The director of dead - part 1

When one is unconscious one often loses track of time. With a good two hours slept away, Xiao awoke to a pair of eyes watching him. His mind was sharper after the sleep, the fogginess of waking up nowhere to be found.

So there was no shock that awaited Kei. If he was hoping for a reaction, he did not get one at all. Instead, all he got was an awake Xiao with enough rest.

“When did we arrive? Staring is a bad habit you know” Xiao pointed out as he corrected his posture. His mind was awake but the slight pain in his neck was a bother.

Rolling his shoulder and neck a few times should get it straightened up.

“Ten minutes ago. I was not sure how to wake you up” Kei commented, the eyes which had been so focused on him till now averted their gaze to another side. Xiao could only sigh at the teen.

“Well, I’m awake anyway. Did we get any speed tickets on the way? Any fines I should be concerned about” Xiao teases. Now that he had a good two hours of sleep, he felt much better than before.

Kei looked offended at his teasing, but perhaps of the playful kind. There was a small smile on his offended face. The voice was even playful.

“I didn’t. Have some faith in me” Kei had a childish side to him which called out to Xiao’s own. A dangerous combination in making. Xiao felt sorry for anyone who may cross them now.

“I do, well not really, but I do” At this point, Xiao was not sure what he was talking about. It was all teasing and fun, with no real sense. But Kei looked like he got what Xiao wanted to say.

Well, if he got it then Xiao was not going to elaborate on it more. Getting out of the car made the present atmosphere go back to normal. The specialness in the air had dissipated and now they stood in front of a pair of old gates.

“This is the place? It doesn’t look any different from any other cemetery” there was boredom in Kei’s voice and Xiao wondered just how powerful the teen was. The wards at the place were powerful enough that even he could pinpoint them and knew to proceed with caution.

So either Kei’s power level far exceeded this realm or he just wasn’t able to tell the difference in power due to experience. Somehow, both the choices felt wrong to him.

But he didn’t have any other answer for the situation either so he chose not to comment.

“The pass should allow us entry. I’m counting on our aura being similar to allow us both entry to the place” That was their trump card in this situation. Kei just looked at him when he approached the gates with the pass.

Holding out the pass in his right hand, he extended it to where he knew the barrier should be and waited. However, when nothing happened after a few minutes Xiao frowned.

“What’s wrong? Can we go in now?” Kei stepped forward a few steps to stand beside him and Xiao looked at him while still holding the talisman in the same place.

“The barrier should have lowered when I took this out, but there was no reaction. I’m sure Sara didn’t fool us and I can feel the power in this pass” turning toward Kei, Xiao once again took in his surroundings.

Nothing was amiss and there seemed to be no difference. However, what had transpired was not normal.

“Is that so? Should I try it my way? Where is the barrier exactly?” Kei asked as he extended his hand to where the talisman was held. Xiao opened his mouth to stop him but quickly shut it when Kei’s hand passed the area around the talisman.

Kei’s hand had crossed the boundary line with ease.

The barrier was never there, to begin with, and that’s why the talisman had not worked.

“Someone is inside already. I don’t think I received any reports about it from Sara. Let’s hurry” Xiao quickly pocketed the talisman as the pair made their way inside the gates.

Just as they passed the gates, the area around them shook before they were no longer at their previous location.

The cemetery they had arrived at was dark and wet. They were submerged into a liquid till their knees. When you looked down you could not see the colour of the water at all. However, the only thing that one could be sure of was that it was not water. It was too thick and coagulated to be water.

“Be careful. Whatever you do, don't inhale the blood below us” Xiao warned. He turned toward Kei and expected to see either a freaked-out expression or denial, but there was nothing. Just a small smile and a fond look.

“What is the smile for? Do you find this situation fun to be in?” Xiao snapped. He didn’t like to get wet much and here he was knee-deep into a lake full of blood.

“Well fun? No. Interesting? Very? My idea of interesting is a little twisted, but I’m glad I’m with you. Also, it looks like we are not alone here” Now that Kei had pointed it out, the cemetery had weird cries echoing all around it.

They were not your typical cries of dead or ghosts. They sounded similar to cat cries and in the distance, there were certain shadows that glowed every few seconds.

“Someone is here,” Xiao whispered surprised. In his mind, he knew that someone else must have taken down the barrier in front, but it took some time for his mind to get the reminder.

Making their way toward the glowing shadows was easy enough if one ignored the blood all around them. However, they were not foolish enough to go out running into the fields with all the shadows.

“Elemental contracts” Kei whispered from his side and Xiao agreed as soon as he saw the cat-shaped creatures leaping around at ghosts and tearing into their sides. The cats were large and fast, their slim agile bodies jumping all around the place.

They looked to be in a beautiful dance with their prey but Xiao felt his breath shorted and sweat to form on his brows. He recognized those cats. They were bad news for him.

“Kei, slowly back away. The stone is in the centre so we will need to go around this area. Whatever you do, do not attract the attention of these cats, understand?” Xiao hissed at him as he slowly backed away. Kei looked offended and Xiao knew what he was going to say.

“You think I will lose if we fight those cats. You underestimate my strength too much. Will you even allow me to fight when we are in real danger? Or will you still tell me to run?” Kei’s voice had no anger in it, the tone was flat. But Xiao still thought he felt as if Kei was angry.

This was not the time for infighting. They needed to get out.

“Kei, you can fight later. These cats are not a danger, just bad news. Well their owner is and especially for me” Xiao pleaded but Kei looked to not be relenting in his persuasion at all.

“Well, I’m so happy to be bad news for people. It is a bloom for my business you see, death and all” the light and melodic voice ranged from around him as soft steps followed the pair. Kei looked surprised while Xiao just sighted.

