âI suppose itâs long past time that we learned these things about ourselves.â
Cass sighed heavily, lacing his fingers together behind his head and leaning back into the bench as far as his physical presence would allow. He stared hard at the clouds passing by overhead, allowing his thoughts to collate for a few minutes. Heâd noticed the chains of course, but like Momo, heâd held out the vain hope that a solution might be easily-found. Thus far, his research had yielded nothing. Not even the old texts had said much they didnât already know. There werenât many ways to fix a problem like that, only to prevent it from getting worse. And that could basically only be done by avoiding violence and transformations.
The first definitely wasnât an option for any of them. The second⊠well, that was in Momoâs hands, but it wasnât like Cass thought it was ever an easy choice. He personally only rarely felt temptations of this kindâheâd proven very resilient against the workings of demons. Perhaps that was old residue, from fighting in the battlefields for so many eons. It may well have inured him to most of the fouler tricks. Whatever the case, he had no such chains, and the only way that any of them really knew to get rid of the things was to work towards redemptionâas As was attempting to do.
That⊠would be hard, especially for Momo. It wasnât that he was a bad person, but that the falling event was still kept so close to his heart. It was like poison to them, to carry that weight alone. Even if As knew, there probably wasnât much he could do. He wasnât any betterâhell, as a demon, he was technically worse off. Cass was barely a help, and Morgan didnât seem inclined to share with him, anyway. He could understand that.
âYou know,â he said, venturing the best hypothesis he had, âI think those two are good for us. Have you considered talking to her about this? She might be able to help more than any of the rest of us could. You never know, with a being like that. Sheâs already extraordinaryâthey both are.â It was a big risk, perhaps, but it also carried the possibility of being a big help. Whether Momo was willing to do that, to tell Kazehana about the issues he faced and seek her assistance, was his own business. Cass wouldnât push.
He never did.
Kazehana matched her sisterâs look, grimacing and eyeing the shadow in front of her warily. âThis thing isnât gonna try to do anything weird with me, is it? Because I swear to whomever that if I end up making a fool of myself because some demon possessed me, I am definitely not going to talk to you again.â Her wry smile made it maybe halfway joking, but perhaps not entirely. In the end, though, she just shrugged. Sheâd do what she had to doâshe may have been reluctant, but once she committed to a course of action, neither Hell nor high water could steer her away from it.
As though by some unspoken signal, the shadow demon moved, and she found herself without any way to prevent that, as it passed right through the instinctive punch she aimed for it. The sensation was chilling and uncomfortable, like she was being frozen to her bones, and it was then that she felt something foreign settle somewhere in her chest, as though a frigid chain wrapped its way around her heart and squeezed. She was immediately resistant, reaching up to clutch at her shirt just beneath her collarbones, gritting her teeth. She could feel it in there.
The sensation of having oneâs own body move against oneâs will was uncanny, but her right arm lifted, her fingers flexing in front of her eyes as though they belonged to someone else. Oh, fuck no. She was not going to put up with this. âGoddamn amateur,â she ground out through a tightened jaw, fighting to freeze her hand in place. Trash taking a demon might not be the best idea ever, but it was making her feel better about this, more like herself. Her fingers stilled mid-clench, and with an inward cry of triumph and a flash in her eyes, she dove inward, seeking the foreign presence and latching onto it, squeezing right back with as much force as she could muster, as though trying to strangle it.
With a cry, the shadow-creature fell out of her body, covering its head with its arms and apparently trembling. With a scowl, Kaz lifted her foot and attempted to stomp on it, which only sort of worked since it was mostly insubstantial. âJerk,â she muttered with irritation, her brows furrowing with her displeasure. âNot even decent enough to let a girl punt you across the park, are you?â
The first definitely wasnât an option for any of them. The second⊠well, that was in Momoâs hands, but it wasnât like Cass thought it was ever an easy choice. He personally only rarely felt temptations of this kindâheâd proven very resilient against the workings of demons. Perhaps that was old residue, from fighting in the battlefields for so many eons. It may well have inured him to most of the fouler tricks. Whatever the case, he had no such chains, and the only way that any of them really knew to get rid of the things was to work towards redemptionâas As was attempting to do.
That⊠would be hard, especially for Momo. It wasnât that he was a bad person, but that the falling event was still kept so close to his heart. It was like poison to them, to carry that weight alone. Even if As knew, there probably wasnât much he could do. He wasnât any betterâhell, as a demon, he was technically worse off. Cass was barely a help, and Morgan didnât seem inclined to share with him, anyway. He could understand that.
âYou know,â he said, venturing the best hypothesis he had, âI think those two are good for us. Have you considered talking to her about this? She might be able to help more than any of the rest of us could. You never know, with a being like that. Sheâs already extraordinaryâthey both are.â It was a big risk, perhaps, but it also carried the possibility of being a big help. Whether Momo was willing to do that, to tell Kazehana about the issues he faced and seek her assistance, was his own business. Cass wouldnât push.
He never did.
Kazehana matched her sisterâs look, grimacing and eyeing the shadow in front of her warily. âThis thing isnât gonna try to do anything weird with me, is it? Because I swear to whomever that if I end up making a fool of myself because some demon possessed me, I am definitely not going to talk to you again.â Her wry smile made it maybe halfway joking, but perhaps not entirely. In the end, though, she just shrugged. Sheâd do what she had to doâshe may have been reluctant, but once she committed to a course of action, neither Hell nor high water could steer her away from it.
As though by some unspoken signal, the shadow demon moved, and she found herself without any way to prevent that, as it passed right through the instinctive punch she aimed for it. The sensation was chilling and uncomfortable, like she was being frozen to her bones, and it was then that she felt something foreign settle somewhere in her chest, as though a frigid chain wrapped its way around her heart and squeezed. She was immediately resistant, reaching up to clutch at her shirt just beneath her collarbones, gritting her teeth. She could feel it in there.
The sensation of having oneâs own body move against oneâs will was uncanny, but her right arm lifted, her fingers flexing in front of her eyes as though they belonged to someone else. Oh, fuck no. She was not going to put up with this. âGoddamn amateur,â she ground out through a tightened jaw, fighting to freeze her hand in place. Trash taking a demon might not be the best idea ever, but it was making her feel better about this, more like herself. Her fingers stilled mid-clench, and with an inward cry of triumph and a flash in her eyes, she dove inward, seeking the foreign presence and latching onto it, squeezing right back with as much force as she could muster, as though trying to strangle it.
With a cry, the shadow-creature fell out of her body, covering its head with its arms and apparently trembling. With a scowl, Kaz lifted her foot and attempted to stomp on it, which only sort of worked since it was mostly insubstantial. âJerk,â she muttered with irritation, her brows furrowing with her displeasure. âNot even decent enough to let a girl punt you across the park, are you?â