TWENTY-THREE

Everyone, how was I suppose to protect Soji from everyone. I didn't think that he actually needed that level of protection. I saw Soji fight, he wasn't some weak little thing. He was capable of protecting himself.

"Hey you," Someone yelled. Turning around I could see a man walking towards us. The woman finger pressed on my shoulder. Her lips were close to my ear as she whispered to me. When she removed her hand, she was gone just like that.

Protect my son.

That woman was Soji's mother. Who was she? How could she be his mother? I guess it made sense. The power that she held was a lot like the white mage power. It meant Soji got his power from her. Why would she leave her son with someone like Rhett? She had powers, why wasn't she the one protecting Soji.

The man who had called me was now closer. I frowned when I looked at him. His steps slowed as he grew closer to me. His eyes, I knew those eyes. I could never forget eyes like his. They were gray and clear. It made my soul stir inside of me. I could picture those eyes staring at me daring me to blink first. Those eyes laughed with me, they cried with me, they teased me endlessly.

Blinking I shook my head. It was impossible and yet as I took in the rest of the package my heart started to raise. Gray eyes, black hair, this man was the mirror image of my father, of my brother, of me. I could smell power in him, but I didn't know what kind of magic he held. Who was he? Who was this man?

"Yael," I whispered my brother's name. Closing my eyes under the scent of power was the earth and honey scent that my brother held the last time I saw him. The last time I saw Yael was over one hundred and fifty years ago. He and his father were running for their lives as I fended Ban off.

Was that who this man was. Had my blood line lived on through Yael daughter? Maybe he had another child before he died. I squeezed my eyes against the thought. Yael was dead. It was a sobering thought. One that sadden me since it had been this long since I spared my brother a thought.

"Demons aren't allowed to wander freely." His voice was deep, rich, smooth. Even that reminded me of Yael and our father. There was no denying that this man was in some way a descendant of Yael. It made me happy to know that despite Ban's best efforts my bloodline lived on. "I can walk you to your master."

I didn't speak I just let my feet take me. They followed behind this man. There were so many questions that raced through my mind. I wanted to know about his family. How many were there? Who was out there. Did Yael every time his daughter about his family. Was the story passed down? Or were we just a forgotten memory lost to time.

"Your name is Zero." He said and I looked up at him. He dug into his pocket pulling out a worn folded piece of paper. We both paused as he held it towards me. I looked at him and then down at the page. Taking it from his hand I unfolded the worn old thing.

If I had the range of human emotions, my heart would stir. They didn't have pictures like these anymore. Everything was all about tech and magic in this day and age. Your memories were kept on disks that were downloaded from your thoughts.

I couldn't remember taking this picture. Seeing it didn't stir the memory inside of me. Still I smiled as I looked at it. My mother and father were sitting on the porch swing. Amber was leaning against the door jam with a bottle of beer in her hand. Yael and I were on the steps. Yael had me in a headlock both of us had huge smiles on our faces.

I looked at myself and almost didn't recognize the boy before me. His gray eyes were just like his brother and father. They weren't the golden eyes that I received when I became a demon. Shaking my head, I gently folded the page passing this man back his treasure.

"It's been passed down in our family. Everyone knew what you became. They each wondered if they would be the one to meet you. My father this to me when I was ten. He was on his death bed. He told me when I was on my deathbed to give this picture to whatever child I had left."

"I assumed my bloodline was dead. I never saw Yael again after his wife was killed. What do I call you?" I asked him. I didn't know his name. This was my nephew though. I didn't know how many greats separated us. He was still my family though. Or maybe I was wrong, maybe a demon didn't have any family.

"Forgive my rudeness. I'm Akabane, it's a pleasure to meet you at last Zero." He paused to look around. Maybe he was trying to see if we were alone. "You must have been lonely for a very long time." I looked at Akabane. His words echoing through me.

"Being a demon is an empty existence. I found friends. I made a new family." Shu, Kaleb, Amy, Rai they were my family. They were the people who saw my demon form and still called me family. They didn't judge me or hate me. They never ran from me or shunned me. They accepted me for me, just like family was supposed to. Now I had Fang and Soji as well. They were my family.

