Chapter Six
Healing Flames
Getting into the bath tonight was extremely hard. I was hurting today, which made sense after being attacked twice and then training today. All that extra movement… I’m surprised nothing else tore. I guess Kurai’s magic healing power, magic healing flames, or whatever, really helped out. I know my body was sore, but the markings on my side and arm weren’t hurting as much - just extremely sore. I should’ve probably taken the day off, but I just wanted to go, go, go! That’s how I’ve always been, always diving into the action. It’s only been a few days since I came to the underworld, and I barely know why. All they told me was that I activated a portal.
Then again, if a Demon attacked me in the Human Realm, they must be concerned about that. I wonder if Lord Mundus knows who struck me because his reaction wasn’t strong when they told him I activated a portal. Per Enoxon, I didn’t even start it. It just reacted to my presence. Then it makes me wonder, what was the bright red-blue swirling light I saw?
Looking at my pale body in the mirror, I turned my side a little to reflect in the mirror. The wound was still wrapped in bandages, and I was curious what it looked like under them. Taking a deep breath to calm my nerves about what was under it, I began to unravel the bandage wrapped around my belly and side. As the wrap ended, it exposed the dressing that was under it. I frowned; what could have possibly been done? I closed my eyes slowly as I let a deep breath back into the air and slowly removed the bandage. Once I pulled off the bandage completely, I hesitated to open my eyes. When I finally got the courage up, I opened my eyes to stare at the naked body of mine in the mirror, eyes directly going to the wound.
My entire side was bruised, but the markings on my body caught my eye the most. They looked like stab wounds; perhaps the demon dug his nails into my side rather than scratched it like my arms? I'm sure it was one nickel-sized puncture digging pretty deep into my body. Surrounding it were thick black lines that thinned out as they reached the end. It almost looked like a sun that a child would draw, but the ‘rays’ were highly crooked and much thicker - turning into a thinner ray at the end. It was an ugly wound, and I couldn’t help but shed a few tears, staring at the body that a demon had destroyed. It hurts to look at it.
I was an average 24-year-old adult that lived in the human world, working at a bar to pay my bills, and now I’m some freak in the underworld. I was disgusted and hurt, saddened and heartbroken. Here I was with two random people I’d never met in my life who had magic powers. MAGIC POWERS. Demons were real, and they mark humans for death? What the hell else can they possibly do, especially to humans? If they can poison and destroy a human to eat, then what else can they do? What was Kurai capable of? I know he’s a Nogitsune, but isn’t he still technically a demon? Are there actually good demons?
I could barely hear a soft knock on my door from inside the bathroom due to my crying.
“Um, Snow, if you’re hungry… We have food available,” Enoxon’s voice sounded from the other side.
I just cried softly into my towel that slightly covered my naked body.
“Snow?” He called into the bathroom when I didn’t respond.
“P-please go- away,” I cried out to him.
“Um, Snow. Are you ok? Do you, uh, need… Anything?” He sounded baffled and in a very awkward spot.
I didn’t respond to him. I didn’t need anyone to hear me cry, but it couldn’t be helped. My sobs weren’t very loud, but they were loud enough to be heard on the other side of the door. I forced myself up to my feet, catching my balance and putting on the clothes I had brought into the bathroom. Something simple, just a simple pajama set of pants and a long-sleeved shirt. I took my long white hair down from the towel that it was wrapped up in and pushed my way to the door. As I opened the door, Enoxon lost his balance and fell forward a tad bit. He had been leaning against the door, trying to talk to me or listen to what I was doing.
“Um, I hope you’re hungry,” Enoxon murmured as if he didn’t know what to say. “Dinner will be downstairs when you’re ready to eat - if you’re hungry. You don’t have to eat if you don’t want to. I figured you'd probably be hungry just after the last couple of days. Again, you may not like it, so just let me know!” He flashed an awkward smile, and the little white-haired sorcerer quickly left the room.
I watched him leave. He was right, though; I needed to eat something after the training from today. My gaze quickly turned from him to the window that brought moonlight into the room. Was it just always night here? Was there no sun at all? Did the moon change or go away, or is it the same forever? I questioned how the underworld worked between the demons, powers, and now the moon/sunset issue. Standing here wasn’t going to get me answers, so I decided to make my way downstairs.
After eating dinner in the enjoyable silence, I began to clean up. Since I hadn’t been the one to make dinner, I felt obligated to clean up. Kurai hadn’t said much, but he did excuse himself to go to bed - I’d assume he was tired and still depressed like he was when he entered the kitchen. This left Enoxon and I in the kitchen to clean up.
“I can clean up myself; I don’t mind,” I told him gently as I began to pick up their plates and use the sink to clean everything.
“It’s ok, really,” Enoxon chimed happily. It’s incredible how different these two personalities were. We had happy-go-lucky Enoxon and hot-headed Kurai. Two complete opposites. “Besides, Kurai was the one who cooked tonight.”
I paused for a second when he mentioned Kurai was the one who made dinner. “Really?” I questioned him. “But he’s…” I trailed off as I thought about what I was going to say.
“A demon? Yeah,” Eno replied, his usual smile turning into a sad smile. “He is a demon, but he’s a good guy,” He gently explained. “He’s not just a demon, nor is he human. Remember, he’s a Nogitsune - half and half, pretty much.” The sorcerer gently took a dish from me and dried it off with a towel. He was a gentle character.
I lowered my gaze to the dishes I was cleaning as I remembered what Kurai had mentioned earlier. He told me that he feeds on agonizing pain from others, emotional and physical. That’s how I remembered it. I decided to question Enoxon about it, trying to break the now-awkward silence, voice soft and quaky, “Kurai told me that Nogitsune feed on negative emotions. He said I made him, um, well, transform earlier because I had a mental breakdown during training.”
“Mm, well, in a sense, yes and no,” he explained. “There are a lot of bad Nogitsune who play tricks and mess with people, and that’s what they live off of - fear from humans and their despair. However, some are like Kurai - calm and uninterested in playing tricks. Kurai is young, very young, yet he has five tails. He is the age of 25. Yet, he knows a Kitsune who is over 500 years old, thus the reason he has five tails. It’s crazy, in my opinion. I don’t know much about his backstory, but I know he… Is… Well, I guess you could say special. I’ve been around for hundreds of years, and I had not seen a Kitsune so young with five tails before I met Kurai - or any kitsune or nogitsune…”
… Did he just say he was old as hell? I immediately froze and looked at the sorcerer beside me, eyeing him up and down.
He matched my gaze and grinned slightly, “I’m pretty much immortal, frozen at the age of... Well, however old I am. For your sake, let’s just say I’m 27 years old. Sounds good?”
“What?!” I gasped, nearly dropping a glass. “You’re just an old man stuck… Like this?!”
“I’m a sorcerer who has been in this world for a long time, Snow. Most demons live for hundreds of years but usually have a stopping aging point. You will see a lot of young demons in this world. Demons are demons - either already dead or born of another entity. Me? Well, I’m a special case. I’m just… A magic user,” He smiled, his cheeks high with pride as his smile could light up an entire room.
