Ultimatum

That room devoid of all essence, white in all its objects and without an iota of life. It was a memory that remained fresh in the memory of the soul that was found in it again; but this time, for reasons unrelated to its original point.

Nabim was acting behind Freyja's back, even though it was part of the domain of the astral field of the ruling arcana, that place was a disjointed point where the rules of the spiritual plane had no reason to exist. It was Nabim's domain, hers her playground designed by her oblivious to the will of the flow of life.

How dangerous must that astral guide be, that even her domain could extend beyond the reach of her master?

Ruminating in the midst of dizziness from having been transposed from the physical to the spiritual plane, Yukino kept seeing things spinning around her. Behind her, Vargas found herself chained helplessly before Nabim, unable to summon her spiritual armor from more desperate attempts than she dealt with her.

"What the hell are you trying to do with us, let us go?" - With anxiety growing inside her, the young guardian rebuked her captor who only looked at her with contempt while four sharp spikes came out of her hands. Which were shot at the feet of Yukino, who could feel an immense pain that climbed from her calves to the nape of her neck.

"I don't like the tone of your voice, if you value your friend's life and yours, you'd better open those damn ears and pay attention to what I'm going to say" - The iris of his eyes went from a dark tone to A vibrant red similar to ruby, her voice that until recently seemed human, soon manifested its true nature amid a reverberating echo.

With the death of Hanabi, the most trusted guardian who once ruled the territory of Tokyo, the scope and power of the enemy had been revealed, now rising, threatening the fragile balance of the system.

Tarot had appeared no more than two years ago, beginning only as a minor anomaly within the flow of the ouroboros. Freyja initially considered that that insignificant change in the flow of souls entering the reincarnation cycle was due to minor incidents with the voids.

It was atypical but not impossible, that a void managed to manifest itself between the physical and spiritual plane killing human beings. The voids are entities that usually feed only on the vital energy of living beings, causing disorders in the nature of the environment, but due to certain anomalies, they could eliminate their prey. Those humans who were victims of the attacks, their souls were consumed causing the circle of reincarnation to fluctuate erratically, stabilizing in a short time thanks to the constant birth of living beings on the planet.

But it was from that small crack in the great structure of order that the enemy took the opportunity to sink its roots to the depths of everything. Across the world, countable events involving the murder or permanent incapacitation of the Loa Guardians were taking place.

From the most bustling of the American continent to the most remote parts of Asia, there was not a single place where the inquisitive hand of the adversary nailed its claws, causing the balance of the voids to get out of control.

"As you may have noticed, Hanabi died at the hands of an anarchist group calling itself Tarot. Freyja has already put many other astrals like me to mobilize on earth with artificial bodies.

But because we are an unwanted existence on the physical plane, our sojourn is limited to 24-hour Earth cycles. Which makes it almost impossible for us to have all the pieces of the board in our favor. That's where Hanabi and the others came in.

Do you know how difficult it is to search for them all by myself all over the fucking planet like the vile rats that they are? Even if they stopped having astral powers, they are still our dogs and must maintain discipline before their masters, don't you think? " - The gnashing of teeth in Yukino's mouth could not be contained, just a few hours had passed that her best friend had been murdered and the person in front of her gloated over her misfortune.

Dominated by her wildest instincts, Yukino's astral energy overflowed to the point of allowing her to materialize a lumenfang with which she launched herself against the stunned Nabim. Who quickly invoked a set of chains identical to those that Vargas was subjected to, a few millimeters away from the point of the sword touching her neck.

"DON'T YOU GET TO UNDERSTAND IT, STUPID? SINCE YOU CAME INTO MY DOMAIN, YOUR LIVES ARE MINE! " With a snap of his fingers, the chains holding the priestess's legs were jerked violently off the ground.

Screams of pain flooded the silence that enclosed the walls of the room, letting blood flow that contrasted on the ivory white of the floor. Vargas couldn't stop screaming in pain and panic as tears rolled down her disfigured face in agony.

