Nakoma

I awake to the sound of hushed voices whispering to one another.

“It seems we came all this way for nothing,” Colt mutters.

“Isn’t that a good thing?” Dica asks. “The longer it takes her to find more sins, the longer we get to stay us.”

“I don’t want to be a sword…” Colt whimpers. I feel Puella shift beside me.

“You won’t be turned into a sword,” she promises. “I won’t let that happen to you.” I feel a pang of guilt at the sound of Colt’s fear. I was essentially taking away their souls, wasn’t I? I mean, that’s what a core is. I sit up and rub my eyes.

“Hey guys, what exactly does a core do?” I ask.

Puella shoots me a dark glare and Colt and Dica flinch at the sudden sound of my voice.

“It’s like our souls,” Colt explains after a moment. “It holds our very essence in it.”

“Yeah, I get that,” I sigh. “But what makes it different from a soul?”

“Souls are more fragile, but ten times more powerful than a core. That’s why some demons consume souls.” Colt must have noticed my eyes widen because he quickly adds, “But that’s illegal unless the King allows otherwise. Most demons caught doing it are killed or imprisoned since we take the collection of souls seriously in Hell.”

“I see… what do souls even look like?” Curiosity takes hold of me.

“Like balls of light,” Colt smiles. “They’re actually really pretty. Since I’m a Soul Collector I get to see them all the time.”

A small smile tugs at my lips. “What about cores then?”

Colt opens his mouth to respond, but Dica cuts him off.

“I can show you”

Dica places his hand against where his heart would be and closes his eyes. A violet glow erupts arounds his fingers, and suddenly an object appears in his hand. It’s a crystal about the size of his palm. It’s a foggy purple color that reminds me of stained glass in a church.

“Whoa…” I breathe, rising from the bed to make my way across the room to Dica. “Can I touch it?” I ask. He chuckles and holds out the core to me.

“Sure, just be careful with it. If that thing breaks, I die.” He places the core into my hands. It’s warm to the touch, and a lot lighter than I thought it would be. I run my thumb over it and note how smooth it is. Dice shivers as I touch it, and I could only imagine how odd this must feel to him since I was practically holding his soul in my hands. It looks almost like rock candy... A strange idea comes to me, and on a whim I comply with it. I hold the core up to my lips and lick it.

“Ah, Noki, what the fuck?!” Dica laughs. “That feels so weird!” He holds out his hand and I place the core gingerly back in it.

“Thank you,” he says and presses the core against his chest where it is absorbed back into his body. It was honestly kind of cool to watch.

“Anyway, I take it that Renny, or whoever he is, was not one of the Sins,” I change the subject. Colt shakes his head.

“He’s one of Lord Lucifer’s supporters,” Dica scoffs. “Just a loyal lap dog who hates me.”

“So I suppose this mission was a flop. I’ll let George know.” I look over to Puella and give her a hesitant smile. “Could I use your phone again?” She groans, but hands me the phone. I quickly dial the number, and this time I’m greeted by Martha’s voice.

“Hello,” her voice is chipper as usual. “Martha speaking.”

“Hi Martha, I just called to let you know there’s no Sins at the hotel. Just a pesky demon that we took care of.”

“Oh…” she sounds disappointed. “Well we don’t have many other leads for you to follow. So I guess hang tight, enjoy the city, and we’ll get back to you?” I thought it over. I’m sure there was something the four of us could do in San Diego.

“I’m sure we’ll figure something out.” I say.

“Alright, I’ll give you Chris’s number if you need a ride anywhere. He was told to wait in the area in case you needed him.” She recites a number for me, which I jot down quickly on a pad of paper

“Thank you,” I smile, my thoughts racing as I try to figure out what we’re going to do.

“No problem,” she chirps. “Anything else you need?”

“Nope.”

“Alright, can we call you back at this number?”

“Mhm, this is one of the demons’ phones.”

“Okay, we’ll call you if we get any leads. Good bye.”

“Good bye,” I hang up and give Puella back the phone. Puella slides in into her front pocket and crosses her arms.

“So what’s going on?” She asks.

“There’s no leads,” I say. “So we’re free to do whatever we want for today.”

A wave of silence fills the room until Dica breaks it.

“I want to go to the beach,” he blurts.

“Yeah, that sounds fun,” Colt agrees. I’m a bit unsure about being near water, but Dica and Colt look so happy at the prospect of going to the beach that I can’t bear to say no.

“All right,” I sigh. “Let’s get you some swimwear…”

***

Shopping for swimsuits made me feel guilty all over again. Given my budget was large and growing for each demon, but still I would feel pretty stupid explaining to George that we spent money on swimsuits to go to the beach.

I picked out a light blue tankini for myself and went to try it on. It fits perfectly, I note as I pose in the mirror for myself. I didn’t know how I felt about swimming, every time I thought about water I would get a sinking feeling in my stomach, almost as if I were afraid. I redressed and took the swimsuit out of the dressing room. I hum a tune as I wait for the others to come out. Colt emerges first in a pair of green swim trunks with a snake over the left leg.

“What do you think?” He strikes a pose.

“Very cute, Colty, I like it,” I compliment. Dica soon joins him in a pair of black swim trunks and a black athletic hooded vest. He shoves his hands into the front pockets and spins around.

“Very nice, Dica,” I say. He shoots me a wide grin and bows. Within a few minutes Puella joins us, an orange bikini draped over her arm.