Embarrassment flushed me, feeling it rush to my cheeks, immediately pulling my attention back to the dishes in front of me. “A-an-anyway,” I stuttered, “How did Kurai become so intelligent?”
“I’m not sure,” Kurai replied, drying off another dish I had handed him.
“The old, all-mighty sorcerer has no idea how the Nogitsune is so smart?”
“It’s not my place to share with you, Snow. When Kurai is comfortable with you, he’ll share that part of life with you, maybe more one day,” He teased me, elbowing me gently in the side.
With that being said, my cheeks turned even more pink. They probably nearly looked the color of cotton candy with how pale my skin is - everything stuck out on it… Like my wounds. I even began to fidget with the sponge I was using, knowing I was embarrassed over the top. I suddenly remembered what I saw in the mirror, and my body tensed a little. I shuddered at the thought of the wounds.
“Enoxon. Will these markings ever go away?” I asked, my gaze flowing down from the sponge to the marking on my arm.
The sorcerer looked over at me, his face relaxing but showing me that he was saddened by the question. His mouth twisted into a crooked frown as he replied, “Everyone is different. You and I are human. I’ve had markings go away, but it’s been a long time since a demon attacked a regular human, Snow. Kurai is doing his best to care for your wounds; I recommend getting them dressed again. I can only assume you took the bandages off this time… That must’ve been why you were crying, wasn’t it?”
I put the last dish away and stood over the sink, hands flat on the counter. I stared down into the water pit below me, seeing my reflection shimmering back at me under the moonlight.
The sorcerer turned me towards him, and he smiled as he spoke, his voice sparked with positivity, “I’ve seen a lot of crazy things in this world, Snow. We’ll make sure those wounds heal up to the best they can. As I said, Kurai is amazing at fixing things and healing. I don’t know where he got his sense of healing from for a Nogitsune, but he’ll take care of it - he’ll take care of you.”
The way he said that, the last sentence made my body tense, and I gripped the counter's edge. I didn’t need someone taking care of me; I needed someone to take me home, make me forget everything that’s happened, and help me get back to my original life. But I felt like a child as those tears began to show again. Everything flooded me at once, all my questions and my confusion. “Eno, this place is strange, and I’m not sure what the hell I’m doing here,” I cried, searching his amber eyes for hope - but they were empty and unreadable.
He patted me on the head and flashed me another grin, “Don’t worry, Snow, we’ve got you. As The Crimson Lord stated, you’re our problem now.” A laugh escaped this mage, his smile so precious and perfect - not that of an old man. He even reached out, wiped the tears away from my eyes, and gently spoke ever so softly, “Now, if you’ll excuse me, I’ve got some business to attend to. I’m sure you’d like to get those wounds dressed up again anyway. So get that done and rest; we’ve got a long day tomorrow.”
My face grew even hotter when he wiped the tears away, and I’m sure I looked like a tomato now. I’ve never been around such kind people, even if they weren’t entirely human. I thanked Enoxon respectfully for dinner and left the kitchen after ensuring everything was cleaned up and nice and tidy, leaving the sorcerer alone. I was grateful that I wasn’t the only ‘human’ here in the underworld. I was thankful I had Enoxon here, knowing he probably experienced a lot as I did when he first came here. I wonder if other humans have been here before and if they see what’s here.
I made my way to Kurai’s room, stopping outside the door. His door was slightly cracked open. I was about to knock on it, but I felt uneasy. Was I disturbing him? Perhaps he was sleeping; did they know when it was time for bed - since it was always dark? I questioned myself when I heard a soft melody from his room - classical music. I listened to the tune momentarily and started swaying to it slightly. I let out a sigh and turned away, he was more than likely sleeping as it was dark in his room, and he had music playing.
Spinning around to leave, I heard his door crack open, and his voice spoke roughly, “Yes, Snow?”
“I uh,” I stuttered, folding my hands together and awkwardly scoffing as I turned around. My heart pounded slightly as my gaze studied the floor, coming into contact with his bare feet. “Um, Eno said... You could help me…” Why was I so embarrassed to speak to him? I barely knew the guy. Maybe that’s what it was, me asking for help from someone I just met and who’s already saved my life - twice. I lifted my head slowly and looked at his body from his feet to his ….
……..
…….
His exposed chest.
Yes, he did not have a shirt on - only pants. My face, now bright red as a tomato, again, I altogether avoided the man’s gaze. “I’ll just, uh, come back.”
I felt Kurai’s posture shift, and a sigh escaped him, “Your wounds won’t take care of yourself, you know. A demon’s wounds are not to play with.” He reached out to my shoulder, resting one of his hands on my shoulder, and gently spun me around. “Let’s get this done quickly so I can sleep.”
Feeling my emotions whirl, I swallowed my pride and agreed. He was right - I did not know a demon’s wounds on a human. Who knows how much poison may still be lingering? Still, his standing there half-naked was not expected. I snuck another peak at him, hoping he wouldn’t notice. His upper body was toned, almost inviting. It sent a chill down my spine, knowing he was here to take care of a wound I got from a demon. I bet he and Enoxon thought of me as a child who doesn’t know how to stop getting into trouble! Stubborn and hard-headed. That’s exactly what they thought of me; I was sure of it.
“Have a seat,” Enoxon gestured to the only place in his room where I could sit - his bed.
I took a deep breath to calm my nerves, hopefully, to remove the blood that rushed to my face. It wasn’t that easy. As I sat at the base of his bed, I sat properly and upright. I looked around his room, knowing I could avoid his gaze and his half-naked chiseled body if I did so. His room wasn’t the largest, but it was a very homey room. Of course, you had his large bed covered with black and then the window off to the side with a window nook with several potted plants. In the other corner was a stack of books with yet another three potted plants surrounding them. He had a smaller bookshelf next to the entrance door, and his bed was next to the porch door.
“I didn’t realize you had such a green thumb,” I commented to Kurai, now distracted. “Do you read too?”
“I’ve been a plant person for a long time. I will occasionally visit other realms to bring plants back here that aren’t native to the underworld,” Kurai replied as he joined me on the edge of the bed.
“What realm did you visit for the plant in the corner, the pretty orange succulent?” I asked him gently as I noticed the bright-orange plant with a bit of green tint to it. It was one of the largest plants in his room.
“Mmm, that one? That was a gift from Mundus,” He stated. As he sat down beside me, I realized that his chest was now covered up by his bathrobe.
I secretly relaxed, knowing his chest was covered up, but I couldn’t help but feel slightly disappointed. I shook my head, trying to clear my thoughts, when I remembered that Kurai could invade them. I wasn’t sure if he could do it when he was in human form or just in his fox form.
“Get comfortable; this will take a while. The second session is usually the longest to try and heal these demon wounds,” He explained, reaching for a pillow and passing it over to me.
I stared at the pillow that rested on my lap now. Did he want me to lie down? I was not doing that - absolutely not. Then again… It was a soft pillow with little orange tassels on the side and even a little fox emblem at the top, a little outline of it. The pad was cute, and I couldn’t help but smile as I ran my finger over the little emblem. So, instead of lying down, I kept the pillow resting on my crisscross legs and stared at the little fox emblem.
