Author's Note - There's some trigger warnings for this chapter, mostly vomiting and bodypart replacements. I was super uncomffy writing this chapter so it might be a little rushed, but it needed to happen so I sped through it as much as I could. It might be a little messy and faster paced but I just wanted this chapter done with so I can move onto the actual plot now. If you can't sit through it, I'll understand.

XI
Koujiro

Kouji was seriously beginning to think that every angel was an extremely attractive woman now. Aespa, Gabriel, and now Griselda. All of them were knock out beauties…does falling from grace mean that an angel becomes more human in terms of appearance too? Azazel was attractive enough for a guy who looked in his thirties…but angels were something else entirely.

They welcomed Griselda into the loft, Winter even making tea for their guest as everyone got seated in the living room.

"I see Azazel still hasn't gotten over his love of lavish hotels," Griselda smiled. "I didn't realize the Grigori headquarters had moved here. Seoul is truly a beautiful city."

"You should see it at night," said Karina.

"Oh, and Lady Gabriel sent me your latest album," said Griselda. "I must say, you guys are amazing. Especially you Giselle, those background vocals are remarkable indeed."

Giselle, uncharacteristically, blushed and smiled. "Thank you…"

"Here we go," Winter set down a tray of tea for Griselda set with honey and sugar cubes on the side.

Griselda leaned over and took in the smell. "Jasmine…my favorite. Thank you Winter."

Kouji leaned over to Karina. "You secretly had her dig up information on me? Why didn't you tell me?"

Karina sighed. "I didn't want you to get your hopes up…I didn't even know if Heaven had any information on you."

"We do," Griselda sipped her tea and smiled. "Delicious."

"Is it…bad?" asked Karina.

"Well that's entirely up to you," said Griselda. "It's an honor to meet you, Shidou Koujiro. Lady Gabriel has told me about your meeting and Azazel filled me in on what has happened so far."

"A pleasure," Kouji bowed his head.

"So…the information?" asked Karina.

"Right, of course," Griselda cleared her throat. "From what I gathered…you were a human before you were kidnapped by Valak, Koujiro."

"I…I was human?"

Griselda nodded. "I'm sorry…I'm so very sorry…You were kidnapped a very long time ago. All I have is that you were a child in Mesopotamia…abducted from your home before the fall of its capital city, Babylon."

"Mesopotamia?" Kouji shot to his feet. "But that was thousands of years ago…I can't be that old…"

"From what I could gather…Valak used extremely dangerous space-time magic to halt your aging progress tremendously," said Griselda. "He was looking for a human child with the necessary requirements to be Imugi's vessel. It seemed like he was planning it for quite some time."

"Planning what?" asked Karina. "Lucifer? Is freeing him that important that he would abduct a child from 3,000 years ago just to be a vessel?"

"I'm afraid so," said Griselda. "This next part was locked and guarded, however Lady Gabriel told me anyway. Valak knew that the Archangels were on the hunt for the 72 original Demons, he was weary of the incoming danger. As a last ditch effort, he abducted a child with the potential to become a vessel and experimented on him. The first and possibly last case of a nephallem. He infused you with his own blood, Koujiro. Demonic blood is literally poison to the human body…the process killed you many times over, however Valak rescurrected you each and every time to try again until your body had become accustom to it."

Kouji fell back on the couch in stunned disbelief. "W…What?"

"Once your body was capable of housing his demonic blood," said Griselda. "He then cast a very powerful spell, one that was working even thousands of years after he had been killed. A spell that set waiting until the appropriate requirements were met."

"What kind of…requirements?" asked Karina.

"A Sacred Gear," said Griselda. "With the Creator gone…there were no ways of creating a new true Sacred Gear, therefore he had wait until a user had died and passed it onto the next generation. However because of Imugi's vast magic pool, not any Sacred Gear would do. Valak cast a spell that froze Koujiro at the age he was abducted and experimented on for over 3,000 years…until The Mystic Eyes of Purgatory found its way to him eventually."

"What?" asked Kouji. "No, Karina you said that it transfers over the moment a user dies to a child about to be born. I was what…5? How!"

