Kira

~

I stare at the blond male before me, then down at the notched lightning arrow in his hold. I didn't need a psychic to know I should choose my words carefully.

"Now listen, Miss-I mean, Mister!" I take note of how the glare becomes sharper, definitely a guy. "I have no idea who Nightmare is or where he is, let's just-"

"Lies!" He snaps, letting the arrow fly toward me.

I roll to the left just in time for the arrow to only graze my cheek. The smell of ozone in the air that had accompanied his initial arrival, burns my nose. There were three arrows in the bow now.

'Brat's a show-off.' Lucifer huffs as I rub the wound with a hiss, it's healing far too slowly. I forced my body to move, hitting away the arrows with my weapon. I feel woefully drained but this guy wasn't going to listen and I couldn't let myself get pumped full of holes.

"Who is this guy?"

'The all-knowing shit is Sathanas's job, not mine.'

"Why the hell are you so useless?!"

'Just for that, I'm not telling you what I do know.’

I face the blond guy after hitting one of his arrows back his way, "Listen. I don't know who the hell you are but I'm going to need you to stop shooting at me."

"And lower my guard so you can get away? I don't think so." He fires a few more shots at me but I deflected them all, running right at him and taking a strike.

He stops the edge of my blade by holding it in his hands which I now notice were covered in gauntlets.

Just my luck.

"You need to listen to me please, I am not the bad guy." I plead.

He pulls a dagger seemingly out of nowhere and swipes it at me.

I dodged, continuing my explanation as I go, "The old Demona died just yesterday, I'm totally new to this and have no idea who Nightmare is or what's going on." I kick the weapon out of his hand and, summoning the dregs of my abilities left, use a powerful gust of wind to blow him back.

The blond gets right back up and glowers at me from a distance.

"What will it take for you to stop trying to kill me?!" I scream, exhaustion is settling into my bones, my head slowly starting to throb and fog.

"I believe you."

I startle at his voice, his glowing gold eyes are full of hate and suspicion but he’s no longer attacking me.

Thank God. I fall to my knees, taking in quick breaths, "Why now, you psycho?"

I heard him scoff, "If you truly were the old Keeper, you wouldn't have put up such a pitiful fight, I've been warned against approaching." He takes a few steps toward me, the gap between us closing too quickly as he breeches my personal space to peer at my face. I wouldn't mind if he wasn't an asshole.

"I can sense how weak you are and I'm sure it's not just from exhaustion, you're new."

Rude, but I'd take that over being killed.

I breathe a sigh of relief.

"I'm still not sure about your connection to Nightmare but if I notice even one suspicious action, I'll place an arrow right through your heart."

"Why? Demona helps people, doesn't she? I didn't like her at firstl but she saved me."

I can still feel the lingering traces of her emotions within me, I make a mental note to ask Lucifer about that.

"And that's why you took her place?"

"It's complicated,” I groan.

He raises a questioning brow but there was no way in hell I was telling my story to one stranger that just tried to kill me, unless he became my ally, that is, "Hey listen, you want to take down this Nightmare, right?"

He nods slowly, a contemplative look fixed on my face. I put my hands up to it.

"Do I have something in my teeth?"

He doesn't look amused, "Your Mask is still up, I pulled mine down after taking down the Demon so you could see the face of the one who killed you if you refused my request.”

I gape in disbelief, “Request?”

He ignores me, “It's only right that you do the same if you want to ask my aid."

"What's a Mask?"

"How ignorant are you?"

I frown, "We can cover my bases later but what I'm trying to say now is that we should work together. If you help me learn about this Magic stuff, I can help you fight Nightmare. Sounds good, yeah?"

All things considered, I didn't hope to go that far, just get strong enough to give this Seal to someone more qualified for this bullshit.

Lucifer sneers in my head, ‘This brat isn't worth the headache, I'm obviously more than enough.’

I bat his irritating voice away.

"It will make things easier," the blond is murmuring to himself.

Our discussion is interrupted by the hiss of falling sand coming from the ceiling. We both look up to see corpses dropping from the ceiling and hitting the floor with heavy thumps. One stands on shockingly nimble limbs, it's jaw unhinging hideously to let Beelzebub's vicious snarl fill the room.

"Don't think you've won just yet, I'll get a new body, and the next time we meet, you'll both be at my mercy, that is if you survive my pets."

'He must have fled the body before the kid destroyed it.' Lucifer informs, probably sensing the question in my mind.

Good to know that was something Demons could do.

"There's a lot of them," I say dumbly as I watched the zombie-like monsters edge toward us with rotting limbs and gaping maws.

"I can see that."

'Beel and cemeteries were never a good combination,' Lucifer sounds almost bored now.

"Why don't you use that gigantic golden light trick you used earlier?"

"That move drains my energy, I was using my reserves to fight you."

