Something Wicked is Here Aftermath

Sera had fled the scene and was now perched upon the roof of Yuki's home. She sat there amidst the thatching and the straw of the roof, hiding and trying to get her thoughts in order. If a bird could cry she would be doing so. But thankfully a bird could not shed tears. She was confused and her thoughts could not make sense at the moment. Her memories warbled like a bird song cut short. Erratic. Clipped. A shadowy form of a man over her, shoving a sword in her shoulder, laughing gleefully. A window and a crack in a ceiling, revealing a blood red sky. A wall of flame whose heat could make that which was coming from the two bodies entwined upon the floor. Blood and darkness surging and running through starved veins. Words running though her mind, 'Don't. Fuck. With. Jack.' They kept circling like sharks in a sea of blood. A dark island rising from the sea was her only shelter. She stood upon the island and watched as bit by bit, it crumbled into the sea. Only a small bright tree of light existed in the center of the island and all she could do was hold on to it as the word sharks swam around the island repeating their words. Don't Fuck with Jack. I am your master. You belong to me. They kept swimming around as the island crumbled and grew smaller. Images flashed in the blood red sky. Partial memories. Erratic. Clipped.

Sera in her bird form was nestled down and trembling. Her red eyes lost as her mind wandered through blood and darkness. Not understanding anything. Erratic. Clipped. Sanity only hanging on by a thread. The little red bird stayed hidden, never hearing the call or her name as she was lost in her own memories. Thunder rolled across the sky, a telltale sign of a storm brewing, but she remained silence, still. all but the trembling of fear.

"Seraphina...." The name said in a whisper, like a caress and a promise. A lover's voice. Soft hands against her skin. Filled. Deep. The tree of light that she held onto in her mind was a rock, a promise. It was her only grip on reality as the word sharks began to attack the island, taking deep bites of the darkness. Blood, lots of blood. Darkness bleeding into a sea of blood. Word sharks circling. I am your master. You belong to me. Don't fuck with Jack. She sat huddled against the tree, holding onto the trunk for dear life as the island slowly, painfully, dissolved. She knew that if the sharks got to her, she would sink into the madness of the blood. Darkness mixing with blood. The taste of it addicting. She shook her head and began to cry, tears of blood stained her cheeks. Red tracks against porcelain cheeks. She wanted out. Waves of blood slowly lapped against the decaying darkness. A scream bubbled up but all she heard was laughter, insane evil laughter. A cane sword, the blade sharp. Her shoulder popping out of joint. The sharks swimming around, their words echo in the vast bloody nothingness. Don't Fuck with Jack. You belong to me. I am your master. She trembled.

The red bird sat huddled against the approaching storm. Sera was nestled there, a blank look in her eyes as the scene in her mind continued to play out. She shivered and trembled and a single bloody tear rolled down the beak. Thunder rolled again across the sky as the clouds blew in. Rain was in the air as the wind picked up. It would seem even the heavens would weep for the lost soul of one of its own. And still she did not hear them calling. She was lost and fallen from the heavens. A broken bird no match against the coming storm of fate. The little Kami with no memories, and the rain began to splatter around her. Heaven's tears for a lost daughter.

Blood, everywhere. Darkness in the sky and the island. Darkness in the blood. Only a little bit of light left. Dimming. Dying. The sea of blood, red upon the porcelain. A stain of red upon a cold, cold table. Blood's Innocence. Blood on silken flesh. A name, a breath. A whisper. The voice the sharks. Shards of memories as cutting as glass. You belong to me. Don't Fuck with Jack. I am your Master... I am your master.... I am..... She covered her ears and cried. Tears dripping, blood seeping upon white petals. The light in the darkness. Madness the shore crumbling the sharks getting closer. Nearer. Biting at her feet. She held onto the tree and heard a voice. Different from the first one. Childish, sad, sorrow. "Se.....Sera?" Questioning. A third voice, deeper, growling "Seraphina" Demanding, always demanding. She wanted the first voice but it was not there. Gone. darkness in the blood. Must destroy the blood. Blood on white petals. Feathers tipped in blood. Dripping. She held onto the tree and those voices and was filled with a want to return to those voices. The child. Familiar and yet not. More broken shards of her. A picture of a chalice, broken. She would have to repair that chalice to bring back her memories. How to do that? the shark took a bite out of the darkness. Don't Fuck with Jack. And she hugged the tree tighter. The shards of memories fell into the blood sea and began to sink. Voices. Need to get to the Voices. Need to return.. Need ... to.... go....

