Akio Otani sips his Darjeeling tea in the Blackwood conservatory, basking in the warmth of the sun shining through the glass walls and the fragrance of exotic fruit trees surrounding the perimeter. This rare moment of silence and his previous night’s peaceful sleep gives him an opportunity to think about how he will frame the upcoming discussion with Richard.
It’s always a pleasure to visit the Blackwoods. Outside of discussing important matters with the Blackwood head of house, it is an opportunity to enjoy life’s finest things and spend time with his old friend from Astrum Academy. A jittemochi’s salary is not high and Japan’s hierarchical structure means that he and his family will simply never know anything better than what they are born into. 

Given the Code of Silence and their lives in different countries, their paths don’t cross often post-school days; some of his friends from Astrum Academy, he’s only seen thrice since they’ve graduated.

And that’s the topic he needs to broach today: the next batch of Enoia that they must all make together and the slight changes he needs to make, hopefully without anyone suspecting anything amiss. It takes three years to make a single Enoia pill, which only suppresses Richard’s curse for two years— and leaves one year of downtime when Richard’s curse progresses. They had only just finished the first Enoia pill for Richard last year. 

Since the early stages of creating Enoia are standardized, the past year has been smooth sailing for the next pill. Any changes to the formula must be agreed upon now in order to proceed without delay.

“Enjoying the tea, Akio?”

He turns to see Richard walking into the conservatory, gloves bloody. On any other person, he’d be alarmed and looking to either alert the authorities or flee, but the Blackwoods are assassins. He’s gotten used to it by now, the stench of death following a Blackwood wherever they go.

“Yes,” he replies instead, placing his china cup down on its saucer. “Thank you for letting us stay.”

“Least I could do. You’re the one who devised a way to cure me.” Richard gestures to his bloody gloves. “Could you…?”

“Half-cure you; the curse is still in effect.” Akio snaps, envisioning in his mind’s eye a Score for fire. Richard’s bloody gloves are burned off in an ashy dust, leaving his skin underneath unharmed.

“Appreciated.” The other man takes a seat across from him, quickly taking a sip of his own tea. “Mm. That’s good. So, let’s talk about why you’re really here.”

Akio smiles wryly. “Our current process for producing Enoia. We craft its Score using all three Esse Arts. It cannot be done unless we all come together to decipher and weave that Score.”

“Of course.”

“Enoia in its current state does not have full uptime to show for so much effort. My thought is that we should fix that.” Akio opens his notebook to the page where he’s organized his notes on potential ingredients to add. Silently, he prays that Richard will not notice the implications of changing the formula the way he proposes. “I have some potential theories and potential ideas. The issue is obtaining the ingredients.”

Richard leans in and Akio allows him to peer closer at his translated list of ingredients. “And how would you narrow it down? Who would you test it on?”

Akio remains silent.

Richard returns the notebook and peers at him. “Ah, you mean that I would take the risk and if something goes wrong, I would bear the brunt of the consequences.”

“You are the cursed one and Enoia is meant for you and you only. You took the first pill without prior testing—”

“And it is not a risk I’m willing to take again.”

They both fall quiet. Richard’s eyes gleam with emotion and Akio realizes the man before him now is not the same man from Astrum Academy: this man before him now is afraid of something.

Richard is now somebody who has something to die for.

“I’m sorry,” Richard apologizes, tone softer. “I cannot take the risk.”

“So you would be okay with an early death?” Akio doesn’t mean to sound as harsh as he did, but there’s something so wrong with this picture. If it was him, he’d take that risk any day. There is nothing more important than one’s own life and nothing else worth dying for.

Of course, he is not actually trying to increase Enoia’s effective uptime; he’s trying to create the Blood of Asphodel, and for that he must figure out which ingredient will crack open the window to a theoretically impossible realm. This, Richard does not need to know. He just needs Richard to take his goddamn medicine, no questions asked, because he’s so close now—

“Of course not,” Richard replies. “I’m not okay with this curse effectively killing me. I don’t want that mockery of a god in my body, near my son, and the people I hold dear. I don’t want to be a vessel for a force that cares so much yet so little for humans.”

Akio’s eyes trail down to see Richard’s fists balled tightly on his lap.

“But Edward needs me, Akio. He really, really needs me.”

“I understand. After your wife passed—”

“It’s not like that,” Richard interrupts, frown deepening. “You know that I lost my wife, my father, almost the entire Blackwood family because of my arrogance. But Edward needs me for more than that. He’s a bit more of a handful than I expected. He needs a good example of morality given the circumstances,” Richard cuts himself off. “I’ve said too much. The point is, I cannot take a risk. For Edward and for something I’ve set into motion in the works here in London.” Richard drinks his tea, signalling his desire to end that conversation.

Ah, yes. The mysterious and secretive plan that Richard had come up with after Blackwood Manor burned down years ago when Edward was still a babe. News had taken almost a month to reach Japan. Overnight, the man before Akio lost almost everything. 