"I BEG YOU, STOP, YOU ARE GOING TO KILL HER!" - Desperate to the point of feeling her soul leaving her body, Yukino twisted between the chains trying to reach Nabim. Who did not stop laughing at the irony of how the will of a wild spirit, could easily be bowed to misfortune.

Raising her hands, orienting her palms in the direction of Yukino's face, the astral guide recited a short mantra while firing two orbs of blue fire that pinked the young woman's face in the direction of Vargas's hip wounds. . Causing the blood vessels to be cauterized by combustion, leading the guardian to the point of being knocked unconscious from the shock.

"Well, how do you say useless sewer rat? She says thank you and spells rubbish on her knees "- Pulling hard on the strap that held her neck, Yukino's head hit the floor with her forehead at the height of the guide's toes. Who took the opportunity to carve the heel of her boot on the skull of the guardian, who she felt as her nasal septum was crushed against the hard and cold ground.

After satisfying her sadism for a few minutes, Nabim sighed relaxed as she kicked Yukino in the face. Who was observing with a bleeding forehead the expression full of satisfaction of the guardian.

"Using guardians without powers is a useless waste of time. Nerd. I am not stupid like Freyja, so given this good opportunity I will be happy to use them as my new toys or if you prefer my cute little sniffer puppies.

In addition to fulfilling the void hunt and defeating the Tarot agents, they will seek for me the turning points where the flow of life is torn. Since it is from them that our enemy takes the raw material from him to create those cheap copies of Guardians.

Well, leaving aside that Hanabi had no powers, you have to give them credit seeing how they made the blind woman and you suffer. " - The whites of Yukino's eyes were already on the edge of her due to the blood pressure derived from the contained rage. Behind her, Vargas was thrown on the ground with her mutilated limbs; while in front of her, Nabim was proud of her own lust.

Before being released from her chains, the Guardians were restored to her physical health in a magnanimous act at Nabim's discretion. Not without first leaving a small present on their bodies in order to control them like puppets.

Putting his fingers on her lips, Nabim blew an air kiss that materialized a pair of tiny spiders that ran frantically up to Vargas and Yukino's ears. Those who resisted struggling against the floor in a useless way.

"Dogs are wonderful pets, or so I have heard. Depending on how their masters educate them, they can be a good company or suitable tools. The gift I just gave you is nothing more than fragments of my spiritual essence. Something like a tracker that will allow me to see and hear everything that you guys experience. Kyaaa, but I don't want adult scenes. " - Bringing his hands to her face, mocking her victims, Nabin summoned another person to the spiritual plane in her presence.

Watching disoriented in all directions, a woman of middle age tried to rationalize what was happening to her. She was a guardian assigned to the territory of Ottawa in Canada, the spirit of her ruling her had been taken from her by a member of Tarot called the hanged man. Barely emerging from her combat alive, the unsuspecting guardian trusted Nabim's words and allowed herself to be manipulated like a lamb going to the slaughterhouse, under the empty promise of regaining her powers.

"If you disobey me, this is what will happen to you two." - Just a snap of the fingers is enough for the implant in the guardian's brain to activate. First came an intense pain that collapsed her knees to the ground, bringing her hands to her head, trying with her nails to tear her scalp.

Subsequently, her eyes retracted leaving her eye sockets empty as the moisture from her body evaporated making her scream until her heart stopped. When the torture was finally over, her body fell to the ground in ashes.

Without evidence, without any trace of his actions. Nabim was a ruthless entity who did not touch his heart to destroy what she considered to be her property. She, that guardian, had made no mistake, except to let her will be subjected to the whims of a being who considered life as a mere speck of dust in the air.

"As long as your hearts beat, as long as you have a breath of air in your lungs, every part of your soul and every part of your body does not belong to you. But to me, the owner of her "- Walking slowly to where Vargas was, Nabim crouched down to take her tightly by her hair, bringing her lips together in what seemed like a kiss.

Instead, she with a single cut with her teeth cut Vargas's tongue causing her to writhe in suffering while Yukino could only watch from the distance helplessly before her enemy. Anything he did would mean the death of the priestess or hers, they were completely at her mercy.