Before them there had only been the fog of hunger and Ban. Ban, was he, my family. He was always saying he loved me. He thought he owned me. He killed the people that I loved though. Again and again he attacked and murdered everyone important to me. Ban was just a demon. He didn't know what it meant to be someone's family.

"How is it that you're a demon?" I looked to Akabane. I never had a chance to explain it to Yael. There was so much fear, hunger, Ban. My brother and I never had a chance to sit and talk. Maybe if I had, he would have stayed with me. For as long as he could. Maybe I could have watched my bloodline grow and thrive. Or maybe Ban would just come for them again.

"I took Ban's blood and it changed me." That was the short version of events. He didn't need to hear all of the bloody details. "He killed my mother, father, and Amber . . . My sister. He killed me as well. I just . . . Came back." I could see the pity in his eyes when I told him. It mixed with something else that I couldn't read. Guilt maybe, why would he feel guilty? Maybe it was something that Yael passed down to his children. Survivor guilt.

Akabane came close to me. His arms wrapped around me. I could feel the embrace of his huge. Of the years of my life, I've hugged a lot of people. This wasn't the hug of Shu or Amy. It wasn't the same with Rai or Soji. This hug was so odd and yet strangely familiar. It was as if I was hugging Yael, my dead brother. I relaxed into it. I couldn't remember a lot about my brother, about my family. Our death was my memory of them. Still inside of me I knew that Yael was a good brother. I knew that when he hugged me it was that of an older brother keeping his younger brother safe.

"The past is dead and gone. We can only move forward now." Akabane spoke and I pulled back from him. My past was full of blood and pain. There was a river of red liquid that I bathed in. Still I agreed with him. The past was over. We couldn't go back to change anything. There was only the road ahead of us.

"Zero," Soji's voice called to me and Akabane and I turned to look at the white mage. I could see the frown on his face. It reminded me of a frown that Ban get. Soji was jealous. Why did I find that so cute? When Soji reached me, I grabbed his chin. Leaning down I pressed my lips to his. My tongue flicked out touching his lips before we pulled back. I could see the red flush on his cheek.

"What are you doing?" Soji asked his eyes moving between Akabane and I. I shook my head.

"We were talking. Thanks, walking me to my master." I nodded to Akabane and he nodded back at me before giving Soji one more look. He then turned on his heels and walked down the hall. I looked at him but shook my head. It was nice to have met him. I was glad that I had that.

"Who was that guy?" Soji asked me and I looked down on him. Shouldn't he have known who it was. Then again, this place was massive. I doubt that Soji knew every member of this church. I looked back down the hall, but Akabane was long gone by now.

"He's descendent of my brother. Now I have a question for you. What is your mother?" His mother wasn't human as far as I could tell. Soji frown as he looked at me. What was that frown for. I didn't understand why he would be unhappy. It wasn't like my question was offensive.

"I . . . I don't know my mother." Soji whispered and now I frowned. How could he not know her. She has been walking around here. At first I thought the woman outside of the club was Soji's mother. I had never questioned it, but now I suppose she wasn't. Maybe she was his aunt. Or a stepmother.

"My mother left when I was born. I never met her." How sad was that? To have never met your own mother. I might not have many memories of my mother, but she was there. From her actions on the day of our death I knew she must have loved me deeply. Soji mother asked me to protect him. Did that mean she loved him as well?

Soji reached up touching my cheek. "I'm not sad about it. This is the way it has always been. I know she loves me and watches over me. She just can't be here. That is the way that father explained it. Plus, Niwa mother has always acted as a mother to me as well." Niwa, that was the boy with the long sword. The one who Emiko was scared of. The one who was outside of the club with Soji.

"Niwa?"

"My brother. He's on a mission. You will probably meet him soon though." I nodded my head. So I was right. The woman was Soji's stepmother and his real mother could only watch him for a far. Still what was she? What did that make him?