much help I’d be, me or Shel,” she cradled the baby in her arms, who was apparently falling asleep already. Natsuko smiled at the scene.

“And what will you do with me, Lucifer?” Dennis’ soul turned to the Prince of Hell. Lucifer blinked at Dennis like he was an idiot, which might well have been his thought of the late True Human.

“Do? I?” Lucifer asked, pulling on the tip of one pointed ear in agitated confusion. “I will do nothing with you…Dennis. My wife and I are searching for some of our family…your people took them, and I hope they are still alive. Have you seen them, perhaps? A woman with the eyes of a great cat, and a mane of golden hair, and a little boy, of a hand of years, with the eyes, ears and tail of a cat, and wings like a crow.”

Surprisingly, Dennis nodded. “I’ve seen such…a week ago, we attacked a caravan of…your people. Some of the Patriarchs died, and from them were taken two such as you describe. They were last seen heading for the mountains, that way,” he pointed to the west. Then he looked to Lucifer again.

“Thank you,” Lucifer said. “Me and mine can’t go with you on your spirit-quest, Dennis. That is something you must do yourself, if you truly wish to Transform. All I can do for you is give you a passing song…what your kind call ‘last rites’, I believe.”

“Alright…that’s more than they would have done for my sons, or Mina-chan. Thank you,” Dennis turned to Mina, a look of great sorrow on his spirit’s face. “I’m sorry I can’t go with you, Mina-chan…but I know you’ll be alright, wherever you’re going. And I promise, I still love you.”

Mina choked on her tears, while holding Shel tightly. It was fortunate the baby was asleep, so he wouldn’t have to see his mother on the verge of crying. Gently, especially considering her domineering habits, Natsuko put an arm around Mina’s shoulders and turned her away. She sent to Lucifer, a bit agitated, **Get on with it so we can get out of here.**

**No respect for tradition, eh?** Lucifer smiled at her faintly. Not waiting for an answer, he put his hands together and bowed his head, as if about to pray. Clapping his hands together in a ritual gesture, the Prince of Hell took a deep breath, and started to sing in a clear, yet light, voice.

I’m so certain that my heart was left behind
Deep in that dark, dark forest known as despair
Yet I hold on to hope, that I will find the light once again
Into the infinite darkness I wander, knowing not what I’ll find
But I know no matter how long, there is love and hope at the end
And what is ending, save for a new beginning?

Listening to the song, a wave of nostalgia washed over Mina. She remembered this song, from before…sung at the temple during the funeral of a queen’s kinsman. It was both appropriate, yet incredibly sad. It was fitting.

Lucifer stopped after a few select verses of the song and looked around. Mina wiped away a few tears that came out during the song, while Natsuko looked at him with a sort of detached approval. Dennis was silent as a ghost, rather literally, in his case.

“Thank you,” he simply said. Lucifer nodded.

“We must be going. I…wish you luck on your journey, whatever that may be, changing one.”

“Dennis!” Mina suddenly burst out. “I…” she trailed off, unable to think of anything that would express her feelings well enough. Finally, she settled on a whispered, “Come back, if you can.”

**You’d come back for me, right?** Natsuko sent, half-teasing, to Lucifer. It was hard for her to deal with blood and death after her early life, so often her “dealing” was through inconsiderate humor and biting sarcasm.

**I’d come back for you and Janmei both, you know that.** Lucifer smiled.

Dennis nodded to Mina. “I will…if I can’t…take care of Shel, alright?”

Mina nodded, clutching her son to her closer. “Hai.” The baby wiggled, and squeaked into her shirt, having been awoken by the movement, and she loosened her grip, moving him to sit on her hip. The boy’s blue eyes darted around the room, and he squealed when he realized he was again in familiar surroundings, then blinked and began crying when he noticed Dennis, or at least what remained of him.

**We’d best go…it’s not good for a child to see such…things.** Lucifer said to Mina and Natsuko. “Besides,” he said out loud, “We’ve still got people to find.”

Mina blushed faintly at her mistake, and, sending Dennis a last apologetic look, turned away to follow the godling outside.

“Think you can carry us both, Lucifer?” Natsuko asked, looking incredulously at his wings. Lucifer smiled.

“Of course I can! Haven’t you any faith in your husband, Natsuko-chan? Besides, I’m a god, and the Prince of Hell. There’s little I can’t do!” Lucifer said, a touch boastfully, and with a smile.

Pulling Natsuko into one arm, and gently, and chastely, wrapping the other around Mina’s waist, he held on to them with a firm grip before flapping his wings and pushing himself from the ground. It was time to continue; after all, a journey awaited no one.