The bird began to glow and take on the shape of her human form, wingless and completely ignorant. The bones of the bird popping out of joint and reforming as the skin and muscles stretched and rejoined. During all of her struggles inside, this struggle was going on outside of her. Finally the human won and she blinked at the sky before her eyes fluttered shut. A soft whisper of a name on her lips, soon forgotten as she sunk into a deep sleep. "noah......"

She was unharmed physically, but her memories had been forced upon her and she had retreated into the recesses of her own haunted mind. A broken Kami, a fallen Angel, the beauty of perfection, shattered into a million pieces. While she was being touched and carried around by Yuki, her mind dreamed vivid details. The sleeping mind always seemed to know more than the wakeful one. Dreams were always a window into one's soul just like the eyes. And this force of memories was too much for her soul to take so it broke and shattered. A chalice broken and unable to hold anything. So she floated in the surreal world of her own imagination....

Darkness crept around her as she floated there amidst the shards of herself. Each shard like that of a crystal or glass. Contained therein was the images of her memories, her thoughts, her feelings, her training, everything she was. These shards were pieces to a puzzle and if she could just fit them together she would remember everything. As it was they were a jumbled up mess floating about the darkness with her. Each glimpse into a shard made her hurt and feel stretched thin. In her dream state she was nude, her wings were there and she was physically perfect, but her mind was not. Reached out and touched a shard to bring it close to her, the edges crumbled a little in her hands as she stared into the shard. A great cloud was forming around her as she stood in the crystalline forest. Blood began to rain down causing the blessings of heaven to sit in judgement. She shook her head and released the piece. It hurt her hand and she noticed a cut on her palm. So gaining her memories was dangerous and would hurt her, and they would be shaky. How to put the pieces together without breaking them. She had once been powerful and then brought low. Another shard floated by her head and she glimpsed silver hair, silver clothing and man.. no a demon dressed in red. A stern face with a strong hand, cupping her cheek. A demon Lord. But that was not the Demon lord named Jack. That one shard continued to float past her and she let it go. What did that one mean?

The shards continued past her as she dreamed and she could see glimpses of herself. A young man holding her hand in one shard. She reached out and brushed the piece of memory with a finger tip. A feel blossomed in her heart and she held onto it. That shard also floated away as she watched. Where to start? How did one going about rebuilding themselves? A dim light appeared below her as she watched. Light cutting the darkness around her. Slowly she began to sink towards it and she saw it was throne. Beside the throne was a table, and altar of sort. A ring lay upon that makeshift alter. The throne was both demonic and angelic at the same time. On the demonic side lifted a cane sword, on the angelic side there was a gentle wing lifting. Both sides meant something but she did not know. As she sunk lower into the darkness she noticed that the demonic side also had an altar of sorts. Barbs and horns curling around it. In the center was also a ring. A choice is what it represented but she did not know. Was it the choice within herself?

Her feet touched down upon the platform holding the throne. She had to choose one or the other. But which one. The shards of memory floated around her and she knew she could go no further until she choose a ring. A ring of light and goodness or the ring that was hard to get to through the barbs and horns. The easy choice or the painful hard choice? It hurt and she felt herself stretching thinner. It was important. She knew it was important to choose. But which one. she lay there watching the rings and deciding on which to choose. Her wings fluttered and noticed something. If she sat on the throne, she could reach both at the same time. And have them both? Maybe. It was worth a try, a wolf howled in the distance and she felt something evil coming for her again. She took a step back and spiraled off the platform, the choice gone from her. She began to fall at an alarming speed through the darkness, her hand reached out reaching for nothing. The choice was gone.

