Chapter 19: Supernatural Siblings

Chapter 19:

"___" - Speech

(___) - Thoughts

{___} - Internal Voice(s)

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With a swift twist and turn, Jin pulled the keys out of the ignition. He took a deep breath as he signaled to Oron. "I'll be fine, trust me." His assistant's expression was justifiably apprehensive, nonetheless, he stepped out the car and entered through the storefront.

He turned around as he gently nudged his sleeping sibling. "We're already here?" She groaned, sitting upright as she stretched her arms. "You almost drive as smoothly as Ryosuke." 

"Almost, huh?" He chuckled lightly. However, the light in his face would soon dim as he steeled himself to say what needed to be said. "When were you planning on telling me? Kyouko." A part of him even hoped his inquiry would reveal nothing, but fate was rarely so compassionate. 

"Can't say I'm sure what you're talking about." Jin clicked his tongue in disappointment, albeit chances were Kyokou was just as hesitant as him. "Something I miss?" The corners of his lips stretched towards his chin as his forehead rested against the wheel momentarily. 

"Alright, I guess we'll have to do it like this." He held his open palm out as it emitted a faint amber radiance. "Don't tell me you can't see it, I saw that look in your eyes." His dark-lilac pupils peered into hers, with an almost lifeless demeanor to them.

Kyouko showed little signs of shock, let alone even surprise. "Looks like I've been had." Instead of offering an immediate response, she simply reached into her coat and pulled out a smoke. "I might as well give my little brother a demonstration." On the tip of her finger, she conjured a bright-orange flame which she brought to the tip of her bud.

"I'll ask you again, when you were planning on telling me?" 

She massaged her head with her wrist as she glanced out the window. "Can't say, probably around the same time you were planning on telling me you became an Exorcist." 

"Exorcist? Not quite." Her brow quipped as she breathed a large puff of smoke. 

"Are you trying to tell me I don't know what Holy Power looks like? Sorry, but your older sister isn't so gullible." He shook his head as his fingers drummed against the wheel. "Something funny?" 

"Not at all, I think it's better if we step outside for a bit." He opened up the front-door to which his sister followed suit. 

"So? Don't tell me you're about to start a fight or something." 

"I'm hurt. How could you accuse a devout advocate of peace like myself of such a thing?" All his antics warranted was an eye-roll from Kyouko.

"If you don't hurry up and do what you were about to do, these fingers are going all the way up your shirt." She gestured her hands in a tickling motion, which Jin somehow found rather intimidating, namely because of his first-hand knowledge that she could, and would back-up such claims.

"Alright alright, sheesh." With his attempt to ease the tension thwarted, he had no other choice than to just go all in. "Saying this is probably pointless, but try not to be freaked out if possible."

"Hmph, why would I be—" Before she knew it, her mouth was left agape causing the cigarette to drop out of her mouth. On her brother's back were two large, dark feathery wings with their full span on display. 

(Hm, I think they've gotten a little darker. Might have something to do with the activation.) 

"Kyouko? You there?" She blinked repeatedly as if she were trying to convince herself what she was witnessing was but a mere dream.

"I see, so that's what happened here." She muttered to herself. 

(Uh-oh, I might've short-circuited her.) 

In the span of a single breath, she closed the distance between them, grabbing Jin by the collar as she withdrew a sword enveloped entirely of flames from her coat and brought it to his neck. "Where's my brother?" She asked coldly. 

Jin held his hands up as he tried to appear as non-threatening as possible. "You're trying to kill him at the moment." 

"As I said, I'm not so gullible. Now where is he?" 

(Ah, that's right. Magicians probably don't know that Grigori is capable of reincarnation. How should I tackle this?) 

Unbeknownst to Jin, his sclera had already begun to morph. Turning reptilian in nature once more as the air around him started to chill. "Again, he's right in front of you, look." He summoned [Twice Critical], in hopes that his sister understood the nature of Sacred Gears. 

