21 Early Morning Embers

Firetrucks with their sirens blaring rolled to a stop in front of the blazing gardens of Tel Megiddo. Demons in heavy coats and protective gear ran out to access the situation and make sure everyone was evacuated from the building. Water sprayed out from the hoses firemen attached to nearby hydrants, quenching the greedy flames until they sizzled out with satisfaction.

The police were already on the scene, annoyed at the mountains of paperwork that would now interrupt their quiet night. Nergal had left once they arrived, informing them of the situation as he left the others to their devices.

Behemoth's corpse had to be incinerated on the spot, as transporting it to the morgue in his Primal Release state would have proved impossible. Police couldn't explain how or why, but the corpse of Suzu Belloch had vanished. All that remained was a charred dagger.

Lilith herself was sitting in the back of one of the ambulances that had arrived. She held an oxygen mask against her face; her side still tingling from where the paramedics had healed her stab wound.

Her eyes were bloodshot and stung with the ache that accompanied excessive smoke. Lilith turned and looked behind her at Mura, who was laid out on a stretcher. The repetitive blip of his heartbeat chirped from the machine he was hooked up to.

Mura had long since awoken from his unconsciousness. He had opened his eyes to unfocused blurred shapes and the ringing wails of emergency vehicles. He was met with cheers from unfamiliar faces, looks of concern from his friend and the blood of a man he didn't even know he'd taken the life of.

He looked up at the metal roof of the ambulance unblinking. Behemoth was dead, his crimes had been brought to light and his title now belonged to Mura himself. Yet a peculiar heaviness weighed upon him, as if a stone had been left on his chest.

"Lilith…?"

Lilith removed her oxygen mask and swung her legs up inside the vehicle to face her friend.

"Feeling better now?" she asked solemnly.

"It's complicated… But, everything you told me… What was I doing?"

Lilith felt the words inside her mouth ready to spill out, all the emotions she held bundled inside until this moment. All of the fear and worry she had felt during that moment when she looked up at Mura and him not recognizing her.

"That wasn't you. I don't know how to explain it Mura, but when Behemoth transformed… he was still himself. Whatever you did, whatever that was, it wasn't natural… not even in this reality."

Mura looked at his palm, gazing at where he was slashed by Behemoth's sword during his possession. Only a faint scar was left, barely any evidence of what had transpired.

He sat up, removing the finger clamp monitoring his heartbeat and oxygen tubes positioned under his nose.

"I killed a man… He was evil, honestly deserved what was coming to him. But it… It scares me that I could easily take the life of someone that powerful without even being fully conscious."

Mura got up from the gurney and walked out of the ambulance, his limbs still sore from the recovering paralysis. He turned and stood in front of Lilith. Looking into her eyes with a stern earnestness, he firmly grabbed ahold of her hands.

"There's something inside me that's different from the others, something that doesn't want me to die. But I'm making a promise to you, okay? I promise you Lilith, I won't let whatever that was ever hurt you or anyone else."

Lilith turned her head downwards once she could feel her vision become blurry. She nodded, still holding Mura's hands.

"Thank you…" she said through a wavering voice.

Mura let go of her hands and wrapped his arms around the young yokai as she did the same. As she clutched his sides tightly, Mura saw a pair of leering red eyes glowing in the darkness from far away in the shadows. They were being watched.

"Okay Lilith, I'm going to see if there's anything else I can do here. In the meantime, can you call Naraka and let him know about everything? I'd like him to learn of this before watching the aftermath on the morning news."

Lilith slowly pulled away, a fresh smile on her face.

"Y-Yeah, no problem! Hopefully he'll let us crash at his place, it's almost dawn…" Lilith yawned before leaving to call Naraka on her cell phone.

Mura stood and waited until she was on the phone before leaving the ambulance to approach where he had seen the eyes. He approached the burnt trees and police tape as an officer went to stop him, but quickly realized his error.

"My apologies, sir. You can go right through, we've already cleaned and contained the scene," the officer said.

—That's right, I'm a Jikininki now. I guess that's going to take some getting used to.

Mura lifted the yellow tape and ducked underneath before continuing on. He surveyed the torn up ground and crater in the once pristine lawn. Any wreckage was mostly gone and a renovation notice had been posted on the doors to the drinking hall.

His footsteps crunching on the dry grass, Mura made his way to the shadows of the untouched orchard beyond the battlefield. Symmetrical hedges that had been pristinely trimmed were left untouched by the chaos. An adornment of flowers lay beneath the hedges along with a fountain and stone bench.

Mura took in the sight briefly before feeling a twinge of cold against his neck.

"You need to sharpen up those reflexes, Tenth," a strongly-accented male spoke.

Mura turned around to see a set of crimson eyes staring wide at him. The irises weren't round, but instead a seven-pointed star enclosed around each of the man's black pupils. Mura stepped backwards and after a moment, recognized the face of the blonde man in the drinking hall.

"Who the hell are you? Why were you watching me?" Mura stated coldly.

"Geez, Mura! You really need to work on your manners too while yer at it!"

