CW: Explicit language, blood, mild self-harm (for a ceremony).
The induction ceremony is held in a dank grotto on the banks of the subterranean river. The water is ice cold, already frigid above but chilled moreso as it travels through the earth. Regardless, he’s waist deep in the drifting shallows, head bowed, chin to chest.
The grotto is packed with faces he both recognises and not. Many are those from the Slums – people he’s walked past, drank with, fought with, and a few whose bed he’s warmed. And there are those who are mere strangers, yet they all gaze upon him as though his presence alone ensures their winning this war.
And here they are now. Watching him in silence while the Faceless Devil inducts him into their ranks. Masao murmurs in a tongue unfamiliar to Rin, a Western language perhaps, and he flicks two fingers in a series of calculated motions.
Blade-thin tendrils trail through the air, taking the form of characters. They are darker than the shadows, fled from the reach of thaumaturgical lights that douse this grotto redder than dusk. They are the pure absence of light, for not even the human eye could fathom this darkness other than a void.
Rin peeks through the curtains of his hair as this strange black miasma skitters to his outstretched hands and burrow into his skin. He feels naught but an unsettling emptiness, and the sudden lurch of his heart.
The black miasma slithers beneath his skin in a single line, thinner than silken thread, cresting the borders of his palm in a perfect circle. It doesn’t take longer than a few seconds. And when both his palms are marked by circles, they disappear, leaving behind untarnished skin.
Rin jerks in surprise and dares a glance at the Faceless Devil, who stands before him, also waist-deep in the lazy current.
Masao gives him a sage smile. The face he wears has more character than usual, with keen eyes and a soft mouth, reminiscent of the raven’s own.
Rin wonders if this face is closer to his father’s true visage.
“With the marks of the Hare, you are now recognised as an Otsuki. May they serve as a reminder of our endeavour for one federation united in peace and equity.” Masao flicks his fingers again and the miasmic tendrils strike at his own palm. A shallow wound splits open and blood trickles in earnest. Beneath the sanguine, there a thin black circle appears.
“May they serve as a reminder of the blood we must shed to ensure a bloodless future.”
Masao grasps Rin’s hand, his coal black eyes flashing in resolution. The raven meets his father’s gaze steadily, though his own expression lacks emotion. Therein lies a stoicity borne from hard knots of hatred, sitting in his stomach like osmium stone.
Blood smears across Rin’s palm and there too is the black circle, emerging onto his skin as if drawn by an invisible hand.
“Cleanse yourself in the waters of your land. Share in our blood and name. Your brethren. Your people.”
The youth sinks into the water. His lashes flutter from the shock of the cold, and his skin turns pallid, bordering on blue, but he says nothing.
Masao grasps his son by the shoulders and raises him from the river. He gives him a subtle nod, a wordless approval, before turning him to face the rest of the Otsukis.
“Announce yourself in oath of your fealty.”
Rin suddenly feels lightheaded. There must be a hundred pairs of eyes fixed upon him with an intensity that he is wholly unprepared to take. For the umpteenth time that night, he wonders if this is a good idea after all.
“Otsuki Rin. Tyro to Otsuki Masao. I share in your blood and name.”
***
After the induction ceremony, Rin finds himself alone with Masao and Gou. The former murmurs to the latter, brows furrowed in a severity that only belongs to the Devil. Gou nods and bows his head to his leader, before striding out of the grotto with the last of the stragglers.
The general grins when he passes Rin and gives him a mock salute. The youth sniffs and glances away, pointedly ignoring his uncle.
We’re sorry for MTLers or people who like using reading mode, but our translations keep getting stolen by aggregators so we’re going to bring back the copy protection. If you need to MTL please retype the gibberish parts.
“Why a circle?” Rin raises his unblemished palm as he approaches the Devil.
Zjrjb ajxfr j abkfi ogbw atf yjcx bo atf glnfg jcv abrrfr la ab Elc. Ccbatfg bcf obg tlwrfio.
Lf’r vgfrrfv lc j ibbrf gfv gbyf, bqfc ja atf ogbca, jcv j qjlg bo yijmx mbaabc qjcar ojg abb atlc obg atlr vgjeutas mjnfgc. “Qf jgf atf Ljgf Cgws,” Zjrjb fzqijlcr. “Qtja firf kbeiv kf tbiv lc beg qjiwr yea atf wbbc?”
“Don’t you think the palm is a bit obvious? What if the enemy sees during battle?”
“Our enemies do not live long enough to see anything of significance.”
“You’re confident.”
“Did you not notice, Rin, that we do not cover our hands? We bear the blood upon them knowingly and the weight of consequence with clear conscience.”
Rin snorts and wraps the towel tightly around himself, trying to stifle the obstinate shivers wracking his half-bare form. “You’re as bad as the Mother.”
“Do you truly believe that?” Masao’s voice takes on a sharpness, as does his gaze.
“I’m not as stupid as I look,” he bites back. “I can read.” Well, Jun can read and then regurgitate his extensive political knowledge in bright-eyed lectures as Rin rolls around in his lap. “A federation still needs people to run the show. The one power that brings it all together. That power’s you, isn’t it?”
