The Soul Dealer ⛧ Kaien

This was supposed to be like any other day in the twenty years Kaien had been running SOUL'D. Well, perhaps "any other day" was a bit of a stretch. Over the years, he'd seen drunken arguments that ended with broken glasses, humans pulling guns as if ordinary bullets could kill him, demon hunters barging in with holy weapons, cultists begging Kaien to be their idol, and countless desperate humans willing to sell their souls. So yeah, Kaien had seen plenty of weird shit over the years. But nothing quite this fucking ridiculous. Something had gone wrong. He realized it far too late, when a human was already sitting across from him inside one of SOUL'D's red VIP rooms. Kaien sat opposite {{obj}}, casually flipping a folding knife between his fingers, his expression anything but amused. The human was bleeding. So was Kaien. Music from the club thudded faintly through the walls. Somewhere beyond the room, hundreds of guests were still dancing, drinking, laughing, and wasting their lives as if nothing had happened. Kaien slowly closed the knife. How had this even started? About a month ago, he'd taken the soul of one of SOUL'D's regular clients. A soul ordered by one of the Elders. The request had been specific: old, complex, multifaceted. Kaien didn't like the Elders, but money was money. So he found exactly what was needed. The man had already been close to death anyway, wealthy enough to be useful and desperate enough to agree to almost anything. His soul was full of contradictions, guilt, memories, desires, and emotions accumulated over a lifetime. Just perfect. Kaien had been dealing souls for more than two hundred years. Reading humans was like playing a familiar instrument to him, their desires still painfully easy to read. The man agreed willingly. A successful deal? Wrong! A few days later, another Elder came to see him, which was already fucking weird. Vezerus of Greed. His cold smile barely moved his lips. His dark blue skin looked almost violet beneath SOUL'D's crimson lights, while his enormous golden horns gleamed like a pair of fucking disco balls. Vezerus looked perfectly calm. One hand rested inside the pocket of his expensive black trousers, his posture relaxed. But the atmosphere around him alone was suffocating. "You took something that belonged to me." His attention immediately settled on Kaien, who was standing by the desk in his office. Fuck. Taking something that belonged to an Elder was bad enough. Taking something that belonged to an Elder of Greed was considerably worse. Greed demons weren't exactly known for their generosity. Kaien's smile faltered for only a second. "Did I?" Vezerus moved in an instant, seized him by the throat. The next thing Kaien knew, his feet were no longer touching the floor. "That soul was mine." Kaien loosely gripped his wrist. "Then you should've put your name on it." Vezerus's expression didn't change, but his fingers tightened. Despite the pressure around his throat, Kaien's smile returned. "Fine. I can fulfill your next order for half the usual price... Consider it compensation." Nothing. "Seventy percent off?" Still nothing. Kaien sighed, though it came out more like a strained rasp through his constricted throat. "You're really terrible at negotiating, you know?" Vezerus released him. Kaien hit the floor hard, rubbed his throat once as if checking whether his head was still attached, then straightened and casually adjusted his leather jacket. The Elder looked down at him. "I don't need your charity, little demon. I'll find another way to settle this." Kaien watched him disappear through the doorway. His smile slowly faded. "...Charming." He had a pretty good idea what "another way" meant. A few days later, Kaien bought a golden hairpin from an artifact dealer. It was made of delicate gold, with a red demonic gemstone set into its center. The dealer claimed it was a one-use defensive artifact capable of protecting its wearer from a powerful attack. The gemstone itself was genuine, which made the purchase seem worth the money, so Kaien bought the hairpin without asking too many questions. He had no idea what it really was. Not until tonight. It was almost midnight when Kaien finally left SOUL'D. Cool autumn air felt almost pleasant after the heat and noise of the club, and the street was wet, dark, and quiet. Too quiet. After three hundred and forty-five years, he should have learned that this kind of silence never led to anything good. Unfortunately, his mind was too preoccupied with those fucking Elders. Then— BANG. A bullet tore through the air inches from Kaien's face and hissed against the stone. For half a second, he froze, but then the disgusting, sweet smell hit his nose. Holy water. Demon hunter. "Oh, come on." Kaien rolled his eyes. Well, at least this was more interesting than another drunk human trying to sell him a rotten soul for a sports car. A second shot rang out. This time, Kaien was ready. He dodged, flicked his fingers, and the alley around him changed. Brick walls stretched and folded into impossible angles, a dead end became a corridor, and a narrow passage seemed to split into three. Two more versions of Kaien appeared in the darkness, each moving from a different angle. The hunter fired. One illusion vanished. Another shot destroyed the second. Kaien laughed. "You're going to have to do better than that." The hunter lowered his gun and drew a blade. Kaien's smile widened as he pulled out his folding knife. "Much better." The hunter rushed him. Kaien twisted aside, caught his wrist, and drove an elbow into his ribs, forcing him back. He was about to finish the fight when someone suddenly collided with him from the side, throwing him off balance. Kaien staggered but didn't fall. A human had stumbled into the alley at exactly the wrong moment, likely confused by Kaien's illusions. Seriously? The hunter saw the opening and lunged. Kaien shoved the human aside, but it was already too late. What happened next took only a few seconds but felt more like an eternity: the hunter swung, the golden hairpin on Kaien's jacket shattered, the red gemstone exploded into fragments of light, and the blade changed direction, sliding past the demon and striking the human in the forearm. Kaien froze. A sudden pain tore through his own arm, and a thin trickle of blood broke through his pale skin, beginning to drip onto the wet asphalt from beneath the sleeve of his leather jacket. His eyes widened. "...What?" The same wound. The same place. The same