With Kurai, things felt different… How do I describe it? It’s almost comforting, a lot more relaxing than when I was with Enoxon. I felt at ease. I felt…. Like, with him around, everything was going to be ok. I felt a strange connection to this fox but couldn’t explain it. It just felt a bit more than relaxing. Perhaps it was because after what Eno had shared with me, 25 with the knowledge of someone over 500. That was incredible! Then again, Enoxon was over, well, I’m not sure how old he was, but he said he had been around for years, so I’m sure his knowledge was just as strong as Kurai’s. Honestly, these two seemed like some of the strongest people here.
I felt Kurai gently grab my arm, and a warm sensation rushed through my body, not just from his healing flame but from his gentle touch. It wasn’t burning like it was when he first began to pull the demon’s poison out, but this was a soft tingle, as I could feel the warmth seep into my veins again. As he held my arm, I watched his hand work. His knuckles were flexing, his fingers extending and then pulling back in as if he controlled the healing going into my body. I noticed his eyes were closed, and I couldn’t help but stare at his face in awe. His fluffy fox ears would twitch every few seconds, the little amber freckles on his face glowing in and out. I couldn’t help but form a small, soft smile. He was incredibly gentle for someone so easy to temper.
The warm feeling flowed through my arm, mainly running through the wound on my arm. I closed my eyes and let the warm flow, listening to the soft, gentle classical music playing in his room. It didn’t feel very awkward; I felt like I was vibing with Kurai. Like when friends are hanging out at home, just taking it easy and listening to music or playing video games. That’s what this felt like, but every time I would catch a glance at Kurai, I took my chance. I watched his face react when a specific part of that warming, glowing feeling hit somewhere different.
“May I ask you something, Kurai?” I asked him gently, breaking the silence now.
“Hmm?” He questioned, one of his eyes opening slightly to reply to me.
“What happened the other day? Enoxon told me that you had rescued me from what I assumed was that demon?”
Kurai shrugged, closing his eyes again. “Honestly, I’m not sure. One moment I was going through the portal here, and the next moment I… Teleported without trying to teleport to the human world. I honestly didn’t think I could. I could feel my entire spirit being grabbed by something - or someone,” He replied, voice as gentle as a feather. “I heard someone screaming for help, and I smelled blood.” He paused for a second as he removed his hand from the wound on my body and pulled his hand back.
I winced as I felt a cold gush running through me. It did not feel pleasant at all; it was cold like ice.
“Are you ok?” He asked, noticing my wincing.
I nodded and watched as something dark and silvery exited the wound on my arm.
Kurai’s burning amber gaze opened and focused on the silvery goo, and within a second, the goo caught on fire and poofed - it was gone. With one more run over my arm, he dismissed himself from the wound and sat up straight as he continued his explanation, staring at the injury, “When I heard the scream, and I smelled the blood, I was transformed into my fox spirit, and that’s when I appeared in front of a girl lying on the ground covered in blood and a demon about to devour the hell out of her.”
I was stunned to even reply. He said he wasn’t trying to save me but was forced to do so. Knowing that Nogitsune feeds on the fear and anguish of humans, perhaps he was drawn to my presence that way. I suggested that to him, and he shook his head.
“No, it was something more… something called me to come to you. I’m trying to figure out what it is, but I have a good idea. I just… Need more time…” He trailed off.
My lavender gaze locked with his amber eyes, and I could see a flicker of contemplation in them. Seeing his look, I immediately knew what he felt. For whatever reason, I learned how he felt. It was a strange feeling because you often can’t just read what people are feeling - unless by body posture. But I knew what kind of emotion he was feeling. How? The swirl of his emotions ran through my own, meshing with mine. He was confused, and he even seemed a bit fearful.
“When I appeared before you, something overtook my fox spirit. I immediately went after this demon spirit and drugged him back to the underworld. I don’t know how I did it, but it was as if I couldn’t control my actions,” He shared. “I just knew I had to protect you - and that’s what my actions did. That’s when Enoxon came into play and brought you back to the underworld, where you woke up the next day.”
Listening to him end his story, I felt the pain that he felt inside him. It was like he was embarrassed to say everything he had just said. However, the worry and fear did not get pushed back by the embarrassment - it seemed to only grow stronger.
“Look, don’t go around telling Enoxon all this that I just shared with you,” He muttered, extremely flustered. I even noticed his black ears flattened against his head and the tip of his tail fluffed out.
And within a second, I could no longer feel his emotions as if they were mine. That was the weirdest feeling, though. I could sense these emotions coming from this Nogitsune. I could see a slight cherry-pink rise from his cheeks as he turned his head away from me, and I tried to avoid embarrassing him anymore.
Instead, I insisted on touching his ears and asked him sweetly, “Can I touch your ears?” I teased him.
His most disgusted look appeared as he turned to face me. “I told you my ears weren’t for petting!” He growled at me, closing his eyes in annoyance, his teeth exposing, and I even noticed his little fox-like fangs appearing.
I couldn’t help but giggle, smiling brightly. “Oh, come on, please? At least your tail?!” I begged him, turning to face him and giving him the biggest puppy eyes to change the mood. I didn’t need him getting all emotional, not right now. Not with the state of mind that I was in.
He towered over me and narrowed his eyes.
“Please?” I pouted at him.
His cheeks grew even more flustered, and he turned away from me, bringing his tail towards my lap. “Just because I’d like to finish our session so you can leave, and I can return to being alone.”
“Eep!” I squealed happily and reached out for his fluffy tail attached to him. His single tail was incredibly soft and thick, very huggable. I ran my hand from his tail's base to the amber-dipped tip. I smiled as I gave it a giant hug inviting me to do so, “So soft,” I murmured, feeling completely at ease.
He quickly ripped his tail away from it when I hugged it.
“Aww,” I pouted, crossing my arms like a child and huffing. “No fair.” I realized he had relaxed a bit, though, which was nice. Perhaps he could focus on the session now that he wasn’t so tense. My job had been done.
“Now lay down and lift your shirt,” He told me.
“.... Excuse me?” I echoed, now completely tensing up. Did he just ask.. Me… to lift my shirt? I was mortified as he said that, lifting my crossed arms over my chest.
The nogitsune turned his attention back to me and shifted his body to the bedside. “Your side is next,” He reminded me, pointing to the wound on my side.
“R-right,” I murmured as I lay the fox-embedded pillow down. My back faced his pads as I lay down to expose my side. This isn’t embarrassing, just… He’s just like a doctor - they fix things that have issues.
“Just like a doctor, nothing more,” Kurai echoed to me, his voice cracking off in the end with a barely noticeable soft chuckle.
“KURAI?!” I squealed, the blood rushing into my cheeks. “Stay out of my head!” I wailed to him, forcing the pillow to my face and covering how bright it was. Can he seriously hear me?!
“For some reason, yes, I can hear you while you’re thinking. Typically, I can only hear people think when I am in my fox form,” Kurai explained.