In the bed she thrashed about for a moment, her face screwing up into a painful expression. Kami being a heavenly being were prone to crying tears of blood almost as the martyrs of old with their stigmata. Blood tended to seep from the divine beings when their emotions ran high. A drop of blood appeared from the corner of her mouth and trickled down. A single drop of red on that porcelain face.

Sera awoke in a bed that was not her own. With a man kneeling over her that it took a few seconds to realize was someone she knew. His hand was on her and there was a child screaming for him to stop. She had swung at him and pretty much girly punched him. But she was startled from her sleep and something about swimming in darkness. Yuki. This man was Yuki. That much she remembered. Was the child hers? No. She had never given birth. Her thoughts were jumbled and the only thing she knew, was that this was Yuki's bed. Had he tried to rape her again? Was it interrupted by the child? All she could do was let out a scream and pull the covers up to her chin as she glanced between the two, "What is going on? What happened? Who are you?" the last was said to the kid in the room, her red eyes showing no familiarity. "Yuki! What are you doing? I thought I told you I would not have sex with you. Did you try to force me again?" It was shaky but slowly the memories of the past few days began to sink back in and she slipped from the bed and backed into the corner of the room. Yuki was not moving so she looked at the child again, "What happened to him? Why is he not moving?" Her head began to ache as she tried to figure this out and it was impossible, her hands dropped the sheet and reached up to cradle her own head. A whimper came out of her mouth and she tasted copper.

Noah's words fell upon her and she looked him over, a sorrowful expression upon her face. "I'm sorry. I just do not recall having met you. But you do look familiar." Her voice was soft and full of confusion. Her arms reach out and she gives him a gentle hug to try and sooth him. As if a simple hug could wipe away the sorrow that made the air seem so heavy. If he allowed the hug, then it would not last that long before the scen moved on. Noah seemed to get extremely angry at Yuki and now she realized that perhaps Yuki was not the most powerful thing in the room for once. Her red eyes grow into round orbs as Yuki begins to talk and she looks between the two. A frown coming over her youthful visage. She huffed and shook her head, "I knew that he wanted to ravage me, but that voice is just purely evil." She shuddered as she looked at the kid, "Noah, right? I am sorry for you to have to hear such things at your age. Speaking of which, how did you get so powerful at such a young age?" After Noah answered she would motion to Yuki. "We have agreement. He will help train me as long as I give him a second chance to redeem his earlier mistakes of trying to force me. Not to mention our teacher has forbidden it. I do not think he will go against Battousai's rules."

Noah's story made her sad and she wanted to cry, for she feared that she had lost something more than her memories and could not gain it back. It was just there out of reach. Then the thought came to her, "You are more than just a child are you not? You speak as if you have seen so many years. I feel like I am the younger of us two." Her voice was sad and she did not know how to make the situation happy again. It was almost too much for her. If she could have remembered, she would have understood that as the type of Kami she was, her emotions ran higher than most. The emotions of others could trigger her own into being more explosive. Empathic was the word for it. She had empathy for all living creatures. But she also have the ability to judge. A memory washed up on the shore of that island of darkness and she clung to it. Softly she repeated it and did not know where it came from. "To be able to pass the judgements of heaven, one must be able to feel what the judged are feeling. The weight of that judgement will always be carried in our hearts. It will keep you from rash decisions." She shook her head and looked to Noah. "What is that? where did that come from? Someone told me that once. What does it mean?" It was all to confusing as she slide down to her rear end in the corner and sat hiding her face on her hands. She only looked up when Yuki spoke those horrible worse. A look of shock and fear replacing the one of sorrow and confusion. "B-but I thought you respected Battousai yuki. I thought we had a deal. You would not try to force yourself on me again."

She looked between the two and knew deep down that she could trust this child. But she looked to Yuki and sighed. Knowing that in leaving she would not be able to see Jyn or Battousai again. It was a hard decision and she did not know what to do. She let her hands drop from her face. "Please. I do not even know where you live. And If I leave, then my bargain with Battousai will be void. And he... he found me and offered me a place to stay. And he has accepted me even for the missing memories. I trust him. Just like I trust you. What is wrong with Yuki? Why is he doing this? We made a pact, a bargain. He promised. He's only a half demon, there has to be some good in him. Something..." And like any true Kami, she cried tears of blood while she spoke and looked at Yuki. Like any Kami worth their name, she believed that he was..."Redeemable." She looked up at Noah and then wiped away her bloody tears. "Why am I crying blood? Please is he redeemable? Does he have a goodness to him? He was nice yesterday" Then her mind hit on something. "Maybe he is possessed?"

