Desires of Man

"The Jester's Deck? The hell kinda shitty name is that?"

"Don't underestimate them just because of that. I, for one, have encountered them, just randomly. They wield the artifact of the demons. I'm sure you've seen it before, haven't you? 'The Key to Hell,'" Explained Griffith to the younger ginger, rubbing his eyes at the name, his memories flashed back to all those times his dad and grandfather encountered that Key,

"Even now, that thing bothers us. Isn't that thing useless, anyway? Heaven and Hell don't exist cuz of Grandpa, right?" Ace queried, pointing his finger at the former Hawk King, to which he shook his head,

"Not quite. While you're correct on Heaven and Hell being erased, the properties notwithstanding opening a portal to Hell remain. Did you forget the rules?"

"Uhh..."

"Any human who cuts or stabs themself with the Key will gain demonic blood, and be considered half-demon. However, slicing themself a second time leads to a new ability granted randomly onto their soul. For Katie's father and your grandfather's doppelganger, it was dimensional warping, but for the price of strong ability, you give up your humanity. Henceforth becoming truly demonic. People like that aren't Hybrids, by the way, they're just Purebred Evolutionaries," Griffith's explanation was easy to follow, yet even then, Ace crouched and rubbed his chin, pockets of steam exiting his eardrums like pouring out a locomotive,

"Why're you... down there?"

"You only gave me one example of the possible powers so I'm thinking on what else they could have," Ace answered, but just as the lightbulb lit ablaze, lips parting,

"I got it!"

"Don't bother, you'll sound stupid," A feminine voice intruded on whatever hypothesis he'd discovered, leading both Griffith and Ace to turn to the door, where she now stood.

Katie Moon, in all her... dirtied-clothed glory, standing there, with one hand on her hip, the other scratching her neck's rear. Spreading her mouth wide so she could unleash a yawn, Ace called out to her,

"I'm not lettin' you come with me, Kay," With a harsh tone in his vocalization, he side-eye glared at her, to which she shrugged as she entered the room,

"Wasn't asking permission. I have my father's memories... and he was half-demon, so was my aunt and grandpa. Both my dad and aunt; could stop time," Katie was thrown a towel as she gave this new information, gifting Griffith of another scowl while he purely grinned, she wiped her neck and hair,

"Most of my damn family had the same power, bunch of time-manipulating assholes. I heard your grandpa had to copy mine cuz he couldn't keep up with Gramps' time stopping... loser," Ace teased his cousin, gaining a slap on his head's back,

"Shut up," She retorted now standing at his side, the ginger rubbing his head dramatically as he groaned,

"The pattern here is that both your fathers had a different ability. Azazel could space warp between alternate universes while August could manipulate time, like HIS father. I believe the manipulation of Life and Death is a possibility if you two remember efficiently. There are six members in total, so, if each member corresponds with a different element-" Griffith was interjected, holding up his hand, head hanging once more to inspect the carpet's spherical patterns,

"We need two more," Katie finished for their guide, Hanniel lowering his hand at the confirmation, then scratching his cheek with an inaudible yawn.

Factoring in each aspect of the four elements they'd already named that Space, Time, Life, and Death, a pen's tip bounced back after tapping the paper it was momentarily hovering over. A whole chart was written starting from Space on the far left, the other two on the right, and Death on the far right. Tons of notes already jotted down about everything involving the finite term. 'Space.' Time was less complex, there were only a few things you could do with it, however, reaching Life is the most dangerous. As seen before, innately mimicking someone else's life force with yours leads to switching places with that person, which is an already disorienting power. Next, there would be infusing an inanimate object with a life force equivalent to that of a lion. And finally, there would be the aspects dealing with the soul, and not only that but the body, as well.

Now, disregarding Death for the moment, there remained two final aspects they were missing. With the sunset and the moon shining onto his face's side, he sat at the corner with a notebook wide open, the pencil dropping out his grip to touch the desk. Leaning back against the seat, one arm dangling off the side, he rubbed his neck, tiredly moaning,

"Ughh... we've been at this for hours and nothin'! Whaddabout you? Got anythin'?" Ace leaned back in his chair to see over the left arm where the bed resided, Katie was unconscious, snoring like an older man who'd never slept before in his life,

"Seems about right," Ace whispered to himself with a gentle yawn, cracking his neck on both sides with his knuckles pressuring his joints.

For once, he shut his mouth and decided to take matters into his own hands. Lifting Katie from the mattress so her left arm could sprawl over his nape, he looked at her, feeling around her head and bones. He'd never really noticed before now, but she was quite skinny. Then again, with the circumstances she went through, that was to be expected, so, he just pecked the side of her head and casually made his way to the bathroom. Unbeknownst to him, as he shuffled out the room and across the hall into the shared bathroom, Kima was seen at the edge of the stairs staring at her lover.

Without a reason to be mad, all she looked was partly confused, he vanished out of sight soon after she spotted the ginger, so she made the conscious decision to follow. Once she passed into the frame of the bathroom now within its white imprisonment, she could make out the sight of Ace staring at himself in the mirror then smiling, hanging his head,

"I sensed you, y'know. Wanted to ask if you could do me a favor… and bathe my cousin for me. Since you're a girl and all," Ace proposed, to which she knowingly accepted with a nod, Kima stepping right on over to Katie resting on the toilet's lid, still snoring,

"She okay?" Asked the raven-haired female of her ginger boyfriend, to which he turned toward the two differing girls both between two states of consciousness,

"Just tired, I think. Just bathe her and I'll bring some clothes, babe," Ace aided Kima with getting Katie into the tub, then vanishing out the door frame, once he returned with new clothes, she was seen running a bar of soap over Moon's pale arms,

"That Secretary spider lady gave me these, hopefully, they fit 'er," The ginger carefully placed the folded clothes where Katie previously stood slumped, on the seat of the toilet while Kima continued to scrub and scrub.