That’s when I felt his warm hand slide my shirt up, exposing the side of my stomach up to the bottom of my bra. It went no further from my bra, but I was even more embarrassed. I pulled that pillow tightly over my face and murmured, “Thish ish sho embarrassing!”
“What do you think we did when we brought you here? Do you think you just… Dress yourself?” He asked me through the pillow, mortifying me even more.
I could not believe what I was listening to! Did he say he saw my body naked? I cannot believe he did that or even admitted to it! My emotions were all over the place, to think he saw my body NAKED. There is no way he did, no possible way! He wouldn’t have the audacity to do so. Right?! Maybe Enoxon used some magical transportation spell to get me dressed rather than have them dress me. That would be highly disrespectful to anyone! I’d never change a man if I wasn’t their significant other! Absolutely not!
As his hand lifted my shirt, I felt his large warm hand lay on my side, right on the wound. This caused my entire body to jerk from the sudden touch - surprise! At least warn me, please, I begged myself. My insides were screaming at me. Honestly, this was the first touch from a man in a long time - so as much as this was supposed to heal me up, I was still…. Well, let’s say I was flustered, to the least.
“You’ll feel strange movement inside and outside your body, so please be prepared. Try not to jerk too much; this wound is far worse than the one on your side - and so close to your internal organs. This is the major one that needs to be fixed up.”
“Will I be ok?”
“Hmm? My ears may be that of a fox, but that does not mean I can hear you muffled under a pillow.”
I moved the pillow slightly to expose my mouth to him, “Will I be ok? Enoxon said it’ll take some time to heal, but I should be ok, right?” I then moved the pillow some more, bringing it out from over my head and moving it under my head. Looking at him from my side eye, I could sense that he was worried again. “Kurai?” I questioned him.
“Yes. You will need to be quiet, though, as when you speak, your body moves, and I cannot focus,” He told me gently.
I nodded and rested it on the pillow, listening to the classical music play. With this wound, I felt much more being moved through me than with the arm wound. Perhaps everything was going to be ok, as they said. It’s only been a few days, but everything will work out, right? It has to; I was in good care. I felt this strange and unexplainable connection with Kurai. With Enoxon, I felt content because I knew he was human too, and he had a lot of experience with this world. It made me feel at ease. The movement from his magic warmth made me feel at ease and as though I were rocking on a boat - being rocked to sleep.
And that’s what happened - my eyes grew heavy as I was being rocked and drifted off into a night of sleep.
After what felt like hours, the young fox-demon pulled away from the wound on the young human girl’s side. He had finally finished attending to it and noticed that Snow had fallen asleep in the past hour. Poor thing has been through hell these past couple of days, quite literally. Kurai looked at the wound on her side, watching her ribs up and down as he studied the demon’s harm. A frown crossed his face as he noticed that it didn’t look any different than when he first found her and tried to heal it. He almost felt defeated that he couldn’t cure it immediately like he had been in the past with wounds. Uncertainty crossed his mind about whether or not it would ever fully recover, even with his help. He could still sense some of the demon’s poison in her system but could not fish it all out. This wouldn’t harm her ultimately, just make her a bit weaker than she already was. He needed to speak with Enoxon, figure this out and what they needed to do. The symbol from this demon’s mark wasn’t usual; this was a higher-up symbol - it wasn’t that of a lesser demon.
But how did such a demon even reach the human realm? Ever since Michael and the Celestial Council put hell in chains, demons have been unable to travel to and from the mortal realm. If powerful monsters are out there causing attacks, this could easily overturn the human population. Hopefully, the demon-to-human ratio was meager. All they could hope for right now was that there weren't many loose demons when the underworld was put on lockdown. But with the Spirit Walkers missing and the Reaper disappearing, no one knew what was happening to the lost souls. As far as Kurai knew, the Order of the Sinless was attending to this and doing the Reaper’s job - guiding souls, which they weren’t very good with.
Kurai reached out to the girl’s hair, gently twirling one of the ends. Her hair was as white as her name, Snow. Gentle and serene… That’s what she was, but easily harmful when angered - like a blizzard. Though, for some reason, he felt at ease with her. Perhaps it was because he was called to her in the hour of need for help. Something about her was different; he knew this because of the blood flowing through her veins. They were not that of humans - but not that of demons nor angels. He decided not to disturb the human, leaving her on his bed but ensuring she didn’t roll off by shifting her slightly. Gently, he placed the blanket over her and went downstairs.
Downstairs, he was greeted by Enoxon sitting on the couch and reading a book.
“How is she?” Enoxon asked.
Kurai shrugged and replied, “She’s doing better. I am trying to get the remaining poison out of her blood.”
“Good to know. I’m assuming she is asleep then, yes?”
He nodded, “Yes. I didn’t disturb her, she is exhausted, and anyone can see that.”
“I can only imagine what she’s going through. Attacked by two different demons in less than 24 hours - nevertheless marked by both of them. I wasn’t sure a demon could mark once they’ve been marked.”
Kurai agreed with him, crossing his arms as he began to pace. “We need to talk to Mundus.”
“I don’t think we should disturb the Crimson Lord right now, especially with the Celestial’s up his ass,” Enoxon countered. “He’s got enough on his plate - between the Reaper, the Spirit Walkers, and Michael trying to discover their next action regarding lifting the magic on the Underworld.”
“Eno, we need to figure out who this woman is,” He retorted.
He sighed, “Yes, I know. We need to get that mark off her before she’s attacked again. Whoever attacked her wasn’t an ordinary demon, Kurai. And you didn’t kill it, nor did you escort him anywhere because you can’t do that.”
A bit agitated, Kurai felt defeated. He knew Enoxon was correct. They needed to find this demon and figure out who this demon was and how it was able to get to the human world - and why its poison and attack didn’t kill Snow the first it hit her. A demon as powerful as this one that left a mark on her side, almost like a tattoo, needed to be found and dealt with. His amber eyes gazed around the room nervously as he tried to devise a plan to see this demon and how they could deal with him. He was even more agitated that he couldn’t completely dismiss the demon with the power of his five Nogitsune tails. He should’ve been able to - he should’ve been able to save a mere human from the mark of this demon - whatever kind of mark this was.
“I can see that you’re worried, Kurai,” Enoxon spoke, standing up and gently placing a hand on his friend’s shoulder, “We’ll find time to talk to The Crimson Lord and Astaroth about this. I’m sure they will be able to help us. For now, get some rest; you need it.”
Kurai nodded his head in agreement and took another deep breath. “Ok, fine, you’re right.”
“You know something, Kurai,” Enoxon stated as he turned away.
“Hm?”
“.... nothing. Goodnight,” Enoxon looked over his shoulder and grinned. Within a second and a quick poof, Enoxon left the room and disappeared, leaving Kurai there in the shadowy surroundings of the dark room. After examining the working of his healing magic on the woman, he knew that this wasn’t two different demons - it was one. This specific demon had marked her twice and would probably return for a third. Three marks and that girl will fall apart. If only he were able to fix this.
Kurai's Nogitsune Form - Per AI Art Generated by me at (https://www.fotor.com/images/my-creations)
Snow - Per AI Art Generated by me at Link Above.
(Sorry, I'm very big into visuals!)
