A World on Fire

Korosu's POV:

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I stood there, staring at the door. I barely remember it, happened suddenly. Yesterday was Friday and I asked permission to leave the city and while cautious as he was he let me go.

Something told me that he knew the war wasn't today. He knew that I wouldn't ask if it was. I got up early and snuck out, leaving a note on the door. Caster, the annoyingly stubborn, older brother that he is, refused to teach me teleportation so I took a cab.

And so here I am, staring at the door wondering if I should even knock. Maybe I should go home. This really isn't the time to do this. It is! Grow some balls! You can't hide forever! she said annoyed.

I slowly raised my clenched fist and hesitated before knocking on the door a few times. I didn't hear anything for a second. Maybe he's not home. I turned to leave, but then heard a small crash in the house and a string of curses.

That's him alright. she chuckled and I started regretting knocking on the door. I could feel the dread filling me and the idea of running away was becoming more appealing the longer I stared at the bright red door.

The door swung open before I could even make the move to leave. "Korosu!" he said clearly not expecting me to be at the door. "Da-" he gathered his thoughts much quicker than I expected and before i knew it, the wind rush onto me and i stated back at the door. He shut the door in my face.

Yup. Definately still mad. "Come on dad!" I tried knocking on the door again. It was almost as if he hadn't heard me but I know he was listening close. "Dad we have a lot to talk about!" I said bagging on the door with more force.

"I told you to stay away from them! That is the only thing I asked of you and then you go behind my back and marry one! There's nothing to say that I don't already know!" he yelled. Oh but how wrong he was.

There was so much he missed. So much in between that he needs to know. I was about to knock on the door but looked around. This neighborhood is too quiet, I wonder if someone would call the police if I keep yelling.

I sighed and started making my way out back. We had a fence, but no dog. Never had the time. I walked toward the fence and put my hand on it. Mom had always wanted a dog. I hopped, easily making it over the fence into the backyard.

I strutted toward the sliding back door and pushed it aside. Desite being a fireman, he was always bad at remembering to lock doors. I went inside and my eyes dragged all over the place. It's been a long time since I've been here.

Over a year in fact. I heard a click and whipped my head around to see my dad with a gun. I stared down the barrel of it for a second before my eyes were directed to the small ingraved crosses on the sides of it.

An exorcist gun. My eyes widened at the realization, but instinct had my heart set. "You won't shoot." I said taking my eyes off the gun. "Don't test me." he said his stare already cold.

"I can and will." he assured. "You won't shoot." I said taking a confident step towards him. I watched him in caution. His jaw tightened, his legs grew stiff, his hand remained unmoving. Inside I was panicking but my Keyta felt perfectly safe despite all the signs that he would shoot me.

I took another step and his eyes swirled with anger and sadness yet regret was also in there. It's the only thing that let me know that no matter what happened in this moment... we would turn out alright. Our relationship would survive despite the gun aimed at my head.

"Shoot me. I dare you." I taunted taking another step closer. "Don't." he spoke tightly.

His hand began to shake, but his eyes remained trained on me. The silence was deafening and the tension was that of a pulled string.

I lifted my foot, with the intent to push further and something snapped in those eyes of his.

I felt the heat in an instant. The scorching fire that flew towards me without warning had caught me off guard. A mix of angry yellow and orange clouded my vision.

I put my arms up to block and the floorboards splintered as I summoned. Eventually the Rowan shot threw the floor and acted as a shield from the fire.

While the rowan stopped the fire, the force of it had pushed me to the ground and for the first time I had even a second to realize what happened.

The fire dissipated, my burns healed, and the rowan returned to the ground but I was too busy in my own head.

I looked up at him, but I couldn't sort my feelings enough to give him a specific face. He on the other hand was already in pain.

The regret was now on the forefront of his eyes and I said what I was sure of "You're a fire tamer."

I felt my heart drop. Am I stupid? How could he keep this hidden for so long? All the time I've lived in this house, the years we've built and for what? I didn't know my dad.

He couldn't look me in the eye. "How long? Why would you hide that from me!? Didn't I deserve to know?" I asked my feelings deciding on shocked.

Parts of his clothes remained on fire but he soon patted them out. I crossed my arms and burned holes into his head with my stare.

