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JULES
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I am surrounded by idiots.
Kaizen wagged a finger at Jules.
“Easy, kid. We can both read your mind.”
Jules paused and looked left and right. Oh shit. "So when I—"
"Yeah," Rukia interrupted, "when you were walking behind Envy all over town tonight—"
"Envy, huh?" Kaizen let out a wily grin.
"Yeah yeah yeah—"
"No, that's not even what I was—"
"So yeah, I know where you were looking and what you were thinking."
"What!? That wasn't even the time I was going to bring up—"
“Enough banter. It has been far too long, Jules.” Kaizen knelt into a deep bow and touched his forehead to the marble slab. Rukia curtsied back.
“Uh, get up," Jules said. "Please. Now.”
“No. I have failed you miserably, in my primary task to guide you. I spent an eternity preparing for your arrival, and I still failed to keep you safe. And what’s worse, I chose to abandon you.” Eternity?
“You chose to? What are you even talking about?”
“I came to your birth with Rukia. We helped your parents escape, but at a cost. I returned to Purgatory and poor Rukia was—”
“That’s a story for another time,” Rukia said flatly. Jules understood from her face why she was the Familiar of Wrath.
Kaizen peeked up from his bow at her. “I’m sorry to you, too, Little One.”
“Did you learn anything to make it worthwhile?” Her question was thick with condescension. Kaizen’s eyes gleamed, but he remained silent. Jules thought he saw a smirk for a split second. “Then I forgive you.” Rukia pranced up to the ghost and licked his face. They rolled around for a bit, which made Jules feel jealous.
“I’m still here. So how’d you know there was a trap this morning?”
“Straight to the point. I like it.” Kaizen dusted himself off. “You look…well.”
“I looked pissed off because I am pissed off. I have a lot of questions, like why you’re in my dreams, for starters.”
“He’ll fit right in,” Kaizen said to Rukia.
“Kinda on a time crunch here,” Jules said. Kaizen looked back at Patience’s pillar, then at Jules again. “Very funny.”
“Fine. I’ll answer what I can.” Kaizen hoisted himself up into the air and laid down on an invisible flat surface. “First—I am not just some previous incarnation of Wrath. I am your previous incarnation.”
“OK, great. I didn’t ask, but since we’re here, do you know how many there’ve been?”
“I am iteration number 69,419.” Jules’ eyes opened wide. That many? “Just kidding! I have no idea.” The two idiots laughed together. Assholes. Kaizen quit laughing as quickly as he started. “I sensed a massive amount of energy this morning—Ryoku or whatever the crap. So I came out to inspect it. Then I smelled Rukia, then I saw you and your Seal.”
Without thinking, Jules touched his chest. “How’d you see it?”
“With the foresight I have…gained. I spotted Envy’s, too. We always have them in the same spots, you know.” A wicked grin spread across Kaizen's face. “You’ll be absolutely thrilled to find out where Lust’s is, but no spoilers. Anyway, how long have you and Envy been together?” He winked.
“You sure talk a lot. But we’re not together.”
Rukia and Kaizen looked at each other and bit back smiles and laughter. “Sure, of course."
“You too, old man? I meant I don’t know if she’s joining us, so we may not be a Party. I’ll find out in a few hours. We only met yesterday—”
“What!?” Kaizen shot up, so he now sat in midair. He looked Jules up and down. “How old are you right now?”
Jules' eyes narrowed. “Sixteen. Why?”
“Sixteen!?” Kaizen cackled. “Envy is going to ruin your life, kiddo!”
Wonder if I can punch a ghost?
Kaizen dodged the strike.
Right. Telepathy.
Kaizen laid back down in the air, serious again. He propped his head up with a hand. “By the time I was sixteen, I’d met Envy, Lust, and Greed.”
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“I bet you had your own little spirit guide to help you, too.”
“Yes. Yes I did.” Rukia huffed. “Again, I am sorry, Jules. My world was…quite different from yours.”
“So that painter guy, any idea who he is?”
“I don’t know. I’ve never seen him, never even sensed him before.”
“I guess we can just call him The Painter, on account of that’s what he does,” Rukia said. Jules cracked a smile.
“Heyyyy, there he is!” Kaizen pointed at Jules and smiled back. “Before you ask more questions, fill me in on your life so far.”
For the second time tonight, Jules recapped the last few days. Just like Katarina’s father, Kaizen listened to the entire story before speaking. When Jules finally finished, he looked around at the mist.
“Don’t worry, I would have sensed someone. We’re alone. And your father and Evelyn…?”
“How do you know I don't call her—oh, duh. She must have really been on one that night I was born. I doubt anything changed with her. But I don’t know. I hope they’re safe, but I can’t go back to check. Hey, do you know where I was born?”
“And your friend with you?” Salvos dammit. Ignored again.
“His name is Cy. We’ve been friends for over ten years. He just found out.”
Kaizen stroked his chin. Rukia curled up onto Jules.
“You need to watch him with That Painter. He only wants one of you.”
“That’s exactly what I said!” Finally, some common ground.
“Good. You must have a solid head about you. Liam trained you well.”
Jules looked away. “Yeah. He sure did. Only now can I see that, and all he sacrificed.”
“Parents strive to hide their sacrifices until their children have children, and then they can realize for themselves, or so I’m told. I never had kids.” Kaizen straightened up again. “Thanks for getting me up to speed. Now, fire away.”