Chapter Six
Healing Flames
Getting into the bath tonight was extremely hard. I was hurting today, which made sense after being attacked twice and then training today. All that extra movement… I’m surprised nothing else tore. I guess Kurai’s magic healing power, magic healing flames, or whatever, really helped out. I know my body was sore, but the markings on my side and arm weren’t hurting as much - just extremely sore. I should’ve probably taken the day off, but I just wanted to go, go, go! That’s how I’ve always been, always diving into the action. It’s only been a few days since I came to the underworld, and I barely know why. All they told me was that I activated a portal.
Then again, if a Demon attacked me in the Human Realm, they must be concerned about that. I wonder if Lord Mundus knows who struck me because his reaction wasn’t strong when they told him I activated a portal. Per Enoxon, I didn’t even start it. It just reacted to my presence. Then it makes me wonder, what was the bright red-blue swirling light I saw?
Looking at my pale body in the mirror, I turned my side a little to reflect in the mirror. The wound was still wrapped in bandages, and I was curious what it looked like under them. Taking a deep breath to calm my nerves about what was under it, I began to unravel the bandage wrapped around my belly and side. As the wrap ended, it exposed the dressing that was under it. I frowned; what could have possibly been done? I closed my eyes slowly as I let a deep breath back into the air and slowly removed the bandage. Once I pulled off the bandage completely, I hesitated to open my eyes. When I finally got the courage up, I opened my eyes to stare at the naked body of mine in the mirror, eyes directly going to the wound.
My entire side was bruised, but the markings on my body caught my eye the most. They looked like stab wounds; perhaps the demon dug his nails into my side rather than scratched it like my arms? I'm sure it was one nickel-sized puncture digging pretty deep into my body. Surrounding it were thick black lines that thinned out as they reached the end. It almost looked like a sun that a child would draw, but the ‘rays’ were highly crooked and much thicker - turning into a thinner ray at the end. It was an ugly wound, and I couldn’t help but shed a few tears, staring at the body that a demon had destroyed. It hurts to look at it.
I was an average 24-year-old adult that lived in the human world, working at a bar to pay my bills, and now I’m some freak in the underworld. I was disgusted and hurt, saddened and heartbroken. Here I was with two random people I’d never met in my life who had magic powers. MAGIC POWERS. Demons were real, and they mark humans for death? What the hell else can they possibly do, especially to humans? If they can poison and destroy a human to eat, then what else can they do? What was Kurai capable of? I know he’s a Nogitsune, but isn’t he still technically a demon? Are there actually good demons?
I could barely hear a soft knock on my door from inside the bathroom due to my crying.
“Um, Snow, if you’re hungry… We have food available,” Enoxon’s voice sounded from the other side.
I just cried softly into my towel that slightly covered my naked body.
“Snow?” He called into the bathroom when I didn’t respond.
“P-please go- away,” I cried out to him.
“Um, Snow. Are you ok? Do you, uh, need… Anything?” He sounded baffled and in a very awkward spot.
I didn’t respond to him. I didn’t need anyone to hear me cry, but it couldn’t be helped. My sobs weren’t very loud, but they were loud enough to be heard on the other side of the door. I forced myself up to my feet, catching my balance and putting on the clothes I had brought into the bathroom. Something simple, just a simple pajama set of pants and a long-sleeved shirt. I took my long white hair down from the towel that it was wrapped up in and pushed my way to the door. As I opened the door, Enoxon lost his balance and fell forward a tad bit. He had been leaning against the door, trying to talk to me or listen to what I was doing.
“Um, I hope you’re hungry,” Enoxon murmured as if he didn’t know what to say. “Dinner will be downstairs when you’re ready to eat - if you’re hungry. You don’t have to eat if you don’t want to. I figured you'd probably be hungry just after the last couple of days. Again, you may not like it, so just let me know!” He flashed an awkward smile, and the little white-haired sorcerer quickly left the room.
I watched him leave. He was right, though; I needed to eat something after the training from today. My gaze quickly turned from him to the window that brought moonlight into the room. Was it just always night here? Was there no sun at all? Did the moon change or go away, or is it the same forever? I questioned how the underworld worked between the demons, powers, and now the moon/sunset issue. Standing here wasn’t going to get me answers, so I decided to make my way downstairs.
After eating dinner in the enjoyable silence, I began to clean up. Since I hadn’t been the one to make dinner, I felt obligated to clean up. Kurai hadn’t said much, but he did excuse himself to go to bed - I’d assume he was tired and still depressed like he was when he entered the kitchen. This left Enoxon and I in the kitchen to clean up.
“I can clean up myself; I don’t mind,” I told him gently as I began to pick up their plates and use the sink to clean everything.
“It’s ok, really,” Enoxon chimed happily. It’s incredible how different these two personalities were. We had happy-go-lucky Enoxon and hot-headed Kurai. Two complete opposites. “Besides, Kurai was the one who cooked tonight.”
I paused for a second when he mentioned Kurai was the one who made dinner. “Really?” I questioned him. “But he’s…” I trailed off as I thought about what I was going to say.
“A demon? Yeah,” Eno replied, his usual smile turning into a sad smile. “He is a demon, but he’s a good guy,” He gently explained. “He’s not just a demon, nor is he human. Remember, he’s a Nogitsune - half and half, pretty much.” The sorcerer gently took a dish from me and dried it off with a towel. He was a gentle character.
I lowered my gaze to the dishes I was cleaning as I remembered what Kurai had mentioned earlier. He told me that he feeds on agonizing pain from others, emotional and physical. That’s how I remembered it. I decided to question Enoxon about it, trying to break the now-awkward silence, voice soft and quaky, “Kurai told me that Nogitsune feed on negative emotions. He said I made him, um, well, transform earlier because I had a mental breakdown during training.”
“Mm, well, in a sense, yes and no,” he explained. “There are a lot of bad Nogitsune who play tricks and mess with people, and that’s what they live off of - fear from humans and their despair. However, some are like Kurai - calm and uninterested in playing tricks. Kurai is young, very young, yet he has five tails. He is the age of 25. Yet, he knows a Kitsune who is over 500 years old, thus the reason he has five tails. It’s crazy, in my opinion. I don’t know much about his backstory, but I know he… Is… Well, I guess you could say special. I’ve been around for hundreds of years, and I had not seen a Kitsune so young with five tails before I met Kurai - or any kitsune or nogitsune…”
… Did he just say he was old as hell? I immediately froze and looked at the sorcerer beside me, eyeing him up and down.
He matched my gaze and grinned slightly, “I’m pretty much immortal, frozen at the age of... Well, however old I am. For your sake, let’s just say I’m 27 years old. Sounds good?”
“What?!” I gasped, nearly dropping a glass. “You’re just an old man stuck… Like this?!”
“I’m a sorcerer who has been in this world for a long time, Snow. Most demons live for hundreds of years but usually have a stopping aging point. You will see a lot of young demons in this world. Demons are demons - either already dead or born of another entity. Me? Well, I’m a special case. I’m just… A magic user,” He smiled, his cheeks high with pride as his smile could light up an entire room.
