Identity quest, 21
'Alright... so, since I'm technically not a cat anymore. And I got ascended to celestial... yeah, I guess that makes sense.' Radha thought as she dragged herself out of the poisonous water. Nine of her lives should have been ticked off her scoreboard but no!
She had survived what should have been a very costly mistake.
Now, how did she managed to get into this situation?
She had made the rookiest of mistakes, she had let her guard down in front of the bad guy hiding in his victim.
It was not because she could not smell him or see him that the thing was gone.
Radha... didn't remember much about what came after the crushing feet of the Utsuro, only that Flynn had been sent flying to the far wall and... what's his name, Issachar had grabbed the bloody mess that had been her body.
This... had been when her poor little heart had momentarily stopped for a few minutes. Thankfully, if Tenshi was anything to go by, a celestial's heart would not stop beating for long.
And by long, she meant an hour or so, she calculated.
Apparently, that snake had yeeted her in the poisonous river with a tiny gift. Whether it was an actual gift of a piece of shit wrapped in a fancy packaging would be up to her to figure out.
The Celestial Hellcat had regained consciousness, not in a well of ambrosia, but the cesspool that was the one river flowing through the illusory Tokyo, filled with numerous corpses, piss, shit and, of course, Poison.
Her favourite.
As it turned out, since she started her life as a lowly, corps-eating creature serving her sinful life in the second-lowest planetary cluster of hell, all those refuse wouldn't make her as sick as if she had started out as a vanilla human.
Small mercy.
Focusing more then what she was used to, Radha-Shyamasundara resumed her human form and collapsed in a small street. In full trust that the smell of her 'divine' blood would drive whatever demons lurked there as far away as Gaurasundara would permit.
Sure, those may be illusions, but there was still quite a few that were kidnapped dudes and dudettes. But still, being covered whit yet another layer of false identity meant that they thought they were flesh-eating demons.
Radha rolled on her back and took a deep breath in, cracking all of her ribs open and feeling her heart filled with blood once more. An hour after it had stopped.
Sure, something as insignificant as a crushed chest and a very bruised heart and lungs may be a trifle for her... but it was still hurt like Hell.
No... wait... she came from there... what would hurt a hell-born cat more? She wondered as her sight darkened.
Then, she realized... she realized what could be the greatest of torture the could (not)endure. Something that was worst then repeated birth and death.
Forgetting Krishna... Forgetting Gauranga and Nitiananda. Being back as a mere hellcat with dark magic... Forced to eat rotten corps, think them to be the best thing on earth.
'Shit... forget the pain of dying, this was worst.' All this anxiety and fear as she tried to survive thinking she was a body, and that death would be the end since...
No Yokai could reincarnate.
What a pile of bull. all souls could reincarnate, not just the humans.
The Vaishnavi closed her eyes, wanting a little Cat Nap after this particular screw up. and, as she fell asleep, she chanted the holy names, her only shelter as she clamp her mouth on an SD card.
For a snake... Issachar's not that bad.
"Hare Krishna, Hare Krishna... Krishna Krishna, Hare Hare... Hare Rama, Hare Rama... Rama Rama... Hare Hare..."
"Hey, Mister Fujiwara." Krishna-Kripa greeted the super boss of Tokyo, the man was looking at him with an eyebrow raised and a cuppa to his mouth, surrounding him, all the Hunters were around, some already had they weapons out while others fought not to have a meltdown.
The plant-like powerhouse closed his house and took a few grounding breaths. The last thing he wanted was to cause them all to have a major panic attack. Besides, Kripa was tired of being angry. better he saved it for the real culprit.
Gaston came in running, followed by Nozomi and Toki, the young girl practically throwing herself at his feet. Calling his master.
'Oh, hey. That's great for her. Krishna, won't you give her an actual Guru? Little old me's not ready to deal with this duty again... not after a good while.' Kripa prayed.
"Noted."
He had seen God, He had seen Krishna, he had touched his lotus feet, felt his eternally sought after embrace. In other words, he had already reached a level of liberation most Yogis and meditators were unaware of, that to say of the general population.
In other words, he was a Nitya-Mutka, an eternally liberated soul. And being such, those who bowed or touched his feet would also reach the same domain!
They would stop suffering and take birth in the womb of the Vraja-Gopis... and eternally play with Krishna in the spiritual world.
And he would see himself as such if it meant that little Toki-jin would get back him, back to Godhead!
She deserved it... they all deserved it.
They didn't deserve to be stuck there... well, they did, for this was a karmic reaction...
But they deserved to get out of there... mostly because Kripa had enough of this blasphemous game of Good, evil and neutral.
He just wanted to go home... wherever the hell home was in the material world.
"Aegis... what the hell happened to you?" Fujiwara asked as he began to sip his coffee, probably trying to calm his nerve.