"In other words, we're toast right?"

He spares me a pitiful glance before pulling out another dagger, "You give up too easily."

I'd take that as an insult but the longer we remained, the more my body ached to just collapse. Was this really my end? Devoured in an underground room by zombies. If so, whoever wrote the script of my life should really be demoted for doing a pretty shitty job.

The sound of another loud crash draws our attention. A shadowed form swooping into the room on wide appendages flapping in the wind, powerful wings the color of midnight slicing through the air.

The figures lands at the other end of the room, a wild ecstatic cackle breaking loose as the world becomes enveloped entirely by black glinting feathers flying my way.

I raise my arm to shield my face from the onslaught, I feel no scratches on the upper part of my body, just a few not-too-deep slashes penetrating my boots to get to my ankles and calves.

I grit my teeth through pain and slowly drop my hands to see large white wings keeping the onslaught of feathers away.

"Eh? Why the hell are you protecting her, Angel boy?" I hear a child's petulant voice ask.

The first stranger, Angel boy, lets his wings fall away to reveal our company. The dark winged boy is short, probably ten or eleven. Unlike Angel boy who looks a bit foreign with unplaceable features and about my age, this kid has jet black hair a ragged red scarf around his neck and, just like me, he looks Japanese.

They both seemed to know each other.

I study the ruined passageway to see that the black feathers had decimated the small zombie army around us. Shivering at the thought of what could've happened to me, I turn to Angel boy, he didn't have a single scratch on him. Confused, I stare from the blond to the newcomer as they glare at each other. The dark winged boy's more playful compared to the other's obvious irritation.

"What are you doing here, midget?" The blond asks.

"C'mon, you could be more grateful since I just saved your life, a kiss on my cheek maybe…” He taps his cheek expectantly.

If looks could kill, the child would be dead already.

“Fine, fine, drop the murderous look already,” he sighs, “I followed you and Ren here. My train was late and by the time I found your house, Ren said you'd already taken off to find the Keeper. Goo thing I wasn't late this time,” he points to me, “Why did you protect the Demon Keeper?"

I'd been listening with wrapped attention to the story, I'd totally forgotten I was the outsider.

"She's on my side," Angel boy answers simply, without a hint of warmth.

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The other boy casts his gaze on me, I expect to see irritation and distrust but all I get is bubbling curiosity. He runs up to me, standing on tiptoes to peer into my face.

"Really?! " He asked Angel boy.

"I won't repeat myself." The blond huffs.

"Hi," stepping back, I give nervous wave, “So you two know eachother?" I study the wings on both, maybe they were siblings of some sort, or maybe the same yokai race.

'They're not yokai.' Lucifer sighs bluntly, probably reading my mind sgain. I had to figure out how to stop him from doing that.

I must be an open book at this point because Angel boy calls me out as well, "We are not related," He hisses firmly, "I am the chosen Angel sent down by God himself to rid this world of Demonic influence." He plants his right hand firmly on his chest, "I am God Archer."

"I call him delusional for short, he's lucky he's hot," The shorter boy says, "I'm Kuro, the Dark One. If you notice, the Aura from his Magic Energy and mine do aren't similar. There are three different types of Magic Energy,” he points to me then back at himself, “Our is Dark Magic, gotten from Demons, there's also Basic Magic, and Angel boy is a rare example of what we in this business call Light or Divinity Magic. Did you get all that?”

I reward the sudden influx of information with a nod, studying both of them with renewed interest. Now that he mentioned it, Angel boy's Energy did feel very different from mine, Kuro and Beelzebub's. It was unoppressive but at the same time awe-inspiring.

"That's... cool," I wish I could have say more but my brain is working on autopilot at the moment, too much had happened and all I wanted was my bed, "I guess you both know who I am then?"

"Demona; Tokyo's Protector, Guide of Spirits, Keeper Of Demonic Forces, Helper of-"

"That's enough. I get it." I interrupt Kuro, "I'm guessing you thought I worked with Nightmare too?"

At the mention of that name, his bright ruby-colored eyes turn dark, "You could say that, I followed this guy and his master here," He gestures to God Angel boy, “Even if you didn't end up working for him, I figured you'd be able to help me get revenge, the old Demona that is." He stretches his arms above his head, tired, “You don't have the aura I've heard so much about and you almost died in an attack I defeated easily, you're not the woman the world has come to know as Demona this last century are you?”

“I'm not-”

“Time to go then!”

“But the Demons know everything she did,” I scramble to get out, there was no way I was letting this strong ass kid leave, "Work with us! With you here and Demons, we can figure out Nightmare’s goals and maybe find him.”

“We don't need him," God Archer growls.

"Ignore him, he doesn't like me much." Kuro stretches out his hand to me "You have my attention for the time being, all I ask is that you two leave Nightmare to me in the end."

