Chapter 6

Jason woke up in a bed, feeling as if he had been hit by a bag of bricks. Rubbing his neck in confusion as he lifted himself from the bed, he found himself in what looked like a log cabin in an older city. The room was unfamiliar, and he could hear the sound of people bustling outside the door.

Looking to his left, he was greeted by Loba looming over his bedside, Lance by his side as he stared down menacingly. “You’re awake.”

Jason rolled his eyes with a groan, yawning violently. “Yeah, I am.”

He stared at Loba for a moment before sighing, “So, this is checkmate? Damn, I honestly thought I’d get some time to recover first, but alright, you got me fair and square.”

Loba sighed, looking down at Jason with contempt, before raising his spear in one hand. Jason held his breath, shutting his eyes and holding his breath.

‘At least this time it’s actually over.’

He tapped Jason’s neck with the blunt end.

“If I stab you, kid, this spear would go right through you and pierce my friend. So, you get to live.” Jason then noticed Biji, resting her head on the side of the bed.

"She hasn't left your side since she knocked you out. Ran with you all the way here. I just got back, but you’ve been sleeping for a good while.” Jason simply stared at his blanket in silence, his face drained of its color. Loba, exasperated, put his hand on his shoulder.

“Look, kid, before she passed out, Biji told me your situation. You’re probably pretty rattled from everything that's happened, so as a show of good faith, I'm letting what’s happened between us go. Just don't get in the way again, alright?” Jason contemplated knocking the bastard’s teeth out.

Jason softly moved Loba’s hand from his shoulder before briefly shifting his gaze back to Biji. “Your name is Loba, right?”

“Yeah, what of it?”

Jason reached his hand out to the demon. “Jason.”

Loba took his hand, squeezing ever so slightly too tight as the two stared at one another.

…

“Is he finally awake?”

Suddenly, from behind the door of the wooden bedroom Jason had just started to take in, a young man burst through the door, taking up Jason’s entire frame of view. The room was overtaken by the boy’s bombastic feathered hair and massive wings. Despite his eyes being covered, Jason could still feel the boy staring straight through him.

“Hi, Manuyan! Or, sorry, you call yourselves humans, right? It's nice to meet you! I’m Uddi! I’m also not from here; it's nice to meet someone from another realm!”

The boy fiddled with his fingers before exclaiming, “Oh, and I didn't greet you correctly! How embarrassing!” The loud boy then wrapped his arms tightly around Jason, strong enough for him to start feeling his skin bruising.

“Hey, watch it, man!” he said, shoving Uddi off of him before quickly tending to his bruised arms. ‘They’re still sore from the game, too, ugh…’

Pulling away, the boy wrapped his wings around his face, seeming to choke back a tear as Loba put his hand on the boy’s shoulder. Jason’s shock was immediately replaced by regret; “Hey, buddy. Sorry about that; I'm still a bit jumpy. It's nice to meet you. I'm Jason." He reached out to shake Uddi’s hand. He reminded Jason too much of a younger version of Yuzo for him to not regret it.

“Uddi, Jason just woke up, and he’s never met you. Hell, he probably has never seen a Tiryang in his life. Give the guy some space.” Not seeming particularly offended, Uddi quickly went back to his bubbly self.

“Oh, I see! I'm sorry, Jason. It’s nice to meet you too!” I’m Uddi, as I said, and that over there is Panka!” The winged boy then pointed behind him, causing Jason’s jaw to drop; out of seemingly nowhere, a huge, four-armed woman had appeared behind Uddi. She was built like a horse, with pupilless eyes that burned with white fire.

‘She looks like a living oni statue, holy crap,’ he thought as his head struggled to take everything in. ‘Everything is happening so fast…’ Panka walked towards Jason, causing him to move back slightly. She then grabbed him and lifted him up into the air with her front two arms.

“Hi, It’s nice to meet you.” She said it plainly, using one of her other arms to ruffle his hair, causing him to wince in pain. Despite the discomfort, though, he didn't dare move a muscle.

“... Hi,” he breathlessly croaked. Panka turned to Loba, still plain-faced. “He's quiet.” Loba locked eyes with Jason, then burst out laughing. “This kid is usually a blabbermouth. Seems like you shut him up, Panka. What say you, kid?” Jason couldn't answer, his face a dark shade of red.

‘This is so damn embarrassing. I need to gain some upper hand here, or these demons are going to make a fool of me.’ Swallowing hard, Jason forced himself to speak.
“I’m, uh, alright. Thanks.”

‘Talk about anything but what's going on right now,’ he thought to himself as his eyes darted around the room, trying to focus.

“Do any of you know where my jacket is?” he said, trying to wrestle himself out of Panka’s grip unsuccessfully, before being put down. “Here.”

From behind him, Jason’s jacket came flying at his head, obscuring his vision. ‘Biji.’

Jason, putting his jacket on, threw a scowl over at Biji, who instinctively smirked at his annoyance. “Simmer down, Jae, I just needed a pillow.”

Biji put her arms on Jason’s shoulders mockingly as she stood up on the bedsheets before being shaken off. “Don’t call me that. And where’s my hammer?”

Biji laughed. “Your rock on a string is in your pocket.” Breathing a heavy sigh. The weight of the rock in Jason’s pocket made everything feel uneven.

As he peered out the window, not quite able to see outside beyond the white of the snow, he decided to ask an obvious question: “Where are we, anyway?”

“We’re in Shin-je. It's kind of where everyone lives in Naraka. This is our business headquarters.”

Jason looked around the room; it was essentially a cabin with wood floors and walls, along with matching tables and chairs. Bookshelves lined the walls, written in a language he didn't recognize but somehow understood without knowing how. Everything in the room began to spin slightly as his confusion caused his head to ache.

“We have an extra bed here for work, but since we’re so nice, we’ll let you stay here. Not free of rent, of course. But we’ll talk more about that later.” Loba sneered, smacking Jason on the back heartily.

Jason thought to himself that Loba was the most punchable guy he had ever met. Biji stood up, grabbing Jason’s arm and dragging him toward the door. “Look alive, Jae. I'm going to give you a tour of the city.”

“I want to come! It’ll be fun! Yay!” Uddi flew behind the two as Jason was dragged out the door.

“Hey. Do I get a say in what we do?” Jason tried to pull his arm away from Biji, but she held on firmly as she grinned at him.

“No. You don't. Now stop fighting me and come; we’ll get you familiar and try to find your brother. It'll be great, and you'll enjoy yourself. Promise.”

“I'll go too.” Walking towards the door behind Uddi, Panka was grabbed by Loba before she could catch up, climbing to reach her ear. “No, Panka. Sorry, but the two of us have been summoned.”

“Yama?” Loba’s face grew sullen. “Who else? Turns out, he’s having a little issue. He needs our help “fixing” it.” Loba whispered.

“Alright then. We’ll do that.” Panka turned to the three, waving a frank goodbye. “Later, friends.”

Uddi waved back as Jason walked out onto the street. In his head, despite all that had happened, he could only bring himself to a single conclusion: ‘What a group of weirdos.’