'Drinking coffee to chill, now that's oxymoronic!'Kripa thought, and what to say of the cigarette. The smell was only irritating him more at that point... as was everything else. "Oh, me?" The Dryad asked as he pressed his hand on his chest. "I'm floating in anger and mad at how my culture has been mutilated for one's man's twisted definition of fun. my aunt, who was playing recon in the PA, has been busted and is still missing, my old adopted dad tried to brain me because I'm a Hare Krishna and my little brother from a different life is playing the puppet for something dark, scary, nihilistic and fugly. So how was your day?" Kripa asked passively-aggressively.
'And to top it all off... I have no Love for Krishna... at all" For if he had, Kripa would not be there, playing house in a video game made to anger him.
But before Fujiwara could open his mouth and hopefully follow up on his banter, Mukhara put a gentle hand on Kripa's twitching shoulder.
"Mister Fujiwara, obliviously, were facing a crisis as we speak and... I believe that I cannot add anything to my Son's statement tough, we Have lost contact with Radha." Mukhara admitted.
In the assembly, jeers and blasphemies were heard.
"Ah! Where's you god now? Uh?"
"Well that's a dud, and I thought she was all-knowing like 'the real Krishna'"
"Guys, maybe we should chill a bit." One hunter spoke from the back. "I mean, she did manage to break into the Hongwanji twice, and let's be honest, that Cat mapped the place efficiently and got in contact with a few dissident here."
"As it stands." Fujiwara raised his voice over the din. " What happened to Radha is unfortunate, but considering what were going to face soon..." The older man let the sentence hang. "I've received her last report, about how the being processing Yuki is something very old and numerous."
"So, it's like a legion on steroid?" Skin spoke up from behind Mukhara, his arms folded.
"Apparently, it is." Fujiwara then turned to Krishna-Kripa. "Now... I know this will make you very uncomfortable but... Ken told me he knew you under another name."
At those words, Kripa, who had migrated to a bench to lounge, quirked a brow. "Yes, and another body that was not made of flesh... and you want me to tell it to all those poor powerless goons?" The son of Yuuka elegantly jerked his head toward the rest of the hunters. Who quickly vacated the area.
Heh... being blazing mad and keeping it simmering had it uses.
Once all of those were gone, Fujiwara looked expectantly at Kripa, who took Krishna's lotus from his ears, twirling it around as his Master had once done.
Heck, he was in the same position too.
"Aegis?"
"Aigis?"
"It's Kaazami Krishna-Kripa, Aigis died decades ago under the wheel of a van... it was a hate crime, by the way." The greenette said as he smelled the fragrant lotus. "Also, just so you know, my memories as Aigis are about as clear as that of an old dream." The old S.E.E.S Operative said as he took in the amazing smell of the Lotus flower.
It calmed him down, pushing his anger to the side as longing took his heart.
Kripa could not wait to get Yuki-kun out of this nightmare. He could not wait to get out of this place either.
His Mama had told him that her home was in Mayapur, it was a place he, as Aigis/Ananda-rupini had dreamed to visit one way despite her inability to travel.
Despite de-arming herself, Aigis... Ananda-Rupini was still considered a weapon.
And a weapon as dangerous as her had no business going out of Japan, let alone Tokyo.
'And I'm still stuck there... whatever I did in the past to deserve this, may I never do it again.'
"Mister Fujiwara," Mukhara spoke up as she approached the owner of Cafe Florida. "As much as you want to know what were about to face, I would rather only me and my son to face the beast." She stopped everyone from talking with a regal gesture of her hands. " I have been blessed by the Yama that I will die only when I so do wish, and, being a celestial, nothing short of atomization could bring me close to death."
"Wait... so you have Bishma's blessing?"
"I do." Mukhara nodded. " I received it after I gave Shiki Eiki a copy of The Teaching of Lord Chaitania... she had no money, ironically enough." she gave a noncommittal shrug.
This caused Kripa to burst into laughter and once again remember the true cost of those books he used to distribute in the streets of Tokyo. "Eh, you know mom, I think she didn't give you enough." Then he sobered. "And... that... thing in Yuki's body can manipulate our mind. And the last time we faced the thing..."
"I collapsed," Mukhara admitted, her easy smile now gone. "And you would be right to be worried for me."
"If I may." Gaston reminded everyone of his presence as politely as he could. "When we faced this... blasphemous entity... I immensely longed for death."
"Yeah... Me too." Hoshi admitted. "Crap... I never felt so bad you know... almost had to me cut my own throat before it left."
"Yeah... I felt that too." Kripa admitted as his gaze never left the most beautiful gift in his hand. "But, only at first when we broke the seal, I Guess... I guess my Krishna won't let the fraud get at me." He whispered to himself, once again moved by how caring Krishna was, despite the fact that Kripa was but a tiny, impure soul that had turned his back to Him.
