Branded

“Pardon?” I asked, shocked at the sudden change of pace. The faces around me were all completely composed. None of them seemed the slightest bit shocked at her comment.

“You were the only one in the Awakener’s chamber when I arrived there.” Her voice was accusing and cold, staring me down with her powerful gaze. “I ask you again. What were you doing trying to evoke that ancient blade?”

I couldn’t help but let the frustration in my head show through my voice. “I didn’t try to draw it! The only reason I am even here was because I felt someone else trying to evoke it!” I was practically shouting at her, my hands curled up into fists. This woman just agitated me so much!

A wry smile crept across her face, and she squinted her eyes at me, staring at me through little slits. “So you admit you were hiding?”

Ugh! There was no winning with her!

“Yes, I was hiding. But not for fear of an act I did NOT commit! I was not ready for the pressures of filling in for a High Demon! For Lilith’s sake, I was only ten when it happened!” I was standing now, my knuckles white.

“And what makes you think we would’ve accepted you as Kyuubi’s replacement, then?” She laced her fingers in front of her, sitting down in a relaxed position, one leg over the other. “Just because you harbour his soul does not mean you are him.”

“I concur.” Caenivis said from beside me, standing and completely dwarfing me with his height. “He is every bit Kyuubi as any mortal is their Shadow. They were created that way, by our Goddess.” He put a large hand on my shoulder, looking down at me. “This has never happened before; the binding of a High Demon and a mortal. Therefore, we must treat this special case with respect, even if only to better understand it ourselves. We cannot simply ignore that fact.” There was a rumbling growl rising in his throat as he spoke the last sentence. He patted me on the shoulder, and returned to his sitting position.

“Thank you for your input, Caenivis...” Sirvi’uus’ had taken on a tone of annoyance with the large demon’s injection. “But the facts still remain. One; he was the only one in the chamber when I arrived. And two; he has hidden from us for the past million years. If he truly had not done anything wrong, he would have come immediately to us. And he would not have hidden his presence whilst in the Flesh Realm of Namuh.”

Namuh was the name of the Realm predominantly ‘owned’ by humans, behind door XXIV of the Inbetween.

“I was not hiding my presence at all, nor was Kyuubi.”

“... Moving on from that fact, how could Kyuubi not know that he was bound to a human? You must have done something such as imprisoning his soul within your own! It simply does not make sense that Kyuubi would go willingly into the pact with a Human.” She spoke the last word with pure hatred in her voice.

“The same way I nor any of you knew.” Miru’aki spoke up now. She was dressed in tight-fitting black clothing, and her hair was cropped into a bob-cut. She was only slightly taller than Evell, but just as slender. Her green, cat-like eyes shone towards me. “Perhaps, even in her slumber, Lilith can still alter existence. I know all to well the power of dreams...”

“How could she possibly do so? She is imprisoned, not simply asleep.” This time, it was Kirakott’s turn to interject. He was dressed in a bowler and suit, and wore silver-rimmed glasses. From above them, he stared up at Miru’aki, a curious grin on his face.

“No spell created by another creation can be perfect...” Firisiis intoned, his voice rumbling with wizened age. He was dressed in a robe, and held a large wooden knoll of a staff beside him. “That goes without saying. Only Lilith herself can create a perfect spell, for we ourselves do not contain the power to Create... In other words, there is ways she could get past my seal, if not physically or even spiritually, then only mentally.” He looked at me through his sage-like eyes. “Her interference while bound, however, would take time...” He stroked away at his long, white beard.

“You sound as though you know more, Firisiis. Would you care to let on?” Miru’aki grinned with victory and sat, looking over to Sirvi’uus snidely.

“Well, they are more so just theories, but... I get the feeling that our young Kyuubi-incarnate is even younger than his years betray...” He stood and surveyed me for a second. “It is my theory that he was created only recently, rather than at the beginning of existence, like all others in existence... It would have been quite possible for Lilith to have been working on creating him for the past ages of her imprisonment, and later binding him to the Fox King... As such, she could have interjected this new soul into existence, but only recently. If this was so, however, it would mean that the soul and Shadow she replaced with his would either be consumed by the new, or destroyed by the Void.”