It would seem that loss is finally beginning to take its toll.

Akio sighs. He really doesn’t have a choice in the matter. The fact that Richard hadn’t been possessed or tried to kill him when he read the ingredient list means the last Enoia pill is effective…and that Richard is far too trusting for his own good.

Well, in this case it’s a good thing for Akio that Richard hasn’t caught onto the implications of what he’s really trying to do yet. The Blood of Asphodel is the key to victory in this war between angels and demons, and he’s handing it to Lucifer on a silver platter. The wrong ingredient added to the mix can kill a human at worst, but the right ingredient added will grant a normal human the ability to use the highest form of Esse there is— or rather, the original more potent form of Esse: Aeon. 

And with Aeon, one can bend reality to their own whims; one can become a god.

For Lucifer and the Fallen, however, it would unlock the ability to use Aeon once more. Something that was stripped away from them. Something that was once second nature. Which in turn means that Lucifer can turn Akio into a Fallen, something above humanity.

The thought has crossed Akio’s mind to double-cross Lucifer. To consume the Blood of Asphodel for himself when he manages to make it instead of handing it over to Lucifer. But he is not so stupid as to draw the ire of other divine beings onto himself. No, that is trouble Lucifer can deal with. Instead, he’ll settle for becoming something more than human and reap all the benefits that fall at his feet. That is how easy it will be if he makes Lucifer strong enough to stand up to those false gods.

He’s nothing if not wise—

“While I can’t be your test subject,” Richard starts, “I can arrange for help in acquiring ingredients you need. Especially when it comes to the things that cannot be found in our world.”

“But you cannot enter Astrum Academy anymore, not unless you allow the possession to happen,” Akio counters. “Of course, I’m grateful for your help, but...”

Richard chuckles, coughing into his fist. His coughing fit subsides after a moment. Regaining his composure, Richard says with a twinkle in his eye, “You forget, Akio, that Father Thomas is based in London too. And he is faculty. He can come and go as he pleases.”

“Ah!” Akio’s eyes sparkle with a sly light. He snickers. “We gave him a lot of trouble during our time as students at Astrum Academy.”

“Correction, I gave him a lot of trouble,” Richard wiggles his brows mischievously.

“Yes, but you’ve got to give us credit for any ensuing chaos and the numerous trips to the infirmary.”

Richard straightens in his seat, putting on his best impression of a constantly broody, ruffian-like younger Father Thomas. “I know I’m the bloody nurse here, but if you kids don’t stop getting yourselves hurt, I am going to personally sssskin you alive and feed you to the Fallen.”

A stifled pause, a snicker between them, and a glance full of mirth before a shared laugh erupts in the Blackwood conservatory.

For a moment, they are students again, young at heart with reckless blood rushing through their ears and the thundering of a future with no limits humming inside their cores. The azure sky through the Blackwood conservatory glass windows is replaced by the same clear sky shining upon Astrum Academy, their dorms in the distance to return to after a field mission slaying the Fallen. They would celebrate in the company of their dearest friends and (secretly, for they were underage) drink late into the night before starting it all over again. There is no curse yet, no deal with the devil yet, no burnt down manor yet, no blood on their hands yet. Theirs is a golden age with no fear and uncertainty in their hearts, no lies and secrets brewing between them. They simply just…are.

Emerging from the shared memory, Richard is the first to speak. “I’ll get Father Thomas to bring back anything you need. You’re lucky that the front of the Blackwood business lies in trade and it is perfectly within our capabilities to get the goods to the Liu family safely. From there, they can forward it to you.”

“Excellent. Thank you for your assistance, Richard.” Akio rises as does Richard. They shake hands. As an afterthought, Akio adds, “As we’re already here though, would it be possible to make use of the Blackwood facilities and begin preparing samples? If it’s not a bother, I was thinking of extending our stay here.”

“You’re both welcome to stay here longer and use our facilities for further research,” Richard replies. “I’ll be in touch with Jianmin so the Liu family can help you get word to your family back in Japan faster.”

Richard heads out, but pauses. He turns around so their gazes meet, eyes shining with sincerity and a certain weight. “It’s good to see you again, Akio.”

Akio merely smiles briefly, finding it hard to maintain for long. “Likewise, Richard, likewise.”

He watches Richard leave, the conservatory filled now with only Akio’s somber thoughts amongst the fruit trees.

Richard is too trusting, too kind, too compassionate to those he deems ‘friends’; a man of his word with much conviction, with high standards and iron-clad values he lives and dies by. Perhaps being in the business of killing people will do that to a person if it doesn’t break them first. 

And that is worthy of respect and admiration. 

It is also why he knows Richard would likely never learn of his betrayal of the Seven Families until it had come to pass. Nobody would know, in fact, until it was all over.

Akio never wanted things to come to this, but he was also expecting to have his hand forced. He’ll have to turn to the original test subject he had in mind.