"That's how Krishna works, you know. He will always protect his Devotee."
"Oh yeah sure. But didn't you lost your limbs?" Hoshi pointedly asked, being the neigh sayer he was.
Mukhara gave a happy shrug. "Bah, those limbs were a worthy sacrifice, in my opinion. And besides, We are spirit souls, not the material body. Sometimes, to save us, the eternal soul, Krishna will remove the body. And let me stop all of you, for us Vaishnavas. death is not the end, nor is it this highly traumatic event." The saint raised a finger as she began to glow. "Srila-Bhaktivinoda Thakura said on this matter. 'of ill mind is he who says that a Vaishnava dies, for he lives eternally in sound."
"'The Vaishnava dies to live, and the living tried to give the holy names around.'" Kripa finished the well-known quotation.
He heard his mother chuckled. "I see you're still remembering this one."
The Vaishnava gave a one-shoulder shrug. "Mah... It's all Krishna." He got up. "Now, not that I don't want to stop talking about Krishna's awesome servant, but I think we have a cat to find."
"No need, the cat's here."
Everyone turned to face the doorway, and indeed, there stood Radha-Shyamasundara. Bloodied, bruised, one tail missing the other limp, hair undone and looking about as pissed off as a cat could be in this situation.
Immediately, Kripa began to fear for her life, especially for the amount of blood that had spilled from her mouth.
But despite her terrible state, Mukhara seemed to be the only one unfazed. "Oh, Radha. I never expected you to return so quickly." She greeted her friend, pulling a chair out for her. "You look like something pulled out of a graveyard."
Radha scoffed as she sat down, her wound healing at a rapid rate. "Phu-lease... Ah survived way worst sis', like Nuclear hell fire worst."
"Miss Radha." Fujiwara began as he approached the feline with Mai and a few other healers in tow, one of which being Isabeau.
The young woman looked definitely better, and yet restless.
"Me too," Radha said with a sight. "Maa... Sri-Radhe's the best of the best, so sweet and compassionate. Man, I wish I would be in Vrindavan right now and not in this dirty litter box."
This caught Fujiwara by surprise, but before he could recover from this statement, Radha gave him a micro-SD card that had definitely see some better days. "Woke up with that in my mouth. Think Shesha gave it to me... by the way, Flynn's between life and death... his bod's like... it ain't working all that well, and he ain't got a heartbeat either. Last I saw n heard 'im anyway."
To the side, Isabeau stifle a sob.
"So... Flynn's..."
"Not quite dead but... by the look on his face. He went through the emotional wringer." Radha spoke as she accepted the medicine and the healing touch of Mai. " From what I understood, the legion of Ghost has this one head honcho, and this head Honcho's using Yukimaru's body as a bodysuit and it's slowly killing him."
Krishna-Kripa sucked a breath in, his previous anger returning to him.
"So... they got Flynn to... I don't know, but apparently, your samurai of hope's a pretty beefed-up healer, not gonna lie." Radha said as she sat a bit straighter, her wounds already gone. " So yeah, he's been healing Yuki for a few days now. Oh, and Apparently, the fake Shesha's really just this poor youth named Issachar. He ain't that bad as long as mister tsuku... no... Ikutsuki of something doesn't take over, he good and friendly."
At the name, Kripa froze with dread as a memory from his past... the worst memory of his past elected to once again haunt him.
Tartarus... Yuki-Kun, Yukari-Chan, Mitsuru-sempai, Ken-kun, Junpei-kun, Akihiko-Sempai, Koromaru-kun...
They were all chained to white crosses, struggling to breathe as their own weight suffocated them. And poor Koromaru, dog legs were not meant to be spread out like this.
"Aigis, don't leave them hanging." The monster spoke his terrible pun, his glasses glinting.
She hated this man... even more then Ryoji.
She knew what she had to do... her body was already in position, her arms outstretched, the safeties were off, bullets were already in the cambers.
She had to shoot them all... to kill them all... to bring The Fall...
She didn't want to shoot, she didn't want The Fall to happen, she didn't want to lose her friends, and the one... she didn't want to kill her little brother.
"Aigis, shoot them," Ikutsuki growled, whatever humour in his voice gone.
Quickly coming up with a plan... Aigis shoot them... and freed them all, going against the wish of the demon wearing a human skin.
"Betta! Betta!"
"By lucifer's closet, Aegis, get a hold of yourself!"
"Oh lord, please save you surrendered servant. Oh Lord of the universe, sweetest of them all, do not take him yet, I beg of thee!" He heard Gaston pray and Aigis... Kasami Krishna-Kripa Could easily see the pious young man kneeling with his palms folded in supplication.
Meaning...