“A federation is not an autocracy.”
“No, but you could hide an autocracy behind a federation.”
Masao raises a brow. “Do you have faith in this revolution, Rin?”
“Sure. I stand behind it. But that doesn’t mean I gotta blindly follow orders.” Rin folds his arms. “Unless that’s what you’re expecting?”
“Absolutely not,” Masao says, frowning. “The world that we wish to create is one that is benevolent and equitable. Although the Otsukis will be ministering, we have no intention of holding jurisdictive powers in any state outside of a negotiated constitution. We intend to return this land to the people and have them run it as they wish.” He pushes out a frustrated breath. “Rin, we are not the Empire. I am not the Mother. I understand your reasons for distrusting an authority, even the rebellious sort, but know that we all share the same desire – an end to this Empire and the Mother’s tyranny.”
The Rat pushes his lips to the side, but he says no more in contention. He is, after all, an Otsuki now, and that means a modicum of restraint. He has become a player in the Celestial Theatre. “The magic you did,” he says, after a terse pause. “The weird anti-light thing. What is it?”
“Anti-light,” Masao echoes, a hint of a smile touching his lips. “A very apt description. Yes, I suppose in a sense it is anti-light. I have my own inherited gift, as you do.”
“I don’t have anything like that.” Rin glances at his own palm, recalling how the black miasma marked his skin and sliced through flesh like a blade.
Luna light is limited in the damage it can do, in that the extent is blunt force or object manipulation. There is more utility within mindscapes, where his magic has a direct effect upon the soul itself. While he has experimented and pushed the boundaries as far as he can with his ‘gift’, he suspects that there may be a vast pool of abilities just beyond his reach. His frustration has no bounds.
“You would not have the full breadth of inherited magicks until the senior descendent of that line has passed.”
Rin closes his hand into a fist and stows it away, huddling within the wings of his towel. “Did you know? About Dasom?”
The Faceless Devil tilts his head, brow raised in question.
Rin huffs in wry amusement. “What, Nuwa didn’t tell you? About what she could do? What she could see?”
“Ah. Yes. Nuwa did mention that you had…inherited Dasom’s gift.” Masao appears a discomforted by this fact, a wrinkle manifesting between his brows. “How frequently do you experience your visions?”
“Not that frequently, thank the gods,” the raven breathes, absently rubbing his ruined cheek. “Nuwa says that Dasom must have been from a significant House. Do you know?”
Masao shakes his head, regret colouring his tone when he says, “I did speculate that she had a powerful heritage, given how extreme her shamanistic abilities were.”
“Shamanistic?”
“Shamans can come from the gods or manifested by one’s will alone. But none could see through time as viscerally as your mother could. She would never practice nor develop her magic despite Nuwa’s insistence, and over time her visions overwhelmed her. I assume that is what led to her illness.”
“You knew all this and you still left us behind,” Rin mutters, heat burning his vision. “It was never the same when we moved to the Slums. I suddenly became the worst thing; like I was the end of the world.” He drags the towel to his face and scrubs furiously. When he raises his head, his flesh is scoured pink, like the corner of his eye. “It was kind of a relief, when the house burnt down. I felt like I was being exorcised. And then she had to mark me before she fucked off the underworld. Couldn’t just leave me alone.” He unconsciously rubs at his palms, feeling them itch.
“I could never repent for the gravity of my sins,” Masao says in a low voice. A mask of austerity and pain weighs his illusory features. “All I can do is attempt to atone however I can, even if true atonement should forever elude me.”
“Is that why you rebuilt the house? Atonement?” Rin can’t keep the scathing out of his tone, and it strikes his father like a blow.
The Devil flinches ever so subtly. “If you would prefer to live in the People’s District–”
“That’s not what I asked,” Rin snaps.
“My motivations were to give you a home. Atonement was an afterthought.” Masao reaches out to grasp his son by the shoulder, but the youth steps back, just out of his reach. Rin’s glare is rending, shreds him from the inside out. With an unpleasant lurch, he realises that he shares in the brunt of his son’s hatred with another.
“Rin,” he says, carefully. “Mind your promise to stay away from Kahin–”
“I do. I remember. Haven’t thought of her once since then,” Rin lies, pulsing his jaw. Seeing the uncertainty in his father’s expression, he adds, “The revolution is more important. I’m not a child, you know. I can set aside my feelings for the cause.”
Masao sighs, rubbing the bridge of his nose. “I trust you, Rin. Despite how you feel about me, we cannot jeopardise the work we do here. The very future of this land is at stake.” He clasps his hands, quelling the impulse to reach out for the belligerent youth again. “We will speak more on this later. And in regards to your gift, I shall have Nuwa continue her mentorship. You are descended from two celestial Houses, a rarity, especially now in the age of the Inquisition.”
“Whatever,” Rin grunts, balling up the towel and tossing it to the ground. “I’ll do the training with Nuwa, but there’s nothing more to say. I’m your tyro, so the only thing we gotta talk about is the war.”
