𝕯𝖎𝖆𝖇𝖔𝖑𝖎𝖐 𝕷𝖔𝖛𝖊𝖗𝖘: 𝕯𝖆𝖗𝖐 𝕱𝖆𝖙𝖊

Chapter 17

Kanato looked at the teddy bear in his arms, his childlike innocence spilling out of his eyes as he burst into tears. Reiji patted his head, looking at Shu. Kanato was a bit confused as well as elated. He did not feel Teddy's soul inside the plush, but was reminded of the past with his teddy, he remembered tying an eye patch when Teddy lost his eye in a satanic ritual. Kanato buried his nose into the bear's fur, inhaling its scent to his heart's content. His hands patted the underside of the toy's belly, and then they were fishing out an eye patch out of his pocket, buckling it around the bear's skull.

"Where did you get that from?" Shu asked, genuinely surprised.

"I keep spares with me." Kanato said, looking at Reiji, his eyes still wet. "Thank you, Reiji."

Reiji exhaled in approval. He didn't know exactly how to answer Kanato's gratitude. "The demon is still not possessing it."

Kanato tilted his head to his side, hugging the teddy closer to him. He wanted to feel every bit of his favourite toy to compensate for the time lost between them. "I will take care of that." Turning towards Shu, who was standing at the door of the library, he said, "Shu, you only want to summon the soul, right?"

Shu said, his hand resting on his hip. "Yes. We've thought of a vessel."

Kanato knotted his eyebrows, appearing concerned. "I don't think any ordinary human will be able to bear the brunt of a resurrected soul."

Shu smiled in response.

Kanato shrugged his shoulders in defeat. "Follow me," Kanato said, disappearing from the library and entering into his room. Shu and Reiji followed soon after. Reiji's nose puckered at the smell of death and candy in the same room. Kanato looked at him, giving him a sour look. Usually Reiji didn't care how the brothers kept their rooms. Kanato was visibly offended.

Kanato's room had a purple themed room, decorated with knick knacks in the form of teddy bears, dolls, model carousels, candy boxes and a huge pony by the side of his coffin. He had a red carpet covering the floor beneath them, and periwinkle curtains covering the french window opposite to the bed. Jars upon jars of glitter were kept by his bed stand, and Reiji must have been stumped as to what purpose they served. Scattered over the floor were numerous soft toys, a ladybug plushie peeking out from the edge of his bed, a little figurine of a cat with its paw raised lay near their feet. An array of pretty little dolls were arranged on a shelf nailed to the wall. They looked hyper realistic, with their shiny marble eyes and blushing cheeks. In places where Kanato had forgotten to wax, he could see skin peeling off. He had to repair his little darlings soon. Kanato favoured pastel, muted tones to decorate his room, and it was evidently a bit jarring for Shu.

Kanato kicked one of the corners of the carpet, generating a dust cloud. Kicking it again, he uncovered some etchings in the wooden flooring, looking like a pentagram enclosed in two big circles, and the space between each line was filled with ancient languages and weird drawings. He rolled the carpet off to show Reiji and Shu the weird symbol, spanning about five by five foot, faded with time and disuse.

Kanato didn't really practice rituals very often, but he did know his way around them. Cordelia had been kind enough to teach him the basics, and they did try to revive one of Cordelia's past lovers once. Kanato was obsessed with macabre ever since then, but it tied to a trauma too deep for Kanato to revisit. He found comfort in behaving like a kid, just because he had lost a lot of time of his childhood because of Cordelia. It was like constantly living in a nostalgic dream, his hand constantly reaching out to a lost cause, never quite reaching his destination.

"Will it work?" Reiji asked, getting down on his haunches, admiring the artwork Kanato had scratched into the wood.

"Hard to say. These things are hard to work with." Kanato picked up a candy jar from his bed stand and took out a lollypop, saying, "The last time I put teddy in it, it was working fine."