"The spell…" said Karina. "Oh no…"

"Yes," said Griselda. "The Mystic Eyes work in perfect tandom with Imugi's own powers, therefore it was the perfect weapon to be possessed by one who would be its vessel. Valak cast a spell that locked you in space-time at the age you were abducted…however you were dead inside that stasis. As soon as the spell detected that the Mystic Eyes were about to be transferred…the inheritance of that Sacred Gear restarted your heart. Valak-"

"Stop!' Kouji covered his mouth. "I…I can't hear anymore…"

"Kouji…" Karina reached her hand out, however he snapped and swatted it away.

"No! No…I…I need to go the bathroom…"

Koujiro stumbled on his way until he fell into the bathroom, locking the door behind him as he stared into the mirror. His stomach regurgitated everything it had ate up until that point, vomiting all over the sink.

This wasn't real…This can't be real…He kept repeating it to himself no matter how much of a lie it was. He wasn't just experimented on…he was practically tortured. Valak kidnapped and tortured him until he became a Demon…or whatever it was he was at this point. This life…it wasn't even his own. He wasn't from this world…this time…

"Kouji." it was Karina. "Please…open up…"

Kouji slid down on the door. Could he cry? Was that too human? He wanted to cry…but nothing was coming out. He wanted to scream…but nothing was coming out. He wanted to do something, but it felt his body had been possessed by Imugi all over again. He was frozen, a still statue looking through the lense of a life he should never have even lived.

"Please…" it was Winter this time. "You shouldn't be alone right now."

"I was…I was five!" said Kouji, tears finally forming in his eyes. "I was five…I can't remember a thing…how many times did I die? How much of that blood…"

"It's better if you didn't…" said Karina.

"All of this is a lie…" he smiled. "I'm still at home…still in London…I'm gonna wake up any second now…and Irina-"

His voice broke. Why was he crying about Irina now of all times? He didn't know why but his arms folded as he curled up on the bathroom floor, flooding the ground with his tears. He didn't want to be so pathetic, but it was like he had no control over his body anymore. It cried, it wept, it poured out everything in its heart…his heart.

The door to the bathroom dissolved into sand as Karina ran inside and hold him.

"You're still you…" Karina quivered as she held him. "You're still…the same stupid kid who came to watch his favorite idol group perform live. The same kid who likes to cook…to read…to help the people around him strive and prosper. You're still all of those things Kouji…and so much more."

"Because I'm a demon?" Kouji broke away from Karina's embrace, sliding back until he hit the opposite wall. "So much more…you keep saying that, everybody keeps saying that…is it because I'm a demon?

"Because you're our brother," Giselle stepped inside and smiled. "You're our stupid, caring, helpful, thoughtful, and in pain…brother."

"I…" Kouji grit his teeth.

"None of that changes who you are Kouji," NingNing poked her head inside.

Winter ran inside and collapsed on Kouji, wrapping her arms around him and squeezing tighter than she had ever had. Tears poured out of her eyes as she wept in his arms…weeping for him.

"I'm sorry…I'm so sorry…" Winter voice was rapid and cracking. "I'm so sorry…I'm sorry…I'm sorry…I'm so sorry…"

Kouji's eyes widened. He had never seen her cry like this…never. She wasn't just spending time with him and bonding him because Karina told her to…none of them were. They weren't just having him around because he was some lost puppy…they did it because they loved him.

Karina bit her lip as she began to cry too. "We love you Kouji…and it breaks our hearts to see you like this…"

Giselle walked over and slid down next to him, holding his arm as she cried on his shoulder. "I'm sorry you have to go through this…"

NingNing did the same to his other arm. "I'm sorry…we can't do anything to help you…no matter how much we want to."

Karina knelt down and pressed her forehead against his. "If you need to cry…we'll be your shoulders to cry on. If you need a hug…our arms are always open for you. If you just need to punch your frustration out…I promise I'll be there to take it. It's what big sisters do for their little brother when he's having a hard time…and it's what we'll always do for you, Kouji."

Kouji broke down, holding them tightly as he let out everything. He cried…pouring out every ounce of horrid, disgust, anger, anxiety, fear, loss, regret…guilt. He cried until his eyes closed…and the world went black.

…

Karina gritted her teeth as she watched Griselda tuck Kouji into bed. She had never seen him like that before…even when he had to say goodbye to Irina. He had always been so kind, so thoughtful, so considerate of them. All this time, with all that's been happening to him…Karina hadn't once thought that he was exactly as he looked…a 15 year old boy who had just lost everything he had ever known and whisked away into a world that despised his very existence so much, they would try and end it. Of course he wasn't just accepting it so early…if only she hadn't been blinded. Karina was frustrated, however it was with herself for not being there for him earlier.