"Don't see me like that, my beloved puppy. I'm just doing an equivalent exchange to make it useful to me. A dog that cannot see is of no use to me. " - Wiping the blood from her mouth with the sleeve of her jacket, Nabim watched Yukino with wicked eyes as she licked the corners of her mouth to remove the remaining blood from it.

Slamming her heel to the ground, the bodies of the two guards were sent back to the room from which they had been forcibly taken. The trip back to the physical plane was just as unpleasant for both of them, reaching the point that Yukino ended up vomiting on the floor as she could not control the feeling of vertigo caused by decomposition at the atomic level.

"Naaah, gaaaah" - The guttural sounds coming from Vargas managed to wake up the young guardian who crawled to where she was. The sunlight that passed through the window panes was reddish, a sign that a considerable time had elapsed between her stay in the astral plane with respect to the earth.

Something that ended up catching Yukino's attention was the fact that the priestess was busily covering her eyes with her right arm, as if the sunlight bothered him at the sight of her. It was then that she realized the words Nabim had spoken before throwing them back onto the physical plane: an equivalent exchange.

Vargas had regained his sight, in her eyes the grayish cloudiness that covered them had disappeared, revealing a brownish tone in her iris. The years that he had to live in complete darkness had finally come to an end. But the cost to pay for it is that she must lose the ability to speak. She was no longer a blind woman, but she was now forever speechless.

The mixed feelings that the priestess experienced were so intense that she clung to Yukino's blouse with her hands as she cried making unintelligible sounds. Yes, the young woman, she could not understand how she was feeling her mentor at that moment, leaving her the only option to hug her gently and let her vent as long as she wanted.

Two hours passed until the force left Vargas's arms, who rested his head on Yukino's lap. Who was still looking at the window while the night sky returned to make an appearance over them.

As she was about to fall asleep, a phone call echoed in the silence of the room. Detective Takeda's raspy voice on the other end of the receiver had a condescending tone, being professional at his job, he informed Yukino that the paperwork on Hanabi's case had ended as a robbery.

She knew those words were a lie, but it was clear that she could not let a mere human know about the threat looming over the head of the species. Taking a seat on the sofa, Yukino listened patiently to the detective's instructions as she raised her hand to her eyes to wipe away her tears.

When the call ended, the mind and body of the young guardian were completely exhausted. The damage received during the combat against the queen of swords had reduced her physical condition, although her healing factor allowed her to arrive at her home intact, the energy consumed and the astral travel ended up making her collapse on the couch.

The next morning, the sound of the alarm clock reverberated in her head as if she had a hangover from a drunkenness. Apparently one of the side effects of the Nabim implant. Keeping her eyes closed in annoyance, she reached for the alarm button with her hand to cancel it, feeling something apparently furry with her touch.

Opening her eyes in surprise, Yukino looked at Vargas who had spent the night leaning against the sofa trying to hug the young woman. The contrast of her current behavior against the experience lived in the last six months of training was very noticeable. What was her true nature? The young guardian couldn't quite understand the nuances in her master's soul, thinking to herself that if there was a future for the two of them, they would have enough time to finish getting to know each other.

Looking to wash off the sweat and the feeling of lethargy, Yukino got into the shower under the warm water of the shower. The numb muscles of her were unwinding as she passed her hand with the soap suds, while she looked in the shower mirror at the dark circles that had remained under her eyes due to a bad night's sleep.

As she got out of the shower while she was toweling her hair dry, a subtle smell of smoke coming from the kitchen made her run almost to the point of slipping on the wet floor. On the side of the stove, Vargas found himself coughing as he tried to put out a small fire coming out of the pan.

When he finally became aware of Yukino's presence, the expression on her face seemed to denote a hint of shame with her rosy cheeks covered in soot. Taking a small chalkboard that was on the kitchen table, she wrote a short note with the marker.

"Sorry, this is my first time using a stove." - Accustomed only to heating water on an old electric grill, Vargas did not know how to control the cooking times, causing the food to begin to burn in the pan.

A couple of eggs with a few pieces of charred bacon were served at the table, accompanied by bread that matched the darkened tone of that dish and a glass of orange juice. Feeling compelled by the priestess's kind gesture, Yukino gave thanks for the food and took the first bite of her.