And to his delight, her expression signaled that she did. "Jin? But that's impossible." Unfortunately, someone else was of the opinion she had come to the understanding a tad bit too late. 

"Wha…" 

She could feel it, a chill running down her spine. Followed by the sensation of something breathing down her neck. "Kyouko? You alright?" Out of sheer instinct she stepped back, hoping the frightening presence would leave her be. 

Jin's concern heightened as he tried to approach her, but each step he took seemed to only make things worse. 

Now there was growling, deep, looming growls sending her thoughts in disarray. In a panic, she quickly averted her eyes from her brother's. She held her hand out towards him, gesturing for him to stay back. 

(What's happening? Don't tell me, is it you!?) 

"Enough! That's my fucking sister, it's not your place to intervene." He hurriedly deactivated his Sacred Gear, hoping that he'd still be able to reason with his sibling. 

"Jin, what the hell was that?" If it weren't for her experience, getting the words out of her throat would've been nothing but an impossible feat. "What's going on? Tell me." With what scraps of composure she could find, she managed to walk up to her brother once more, her eyes pleading for answers. 

"I have my fair share of questions as well, but I think it's best we continue this conversation inside." 

"Your assistant, is he also—?" 

"He is, but he listens to me so don't worry." Kyouko's expression tightened as she read in between the lines. 

"Wait, so he's actually your assistant? I thought you were working for him." It wasn't hard for her to sense who had the stronger presence between the two. "Jin, I need you to be completely honest with me." 

"That's the plan." 

"If you're a Fallen Angel, then am—" 

"Relax, you're not, nor is Ryosuke. For now I suggest we head inside, depending on how poorly I word this we could be here all day." Though a justifiable amount of apprehension dwelled in her, she complied nonetheless.

As the two entered, Jin was met with the sight of Oron rhythmically tapping his foot against the floorboard with a clearly peeved look on his face. "Everything alright?" Jin queried, causing Oron's tapping to halt as he eyed up Kyouko with a disgruntled expression. "Oron?" He pressed. 

"There are no problems, Jin-sama. Shall I give the two of you some room?" 

"If you would." Jin motioned for his sister to sit on the couch as he pondered how on earth he was going to begin such a conversation. "Now then, where to start?" 

"You could begin with the wings." 

"Alright, for starters how much do you know about Devils?" 

"I'm a Magician, it's my job to know about them, but I digress." 

"In that case, I assume you know that they have the ability to reincarnate others as their own?" She shot a wide-eyed stare his way, to which he all but confirmed her suspicions. 

"Since when did Griogri achieve such a feat?" 

"Beats me, but apparently I'm the first of my kind. Pretty cool right?" To his dismay, Kyouko showed utterly no interest in banter at the moment.

"When were you reincarnated?" 

"Just last week, it was quite the experience to say the least." 

"Uh-huh, and why did you accept?" 

"I didn't." 

"Excuse me?" 

Jin facepalmed as he caught onto the impression he had given his sister. "I'm not saying I was forced, long story short, I was killed, then I was revived and now I'm here. He was pretty upfront when I first awoke, but it all worked out in the end." 

"Slow down. The fuck do you mean you were killed?" Similar to a certain someone, Jin had acquired the unique ability to induce headaches into anyone that made the mistake of conversing with him. 

"It means I died, plain and simple. Then I was brought back, well, at least whatever was left of me." 

"Normally I'd call bullshit, but it would explain how you have a Sacred Gear despite being a Fallen Angel. However, there's still something that's bothering me." 

Jin sighed as he knew what she wanted to ask. "You want to know who the [King] is don't you?" 

"You're my little brother, it's my right to know." 

"Perhaps, but you've yet to tell me a single thing about you. Doesn't seem all that fair does it?" Her eyes rolled as she crossed one leg over the other. 

"Fine, what do you want to know?" 

"I have quite a few questions, but there's only one I absolutely need you to answer. Whether you want to tell me more than that, I'll leave entirely up to you." Jin's stare seemed to harden as he locked his sclera with hers. "Are you working for Khaos Brigade?" Just the term alone appeared to trigger some sort of switch within him, a nervous sweat shot down her face as his expression had somewhat of an eerie, uncanny presence to it.