"He'll be okay," Griselda smiled as she closed the door. "He'll need his rest…the boy experienced a great deal of trauma from earlier. I don't know if he's going to remember anything…but I pray that he doesn't."

"He's just a kid…" Karina's eyes teared up once again. "He's just…"

"This is horrible," Winter wiped her eyes, so much so that they had puffened up. "He was in so much pain…"

Giselle leaned back on the wall, blank faced and entirely speechless. NingNing, on the other hand, sat next to Winter with her knees to chest, leaning on her sister for physical contact, something she had unconsciously done so many times when others were having a hard time around her.

"I get that he's a Demon…" said Giselle. "But to do something like that…to a 5 year old kid…a kid."

"You…really do care for him," said Griselda. "Don't you."

Karina smiled, remembering the times they had spent together, fiddling with her bracelet. "He's our baby brother…we love him."

"I promised him…" said Giselle. "I promised him we would find a way to help him…"

"I promised his sister we would look after him," Karina collapsed onto the couch. "I promised…and now…"

Griselda sat down and held Karina in her arms. "Sweet child…things will get better."

"What did he do?" asked Karina. "Tell me…tell us…what exactly did Valak do to Kouji?"

Griselda had a pained look on her face. "I'm…I'm not sure if-"

"Please," said Giselle. "Please Griselda…"

"He's our brother," said Winter.

Griselda closed her eyes.

"The demon blood…it modified Koujiro's body, decayed it," said Griselda. "Even if his body grew to adjust and accept it…it doesn't change the blood's poisonous effects. His body must have done everything to reject it, but the poison will have eaten away at his body, rotting it from the inside out…so much so that with every restart, his body eventually found a way to let the poison eat until it was finished…but barely keeping the boy alive. That must have been when Valak knew that he had found the one…and that's when he would have begun to perfect his new creation."

Giselle threw up on the ground, collapsing to her knees. Honestly…Karina was seconds away from doing the same. If this was where she thought it was going…

"He would have collected spare human parts, reversed the age of those parts, and replaced Koujiro's body with modified human parts until he was…fixed," said Griselda.

Karina couldn't hold it in. She flew over to the kitchen sink and threw up. She felt sick…mortified. Valak…He was a Demon, definitely. He toyed with life…an innocent boy's life. Twisted it and burnt it and cut it and poisoned it…all to fix him and do it all over again. How could…How could anyone do that…

"I'm gonna…" Winter held her mouth.

"I'm sorry…" said Griselda. "It's why this information was locked away. I was hesitant to share it with you…but you truly care for Koujiro."

"What are we going to do…" Giselle fell back on the wall. "What are we…He's never…How do you come back from this…"

"Kouji…" NingNing bit her lip, curling up in her seat and burying her face in her knees. "Kouji…"

Karina didn't know what to do…she cursed at herself for not knowing what to do. She prided herself in always being the most calm and rational one…but she was blanking. She wanted to go in there and hug him, to hold him in her arms and tell him that everything was going to be alright. To kiss him on his forehead and hold him as he cried. But…it wouldn't change a thing. He had just been told the worse news of his life, his world had been completely shattered into a million pieces…she couldn't put them back together.

Her eye caught on her bracelet. It began to glow, reacting to her magic…or maybe her emotion.

No…Even if she didn't know what to do, that doesn't mean she can just quit on Kouji, not like this. Even if there was nothing to do, she could be there for him. He needs someone by his side, all of them.

"We stay strong…" Karina wiped her mouth. "We keep our heads…We be there for him."

"But what good-"

"Who cares!" she cried. "Who…cares what good it would do. Does that mean we do nothing? Are we going to do nothing when Kouji's entire world just got exploded? Do you think he'd do that if it was me? Or Giselle? Or Winter? Or NingNing? Do you think…Do you think he cares about us so little, that he would just sit back and watch us suffer on our own?"

"Kouji…" said Winter. "He's in so much pain…"

"And we have to be there for him…" Karina picked up Giselle. "For all the tears, all the heartache, all the pain…"

Giselle smiled. "He saved me…saved me from doing something I would have regretted for the rest of my life."

"I just want him to be alright…" said NingNing.

"I can't watch him like this…" Winter cried.

"We have to be strong…" said Karina. "He's our baby brother…We have to look after him, to be there for him no matter what."