Embarrassment flushed me, feeling it rush to my cheeks, immediately pulling my attention back to the dishes in front of me. “A-an-anyway,” I stuttered, “How did Kurai become so intelligent?”
“I’m not sure,” Kurai replied, drying off another dish I had handed him.
“The old, all-mighty sorcerer has no idea how the Nogitsune is so smart?”
“It’s not my place to share with you, Snow. When Kurai is comfortable with you, he’ll share that part of life with you, maybe more one day,” He teased me, elbowing me gently in the side.
With that being said, my cheeks turned even more pink. They probably nearly looked the color of cotton candy with how pale my skin is - everything stuck out on it… Like my wounds. I even began to fidget with the sponge I was using, knowing I was embarrassed over the top. I suddenly remembered what I saw in the mirror, and my body tensed a little. I shuddered at the thought of the wounds.
“Enoxon. Will these markings ever go away?” I asked, my gaze flowing down from the sponge to the marking on my arm.
The sorcerer looked over at me, his face relaxing but showing me that he was saddened by the question. His mouth twisted into a crooked frown as he replied, “Everyone is different. You and I are human. I’ve had markings go away, but it’s been a long time since a demon attacked a regular human, Snow. Kurai is doing his best to care for your wounds; I recommend getting them dressed again. I can only assume you took the bandages off this time… That must’ve been why you were crying, wasn’t it?”
I put the last dish away and stood over the sink, hands flat on the counter. I stared down into the water pit below me, seeing my reflection shimmering back at me under the moonlight.
The sorcerer turned me towards him, and he smiled as he spoke, his voice sparked with positivity, “I’ve seen a lot of crazy things in this world, Snow. We’ll make sure those wounds heal up to the best they can. As I said, Kurai is amazing at fixing things and healing. I don’t know where he got his sense of healing from for a Nogitsune, but he’ll take care of it - he’ll take care of you.”
The way he said that, the last sentence made my body tense, and I gripped the counter's edge. I didn’t need someone taking care of me; I needed someone to take me home, make me forget everything that’s happened, and help me get back to my original life. But I felt like a child as those tears began to show again. Everything flooded me at once, all my questions and my confusion. “Eno, this place is strange, and I’m not sure what the hell I’m doing here,” I cried, searching his amber eyes for hope - but they were empty and unreadable.
He patted me on the head and flashed me another grin, “Don’t worry, Snow, we’ve got you. As The Crimson Lord stated, you’re our problem now.” A laugh escaped this mage, his smile so precious and perfect - not that of an old man. He even reached out, wiped the tears away from my eyes, and gently spoke ever so softly, “Now, if you’ll excuse me, I’ve got some business to attend to. I’m sure you’d like to get those wounds dressed up again anyway. So get that done and rest; we’ve got a long day tomorrow.”
My face grew even hotter when he wiped the tears away, and I’m sure I looked like a tomato now. I’ve never been around such kind people, even if they weren’t entirely human. I thanked Enoxon respectfully for dinner and left the kitchen after ensuring everything was cleaned up and nice and tidy, leaving the sorcerer alone. I was grateful that I wasn’t the only ‘human’ here in the underworld. I was thankful I had Enoxon here, knowing he probably experienced a lot as I did when he first came here. I wonder if other humans have been here before and if they see what’s here.
I made my way to Kurai’s room, stopping outside the door. His door was slightly cracked open. I was about to knock on it, but I felt uneasy. Was I disturbing him? Perhaps he was sleeping; did they know when it was time for bed - since it was always dark? I questioned myself when I heard a soft melody from his room - classical music. I listened to the tune momentarily and started swaying to it slightly. I let out a sigh and turned away, he was more than likely sleeping as it was dark in his room, and he had music playing.
Spinning around to leave, I heard his door crack open, and his voice spoke roughly, “Yes, Snow?”
“I uh,” I stuttered, folding my hands together and awkwardly scoffing as I turned around. My heart pounded slightly as my gaze studied the floor, coming into contact with his bare feet. “Um, Eno said... You could help me…” Why was I so embarrassed to speak to him? I barely knew the guy. Maybe that’s what it was, me asking for help from someone I just met and who’s already saved my life - twice. I lifted my head slowly and looked at his body from his feet to his ….
……..
…….
His exposed chest.
Yes, he did not have a shirt on - only pants. My face, now bright red as a tomato, again, I altogether avoided the man’s gaze. “I’ll just, uh, come back.”
I felt Kurai’s posture shift, and a sigh escaped him, “Your wounds won’t take care of yourself, you know. A demon’s wounds are not to play with.” He reached out to my shoulder, resting one of his hands on my shoulder, and gently spun me around. “Let’s get this done quickly so I can sleep.”
Feeling my emotions whirl, I swallowed my pride and agreed. He was right - I did not know a demon’s wounds on a human. Who knows how much poison may still be lingering? Still, his standing there half-naked was not expected. I snuck another peak at him, hoping he wouldn’t notice. His upper body was toned, almost inviting. It sent a chill down my spine, knowing he was here to take care of a wound I got from a demon. I bet he and Enoxon thought of me as a child who doesn’t know how to stop getting into trouble! Stubborn and hard-headed. That’s exactly what they thought of me; I was sure of it.
“Have a seat,” Enoxon gestured to the only place in his room where I could sit - his bed.
I took a deep breath to calm my nerves, hopefully, to remove the blood that rushed to my face. It wasn’t that easy. As I sat at the base of his bed, I sat properly and upright. I looked around his room, knowing I could avoid his gaze and his half-naked chiseled body if I did so. His room wasn’t the largest, but it was a very homey room. Of course, you had his large bed covered with black and then the window off to the side with a window nook with several potted plants. In the other corner was a stack of books with yet another three potted plants surrounding them. He had a smaller bookshelf next to the entrance door, and his bed was next to the porch door.
“I didn’t realize you had such a green thumb,” I commented to Kurai, now distracted. “Do you read too?”
“I’ve been a plant person for a long time. I will occasionally visit other realms to bring plants back here that aren’t native to the underworld,” Kurai replied as he joined me on the edge of the bed.
“What realm did you visit for the plant in the corner, the pretty orange succulent?” I asked him gently as I noticed the bright-orange plant with a bit of green tint to it. It was one of the largest plants in his room.
“Mmm, that one? That was a gift from Mundus,” He stated. As he sat down beside me, I realized that his chest was now covered up by his bathrobe.
I secretly relaxed, knowing his chest was covered up, but I couldn’t help but feel slightly disappointed. I shook my head, trying to clear my thoughts, when I remembered that Kurai could invade them. I wasn’t sure if he could do it when he was in human form or just in his fox form.
“Get comfortable; this will take a while. The second session is usually the longest to try and heal these demon wounds,” He explained, reaching for a pillow and passing it over to me.
I stared at the pillow that rested on my lap now. Did he want me to lie down? I was not doing that - absolutely not. Then again… It was a soft pillow with little orange tassels on the side and even a little fox emblem at the top, a little outline of it. The pad was cute, and I couldn’t help but smile as I ran my finger over the little emblem. So, instead of lying down, I kept the pillow resting on my crisscross legs and stared at the little fox emblem.
