"Ran!"
He jerked his head up to see Soran Haru walking into the shed.
"You are awake," the acolyte said, grinning.
Ran stared at him then looked to the corner where the acolyte had been standing, talking to him, before his emotional flashback.
"Haru," he called, his voice low.
"Yes."
"What trick is this?"
The boy looked at him in concern, then looked at the corner his eyes were focused on. "I don't see anything tricky there. Why? Do you see something?"
Ran turned to glare at him. "You were there only moments ago, talking to me. Why do I remember that? And I'm not imagining it."
The boy froze then looked down sadly at Ran and sighed. He muttered something under his breath then locked gaze with the younger boy.
"Can you tell me everything we talked about," Haru asked, a hard seriousness in his voice.
Still suspicious, Ran reluctantly complied. He told Haru of everything that happened, from the overseer's rough wakening method to his emotional outburst, though he didn't tell him what that was about.
He wasn't ready to tell anyone about limbo. More than that, he felt like he shouldn't. Something deep inside him gave him the feeling that bad things could happen if he did.
When he was done speaking, Soran Haru asked him to touch his face and look down at his garment.
Puzzled, he ran a hand over his face and looked down at his garment. There was nothing.
Turning to look up, dubiously—he glared at the acolyte. "What was that for? Are you trying more tricks on me?"
"No trick. You said the overseer woke you up with a bucket of water yet you are not wet, your garment and hair are dry," Haru pointed out, making Ran blink in shock and reach out to feel his hair.
It was completely dry, as dry as his face and garment.
Why? What did this mean?
"So it was just a dream?" He asked, completely puzzled.
Haru shook his head. "Not just a dream, a kaga… I mean it was not just a dream as Mukoku did heal you and you have been asleep since then."
'Did he mean to say kagami-hankyo,' Ran wondered before the rest of what his friend said registered with him.
He arched an eyebrow at the boy. "Don't tell me…"
He nodded amused. "Yes, you have demon blood and divine ichor in you. Don't worry, there's no Lilim essence though. As that was more spiritual than biological, it wasn't still in you by the time you were healed with the ichor."
Ran groaned deeply. He didn't like this. Demon blood and the blood of some ancient god, harvested eons ago by the Lords of Hell now ran through his veins.
Ichor was not meant to mix with human blood. Yes, it was good for healing but it was almost a curse. At least it was for Ran, as it enhanced everything a person already had.
Ran would have been more appreciative of that if he had not been hopeful of remaining unchanged.
He didn't want to be changed, didn't want to be affected by hell. He wanted to retain his humanity.
Now, here he was—sullied by Assarian blood.
Noticing his despondency, Haru placed a hand on his shoulder. "Look at the bright side," he said.
Ran looked up at him as he continued.
"Now you would be able to heal from anything, even losing your limb and head as the ichor has enhanced everything in you, including the regenerating demon blood. Also, with the ichor now in you everything will be greater—your durability, strength, stamina, speed, and psyche," the boy said then cocked his head to the side looking thoughtful. "Who knows, it might have had enough of an enhancing impact on your soul that you may start developing kin."
All that was well and good, but—
"But you ignore the fact that it may affect the demon blood well enough to give me some demonic mutations and that the ichor might just be so powerful I may start exhibiting abilities that align with the domain of the deity it came from. I don't want horns, nor do I want to be a demigod of something like sorrow, Haru."
Soran Haru drew him close and hugged him. "It's alright. It's going to be fine. You will get through this and I will be with you every step of the way, my friend."
Ran didn't cry, he'd shed all the tears he had for his father. Or maybe he'd seen enough horrors in hell since his arrival that he was now incapable of crying anymore.
He tapped Haru on the back and pulled away. "Thank you, Haru," he said, nodding in appreciation.
The acolyte nodded back. "Now, Mukoku wishes to see you."
Haru waved for him to follow and Ran did so. They stepped out of the shed together and walked through the smokey-bright sulphur-stone lined walls of the hallway of the guard tower.
A guard tower that was broken and barely standing.
In silence Haru led him to the rooftop of the tower.
As they climbed the stairs leading up to the topmost level, Haru called his name gently.
"Ran."
"Yes, Haru?" He responded.
"Don't be surprised if you start feeling mature all of a sudden or find your relationship with others deepening. The surprise wouldn't last long, soon it would be natural."
Ran opened his mouth to ask what he meant by that but they had already reached the rooftop, where he found Mukoku, alone, reclining on a throne.
He decided to ask later.
Mukoku's face had been contemplative but brightened into a smile when she saw Ran.
"And finally, the boy marked by the beast awakens," she said, as he approached her beside her brother.
He blinked in surprise and beside him Haru snorted. "Shouldn't that be the boy who slew the beast." He turned to Ran and smiled. "That was truly impressive, Ran. Everyone watched as you plunged the katana deep into the Lagarakei. No Lagarakei has ever been killed since the genesis. You are the first to ever kill a Lagarakei."
Smiling, a bit happy at the praise, Ran still didn't feel completely deserving of it. "I had help," he said.
Haru chuckled and exchanged an amused look with his sister.
"You had great reflexes, yes that really helped," the acolyte said.
Ran favored him with a confused look. "I meant the Lords of Hell."
Haru smiled sadly at him. "Ran, do you think just anyone could slay a being of Naraku, much less wield the essences of a group of Hell Lords? One need to be one of the purests of mortals or a Fey to achieve both feats."
At that Ran despaired again. "Now, I'm not so pure anymore," he muttered.
Mukoku must have heard him still, because she nodded grimly. "Something of which I'm glad for and may have engineered."
Ran stared at her in shock and Haru hissed in fury, glaring at his sister.
Ran, betrayal pervading his entire being, breathed out one desperate question, "why?"
Mukoku's face hardened as she stared them both down, her aura beginning to stir—the boys flinched and took a step back, not ready to provoke her into manifesting her aura.
"I did it," she admitted, not seeming regretful. "And now we won't have another Lagarakei coming here to find and destroy the pure, mortal soul in hell that burns so bright in Naraku like a lighthouse. Do you know the beings that would have come calling if you had remained pure? Do you think you would have lived long enough to find your father and save him?"
Ran lowered his head at that—Mukoku's aura subsided. He felt guilt well up inside him. Why hadn't he thought of that?
He would have been killed, devoured by the abominations of hell that sought to destroy him for the weakness he represented against them—thus he'd have lost his chance to save his father.
"Don't pretend like you didn't do it to protect yourself," Haru spat, still glaring at his sister.
Ran looked up to see her smiling as she shrugged. "I did it for myself and my city."
Looking at her oddly, Ran asked, "what city?"
"Look again," she said.
Ran, dubious, looked down at the city destroyed and—
His heart nearly stopped as his eyes met the City of Severance, vast and alive.
The city had been restored to its infernal glory.