Author's Note:
This chapter is dedicated to LackadaisicalPerson, who courageously aided me when it came to a certain pale-violet graphic down below. Thank you so much!
❀✿

Hɪʙɪᴋɪ

It's been a while, hasn't it?

My apologies, for my previous snark-filled retelling. I've heard the complaints. I'll try to be nicer.

As soon as Haruka heaved the lesser of two twins and alcoholic sunshine over to a clearing, I ordered her to go back and pick up something edible from the gardens. She looked a bit peaceful, which made me wonder if the lack of orders until then was unnerving for an artificial intelligence. I did feel bad, that her previously white attire had greyed, stained with ash, but I shoved the pity away at the thought that I might resemble Tomoe for such things.

I had picked up a piece of debris from the mansion, tossing it on a pile with an assortment of rocks and sticks, courtesy of Sora, who also offered to make a fire, most definitely to shy away from the stillness between Kotone and myself.

The two of us were strangers, her brother was unconscious by a tree stump, next to yet another stranger, and here she had a demon trying to read her soul. I'd call it sympathy, but I didn't feel as kind as I could've.

At the moment, we were all surrounded by the woods, and the darkening eve. Sora was kneeling, rubbing two sticks together like her life depended on it-- not that she would get a fire like that, the fool. Kotone sat next to her, but I could smell her anxiety from a mile away. Days like this make me hate having a stronger sense of smell than humans.

Twenty minutes, I knew. Just twenty minutes until Haruka comes back to end the silence with her arrival. Twenty, long, awkward minutes. I can't wait that long.

Kotone looked up at me. She was staring at my horns, and I could feel it. I stared right back. A predator's gaze, I was once told. Too direct, too unblinking for a human being.

"Little witch, why do you glare?" I queried, pulling my cowl over my head.

She fiddled with her hands, picking at her nails. Stumpy nails, expected of someone who does manual labor for a living. "Who are you?" She paused, and Sora glanced at her, "What did you do to my brother?"

Introductions were tedious, are tedious, and forever will be. "Akki Shadou, Emperor to the Shadou Empire. You may call me Hibiki, formalities bore me."

She placed a hand on her chest. "My name is Kotone. I had a last name but it was removed when I became a servant."

Sora chimed in too. "Sora Kitsune... I actually have no official titles." She stuck her thumb out at me. "Hibiki calls me a fox anyway. Tomoe's the one in the pretty dark blue suit, and Haruka--"

"Yes, I've met her. She's not human. Are you two...?"

Stupid girl. I decided not to respond.

"I haven't the faintest idea anymore." Sora sighed, grabbing my attention.

"What do you mean you don't know?" Kotone and I spat in unison. We shared another icy glare, and I crossed my arms too.

Sora stopped rubbing sticks together, scratching a particular area on her neck. "I mean, H--"

"She's just a silly fox, though not as cunning as you'd assume. It's ironic, really." I knew she was going to mention the contract, so I intervened.

"Oh... okay."

A ghost smile flickered off the side of my mouth, I couldn't help it, reaching a hand out towards Sora and the pile of flammables. "You could've just asked," I said, and a spark quickly ignited, like the flicker a stove would make as you'd switch it on.

Sora's lips pursed into a surprised O, and Kotone rose, stepping past me to crouch by her brother. They looked like your average set of twins, same appearance, the usual. The most distinctive feature was a face littered with freckles. Sora had some too, but you couldn't see them unless you got really, reaaally close to her face...

"Is he going to be alright?" Kotone asked, a solemn tone to her voice.

They were just a bit younger than Sora, I noted. They were all terribly youthful to me, but the two were shorter then her. Too young to slave away as servants, that's for sure.

The fire was as ironic as ever. We had just left a burning mansion, and now a fire was all they had in the depths of night. I didn't need light, but it was much easier for everyone else to see me. Disembodied voices are untrustworthy, I had learned.

Ah, but you know what they say. The darkest nights produce the brightest stars.

"Yes," I lied. "your brother will be fine. I'm sure he'll wake up soon." I actually had no idea what happened to people possessed by such terrible beings.

Her figure was tense, and I hadn't noticed it until she calmed down. She was gently nudging her brother. I'm a little too glad I don't have siblings.

Then, my scrutiny drifted towards Sora. Her attire was stained with soot, and I could see the corner of the one blue eye she had. Gazing into the fire.

A breeze came by, putting out the fire for a mere blink of the eye.