With Kurai, things felt different… How do I describe it? It’s almost comforting, a lot more relaxing than when I was with Enoxon. I felt at ease. I felt…. Like, with him around, everything was going to be ok. I felt a strange connection to this fox but couldn’t explain it. It just felt a bit more than relaxing. Perhaps it was because after what Eno had shared with me, 25 with the knowledge of someone over 500. That was incredible! Then again, Enoxon was over, well, I’m not sure how old he was, but he said he had been around for years, so I’m sure his knowledge was just as strong as Kurai’s. Honestly, these two seemed like some of the strongest people here.
I felt Kurai gently grab my arm, and a warm sensation rushed through my body, not just from his healing flame but from his gentle touch. It wasn’t burning like it was when he first began to pull the demon’s poison out, but this was a soft tingle, as I could feel the warmth seep into my veins again. As he held my arm, I watched his hand work. His knuckles were flexing, his fingers extending and then pulling back in as if he controlled the healing going into my body. I noticed his eyes were closed, and I couldn’t help but stare at his face in awe. His fluffy fox ears would twitch every few seconds, the little amber freckles on his face glowing in and out. I couldn’t help but form a small, soft smile. He was incredibly gentle for someone so easy to temper.
The warm feeling flowed through my arm, mainly running through the wound on my arm. I closed my eyes and let the warm flow, listening to the soft, gentle classical music playing in his room. It didn’t feel very awkward; I felt like I was vibing with Kurai. Like when friends are hanging out at home, just taking it easy and listening to music or playing video games. That’s what this felt like, but every time I would catch a glance at Kurai, I took my chance. I watched his face react when a specific part of that warming, glowing feeling hit somewhere different.
“May I ask you something, Kurai?” I asked him gently, breaking the silence now.
“Hmm?” He questioned, one of his eyes opening slightly to reply to me.
“What happened the other day? Enoxon told me that you had rescued me from what I assumed was that demon?”
Kurai shrugged, closing his eyes again. “Honestly, I’m not sure. One moment I was going through the portal here, and the next moment I… Teleported without trying to teleport to the human world. I honestly didn’t think I could. I could feel my entire spirit being grabbed by something - or someone,” He replied, voice as gentle as a feather. “I heard someone screaming for help, and I smelled blood.” He paused for a second as he removed his hand from the wound on my body and pulled his hand back.
I winced as I felt a cold gush running through me. It did not feel pleasant at all; it was cold like ice.
“Are you ok?” He asked, noticing my wincing.
I nodded and watched as something dark and silvery exited the wound on my arm.
Kurai’s burning amber gaze opened and focused on the silvery goo, and within a second, the goo caught on fire and poofed - it was gone. With one more run over my arm, he dismissed himself from the wound and sat up straight as he continued his explanation, staring at the injury, “When I heard the scream, and I smelled the blood, I was transformed into my fox spirit, and that’s when I appeared in front of a girl lying on the ground covered in blood and a demon about to devour the hell out of her.”
I was stunned to even reply. He said he wasn’t trying to save me but was forced to do so. Knowing that Nogitsune feeds on the fear and anguish of humans, perhaps he was drawn to my presence that way. I suggested that to him, and he shook his head.
“No, it was something more… something called me to come to you. I’m trying to figure out what it is, but I have a good idea. I just… Need more time…” He trailed off.
My lavender gaze locked with his amber eyes, and I could see a flicker of contemplation in them. Seeing his look, I immediately knew what he felt. For whatever reason, I learned how he felt. It was a strange feeling because you often can’t just read what people are feeling - unless by body posture. But I knew what kind of emotion he was feeling. How? The swirl of his emotions ran through my own, meshing with mine. He was confused, and he even seemed a bit fearful.
“When I appeared before you, something overtook my fox spirit. I immediately went after this demon spirit and drugged him back to the underworld. I don’t know how I did it, but it was as if I couldn’t control my actions,” He shared. “I just knew I had to protect you - and that’s what my actions did. That’s when Enoxon came into play and brought you back to the underworld, where you woke up the next day.”
Listening to him end his story, I felt the pain that he felt inside him. It was like he was embarrassed to say everything he had just said. However, the worry and fear did not get pushed back by the embarrassment - it seemed to only grow stronger.
“Look, don’t go around telling Enoxon all this that I just shared with you,” He muttered, extremely flustered. I even noticed his black ears flattened against his head and the tip of his tail fluffed out.
And within a second, I could no longer feel his emotions as if they were mine. That was the weirdest feeling, though. I could sense these emotions coming from this Nogitsune. I could see a slight cherry-pink rise from his cheeks as he turned his head away from me, and I tried to avoid embarrassing him anymore.
Instead, I insisted on touching his ears and asked him sweetly, “Can I touch your ears?” I teased him.
His most disgusted look appeared as he turned to face me. “I told you my ears weren’t for petting!” He growled at me, closing his eyes in annoyance, his teeth exposing, and I even noticed his little fox-like fangs appearing.
I couldn’t help but giggle, smiling brightly. “Oh, come on, please? At least your tail?!” I begged him, turning to face him and giving him the biggest puppy eyes to change the mood. I didn’t need him getting all emotional, not right now. Not with the state of mind that I was in.
He towered over me and narrowed his eyes.
“Please?” I pouted at him.
His cheeks grew even more flustered, and he turned away from me, bringing his tail towards my lap. “Just because I’d like to finish our session so you can leave, and I can return to being alone.”
“Eep!” I squealed happily and reached out for his fluffy tail attached to him. His single tail was incredibly soft and thick, very huggable. I ran my hand from his tail's base to the amber-dipped tip. I smiled as I gave it a giant hug inviting me to do so, “So soft,” I murmured, feeling completely at ease.
He quickly ripped his tail away from it when I hugged it.
“Aww,” I pouted, crossing my arms like a child and huffing. “No fair.” I realized he had relaxed a bit, though, which was nice. Perhaps he could focus on the session now that he wasn’t so tense. My job had been done.
“Now lay down and lift your shirt,” He told me.
“.... Excuse me?” I echoed, now completely tensing up. Did he just ask.. Me… to lift my shirt? I was mortified as he said that, lifting my crossed arms over my chest.
The nogitsune turned his attention back to me and shifted his body to the bedside. “Your side is next,” He reminded me, pointing to the wound on my side.
“R-right,” I murmured as I lay the fox-embedded pillow down. My back faced his pads as I lay down to expose my side. This isn’t embarrassing, just… He’s just like a doctor - they fix things that have issues.
“Just like a doctor, nothing more,” Kurai echoed to me, his voice cracking off in the end with a barely noticeable soft chuckle.
“KURAI?!” I squealed, the blood rushing into my cheeks. “Stay out of my head!” I wailed to him, forcing the pillow to my face and covering how bright it was. Can he seriously hear me?!
“For some reason, yes, I can hear you while you’re thinking. Typically, I can only hear people think when I am in my fox form,” Kurai explained.
