Third Person

~

"Talk about an entrance," Mammon whistles.

The winds continue to whip around the room but he and Lucifer stand with arms folded with unmoved expressions gracing both their features. Kira wishes she had even a quarter of that confidence.

The whirling pillars explode outward into thick dark clouds of smoke and glimmering dust falling through the air. It settles in no time, leaving all eyes in the room to stare at the six imposing forms standing before each throne.

They wear a variety of outfits but all I'm similar shades of black red and gold, with dark capes draping down behind them. Even with the Masks hiding their features Kira can see hints of emotion ranging from boredom, interest, excitement, and calm.

Her eyes stop on the last throne at the far right. Her body shudders; fear, worry, and confusion clouding her reasoning as her eyes hone in on a wooden Kabuki mask in a similar fashion to the one Ahlai had worn during their first encounter.

She steps back, magic gathering in her palm to form her staff but Troy nudges her and gives a questioning look.

She doesn't get to explain before Kuro's scream echoes through the room, he's pointing at the Council member with the wooden mask, "What the hell are you doing here, hag?!"

The figure bursts out laughing, form shaking in excitement as the mask is ripped off to reveal her actual face framed by fringes of wild untamed black hair.

"Kuro-chan! About time I got to see my little boy again."

She crosses the room in a flash, faster than any of their eyes could catch but Kira feels the breeze, cold and sharp with the unfamiliar aura flaring up at her side as the strange orange-eyed woman appears before them.

She sweeps Kuro up against her plump, excitable form so he's practically off the ground and kicking his feet to get out of her hold but she keeps him close.

"I missed you so much!"

"Let me go, you fat old crow!"

"Aww is that how you greet your Master you haven't seen me in years?! You're always asking for answers but not how I'm doing!"

Kira stares, so this was the infamous Lady West? Her senses go into overdrive and she can see Troy tense up at her side, gold eyes watching the scene cautiously.

Kuro finally manages to pry himself from the older woman, she looks to be in her early forties but there's a wild fierce energy to her expressions and movements.

The younger boy hisses at her smile, "How the hell does someone like you get a seat on Japan's most powerful exorcist council?!"

She blushes, looking so flattered and waving an unintelligible gesture, "Sweet of you to think that but I just happened to be qualified after the last guy croaked, a couple of family ties also came into play," she giggles.

"There's no way-"

"Go on," she coos, wild eyes egging him on.

Kuro bites his lip, and Kira gets the feeling he was about to say something he shouldn't. She moves protectively closer, sending a glare of her own and hoping her support would give Kuro the support to speak up but they're interrupted by one of the other Council members speaking up.

A shorter figure is pointing a pale bony hand at Lady West. His voice is high and irritated, and his long silvery hair stands on end and he stands at the right of the two thrones in the center, "Compose yourself West! And use your Mask!"

"Don't tell me what to do old man!" She scoffs back at him.

"You little-"

She turns back to Kuro, pinching his cheek, "Work calls so let's be sure to catch up when all is said and done," she says in a warm, sugary tone before pulling away.

Kira watches her return to the others on the dais where the thrones stand. She recalls what little she's heard of the woman from Kuro and her mind boggles trying to put the pieces together.

"She's not what I expected," she mutters absently.

"Never go off appearances alone with her type," Lucifer scoffs, he turns to Kuro, "Right?

The younger boy nods, he hasn't taken off his glare from her, he watches her pull out the Kabuki mask, slipping it on as she watches their team with mirth.

"Let's get started, shall we?" Lady West licks her lip. The sound of gongs echo through the chamber once more and the Council members all sit. Almost immediately, glowing characters appear at the head of their thrones each telling of what Kira can only assume is their names.

This content has been misappropriated from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.

The first to speak is the figure at the center-left throne, her voice is firm with authority, and the eye slits of her mask are a burning grey as they zero in on them, "The trial of Demona and her accomplices has officially begun, after which we will make the decision as to whether she is worthy to carry on as the Seal Keeper."

Kira looks up at the name on her throne, 'Shigeru'.

"We're not off to a very good start I'm afraid," a deeper male voice adds scathingly, he's seated at the far left throne and wears a crisp suit in near similar design to Lucifer but he has dull gold trims. His hands fiddle with a little coin-shaped object but with her enhanced vision Kira can see it looks nothing like a coin if one were to closely inspect it and it's the same gold as his judgemental eyes that land specifically on Kuro.

The name above his throne is 'Motoichirou'.

"Be nice Mokkun, he was just so excited to see me, let it go already!" Lady West teases in a condescending voice.

"Don't call me that!" He snaps at her.

"Enough you two, the sooner this trial ends, the better," Shigeru cuts in sharply before Lady West can drag things on any further, she sounds exasperated and Kira can relate. She turns to the group, "There are usually introductions but from the reports, we know the basic information about you three; The Dark One, a lone dark magic user often on the trail of Nightmare's destruction, school, and Master unknown... until now."

Her eyes move to Troy who meets her gaze unflinchingly, "God Archer, the only known divinity magic user, school and Master also unknown."