The greenette opened his eyes, his vision blurry, and his ears catching someone sobbing quietly...
No, it was not his mom, he could feel her beside him.
He was on the ground and his eyes felt raw and puffy.
He had cried.
"OK... let me guess, I fainted?" Kripa asked as he managed to sit up with Gaston's help. The taller young man looked pale.
"Faint! This was more then a mere malaise, your entire body shuddered, nay... it..."
"You had a fit... and it was not en ecstatic symptom." Mukhara solemnly said as she pressed a glass of cold water in Kripa's palm.
He took the glass of pure water provided by his mother. Gently sipping it despite his desire to chug the whole thing dry.
"Betta?" His mother took his hand and began to massage it. " what did you remember?" She asked, deep concern shone behind her golden eyes.
Kripa took another sip of water and cleared his throat. Turning his attention to Ken. " That time I... Aigis...Ken, do you still remember the time in Tartarus where you guys were all hung on crosses?"
As the words left his mouth, Kripa could have sworn he felt his Krishna's annoyance replace the divine anger that was at his service.
"Shit... you still remember that?" Ken asked, his eyes wide.
"I just did... I swear, I fought Ikutsuki's commend-"
"I know kid, I know... Shitface was an ass bigger the Adramelech and his wife."
Kripa gave a weird look to grown-up ken... huh, apparently his gaydar had been wrong, Adramelech had a wife...
Unless.
" A-Anyway, what do we do now? Ikutsuki's... ghost is messing with Yuki and smearing Krishna's name. And what about Flynn?" The greenette shamelessly returned to the topic, hoping his Krishna would be merciful to him and make him forget all about the peacock-ass demon.
Fujiwara's eyes darkened. "I... Give me five minutes and I will return to you."
an hour later, and Fujiwara stumbled out of the back room. His face was pale, and it looked and smelled as if he had been sick. The poor man grabbed a random bottle of booze and heavily sat down on one of the plush chairs, cracking the top open and taking a swig.
And by the look of Mukhara and Radha's face (now fully healed.) they didn't approve of this fact. Still, they remained quiet until Mukhara took the booze away. "I know you want to numb your emotion's Fujiwara, but I assure you, escapism will only make them worst."
Kripa blinked, now, he had been patronized to hell and back, but he'd never expected to hear his mother pull this card on a much older man.
Oh, wait... no, it made sence for the milenial prince of Japan to make a Fujiwara suffer while looking out for him.
Fujiwara narrowed his eyes, but Mukhara's mere presence was enough to cow him. He let out a sigh as he rubbed his face.
"Alright... everyone... please sit down," he asked, and everyone took their seat. Knowing that what would come next would change everything, and not in a good way
Once again, Fujiwara's eyes moved to the back of the bar, longingly staring at a bottle of Kalua before he returned his attention back to the task at hand.
He instead grabbed a cig and hung it off the side of his lips, not lighting out of cutesy for his guest. " That SD card... the latest video was of... this demon controlling Yuki." he began, carefully choosing his words. "That..."
"Sir... Fujiwara-Kun, you may curse if it can make you feel better." Mukhara spoke gently, knowing how the man felt.
"That fucking piece of shit was rambling on it for a good thirty minutes about how he's basically doing it for shits and giggle. Said that it was his destiny to be a stinking turd on everyone's favourite shoes. That Philemon made him this way as a game..." Fujiwara practically spat out. "That's it, there's nothing more to it... he's just..."
"Doing his job." Mukhara finished for him. " And having a blast while playing his role."
The whole cafe turned even more silent as they all digested what they had just heard. That is until Nozomi broke it.
"So... it's just a game?" She spoke quietly, her rage barely concealed under her tones. "A Godawful game where humans' life are at stake? A game were we all have to watch our loved one starve to death? Eaten by demons, turned into shitty copies of god and urban legend?" she got up, he eyes flashing green as her cheeks turned red. " Who the hell thought this was a good idea? I had more fun playing with Spoony the spork then this! And for what!?"
"Nozomi, please calm down." A regal voice echoed through the cafe, it was a voice Kripa had heard only once, but still marked him.
It was Lady Danu's voice, and sure enough, the Mother of the Tua te Daanan appeared, bringing with her the smell of the fertile earth and spring.
Still not as good as Krishna's natural fragrance, but close enough...
not.
Fujiwara made to get up, only for the Demigoddess(?) to wave him off. "Please, we do not have time for pleasantries.
"No... we don't." Fujiwara admitted. "But thank you for keeping us on track, holy mother."
"Say, Kripa." Gaston began from his side of the couch, keeping a whole arm wrapped around the smaller boy's shoulder. " Is there such a thing as a Holy mother? Like the Virgin, in your religion?"