"W....... we have a lot to talk about." he said tiredly rubbing his face. I sat down on my favorite recliner and looked at him expectantly.

He ran his hands through his hair and sighed. He walked over and grabbed a chair from the dinning room table and sat on it backwards before he began.

"Yes, I'm a fire tamer." he said and for the first time I could see the age on his face, or at least the age he looked.

"That.... actually explains a lot. Kasai was more likely to get the trait from you than at random. I should have figured it out." I said trying to process everything as much as possible.

"Did you, you know, ever plan to tell me?" I asked leaning forward expecting the answer immediately but it didn't happen. He kept quiet. "Even about mom?" I asked looking at him intensely.

"We planned to tell you together." he said looking into the backyard. "Was it hard? I mean all these years having to hide?" I asked my voice losing its tone at the mention of my mother.

"Not as much as I thought. I've been hiding since I was young." he said looking around for something to do. "Did mom know?" I asked my stare never leaving him.

"I could never hide anything from her. She always knew" he said giving a soft smile at the memory, but despite the smile he still had unshed tears.

He quickly got up and walked towards the doors. "You want some tea?" he asked avoiding the butterflies that became bees in his stomach.

"Yeah." I said getting up and following him into the kitchen. "Where did you find Kasai? She's been missing for a long time." he said putting the kettle on the stove.

"I struck a deal. Her soul was fused with a tree. Caster got her out." I said staring at the ceiling.

"Stuck a deal with who?" He asked visibly freezing. I could feel the tension rolling off of him. "Doesn't matter. I didn't sell my soul or anything super important. I just helped them with something" I said being vague.

He looked at me for a while and let out a sigh. "So you met Caster?" He said like he was not as surprised as my deal.

"Yeah! I don't know about you but I think that would be pretty important and fairly normal to have been told I have half siblings" I said annoyed as my blood heated up much like the kettle.

"I wanted to give you a shot at a normal life. I knew you would become a Keyta eventually and exposing you to the supernatural world would only endanger you. They are much more dangerous than humans." he said as the kettle started steaming, the vapor leaving the hole at the top. The dull whistling unfazed him.

Much to my father's dismay, just like the kettle, my blood boiled too.

"Who said you had that right!? To hide everything from me. My own family? How could you!" I gritted out clawing into the granite top.

My father could always match my temper. Made for some pretty intense arguments while growing up. Now I know where he got all that fire from.

"I have that right as your father to make sure you were safe!" He yelled the kettle growing hotter. The fire had returned to his eyes.

"I don't know anything about you! Was anything you told me about your past even true? Is that why I grew up alone? I've never met your side of the family because you told me they hated you?! Do they? Or was that 'for my protection too?!" I said yelling over the whistling of the kettle.

His eyes had slowed. The rapid waves of emotions that swam had suddenly calmed. His eyes grew darker as the sadness started to make itself more apparent.

It was a long moment of silence and even the screaming kettle was drowned out by the wave that crashed over us.

"They do hate you, don't they?" I said bitting my lip. He didn't respond right away. "Yeah" he said turning off the kettle.

He opened the cabinet and took out the tea bags while I took out the mugs in silence. "When they heard the news about you, we all new what would happen. Me and Enjeru had already been too lucky having a daughter who got my trait. It was only a matter of time before our luck ran out and we would have a Keyta. Then we had you. My family thought it best to get rid of you but we refused. I'm not allowed back to my clan." he sighed pouring the hot water into the cups.

He did anything and everything for me. It was always apparent in my childhood. A common thing that I could hold onto if I ever had my fears and doubts. But he had no one.

It explained a lot of my childhood. Didn't have cousins, aunts, grandparents. It was just me and dad for most of my life.

I was the reason he was alone. "So about Amaimon-" I said trying to change the awkward atmosphere we fell into.

"Stay away from that boy!" He growled out a warning. "Look. I know you don't like him-" I started. "Don't like him? I loathe him!" He said annoyed.

