The Slums

[yinsukin]

Aruna

Aruna lowered her eyes at the comment.  He was an odd human, having so much power but acting like a shy child.  It seemed like a mask, something to hide behind which belied his true nature.  That is why when that serious look flashed on his face, she compulsively asked, "And what exactly did you do?  What exactly is your job?"

[Kotomine_Rin]

Yang

"E-eh? No, it's nothing like that..." He rubbed his head in embarrassment. Only after a bit did he manage to look down on her feet, then squarely in the eye. "Jeez, I can't believe it. Look, it's my bad okay? It's seriously messed up that I'd do something like that, especially to a girl."

He shook his head and frowned. He was completely serious, there was no way this was a mask. Something was seriously massively bothering him.

"I didn't even give you my name or ask yours, and look at me asking favors like I'm some hotshot. I'm like, super sorry. It's bad form."

He held his hand out to her. "Name's Yang Xiao Long. It's nice to meet you."

That was it. That was seriously it. But it seemed like he took things like that extremely seriously.

[yinsukin]

Aruna

"Your one of those humans huh, the kind that only get more suspicious the more you get to know them?" she asked, making sure he knew how disappointed she was in his answer with her eye contact alone.  The frown, folded arms and foot-tapping was just her making sure he got it.

The wings on her back spread and grew to the size of two other humans.  Her eyes began to glow, her demonic teeth sparkling in the pale moonlight like a guillotine ready to clamp down on its target.  Taking his hand in hers, she said, "Aruna.  My name is Aruna.  I hope you will forgive me for earlier.  I'll warn you now, I get pretty excited when I catch my pray.  I hope that doesn't get in the way."

[YOLF]

Lubei Sang
03:45 AM Nexus Time

When the body of the river was behind them, he leaped from the frozen water onto an abandoned pier. They were greeted by groaning planks, cracked cement, and ruined or greyed out fronts of what may once have been livable buildings. Lubei allowed himself to sigh only when the dark, bleak watercourse became hidden behind those first buildings, and set down Uria only once the first traces of life became evident on the distance along the crumbling road.

It was as if they'd stepped into a marsh of loss and misery. Small figures huddled in the shadows of half-crushed homes, directing them gazes of caution and resignation. Tired voices echoed faintly from few structures where some light was sheltered, their walls decayed but whole. Every step taken sunk the demon and the child half-deity further into an atmosphere devoid of cheer or meaning. Some humbler edifices were glimpsed at the distance where weak street lights flickered, but they paled in number to this landscape.

Lubei rarely felt any temperature other than mild, but now that the haze of that explosive drink was fading, he looked around, and icicles dug into his stomach like old itches. The neighborhoods beyond the river were modest, but solid. Here were only remains and easy prey.

He wished to know who ruled here.

[Umbra of Chaos]

Uria
03:45 AM Nexus Time

"They're all so sad." Their eyes were filled with something resembling pity as they looked over the ragged area. There was a sense of weariness to the whole place, the way that even to its foundations the buildings were cracked. Nothing here was solid. It almost felt like a strong enough wind would send it all tumbling over!

So Uria wandered away from Lubei, crouching over one of the barely moving bodies. They were still alive, barely. But they were such pitiable things. The demigod's arm morphed until it resembled the chitinous carapace of an insect, and where their hand should have been was instead a long stinger. With a barely perceivable strike they jabbed the needle straight into the stranger's eye. Black fluid tore through the person's body. The body almost ballooned as the substances was absorbed into every bit of flesh it could get into.


Cold. Lonely. Hungry. Tired, so very tired.

If you wish for glory, choose resurrection.

There was no pain. For the first time in a long time, nothing hurt at all. It was almost like sleeping on a cloud. Gentle, comfortable, it was easy to sink into. In reality, their body began to tear under the strain. Like a water balloon someone had inflated to its breaking point.

If you wish for indolence, choose eternal rest.

Rest sounded... good. How long had it been since they had a good rest? It felt as if all they had known was this endless moment. Until now it had been everything. And yet...

God is fine with either choice.

With a popping sound the body turned into a dark puddle. There was a moment of stillness then, as if nothing was happening at all other than a brutal murder. Then something crawled out of the puddle. Claws sharper than swords, scales dark as midnight, wings that glowed with starlight. A dragon big as a car pulled itself from the darkness and bowed its head, letting the child pet it.