"Yeah," Kripa whispered as the adult spoke a bit more. " Krishna's mother, Yashoda and Devaki got Krishna in their womb without insemination. None of them got touched by their respective husband."
"Really? God had two mothers?"
"Go can have unlimited Mothers, Gasby... actually, Krishna's never born, but he does take birth," Kripa mentioned as if this paradox was but a mere fact... witch it was.
"Huh... God's amazing, isn't he?" The Crusader asked with a grin that Kripa shared, pointedly ignoring how Hoshi was leering at the two.
"Yes... he is!" Krishna-Kripa happily confirmed with his new best friend. "Now Shush, and let the real adult talk."
"Now... the rest of the Video was basically the black scum strutting about and explaining that our Tokyo's not the real one. How Stephen's in control and how his job is just to be evil and make the player suffer. There's no such thing as salvation, no such thing as freedom of choice." Fujiwara said without much emotion.
And none of the group reacted as much as Kripa feared since most had already heard it for Mukhara and Mandodari.
And free will was a thing... just not in their situation where everyone lacked the power and the knowledge to act.
(save for them.)
Speaking of the outsider, the poor woman seemed extremely tired, last time they saw her. But considering how she had to convince twelve people that the place they were in was fake and that the world was not a nuked-out wasteland. She had been busy day and night.
And that was on top of her priestly duty and average seva-load.
Fujiwara sighed as he tiredly rubbed his face. "Basically, he confirmed everything Mother Mukhara told us... about us being pawns in a game where life is a small price to pay. We are a plaything to Hermits, and none can be trusted.
"No... this was psychological manipulation on his part." Mukhara denied. " We, the ancient Celestial hermits, would never condone such a gross misuse of human life." she crossed her arms. "Unfortunately, with the coming of Kali-Yuga, more and more of our brethren have forgotten the true nature of a world in a crack, and exploit it, thinking themselves God." She let her doll arms fall to the side, her golden eyes shining with divine determination. " I will not let this stand, not during the glorious coming of the Golden age."
Kripa felt a shiver going up his spine at the mention of the second coming of Satya-Yuga as predicted by the revealed scriptures.
This may be messy now, but a golden age of ten thousand years was upon them. A golden age in which most would focus on Spiritual matter and less on the pursue of sense gratification.
And since the hare Krishna 'religion' was all about ecstatic chanting, dancing like a mad man and feasting on sacred food, it basically meant that a ten-thousand-year-long party was upon them.
Kripa couldn't wait, it was gonna be so freaking fun.
But first.
"That's nice and all Prince. But how are we going to stop this piece of bloody turd?" Nozomi asked with her arms crossed. "Last time you faced that thing, you practically collapsed."
"I know... but at the same time, for me to do nothing as I save this worthless skin goes against everything a regent represent." The regal woman declared, her eyes shining with determination. "We are warriors. Kshatriya's by nature psycho-physical nature. Our duty is to fight unto death if need be." she opened her arms. "I'm not suicidal, far from it. But I also know that for me to lay down when a demon is wreaking havoc on peoples lives is unacceptable. beside." She smiled as she opened her arms. "I... as well as all of us, are immortal by nature. Our body may perish, but we, the souls, will endure."
"Right, that's from the second chapter, isn't it?" Ken asked as he pulled out his pocket edition of the Bhagavad-Gita as it is.
"Indeed." Mukhara nodded. "And for those who's psychology and physical make-up point to their warrior nature, dying on the battle field, with its front covered with arrows and grievous wound, is the ideal way do die!"
"Yeah Sis... buuuut, I don't think that's such a great death." Radha-Shyamasundara drawled. " For me, I want to die in a Sudha-nama San-kirtana, surrounded by over eighty devotees's who heart are filled with love of God."
"Uhg... and I thought she was the sane one," Hoshi muttered as Kripa bit his lips. Unwilling to make another scene, but unwilling to let the slight slide.
"Just so you know, son of a fallen angel. The meaning of material sanity does not apply to the ones who has given himself sent percent to God. And this, my dear, is true sanity." Mukhara closed his eyes. " not only that, but Silas-Prabhupada said, and I quote him, that it was better to die by discharging one's occupational duty, especially if this duty is in line with pure devotional service." She stated.
"Alright... I'm bailing out then." Hoshi said as he got up and walked out, grumbling about how stupidly suicidal Hare Krishna were.
Little did he knew that those who served Krishna were free from death. And no, the lord never condones his suicide, for his servant bodies belonged to him.
Well... alright, so there was this one incident with Junior Haridas, but for everybody else, the Lord would not accept it.
Once Hoshi was (finally) gone, Kripa could not help but feel like a weight had been lifted from his shoulder... then he realised that he was still weighted down by some other issues.
"Alright, was there anything else worth knowing on the card?" Mukhara asked, dismissing whatever awkwardness happened to be there.