"Listen! He doesn't have the cleanest reputation but he's mine. He's rescued me, fought for me, saved me. Saved me from everything. Death, loneliness, pain. He loves me dad. He's the only thing in this world that is worth the curse on me. He might not be your choice but he's mine" I said clutching the cup in my hand. The water heated the cup to an almost burning degree but I couldn't feel it, all I could feel was the uncontrollable urge to let my love linger in my breath, prove my devotion.

"He's a demon, kid. They don't love, they are created by the darkest being to exist. You think they are taught love? That they don't lie, cheat, and manipulate creatures to bend to their will? He is bending you. I thought I had made you into stone, unbending, intelligent but now you're in pieces" he said deflating. He feels like he failed as a dad, but he didn't. He did his best.

"I'm not. I'm stronger. I might not be just your daughter anymore but I'm much more than you thought I would. Demons can be good, just like how angels can be evil." I said and felt myself tear up. All my emotions pushed my tears to the surface and my dad couldn't watch.

"Dad look at me please." I begged. I wanted him to look at me when I told him. He hesitated but looked at me.

"I love him." I said, smiling through my blurred vision. I could feel it bubbling in my chest. Every time I said it, I could feel it wrap around my heart, reminding me that he took my breath away, that he was everything to me.

"He makes me happy dad. Don't you want that for me? It's all I've ever wanted." I said biting my lip to try and stop the onslaught of tears, but those walls broke a long time ago.

He couldn't speak. This was the first time since I was just a little girl that he had seen me smile. It seemed as if his heart would stop. The world stopped spinning at this moment. His thoughts however did not. They were bouncing in his brain. Trying to come up with something to say.

Had I changed his mind? "If.....if this is what you really want. Then I can get out of the picture and let both of you be happy." he said smiling but he couldn't fool me.

He wasn't happy. He only smiled so I couldn't see his world crumble before him. "That's not what I want dad. I want you in the picture. I want you to be there for me. Just because I smile now doesn't mean you never made me happy. You did a great job dad" I said trying to wipe away my tears but every moment was as intense as the last.

But life went on. The moment ended and a new conversation had sprouted. "So how old are you, really?" I asked looking at him sipping my tea.

"I'm turning 367 this year." he said calmly drinking out of his cup like it was totally normal. I was so excited I almost spit out my drink.

"Did you get to meet Keytas before me?" I said excited. "Yeah! There used to be lots. A lot of news spreads in the supernatural world. Sadly, I only got to see them while the war was still going. It was scary running into one at my age. Not all Keytas were bad but there were more bad than good." he said reminiscing in the old days.

"So what was that like back then. The war?" I asked trying to gain information. He suddenly straightened up, thinking about it. "The politics were hard. But in the end most people sided with the demons. Keytas were mostly dangerous to everything. Humans, supernaturals. Hard to kill. They committed a huge crime in Gehenna which everyone talked about. Hard to find. It just seemed like a good idea to wipe them out to most. Heaven shut its gates for a long time after the war ended. When they opened it back up a new class of angel came into being and they were the only ones who could come to Assiah." he said the tips of his mouth curving up.

"Guardian angels." I said realizing the pieces left out for me. "They were stronger, faster, made to kill demons but with an overwhelming sense of care. She was perfect." he slipped up and I knew he was talking about mom.

"I used to be on the side of the demon politics but.... a-after everything that happened. The war still wasn't over and they-" he couldn't even say it. He slammed his mug into the table and I watched as it shattered and it's contents splashed everywhere, coating parts of the table and floor.

I knew he was talking about what happened to mom. I don't know in the end who he couldn't forgive. Them or himself. They ended her life but he wasn't there to protect her.

He was with me. "Did you ever blame me? For what happened to mom?" I asked but no matter how in his head he was he still responded.

"No. Never. We chose to keep you. We knew what bad luck you would bring but we loved you. I just never thought your luck would be so bad" he said giving me a dry laugh.

"I heard your bad luck dissipates as you grow older. Once the Keyta is fully formed in your body, it only needs the bad luck to escape." He said looking down at the explosion of liquid that he made.

"Me and her stuck a deal too. We co-exist now. I've already transformed before." I said sipping my tea.

"You've transformed?" He asked more confused then surprised. "Yeah. The cure was very unexpected. I'm not totally happy I made the deal with her" I said still a little stressed about it.

