demon au / kichirou

As far back as Kichirou could remember, he had always known that he was a tool, not a man. His earliest memory was money exchanging hands, being grabbed by his arm and pulled from a dark room into a dark van, and the world becoming smaller. He grew up under the care of a man that he only knew as a hunter, though what his prey was he was never sure. Kichirou himself was merely a servant, cleaning, cooking, and keeping the house while the other was away. It was an up-bringing devoid of warmth, one where Kichirou taught himself everything, the only voluntary inclination of his otherwise passive existence.

He was ten when he saw the outside world for the second time. His caretaker took him to an abandoned area, a warehouse on a lot of old and cracked asphalt. While the adult conversed with his own comrades, Kichirou had kneeled down to observe a weed growing out of a crack, defiantly growing, moving slightly in the breeze of a falling nightfall. It was a long minute, before he was grabbed and led inside the building. A huge circle filled with patterns was drawn on the floor, and candles dotted the perimeter. Kichirou was made to stand at the back of the area, and given a cross to hold in his left hand. It was heavy and cold, and the odd texture of the decorations etched into it was enough to distract Kichirou as a blade was slit across the back of his right hand, his blood spilling inside the top of the star-shape that lay before him.

"Stay. Don't you dare drop that cross." Was the instructions roughly muttered to him as his caretaker and the other adults fled to the front of the building, picking up guns and crossbows and baubles filled with an outstandingly clear fluid, and directed their attention back to him.

Or, in his direction. As his blood hit the markings on the floor, the entire drawing began to glow, the ground falling away as a portal to another world opened, cold wind sweeping across the room. A figure began to rise from the hole, something tall, huge. Like a statue or a mannequin, it was human-shaped, but lacking any of the features humans are known by. Hairline cracks were spread across it's featureless surface, culminating in a giant hole in the side of it's head and a halo that glowed behind it's head, shattered at the top, that would have brushed the ceiling of the warehouse if it did not behind to bend down toward him.

Giant black wings encircled the area around him, any means of escape blocked by a forest of dirty, broken feathers. Injured eyes lined these unkept appendages, milky, blind, and oozing dark ichors from the punctures in them. Large hands with long, spidery fingers hung in the air around him, and Kichirou looked up into that otherworldly visage as the gaping hole flared to life, circles of indigo and black staring right at him.

																CHILD
																										how did you come to know this?

It was a question asked to him, a voice that reverberated in his very mind. He didn't quite know what it was asking, or even how to answer, so he said nothing. Kichirou merely held his cross as he was instructed to do, and stared blankly at the creature towering above him. It's head moved slightly, it's gaze never wavering.

															CHILD
																		what is it that you wish for?

Again, Kichirou wasn't sure how to answer. He didn't have time too. He heard a cry from the people behind him, and then the bang and whizz of guns going off, striking the creature, causing it to start and turn towards the adults gathered on the other side. Kichirou couldn't stand the noise, of the guns, and the glass bottles filled with holy water, the creaking and cracking of the creature's body, the cold wind... He placed his hands against his head. However, he couldn't block out the voice of the creature.

														FOOLS
										YOU KNOW NOT WHAT POWERS YOU DISTURB

"Your words won't deter us, Devil!" One of the adults shouted. "This night will be the last one you terrorize humanity- You're outnumbered, and we have God on our side!"

												   GOD HAS
															NEVER
														   		   BEEN ON YOUR SIDE

The creature- The Devil- lifted one arm, and Kichirou was almost sure he heard a bitter scoff in his mind as the hand came plummeting down to the ground, the force knocking the other people down. The other hand reached up and grasped the crossbeams of the warehouse, pushing up and up until the metal ceiling creaked and gave way. Seems the attacks on it did very little to phase it. With very little effort, it tore the roof open, sending debris falling onto the humans below. There was screaming, and silence. Kichirou opened his eyes and looked out to see the entire group of adults lying on the ground. Injured or dead... Kichirou didn't know. The Devil had incapacitated them either way. It turned to him again, peering down at the cross he clutched tightly in white fingers.

																										what is it that you wish for?
This time, Kichirou knew his answer.

																									drop the icon, and I can help you.

One of the hunters began to get up, pointing their gun shakily at The Devil's back. Kichirou's fingers loosened, bit by bit.

A shot rang out.

Kichirou dropped the cross.

The Devil moved faster than a heartbeat, cupping Kichirou in it's hands and drawing him close to its chest. It turned to glare at the hunter to shoot at it last- Kichirou's now former guardian, and his vision went black in a flurry of feathers.

x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x

Kichirou woke up on a bed, the morning sun trickling in from a window beside him. He got up, shakily, and walked out of the room he was placed in. He walked down a flight of stairs, taking in his new surroundings.

"You're awake."

Kichirou turned, and saw a woman standing in the kitchen. She was thin, with long dark hair tied back into a ponytail. She was dressed very formally, shirt, vest, skirt, stockings. Her dark eyes looked straight at the young boy. A broken halo shone behind her head, and Kichirou recognized her.

"You're the Devil," Kichirou said.

"You can call me Jill, if you wish," The woman responded. She pointed one pale hand at the table, where a humble breakfast of an omelette and toast sat. "I have made you food. Eat it, if you are hungry."

Kichirou hesitated, but then sat down. Very slowly, he picked up his fork and paused.

"If I wanted to kill you, I would have done so last night," Jill said, sitting down across from him with a cup of tea. She sat it down on the table in front of her. She did not sip from it. "I asked what you wanted. And I intend to comply with it. Consider it a favor."

Kichirou looked down at his hand, only now noticing that it was bandaged. He was quiet for a minute, but then hunger got the better of him and he began to eat, slowly.

"You wanted to live. And before now, you didn't have much of a life to begin with." Jill explained. "Before, you were meant only to be bait. For me."

Kichirou looked up at her.

"You're not the first I've encountered who was born for this purpose," Jill continued, gazing out the window. "I follow that trap every time. Not because I'm gullible."

She glanced back at Kichirou.

"I don't like mortals deprived of their free will," Jill said, a tinge of bitterness to her tone. "Grand Designs be damned."

"Are you going to keep me here?" Kichirou finally asked.

"If you want to leave, you can." Jill answered, standing up. "If you want to remain in this house, you may. If you do, I only ask that you maintain its upkeep. You look to be a smart boy, so I will trust your decision."

She walked out of the room, and Kichirou stood up a moment later to follow her, only to see that she had disappeared. He looked back at the cup of tea on the table. It was untouched.