ᴄʜᴀᴘᴛᴇʀ ᴛᴡᴇɴᴛʏ-ᴛʜʀᴇᴇ ᴘᴏsᴛᴇᴅ: 09/01/22
1424 ᴡᴏʀᴅs.
! ᴛᴡ - ɪᴍᴘʟɪᴇᴅ ʀᴀᴘᴇ !

"Do I still taste of a tainted soul?" He would ask the stars which drowned the night sky, calling upon it's endless wisdom.

"Can you still feel the battles on my bone, stitched across my back?" He whispered, longing for answers.

A graveyard clogged his mouth, filled with the words that had died on his lips. Etchings of questions frowned his brow.

"You are just a devil trying to look like an angel"

"Such a corrupted era you've created for yourself, and there is no way to find your halo. Forever lost in the cosmos" they would answer him.

He would look at them confused, as if some baffling riddle had been displayed.

"But I do not desire any of those identities" lips peeled back to show the cavities of broken laws, injustice a ruthless form of neglect.

"You are at war with yourself. Caught between what you truly are - and what you're supposed to be"

He was born to rend galaxies in a palm, to show the sky the curl of his fists and sharpened nails.

"You can love a monster. It can even love you back, but that doesn't change its nature"

Denial drained through flowing rivers, the taste of god even though he was filled with unmistakable sin. Heart pounding like the slow movement of a warming glacier.

"You choke on the stardust of fallen enemies, their souls still haunt you from within"

He would shake his head and disagree with those above.

"I etch my own face upon my own wicked flesh, I am my own devastating god" he impetuously argued with a mind of a thousand, the will of a warrior.

He was the secret under the lock of seven keys, slowly being burnt by the suffering of a terrible fire in attempts to purify.

"Have you ever seen hell in someone's eyes, and loved it anyways?"

Something inside him had wilted away, and nothing came in to fill the hollow cavern. The freedom which comes with abandonment.

"I will vanish in the morning light; for I was only an invitation to the darkness from the start"

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"What do you mean Kyojuro's missing?!" The demon yelled, anxiety nagging at his mind violently now. Tomioka calmed his nerves, stopping his hands from shaking in front of this demon. After all he was an incredibly dangerous upper moon, regardless of their agreement.

"I thought you did it.." Giyuu whispered, not really letting on anymore information.

Akaza shoved the present he had bought for Kyojuro deeply in his pocket, stomping up to the hashira with a frown "I would never hurt him. And I stand by that for the rest of my life"

Tomioka stared at the demon a little bewildered "why should I trust you." He questioned doubtfully, normal stone face tainted a little with worry.

Akaza groaned loudly 'no wonder no one likes him' he inwardly scowled "...cuz' I love him" he forced out, never expecting his first confession to be heard by Giyuu of all people. But Kyojuro's safety was more important than his embarrassment right now.

Tomioka knew this was true from what Kyojuro had said before. But it still hurt hearing it, like a mental dagger hacking away at his heart strings.

"You must know where he is. The crow told us he was taken by an upper moon" Giyuu informed, lowering his blade just a little. Akaza narrowed his eyes, looking around the room with purpose.

"An upper moon you say?." Quick possibilities skimmed his mind. None of the upper moon's even knew who Kyojuro was except for one...

While searching the windowsill, the pink haired demon spotted a small flake of ice resting on the wood, followed by a small puddle of water dripping from the ledge.

Standing up wordlessly, Akaza turned slowly to the hashira "you're going to help me Tomioka"

"What?"

"Do you want to save Kyojuro or not!"

"I don't trust you fully" Giyuu argued, not letting his guard down. Making the upper moon even more angry then when he was right now.

"I know who took him. I need help to get him back" Akaza reasoned, practically begging now.

"Tell me where we're going first"

"The cult of eternal paradise"

Tomioka raised a brow. He had heart of this place before, it was in a temple around the Suburban areas of Tokyo; it was a strange area so Tomioka always took note to avoid it. In fact there was something eerily strange about the place.

"I'll tell the others. Everyone is still searching" Tomioka reasoned, however he was shut down abruptly by a large hand grabbing his shoulder tightly "no. Just you and me, no one else"

Akaza's tone was sharp, his eyes flaring with a dangerous tint.

"Please."

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Douma had his fun.

Kyojuro's half naked body was propped against the wall of the freezing cold room; left alone to bleed out and freeze.

He was practically sucked dry of blood. The upper moon had become so indulged in Kyojuro's taste that he couldn't stop himself from almost - completely draining him.

He could feel everything.

He could see everything that happened.

Yet he could not move.

So as the pillar simply sat their like a lifeless bag of potatoes, allowing his mind to fully grasp what just went down. Trying to control his breathing enough to stop himself from bleeding out and making some broken bones less painful.

Staring at the now desolate room, the corners of his eyes started to sting painfully. Like small needles being pricked repeatedly in his tear ducts, slow, fat tears trickling down his pale stained cheeks. The liquid mixing with dry flood caked on his chin.

Willing his eyelids closed, Kyojuro drifted off into the deepest parts of his mind. Looking for a sort of mental fortitude in order to keep himself stable.

'Just endure it. For now at least..'

How long had he been here again?

A day?

Maybe two?

Oh it doesn't matter anyways.

Burying into the most secure chamber of his aching brain, Kyojuro allowed himself peace. Eyelids resting heavily as his deep breaths became even and shallow - head lolling to the side in a lax state.

There was so much stubborn hope in the human heart. The need to continue beating, pumping blood around the body. Survival instinct one would call it.

Kyojuro's felt so alone however.

Blanketed by just his own presence, cradling him like his mother used to on the coldest nights of winter.

It was a mortifyingly nostalgic feeling.

Kyojuro wasn't dead. To breathe but feel dead is possibly one of the worst feelings imaginable. Not the broken bones, not the torn tendons. No, simply this feeling of numbness. Like a stranded astronaut left to wander the depths of space for eternity.

What is human existence? Being mortal? A painfully short and lonely life, left only in darkness after death.

Maybe being alone after death was better than being alone and alive. Perhaps you would get used to it after death, but you would never really adapt to it while living.

Whatever the answer to all these questions were... Kyojuro couldn't care less.

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"Ahhh I haven't had a meal quite as delicious as that for a decades!" Douma exclaimed happily to himself, mind still flashing with events from only an hour or so ago.

Amazing. Amazing memories.

The feeling of the pillar's smooth thighs, his blood with the texture of fine velvet, his curled hair bouncing with every movement, long eyelashes batting against beautifully stained cheeks.

'Oh how I wish to do more...' he fantasised, even debating wether he should go back to the room where Kyojuro lay and have a second round.

Mentally debating with himself, the upper moon didn't have any time to finish his thoughts as the wall behind him erupted into an explosion.

Douma's body was chucked a good couple meters forward as the wall was no more, replaced with debris that piled the ground. Light smoke and dust circulated the air; giving for a constricting feeling.

A shadow.

No, two.

Enveloped with the dust that floated from the ground, the first figure approached the wood and concrete rubble.

His shoulders were pushed back in a trained stance, standing tall and confident as the air settled - showing the utter magnificence of these silhouettes; complimented by the background of small stars in the night sky.

Face twisted into a fierce mask of anger and revenge.

"Douma"

ᴄʜᴀᴘᴛᴇʀ ᴛᴡᴇɴᴛʏ-ᴛʜʀᴇᴇ ᴇɴᴅ.
ᴘʟᴇᴀsᴇ ᴋᴇᴇᴘ ᴏɴ ʀᴇᴀᴅɪɴɢ