“But... I remember everything before we were bound... does that not mean the souls couldn’t have been destroyed?” I was finding this all very hard to take in and understand, but it relieved me of the questions I had been asking myself for so long. It all just sounded so right! Firisiis truly was as wise as he looked.

“Yes... That would imply they had been consumed... Merged with yours. But either way, the souls would have been diminished to nothing more than memories with time...” He seated himself, pondering silently.

“Enough of this idle banter...” Sirvi’uus stood. She looked beyond pissed, staring us all down with her cold and powerful gaze. “I do not care how exactly he came into being, or how he managed to avoid our detection for so long. But the problem remains clear. Lilith is stirring, and wishes to wake. And this...” She pointed an accusing finger at me “Is her tool.” She spat out the last words.

A wave of murmurs and conversing erupted through the Council. I moved uncomfortably in my seat.

“It then goes without saying that he must be disposed of.” She hushed everyone instantly.

My eyes widened in shock. They were going to try and destroy me!

“We cannot do so! Kyuubi’s soul is intertwined with his own. If we destroy him, we would be destroying one of our own.” Caenivis stood, slamming his fists on the table. “We cannot simply kill of our own brother.”

“We must. He is clearly a tool for her awakening as well. And as much as it pains me, we cannot risk the chance that she is freed.” Her eyes seemed to glitter with a layer of sadness. But behind it, I could see her true intentions. She didn’t care at all. She was more self-centered that the Queen of Pride herself. And from the hush of the Council, I knew that none of them could see this. They, the most powerful beings created, were fooled by her coy act.

“We cannot just simply destroy him... It would upset the balance...” Totorr muttered softly, staring directly at me with his cool, grey eyes. The Rabbit King was dressed in a simple long-sleeved white shirt, and a pair of jeans. Of all the group, he looked the most motley. He ran a hand through his dark brown hair, and put a foot up on his chair.

“We’ve survived this far without him here.” Asmodeus hissed, staring at him coldly. “What does it matter if he is destroyed?”
 
“You’re not looking at the bigger picture, brother. True, the balance was not upset whilst he was absent from our company. But he was still in existence. There were still eighteen High Demons. If one were to simply vanish from existence all together, we do not know what would happen. And we were created to uphold that balance of powers, not destroy it. There are four demons to represent the four primary elements, and two to represent Æther. One represents the Light half of the spectrum of Spirit, and the other represents the Dark. To destroy one half would inevitably destroy the other half. And without Æther binding the elements, we would surly unravel.” He fidgeted while he spoke, playing with his fingers, and examining his nails. For the demon of Lust, he seemed to think things through very thoroughly...

“This much is true...” I heard Astaroth mutter. I looked over to the Goat King, smiling wryly at the fact that so many of the High Demons were in agreeance to keep me alive. He was dressed in a simple loincloth, and wore golden bangles around his throat and wrists. He caught me glancing at him, and smiled at me in return.

“Well, we must do something.” Kira’kott began tapping a finger on the table, looking upwards. “We cannot simply allow for him to run free. And assigning him back to The Glade would only heighten the chances of Mother being awakened.”

“We must imprison him...” Asmodeus hissed lowly, looking at me through little slits of eyes. “If we cannot destroy him, it is our only option...”

“That is unjust.” Is’kareh, the Dragon King stood powerfully, and looked directly at him with steely determination. His purple robe and red hair billowed as he stood, seemingly trembling with his sheer force. “We cannot simply imprison him and leave him as if a caged animal.”

“We already did that to Mother, which was worse by multitudes than this...” Leviathin glanced up at the hulking figure, adding a tone of guilt to her otherwise justifying statement. Her deep blue eyes gleamed with a sorrow. She had clearly not agreed to Lilith’s imprisonment. She moved a hand across her blue satin dress and began to hug herself. It was unusual, but I found that the High Demons seemed to exhibit a large amount of humanity within them...

I don’t know how I was able to, but I managed to sit there and just take all of this in as these paramount figureheads debated about my fate. I just watched them with wide eyes, remaining unspoken.