“I’m drawing a blank now. I’m exhausted. But let’s start with Rukia.” Jules scratched her behind the ears until she purred, which sounded like a cart dragged across gravel.
“Your first line of offense, the fearsome Rukia, the Stormfront!” She wagged her tail at the compliment. “Rukia causes the Apocalypse.”
Her ears tucked back. Jules felt her think, Oh shit, really, and Jules thought, This little thing? No way!
Kaizen laughed again.
“You’re too easy, kid. Toughen up and don’t be so gullible. At least you have a good heart.”
“You are wasting my time. I'd really like to sleep tonight.”
“No, I’m teaching you a valuable lesson. You need to start asking the right questions.”
“Fine. Who am I? Who are you? Who took control of me? Are we the same person? Is Rukia part of us too? That specific enough for you?” Kaizen nodded.
“Specific, but the wrong questions. I’ll answer after you find the right question.” Kaizen quietly repeated each of Jules' questions to himself and counted them on his fingers.
“Why are you really helping me?” Jules asked.
Kaizen’s eyes gleamed again. “Ah, lean into that one.”
“What am I?”
Kaizen scoffed. “Colder.”
“Who am I?”
"Huh, must be an echo. I already heard that one."
“What are these nightmares I’m having?”
“Warmer.”
“What am I supposed to do?”
“Hot.”
“Why do I—we—exist?"
“Hotter.”
“Is there anything I can do?”
“Cold again. Jules, what do you want?”
“To live a peaceful life. A normal life. To grow old and, and die, really die. In my sleep though.”
“What is not normal about your life?” Kaizen pulled out an apple from his kimono pocket and bit into it.
“Well I’m accused of starting the Apocalypse, for one.”
“Hot again.” CRUNCH!
This is insufferable.
I can hear your thoughts, Jules….
Hey, boys! What's up? Rukia here, tee hee!
“Salvos, you’re like talking to a brick wall. Is it my fault? Do I cause it?”
Silence.
“Am I going to kill more people?” More silence, more frustration. “Am I too weak? Will I destroy the entire world? Will we?” Red flames formed around Jules’ eyes. “Am I Wrath?”
“So hot, you're on fire.”
Jules glared at the idiot in front of him. He breathed deeply, and he thought about it. Dig deeper into that question.
“I’m Jules. But I’m also Wrath. I’m both? But if I am also just one or the other, then when I am Jules, I’m not Wrath, so then…"
Ah. Got it.
“Who is Wrath?”
Kaizen dropped his legs to the ground and gave Jules a standing ovation.
“That, Jules, is the right question. Took you long enough, but we did have to cram a decade in ten minutes.”
“So…?”
“Ha! If I knew—well actually I probably still wouldn’t tell you. But with each iteration, we get closer to the truth. You and I and all of those who came before us, we are the collective wisdom of Wrath. A bit ironic, really.”
“So then what will you tell me?”
“Learning already. This has been a good first lecture. There is an original Wrath, the progenitor of our kind, the Arcanics. Rukia has always been there, from the start, but she is cursed with her memories. We can only communicate with three versions of Wrath. I guess four, if you count yourself.”
“Slow down. Who are the other three?”
“Slow down. Who are the other three?” Kaizen laughed, looked at a smiling Rukia, and pointed at Jules with his thumb. "This guy. Look, I can talk to you, and you can talk to me.” Kaizen left it at that.
“So the previous and the…the next iteration.” Salvos I hope there’s not a next one. “Then who else is there?” Kaizen scoffed and waved his hand impatiently. “Oh. Wrath himself.”
“Bingo, kiddo. Wrath is a danger to us all. So are the other Sins like him, but Wrath is a danger even to himself, and that’s why he and all the other Sins refer to him as—”
“Are you going to tell him about the Sound?” Rukia asked.
Kaizen hesitated.
You’re hiding something. I know you can hear me, Rukia. No response. You guys can block me out, huh? I need to learn that technique…
“No, Rukia. I guess not,” Kaizen said. “That will have to wait. Regardless, Jules, you must learn to suppress him and control him, or else he will possess you.”
“I think he already has.”
“From what you’ve told me,” Kaizen scratched his chin, “I disagree. Plus I’d sense him through—”
“Have you ever destroyed a city,” Jules asked point blank. Now that’s a stoic face. Jules grew uncomfortable in the silence. “So why are you helping me? And what’s it gonna cost?”
“Because I’m the protagonist, of course.” Jules stared at him. You know what I’m asking you. “Or at least, I was… Bah, fine. I didn’t want to tell you this, kiddo.” Kaizen turned his back to Jules and walked toward Patience’s altar at the Fountain. Rukia gave Jules the cold shoulder. “I lost, Jules," Kaizen whispered. "Like everyone before me, I lost it all…”
Three shooting stars flew by slowly, together. They shined so brightly they pierced through the mist, brighter than the moons.
“...Did you ever get nightmares, as a kid?” Jules asked.
Kaizen followed the shooting stars until their light dimmed out through the haze. “Sorry, kiddo. There are rules. That’s all I can say for now.” Rules?
“Stop calling me kiddo. And that’s it? That’s all I get from you?” Rukia growled at the question. “Seems like I was better off being away from you all these years—”
Kaizen swung around so quickly that his kimono opened up from the momentum. His crimson hair whipped about, and green sparks tinged his eyes.
“Seek not my Wrath, Jules. I beat that foolish demon into submission, and his power is my power.”
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