She unbuttoned the collar of her shirt, and stretched, scratching where her neck reddened by her blouse. Sora was so frail, drawing a sharp breath, her collarbone standing out below her scrawny neck. It would have snapped so easily. I knew that. Yet, the very idea of injuring her made my stomach churn, with a blend of inhuman disgust and curiosity. I had broken things like her before. Snapped every bone. Charred every piece of flesh.

Eyes. Gold and blue. Piercing through every mangled manifestation in my mind, pushing them aside.

"Hibiki? Are you okay?"

My fingers went numb, with that static feeling you get when you don't move for too long, or something. I could feel my blood rushing to my head. The fire cackled at me.

"I need to eat something," I grunted, shifting completely away from Sora. Thank whatever god or goddess for that cloak of mine, for I would have been a nervous wreck without it. I haven't had such carnivorous thoughts for months.

Ah, lovely, Haruka was back. Flustered, I greeted her in a rapid tone. "You're back. Cool. Fantastic. What did you find? Anything to eat?"

Haruka reached out, a dead rabbit, visibly by suffocation, in her grip. In her other hand, a raggedy carrot. There was a story there, that I wasn't interested in hearing. Besides, we would not be eating the carrot. It was shredded, almost deliberately.

I turned to Kotone for a moment, who was holding her brother's hand, and turned back to Haruka.

"I'll skin it. Go check on the sleeping beauties."

She nodded, and Sora rolled her eyes.

I'm not describing myself skinning a rabbit, so I'll skip to when we all sat around the campfire, except Haruka, who was checking Tomoe's vitals, chewing on singed morsels pierced by sticks, like we were roasting marshmallows. I had no pity for the creature, and Sora seemed to eat as ferociously as myself. Haruka blew on the fire every few seconds, lifeless eyes brightening as the flame slithered around, leaving the rest of her attention on Tomoe, who slept like a princess. Lastly, Kotone was no more than disgusted with the meal.

I would have started a conversation, but I had too many questions looming around the twins. I wasn't sure how far I could go without Sora giving me another look.

Nonetheless, I painted a slapdash grin on my face, after swallowing the last chunk of rabbit. And let me tell you, it tasted gamy. "Kotone, you noticed your brother acting a big strangely no more then a day ago, correct?"

She held the rabbit-meat-on-a-stick out by the fire, watching the corners sear and blacken, hugging her knees with her other arm. "Yeah,"

"I assume he already had some resentment towards the mistresses of the household?"

Sora's gaze went between the two of us, listening intently.

"Yes, and so did I. But she's gone, the both of them, aren't they? I hated them so much but I can't help but feel a small weight on my conscience." Kotone explained. "It's not my fault, but I feel that I'm entirely to blame."

"You're sympathetic. That's good. We're lacking much sympathy among us. What do you plan to do once we reach the capital?"

She quirked an eyebrow. "I didn't know you were going to the capital, nor that we were--"

"Of course you're coming. I can't leave you here. You've seen too much." I warned, and Sora rolled her eyes.

"Don't listen to him. It's obviously rude to bolt off after we burned down your home. Will you come with us perhaps? Oh, and can I have your rabbit?"

Crickets began to chirp, but it sounded more like the high pitched chirp of a frog. Kotone handed the skewered rabbit over to Sora. "No, I don't think so. I don't want to encounter that woman from before, and I've already picked up that you're hunting her down."

"She's a villian," I said.

"What, because she poses a threat to your crown?" Sora teased, and I flashed her a threatening expression. She quirked her mouth to the side, and chewed the rabbit meat twice before swallowing it whole, which was the first fox-like trait I had really noticed from her; Voracious appetite.

"Right, you said you were a demon... she was too?"

"Yes." I answered.

Haruka spoke up then, the three of us turning to face her. "Tomoe is in stable condition, and I predict he'll wake up without any issues. He does have a significant lack of dopamine production in the brain, which might be an issue la--"

"Yes, yes, get to the point." I replied again.

"There's another issue to assess."

"Hurry with it."

"The other boy is awake."

And when we all turned our heads again, there he was, sitting there with deep-set eyes and a drained slouch. "Kotone?" questioned a modulated, but drowsy voice.

I have to admit, he was nothing but a male copy of Kotone. And she the same, nothing but a female copy of him. Respectively, his attire did not consist of a skirt, apron, and sweater like Kotone, but a basic gardener's garb. I noticed his pockets were stuffed.

Kotone rushed over to him, bombarding him in an affectionate embrace. She was trembling, as she croaked, "I was worried about you."

The boy, who I later recognized as Daichi, pat her back, and I was sure she was going to start crying.

"What do you mean you were worried?"

