Nakoma

He brought me here to… kill me?

Suddenly the room seemed cold as ice and dangerous. Goosebumps appeared all over my body and I visibly shivered under the gaze of three demons. I was at a loss for words. I felt betrayed and hurt, but I couldn’t think of the right thing to say.

“You were hoping I’d kill her?” Puella speaks up, it almost seemed like she was in awe at such a move. Dica nods.

“If anyone could have freed us, it would have been you. But that doesn’t matter now. You just had to punch me before I could explain anything.” Puella looked partially remorseful.

“I was distracted,” she looks over at Colt for a moment before fixing me in her crimson gaze.

“Once I get out of here, you’re dead.”

I gulp and do my best to appear brave and unshaken, but inside I’m practically screaming.

“I guess I should have expected this from a demon,” I say to Dica with a miserable voice. Colt shoots me a sympathetic look and I’m glad he’s always been kind to me at least. I don’t think Colt could ever hurt me like this. But I wasn’t here to make friends with demons, I was here to collect them all and make a sword. Dica’s actions made sense to me. He didn’t want to be made into a weapon, and I was the one delivering him to that fate. So it was natural for him to try and thwart my plans in any way he could. If I were in his shoes, I might have done the same. But it didn’t change the fact that it hurt.

“Puella,” I break the silence hesitantly. “Do you have a phone I could use?”

Before Puella can answer, Dica speaks up. “Why don’t you have a cellphone? Wouldn’t that be more convenient instead of payphones?”

“This was George’s idea,” I explain to him. “He was worried someone might be able to track my location with a cellphone.” Dica gives me a look, but decided to accept the reasoning.

“I have a phone in the kitchen,” Puella grumbles, jerking her head over to a doorway. I walk into the kitchen and find myself staring at a plate of freshly made cookies sitting on the small white table surrounded by a few matching chairs. The cookies smell heavenly! If Puella wasn’t so terrifying, I would have asked her for one. I regretfully turn away from the cookies to a small cellphone plugged into a charger on the wall. I pull it free and dial the number, half surprised that Puella didn’t have a phone mounted on the wall or something.

“George speaking,” he greets me on the other end. I find myself smiling at the familiar sound of his voice.

“It’s Nakoma; I just wanted to call to inform you that I have successfully captured the Sin of Wrath.”

There’s silence for a moment or two before George responds. “Wow, really? The demon wasn’t lying?”

“No, but the only reason he told me her location was in hopes that she would kill me on sight. Luckily for me, there were a few distractions.”

“Martha!” I hear George call. “Nakoma got another sin.” I hear Martha cheer in the background. “Anyway,” George turns attention back to me. “I’m sure you’re ready for your next lead.”

“As ready as I can be.”

He clears his throat. “Since you’re in Nevada, I was thinking you could investigate San Diego. There’s been a sudden spike in activity there and we think it might be linked to a Sin. But other than that there’s nothing really Sin worthy that we’ve noticed…” George sighs heavily.

“What do I do if we run out of leads?” I ask.

“Well… I suppose you could always ask a Virtue.”

“A Virtue?” I question.

“The Seven Deadly Sins have counterparts in Heaven; they’re called the Seven Heavenly Virtues: Humility, Purity, Patience, Diligence, Temperance, Charity, and Kindness.” I remember Dica bringing up that Kindness was Colt’s mother. “You can summon them like a normal angel. They tend to keep tabs on their counterparts, so they might be able to point you in the right direction in a pinch.” I make mental note of it and thank him.

“Also, please be careful when it comes to listening to demons. You lucked out this time... but I wouldn’t trust them,” George added in a darker tone.

I sigh. “I know, I know.” Lesson learned. If Dica had gotten his way I would have been dead.

“Good luck, Nakoma,” with that he hangs up. I didn’t even get the chance to ask how to summon an angel. I suppose when the time comes I’ll ask. I set the phone back down and look to the doorway where the three demons are waiting. Dica leans against the frame, arms crossed, Colt gazes at the cookies with longing, while Puella stands above everyone else. She reminded me of an Amazon, exotic, tall, and beautiful.

“San Diego is where we’ll head next,” I inform them.

“Puella, can I have a cookie?” Colt asks the question I had been dying to ask. Puella looks at him and her eyes instantly soften.

“Of course, Colt, have as many as you’d like.”

