Third Person
~
"So, what you're saying is that you failed to capture a new Keeper, am I right Belzeblub?"
The demon in question was kneeling in an abandoned warehouse, a new body granted to him by the being he was bowing to.
Tall and elegant, clad in black leather and surrounded by tendrils of dark smoke.
"I was attacked out of nowhere by some lightning-wielding kid, his energy felt familiar though but it wasn't dark magic."
"Excuses, excuses. You're lucky I'm in a forgiving mood or that body you're wearing wouldn't be on you right now." Nightmare hissed, face clouded in mist, "Another vigilante will add more to our troubles."
"The new Demona is different," Belzeblub stated, head bowed to the ground, offering some form of new information that always made the boss happy.
"Explain."
"There was a pureness to the others when we fought them, but this one, she seems different, weak-willed, and could be easily consumed if she is forced to let her demons overpower her."
"You think so?"
"Yes."
There was a contemplating hum that filled the stale air of the warehouse. The sound of footsteps could be heard.
"Close, we are so close, do you know that?" Belzeblub stated quietly, knowing the master didn't need answers to questions like this, "So many centuries spent on this long and tiring quest but after all this time, I'll finally take back what rightfully belongs to me, and right after I'll show this world of warped ideals what power truly means, starting from this cursed city."
He turned back towards Belzeblub, "I'll send someone else to look into your claims but right now, I have another job for you."
***
"So your stepdad is a millionaire and your last name is Vermillion." Kuro stated as he slurped his smoothie from its cup, "Nice."
"Double 'L's and we're actually billionaires." Kira corrected. It was Saturday and the five had decided to spend the afternoon at a small fast-food joint not far from where Kira's home was.
"Then why aren't you the Verbillions?" Kuro said causing Moriko to burst into laughter.
"Names don't work like that you idiot," Troy said, "But I'm sure you spent a good amount of time on that one huh?"
"I was curious." Kuro shrugged, innocently.
"Breaking news guys, another body was just found two hours ago," Jade called, she lifted her phone to show the others around the table.
Kira shared quick side glances with Kuro and Troy before turning to the screen.
Nearly a week ago, Kira's life had been turned completely upside down due to a series of unfortunate coincidences that led her to become the Protector of a powerful demonic Seal and team up with two very strange boys who possessed their own magical abilities.
In the daytime, they were three seemingly normal teenagers but at night they would patrol the city, putting a stop to demonic activities and searching for leads on how to stop a psychopath known as Nightmare.
The serial killings were one thing they were yet to stop, she had assumed after she stop Belzeblub from transporting some captured humans earlier in the week but it seems like they still had a lot of work to do.
Speaking of work, she groaned, head falling to the table.
"The next week is going to be the worst."
"Maybe next time you'll think twice before damaging school property." Jade chuckled.
"How long's your punishment for again?" Kuro questioned while pulling her into a sitting position.
"A week." A whole week of picking up trash after school. In addition to homework, vigilante training, and Volleyball team tryouts practice. Her week was packed.
From the corner of her eye she could make out Troy's amused expression, he and Kuro being the first ones she had confided in.
For someone who didn't talk much his facial expressions were pretty loud and clear when he wanted them to be.
"If you ever need company, you can always call me." Moriko winked.
Kira could imagine having her ear talked off and she didn't like the imagery very much. Not to mention Moriko wouldn't spend up to thirty minutes keeping her company. The blonde girl was way too energetic.
"I've got to get going, I promised Kikuko and Ayaka I'd meet up for shopping at the mall," Moriko announced, hopping to her feet in almost no time at all.
As previously mentioned, staying still was not her thing.
"Have fun, and buy me something nice," Kuro called out.
"Show some respect brat." Troy huffed, his main purpose in existence seeming to be keeping Kuro in line.
The blonde girl smiled, "Sure thing, Jade, are you coming?"
"I'm not your shadow, Blondie."
"But you're strong and you scare all the obnoxious men away."
"It's called being straightforward." The purple-haired girl replied.
Kira had a feeling she, Troy, and Lucifer would get along pretty well if they sat down to discuss things.
"I have an appointment to get to, I'm heading straight home after now," Jade said simply, her honey-brown eyes half closed.