The child seemed to get a bit angry and that look on his face was familiar to her as she struggled to remember. A face, the child's face, in a great temple. Him sitting on a pillar above the ground as she talked to him. Her eyes closed for a moment and she breathed out his in name in a soft sigh, "Noah, the Machinator" Her eyes opened and looked up at the Kami in front of her. "I do not remember why you were called that or who called you that. But I remember that...I'm sorry I cannot remember..... remember anything else" Her hand came up to her forehead and rubbed it gently. She was getting a headache of tall proportions while trying to force herself to remember this child. "It hurts to remember. I-I cannot force the memory, its there but I cannot reach it." Her legs came up under her and she pushed up against the wall. "I know you though. I just do not remember how." Her feet made their way to child as she knelt in front of him, her head bowed, sorrow sinking in to her body. "I feel so lost" Her normal soft, even voice was stretched and thin as she spoke this last phrase, hallow. "What should I do? Should I go with you?" Her head remained bowed as if waiting for his judgement.

She raises her head up to gaze up at him. That smile that made the heavens shine brighter appeared on her face and she reached up to wipe the bloody tears from her eyes. "I would love to go with you, but before anything, can we not release Yuki and see if he feels himself redeemable and if he is willing to be good. If not, then I will gladly go with you. For if he does not have a good side left, then he has given into the half of himself that is chaotic and cruel. That side will be judged." She blinked as that normally soft voice took on the quality of the steel and metals she once forged. If only she could remember that part of herself. It started her and she looked between Noah and Yuki. Where had that come from? "wait. Who am I to judge someone? I do not even know who or what I am." If only she had been able to complete the chalice, she would have remembered that she was kami destined to be a demon hunter, a Kami of battle, a kami of judgment. Sent forth to judge those based on their evil and goodness. And to ultimately bring the wrath of the heavens down upon those too evil to remain upon the earth. But no, Yuki had shaken her awake before she could regain those bits of her memories. Had shattered the chalice. So that now, she knelt in front of Noah like a cowering child, looking for comfort. A shell and a shadow of her former glory.

Why would he not tell her now? What was wrong, was it a big secret or something. Her head was starting to really hurt now. Too many questions and not enough answers. But she watches as Noah allows Yuki to speak. It looked like there might be a struggle going on Yuki's head as he struggles to speak. Then the strangest thing came out of his mouth. He pleaded for help. That tore at her Kami heart. She looked from Noah to Yuki. She then stood up and moved slowly over to Yuki. She knelt in front of him, her heart beating in her throat. Her arms came around his neck and she hugged his bound body. Her voice lilted through the room. "We will help you overcome that dark side. You can be saved. I know you can. I believe in you." After the gentle hug, she would back up and off the bed, just in case he came out of that binding swinging. Kind of like she had done when she had woken up. Her body moved close to the child again as she watched Yuki, her voice soft again. "See, perhaps he is redeemable. A second chance is always welcome." She smiled again, but softer this time as if musing over a memory.

She listened to Yuki and Noah. It hurt her to leave him like this and she looked back to Noah, "Please, Noah. Do not let him remain bound so. What if an enemy would appear to kill him? He would be helpless. Please release him?" Her red eyes were pleading to him as she wiped her cheeks. "I know that we should go, but I want him to be able to move before we go. Also I want him to know that I will return to help him be good and subdue the evil side of him. I want him to know I am not leaving him like his mother did." Then she turned to look at Yuki. "I am not abandoning you, but Noah holds keys to unlock my past. And until I learn who I am, I cannot begin to help you. I promise, I swear I will return to help you." She only hoped he would understand. She was not going to abandon him, just try to find herself before she could help him find himself. Otherwise it would be the blind leading the blind. She would return to help him. She had given her word. Those eyes gazed between them until their answers were given.