Fujiwara sighed and pressed his eyes shut. "Yes... there is."
The Needlepoint warily exchanged glances. Form the sound of it... someone died.
After Fujiwara managed to gather his wits, mind and emotions, he leaned forward, his elbows to his knee's.
"Flynn... was killed in front of our eyes. It was not a Kidnapping."
Predictably, Isabeau began to sob in Nozomi's arms.
"But... it was not the end of it." The crushed man spoke darkly, and Mukhara narrowed her eyes.
"Apparently, Dadga turned hi into this... Godslayer thing, basically a thrall." Radha said as she took over the conversation. " Poor guy's body between life 'n death."
"But... why?" Isabeau managed to ask.
" From what I gathered, Dagda was tasked to keep Flynn "alive" in order to heal his vessel." Radha continued, her ears flatten on her head. "The guys a real piece o' work, let me tall you, like... I've never seen an utsuro so big in my life."
"And do you know the name of the unfortunate youth?" Mukhara asked.
"Sure do, sis, his name is Makoto-"
"Makoto Yuki..." Kripa spoke up. "He... used to be my little brother, then my precious person. He used to be the field leader of S.E.E.S and... "died" sealing Nyx from the world with his soul, preventing the fall... the apocalypse."
Everyone stared at the youngest member of the assembly, who let Yuuka's nasty sneer split his lips.
"What a pile of dog crap..." he growled. " When my... When my Yuki-kun 'died'... I was with him... it was the end of school and... and he wanted to join the temple full time..."
"Yuki-san died on the last day of high school, having just turned eighteen." Ken picked up the slack, the only show of his stormy mood were how he clutched his arms to his body. " He died with his head on Aigis lap... but, we didn't believe it back then, we just thought he went to sleep, too exhausted by his exam and all that crap."
"No," Kripa spoke up as he held the left side of his head, digging through his previous memories and Praying to Krishna that he may remember them as fully as He would permit it. " I think... I think he was poisoned by the new School nurse, Kaku Seiga-"
"WHAT!" Mukhara uncharacteristic exclaimed. "K... Kaku S-Seiga?"
"Oh Hell no," Radha uttered with a mix of horror and disgust. She turned to her nephew, with a tight smile on her face. "K.K... can you tell us more about her? Like her hair colour, where she came from, specialty and level of creepiness around interesting people?"
"Well... she had blue hair tied in a Chinese bow thingy, Chinese and..." He remembered how she practically felt up Yuki-kun with the excuse that it was a medical exam.
But looking back...
"She hid it well but... she was looking at Yuki-kun like he was a prime piece of wagyu." He shuddered. "I should have stopped her... I should have said something back then. I should-"
He felt a hard hand on his shoulders, his mother was looking at him with deep kindness and empathy.
"Betta... don't feel bad. Kaku's like that, she will trick people into doing her bidding, lulling them in a false sense of security before drugging them..."
"Wait... drugged?"
Mukhara rose back up, keeping a hand on Kripa. "Yes, Kaku is an ancient Chinese hermit, she predates me by quite a few centuries. She has knowledge of ancient Chinese medicine that can revive the dead, drug people into servitude and... make Shikaisen," she spoke meaningfully. "Now, if I remember well, you and your group had been looking for Makoto Yuki's body for some time, haven't you?" She moved her gaze to Ken despite having addressed her son too.
"Yep, we did. Our only clue was how a hole seemed to have been cut in the van's side. Hard as hell to see, but it was the type of thing you couldn't unsee once you noticed."
Radha growled. "Yeah, alright. Yukimaru's kidnapper's that wicked bitch." She spat. " That fuc-"
"Radha... I dislike what she did too. But please keep calm, your anger will only make you less effective." Mukhara mildly snapped her body thence.
Radha flattened her years and she crossed her arms over her chest. " nu-uh. You just don't want me to call that hoe for what she is." She growled.
"I don't want you to say this particular word, but yes, this loose woman of dubious parentage is not known for any niceties," Mukhara muttered darkly. " And I can safely say that she was the one who poisoned Yuki, turning him into a ... puppet."
"Can't he catch a break?" Ken rasped, clutching his spear until his knuckled cracked. " First was the damn foster system, then the bullying, that shit with Ikutsuki, the whole fake fall and the seal... getting kidnapped by this Chinese bitch-"
"Chinese ain't that bad!" Radha hissed. Interrupting Ken's rent.
The man look up, opened his mouth...
"And this's just his karma, buddy. Reactions' to past action. The karmic bill, basically."
The man gritted his teeth. "Well, Karma's a bitch.
"oh, you don't need to say that again. And that's why chanting's so important." Radha-Shyamasundara interjected. "One of the effects of the Hare Krishna Maha-mantra is the destruction of all Karma, both good and bad... and no, yah don't want the good either. It just keeps you in the material world to suffer more."