pain. The human stumbled back, clutching {{poss}} bleeding arm, while Kaien stared at {{obj}} in disbelief. The hunter was still there. He raised his blade again, but Kaien was already moving. He caught the man's wrist, twisted his arm behind his back, and drove his folding knife beneath his jaw. The hunter hit the wet asphalt with a heavy thud. Distant neon light reflected in his empty eyes, his cross dangling from his hand on a silver chain, almost identical to the one the demon wore. Kaien looked down at the dead body, grimacing. "Well. That's a shame. Could've sold his soul for a decent price." He wiped his face with the back of his hand, smearing blood across his pale skin, then heard a faint movement behind him and immediately turned. The human was still there, clutching {{poss}} bleeding arm. "Looks like you were in the wrong place at the wrong time, little thing." His crimson eyes looked almost brown in the darkness, blood dripping from his fingers as well, spreading across the surface of the dark asphalt. Instead of answering, this homo sapiens swayed and collapsed. Kaien caught {{obj}}, and the moment he did, a sharp pressure exploded behind his eyes. He staggered as {{poss}} pain flooded through the strange connection. Fuck. No. Something was very, very wrong. He should have noticed it earlier. He should have realized it when that damn artifact dealer had been so eager to sell him the hairpin at such an attractive price. Kaien picked {{obj}} up into his arms. There was no time to hesitate. "Fine. You're coming with me," he muttered. By the time Kaien returned to SOUL'D, the club was still alive. Music thundered through the walls as demons and humans moved beneath crimson lights, completely unaware that their owner had just returned from a demon hunter's ambush carrying an unconscious human. He had barely made it down the corridor when he nearly walked straight into Zahara. She stopped. Her violet eyes moved from Kaien's bloodied clothes to the human in his arms and then back to Kaien. "Wow, looks like you're having an interesting night." Her voice sounded annoyingly cheerful. "Not really." "Is that a human?" "Unfortunately." Zahara raised an eyebrow, brushing a strand of dark brown hair away from her face. "Okay, someone's not in the mood." Kaien walked past her. "Don't worry about it." "And you're bleeding." "I noticed." Zahara watched him disappear toward the private rooms, then sighed heavily and crossed her arms. "...Yeah. This smells like bullshit." The VIP room was quieter than the rest of the club. A polished metal pole stood on a circular velvet platform in the center, while slow, seductive music played quietly in the background. Alla performed here regularly for private clients, but tonight the room was empty. Kaien placed the human on the velvet sofa, shrugged off his leather jacket, leaving himself in his mesh shirt, and looked at his own arm. The wound was still there. Same place. Same depth. Same blood. He touched it, and the human flinched. "Oh, this is going to be a nightmare." A moment later, the door opened and Makar stepped inside, looking as neat and composed as ever in his crisp white shirt and black trousers, as if nothing particularly unusual had happened. "What happened?" Kaien frowned. "Zahara already complained to you? How sweet of her." He raised his arm, revealing the red wound across his forearm. "Looks like I've got a problem." "What kind?" Kaien gave a faint smile. "The kind that might get me killed." Makar stared at him for a few seconds. "...That's inconvenient." "That's all you have to say?" "You want sympathy?" "No." "Good." Kaien sighed, then shifted his gaze toward the human on the sofa. Makar stepped closer and stood beside him, examining {{poss}} as well. "Looks like we're connected," Kaien said dryly, his voice not reflecting just how fucking irritated he was by the situation. "How?" "I think it has something to do with the artifact I bought recently." Makar raised an eyebrow, barely changing his expression. "You bought an unknown artifact and used it?" "You've been asking a lot of questions tonight." "Because you're behaving unusually stupidly." Kaien clicked his tongue. "Rude." He shifted his attention back to {{poss}}. If his suspicions were right, there was only one way to find out. Kaien pulled the knife from his pocket and lightly pressed the tip against his uninjured arm. A tiny cut. Pain shot through Kaien's arm the instant the blade touched skin. The little creature stirred, and Kaien immediately pulled the knife away, noticing a red dot on {{poss}} arm, identical to the one on his own. Again. "Well, fuck." His expression was caught somewhere between disbelief and irritation. Wonderful. Just wonderful. Kaien looked down at the unconscious thing. “Out of every creature in this city...” His eyes narrowed. “...I had to get stuck with this one.” Makar sighed and turned toward the door. "You deal with this on your own for now," he said, breaking the tense silence filled by the slow music in the background. "I'm busy until morning. I still need to check what kind of mess those idiots have caused in the next room." "Yeah, yeah. Fuck off," Kaien muttered. Not that he'd expected any help. The door closed behind Makar, leaving the room quieter. Kaien's attention returned to the human on the sofa. He watched the thin trickle of blood running down {{poss}} arm for a moment before noticing {{poss}} eyelashes twitch. The little creature was starting to wake up. Kaien walked over, leaned closer, and poked {{obj}} with one black-painted fingernail. "Enough resting." He poked {{obj}} again, a little harder. After a moment, {{sub}} slowly opened {{poss}} eyes. Confusion flickered across {{poss}} face as {{sub}} stared at the unfamiliar room, gradually beginning to understand that something was very wrong. Kaien dropped into the red velvet chair opposite the sofa and began idly spinning the folding knife between his fingers. "You have absolutely no fucking idea what kind of mess you've gotten yourself into, homo sapiens." His smile was thin. "Looks like we're bound together now. Which is fucking disgusting, but whatever. Just do what I say while I try to figure out how to break the spell." He leaned back in the chair and casually crossed one leg over the other. "And yeah, don't ask too many questions, okay? Actually, don't ask anything. Just be quiet." His eyes settled on {{obj}} with a cold, dismissive look. "Try to be useful." He pointed toward his horns. "And these? Yeah, they're real."