Cautiously stepping into the alley between apartment buildings, Sebastian glanced over his shoulder to ensure he wasn't being followed. 'If everything that's been said to me today is true, I'd be betraying my own kind. I should tread lightly and assume Casper has fled to spread the word.' Shifting his scarlet eyes to his wristwatch: 19:48. 'Hopefully he isn't the over punctual type, I'll be able to scout the area and ensure there aren't any traps from either side.'

A voice echoed through the alley faintly. "I'm glad you came."

Narrowing his eyes in minor annoyance, Sebastian stepped away from the side of the building. 'So much for stealth.' Reaching the end of the alley his vision landed on Beyond who seemed to be admiring the moon.

"So much mysticism in a dead rock. It amazes me how much life and death I've seen, yet, the moon still catches my breath from time to time." Sebastian looked away from Beyond after hearing a window shut from one of the apartments, when he casted his eyes back, the raven was gone, leaving a single obsidian feather in his prior position.

The former demon could feel the hair on his neck raise slightly as suspicion took hold and he stepped towards the discarded feather and knelt near it. A solemn sigh left Sebastian's throat as he lifted the feather that seemed to begin disintegrating in the breeze and being carried away like ash. "Well, I'm here. What now? If you are intending to end my life. I just have one final request."

Loud flapping could be heard behind him accompanied with a chuckle. "Choose your words. You of all people know that… I do intend to end your life, but only the way it is." Sebastian held his composure as a warm hand pressed on the center of his back and was dragged along his shoulder. Beyond rounded the former demon with an innocent smile, which only furthered the hairs on his neck to stand further. "What's your final request?"

Both eyes locked as Sebastian spoke coolly. "To have you one last time."

A near manic giggle released from the back of the hunter's throat. "Oh. There will be many times for that." Leaning in to the former demon closing the gap between the lips. "You can bet your life on it. Do we have a deal? I can take your life?" Sebastian pulled Beyond in by the hips and captured his lips, biting the bottom. He could feel the younger man smiling in the embrace as he grabbed Sebastian's shirt collar and deepened the kiss.

Sebastian flinched slightly at a sharp pain in the side of his neck. Opening his crimson eyes to look at the hunter, he could feel his limbs grow heavy and the beginning stages of losing control of his legs. As his eyes locked with Beyond's seemingly glowing rubies he noted a smile. "Then, you belong to me." The surroundings went black, as the former demon felt himself hit the pavement.


A monitor could be heard rhythmically beeping. Sebastian attempted to force his eyes open, to no avail.

"Beyond. What have you done?" A voice called out, though distorted and muffled.

"I told him I wanted his human heart. Now, I have it." A silence seemed to consume the room aside from the monitor before Beyond spoke again. "He's of more use to us this way."

A deep sigh was heard before the monotonous voice continued. "If he goes haywire. It's your head."

Sebastian could feel fingers run through his hair while a hushed yet caring tone murmured. "He won't. Now leave before you disturb him."

A quiet scoff was heard with a door opening. "You're disturbing."

A deep chuckle was heard as Sebastian seemed to be fading out of his semiconscious state. "More than you know."


Crimson eyes opened and landed directly on four frighteningly large and thin black feathered wings. A smirk spread from the younger raven. "Now we see each other for what we really are." Sitting himself up Sebastian shifted his eyes around a makeshift hospital room, but landed on a heart in a jar that still remained beating. A manic chuckle was heard from the opposing raven. "I told you I'd have your human heart." Beyond lifted a clipboard and read the contents aloud. "Sebastien Michaelis, departed from us in 1618… which I assume not long after you were reborn as a demon within Belial's legion. A frightening fellow, tore your human heart from your soul and created you, a perfect butler to serve by his side and charged with the task of devouring souls to feed his appetite and merely sate your own."

Beyond furrowed his eyebrows before rubbing his chin in thought. "That could be a mistranslation, however, I am unaware how Devil's do business. I assume that is likely incorrect, as why would Belial need a butler to take human souls for him? So, if I understand the hierarchy of Hell, you're a foot soldier. Merely to fight and die in petty squabbles and conquest, but are free to operate independently until called upon."

