Getting a demon

"The second you step in that circle," said Ferid. "You'll be sent to find your new demon."

"What will happen to Mahiru?" asked Guren, glancing at him.

"Her essence will fade," this one explained.

Guren, think about this before you do anything, came Mahiru-no-Yo's panicked voice. Are you actually going to give me up for a new demon? Give me up?

"I'm sorry," he told her before taking a step into the circle. It was as if he had stepped into nothingness. He wasn't falling but he wasn't standing either.

He was lying down in a white hall. He sat up and saw his sword planted on the ground. Standing on the handle was a figure.

"Shinya!" he called out.

The figure turned to face him.

"Who are you, human?" Shinya demanded. "And how do you know my name?"

Guren raised himself to his feet. "I am Guren Ichinose," he said. "And I'm here so you can become my demon."

Shinya sneered. "You? My master?" His eyes flew up and down Guren. "Why should you be worthy of becoming my master?"

Guren opened his arms. "Because I am everything a demon wants but cannot have," he declared.

Shinya descended the sword, approaching Guren. He wasn't wearing his Major General uniform, what he had been wearing when he had turned, but instead wore his old High School of Shibuya uniform. God, Guren hadn't thought of their old secondary school in years. Now he noticed, actually, Shinya was much shorter and looked much younger, around 16, not 24.

"Is that so?" snapped Shinya, glaring up at him. "What is it that demons want but cannot have?"

"I have strong desires," Guren told him. "And I'm powerful. I held my old demon, Noya Hienma trapped in my mind for years."

Shinya turned away from him, strolling back towards the sword.

"If your old demon was Noya Hienma, a much more powerful demon than I, why replace him?"

Guren said nothing.

"What were you hoping for?" demanded Shinya. "Were you wishing to gain power from another demon, is that it?"

Guren smiled but did not reply. To be with you, he thought but instead said "So, demon. Will you become mine?"

Shinya did not face him, holding his hands behind his back and staring up at the blue sky above their heads. "When demons make their deals with their master," he snapped. "They do not become their masters. Their masters become theirs."

"Is that a yes or a no?" growled Guren.

Black smoke filled the room, snaking its way to Shinya, hiding him from Guren.

"I've searched your heart," came the demon's voice. "And you're right. You have everything I want but cannot have. So my question to you is do you wish for infinite power? Do you wish it with all your desires?"

Shinya appeared in the thick smoke facing him, his eyes hidden behind his silver hair.

"I do," agreed Guren, clenching his fists, his heart racing. He was sure he had felt a trickle of sweat dribble down the side of his face. If he messed this up, he was screwed.

Shinya held out a fist before his eyes. "Do you wish to become mine for my powers and strength?" he questioned, unbending his fingers so that he was holding out his hand as if wanting Guren to take it.

"I do," Guren said again.

"So take my hand, Guren Ichinose," purred the other. "Take my hand and say my name. Then my powers will yours while your desires become mine!"

Ignoring the shivers, running down his back, Guren seized his hand. That's when he saw his eyes. Guren had thought of them as blue but it was only now he noticed the glow from the dark scarlet.

"Say my name," this one said.

Guren inhaled sharply before announcing "Become my ally, Shinya-no-san."

He had no idea how he knew the name. It had just popped in his head.

Shinya burst into malicious laughter. "Welcome to hell, Guren!" he giggled.