CW: Explicit language, ableist language, mentions of sexual acts, mentions of imprisonment.

Rin stares at the spirit, shaken to his core. Behind him, he hears the crystalline ring of Jun's sword leaving its sheath.

"You...it’s you…" Rin gasps, feeling his legs go weak beneath him. He grips Jun's hand tightly, using the lord's touch to ground himself.

"Rinnie..." Jun says shakily, staring wide eyed at the strange figure that seemingly appeared from thin air. "Who...who is this?"

The spirit smiles enigmatically at the two boys, his severe, hawkish eyes coming to rest on the raven with a soul shaking intensity. He says nothing yet, as if he were patiently waiting for Rin to respond to the lord's question.

"...it's...he is...Luna," the raven says through numb lips.

"Luna...?" Jun glances between the spirit and his friend, feeling increasingly unsettled. "Do you mean to say, you have a prior relationship with this..." He's reluctant to say the word. But it needn't be said.

"I haven't seen him in years...not since I was..." His voice dries up in his throat.

"Since you were fifteen," the spirit finishes for him, his voice deep and gravelly yet still touched with the tenderness of youth. "When you were imprisoned by the Mar-"

"Yes," Rin snaps, heart shriveling. "Yes. Fifteen. But you...you're different. You're older. And more real. What happened?"

Jun lowers his sword a little, his initial fear losing its edge. Clearly Rin is familiar with this spirit, and he seems more surprised than afraid.

The raven tears his eyes away from Luna to stare at the lord, his pupils dark and shivering with realisation. "You can see him."

Jun blinks at him, confusion colouring his features. "Yes...it seems that I can."

Rin swallows, giving a short shake of his head to clear it. "He's...a spirit that's been haunting me since I was a child. He doesn't appear to me very often, but when he does he...he's usually of some help." The last he adds with some reluctance, and a faint smile appears on the spirit's face. He turns his gaze back to Luna, frowning. "Why are you here? How can Jun see you?"

"Fifth Lord Hwan Jun can see me because I have allowed him to," Luna replies, though neither boy misses the cold flash in the spirit's eyes when he glances briefly at Jun. After holding those startled goldens hostage for a moment, Luna sweeps his gaze back to the raven. The smile upon his face is injected with warmth, the frigidity in his eyes melted. "I feared that you would not allow me to speak with you."

"That's right...your face was all jacked up..."

The spirit smiles and gracefully waves a hand dismissively. "The Luna light has given me the strength to tether myself to this world."

"So what is it this time?" Rin narrows his eyes at Luna. "I don't need any rescuing, if you can't tell."

"But you have been wounded. Tell me, are you healing well?"

"Well enough," Rin mutters, squeezing the little lord's hand within his own. "Is that why you're here? If so, then sorry to disappoint, but I don't need you. So you can drag your ass back to the underworld."

Luna's smile thins. A cool expression descends upon that spectral face, his gaze heavy lidded. "On the contrary. I think this is evidence that you do indeed need me. So I have come to do what I should have done, many years ago."

"Oh? And what's that exactly?"

"I would like to possess you."

"..."

The two boys stare at the spirit, then stare at each other, both of their faces contorting in disbelief. Rin's the first to react, letting out a body shaking, "HAH!"

"How stupid do you think I am?" he sneers, his tone as ugly as his expression. "Go back to the underworld, Luna. Before I force you back there myself."

The spirit hums, his smile never wavering, and his gaze hardening. "Do you not wish to hear of the benefits of such a partnership?"

"Partnership?" Rin spits out in disbelief. "You'd be a parasite."

"Think about it, Rin. You would have a spiritual entity at your disposal. An entity that can naturally surpass human limitations, such as your six senses and corporeal form. I could protect you, stop you from becoming wounded in the first instance. Men like the Marquis, like Tiger, they will never touch you again."

"I warn thee, spirit." Jun's sharp voice cracks the air like a merciless whip. His goldens are as cold, if not colder than Luna's. His sword, pointed directly at the spirit's chest. "Leave from whence you came or you will force my hand."