Colt makes a noise of happiness and practically dives to the cookies. My stomach rumbles at the sight of him biting into one. They looked like chocolate chip…

“Could I have one too, Puella?” I ask in the most sugar coated tone I can manage. She glares at me and my heart sinks, assuming that she would automatically say no.

“Fine.”

Her answer surprises me so much I almost thought I misheard it. A large grin spreads across my face. “Thank you, Puella!” Then I too dive to the plate of cookies. I pick one up and bite into it. They were delicious! Sweet, soft, and the chocolate chips were gooey, just the way I liked them.

“Mmm…” I murmur, eyes closed and satisfied.

Without asking, Dica strolls over to where Colt and I are eating and casually plucks a cookie from Colt’s hand and pops it into his mouth. Colt makes a noise of protest before letting it go. Puella silently glares at Dica from where she stood.

“These are very good,” Colt compliments in between bites. I nod enthusiastically in agreement. After eating, I decided it was probably time to go to bed. Puella went to sleep in her bed after bringing out a few blankets for us. Colt went to immediately to the couch where he curled up under a blanket. Dica and I did our best to make a nest on the floor with what blankets we were given and curled up on the floor together.

“No hard feelings, right?” Dica asked me after we laid down. I glare at him and he recoils. “What? Look, it’s nothing against you, but I have people that need me,” he looks solemnly up at the ceiling as if he’s lost in thought.

I sigh and roll over, leaving my back to him. I supposed he was right, but still… It kind of stung.

“Good night, Noki,” Colt calls from the couch.

“Good night, Colty,” I whisper back. “Good night, Dica,” I add on as an afterthought. Dica grunts his response and I eventually fall asleep, dreaming of heavy waves pulling me under.

***

The next day we made the long, boring trek back to the small city. A taxi ride later we made it back to the city where our hotel was located. We gathered the luggage we left behind and I call up George. He says that he’ll be sending a hired driver who was a member of the church to drive us to California. So we wait.

“I want a window seat,” Dica demands as a van pulls up. A man dressed all in black approaches us uneasily fixing the Sins in his gaze.

“Are you Nakoma?” the man asks me.

“Yes, and this is Puella, Dica, and Colt,” I introduce the demons who remain quiet, expect for Dica who flashes a dazzling grin.

“Pleased to meet you.”

The man seems taken aback, but forces a smile in response. “I’m Chris,” he says to us. Something about him gives off a fatherly vibe. I wonder what his involvement in the church was. “Alright, everyone, hop in.” Chris pulls open the door to his van where we all climb in. Then we’re off.

As we drive, I notice something off about Puella. In both of her ears were cross earrings.

“Um… Puella? Don’t those hurt?” I ask, pointing to one of the earrings.

“I like the pain,” she responds bluntly.

“Oh…”

Chris coughs and turns on the radio, which happens to be a Christian Radio station. Puella and Dica lean as far back in their seats as they physically can, obviously in a lot of pain. But Colt merely sits there, kicking his legs cheerfully.

“Turn this shit off!” Dica growls.

Chris immediately flicks the radio off. “I’m sorry. I should have known that it would hurt demons… please forgive me!”

Dica laughs darkly. “Of course you’re sorry... Think a little next time. Why don’t you play some other music?”

Chris blushes. “I… um… don’t believe in listening to other music.”

“What a shame,” Dica shakes his head. “There’s a ton of good music out there.” Chris awkwardly laughs and focuses on the road ahead. After moments of silence he opens his mouth again.

“So what’s it like, you know, being demons?”

“I’m sure it’s not much different than being a human,” Dica says.

“Oh…” He sounded almost disappointed. Eventually we reach our destination and have to wave Chris goodbye.

“Good luck,” he calls before rolling up the windows and driving off.

“He was nice,” Colt says with a smile. Dica shrugs.

“So where are we looking for demons?” he asks. “This is a big city. I’m sure there’s plenty of places they could be.”

“George said on the phone that the hotel here recently reported strange activity and that everyone that has stayed there in the past week got in some sort of accident while leaving.” I gesture to building behind us.

“Sounds tragic,” Dica smirks. “But it’s probably just a mischievous ghost. Not a demon.” I shrug.

“We might as well book a room and see what happens.”

We enter the building a check in, this time getting a room with two beds. Once we walk in our room, Dica notices the double bed feature. “Awesome,” he grins ear to ear and flops down on the bed.

“Puella and I will share a bed, and Dica and Colt will share the other.” This sets off flames.

“I don’t want to share a bed with a whore!” Colt protests. “He might do something to me in my sleep!”