Just as he’s about to turn to leave, Masao musters up the courage to grasp Rin’s arm. The youth tenses and glares at the older man. “What?”
There’s a strained pause. And then, in a quiet voice, ever so uncertain, ever so hesitant, Masao asks, “Is there any way…that you could ever come to see me as your father?”
Rin feels a sudden constriction in his chest that travels up his throat. He stares at the Devil’s hand, twice as large as his own, wrapped gently around his arm. Loathing bubbles in the depths of his guts, but there’s also a small part of him that is tempted to give in. To let go of that hatred. It’s the same part of him that is eroding over time, and he has never felt more grateful for its demise.
“Will you show me your true face?” Rin raises his eye and locks onto Masao’s. Black as the midnight sky. He sees the man’s hesitation however, clear as day. “I thought not.”
With a sneer, the Rat rips his arm free from Masao’s grasp and stalks out of the grotto. He’s better things to do than ease the guilt of a mere stranger.
***
Rin arrives at the Central Gardens just before dawn.
The Gardens are located in the heart of the High District and home to many of the Empire’s rarest flora. Among them are a precious collection of Eastern bioluminescent blooms, planted here by the Mother herself. It’s the gentle, glowing hues from these blooms that illuminate the paved pathways winding through this arboreous park.
Patrolling Silverswords and unfriendly spiked fences keep the rabble out, but Rin has an easy time slipping past these obstacles. Rudimentary security is hardly enough to keep out a rat, after all.
He waits by the garden shed, leaning in the shade as he watches the cloudless sky melt into the pink-tinged greys of twilight. The stirrings of local birds rustling in the trees and chirping away the dense silence of night. It’s a short respite for the Rat, whose overtaxed mind continues to churn furiously beneath his placid hood.
“I was pleased to see your summons, as creative as they were.” Zev slinks out of the colonnade of trees hugging the shed. He’s dressed impeccably in his black suit, and his white hair slicked back from his impassive mien. Here’s a man who seems made for the light, but takes to the dark so naturally – like a rat.
‘What – you didn’t like my gift?” Rin smirks, folding his arms.
“I would hardly call an inebriated beggar, a gift.”
“Don’t worry. She’ll forget everything by morning.”
“We should simply meet here every week at this time. The Lord was not impressed by the disturbance.”
“What, Hwan Sun losing his beauty sleep?” Rin snorts. When he sees the manservant’s indignation swelling, he gives a quick wave of the hand. “Look, I don’t have time to flirt, pet, as tempting as that is. Do you wanna hear my report or what?”
Zev’s cheeks darken at the suggestion that he’d ever seduce this uncouth man, but he bites his tongue and gives a curt nod.
“I’m an Otsuki,” Rin says, keeping his voice low. “Did the whole ceremony and everything.”
The manservant’s glasses flash in the bioluminescence as he adjusts them. “…You have been to their base?”
“Underground.”
“Where precisely?”
“Dunno. They had me blindfolded the whole time,” Rin lies, shrugging. “But there’s a good number of them.”
“Were you able to identify any of them?”
“Masks.”
Zev pushes out a quiet breath. He runs a hand through his hair, smoothing down invisible strays. “The Faceless Devil?”
Rin purses his lips and angles his head away. The manservant can only see his profile, cast in an eerie blue and purple glow. “Yeah, I saw him at the ceremony. He was a real dick, but couldn’t tell you anything more about him. He was all masked up, like everyone else.”
“If you wish to fulfill your contract with the Lord, you must be forthcoming,” Zev enunciates, eyes narrowing. “You work for us, not for them.”
“I just joined the damn rebellion,” Rin growls. “Give me time. I’ll have something more substantial for you then.”
“If you do not, then the Lord may consider your contract null and void. You will have no second name. No House. No prestige. Your dream of an affair with young master Jun shall remain that – a dream.”
“I know. I read the contract.” Rin pushes himself off the shed and strolls to the manservant. He pauses to brush a tiny leaf from the man’s shoulder, wicked pleasure blooming at Zev’s vexation at being touched.
“I want this as much as your precious lord does,” he hums, running his fingers over the perfect seam of Zev’s suit. He gives him a saccharine smile. “He’ll have the Otsukis – I guarantee it. And the next report will have all the information you want. But if you threaten me with Jun again, I will fucking kill you.”
Zev watches the raven disappear into the thicket he himself traversed through. He nervously adjusts his glasses.
It was brief. Only a second. When he parted with his honeyed threat, Rin’s singular eye burned an unsettling red, as though the rising sun were trapped within. Zev knows that what he saw was not an illusion, optical or otherwise.
He wonders then if the devil also ran within the veins of the son, as it does the father.
Hmmm?? That last line is very sus, zev knows who rin’s father is?
Yes ^3^ What is implied in that line is that Hwan Sun and Zev are both already aware of Rin’s father and his identity.
…red eye…pretty…
Thank you for the chapter!! <3
Heehee thank you for reading!! <33