Nakoma

Dica staggers to his feet from inside the crater created when he hit the ground. He dusts himself off and straightens his shirt, fixing Puella in a slight glare all the while. Puella stares down at him with cold crimson eyes.

“How did he die?” Puella asks him, her voice cold and sad.

“He’s been sick for a long time and never got better. You’d know that if you ever visited home,” Dica chides. Puella blinks heavily.

“Sick?” She pauses a moment before her lips spread into a wide broken grin. “That’s so… pedestrian.” I blink. That’s quite the reaction.

“We believe it was caused by a shit ton of grace getting shot into his core,” Dica explains. “It tore him apart.” Colt turns away from the two of them, his expression conflicted. Puella, however, remains silent. She stands frozen for a moment before she turns and walks back into her cottage.

“Dica,” I speak up. “What do you mean by grace being shot into his core?” Dica looks at me and sighs.

“Demons run on miasma, our cores are filled with it. Angel cores are filled with grace, which is a pure energy. Naturally the two are opposites. However, it is possible for demons and angels to transfer energies. A demon could shoot miasma into an angel and vice versa. This would cause a power struggle within. Take Colt for example.” Dica gestured to him. “Being a Nephilim, he has both grace and miasma inside of him constantly at war.” Colt shoots Dica a dirty look from over his shoulder. “Too much internal conflict between energies could shatter a core. We think that Lord Lucifer was filled with so much grace that it eventually broke his core.”

“I see…” I think I understood what he was trying to say, but it was still hard to comprehend. I still didn’t know what a core was. I made a mental note to ask Dica when we had more free time.

“Maybe we should give Puella a break?” Colt asks, looking at the open door to the cottage.

“Maybe,” I pause. “Or do you think we could follow her inside?” Dica shrugs.

“I guess we should knock and see.”

“Okay.” Colt walks up to the cottage. Dica and I follow after him. He hesitates a moment before knocking on the door frame lightly. We wait a few moments only to get no response.

“That’s not a no,” I sigh. “But it’s not a yes either.”

“I’m going in anyways.” Dica declares as he walks into the house. I make a move to grab him, but he’s already halfway to the living room couch when I do.

Colt stares at him helplessly before saying, “It is out of the sun…” Then he follows Dica into the house. I look around debating whether or not to follow suit. With the sun beating down on me, and the sweat pouring down my face, I decide that Puella’s house was a much better alternative to the heat. I take a step inside and shut the door behind me, overwhelmed immediately by the cool breeze of a fan. The living room was small and sparsely decorated, yet something about it was seemed homey and cozy. I walked over to the couch where Dica sits and I snatch a decorative pillow. I lie down on the carpet exhausted from our desert trek and stare up at the ceiling while Colt wanders around the house. Once he vanishes from sight, I look over to Dica who seems lost in thought.

“You okay?” I ask him. He raises an eyebrow and looks down at me.

“I’m fine, Noki.” Despite his words, I found it hard to believe that after a thrashing from Puella. I didn’t really understand why everyone seemed to hate Dica so much. Yes, I know that in his past he’s done some… questionable things. But still… He wasn’t horrible.

“Do you need a hug?”

He looks mildly concerned. “Why would I need one?”

“You just look like you sort of need one…” I try to explain. Dica shrugs his shoulders.

“I’m used to this sort of stuff,” he admits. There’s a sudden look to his eyes, a sad look that broke my heart to bear witness to. I realize in that instant that no, Dica was not okay, and that if anyone in the world deserved a hug in that instance, it was him. I sit up, and rise to my feet from where I lay. I move to sit on the couch beside him and I wrap my arms around him, pulling him close. At first he flinches in response to my touch, but eventually he melts to comfortably fit in my arms.

“I’m sorry,” I apologize sincerely to him. He seems confused by my affections, much like an abused cat of some sorts.

“For what?” he asks.

“That everyone is so mean to you. That you have to constantly put up with Colt’s slander, and Puella doesn’t seem much better for your health. I’m worried about you.”

“No need to be worried about me,” he laughs. “I’m a king.” He used the word in a way that made it seem like a verbal security blanket.

“I can’t help it. I think I’m a nice person,” I argue. “It’s not okay that they treat you like that.”

“I hope I’m not sunburnt,” he changes the subject suddenly and wiggles out of my arms to pull out his mirror from where it was Velcroed to a belt loop. The mirror was interesting to look at. It was framed by a bat wing on each side, and the face of the mirror was surrounded by thorns and vines. Above the actual reflective surface were three silver roses. On the back of the mirror I noticed a symbol that looked familiar. It looked like a sun of sorts with a spiral at the center. But where have I seen it before?

“That’s the symbol of Pride,” I blurt, once I recognize it from a passage in the book about the Sins. Dica carefully examines his reflection.

“Mhm, where’d you learn that?”

“It’s from a book the church gave me,” I say a bit too excitedly. “It says you should also have the mark on your chest.”

“Yup,” he congratulates me by pulling down the top of his shirt to reveal the same mark that’s on the back of the mirror is indeed over his heart.