Sebastian eyed the other suspiciously before speaking. "Seems you know quite a great deal of me, but I do not share the sentiment."

Beyond nodded before tossing the clipboard on a nearing desk. "Mm, indeed. I couldn't read any information on you with your human heart, and I've only been able to acquire a minor portion of your demon heart, though… it seems you've never been in possession of it. This very well may be the strongest you've ever been… Do you know why the Devil takes the demon's heart from them?" Sebastian attempted to focus on the odd shade surrounding Beyond before the former continued. "To ensure loyalty, a back door shutdown, so to speak, if you go rogue he could easily end you. Though, I've stripped him of that use. Lesson one: don't leave things in places unguarded, if you don't want them stolen."

"What is the final purpose of all of this?" The demon could feel his patience wanning.

Scarlet eyes departed the other. "I like this form more. You need a pedicure though." Beyond sighed and lifted himself from the chair he was in as a nurse passed behind him and through his wings. "This fight, this tireless war between the humans and the supernatural. I grow weary, yet am bound to this realm, I can never go home. Not until I complete my tasks. Heaven, Hell, the Here After, they all make my continued success in returning home… difficult. I need a capable partner, loyalty isn't necessary. However, after meeting you, feeling your desire to just be left alone, the sheer lack of emotions, devoid of love, hate, jealousy… You're perfect."

Scoffing quietly the older raven folded his arms. "Why would I help you? I have no information."

Beyond lifted his hand and slowly closed it into a fist, as he did this action Sebastian could feel a distressing pain from his chest. "Because, I had to patch your heart up with something." A sadistic smirk sharpened on Beyond's lips. "At this point, until I can depart from this realm and return home. I control your very essence, my pain is your pain. And I'll have you know, performing open heart surgery on myself was not a level of pain that you want to feel, I don't believe the demon side of your heart could shoulder the burden." Beyond whipped around quickly and placed both of his hands on either side of Sebastian. "I asked so politely, if I could take your life. I'll never leave you in wanting, I can take care of you, for you to take care of me in return."

Sebastian hummed for a moment before purring out. "Very well, I'll help you, in exchange for your information. Who are you, Beyond?"

A toothy grin released from the younger man. "My name, unlike yours, was nearly lost to time. A name that never mattered, on a boy who wasn't meant to be." Beyond stood from his previous position. "I was born in 1946. A disgraced Japanese nobleman shamed by the war, sold one of his daughters to a man within the United States armies. They married, but never fell in love. My grandfather thought he'd had the last laugh in the agreement. His older two daughters could not produce an heir, so he assumed his line of succession a failure." Beyond turned his back to Sebastian. "Did you know that radiation can have lasting side effects on a human's body and increase fertility as well as cause birth defects, such as blindness in the offspring?"

Sebastian studied the wavelength of energy that seemed to surround Beyond as he spoke. He had no proof of what the younger man was saying to be true, but everyone knows, a demon knows when you lie, and Beyond seemed to be telling the truth.

"So, my mother, proud to be the first daughter who had produced an heir to a dying name, was also distraught that as a maimed child, I could never usurp her father's cruelty. I wouldn't be deemed fit to lead, regardless of my bloodline. She poured through medicinal treatments, natural remedies, voodoo, the occult, even tried praying to a god who'd never hear her pleas. Until, she found an old text, gifted to her by a Japanese immigrant, the legend of the Shinigami. Those who can grant 'sight beyond seeing'. You see why she was attracted to the idea."

Glancing over his shoulder to make eye contact with the demon, his eyes glowing a faint scarlet. "It comes at a price… dealing with the Shinigami. Well, dealing with any deity usually does. They want half of your lifespan to grant you the sight, but want a soul to gift it to another." Beyond looked away from Sebastian and stretched before speaking further. "My mother was found by the housemaid, a scream that deafened anyone who heard it. The silence that consumed the home after." A deep sigh was heard. "It was my eighteenth birthday when my mother was taken from me. The only person in the world who loved me for the person I was." The younger raven grabbed a chair and spun it to straddle facing Sebastian with a saddened smile. "Teenagers are particularly easy to manipulate, they're emotional and short sighted. I believe you already knew that. I made a deal with the Shinigami. That if I took his place, he would return my mother to the world of the living, and I would carry his burden. I know this you wouldn't understand… but I hated the world and everyone left in it, so it didn't matter to me, I just wanted her back. I traded my eternal soul for my mother's." A weak smile broke through on the younger raven's face. "I'm not a Chimera… I am a Shinigami. I am a God of Death. The Undertaker's vision is slighted as I am still in my mortal shell. So, to most who can see beyond seeing, I am a human who'd been blessed. But in reality, I am cursed with this mortal form until I can complete the steps I need to, to return home."