A sour and salty sensation ran through her palate to the point of making her lips twitch. Trying to pass that gloomy bite, she took a sip of the freshly squeezed orange juice only to end up screaming in disgust at the lousy taste. She crushing her face against the table covering her head with her hands in discomfort.

The rushing sound of the marker tip tapping on the board made him look up at Vargas, who had a worried expression in his eyes.

"Don't worry, Vargas, it's clear to me that you don't have easy things if you lack your language. But please, just dedicate yourself to training and I will take care of the food, or we will have to worry about dying of indigestion before Nabim kills us "- Smiling gently while resting the palm of his hand on the head of Vargas, the memories of Adam came to Yukino's mind as he recalled his previous existence in the company of his daughter.

How long had it been? Distant only a couple of years became the memory of the peaceful life that once had within reach of him. Preparing a pot of coffee to get rid of sleep, Yukino was looking at a small picture frame that rested on one of the kitchen cabinets. That photo had been taken outside the convenience store, where a few years ago she had arrived with Hanabi from Tokyo.

The redhead's smiling face contrasted with the sharpness of the nostalgic expression in Yukino's gaze. When Kaoru's death was still fresh, the sincere company of her first mentor gave her a balm-like warmth that covered the fresh wounds that pain had left in her heart.

The bitter sip of the black coffee burning the tip of her tongue caused him a feeling of frustration as she pressed her hand against the frame she held at the foot of the kitchen.

After noon, Vargas and Yukino traveled to the police station to sign the necessary documents to begin the funeral rite. With sunglasses that Hanabi had worn at some point, the young woman tried to hide from the sight of the curious how tired her eyes were. With the dark circles under her eyes, just the set of her lips hid her expression as she walked to one side of the priestess, who was wearing a borrowed shirt and pants to which Yukino had made some adjustments to fit to the size of her.

Outside of her usual clothing, Vargas felt completely strange when wearing those clothes; without being used to being able to see the expressions on people's faces, she tried to lower her gaze trying to avoid making eye contact. The shapes and colors that she had forgotten in the dark confinement of her blindness came back to her life, but the situation in which they found themselves did not allow him to express her emotions adequately without appearing insensitive.

As he crossed the threshold of Detective Takeda's office door, the officer was concentrating on looking at the photos in the Hanabi murder case file. Just at a glance, the images captured in the photographs of the forensic opinion were overwhelming, to the point of causing Yukino to feel her stomach turn, leaning for a moment against the wall trying to regain her composure.

"Thank you for coming, I am really sorry that we will see each other again in such circumstances. I'm not going to lie to you, if I hadn't arrived at the scene of the crime accompanied that night, you would be my main suspect in the murder case. But my department has received superior orders to terminate the case as a robbery that got out of control. " - Takeda's right fist trembled resting on the surface of the desk, in his more than 20 years of experience, he had seen various situations that he could face and obtain the truth no matter how difficult it was.

But strangely, that case that he had caught his attention was taken from him and put on file without further details. The marks that forensics found on the body turned out to be perimortem injuries, injuries that were meticulously inflicted as if the perpetrator was seeking pleasure in torturing his victim.

For Detective Takeda, the attitude that Yukino had taken since their first meeting with her after the incident that night on the avenue gave him clear signs that the young woman and her guardian were hiding something too great from him. Just as he was about to visit him in his apartment to continue his investigation, the call to the emergency service from the apartment building made him move hastily.

Before him, Yukino's face looked pitiful, as if part of his life had been hacked away from him. Maybe that's why he was reluctant to continue with the investigation into that event, but his uncertainty and detective instinct did not allow him to take his finger off the line so easily.

Shaking his head slightly trying to ease the tension from his shoulders, Takeda held out the document to receive the signature of receipt. When it came time for Vargas to serve as a witness to the statement, Takeda's insight was put to the test by looking at the general data the priestess signed with.

"Mmmm, Ofelia Vargas. You know, you don't look like a Latina. Third generation Japanese? I think so because the way she spoke about her was the most fluid "- Nervousness seized Ofelia at the moment that Detective Takeda began to scold her about her origin. To such an extent that he was trying to hide her trembling hands under her desk by resting them on her lap.