“What’s the deal with that mirror anyway?”

“Oh, this old thing?” he snorts. “It’s the only good thing my father gave to me; besides my dashing good looks, of course.”

“So it’s just a mirror?”

“Not exactly, it’s a deadly feckin’ weapon.” I see him grin broadly at his reflection. I shiver slightly. “It’s a little complicated so bear with me. The souls of thousands of humans are trapped in here.” His grin twists slightly.

“I see…” I mutter, my skin crawling. I was a bit nervous thinking about being around that thing, in fact, I was a little scared to even look at it out of fear that it would suck my soul out.

***

Colt

Meanwhile, Colt wandered from room to room looking for his older sister. He didn’t know her well; in fact, he believed this was his first time meeting her. But she was devastated, and no one deserved to bear those feelings alone. He understood that not everyone was mourning Lucifer, but he and Puella were, so maybe the best thing for them both was to mourn together. When his mother passed away, Colt spent tons of time with his lamenting father, and while it didn’t erase the pain of losing his mother, it helped him to face each day.

He found Puella in her bedroom sitting at the foot of her bed, staring off blankly at nothing.

“Puella?” he asked, golden eyes shimmering with a few tears. He was saddened immensely by Puella’s state. It reminded him of his father when his mother died. “Are you okay?”

Puella didn’t respond to him, instead she continued staring off, her eyes distant and unfocused. Colt nervously approached her, but he didn’t think that she would hurt him. There was something about her that put him at ease the moment he started worrying.

“It’s okay,” he spoke. “I miss him too… I miss him a lot.” His voice cracked on the last word, and he sat down near her on the bed. Puella’s voice finally came to her as a few tears trickled down her cheeks.

“He’s actually gone…” She breathed between tears.

“Y-yeah,” Colt stammered. “But… but we’ll be okay…” A few tears worked their way down Colt’s face as he thought of his father. Lucifer may have been scary at times, but he always loved Colt. He was always there for him when he needed someone and now… now that was gone. And now Dica, a monster, was king. “Dad would want us… to be strong…” He wiped away his tears only to have them replaced by more.

Something about Colt’s tears awoke something in Puella and she turned to grab him and pull him into a hug. She gripped his shirt tightly while she cried into his shoulder. At first, Colt was surprised, but he quickly got used to her touch as it was familiar to him and returned her embrace, letting his tears flow as well.

“It’s okay,” He whispered as he patted her back. “It’s gonna be okay.”

“Hah,” she laughed. “Of course it’s not… Dad’s gone and now we have Dica on the throne… Fucking Dica! This is a nightmare.” Colt fell quiet for a moment.

“There could be worse people on the throne… right?” He seemed unsure in the words once they left his mouth.

Puella thought it over for a moment before responding. “I… can’t really think of anyone… dammit!” Suddenly she released Colt and rose to her feet trying to rip her collar off.

“That won’t work,” he said with a defeated tone. “I’ve tried, only Noki can take it off.”

“Fuck!” She growled, sights set on a small table in the corner of the room. She unleashed her wrath upon the table, kicking it to bits until she finally calmed down. She looked over at Colt. “Colt… explain this.” She gestured to the collar.

“The collar? Well, from what I heard, it’s designed after King Solomon’s ring that was once used to bind demons. It blocks us from using our powers, and forces us to abide by her will.” He sighed. “Noki is collecting all seven of us to make the Angel Blade.”

“She’s going to drag us along to find the others? To Hell with that!” She scowled and storms into the living room with Colt in tow.

Puella looked at Dica and Noki sitting on her couch with disgust. “Why are you two in my house?” She demanded. Nakoma yawned and stretched.

“Trying not to die.”

“Of course,” Puella snapped in response. “Heaven forbid you make my life easier.”

“I don’t want my perfect skin to burn,” Dica explained. “So I walked in.”

“Fuck your skin, Dica,” Puella growled. “Get out of my house!”

“No, fuck you,” Dica retorted.

Nakoma tried rationalizing instead. “We need a place to stay; we can’t spend a night out in the desert.”

“I could not care less,” Puella argued. “I want you all out of my house. I live alone for a reason.”

“Puella,” Colt spoke up. “It would be really nice of you to let us stay… I don’t want to sleep in the desert.” Puella fixed Colt in her conflicted gaze.

“You can stay, Colt. The other two can go-.”

“Sorry, sis, but Colt has to go with us,” Dica interrupted. “These collars have us all leashed together, and that includes you now. You can’t go more than two hundred yards away from Noki here.”

Puella glared at Dica. “Dammit. I guess I don’t have much of a choice. But Colt gets the couch, you two can sleep on the floor.” Colt bounced happily at the prospect of sleeping on the couch while Dica slept on the floor.

Nakoma didn’t seem fazed. “That works for me.”

“By the way, Dica,” Puella kept Dica in her stern gaze. “Why the Hell would you bring her here?”

“Simple, I was hoping you’d kill her.”