"You've got a deal!" I shake his hand.

He chuckles, flapping his wings to fly himself toward the blond, "We're officially on the same team Angel boy, isn't that awesome."

"Shut up you noisy brat, I can hear footsteps coming." He shoves Kuro out of his face.

"Probably the authorities, they're a bit far off though."

"We have to leave," my legs are already dreading the journey home, "How do we get in contact again?"

Kuro waves to get our attention, "We meet at the entrance of this cemetery, midnight tomorrow. We'll talk more then." He grins, wings lifting him higher off the ground.

"That sounds okay, I can let you know you're welcome then as well," God Archer scowls at him, turning to me, "You can walk yourself can't you?"

It's not concern, just a formality for him.

I nod.

He spreads his own wings and flying off so much as a glance back, Kuro flashes me a smile before taking off as well.

I wait until they’re gone before I set to work digging through the rubble. It didn't take me long to find the body.

A young boy who Kuro's arrival had reminded me off.

Another person I couldn't help because I stood by.

I carry his pale, bruised body to the center of the room and gently set it down beneath the moonlight flooding down through the hole the boys had left. I kneel beside him battling the shame at my own failure once again. No matter how much I said I didn't want this, I had still let him die because I didn't want to.

I didn't regret that.

I didn't want to.

Nevertheless, I couldn't help but imagine what Hikari would have done, she seemed the type to have just burst in here and saved everyone. I smirk derisively to myself, and that's why she had died maybe.

I neglected one for the sake of my plan.

I was to selfishness, but this form, this pride in putting my own life first, made me feel like a monster.

For the first time, I'm so many years, I was afraid of myself.

But I couldn't let that stop me.

I had to keep chasing.

Keep running.

"I'm sorry I couldn't save you," I stand slowly, heart heavy as my limbs as I begin my journey home, a solemn promise in mind that as long as I would be Demona, I wouldn't let anyone I could rescue die. I wouldn't become a monster.

I didn't need the guilt of others' loss weighing me down.

***

By the time I reach the penthouse, it’s nearly 11pm.

My wounds had healed and I'm back in my normal clothes. I try to make my entry quiet but it's no use as a nervous Ares staring at the TV. He turns sharply to me, relief flooding his eyes.

I run into his arms.

"Where were you?!" He's shaking me furiously.

"Out being a teenager," I beam casually.

"That explains nothing young lady!"

"I got carried away, besides, I'm fine, see." I twirled around for a bit. His exasperated sigh tells me that he's had enough of this conversation. He drags me toward the dining area and turns on the microwave, probably heating up leftovers of whatever he and Kat had for dinner.

"There was a sinkhole at one of the cemeteries not far from here." He stated simply, "Not to mention there were captives there, they say the serial kiĺler kept them down there to torture later, can you imagine that?"

"I heard, me and friends were close by," the lie rolls easily off my tongue.

He pulls out the bowl and placed it before me, along with some chopsticks. It was Nabe.

Nice.

I waste no time digging in, swallowing a mouthful, "I'm happy I'm back safe you know?"

“Don’t talk while eating,” He watchesme from where he's seated, I can almost see the waves of anxiety leaving me, "I'm glad you're back safe too."

His smile is enough to ease the burden of the secret I now carried. I would work hard, harder than I'd ever worked in life. All just so I could pass on the seal and keep him (and Kat) safe and sound.

***

I'm up by five the next morning.

My new exercise regime would start immediately. Lucifer had told me I had to train my body as well as my powers. If I trained my powers too much, my body would lack the strength to endure the strain, resulting in what happened during my last standoff with Beelzebub.

I take the elevator down, exiting the foyer ready to breathe in the fresh morning air and start the day.

What I wasn't expecting was to meet two guys waiting at the door for me.

To my dismay I recognized them immediately.

"What the hell are you guys doing here?!"

"We were about to go up and invite you down to join us on our morning routine, but it's nice to see you had the same idea yourself," Kuro beams.

My jaw drops, "How do you know where I live?!"

"It's a testimony to how weak you are that you didn't sense us following," God Archer murmurs.

He rolls his eyes at me making my teeth grit from the biting remarks

"Troy said you're weak but I didn't think you'd be that weak," Kuro is laughing now, "I kept expecting you to turn back and check or something but you just kept walking."

I feel heat crawl into my cheeks, this guy was about a foot and a half shorter than me but he had the audacity to be so cheeky. I was beginning to see why the blond disliked him.

Speaking of which, I turned to the blond, "Troy?"

"It's my real name."

"And yours?"

"It's still Kuro," Kuro replies with a shrug.

They were both dressed in plain street clothes. Troy's hair was now cut short and his eyes were a pale blue, the golden cross now hanging from a string around his neck and not his ear. Kuro's red scarf from last night remind as well, wrapped around his neck to matc his mirth filled eyes.