"I think she must have gotten confused, detective, she never spoke the night my guardian passed away. In fact, it is impossible for her to speak, she just has to observe "- Turning her face towards Ophelia's, Yukino nodded so that the priestess opened her mouth in order to satisfy the stubborn's curiosity. detective. The scars on his roof where his tongue should have been, he left Takeda confused to the point of questioning if his obsession was leading him the wrong way.

"My mistake, let me apologize" - Rising from his seat, the detective bowed slightly offering an apology for his daring. Immediately afterwards, he took from his office table two cups of barley tea that he gave to the young women as a courtesy.

After the formalities were finished, Yukino and Ofelia prepared to leave the place without further mishap. Leaving behind the detective, who, peering out of the corner of the blind, pulled a handkerchief from his jacket and carefully took the cup from which Ofelia had drunk.

"Yoshinobu, come to my office for a moment please. I need you to check some fingerprints in the population registry. "- Hanging up the receiver of his phone, the detective leaned back in his chair, exhaling with annoyance as he looked at the ceiling. Something inside him wished his suspicions weren't serious, but his instincts pointed to the opposite.

Time passed and again the night came staining the sky in gloom. On the outskirts of the city, a modest crematorium held a funeral service in memory of the late guardian.

Even with the limited space in the room, the sobriety of the flower arrangements was a sign of a life outside this world. Only a couple of people were present in the compound praying for Hanabi's rest; some of her co-workers, Mrs. Matsumoto, and Rector Ishikawa were solemnly gathered at the coffin.

When it was time to say the last goodbye, one by one he placed a flower on Hanabi's body. Who was dressed in a simple white tunic, letting her reddish hair rest as if they were rose petals on the white snow. A sense of peace was reflected on her face, as if in the last moments of her life a thought of her had comforted him in her agonizing denouement.

Even though her body had been turned like that of a normal human being, the conditions that a Loa guardian were still present at. She could not be reborn again, her existence was destroyed the moment her heart stopped. The thought overwhelmed Yukino, who collapsed at the foot of the coffin crying bitterly.

"If only I had known that this would happen, I would have told you that if that night" - The remorse in the heart of the young guardian could not be contained, to the point that Ofelia had to intervene once more asking one of the employees of the funeral home to help escort her to one of the waiting rooms.

"Calm down a bit, I'm going to go back to the room to say goodbye to the attendees" - Typing quickly on the screen of the keyboard of a cell phone that they had just bought, Ofelia tried to communicate with Yukino using the notepad. Because she had never had a chance to use a smartphone in her entire existence, the awkwardness with which she wrote her words caused the young woman to tilt her head slightly as she smiled slightly at Ofelia.

"I'll be fine, just give me a few minutes and we'll go home" - Placing her hand on the priestess's face, Yukino tried to be condescending to the kindness of his mentor. Many things had happened in such a short time, without even giving them a chance to get her thoughts in order. First Tarot and now the latent threat of being killed by the mere whim of Nabim, was a situation that had the peace of the two women in check.

Trying to regain her calm, Yukino headed outside to get some fresh air. Contemplating the immensity of the October moon, the night breeze shook her hair rocking the treetops of her making her instinctively tighten her arms pulling the folds of the jacket against her chest to warm him. Taking a cigarette from an already battered pack, Yukino tried to light the flint of his lighter cursing as he contemplated that the gas tank was already completely empty.

"Do you need fire?" - The familiarity of that voice made Yukino turn suddenly as if he had sensed an imminent danger of death. Her eyelids that were already heavy from her sleep opened as if a wild animal was approaching her slowly.

The crunch of dry leaves to the beat of each step that the man took, made the guardian's heart race to the point of arrhythmia.

Placing the fire of the lighter under the tip of the cigarette, the reflection of the fire on her face gave a gloomy representation like that of the devil. Smiling, his gaze fixed on the eyes of her prey.

"At last I found you Yukino" - The storm winds began to blow back into existence the guardian.