She then turns to Kira, "And Demona, current Keeper of Demonic Forces, holder of one of the most powerful demonic Seals and former non-magic user. School and Master unknown. Did I miss anything?"

"Sounds about right," Kira smirks, trying not to show how much the emphasis on her former non-magic status affected her.

"Cheeky one aren't you?" Motoichirou chuckles derisively.

Shigeru continues despite him, "And the demons you brought with you?"

"Prideful lot you mortals must be to demand my name so rudely," Lucifer sneers.

Mammon merely winks, "'Sup hot stuff?"

"Mind your tongue, demon scum!" The old man from earlier hisses at both Demons. He's waving his wooden staff with ancient runes menacingly and Kira looks up to see his name, Yasushi.

"We're not here to fight, Yasushi-san."

"Shi-chan is right, old man," Lady West jumps in excitedly, "We're here about the girl, tells us how you got the power, I'm shaking in my boots to know!" She has both elbows on her knees leaning forward eagerly like a child about to listen to a fairytale.

Kira finds it both unnerving but a tad more bearable than the stiffness and patronizing from the others who have been speaking so far. She stands straighter, letting a quiet breath escape her before she talks, "The last Demona was a pinch and I happened to be passing by so I gave her a bit of help. She ended up saving me instead but she was too injured to carry on. I had no idea she had given me her powers until the next morning. It wasn't planned and I didn't ask but I don't plan on letting her sacrifice go in vain," her heart tugs as she speaks, it's been so long but recalling all those weeks ago, all the blood, dread, and pain that had been in the air that evening, she could only struggle to keep her true emotions out of her words.

"And how long ago was this?" Another Council member speaks up this time, another male but much calmer, with a more coaxing voice that leans on deep suppressed interest. The name on his throne reads 'Tokiya' and through his mask, brown inquisitive eyes shine through moving rapidly between her and the demons.

"About four months now," Kuro fills in for her thinking back to the day they'd all met.

Tokiya gasps, eyes buzzing with even more interest, "In all my time of research I've never seen such growth in such a short amount of time, two Demon summons and at the same time as well, you'll have to let me-"

"If I may Tokiya-sama, her growth is the reason she's here, it's unnatural and dangerous considering the demons could be easily manipulating her emotions," Ryoichi speaks up.

Neither of them gets to speak and Yasushi's hard, steely voice shuts them down.

"You mentioned she lacks the universe's blessing, and to let her go on would put the lives of many in danger."

Lady West sucks in a melodramatic gasp, "Oh my!"

"You read the report, West, quit being dramatic!" Motoichirou snaps.

"Look who's talking, you're literally flaring your aura all over the place!" She tosses back.

The rest carry on ignoring them.

"From what I've heard, the blessing protects the soul from Demonic desire. The soul is the source of all magic, and no matter how powerful can only contain so much," Tokiya explains, turning to the other Council members, "Five demons dwelling within instead of just portions of their powers is a strain that is inhuman to carry without any sort of protection. It could lead to...issues."

"Issues of the Demonic kind I assume," Lady West snarks.

"What other else?" Yasushi scoffs.

Kira forms her staff, bringing the bottom end to the ground to send a powerful wind through the room, bringing all attention back to her, "I don't plan on turning evil if you're all thinking along those lines!" Anger and irritation bubble within her chest, at how they could judge her so casually, she glowers at them, "I'm not some puppet along some string, every decision I've made to continue on has been mine and mine alone to protect the ones I love and I'm not going to let anything keep me from that!"

Shigeru crosses her legs, chin on her hand propped up by the arm of the throne, "But you didn't choose to be Demona," she points out simply.

"Semantics," Kuro sneers offhandedly, "She is now and the three of us have taken too much bullshit to have all of you swoop in 'cause that bastard has filled your heads with some fear-mongering," he points to Ryoichi who had been watching them with a mocking sneer of his own.

"There's no fear-mongering about this, insolent child. Many magic users have no school or master to their name, but that's one thing, leaving a destructive force of Demon magic in the hands of an unskilled, unprotected girl is another thing entirely!" Yasushi spits, "The Seal has devastating power once used to its full potential, once the girl harnesses more energy, that enables the Demon scum at her side to use more power. Once that happens, there will be close to none who can stop her!"

Lady West, takes off her mask, tossing it to the side to brush hair out of her face, she smirks at Kuro, "What the old man is saying is that we need more secure options Kuro-chan, of all people you should know the dangers of an unreliable ally... that's probably why I don't see Akio-kun by your side," she giggles.

Motoichirou tosses his coin slightly, snapping his fingers so they turn to him just as he catches it. He leans forward from his previous relaxed position and twines his fingers, fixing Kira with a deadpan stare, "Mochizuki-kun was trained by the fourth Keeper themselves, he's been under the watch of a master with ties to us over the last few months and what's more, he was born for this," he smirks almost jeeringly with gleaming white teeth showing where e his Mask doesn't cover his mouth, "Against all that, what do you have to offer?!"