Asmodeus

"Who're you?"

Ozzie looked at the raven, shocked. "You can talk?

"Master." The raven sighed audibly. "I thought the memories would come back after you've awakened. Very well. I see it will take more time."

The raven fluttered off Oz's shoulder, now circling his head.

Oz's head was howling in pain. There was a ringing in his ears that just did not seem to stop. He was slightly scraped up from the beating the girls had given him, but when he lifted his hand to his face, there was streaks of blood. He was bleeding from his nose and eyes.

The raven seemed to notice his confusion.

"Don't worry master. As you ease back into your power, the bleeding will stop."

Oz looked up at the raven. "Again, who are you? Why can you talk? And why the hell do you keep calling me master it's off putting."

The raven sighed again. "It seems introductions are in order. I'm your High Advisor. Your right hand man of sorts. I've been watching you and waiting for you to awaken."

Oz was bewildered. Advisor? Right hand man? Awaken? All he could muster up was a crude, "What?"

"It would be best to explain everything after you wash up. Let us get you home master." The raven circled above Ozzie's head, but unlike earlier, his movements seemed to have meaning. After watching the raven circle around three times, he got bored. Oz looked down at the ground. He blinked.

Suddenly Oz was at home.

—~—~—~—~—~—~—~

Oz shook himself awake. He had fallen asleep in the bath. His knees were pulled all the way up to his chest. The water was slightly grimy from the blood he washed off his face.

There was a knock at the door. He turned around, startled. "Liz I'm in the bath. Come back in ten minutes ok?"

"It's me master."

"Oh come in."

It took a moment for Oz to realize that a raven couldn't knock. By the time he did, a boy about his age had walked into the bathroom.

"Whoa who the hell are you?"

The boy looked confused. "It's me master. Oh! You have yet to see my human form. It would be odd for a raven to follow you around so I take the human form that is most attractive to you."

The boy sat cross legged on the white tile floor of the bathroom.

Oz blushed. He did find the boy attractive.

He suddenly remembered that he was in the bath, blushed even harder, and pulled his knees closer to his chest. "It's time to explain what exactly is going on here."

The boy sighed. Oz was sick of hearing that sigh.

"I'll start at the beginning. My name is Asmodeus and I'm your High Advisor. We worked closely together in your former incarnation. You have just awakened, I believe last night on the eve of your 16th birthday. Well the 16th birthday of your vessel, you are as old as the Earth itself I would say."

He suddenly got flustered.

"I do not mean to say that you are old master. Simply experienced and wise."

Oz was just confused.

"Stop. Break it down for me. I killed those girls earlier, did I not?"

"You did master. It is regrettable, but there was no other way to avoid conflict."

Oz looked at his hands. Surprisingly, he didn't feel scared or guilty. They had made his life a living hell. He was better off with them gone.

"How am I as old as the Earth? What was that thing I said earlier? What incarnation?"

Asmodeus sighed again.

Oz lost it. "Stop fucking sighing and just explain this shit to me! I killed three people today and I don't even know how."

Asmodeus looked startled, but continued to explain.

"You are the 12th incarnation of the moon deity Aysel. You reincarnate once every 150 years in order to fulfill a promise you made with your lover, Aelia the sun deity. In your last incarnation, you fought in a bloody war against the darkness. Aelia was wounded in action and died in your arms. Upon her death, you took a blade to your chest. You had not reincarnated for 213 years after that. We estimated you would show up in this era, and so I waited for you in this time. In this incarnation, you seem to be in the body of a male. What you thought and spoke earlier was a runespell, a generic one from your spell technique Trella."

Asmodeus proceeded to whisper, "How is Aysel's reincarnation born as a male? It shouldn't be possible."

It made Oz happy that Asmodeus saw him as a male. However, he was no less confused than he was before.

"My lover? Deity? War?"

"It might be easier to just show you master. May I?"

Oz nodded shyly, burying his face in his knees. Asmodeus leaned in to the bath, lifting Oz's face by the chin.

"Look at me please master."

"Wh..what are you even doing?" Oz turned red up to his ears.

"You gave me permission to show you the past. This is the way to do it."

Before he had a chance to protest, Asmodeus kissed Oz.

Oz blinked.

The world turned into jello. The same kind of jello as when he saw Reena last. It flashed a blood red, then it went black.