Chapter 5.2: Reborn

(Back to Akuma)

We rose from the patches of flame and walked back to the hideout. The trip was fairly simple, seeing as the earlier flames had vaporized the surrounding snow.

Locking the door behind us, we each had a seat and prepared for yet another lecture on the unnatural.

“Earlier today I asked you to guard against the cold using hoshi. But I never quite explained exactly what hoshi was.”

“Gee thanks, genius. Don't you think that would have been helpful hours ago?”, Tenshi asked in sarcasm.

Almost instinctively she was already pointing a gun straight to his head and like the devil himself, she wore a bright smile while doing so. It seemed Tenshi didn't just take it as an empty threat as he quickly shut his mouth. The gun faded into the air and she lowered her hand as she resumed her explanation.

“In our bodies, there are particles known as starlites. They exist everywhere in the universe, including inside inanimate objects. Hoshi is the ability to take those particles and export them as a form of energy. At the most basic level, you can create a wall of defense around your body, or even enhance the power of your attacks. At higher levels, you can transmute the particles in the form of elements. Such as creating a wall of ice, or a bullet of fire.”

She looked awfully proud saying that last part. I think she was trying to brag about her efficiency.

“So is that how you create those guns?”, I asked in curiosity.

“Not quite. I create the bullets that supply it, but for the guns themselves, it’s better to say I summon them from my soul.”

“Soul?!”, we asked in unison.

“I’d tell you more about it, but grandfather wants me to keep it a secret for now.”

We accepted that, and asked about it no more. Instead, Tenshi asked a series of questions that I too would find a bit interesting.

“So where exactly do these starlites come from?”

“They’re born from the soul… All matter has a capacity limit for how much starlites they can hold at once. When we exert some in the form of hoshi, the soul produces more. However it isn’t infinite. The soul has a limit to how much it can produce. Break that limit and you could damage your soul beyond repair.

That last sentence put a drop of fear in our hearts. A little spooky to think what that meant.

“...So, if these starlites exist all around us, couldn’t I just use the ones in the air or something? That way I don't have to risk any soul destruction.”

Even knowing nothing about any of this, I could tell this was a great question. I just wished I was the one to ask it.

“Yes, that is a possibility. However, to my knowledge I only know of four to do so.”

“Only four?”, I asked in a sudden shock.

“Yep, and three of them aren't even human.”

I was hesitant to ask if the three happened to be those “catastrophes” she spoke about earlier, since it seemed to be a sensitive subject for her. In the end I decided to drop the thought, since it wasn’t really of importance.

“Don’t worry too much about it. It isn't impossible to increase your max capacity. Over time, as your mastery and control increases so will the power of your soul.”

She reached her hand inside her habit, and fiddled around her chest as if she were looking for something.

I tried to look away from the sight in embarrassment, but I was helpless to my desires. I tried my hardest to restrain myself as I took small and quick glances. However this was nothing to the beast beside me. With absolutely zero restraint, he stared her down with the eyes of a hunter.

From her chest, Rin pulled out two black items and planted them on the table. At first glance, they looked like two keys of an iron material, but upon further examination, these keys were a bit odd. The bow was shaped like a 4 pointed star, and there was no bit to speak of. Just a long line that extended from the star bow.

“As you’ve probably already guessed, these are keys. To give a short explanation, no matter what door you open with it, you’ll end up here. Do. Not. Lose. Them.”

“Aye sir!”, we said in unison.

She rose herself from her chair and walked back to the entrance of the hideout.

“Akuma, it’s getting late. You should head back home.”, she told me.

“And what about Tenshi?”

She responded to my question as she opened the door and welcomed the freezing elements.

“That grown ass man? He’ll be spending the night with me. And he’ll keep doing so until he can use hoshi properly.”

“Y’know I’m still here, rig-”

In an instant she conjured a pistol and pointed it right at the center of his head.

“And?...”

He sighed as he limped his way to the entrance. It seems he would have to yet again tangle with the frost.

“Since I'm already here, how do I get back home exactly?”, I asked before she shut the door.

“...Oh, if you're already here, the key brings you back to the last place it was used.”

With those words, she slammed the door, giving me no time to ask, where that could possibly be.

I used the key on the closest door to me, the pantry door.

Like how anyone would use one, I shoved the key into the holder, and gave it a good turn. Nothing seemed to have happened.

(This thing must be broken.)

Expecting to see nothing but supplies, I grabbed the handle and opened the pantry door. But to my surprise, I saw the pope's decorations and riches on the other side.

I was sorta tripped out. It looked like I shot two different coordinates with a portal gun and gazed through them.

I stepped through the frame and ended back at the church, inside the room where all this madness started. I pulled the key from the holder, and clenched it tightly with my hand. I would have put it in a pocket, but I was still wearing a bodysuit.

This was the moment I realized just how desperate my current situation truly was. Here, I stood in the Church of Michael, ways from my home, with no source of transportation.

Tenshi was still training his hoshi with Rin, and even if he wasn’t, he still couldn’t drive me home since that demon blew the car to smithereens. My only choice was to ask a pastor for a ride home. Not only were they all strangers, but there's no way I didn't look like a clown with this suit on.

There was no point in thinking about it any longer. If I get laughed at, then so be it. I navigated through the halls of the church asking around for the pastor that led me and Tenshi to Finral the last time.

I found him hanging around the entrance area, and so I convinced him to help a friend out. I completely ignored the fact that I was wearing a strange outfit and he looked as if he was trying his best to ignore it as well.

It didn’t take much convincing. He seemed to be the “servant” type.