Sebastian tilted his head to the side and raised an eyebrow in interest. "What about your mother?"

Beyond smiled bitterly. "She died four years later in the pandemic of 1968. I visited her once, she had a lover, interestingly with my soul. I was naive, but not stupid, he traded places to be at her side. At first, it brought me a bit of peace that she was with someone she genuinely seemed to love, but I quickly realized the entanglement of souls. She was never free to make that choice. She loved that thing with misplaced love for a son who died on the same day as her. Fortunately, my time as a Shinigami has placed great strain on my ability to love or really feel much of anything. So, the discontentment of my past seemed to fade into the background… Until you, I finally felt something again."

Sebastian shifted his eyes around at the surrounding staff who seemed to be busy with one task or another. "And you're openly telling me this? L called you his brother, is he also..?"

Beyond lifted Sebastian's hand into his. "To them, this conversation isn't happening. We're just lovingly staring at each other, without words. Your powers of illusion are far stronger than mine, so I may have borrowed them for a short time. As for L; L's younger brother died in childbirth. But their memories have been child's play to manipulate. Craft a life that never happened, inserting myself into loving, tender moments. Truth be told. I'm his great uncle, I was not an only child like L." A cruel smile took hold of the features of the younger male. "Oh the webs we weave. I have to end my living bloodline as one of my tasks, but before I do so, I need him alive. His father created a special task force within the royal armies, one dedicated to eradicating the supernatural. Truly, I think he's always suspected I wasn't his son. A particularly observant human would be able to notice some off details, certain things that just don't quite line up."

Sebastian nodded, taking all the information in while in thought. 'If what he is saying is all true, then I am a means to an end, hired muscle, but he seems to be dangling something in front of me.' "So what would all of this mean for me?"

Beyond huffed a small amount of laughter up and lifted Sebastian's hand up placing a light kiss on the back of it. "Why be a Demon, when you could be a Devil. In charge of your own legion, freedom, and own your own portion of a spirit realm. What do you say? Be the Devil to my God? Why go back to Hell when you can reign over souls from the Shinigami realm?"

Sebastian raised an eyebrow in suspicion. "And you could make this happen."

The Shinigami smirked with intent. "Oh yes, see, my mother had not acquired just any old text about the Shinigami, but about their creator, their ruler, and it wasn't just any old god who had been taken by my mother's beauty… so, now I have to live up to quite the reputation, and usurp my throne from the minor Shinigami."

Returning the cruel smirk the demon clutched Beyond's hand. "Make a deal with me. A contract."

Meeting the demon's stare with equal cruelty. "I already have. I don't need to spell it out, I own you already, and you already have a piece of my heart, literally." Beyond closed his right eye and reopened it to reveal a deep purple pentagram. "Cumbersome really. It takes a level of my concentration to hide it. Terrible placement." Beyond gave Sebastian a thumbs down "Four out of ten, four points because at least it's pretty." Sebastian's gaze fell to his left hand that began to glow and unnatural purple that seemed to be tainted with a red glimmer. "Aside from breaking the natural order of the supernatural? Anything else I can attend to?"

"How?"

Beyond chuckled darkly. "No one ever realizes when they enter a contract with a Shinigami, it's a delightful tactic. You do not need to be informed, just willing."

Lifting his hand to inspect the mark further he noted several changes from his original mark. Faintly glowing kanji now appeared within the pentacles' empty spaces. A pleasant smile graced the features of the demon. "A glass of water and information on our first task."


Continuation for LadyLafyLibra. She's slave driving me D'=. Send help. In the meantime, some meaningful backstory as requested. 3