Mura's face bunched into one of confusion. This man was a Jikininki, but treated him like they were already best friends. Mura looked down at the man's bare chest, exposed underneath his black haori.

A rough jagged scar traveled from the man's neck downwards, dividing his torso in half as it continued past his abdomen. The remainder was covered by the haramaki wrapped around his stomach.

A Jikininki with a jagged scar, blonde hair and red eyes. He was standing in front of Kishin, the Golden Devil of Yomi.

"My eyes are up here, Mura~! But hey, I'll forgive ya," Kishin snickered.

"Y-You're Kishin, aren't you…?" Mura stammered.

"Heeeey, I was wonderin' if ya'd heard of me! I mean, I can't walk down the street without folks here givin' me a hard time!"

Kishin grinned at Mura, his teeth reflecting the pale moonlight with an eerie sheen.

"Probably wonderin' how I got this scar, huh? It's a great conversation starter, lemme tell ya," Kishin chuckled, leaning on a long black stick.

Upon closer inspection, Mura realized Kishin wasn't resting his weight on a stick. It was the scabbard to a katana, carved from ebony wood that looked ancient. Near the hilt was a red cloth, wrapped and bound around the wood. The hilt itself was silver and ornate, curving slightly as it went up.

"O-Okay… how did you get the scar?" Mura uttered.

"That's a story for another day, but not today! To answer your original question, I was watching ya because I was being patient. You and lil' Miss Short-Stack were having a moment, what kinda guy would I be to interrupt that?!" Kishin shouted, his tone going from casual to manic nearly instantly.

Mura flinched. Normally he wouldn't be intimidated by most men, but this was the Golden Devil of Yomi. A killer that was feared by nearly everyone, those who weren't frightened by his ferocity and insanity were either stupid or had never met him.

Kishin had the highest kill count of any Jikininki in service to date, well over two-thousand. He was also the only Jikininki who accomplished this feat without ever using a Tamashi Genkai, Primal Release or even a single spell. All he had was a sword, his unmatchable skill and his madness.

"Well, um… Thank you, Kishin… sir?" Mura stated awkwardly, not sure how to address his notorious senior.

"No 'sirs' around here, Mura. What are we, salarymen?? We're killers! Hahaha, and I love how ya whacked ol' Behemoth back there! Tell me, what the flying hell was that shit?!" Kishin said with a laugh before leaning in closer to Mura's face.

"I honestly don't know…"

"Bullshit ya didn't know, come on! I can't stand a secret I don't have the privilege of knowing!" Kishin shouted, his grin turning to a disappointed frown.

"I really don't know! Trust me, I just—"

"Hey hey hey hey hey hey hey, cool it," Kishin spoke in a chillingly calm tone.

Kishin sighed and closed his eyes, shaking his head which caused his platinum blonde braid to shuffle against his clothing. He looked back up at Mura with a happy face and shifted his weight to the other side.

With a grin, he lifted his sheathed blade and casually plopped the end of the wooden scabbard on Mura's shoulder. There it rested in its newfound home as Kishin held the opposite end while he continued on.

"I guess we both have stories to tell someday. No rush anyway, I mean, with us being colleagues and all now," Kishin laughed jovially.

Mura chuckled nervously along with him until he felt something warm and sticky running down his shoulder where the scabbard was resting.

A slight burning pain emitted from the area, causing Mura to wince in discomfort. It was as if there was a freshly-sharpened blade pressing into his bare flesh.

—What the hell is with this maniac?! This blade… is it enchanted or something??

Kishin looked at Mura's grimace and then back at his sheathed katana.

"Oh don't mind that, it's nothing. Anyway! I wanted to tell ya that as of now, you're officially a Jikininki. Buuuuuut, you're Tenth. Doesn't really mean much among the rest of us, Tenths usually don't last long. But hey, you seem different enough! I just have a feeling~♪"

Kishin leaned back sharply and pulled his katana away from Mura's shoulder in the process. The pain was alleviated, but Mura could feel more warmth oozing over his skin. Looking to his left at the sensation, Mura saw his coat and shirt underneath had a clean slice through the top of the shoulder. On the skin itself was a deep gash that was sticky with blood.

Mura clutched his hand over the wound as Kishin turned away and began to stroll off into the distance.

"Tomorrow afternoon, go to Batō Kōkyo. Emperor Mara requested a personal audience with ya. If I were you, I wouldn't keep him waiting," Kishin said in a serious, solemn tone.

The Golden Devil twirled his weapon like a baton as he wandered away into the city before disappearing altogether. Mura was left there, bleeding and stuck with more questions than answers.

Mura closely inspected his cut meanwhile, unsure how it even got there. It was as if Kishin rested the blade itself on his bare skin, but it remained in the scabbard the entire time.

—Maybe the sheath was bladed or something… It was dark anyway.

Mura knew in his heart that was clearly not the case. It was the same as if one heard footsteps outside their bedroom at night, yet lived alone. You don't want to admit to yourself the encroaching dread that awaits you, so denial of that fate seems like the best solution.

Faced with powers that defied his comprehension and a meeting with the ruler of the underworld itself, Mura felt a similar uneasiness regarding the future he had now set for himself.