"Yes... but to come back to Yuki-kun." Mukhara resumed. " If you have been looking for his remains, I dare say that Kaku has led you on a wild goose chase."
"Yeah... cost us millions of yen. Aigis played it smart by bailing out early." Ken admitted as he turned to Krishna-Kripa. " By the way. Don't know if you remembered the cold shoulders and all that crap but... I'm sorry Aigis. You were right... about everything."
Kripa stared and started to fidget under the numerous stares. "Uh... alright... thank, I guess?" He sheepishly scratched the back of his head.
To be honest, he vaguely remembered Mitsuru-senpai trying to get Aigis back to the Kijiro group. Going as far as to bribe the temple and Maharaja and a plan a kidnapping if that failed. Thankfully it didn't come to pass... but Ananda-Rupini devi dasi had lost all support and spare parts.
"meh, water under the bridge. No use keeping a grudge about it, you know."
Ken let out a sigh.
"So... anything else about Flynn? Do we know of his status?" Isabeau asked as she got to he feet, her reddish eyes intense with determination.
Fujiwara lowered his eyes.
"On the video... Kr... The Abomination merged Dadga with him and... revived Flynn..." He raised his head. "He wounded him... and gave us a time limit."
"No... not a time limit," Mukhara murmured. "If he wanted us to suffer. If he feeds on the despair we feel... and if Flynn's wounds are as bad as I've heard them..."
"You think he's already dead?" Fujiwara asked grimly.
"I do... we have no idea how long Radha was unconscious, but I am certain it took longer then two hours for us to get the video."
"Shit..." Fujiwara cursed.
"Still, Flynn may have met with a terrible faith. But we can still save his soul, and that of the million's that form the Utsuro." Mukhara assured. "It is a setback, for sure. But we cannot falter, we have to move on, for him... for everyone."
With those words, the fire of purpose was lit, and Kripa once again felt his lips stretched over his teeth in a snarling smile.
"Ah... Kripa?"
"Yes, Gasby?" The son of Yuuka asked with a smirk.
"You... ah... you promise you truly are at the Lord's side?" Gaston uneasily asked.
"Why, of course, I am. By the way, after all, is said and done. Me think you would need plenty of cuddles, dear friend. For I doubt sleep will easily find you." Krishna-Kripa spoke with genuine concern. " While my previous memories are extremely blurry, save those my Krishna wants me to remember in clarity, I can still remember what fighting a multi-ghost thing is like..." his smile turned devious and filled with painful promises. "Say, Ken-Kun. Do you remember the abyss of time and what was at the bottom?"
A violent shudder followed by a pair of empty eyes that had seen untold horror were their answers.
"Wonderful... help me if I somehow got something wrong, would you?"
Under Cafe Florida. Iori Junpei laid down on his cot, his arms folded under his head as he contemplated the ceiling.
He was past the point of anger now... especially after the mother of all lecture Fujiwara and Ken gave him.
He'd screwed up... majorly so. He had lost his son, his daughter... and now his fame and credibility.
'Krishna won...' He thought bitterly. That Lecherous Bastard had taken everything from him.
He'd taken away Yuki, then Aigis... and now his son and daughter, all the while using Yuki's stolen body as a puppet.
He turned to his side as he tried to get some sleep... but his mind always went back to the past and how he had acted.
He knew he had been in his right, Yuki wasn't sane, this he knew. He had the same thing his Granny and pop had.
He was depressed, and in this state, Yuki didn't even bother making choices, he'd just let people push him around and take advantage of his broken, submissive nature.
Just like Mochizuki.
And thus, Junpei had made it his job to make sure his bro would not get bamboozled by some unscrupulous man and women.
But it still happened... with a bunch of Hare Krishna Cultists. And Aigis, the traitorous bitch, the definition for compensating for something. The fakest friend ever had let it happen. She'd even helped those fucking cultists to penetrate deeper and deeper in Yuki's fragile mind.
He would not listen to his friends anymore. And while he was always vegetarian (nothing wrong with that, his Chidori was also not all that keen on meat.) he'd stop drinking green tea, gave away his game console and game, even gave his porn stash to Junpei.
Not that there was much there, and whatever material was there had been immaculate and... not something the young man had been interested at the time.
Every Sunday, Yuki and Aigis would skip out on hanging out in Paulownia mall and go the damn temple.
Yuki looked happy, he was smiling, he had friends...
Other friends. Friends that had nothing to do with S.E.E.S. friends who would never understand the hell they would go through almost everything to save the world. Those were just a bunch of happy go lucky druggies who would know a shadow even if it ate their souls.
Bunch of idiots...
A wicked smirk stretched Junpei lips... yes, those suckers... Junpei did everything in his power to make them pay. And while Mitsuru didn't do shit for the legal battle he had warred. The old boss was sure it had the effect he wanted.