That’s when I felt his warm hand slide my shirt up, exposing the side of my stomach up to the bottom of my bra. It went no further from my bra, but I was even more embarrassed. I pulled that pillow tightly over my face and murmured, “Thish ish sho embarrassing!”
“What do you think we did when we brought you here? Do you think you just… Dress yourself?” He asked me through the pillow, mortifying me even more.
I could not believe what I was listening to! Did he say he saw my body naked? I cannot believe he did that or even admitted to it! My emotions were all over the place, to think he saw my body NAKED. There is no way he did, no possible way! He wouldn’t have the audacity to do so. Right?! Maybe Enoxon used some magical transportation spell to get me dressed rather than have them dress me. That would be highly disrespectful to anyone! I’d never change a man if I wasn’t their significant other! Absolutely not!
As his hand lifted my shirt, I felt his large warm hand lay on my side, right on the wound. This caused my entire body to jerk from the sudden touch - surprise! At least warn me, please, I begged myself. My insides were screaming at me. Honestly, this was the first touch from a man in a long time - so as much as this was supposed to heal me up, I was still…. Well, let’s say I was flustered, to the least.
“You’ll feel strange movement inside and outside your body, so please be prepared. Try not to jerk too much; this wound is far worse than the one on your side - and so close to your internal organs. This is the major one that needs to be fixed up.”
“Will I be ok?”
“Hmm? My ears may be that of a fox, but that does not mean I can hear you muffled under a pillow.”
I moved the pillow slightly to expose my mouth to him, “Will I be ok? Enoxon said it’ll take some time to heal, but I should be ok, right?” I then moved the pillow some more, bringing it out from over my head and moving it under my head. Looking at him from my side eye, I could sense that he was worried again. “Kurai?” I questioned him.
“Yes. You will need to be quiet, though, as when you speak, your body moves, and I cannot focus,” He told me gently.
I nodded and rested it on the pillow, listening to the classical music play. With this wound, I felt much more being moved through me than with the arm wound. Perhaps everything was going to be ok, as they said. It’s only been a few days, but everything will work out, right? It has to; I was in good care. I felt this strange and unexplainable connection with Kurai. With Enoxon, I felt content because I knew he was human too, and he had a lot of experience with this world. It made me feel at ease. The movement from his magic warmth made me feel at ease and as though I were rocking on a boat - being rocked to sleep.
And that’s what happened - my eyes grew heavy as I was being rocked and drifted off into a night of sleep.
After what felt like hours, the young fox-demon pulled away from the wound on the young human girl’s side. He had finally finished attending to it and noticed that Snow had fallen asleep in the past hour. Poor thing has been through hell these past couple of days, quite literally. Kurai looked at the wound on her side, watching her ribs up and down as he studied the demon’s harm. A frown crossed his face as he noticed that it didn’t look any different than when he first found her and tried to heal it. He almost felt defeated that he couldn’t cure it immediately like he had been in the past with wounds. Uncertainty crossed his mind about whether or not it would ever fully recover, even with his help. He could still sense some of the demon’s poison in her system but could not fish it all out. This wouldn’t harm her ultimately, just make her a bit weaker than she already was. He needed to speak with Enoxon, figure this out and what they needed to do. The symbol from this demon’s mark wasn’t usual; this was a higher-up symbol - it wasn’t that of a lesser demon.
But how did such a demon even reach the human realm? Ever since Michael and the Celestial Council put hell in chains, demons have been unable to travel to and from the mortal realm. If powerful monsters are out there causing attacks, this could easily overturn the human population. Hopefully, the demon-to-human ratio was meager. All they could hope for right now was that there weren't many loose demons when the underworld was put on lockdown. But with the Spirit Walkers missing and the Reaper disappearing, no one knew what was happening to the lost souls. As far as Kurai knew, the Order of the Sinless was attending to this and doing the Reaper’s job - guiding souls, which they weren’t very good with.
Kurai reached out to the girl’s hair, gently twirling one of the ends. Her hair was as white as her name, Snow. Gentle and serene… That’s what she was, but easily harmful when angered - like a blizzard. Though, for some reason, he felt at ease with her. Perhaps it was because he was called to her in the hour of need for help. Something about her was different; he knew this because of the blood flowing through her veins. They were not that of humans - but not that of demons nor angels. He decided not to disturb the human, leaving her on his bed but ensuring she didn’t roll off by shifting her slightly. Gently, he placed the blanket over her and went downstairs.
Downstairs, he was greeted by Enoxon sitting on the couch and reading a book.
“How is she?” Enoxon asked.
Kurai shrugged and replied, “She’s doing better. I am trying to get the remaining poison out of her blood.”
“Good to know. I’m assuming she is asleep then, yes?”
He nodded, “Yes. I didn’t disturb her, she is exhausted, and anyone can see that.”
“I can only imagine what she’s going through. Attacked by two different demons in less than 24 hours - nevertheless marked by both of them. I wasn’t sure a demon could mark once they’ve been marked.”
Kurai agreed with him, crossing his arms as he began to pace. “We need to talk to Mundus.”
“I don’t think we should disturb the Crimson Lord right now, especially with the Celestial’s up his ass,” Enoxon countered. “He’s got enough on his plate - between the Reaper, the Spirit Walkers, and Michael trying to discover their next action regarding lifting the magic on the Underworld.”
“Eno, we need to figure out who this woman is,” He retorted.
He sighed, “Yes, I know. We need to get that mark off her before she’s attacked again. Whoever attacked her wasn’t an ordinary demon, Kurai. And you didn’t kill it, nor did you escort him anywhere because you can’t do that.”
A bit agitated, Kurai felt defeated. He knew Enoxon was correct. They needed to find this demon and figure out who this demon was and how it was able to get to the human world - and why its poison and attack didn’t kill Snow the first it hit her. A demon as powerful as this one that left a mark on her side, almost like a tattoo, needed to be found and dealt with. His amber eyes gazed around the room nervously as he tried to devise a plan to see this demon and how they could deal with him. He was even more agitated that he couldn’t completely dismiss the demon with the power of his five Nogitsune tails. He should’ve been able to - he should’ve been able to save a mere human from the mark of this demon - whatever kind of mark this was.
“I can see that you’re worried, Kurai,” Enoxon spoke, standing up and gently placing a hand on his friend’s shoulder, “We’ll find time to talk to The Crimson Lord and Astaroth about this. I’m sure they will be able to help us. For now, get some rest; you need it.”
Kurai nodded his head in agreement and took another deep breath. “Ok, fine, you’re right.”
“You know something, Kurai,” Enoxon stated as he turned away.
“Hm?”
“.... nothing. Goodnight,” Enoxon looked over his shoulder and grinned. Within a second and a quick poof, Enoxon left the room and disappeared, leaving Kurai there in the shadowy surroundings of the dark room. After examining the working of his healing magic on the woman, he knew that this wasn’t two different demons - it was one. This specific demon had marked her twice and would probably return for a third. Three marks and that girl will fall apart. If only he were able to fix this.
Kurai's Nogitsune Form - Per AI Art Generated by me at (https://www.fotor.com/images/my-creations)
Snow - Per AI Art Generated by me at Link Above.
(Sorry, I'm very big into visuals!)