“Ray, we talked about it before you got yourself disowned. Your and my business do not overlap so we should keep away from each other” A figure came out from behind the rocks and the first thought to see it would be to say tiny.

It was a short girl, around 5’1 with long dark chocolate coloured hairs styled inside pigtails. Grey eyes on a small and delicate face with a nun robe to cover herself. However, her face had a mischievous smile to it.

There was a skip in her step as she stood in front of the pair. Her height however did nothing to hide her aura which screamed of power and respect. With a quick look at the figure on his side, he could see the red eyes widening for a second before they narrowed. Finally, the girl replied.

“Well, I was out the moment I decided to take over this business and I don't regret it one bit. You were five at that time anyway, how do you even remember it all. Also, it has been 16 years, isn’t it time you give that body back to us. I still need to perform the funeral rights for it” the melodic and soft voice had an edge to it and Xiao felt his body tense. At his side, Kei had also positioned himself to intercept any attack being made.

“The soul you are looking for no longer exists, Ray and there is no way for you to bring it back. I told you this when you decided to pay the price for your wish. It’s your own stubborn self which refuses to believe this delusion” Xiao could see Kei paying attention to their conversation but he had no way to tell him anything now.

Perhaps when they got out of here they would.

“You don’t know that. You say that the world tree absorbed his soul but so did it yours all that time ago. Isn’t that what you told me before. So why do you get to come back and not him” There was real anger in the voice of the girl before him and before Xiao could talk any more he was dragged back by his hand?

The palace he stood was struck down with the sharp end of a scythe.

“Kei, toward the centre. Hurry. When Ray loses her composure she forgets about her contract with cats. We have fifteen minutes to get the stone and get out of here before she remembers” Xiao panted as he was dragged behind Kei.

“I can take her” Kei assured, but with a tight grip on his hand, he still ran as fast as he could.

“I don’t want you to. Her anger is justified and as soon as we get out of here I will tell you. But for now, her post and job are still needed in his world. Besides this is a temporary fit and seldom happens when she sees me. Next time we see her, she’ll be back to normal and civil” Xiao reasoned and Kei seemed to go over his words before he nodded.

“Where are you, little brother. Come back to your sister dear” the voice called out in a singsong voice as it neared.

Kei and Xiao picked up speed before Kei let go of his hand and turned around with his hands out. The butterflies appeared from his skin before they solidified into the shape of a sword.

There was a clash where scythe met the glowing black sword before there was a loud clang.

“Xiao, get the stone. I’ll keep her busy” Kei called out and Xiao seemed to hesitate. Ray made a move toward his side but was once again interrupted by Kei. Seeing that Kei could make her one, Xiao finally relented before making his way toward the centre of the clearing.

The stone was left unguarded in the centre and was quickly pocketed by Xiao. Generally, there was a tone of ghosts and other creatures around as protection. However, Ray and Kei’s clashing were no doubt the reason for such a smooth ride for him.

Besides, Ray had been here for some time and she had most likely cleared the place out.

“Kei, I got the stone with me. Can you just stop her for a few seconds so that I can snap her out of it? It has been long enough” Xiao yelled across as he made his way back. He was near enough that a little magic to his voice was enough to carry it far away.

The sword in Kei’s hand disappeared as he dodged the scythe. However, the black butterflies which made up the sword now flew around the short girl.

Ray seemed to hesitate as more and more butterflies surrounded her. No doubt that something in her sensed the danger she was in with these butterflies all around her. That moment of hesitation had been enough for Xiao to act.

Channelling his magic toward the tree routes, he binds the girl before he makes his own way over. The girl was not struggling much now and sending a cool ray of magic inside her was easy.

As soon as he touched her with his own magic, the girl’s body seemed to lose all the tension and become much more slack.

“Again Xiao? We need to stop meeting like this” The voice had lost all it’s edge and had now become much softer. Once this had happened Xiao let the girl go from the routes. Kei came forward to join the pair, but his guard was still up.

“Kei, I feel like I should finally introduce you properly. This is Ray, my older sister. Well, adopted anyway. Her parents are from Noah’s side family and took me in when we were young. She’s the current director for the dead. Ray, this is my new employee. Noah must have mentioned him” Xiao introduced. Ray nodded, how much more relaxed and cheerful.

“Yup, Got it” Her voice had a lot of cheer in it and her body full of energy. She was almost bouncing in place.

Ray was much tenser, but whatever he thought about he kept in check. But he was ready and you could see it in the way he held himself.

“Here on work?” Xiao asked the girl who just nodded.

“Yup. This meeting was a total accident but I don’t regret it. I even got to meet an interesting new employee I kept on hearing about. I’m sure you will get a lot of surprises in the future little brother” Ray’s voice had a teasing tone to it and Xiao felt that she knew much more than she was letting on.

“Ray, it’s his second day with me. I’m not sure you’ve heard anything yet” it had only been two days with Kei and he felt like a lifetime had passed. Things were too busy lately.

“Xiao, we need to hurry. We’ve been here for too long” Kei called out as he tugged at his arms. Xiao didn’t feel that he had been here long enough but his sense of time was rather wrapped.

“Go go. You’re heading north right? I heard about the situation so I’ll be taking a look there as well after a few days. We’ll talk more then. Right now the child on your side looks too impatient for more” Ray laughed as he was tugged back by Kei.

“Sorry Ray. Bye for now” he called out as he was finally dragged out of the range. Well, talk about being rude.

“So, now can I get the full story? Getting attacked was not fun at all” Kei asked and Xiao carved in. After all, he had promised that he would explain once they were out of there.

(This is a bonus chapter today. There will also be a double update tomorrow since I have the part written)