Tgis was my life now. I sigh, remembering I was the one who suggested that they both team up with me.

"Isn't it suspicious that your fake name and real name are the same?" I ask starting to jog down the street.

"It's a pretty common name, and besides...I have no family to protect. Unlike you two." He replies simply like he’s stating a fact amd not a depressing aspect of his life. I wasn't sure whether I should be sorry for him or just apathetic. I turn to Troy who gives me a subtle head shake.

Okay, not going to ask.

"Which school do you go to?" Troy asked.

"Hamada High, why do you need to know?"

"So I can transfer there and keep an eye on you," He shoots back icily, "You heard what the midget said last night, I've been waiting to come here since I learned about Nightmare. My Master finally conceded." He locked eyes with mine, "I meant what I said about my job being to rid this world of Demonic influence. Spirits are nothing but trouble, keeping them on their Plane of Existence is a top priority."

"Nightmare wants to do the opposite," Kuro informs. He led us down a turn, "If he gets his way, humanity has no chance of surviving, it'll be worse than we can imagine.”

He stops.

I get a few more steps ahead before I notice. I turn around to see they're standing together, they had obviously discussed this ahead of time.

"Kira, right?" He looks dead serious now, "Troy and I know each other's stories, we might not get along but we're willing to put our differences aside to stop Nightmare, we know the risks, and those close to him aren't to the Magic business either."

"What he's trying to say is that we don't know you. How do we know you won't turn on us the moment he takes someone you love captive?" Troy is straightforward, no words minced.

I didn't have to think of an answer, "Maybe you're right," I watched as their looks become guarded. I wasn't going to lie, if they wouldn't work with me then fine but I needed them to know my stand.

"My family is the most important thing to me, if razing the world was the one thing that would keep them by my side I would do it. There's nothing you can say that'll change my mind. Nightmare’s plan doesn't benefit me either, he's clearly crazy from what Lucifer's told me, but if he cuts me a good deal…” I shake my head, “I'll do everything I can to make this team thing work, help me become stronger, aso that I can protect my family. As long as they're out of his grasp, I'll keep fighting with both of you to get your vengeance."

They didn't need to know I wanted nothing to with Nightmare or Magic or Demons. Not yet.

For now, I need them to know I wouldn't be messed with as well.

I could see the gears turning in their heads, an internal debate on whether they should trust me or not. I leave them to it and continue my jog.

Soon, I hear footsteps to my left. Kuro appears at my side, "You've got guts, let's see where that goes.”

Troy easily catches up as well, “Betray us and will kill you.”

I nod, I didn't doubt that one bit. Secretly, I'm glad that I won't be doing this alone.

***

This school day goes much better than the previous one. All I had to do was ignore Lucifer's constant nagging and not think too much about anything outside school.

Jade and Moriko were walking to the gate with me, discussing where we should go.

"Kira! Over here!"

"Shut up brat, you're drawing attention."

"Oh, I think I see her, I should scream louder."

"No!" I yell before Kuro can scream my name. My enhanced hearing picking out their discussion, I wasn't about to let them embarrass me. I rush to the gate, "I thought we were meeting at midnight?!" I hiss quietly.

"I got bored," Kuro explains.

"How old are you? Seven?" The vein in my brow twitches.

"Thirteen actually."

"Aww! Who's cute little brother is this?" Moriko is squealing, and pushing past me to Kuro, "Kira, is he yours?"

"Blondie, quit talking like he's a pet," Jade pops her bubble gum loudly before speaking, pulling Moriko back before she can start pinching Kuro's cheeks. "Wasn't talking to you by the way," She points to Troy, then to me, "Friends of yours?"

I give a slow tentative nod because what else is there for me to do?

"Awesome. We were just talking about getting some snacks. You guys wanna come?" Moriko asked.

Kuro exclaims with hesitation, "Yes!"

"We don't even know their names yet," Troy smacks his head.

"But the food," The shorter boy whines.

"Call me Momo."

"The name's Jade."

"Kuro!"

"Zhao Troy, it's nice meeting you," he sounds anything but happy to meet them.

I watch their exchange in wonder and dismay. I had intended to keep the magic aspect of my life separate from the regular part of it but here they both were, heading to bond over snaks and maybe Karaoke if Momo managed to convince them unlike me and Jade earlier.

"Hey Kira, quit falling behind," Kuro calls out to me.

"She mustn't be hungry yet." Momo joked.

Troy rolls his eyes, again, "Let's get going before it's too late Vermillion."

Defeat washes over me, this surely wasn't going to end well for me, but I guess things could be worse.

I run after them, hooking an arm around Momo's shoulder.

Friends and a team, I smirk to myself, maybe I could pull this off.