"What's with the deal?" He said getting up. "Oh. Um. Super human strength, speed, control of my blood, and immortality." I said casually trying to skid past the last one.

"You actually agreed to immortality?" He said looking at me seriously. "Not the best part of the deal but it's a package." I sighed.

"You know that means bad luck forever right? Not just that but with life expectancy especially for everyone around you? Are you ready for that?" He said suddenly worried.

"No. I'm not but there's nothing I can do. I'll just have to live with it. At least I have you guys." I said giving a shy smile. Kasai has mentioned before that fire tamers are immortal, if my dad's age didn't give it away.

"Yeah, but Okami won't." he sighed in disappoint. "Her mate is a demon. Part of the demon law is that mates gain immortality." I said looking into the backyard.

"You met all your siblings, I see." he said getting up to grab the paper towels. "Yeah! But why did mom marry that other guy? Why'd they get divorced? I thought you couldn't get divorced." I said perplexed.

"In certain branches you can get a divorce on one occasion. Me and your mom got divorced for a different reason. Wh-when we lost Kasai, she feel into depression. She left me." he said clutching the paper towels in his hand.

"She came back after a year crying. I knew the moment I opened the door and she was out in the pouring rain, crying, with nothing with her, that I knew I couldn't be mad. The guy she'd been with had given her a daughter, she was so happy but what she discovered couldn't be fixed. He had also impregnated another women. She didn't want to stay. She visited but never went back with him" he said wiping away the remnants of the tea.

I sat there for a second. I tried to catch up but the pieces needed to be put together. I'm missing something.

"The daughter was Okami." I whispered. He had given her a daughter but gotten another women pregnant too... the thought rung in my head. Shaking my very core.

Caster wasn't her's. "Caster isn't- mom isn't- so he's not- Caster is not my brother?" I said coming to the stand point that I hadn't known even existed.

I felt my stomach do kicks. My head was swimming with the revaluation. He's not my brother. He hasn't been my brother this whole time.

"D-does he know?!" I asked astonished. "No. The women left him with his dad. Enjeru didn't want to hurt him, he was always calling her mom" he said smiling sadly.

"We have to tell him" I said deadplanned. I was set on the idea. "No way! Absolutely fucking not!" He said immediately.

"Why?! This is a very dangerous game to be playing! Okami was saved by her angel blood! Caster thinks he has angel blood! He won't survive things like the rest of us when something happens!" I said thinking back to the fight with Amethyst.

"What could possibly happen?!" He asked exasperated. "The war!" I yelled out unintentionally.

"What war?" He glared intently. "What?" I said trying to play it off as if I had said nothing. "Don't play coy kiddo. What war?" He said crossing his arms.

He's not going to let this go. "There won't be a war if my plan works." I mumbled. "What plan?" my dad said stiffly.

Stupid supernatural beings with their stupid super hearing. "There might be another Keyta-demon war. But not if my plan works! I'll make sure it doesn't happen!" I said trying to reassure him to not worry.

"A war is much bigger than you! You're only 17! Stay out of it! I don't want you getting hurt!" He said the temperature in the room rising a little bit at a time.

"No one would believe me if I told them! Keytas have been extinct for centuries! I won't stand by and watch neither my species or my subjects die!" I said getting up.

Guess I should get going before things get bad. "Sit down!" He yelled sternly. Damn you parenting.

I took a deep breath and sat back down onto my chair. "What subjects?" He asked raising an eyebrow.

"I'm mated to Amaimon. I am the queen of the Earth now dad. All of his demons and the Earth are now my responsibility." I said watching him closely.

I'm not sure how well he will take the news. "I didn't realise that being mated to- WAIT HE TOUCHED YOU?!" he said finally settling in his head what I said.

Crap! Probably shouldn't have said that. "Umm..." I said trying to find the right words that would prevent my dad from finding and killing Amaimon.

"Look dad. That's my business okay" I said trying to persuade him. "Like hell it is! If I ever see that punk again, I'm going to end his pathetic life!" He said getting fired up.

"DAD! Stop! He's in Gehenna right now anyway! Cool it! There is something much more important I need to tell you." I said getting between him and the entrance to the foyer.

"What could possibly be more important then your innocence!?" He glared.

Guess all bets are off.