”You wish,” Dica mumbles, looking away a bit hurt.

“Colt,” I snap. “That’s enough. I’ll be here the whole time so nothing of that sort is going to happen to you, understand?” Colt drops his gaze to the floor.

“Yes, Noki…” he mumbles.

I stand triumphantly and yawn. “Well I’m done for the day. That car ride and walk through the desert took a lot out of me.” I kick off my shoes and run with open arms to bed waiting for me. I throw myself on it and scoot over, giving Puella enough room to lie down later. “Behave you three,” I order them, face down in a pillow. I was kind of worried that Puella would kill me in my sleep but then I remembered she couldn’t do that to me even if she wanted to thanks to the collars. I touch mine thankfully.

“I wonder if one our siblings is here,” I hear Colt speak.

“It’s doubtful,” Puella responds. “I don’t see why one of us would hang out here to torment humans when there’s so many other options.”

After that I pass out.

***

“What a sight to behold,” an unfamiliar voice jerks me out of my slumber and I awake to see my three demons all on their feet staring at a fourth person. He has dark hair and glowing orange eyes that glow in the dim lighting of the room.

Dica growls at the person, his eyes also having a small glow to them.

“Renny,” he hisses at who I can only surmise is another demon. The demon, Renny, laughs darkly.

“I was wondering where the great King of Hell ran off to, leaving his kingdom in chaos. To think you’ve been here, collared like a dog.”

“Fuck off, I’d be home if I could,” Dica snaps.

Renny laughs again. “I like you much better this way, your Grace,” he sneers. “Now that Hell is without a ruler, I can do whatever I want!”

“Just you wait until I get back home, you’ll pay for all the trouble you’ve been causing.” He warns. But Renny doesn’t seem phased.

“You’re weak, I can sense it.” He looks to Colt. “And I see you’ve got the Nephilim brat with you too.” Colt flinches.

“I don’t know who you are,” Puella speaks up, cracking her knuckles. “But no one insults Colt while I’m here.” With that she lunges forward towards the demon who leaps back immediately.

“Hey, Noki,” Dica speaks with a cold, serious voice. “Mind giving me a little bit of my power so I can kill this jackass?”

The demon looks over to me with a smirk playing on his lips. “So this is your captor. I’d offer to kill her for you, but I think I’ll let you remain her dog.”

“Noki,” Dica repeats, irritation alive in his voice.

“Fine,” I concede, closing my eyes and imagining a line of energy connecting the two of us. I allowed a small flow of power to transfer over to Dica. When I open my eyes, Dica looks triumphant.

He holds out his hand and suddenly a long silver staff materializes in his hand. He quickly pulls out his mirror and sticks the handle of the mirror into the staff so the mirror topped it.

He grins and points the staff at Renny before lunging forward at lightning speed. I’m barely able to follow the movements of the two demons. Renny dodges Dica’s swings, which collide into the wall multiple times, breaking a hole into it.

“Dica!” I yell in dismay of the hole.

“I’m sure the church will pay for it!” he yells, bringing the mirror down and smacking it into Renny, who yelps out in pain. Renny’s eyes narrow and he shoots forward at Dica faster than I can comprehend. He tackles Dica to the ground and sits triumphantly on his chest.

“Nice try, your majesty, but you’re still weakened.”

Renny’s hand begins to glow a hot white color as he curls it into a fist. But before he can slam it into Dica, Puella reaches down and grips the demon by the back of his collar and pulls him up into the air.

“You’re an irritating little bastard, aren’t you,” Puella remarks before punching the demon in the face and dropping him. Dica is already back on his feet and brings the sharp bat wing on the side of the mirror down onto Renny, slicing him through the middle. I look away as the blood begins to seep out of his body, but I force myself to look back.

“Ow…” Renny coughs. He stands to his feet, blood pouring from the deep wound. He places both hands against the wound to hold his guts where they belong. “Looks like I should go before this gets worse.” Renny suddenly vanishes, only leaving behind a puddle of blood.

Dica looks at me, the anger in his eyes reminded me of fire. He removes the mirror from the staff and the staff vanishes. I visualize the power I transferred to Dica returning to me. A tingling feeling courses through me.

“Who was that?” I ask Dica once the feeling subsides.

“Just some prick...” he flops onto the bed and rolls over, his back to me now. I shoot him a sympathetic look, and lie back down. Puella joins me at some point, but leaves me to fall back into my dreams where I would surely drown again.