No one would remain stonehearted to what Yuki went through.
Not only that, but he did manage to run over that sex doll over, breaking her to bits before making a quick getaway. Not only that, but his lawyer managed to let him get away with a mere fine and not manslaughter.
It would have been worth it though, two fewer cultists polluting the streets. One less was still satisfactory, especially since it was the traitorous bimbo. the second one had been saved.
Suddenly, he felt a presence in the room... something beyond anything he had faced, save for Mukhara.
Junpei sat up to face whoever it was... and what a surprise it was.
It was a little girl wearing a white sundress, she was playing with a hoop, of all things.
Her empty eyes stared at Junpei... and the fallen guild master of kinshicho could not help but shudder at the sight.
" Who are you... what are you doing here?" The boss asked as he slowly got off the bed and gently kneeled in front of the girl.
The girl stared at him and opened her mouth. "Flynn died..."
Those two words were like a pair of daggers being plunged in his heart.
"The monster born of Matsuda's mind, Nyarlathotep, the dark entity, had killed him..." The little girl kept talking without any inflection. "His game lasted too long... his toy turned on him." suddenly, the girl whirled around, her eyes filled with fear.
The sound on an electric wheelchair met Junpei's ears. "He's here... the Master..."
"what do you mean by-" but Junpei was interrupted by the appearance of the master.
He was a man of unknown age, his hair was white, his glasses glinted in the low light. he wore a burgundy suit. He was sitting on a pristine electric wheelchair, a laptop was sitting on top of the tray and his fingers were steeple.
He knew him... he was the one who gave him the specialized Red.
"Oh... Goddess, what are you doing with hi-"
"I'm not you Goddess" The little girl hissed.
"Of course you are... it is your role." The man's glasses... Stephen's glass took a worrying glow.
"..." The little girl didn't speak, but it was clear she hated the man with great passion.
"Stephen, what are you doing here?" Junpei asked as he got to his feet. "You here to free me, aren't you?" And maybe give him something stronger then last time?
Stephen smirked... but it was not a nice smile.
"Oh, I will." And with that...
Everything became dark.
When Junpei woke up, he was in a judgment hall that was a bit too Hindu for his taste. On the throne was a man with a skin so dark, it made conventional darkness look pale, he had four arms, one carrying a heavy rod of punishment, and the other a noose. He was covered in golden ornament, and a blue Hare Krishna pants covered his legs. beside him, Time and Death stood with their weapons in hand. A bit further, a Buffalo chewed his cud, its red eyes not leaving Junpei.
The boss never knew that a dumb animal could look so judgmental.
"W... Where am I? What's going on?" The boss asked, not liking the guards that flanked him.
They were fearsome man-like demons with huge tusks in their mouth, their body tall and gruesome in their proportion. At their heel's were what could only be Hell hounds.
"You are on my planet, Yamaloka. Or as you born on earth calls it, Pluto." Yamaraja's voice rumbled in the richly decorated hall. "And you, Iori Junpei... have died."
"What!?" Junpei sputtered. "No, this can't be true. I don't remember dying!? He exclaimed. "This... this is a dream... just a dream."
"I'm afraid not, son. Your body, back on Bhu-Loka had perished. It's lifespan cut short by your own sinful action." The Judge of the dead informed the soul, his red eyes narrowed and the corner of his mouth toward the precious floor. "But, to be honest, you did live longer then what you were supposed to... by the mercy of you're son."
" I have no son!" Junpei hissed as he watched an unidentifiable emotion pass Yamaraja's piercing eyes.
"I see..." The God hummed as an aid wheeled in a huge stack of paper. "If this is the case, then let's start with the reading of your sin." Yamaraja quietly declare. Was it regret in his voice?
As his numerous sins were read, Junpei decided that no, such an evil man could not feel regret. Despite how sad his voice sounded.
A good man would not mourn cultists.
Back on Bhu-Loka, in the condemned hermitage. Stephen stared at the dead body of Iori-kun...
He had the same horrible feeling one got when breaking their project by accident. Even if Stephen didn't do anything... Yet.
He had wanted to Give Junpei the power to destroy Mukhara and her cohort, then rewrite the universe to his own whim when... He died.
He just died... Just like that.
The Yamaduta's had just... they had just...
They popped in, noosed the man... and dragged his souls out so fast, Stephen had almost missed it.
One Yamaduta had stayed back, leering at the Hermit with clear contempt and mockery. " Do not try anything else... you can't win against HIM." And with that, the servant of Yamaraja left... leaving Stephen all alone with the de-aged and revived Seiga.
Stephan, in his shock and fear... a type of fear that he hadn't felt for centuries at this point, forgot to erase the security footage.