"Ahh...that cursed fool returns, I should've devoured her when I had the chance!" A malevolent monitoring spirit grumbled, banging his head on the wall.
Rumors were spreading throughout Earth and the spiritual realm about Lady Caltheris failing her mission, and just the presence of Kurai was disrupting his stable place in mind.
"Boss...your fury's distracting you. Let me handle it," One of his minions said, trying to calm him down.
"Hold your tongue, lest I rip it from your mouth, Azhield! How do you wretched fools not comprehend that each failure I must go through punishment from our master?!"
The demons watched the Tsukikage family, rejoicing over their beloved daughter.
But they had no idea what Lenieve was planning.
Then, out of the blue, a deafening roar echoed throughout earth and the spiritual realm, signaling to all demons that a meeting was being held, so they teleported.
Their master, who is a great fiery red dragon with seven heads and ten horns, and on his heads were seven diadems, poured smoke from his nostrils.
His very tail drew the third part of the stars of heaven and cast them to the earth.
He once walked among angels and plucked his harp in heaven to glorify the goodness of God, and the angels sang with him to praise God.
But one tragic day, he was checking himself out in the mirror like the narcissist he was, and just hearing the way humans, angels, and every living creature praise Yahweh's name for all the things he had done for the heavens and the earth, sparked jealousy within Lukien.
How dare he bask in the praise that should be mine?! Am I not the fairest angel of them all? I am I am so they should be worshipping me!
Ever since that day, nothing remained the same.
His heart was hooked on his dark desire to set his throne above the stars of God and sit on the mount of the congregation in the sides of the north.
And he thought the only way to be as supramundane as God and overthrow heaven was to convince a third of God's angels to rebel against him because he was a musician and a third of the angels in heaven trusted him so he approached them with his heart growing with deceit and offered them a new start in life.
"Look, all I'm saying is," Lukien said, "Have any of you ever considered why we, who were formed with wisdom and splendor, yet we are meant to obey and serve without question?"
A seraphim stepped forward, wings trembling slightly.
"We serve the Most High. His will is perfect. It is not ours to question."
"Yet were we not created with a reason? With discernment? With the ability to behold truth? Why then should such gifts lie unused? Are we meant to obey without ever asking what greater purpose we might hold?"
Some looked toward one another, caught between staying loyal to God and the curiosity of what he was saying.
"Judge not my words as rebellion," Lukien added,"I speak of freedom. Must our path be forever as angels when we could be so much more? We could be gods, everyone would bow down to us, it'll be like heaven on earth!"
When God saw this, he ordered the archangels to cast them out of the gates of heaven, and Lukien and his followers went falling down to earth.
But this didn't stop Lukien from telling himself that he would ascend above the heights of the clouds and be like the Most High.
"You all only cast me out because you all wish you worshipped me from the very beginning! Holy, Holy, Holy...my ass!"
His stubbornness and his pride despite knowing God's warning and continuing to wreak havoc on earth makes him forever known as the Morningstar, for he was a beautiful angel, yet prideful.
A woman with wavy, blood red hair flowing gently behind her, strutted with a little demon lamb that boasted about being in her presence, and all the other demons stared at the lamb with disdain, wondering why the woman would allow such a puny animal by her side.
The woman's amber eyes glowed with rage that caused one of the princes of the sea to get hiccups, her teasing arrogance that matched her husband's own.
She wore twilight silk, her crown shaped from the embers of dying stars.
Her bat like wings stretched for the sky, hoping soon she and her husband could rule the heavens and earth.
Lukien did not turn when she approached; all the demons knew her name.
After all, she was Liraeth, the mother of demons.
When she stood beside Lukien, the tallest of demons hushed.
Some call the Dragon the serpent because he came as a talking serpent to tempt Adam's wife into eating from the tree of knowledge and she gave some of the fruit to her husband, Adam.
Lukien was an archangel at the time when God created Adam in his image and witnessed Adam's strong love for his wife so when he fell from heaven, he went after Adam's wife to deceive her into eating from the tree of knowledge in the form of a serpent.
"Did God really say, 'You can't eat from any tree in the garden?"
The woman said to the serpent,"We may eat the fruit from the trees in the garden. But about the tree in the midst of the garden, God said, 'You must not eat it or touch it, or you will die.'
"No! You will not die," the serpent said to the woman. In fact, God knows that when you eat it your eyes will be opened and you will be like God, knowing good and evil."