Extinguishing invisible germs along with the visible dirt mixed with blood, droplets of red seeped into the clear water sucked into the drain at the bottom. Specks of brown following soon after, particles of dust seen flying off her skin, all the while Kima had her sleeves rolled upright to her elbows. Humming while the water ran as she continued to live her hands, Ace stood, leaned against the doorframe with his head turned away as his hands held the notebook. Again and again, the pen tapped against the paper, however, it was always inevitably drawn right back to stay kept in between those rows of teeth,

"Fuck," He cursed with a whisper under his breath, drawing out the k in the word lead to a louder tone than wanted.

Kima, clearly having ears, heard this sound, and almost broke her neck at an almost deafening speed as she stared at the. Ack of his head, spotting that spiky red hair,

"What's wrong?" Kim inquired of her male lover, blinking slowly,

"Nothing, just… Griffith gave me some adventure to go on, some people to kill so we can decimate that Rivers bastard when we go back to the Island," Ace whispered with a frustrated tone in his voice,

"Lemme see," Kim proposed, leading Katie to slump a little back in the tub, Ace handed her the notebook so she could look through the papers he'd written.

Peering through her own eyes for this time, Kima's purple pupils started to lighten with a spark of lightning generating off her eyelash. It was almost as if her eyes moved at light speed, darting from side to side, analyzing every little mistake, every moment the pen slid off the paragraphs written and tapped against that puddle of ink spread throughout the upper corner. Maybe five seconds passed of aimlessly staring at the wooden floorboards that made up this ground before the notebook slid right back into Ace's vision. Below the four elements, there were two more added, theorized to be the missing duo. Now, as Kima rested her arm against Ace's shoulder, she leaned in so she could peer while he examined the words written, all the while her elegant speech tones decided to fill his ears,

"I believe you should take a nap, dear, considering if you were fully rejuvenated, I have no doubt you'd figure this out on your own. All four elements are opposites of each other that work with one another, despite their differences. For instance, Space and Time make up our universe, however, space is infinite, while time is finite. Infinite space exists all around us, the space existing between a hand hovering before my lips about to kiss your cheek is only closed by the space dwindling, however, it is still infinite. Time has an end to it, as predetermined by the way of the end of the universe, and it CAN be stopped by supernatural means. But you can't stop Space, so, I suppose that's the difference. Life and Death, well... I don't have to explain that, do I?" Kima questioned rhetorically of her dear, pecking his cheek momentarily, snuggling her head against his shoulder.

Shortly following her explanation, Ace's finger slid over the quartet of existing words, the tip of the index aimed at the new duo made by the girl to his left,

"First off, don't forget about Kate. And second off, where did you get... 'Light' and Dark' from?" Ace pointed his extremity to the right where Katie sat unconscious in the tub below the running water from the shower after mentioning his cousin,

"Shit-" Kima swore under her breath, swiftly running on over to her so she could continue washing her body, swatting away remnants of germs over her arms and legs as her knees protruded out the leveled water she sat below,

"Space and Time are opposites yet work in tandem with one another. Life and Death, too, are two sides of the same coin. The light and the dark, always, remain clashing against one another, however, when they interlock at the climax of the universe when Time ends... I do not doubt one thing. Like Life and Death, at this end of life as we know it, the dark, the light- in the end, it will all be interchangeable," Kima's gentle answer held some truth to it, while it was just a theory, Ace couldn't help but envision it as she narrated over her hypothesis,

"How poetic," He thought aloud with a careful whisper.

The rushing of the shower's water blended in with the background turning dark with silence's signature distant ring humming throughout his head, Ace couldn't shake this thought from his head. While his goal was simple, to be useful, capture the 'Key to Hell', and ensure his master's survival or avenge him, he couldn't help but wonder about these elements. Space, Time, Life, Death, Light, Dark. The manipulation of such aspects that make out the world around them would make whoever had control over them a puppetmaster, or a god, of sorts. If they had some sort of special power, one that defies the laws of physics and can be utilized to its fullest to ensure the safety of the people, then why wouldn't it be used for that purpose? Of course, Ace, too, was a hypocrite, for he was selfish, nevertheless, the damaging of innocent people is morally incorrect, not just for him, but for anyone who'd dare to threaten the peaceful lives of those 'normal.

Bad people who go out of their way to take the lives of others who are living their lives peacefully, Ace couldn't help but attempt to shake his head at the thought,

'I'm my person,' He thought, 'I care for those close to me and myself, that's why I'm doing this,'

'If they had some sort of special power, one that defies the laws of physics and can be utilized to its fullest to ensure the safety of the people, then why wouldn't it be used for that purpose?' That was the question Ace asked himself in the deepest corners of his mind, silent to those around him, nonetheless reverberating throughout his brain as if the screeching audio of a scream bellowed further outward. Unbeknownst to him, at the end of this journey, what laid ahead was the opposite of this question.

If the path that awaited you had led you to choose between those you don't know and those you do, not to mention yourself, what choice would you make? If humans are selfless, the answer was obvious. But in the case of Ace Wilder, what pushed him forward was the selfish drive to make himself useful, so... if humans are selfish, then, yet again, the answer is still... obvious.

To Be Continued.