"No, I haven't even heard of it until now. Is it something I should be aware of?" He paused momentarily as he scanned her facial features, looking for anything that might implicate a falsehood. "Jin?" 

"It's nothing, I suppose it's normal that you haven't heard of them just yet. Anyhow, I still have a few questions but I'll let you finish the rest of yours first." 

"Right, as I was saying—" 

"Oh, I can't tell you who the [King] is though, sorry about that." 

"Eh? What happened to being truthful?" 

"It's not lying if I don't give you an answer. All I can say is that you can trust him, because I do." 

"You can't seriously expect me to trust someone I've never met let alone heard of?" 

"If it weren't for him, I would be dead. Isn't that reason enough?" She gripped her nose bridge in frustration as her brother showed little interest in spilling the beans. 

"Whatever, at the very least you could tell me what that was back there?" 

"That I apologize for, it appears that she has the tendency to get a little bit protective at times. Even when I find her interference unnecessary." The latter half of his remark was said with evident spite. 

"Her?" 

"Hm, perhaps a demonstration would make things easier to understand, I'm hoping you're capable of firing at least one type of projectile attack?" 

"I've been doing this for two years, of course I am." 

(2 years huh? I guess you were technically studying during that time.) 

"Good." Jin got up as he took a few steps forward, and shut his eyes. "Throw one at me." 

"Huh? Have you lost your mind or something?" The corners of his lips curled upwards as he revealed a toothy grin. "What is this even supposed to prove?" 

"Trust me it'll be just fine. It's not like I'm asking you to unleash your strongest attack or anything. All I need is something moderately fast." Jin's eyes were filled with unwavering confidence as she shook her head, unsure as to what her brother could possibly be hiding up his sleeve. "You wanted an answer right? This is how you'll get it." 

"Don't blame me if you get hurt." Flames gathered at her fingertips as she pointed them towards him. "Here I go." 

Swoosh! 

Like an arrow, a compact firebolt shot forth from her palms hurling straight towards his chest. His eyes remained closed as her worry continued to heighten. 

"Eh?" Out of nowhere, his arm suddenly moved up as the cluster of flames collided against his open palm. "You blocked it?" 

"Nope, I didn't do a thing." His eyelids parted as he held out his hand towards her, revealing small patches of hardened silver-scales scattered unevenly around his skin. "My Sacred Gear is known as [Twice Critical], it houses a Dragon within it. Which is who you felt earlier, again, sorry about that." 

"A Dragon?" She reached out to touch the scales, but the second her hand neared, the patches sunk back into his skin. 

"She's not really the sociable type." 

"She?" 

"Yeah, I made a deal that allows her to have shared control over my body. Hence making things like this possible, and also that mishap earlier." 

"Wait wait wait, what do you mean, shared control?" 

"It's just as you witnessed, my arms, legs, eyes and even aura can be used by her when she pleases. And in return, I'm able to tap into more power of the Sacred Gear than any of my predecessors. Or more accurately, I will be able to." Though his tone seemed rather tame, Kyouko was able to comprehend just how terrifying the concept was. 

"Surely there are some limits to it? It's not as if you're just letting a Dragon of all things, run wild?" 

"Limits would defeat the whole purpose, and she isn't just another rage-consumed Dragon trying to wreak havoc. Our goals align, which is why I trust her." 

As things stood, trying to actively use his Dragons power in combat would more likely than not end up destroying him. But as the connection between them deepened, the looser the chains would become on his, or more accurately her power.

"Jin, I don't like what I'm hearing, let alone understand half of it." 

"Then that's unfortunate, but what's done is done. Unfortunately I wasn't blessed with a strong enough template to rival the monsters I've encountered as of late, that's why measures such as this are necessary in order for me to even have a chance of matching up to them." 

All for the sake of peace.