"Is it one of your witchcraft-related experiments?" Moriko rolled her eyes.
"And if it was?"
"You're so stupid Jay-Jay, everyone knows that stuff doesn't really work." Moriko was walking towards the door now.
"Says the girl who worships the air Demona breathes," Kuro said before Jade could. The dark-skinned girl gave him a high five after noting Moriko stuck her tongue out at them.
Troy turned to Jade, "Dark magic isn't something to toy with, Keller."
"I know." She smiled.
"You could get in serious trouble."
"You're taking this pretty seriously Zhao, you experience something you want to share?" She asked plainly.
Other than the fact that he'd been training all his life to fight demons and dark magic, there was almost nothing he could say that wouldn't expose him, Kira, and Kuro.
"My guardian worked at a shrine while we were in China, I followed him to work now and then, and he took me to perform purification rituals when he could. What demons do to people isn't always pretty. Nor is it anything to laugh at."
Kira felt shivers cascade down her spine at that kind of information. She couldn't imagine what not having control of her own body would feel like. Her mind went back to one of the recent conversations she had with Lucifer.
'Back when I was fighting Belzeblub, you told me to let you in and he said something along the same line. What did you two mean?'
'In essence, what we meant was possession. I would have taken over your body, you'd no longer be in control. It's kind of half freedom, I get control of your body to fight for you. But if you're too weak, I just may not give it back.' The demon had replied.
'Has anyone ever given you control?'
'Just about two. The first one was Kazue, she was the first one to have the Seal given to her. She surrendered her body to almost every one of us but she could take it back.'
'She was that powerful?'
'Yes, she was. The second was the first and only male Protector. His power could rival hers.'
Jade's smile didn't falter, "I'll be careful, so no need to worry your pretty little head."
The table lapsed into a short silence after that before Kuro brought up another topic which Kira only put half of her heart into. As of recent, just the mention of danger and demons was enough to greatly unsettle her.
Soon they were all on the streets once again, Kuro and Troy trailing behind, whatever they were arguing about now was definitely of no interest to the two girls.
"Zhao sure is something," Jade said, her eyes flitting sideways for just a second.
"Seems pretty ordinary to me," Kira said, taking back her thoughts on how the dark-skinned girl would get along with both Troy and Lucifer.
"How many non-Asian-looking guys with Chinese last names do you meet? I think he's using a cover."
Kira felt her heart jump into her throat, "C'mon Jade, he's adopted, remember? Stays with his 'guardian.'" I emphasized the Guardian. "Just admit you don't really like him 'cause he's super cute."
"His high and mighty attitude is annoying though."
You have no idea, Kira thought, "I'm still getting used to it as well but it's often people like him that have the kindest hearts, he's probably still warming up to us."
Jade gave the brunette a skeptically raised eyebrow. Kira couldn't keep the chuckle from bubbling out of her.
The trio said goodbye to Jade at a train station.
"I'll be busy tomorrow so I guess I'm seeing Kira and Zhao on Monday." She said with a wave.
"And me after school." Kuro chimed in.
"Guess so. Night night." She vanished into the crowd.
"I don't like her." Troy huffed almost ten seconds after she was gone.
"You don't like anyone." Kuro nudged softly.
"She's playing with forces that she isn't meant to as a simple human." The blond said as Kira started her own walk home.
"If anything comes up, we'll save her, end of story." She threw back over her shoulder, "As I said, I protect the ones I care about and you both agreed to help me."
She could see the displeasure in Troy's eyes but he said nothing to combat her statement.
"It's about time we get to training." Kuro piped up.
"Give me a few hours to soothe Ares' nerves. He's getting more overprotective by the day."
"Say hi for us." The dark-haired boy grinned.
"He doesn't even know us." Troy rolled his eyes.
She waved them off, more than happy to get home to finish her assignments. She could probably practice her volleyball skills before it was time to meet up with both of them again.
***
"So my master heard word that Nightmare was in china, I rushed out to go find him. Instead, I met one of his guys who was burning down shrines all over the east. That's when I met this killjoy." Kuro pointed at Troy who was adjusting Kira's stance.
"Stop distracting her you idiot." The blond said before walking forward and shoving Kuro out of the way so he could study her closely.