"Good boy! I knew you wouldn't give up. Hey Mr. Lubei, we should go and get everyone else too!"

[YOLF]

Lubei

His expression only tightened, and he crossed the space to Uria in a hearbeat, snatching her chitinous arm into a grip. "What are you doing?" Lubei asked, royal iron hardening his voice. "Have you turned him into a demon?"

The frown strayed to the dragon's coils and unfurling weapons and grew on the way back to Uria. "Pity is not a good enough reason. Do you even understand what you're forcing?"

[Umbra of Chaos]

Uria

"Hey!" They pulled back with surprising force. "He's a dragon not a demon, and it was his choice! If he didn't want it it wouldn't have worked right anyways. Hmph, it's not like you were going to do anything for him yourself either."

The dragon spoke then, a hiss of steam that echoed the voice that had given it a choice. "If you wish for glory, choose resurrection. If you wish for indolence, choose eternal rest. God is fine with either choice."

[YOLF]

Lubei

He let the arm go without offering resistance, but bared his teeth. His eyes and crest alike momentarily flared with chilly light. "God is fine with either choice, but they are not equal! Your decisions have consequences beyond your own life."

Neither the transformation nor the disagreement went unnoticed by the squatters. Some gasped and fled, and some hid with murmurs of panic, and a pair of faint lights went out as residents cowered. Lubei's thoughts split bitterly between them and the child he had taken upon himself to foolishly drag along. A blunt voice echoed behind his ears, Inaction is a choice, and his throat rumbled in response.

If he could focus on a face, then learning what to do would be easier. Smashing a foul leader couldn't feed anyone, but this barren was beyond a single thing to fix. He would rather start from a single cog than take the destitute for lost with thoughtless kindness. And humans or not, this demon king would not wrong the wretched like that.

"There's a line between doing nothing and thinking before you act. After is too late to avoid responsiblity, you reckless cub."

[Umbra of Chaos]

Uria

They puffed out their chest. "I'm very responsible. People don't have a choice without the power of God." They opened up their arms wide as they unfurled into strands of light that flapped about, almost resembling wings. Although there wasn't a bird in the world that could be half as beautiful.

"Oh, look at me! I'm a big special king! All my actions have big, big consequences so I'll judge everyone like they're me. I'm gonna go make my big important changes and then lecture people when they actually help." Uria stuck their tongue out at him for a moment, their shining arms a beacon to anyone with eyes as they waved them about furiously. But then a note of seriousness came over their features, a stern look in their now narrowed eyes.

"That was the only real choice he ever made."

[YOLF]

Lubei

The looming, glacier-like figure of Lubei went as quiet and still as one. It took the time to light an incense stick and say a prayer to whatever god would listen for him to respond. "I am not lecturing you for helping. I am lecturing you because you did not consider for a moment what it could mean to yourself."

He sighed like an ice that groaned with cracks at the start of Spring. "We are held to account for the life we take, but so are we for the life we save."

The demon king raised an arm, and his open hand hovered hesitantly above Uria's head.

[Umbra of Chaos]

Uria

"Hmphhhh..." Their arms turned back to normal, and Uria soon had them crossed as they pouted. Graciously, they allowed Lubei to pat her head as the dragon heeded unspoken orders and flew into the air with a wave of cosmic air.

[YOLF]

Lubei

He patted her head with enough force to rattle a human skull, and let go after a moment, exhaling through his nose. Face returned to neutrality, the demon king looked up at the newly reborn creature that flew away.

"Where will it go?" He asked the one at his side. "Will it manage to sustain itself?"

[Umbra of Chaos]

Uria

They started walking again, arms swinging carelessly as they moved. "He'll go where he needs to go. Maybe he'll get even bigger too! That's the kind of thing that's up to mother, though. But he'll be fine. Did you see his wings? They eat up all the starlight, even though it's hard to see. He might want a snack now but he'll be fine at night."

[YOLF]

Lubei

Lubei followed slowly, his boots thumping the ravaged road one after the other. Purposefully, he looked around the street and to the corners where the misrable onlookers had disappeared.

"Who is mother?" He asked.

[Umbra of Chaos]

Uria

They spun around immediately with that question. Uria was all but vibrating in place in excitement! "Mother is the most important person ever! She is one of the gods of this world! She can do anything, but she doesn't want to break everything so she doesn't do anything in person. She likes to watch, though."