Forgiving Light

Chapter 1

"So, how'd it go?" Dark asks, lounging on the gear he claimed.

"Quite well, actually," I respond, not making eye contact. "They gave me a few more weeks to capture Black Mist."

"Like I said, do you really want to tale Brother back?" Dark smirks. "You know that inside, you don't really want to."

"It is my duty," I counter firmly. "It is not a matter of want, it is a matter of need."

"Is it? Is it really?" Dark gets up. "I'll be visiting Brother's monster for a while. We've become rather close."

I sigh, and Shiro rests against my neck. I stroke his white fur. He's grown quite a bit. Probably due to the energy emitting from me. It tends to affect those close to the touch. Maybe he will mutate, I have no idea.

"Astral," Asterite calls to get my attention. She flies up to the gear I'm sitting on since Dark isn't around.

"Hello, Asterite," I mumble. I watch her sit next to me. "Do you know how much time it will take?"

"No. The future is still unclear." She sighs sadly.

"I understand," I sigh. "Keep working on it. I will be back." I exit the Key with Shiro, and Yuma looks over. He's just now coming back from school.

"Oh, haven't seen you in a while," he comments, turning away from me. "Where have you been?"

"Inside the Key as usual," I answer. "Why? Did something happen?"

"Oh, no. Nothing. Just a bunch of random murders have started up again!" Yuma looks at me accusingly. "Do you know how hard it is doing this all by myself?"

"Murders?" I close my eyes and think, ignoring his second question. Besides, I left him to it on purpose. Like a quiz. Anyways, it cannot be Dark. We made a deal that he would not do anything reckless, and I wouldn't tell Yuma and Cathy that he is now separate. "Could it be Black Mist again?" I mutter. "Yuma, did you get a chance to study the wounds on the victims and the destruction, if any, on the buildings?"

"Well, duh! Oh, and before you go suspecting Black Mist, the wounds showed no sign of a struggle whatsoever. I know for a fact that Black Mist would not resist the temptation of making some kind of a struggle with the victim even if he was trying to hide that it was him. Plus, the people were asleep with a single slash through the jugular artery. The person was the only thing that was destroyed. Not even the smallest things in the house was touched."

"That is indeed not Black Mist's killing style. Did you find any fingerprints that might help? Even us Astral Beings have fingerprints. They are just hard to find. Dusting for them the way humans do it will not work."

"Well, now that you tell me that, I'm not so sure anymore. When we looked, there was none. Not even on the knife that the killer always left behind."

I begin running every human that I have seen in the jails (I've visited some during the first year of my coming to the Human World to get a grip on human murderers) and every entity that has ever committed a murder through my head. I go through all of their killing styles and combat strategies, but none match the description Yuma has given me. This frustrates me because there is normally someone who matches a killing style or something close to that.

"Anything else, Yuma?" I urge, opening my eyes.

"There were notes written in your language. They were left behind in every crime scene."

There! A lead! "Show them to me!"

Yuma nods and runs back to the house. Apparently, they are kept there...

Yuma pulls out the notes from a false bottom within a false bottom within a false bottom within a locked chest with a genetic code (mine, Yuma's, and Cathy's are all recorded in the scanner), and they are indeed written in my language. There are five:

"Astral, would you like a new play pal?"

"I wanna join you and Black Mist's battles, too!"

"Do these killings catch your attention?"

"Isn't it fun playing this game?"

"Have you guessed who it is yet?" This fifth one holds an ominous air to it. Even Shiro shudders.

"What do they say?" Yuma asks.

"A bunch of childish remarks," I mutter, hiding my discomfort. "What could they mean...?" I suddenly get a strange feeling, and I turn quickly to the window. "Yuma, something is happening outside!" I grab his vest hoodie and drag him outside.

I begin to go faster, now levitating Yuma. I call Cathy mentally, and we soon arrive at a seemingly quiet house. I go in with the two in tow. We arrive at the place where the dark energy is strongest, and we see a very strange sight.

"Who are you?" I demand from the girl there.

She is not a normal girl. Like Black Mist, she is completely back with one black eye with red at the rim of the pupil. The right one. She has no markings, and she has a red and black dress with red lace on her arms and legs. Her left eye is red with black at the rim of the iris. Her long hair starts black at the top and eventually fades into red at the bottom and bangs. She smiles brightly, but it seems more ominous.

"It did catch your attention," she states triumphantly. She laughs and flies out the window.

"What was that?" Cathy asks, running to the window. "What was she doing here?"

"I do not know," I sigh. "If she is another one, it makes this assignment much more difficult. I close my eyes and try to search for any recognition from her.

"Tough luck, Astral," Dark remarks mentally. "I currently hold all of your memories that weren't erased, and I have no idea who she is. Maybe a new one. I swear on my very existence that I'm not lying."

"How do we know you're not making things up?" Shiro asks suspiciously, narrowing his eyes.

"Did you not just hear me swear on my life? Idiot feline."

"What did you just call me!?"

"Enough, both of you!" I scold. "Yuma, Cathy, I will look into this further inside the Emperor's Key. Call me if you need anything, and I will answer immediately." With that, I retreat into the Key.