It is early the next morning when Ryo and his father are standing on the pavilion in the center of the lake. The Liu family’s most trusted retainers and astrologers stand around the pavilion, arcane symbols and texts scrawled onto the ground below. They’ve meticulously calculated the location, direction, time of day, and weather, and even gave them both qi medicinal pills the previous night to ensure they had no qi deficiency.

The wind blows favorably and Ryo clutches his father’s hand tighter. Teleportation did always leave him disoriented. But he is excited too, since the Liu family has figured out an alternative way to use Esse that doesn’t require going to Astrum Academy.

“Are you both ready?” Jianmin asks.

“Ready,” his father says.

“Ready,” Ryo says, quieter.

He meets Mingyue’s gaze. They hadn’t spoken a word more about his father’s recipe list since their conversation before dinner the previous night. He didn’t get a chance to ask her how she knew about his father’s deal with Lucifer.

It might be better not to know, but if there’s one thing he’s got to be careful of, it’s definitely who he can trust. He approached Mingyue thinking that she was trustworthy, but now… 

He’s not so sure, even if she did help him. Ryo’s left pocket is heavier with Mingyue’s mirror for Satori. In his right pocket is the list of ingredients he copied secretly from his father’s notes.

He had a nightmare of Lucifer’s grotesque darkness and crimson eyes last night, following him no matter where he goes. He’d woken up half suffocating, but he’d woken up alone at least. He’s not sure how he’d be able to explain anything to his father. 

When it comes to Lucifer, probably never.

Mingyue waves him goodbye. Smiling, he waves back, shaking off the groggy disorientation from the morning.

“Let’s begin!” Jiayi orders. The circle of people around the pavilion begin to chant and some close their eyes in meditation.

It starts small, like a trickle of water curling up his legs. Ryo looks down, only to see the characters engraved on the pavilion’s floor glowing. Soon, that golden glow intensifies and the feeling of that stream of water snakes up his torso. Up and up it travels, past his neck and up his head until his entire body feels like it’s been wrapped in a membrane.

For one glorious moment, he raises his arm and sees the energy around it— around him: his life energy, qi; musubi; the Esse that exists within him. His energy is clear and pure, almost translucent, and he imagines the energy inside an Artifact to be as bright and powerful as the sun.

Giddy, he looks up at his father, seeing him wrapped in a membrane of energy as well. But unlike his own, it is tinted a slight red.

The moment passes in a blink.

When he next opens his eyes, the blue and cream white walls behind neatly trimmed rose bushes of the Blackwood estate greet him. Under the sunlight, rainbows glimmer from the gushing fountain. He rubs his eyes, adjusting to the sudden dazzling brightness.

Gaze trailing to the left, he sees Edward standing with his father, Richard. As usual, they are both properly and pristinely dressed without a crumple in sight.

Donning a simple vest with a bow wrapped around his collar, Edward’s grey eyes light up with literal sparkles. “Ryo!”

Ryo’s hair stands on end and his legs twitch. Oh god, no. Not this crazy kid.

Edward rushes towards him like a bullet shot from a gun. Ryo makes a mad dash for the tree in the yard himself, knowing full well what will happen next.

“Edward!” Richard calls after them. “Play nice!”

“Okay, Father!” Edward calls back.

“Isn’t it nice to see them playing again?” Ryo’s father shouts, “Have fun, boys! Stay within estate grounds!”

Richard laughs. “Let’s leave them to it, Akio. Come, we have our own business to attend to.”

“Ryo!” Edward screams. “Why are you running?”

Ryo runs faster.

“C’mon Ryo! Stooopp!” 

“You stop!”

“I’ll stop if you stop!”

“Arghh! You’re so annoying!”

“Thanks! I think you’re annoying too!”

“That wasn’t a compliment!”

“It sounded like one!”

“Why do you always do this to me?” Ryo whines, ducking into the bushes beside the iron fences at the very edge of the estate. Instead of catching his breath, he moves as silently as he can, cupping his hands over his nose and mouth to slow his breathing.

“Hahaha, I see you, Ryo!”

Oh no, I bet he’s got a worm around his finger.

A finger shoves inside the bush, a bulging, juicy earthworm wiggling around it. “Look, look! I found a big one!”

Ryo screams silently. Oh, Kami-sama, please help. That is disgusting! He peers through the gaps in the bushes, waiting for an opportunity.

“Don’t tell my Father, though. He doesn’t like it when I play in the mud… Oh, look, I found another one!” The finger with the earthworm disappears as the brunette turns around and crouches down to pick between the grass.

Go! Move! Now! Ryo slinks further into the bushes. Slowly but steadily, he moves forward with all the grace of a fledgling ninja.

“I bet Father never got to play in the mud when he was little,” Edward continues monologuing. “He’s so boring sometimes. Oh no!” A groan. “I squished it…”

Ryo tiptoes across the yard and towards the tree.

“That’s okay though,” Edward continues. “Hmm, wait a sec, Ryo. I’ll find you another one. We can keep them as pets!”