The trio's practice and patrol times lasted from 12 am to 3 am every day. On weekends they decided it would be better to start as early as 11 pm due to being able to sleep in and they could patrol any time they were free during the day.
Kira was okay with the schedule since she never needed much sleep anyway. Troy and Kuro seemed like they were both used to hard training.
Once again, Kira had a lot to catch up on if she didn't want to drag them all back because it would be as problematic for her as it would be for them.
She could tell that Troy didn't still trust her and Kuro was probably the one holding him back.
Lucifer kept telling her to ditch both of them but unfortunately, she was afraid to be alone. Standing and looking down at rooftops all night and wondering if any battle she engaged in would be her last.
If she would die and her family and friends would never know what happened to her.
'This is why you're so weak Kira.' Lucifer hissed out.
"Shut up." She snapped.
"What was that?"
She looked up to see Kuro staring up at her in question.
"Was the demon talking again?" Troy added.
"Yeah, doesn't shut it that one." She laughed nervously.
"And the stronger you grow the more of them you'll be able to hear?" He asked.
"I still think that's pretty cool." Kuro sighed, "It's like some sort of video game, you just keep powering up until you're unstoppable."
"You think too highly of her." Troy scoffed. Kira silently agreed with him. She aimed to get just strong enough to pass on the Seal to a more worthy Protector. In doing so, she would be sparing both of them the trouble of working with her careless ass.
They got down to training, Troy teaching her how to dodge attacks she couldn't counter in speed. Kuro continued his teachings on magic.
After about an hour they were on the lookout for attacking Jorōgumo. Whatever was going on, they aimed to get it over with during the weekend.
"We take each district one by one. I'll tell you a rendezvous point and we'll meet there after an hour if we see nothing?" Kuro stated.
Kira had noted he was good at coming up with plans, she wondered if it had something to do with his powers. He could use the blood of any sentient being to his advantage. Tracking, protection, just about anything.
He had licked a drop of Troy's blood during their first meeting which was why his feathers completely avoided harming the blond back in the underground passage.
Troy, knowing that, had used his wings to shield her to the best of his abilities.
"What if we see something?" She asked.
"We stay back and follow them but do not engage." The dark-feathered boy said.
"How about we call each other too?" Kira asked again.
"Don't have a phone, remember?" He waved his hands to exaggerate the point.
"Remind me to get you one tomorrow."
"You don't have to do that, once you can project your voice into our minds, we won't have to use phones during missions, they can be distracting and dangerous if they happen to get into the wrong hands."
"We have a mission to get back to you two." Troy snapped, "Vermillion, you'll call me if you see anything and I'll inform the brat, got that?"
"Got it!" They both replied at the same time.
"Okay, since the attacks are closer to the center, let's start at Shinagawa," Kuro said.
"This will take forever," Troy said matter-of-factly.
"Not if we're lucky." Kira winked before taking off for the nearest rooftop. She had been practicing how to land as Troy had thought her and she was anxious to put it to the test.
Several rooftops and two hours later, Kira was panting breathlessly. They were in the fourth district, the boys could fly and she more than made up for time with her speed but it wouldn't take long for her to get worn out. She kept to the shadows, looking down at the brightly lit city below.
The streets were nearly devoid of people, everyone afraid to be out for fear of being murdered. She would do all she could to help return these people's sense of security and freedom.
She was about to get moving when her phone beeped. She pulled it out to see it was a text from Troy telling her to get Kuro and come to Shinjuku station.
That was weird, if she reasoned things out, the only reason he would ask 'her' to get Kuro was if he didn't plan on telling Kuro himself.
Her eyes widened, he probably planned on engaging.
As much as she wanted to go there and smack some sense into him, she knew she had to give Kuro the information. He was the smartest and would best know what to do if something went wrong.
She met Kuro at the rendezvous point, "He's at Shinjuku station, he's probably engaging whatever he met right now."
"Dammit, Angel-boy!" Kuro scowled.
"Let's go." She said, pushing past her exhaustion. She felt the gust of wind that accompanied Kuro's wings behind her. Soon, he was at her side.
Kira's only wish was that they weren't too late.
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