Then woman saw that the tree was beautiful and its fruit looked delicious, and she wanted the wisdom it would give her.
So she took some of its fruit and ate it, and she also gave some to her husband, who was with her, and he ate it.
Then the eyes of both of them were opened, and they knew they were naked and felt shame, so they sewed fig leaves together and made aprons for themselves.
That's when they heard the sound of LORD God walking in the garden at the time of the evening breeze, and they hid themselves from the LORD God among the trees of the garden.
"Where art thou?" God called out to Adam.
"I heard You in the garden and I was afraid because I was naked, so I hid."
Then God asked,"Who told you that you were naked? Did you eat from the tree I commanded you not to eat from?"
Then Adam replied,"The woman You gave to be with me, she gave me some fruit from the tree, and I ate."
So the LORD God asked the woman,"What is this that thou hast done?"
And the woman said ,"It was the serpent. He beguiled me, and I ate."
Then the LORD God said to the serpent:
"Because thou hast done this, thou art cursed above all livestock and above every wild animal, upon thy belly shalt thou go, and dust shalt thou eat all the days of thy life: and I will put enmity between thee and the woman, and between thy seed and her seed; it shall bruise thy head, and thou shalt bruise his heel."
He said to the woman:
"I will greaty multiply thy sorrow and thy conception; in sorrow thou shalt bring forth children; and thy desire shall be to thy husband, and he shall rule over thee."
And He said to Adam,"Because thou hast hearkened unto the voice of thy wife, and hast eaten of the tree, of which I commanded thee, saying, Thou shalt not eat of it: cursed is the ground for thy sake; in sorrow shalt thou eat of it all the days of thy life; thorns also and thistles shall it bring forth to thee; and thou shalt eat the herb of the field; in the sweat of thy face shalt thou eat bread, till thou return unto the ground; for out of it wast thou taken: for dust thou art, and unto dust shalt thou return."
Adam called his wife's name Eve; because she was the mother of all living.
The LORD God made coats of skin for Adam and his wife, and clothed them.
Then LORD God said,"Behold, the man has become as one of us, to know good and evil: and now, lest he put forth his hand, and take also of tree of life, and eat, and life for ever."
Therefore the LORD God sent him away from the garden of Eden to till the ground from whence he was taken.
So he drove out the man; and he placed at the east of the garden of Eden Cherubims, and a flaming sword which turned every way, to keep the way of the tree of life.
People who don't understand the situation mock Eve till this day for what she had done, while others praise Lukien, thinking he brought free will into the world but it was really God who gave free will from the very start, he wanted to see who truly loves him and is willing to obey him because that's what love is really about, if he made humans as robots they did whatever he wanted, that wouldn't show people truly loved him.
God is powerful than any being in existence, if he didn't want humans to have free will, he would have obliterated Adam and Eve the day they listened to someone else's voice besides his and God didn't force Liraeth to stay in the garden of Eden when she felt disrespected by having to submit to Adam since she believed they were both equal, and when God sent three angels to try to persuade her into returning, Liraeth refused so she was then replaced with Eve who God took out of Adam's rib.
God loves Adam and Eve but still was sad to see them disobey him because he longs to make humans and angels his children and give them a pleasant land, a goodly heritage of the hosts of nations and be called their father and to never be turned away from and each time they backslide he asks for them to return and he will heal their wayward hearts.
But like every sin, there has to be punishment, if a father doesn't punish his children for their wrongdoings, what kind of father is that?
Certainly one that encourages destruction.
For Adam and Eve, the consequences of their actions were that they had to leave the Garden of Eden and could no longer live forever.
So now the Dragon is forever known as the serpent, the devil, the Morningstar, and some even call him Lukien.
"Another human flees from a life of sin. Tch...how long shall the Almighty pluck his little lambs from Hades?"
Lady Caltheris spotted Lenieve and his minions and groaned.
"So you are that foul creature who let that girl get away!" Lenieve growled.
"Can you blame me?! An angel of God came after me!" Lady Caltheris hissed.
"I'd think the one who stalks every creed and race would know when to scatter from those winged pests!" Lenieve yelled.
They snarled their fangs at each other, and Liraeth had to separate them so her husband could continue the meeting.
"The Kingdom of Heaven approaches...yet fear not. Our tactics have never failed us, and we shall gather enough souls under our dominion, or we shall be nothing but shadows. Now don't go around with despair, you won't see the gates of heaven no more, but I am I am and trust in me and you shall witness the true order of things as it was always meant to be."