“I do not mean eternal imprisonment as we had done to Lilith, fool.” He hissed with agitation. “I meant imprisonment to the Spire. He should be bound to the building, forbidden to leave until we find a better solution.” With this, Is’kareh sat, still managing to keep his dignity about him.

“What say you to this?” Caenivis looked down to me, and I instantly felt every eye in the room return to me, as if I just magickally appeared in the room. Only seconds before, they were talking as if I weren’t here. But now that I was recognized once more, I could almost feel their eyes boring into my skull due to the prolonged period of ‘non-existence’.

I looked around nervously, gnawing on my lower lip. What was I to say?! ‘Oh, yes. I think keeping me alive is a much better idea than throwing me into the Void.’ Yes, that would make sense. Because they totally wouldn’t think I was only looking out for myself. UGH, this decision to come was a horrible idea. And worst of all, because I had been curious and asked about how I could have possibly existed in this situation, they had come to think that I was some horrible harbinger of the Goddess’ enraged awakening...
 
“I think...” I said, calming myself and standing. “That this is being blown out of proportion. Because of one occurrence in time, one that I was not even in control of, I am being labelled as a heretic who wishes to wake an angry Goddess who wishes to destroy the Human Race, and possibly the betrayers that imprisoned her in the first place.” With that last sentence, I noticed almost every individual in the room cringe back in their seats with guilt. “Therefore, I think that it would be best if I was left out of these matters. I think that it would be best if I could return to my own realm and live at least the rest of my life normally. I think it would be best if my soul had not been transfused into a random human child and bound with the soul of a High Demon! I think it would be best if my opinion would actually matter!” I was shouting now, leaning forwards on the table, white-knuckled with anger and confusion. “But of course, it doesn’t. I have no power here. I either am imprisoned here, or I’m destroyed completely, and the whole of existence goes to fuck. Personally, I am so confused that at this point, I really do not care.” My outburst finished, I panted, verging on the point of hysteria. I sat, feebly attempting to calm myself, practically curled up in a ball fuming with frustration.

“I just want to go home...” I muttered lowly to myself.

The Council was silent for what seemed like forever, before I heard a shifting, and a beautiful, yet weak voice speak out.

“Council closed. Thank you everyone...” Rhysei intoned. I looked up at him, as the other High Demons began to silently rise and move out of the room. Within a matter of seconds, the only ones left in the room aside from myself were Rhysei, Nymphera, Verahi, and Sirvi’uus. Rhysei stared at me, fixated for a moment, before looking over to Sirvi’uus. I felt a little tingle of electricity rush through me. “I shall place a charm upon him, and he shall remain within the Spire until further notice. Verahi, please make sure he is attended to. Do not treat him as though he were a prisoner. Nymphera, please wait for me on the roof. Verahi, please leave for a moment. Kalen, go with him.” He looked at each of us respectively, speaking with an ancient and regal voice that betrayed his true age, hiding his weakness for a moment’s time. He then turned to face Sirvi’uus. “I shall speak with you once we are in private.”

I looked at him with wonder, shivers running down my spine with sheer awe. Nymphera swept out of the room quickly, but Verahi paused behind me, waiting for me to rise as well. I glanced up, and stood, before padding my way over to the door. I heard each of my footsteps echo distinctly, bouncing throughout the massive, now nearly-empty space. The wolf demon stalked after me, glancing back for a split-second. The moment we arrived in the hallway, the two massive doors shut with a thud behind us, leaving the two most important beings in the Underworld to themselves.

Verahi glanced down at me for a moment, before looking away and beginning to walk towards the door that led to the spiralling staircase.

“You held a great power in your voice when you spoke up back there...” He muttered lowly as I padded behind him. “Each one of us, Sirvi’uus included, were shocked by just how potent that power was.”

I didn’t know what to say really. I was still extremely frustrated. So I just blurted out the first thing that I could think of.

“Thanks.”

I am ever so good with words, aren’t I?

He nodded, then remained unspoken as he opened the door to the staircase, and descended its flights. I followed behind him, looking up and catching a glimpse of Nymphera, staring down at me with his ice blue eyes. He continued to stare for a moment, before looking away and ascending. I shook my head, and continued my descent, attempting to clear my head of all that had happened.