“Go change back into your clothes,” I tell the boys. “Then we’ll go to the beach.”

They hurry back into the dressing rooms and reemerge a few minutes later in their normal clothes. I take the suits and go to purchase them. Once we’re done shopping we go into the parking lot where Chris is waiting for us in his van.

“I call shotgun!” Dica yells, pulling open the passenger door and hopping into the seat. Chris flinches away and gives Dica a confused look, but he doesn’t say anything. The rest of us pile in the back seats.

“Thank you for driving us, Chris,” Colt says. Chris suddenly looks over his shoulder at Colt, wide-eyed and horrified.

“You… you’re a boy?” he asks mortified. Dica snorts and starts laughing.

“Yes, I’m a boy,” Colt grins gently. I realize Chris must have never heard Colt speak before and he did look pretty in his outfit. I couldn’t blame Chris for the misunderstanding, but I crack a smile anyway and giggle. It was pretty funny to see the shock on his face.

He clears his throat, and wipes the look off his face, “So the beach, right?”

“Yeah,” I respond.

And with that we head off.

When we arrive at the beach it’s crowded with tons of people who want to enjoy the good weather. We make our way to the changing rooms located near the beach. I strip down and change quickly before meeting the others outside. Within a few minutes everyone is heading towards the beach. Puella moves to sit under an umbrella and pulls out a book which she begins reading in the shade. I then notice there's a scar on her chest that looks almost as if lightning had struck her. I'm curious, but decide that it's rude to ask. Colt run immediately towards the water. I follow Dica who is at Chris’s heels.

Dica looks over our fellow beach goers with an appreciative, but lusting eye. Realizing what he’s doing, I sigh.

“Seriously, Dica, checking out girls at the beach?”

Dica looks over at me and winks. “Who said I was checking out chicks.” Chris stop dead in his tracks.

“Homosexuality is a sin, you know.”

Dica gives him an incredulous look before saying. “I am a sin.”

“Oh yeah… I keep forgetting,” Chris blushes with embarrassment. “You just… seem so human…”

“I get that a lot,” Dica mutters. His gaze travels to Colt who is splashing around in the water. A dark glint appears in his eyes, and he runs into the water towards Colt. Chris and I join Puella underneath the umbrella. She peers over her book and gives me a dark look, but doesn’t say anything to me. I take it she was still mad about the whole capturing her thing. I couldn’t blame her. Chris begins to apply sunblock to his person, and I gaze out at the sparkling water, feeling the dread set in.

In the waves Dica is occupying himself by dunking Colt’s head underwater. I giggle and turn my attention to laying out a towel to lie on. I flop down on my stomach and close my eyes, letting the sounds of the beach lull me into a light nap.

As I doze off I’m awoken suddenly by a voice.

“Noki, aren’t you going swimming?”

I look up to see a drenched Colt standing before me.

“Um… no, I don’t think so.” I sit up.

Colt gives me his signature kicked puppy look. “Aw, why not?”

I’m tempted to lie, but the pure expectant look in his eyes draw the truth from me.

“I’m… scared.” I admit.

Colt’s pleading look transforms into a mask of concern and worry. “Oh? Is it because you almost drowned in a toilet?” Well, when he put it that way, it sounded kind of ridiculous.But I nod, embarrassment plastered on my face.

“Don’t worry,” he holds out a hand to me. “I’ll hold you the entire time so you won’t drown.”

“Colty… I…” I begin to protest, but he resumes his kicked puppy guise.

“Please?” He practically begs.

“Fine… Just don’t let go of me,” I succumb.

“Yay,” he cheers and I take his hand. I kick off my shoes onto the towel and walk onto the burning sand. Perhaps today would be a good day for swimming. The azure sky was devoid of clouds, and the sun was shimmering down on the water beautifully. Colt’s hand was warm in mine, and I couldn’t help but notice how soft his hands were.

We make it to the water just as Dica is leaving it.

“I’m going to get Chris in here,” he announces to us. I shake my head. Poor Chris… I feel so bad that Dica took a liking to him.

Colt walks me into the water, and once we’re in waist deep he pulls me close to his chest. I couldn’t help but blush at the feel of bare chest pressed against me. Amid the unnerving waves his embrace became a sanctuary; warm and gentle yet firm.

“There,” he smiles down at me. My face heats up even more at the sight of his smile. He was just so… pretty with his golden eyes glimmering in the sunlight… I shake the thoughts away and realize that we’re suddenly in deep. My grip on Colt tightens as we wade in the water. I look back to the shore to see Dica pulling an unwilling Chris towards the beach. I laugh at the sight.

Dica eventually gets Chris into the water and Colt and I greet him by splashing him. But he retaliates with full force, initiating a splash fight which lasts awhile, we even pulled Dica into the fray.

Once things settle down, we make our way back to the beach to sit and watch the sunset. It paints the sky with its beautiful array of oranges, yellows, reds, and purples. I smile into it as I watch the sun slip slowly down over the waterline, disappearing and leaving a sea of stars hanging overhead.

“We should go before the bugs get too bad,” Chris informs. Puella rises from her spot and snaps her book shut.

“Do you have any alcohol?” she asks us. I shake my head.

“I’m not old enough to drink in this country,” I say.

“We’re over twenty-one on our human IDs, right?” Dica ask the other demons who nod.

“Perfect,” Puella gives a small grin. “Then I know what we’re doing tonight.”