I don’t want it, you freak! Ryo screams internally. Like a dying man in a desert, he climbs the tree as fast as he can. The lumps make it easy enough and soon he’s made his way to the top.

“Got it!” Edward beams, far too proud of himself. He wrestles his way into the bushes Ryo hid in mere moments ago. “Ryo! Where did you go?”

Ryo smirks. Mission accomplished.

“Ryo! Come out, come out wherever you are! How are we supposed to play if you don’t even show yourself?” Scrunching up his nose, Edward pauses to think. “Wait, are you scared of me?”

I’m not scared of you! You’re just disgusting! Ryo wants so badly to shout. He bites his tongue to keep silent, eyes trained on Edward like a hawk.

But to be honest, Edward does scare him a lot.

“Ryo, stop hiding!”

If Edward looked up at this moment, he’d see Ryo clinging onto a tree branch for dear life.

It was embarrassing and his cheeks burned all the more ferociously at that. Honestly, sometimes he doesn’t know why he runs away from the boy…but the brunette’s cherubic smile sends heebie-jeebies down his spine.

“Please don’t look,” he whispers, eyeing Edward warily.

Like a demon arisen from hell, Edward’s neck snaps up before the boy’s eyes light up in delight. “Found you!”

Ryo hugs the branch tighter. “Oh no. Oh no, no, no, no, no.”

Edward clambers his way up the tree, worms forgotten. Probably squashed beneath his feet.

At least he’s not bringing the worms. Ryo whimpers, desperately looking for a way to jump down that wouldn’t collide with the other boy’s path.

Ryo loses his balance, nearly falling before he catches himself clinging to the thick branch for dear life.

“Why do you always run from me?” Edward huffs, now crawling towards him on top of the branch.

“You’re creepy.”

“Not as creepy as you.” Edward extends a hand to help him up.

Ryo eyes it, gauging how dirty it is. Dissatisfied, he tries to right himself—

—Only to slip again.

“Ahhh!” he screams.

A tug.

Owlishly, he blinks his eyes open, looking up to find Edward holding onto him so he doesn’t fall. Ryo groans. The cold wet sticky sensation of mud on his wrist is not a pleasant one at all.

“You’re heavy!” Edward groans, straining to hold on for longer.

“And you’re gross.” Ryo gingerly grabs onto Edward’s arm, choosing mud over falling to his possible death.

After some intense struggle and no small amount of Ryo wiggling his way up onto the branch— like a worm, ironically —they’re resting their backs against the sturdy tree trunk without danger of falling.

“So,” Edward starts, breath evening out, “why did your father come visit mine this time?”

“Uhh, I don’t know.” Which is a half truth. This trip isn’t for making Enoia from what Ryo’s managed to piece together. 

But to explain that would be breaking the Code of Silence. Edward would undoubtedly pester him for the rest of the visit on what sickness it is, causes of the sickness, how long it lasts, and a whole bunch of other things that will cause him a headache.

“Hmm.” Edward squints his eyes. “I don’t believe you. But my friend says I should let it be.”

That is the other thing that really freaks Ryo out about Edward: Edward’s imaginary friend. On previous visits, Ryo would pretend and indulge in Edward’s fantasies, but during the last visit, the imaginary friend seemed to know of Esse, and to Ryo’s knowledge thus far, Edward should have no idea about it.

Hence…maybe not imaginary?

“Your, uh friend,” Ryo warbles, eyes darting around, “is watching us right now?”

“Yup! Always!”

I can’t tell if it’s creepier that Edward doesn’t find that creepy, he tells himself, catching the glint of excitement in the other boy’s eyes. “What does your friend look like?”

Edward looks to the space beside him. He turns his gaze back. “A big glowing white person.”

“Okay…”

“Wait, let me ask.” Turning back to the space beside him, Edward pleads, “Can you show me what you really look like? Please? …That’s impossible! Everybody looks like something!”

“I-Is your, uh, friend human?”

“Are you human?” Edward asks the air. “Like, do you have man parts or woman parts? Or both? …Oh, sorry, I didn’t know it was rude to ask. …What?! None?!”

Cocking his eyebrows, Ryo gingerly inches away from Edward. “Right, definitely not crazy,” he mutters. “Just…a special kid. Yup.”

Sighing with remorse, Edward glumly turns back to Ryo. “What does it mean to be kind of human?”

“...Just a very special kid, yup.”

“What?”

“Nothing!”

Edward shrugs. “Well, you can call them L—”

Edward startles, mouth clamped shut as if somebody is stopping him from saying anything. Wrestling an invisible force free, the brunette gasps for air. “Okay, fine, I won’t tell him your name!”

Ryo squints. L-something. This isn’t a coincidence, is it? L for…Lucifer?

“Sorry, Ryo. I’m not allowed to tell you.”

“That’s okay.” Deciding to test the waters, Ryo prods, “Hey, you have a library around here, right?”

“Yeah. Why? What do you want to know?”

“Well, I wanted to check a few things for this new project I’m working on…”