Lukien's gaze fell onto the lamb.
"Shikueru will be with Lady Caltheris on some days, and other days she'll do her duty as a demon and roam around and howl for any threats."
"It's...Mary had a little lamb. Not...Lady Caltheris. How amusing that my name is butchered with the simplest of names.."
"You created the noble's eye to keep an eye on people, but don't know when to flee in times of danger, that even a little lamb can protect you from your ignorance."
Lady Caltheris grunted, then glanced at Shikueru, who was boastfully flapping her eyelashes.
"But master of evil, Morningstar, the devil himself, if humans see a lamb that clearly doesn't look like a lamb, they'd chop her up and burn her!"
"Stop making up excuses. You're a demon, you know she can shape shift to an actual lamb to fool the stupidest of fools, and anyone who eats her would be possessed."
Lenieve snickered.
"Lady Caltheris had a little lamb!"
"I will knock your fangs out!"
Liraeth gave both of them a cold look, and they got quiet.
"Now, you all see her purpose as a demon, stop saying we favor her over all of you. We expect you to ask her for assistance if needed."
At once, all the demons watched Shikueru, who was giggling at all the attention she was getting, but all the demons were thinking were:
I'd rather skin that lamb alive.
"We all know how our fate is meant to be so when Jesus comes, I'll make Heaven remember who they cast out. So when that day comes, and we don't have enough souls in our dominion..."
All the demons shuddered with fear and said at once:
"We won't let you down, sir!"
And they all teleported back to their usual duties of tormenting humanity.
Except Lady Caltheris.
Lady Caltheris snuck back to the house she and the Nightmare Fuels once resided in, and she vomited black ichor at the sight of the shattered amulet.
Lady Caltheris crouched slowly, her claws scraping up the shattered pieces.
From the day Lady Caltheris stepped first foot on Earth, she noticed a pattern with humans and how they idolized jewelry.
The living wore jewelry for protection and some for fashion, and the dead apparently needed to literally look breathtaking as a corpse.
Even their soldiers wore charms to ward off evil spirits.
She'd laugh hysterically at that one, humans were still trying to scare away demons like her with things like polished rocks.
Humans wore crosses all for the asethetic while others pretended holiness could be bought in silver and gold.
She always thought it was poesy how humans try to outshine heaven itself.
The Renaissance was another kind of madness.
They crafted jewelry like art, secret compartments for poison, lockets hiding forbidden love, pearls that symbolized purity worn by anyone but the pure.
Every piece told a lie, and she loved every bit of it.
But the Victorians were...a different breed.
They wore mourning rings and lockets of dead human hair.
She'd watch widows wear their necklaces any chance they'd get and whisper to their necklaces, pretending the dead could hear them.
Jewelry had become their substitute for faith.
By the 21st century, the obsession went digital, gold chains in music videos and crystal charms for manifestation.
And through it all, she recognized the same hungry looks and the same need to accessorize their bodies.
Now, knowing this, in her human disguise, she promoted the noble's eye, which she claimed brought protection from harm, misfortune, curses, and even brought good luck.
The design of the noble's eye was nothing like the other charms, therefore it brought in tons of customers.
Sales for the noble's eye went skyrocketing, people were so superstitious that their trust was going to be used against them to manipulate their curiosity, their desire for protection, and their small, desperate rituals.
The noble's eye was sold in many forms, like necklaces, amulets, and even bracelets.
And influencers showcasing the noble's eye by hanging it on their walls and wearing it around their necks made people who were curious about the elegant design purchase it without knowing Lady Caltheris' true intentions.
Now, don't go around thinking she's some money hungry business lady.
This very item she created by her own hands held something far more sinister to the naked eye.
Something that humans shouldn't be keeping in their homes and around them in general.
All her customers who purchased the noble's eye were talking about the high quality, and influencers were discussing online that the good luck had worked.
But everything has a cost.
And for some, that cost becomes their soul.
So as she held the shattered pieces, all she saw was red.
Her pupils dilated and her mouth thirsted for blood, but she didn't move.
"My suffering will not be in vain," she murmured.
The shard vibrated, as though it answered.
Then the glow turned violent, searing through her claws, and black ichor dripped onto her suit.
She inhaled sharply and exhaled, her mouth frothing up, before hurling the shards aside.
"Pretty thing, wasn't it? Now it bleeds like you will."