Luna hums amusedly, his white immaterial robes shimmering as he hides his hands in his sleeves. "First Lord Hwan Sun has truly spawned an admirable son. A pleasant surprise, given his rotted personality."

Jun seethes, pulling his hand free to step forward with his sword raised.  "How dare you slander my father? Who are you to say such a thing?"

The spirit lazily sweeps a hand to the side. The sword rips from Jun's hand and lands several feet away, blade embedded deep into the soil. Jun stumbles back, clutching his stinging hand.

"I am Luna, Imperial God of the Night. And who are you to challenge me, boy?"  Pure venom drips from his words as he glares at the lord, pupils constricted to needlepoints.

Jun clenches his jaw and his fists, trying to hide the bad tremour in his hands.

"If you're an Imperial God, then I'm the fucking Mother," Rin snorts, not believing this spirit's claim to identity for one second. No god would ever care to interact with a Rat like him, let alone save him time and time again. He smoothly steps between Jun and the irate spirit with a bored expression. In truth, he's about to wet himself from fear, but if there's one thing Rin is good at - it's lying. "So I let you possess me and gain all this power. What's in it for you? Seems to me like you get the short end of the stick."

Luna's anger is doused when he realises that Rin is considering his offer. Even if hypothetically. "I have my own reasons. A mere mortal could not hope to understand the will of the gods."

"You are so full of shit." Rin sighs, glancing at the little lord. The latter meets his eyes, pale and grim. There's an understanding that passes between them, and the Rat has his answer. "Sorry, no can do." He grabs Jun and tugs him further away from the spirit, just in case they need to run. "Thanks for all your help over the years, but I don't need it anymore. I can handle myself just fine."

A small smile touches Jun's face, chasing the chills from Rin's body and injecting him with courage. The raven waves at the spirit dismissively, as if he were an insignificant fly.

Luna gives the Rat a chilling smile. He glides towards the boys, diaphanous robes dancing around his graceful form. "That is disappointing, Rin. I had hoped to receive your cooperation first. It seems as though I will have to do this without."

"I'd like to see you try," Rin sneers, eyes narrowed into twin flints. He quickly places himself in front of Jun, shielding him from the encroaching spirit.

Without hesitation, he opens his mouth and clear voice rings out, weaving notes and ancient words into an eerie melody. He steps back for every beat and the spirit follows suit, the latter smiling calmly all throughout.

Jun listens enraptured, moving as the raven does, goosebumps raised along his arms. Evanescent scenes tumble through his mind, induced by Izayoma's Call. Lost civilisation and primal worship, the apocalypse of another world far vaster and stranger than their own, and the natural cycles of life and death eternal. Foreign wistfulness fills the lord's being, a longing for the home beyond the veil. One that he cannot yet return to.

And sure enough, the outer edges of Luna's form begins to blur and disintegrate. Delicate shards are slowly shed from his ephemeral form, until all that remains is a black wisp, lazily drifting through the air like smoke.

A note hangs in the air, unfinished. Releasing a light breath, Rin reaches out to touch the wisp, brows knitted in perplexion. When a spirit is exorcised, it's not usual for it to leave anything behind. But this wisp...it appears like an abandoned shred of a soul, a lingering echo of a living being. Pale fingertips graze the black smoke and it eagerly sinks into his flesh. He jerks his hand back with a gasp, but it's too late. The wisp is gone, entirely absorbed by his body.

"Rinnie?"

Jun's concerned voice snaps him back to earth and he reels his hand into his chest. His heart hammers beneath his palm and he tries to slow his breath. Calm down, he scolds himself silently, it's probably nothing.

He raises his face to Jun's golden gaze, quickly adopting his trademark smirk. "Spirits don't exist, huh?"

The little lord's tense expression eases a tad, a faint smile dancing on his lips. He gathers the raven's hand into his own, intertwining their fingers. His palm is as cold and clammy as the other's. "It seems as though I must reconsider my position." Mahogany lashes lower over his gaze, trembling ever so slightly. "That is to say, I apologise, Rinnie. I have been rather narrow minded."

"Hm. You can make it up to me by bringing me more sweetmeats," Rin murmurs, glancing down at their interlocked hands.

"...consider it done."