"You just... you just passed out and woke up with weirdly colored eyes and these extreme ideas, and you burned down the mansion... I wasn't sure you were still you, you almost burned your sketchbook." She slid out of the way and pulled out a leather, large but still pocket-sized booklet from somewhere in her dress, pushing it against Daichi's chest. "Take it. It feels wrong for me to hold onto it for so long."

He took the sketchbook, placing it on his lap, and beginning to scrutinize each one of us. We introduced ourselves, but I'm not going to go through introductions because I've already stated that I think they're boring.

"I'm Daichi," he had said, rubbing his eyes, "don't wear it out."

Sora gave a cheeky smile. "So, do you draw often?"

Right, of course. Leave it to that pesky fox to ask the most irrelevant questions, I complained to myself. There were more important matters to attend to.

Daichi flipped to a certain page, rubbed his eye, and turned the book around so we could see what he had drawn.

"Is that Kotone?" I pondered aloud.

He shook his head. "No, it's Miss Roka Von Faecero. It's one of my earlier drawings, before her heart was consumed by greed and dishonesty. Speaking of the missus," Daichi looked around. "shouldn't we be back at the manor? It's rather dark out."

Kotone took his hands, clasping them with her own. His fingers were blistered. "You don't remember?"

I could feel Haruka and Sora listening as engrossedly as myself.

"Remember what?"

She shook her head. "It doesn't matter. A--"

I had already stood, stepped past and grabbed her shoulder, and shoved her to the side. "No, it does matter. This is everything we've been working for." I crouched, and gave an unblinking stare. "Can you remember anything?"

He gulped, "Your eyes are red."

"Your eyes are blue."

He nodded.

"Well, I'm glad we settled that. Can you remember anything yet?"

Daichi held my glare for a solid five seconds before flicking my forehead, and I fell from my crouch. Sora stifled a chuckle, but I caught the sound of laughter before she covered her mouth. I snarled, letting out a rather beastly growl then intended.

"Oh, I'm so glad you're alright! I would offer you something to eat but the food is terrible. Raw rabbit, Daichi. I can't stand it." Kotone rambled. "Are you hungry? Thirsty? Is there anything I can do?"

He smiled faintly, "I'm fine, sis." and the phrase seemed to calm her down. I've never understood siblings and I don't think I will ever.

"What is in your pocket?" Haruka said, hooking everyone's attention.

Daichi reached into his pocket, and pulled out a few color pencils, a smushed leaf, an eraser, and a crumpled paper. His pockets were still very full.

"Lets see the rest of it," I pressed.

"No thanks."

Suspicious, I thought, licking a jagged fang, which he indubitably noticed.

"You have canine teeth." He stated blatantly.

"I know."

I glared daggers at him, but he just pulled out a pencil, and wrote something in his journal. He was brash with his movements, and I could hear his pencil gracefully skid across the paper.

"I'm going to go scout out the area..." I announced, rising from my seat and dusting off my cloak, as if it could stain. "Don't do anything crazy."

Sora snorted. "We should be saying the same to you,"

As I turned my back, facing the veil of darkness that was the woods at such a time, Daichi stammered. "Wait! Wait-- I want to show you all something."

And I shifted around, tilting my head to the side, and I pulled my hood from my head, making sure to present the most stone-hearted expression I could muster.

He wasn't phased, but instead he kept drawing, pulling out a blue, and then yellow color pencil. Then, long strokes with a violet pencil.

I groaned. I have no time, nor patience for the arts. I went to military school as a child, so such things were completely beyond me anyway. I liked a nice tune once in a while though.

Finally, he came to a stop, brushing his arm across the canvas, smudging some points, and quickly shading over others. The girls were completely enchanted. An owl hooted in the distance and I sighed to myself.

"Okay, it's done."

I snatched the booklet out of his hand. And in this very moment, I've taken it from Sora as well to show it off. You should note that, it's been a while since the exact day he had drawn it, and Sora's kept it ever since, so the picture's not as lovely as it once was.

Of course, I'd be a fool to say that. I could have also nit-picked and said that Sora constantly wears a satchel.
Instead, I grumbled "I'll be back in the morning. Make sure to get some rest," addressing the four of them.

"Hibiki, aren't you tired?" Sora said.

"No..." I lied. "...I need to get rid of my extra energy."

The moon was high in the sky, crescent as the night before. The other moon, lit up the night sky like a secondary sun. As such, the world was engulfed in a faint blue light, quite beautifully. It almost made me want to share my vision, which allowed me to see such wonders in the night, but such things were impossible without gadgetry anyway.

Unbeknownst to the rest of them. I dozed off in a nearby tree branch, with the shadows painted over me like a veil of their own.