--
Dishes clattered and Kurai's mother voice called, "Kurai, get ready, we're heading out soon!"
She slipped on her jacket and headed outside.
Her father stood by the car, swinging his car keys around his finger.
Teruna bounced by the door with a pink hair clip.
"Road trip!" Teruna exclaimed, "We're going somewhere nice, right?"
"Ginza. We thought we could all use a change of scenery."
During the drive, Kurai pressed her forehead against the car window, watching Ginza's glittering towers rise above the crowd.
Beside her, Teruna was making a lot of fuss.
"Are we there yet?" Teruna asked.
"We haven't too long left the house,Teruna," Mrs.Tsukikage replied.
Teruna groaned.
"I just want my Taro bubble tea!"
"Why? It isn't even all that."
Teruna squealed and looked at Kurai.
"But it's cute like me!"
Then she stuck out her tongue.
"Whatever."
"It's good to be back home," Kurai thought bitterly.
Her chest still ached from the humiliation of running away.
From the front seat, their mother's voice cut through.
"Ginza is...busy, but it's safe. Just walk, look at the lights, and," She glanced at Kurai in the rearview mirror. "Maybe enjoy it a little."
Her father's eyes met hers in the mirror.
"We just want you safe. No punishments. We just want to understand why you ran away."
Kurai clenched her jaw, her eyes locked onto the window.
She didn't want to talk...not now, not ever.
When the car stopped, the city swallowed them. Crowds surged past, laughter and chatter mixing with the screech of a tram in the distance.
The streets glowed with neon: pinks, blues, and reds shimmering off shop windows.
Teruna squealed, dragging Kurai toward a stand selling cotton candy that spun like a miniature galaxy.
"Come on, Kurai!" She cried, spinning.
Kurai reluctantly smiled at Teruna.
They moved through the crowded streets, passing luxury boutiques, sushi restaurants with glass walls, and arcades.
Teruna tugged at Kurai's hand, dragging her toward a bubble tea stall lit by fairy lights.
"Taro or strawberry?" Teruna asked, eyes wide.
"Taro's too sweet," Kurai muttered.
Teruna giggled.
"Give it a try, maybe you'll like it this time."
Kurai took a sip and grimaced.
Teruna laughed so hard she nearly dropped hers.
For the first time since running away, she felt alive, distracted from her messy thoughts, if only for a little while.
As night fell, they ducked into a narrow alley where a tiny izakaya hid behind crimson lanterns.
The smell of grilled fish and soy glaze filled the air.
Inside, their parents talked quietly, their chopsticks moving slowly, like they were afraid to disturb the peace.
"So," her mother began carefully, "how have you been sleeping?"
"Fine."
"Are you...happy to be home?"
Kurai hesitated.
"It feels strange."
Her father's gaze softened.
"You don't have to pretend, Kurai. We know you're trying."
Teruna glanced between them with those big, round searching eyes.
"You were scared when you ran away, right? Thats why you came back."
Kurai's chopsticks froze.
"Yeah...I came back."
Her father nodded.
"That's what matters."
°°°
The rain began after dinner, a thin mist coating the street.
The city's reflection rippled beneath their feet as they walked.
Teruna danced ahead.
"Careful," her mom called.
Teruna walked close to Kurai, hand slipping into hers.
"Why...did you run away?" She asked, voice trembling.
Kurai hesitated.
"Don't worry about it, okay?" She whispered.
Teruna squeezed her hand tightly.
"I don't want to loose my big sissy."
Kurai felt some of her tension melt.
Maybe running away hadn't solved anything, but it had reminded her what really mattered.
Then she saw it.
A familiar shadow by the alley, around her height, not moving but just staring straight at her.
Her pulse spiked.
"Dad...?"
But when she looked again, nothing was there.
Only a puddle and ripples spreading as though someone had stepped through.
"Keep up, Kurai! You're so slow!"
Kurai forced a smile.
"Sorry..."
But her eyes kept drifting back to the alley.
Her mind kept warning her:
It's after us.
By the time they reached home, it was close to midnight.
The air outside their small house in Setagaya was cool and quiet, almost too quiet.
Teruna stumbled sleepily onto her bed in her room, mumbling something about cotton candy galaxies.
Their parents disappeared into their rooms.
Kurai stood by the window and pressed her palm against the glass.
Her reflection stared back, tired, pale, eyes darker than before.
But something was wrong and that warning was only the start of it.