SoulCoil

It had been a week since he'd made his deal with Severo. Lots of ups and downs in that time, and plenty to think about.

Enri loitered around the fountain, splitting his attention between people-watching and fiddling with his phone. As the sun disappeared behind the skyline, dusk came early for Upton Square - it was one of Enri's favorite parts about the place. Set up on a hill, you could see the last light of sunset glowing on distant buildings - about a mile down the road in either direction.
But here in the shadow of high-rises, evening started a full 45 minutes before the rest of town.

It would still be 30 minutes before they turned on the lights, but when they did the whole place would look like magic. Maybe it was magic. In all the time he'd spent here, Enri never could tell.
And tonight wouldn't be the night to find out.

He had more important things on his mind.

Avoiding Damian was hard enough for this bat. God, its like the man was breathing down his neck at all times. He had to tell a little white lie about going out to patrol, and he bought it, surprisingly. ....At least Severo thought he bought it. It was difficult to tell what the guy was thinking half the time.

Arriving a few dozen feet behind the square, he paused, taking in the calming shades that dusk had brought. It was a nice view, at least, from the perspective on the building that he was perched on right now. Severo finally glanced down, eyes scanning the people down below as they went by their day. It didn't take long to find Enri in the crowd standing near the fountain. He didn't approach right away though. Instead he just lounged around for a little while.

There wasn't any rush. None at all.

Outwardly, he was the textbook image of cool indifference, occasionally swaying one foot to a simple rhythm. His jeans and boots matched the casual style of his jacket, though all three were too stylish to be anything but intentional. Even his growing beard was nicely trimmed, though it and his hair looked tousled. With a box of chocolates at his side, he looked like he was waiting for a date.

Inwardly, Enri was a bundle of raw nerves.

Even if everything went well, there was a high chance Enri didn't get away in one piece. If Severo's intel was bad or Enri's luck ran dry, Enri would be dead as sure as any Revenant.

If a competitor dies in this tournament, do they become a Revenant, too? Wonder what I'd be if...

No. None of that. No need to be so gloomy yet.

From where he sat at the fountain's edge, Enri leaned harder into its stone, just to remind himself that his holsters were on. That he was armed, if anything came up.

He sat there so long, dusk fell and the square's lights came on. Near the buildings and along the sidewalks, streetlamps held up strings of smaller lights - all inviting and warm. Similar warm lights glowed softly around the base of the fountain, lighting the cobbled stones in the center of the roundabout. But the fountain... Its lights shone from the pool and within the bubbling eyes and mouths of its statues, pulsing different colors.

In the winter, and during special events, those lights often followed whatever music piped through the square. Today, they just shifted colors slowly, bouncing off the water like it was some secret spring in a moonlit cave. No fireworks show could compare, in Enri's mind.

It never failed to make Enri feel better, no matter what crazy thing had gone wrong. If ever death was imminent, this would probably be the place he'd want to see.

Severo himself looked as always, though the slicked back tuft of fur on the back of his head seemed a bit messier than usual. He tried fixing it, sure, though combs were hard to come by when you are literally a ghost bat. And if you thought that Damian was going to let him borrow one anyway, then you thought wrong. That guy could be a real beast sometimes. Thinking on that, he now really just wanted to get business done and over with so he could go back to whatever he was doing before he left Purgatory (which was probably just lying around doing nothing).

The crowds had begun thinning in the time that he had reminiscing. When the lights had finally come on, he stared at them, eyes filled with wonder. That's a pretty sight. Maybe he should come here another time – before he had to leave the mortal realm for one last hoorah.

After a while longer, a few stars began to pop up in the now darkened sky. Severo almost dozed off in the time that he had been waiting around. He managed to shake himself awake and moved to prop himself up onto the railing of the edge of the building. A moment later, he raised his arms, launching himself into the air. He let himself glide down to the top of the fountain where he promptly landed and stretched out, yawning.

"Yeesh, I'm exhausted." He reached up and scratched the side of his face.

For once, the square's magic just wansn't enough to lull him into a doze. His foot tapped at about half the speed of his heart.

Most evenings - or at least back when he wasn't on a supernatural hit-list - he would come here to sing and busque for a little extra cash. The nights the money didn't come, he'd wind up napping long enough that the local patrolman stopped by to wake him up.

That was probably the only cop Enri didn't inherently distrust. Real nice guy. Mama's boy, for sure. Liked to chat about his sweetheart and get dating advice.

Today, Enri stared into the sky and watched those stubborn few stars happily winking through the city's light pollution. Maybe one day Enri could be like that. Shine enough to stand out, even among others' glow.

When Severo swooped down, Enri focused and gave a humorless smile, but stayed leaning. "You, too?"

He patted the box beside him, glad Severo had asked that favor the other day. "Would some Gianno's brighten your evening?" The chocolates still tasted as fresh as the day Enri bought them.

His ears perked up at the sight of the box. There was silence for a moment or two, and the bat let out a laugh. "Sure it will. Yeesh, ya spoilin' me way too much pal!" Severo gleefully remarked.

"My whole night's been goin' to hell; first my fur's all screwed, throwin' my whole look off, and boss is bein' a real pain in the neck...." He more or less muttered these words to himself. Then he hopped down to the edge of the fountain, plopping down right next to Enri. He was careful, straightening himself so he wouldn't fall backwards into the water.

Soon he decided to make some small talk. "....So, uh, how ya been?"

At mention of mussed fur, Enri reflexively did a sweep of his pockets, but turned up nothing useful. He gave a wry smile. "Sorry. Nothing I can do about the hair, unless you don't mind me fussing at it by hand."

He shrugged.

"Eh, all in all, though? Life's been... good. Been able to make ends meet, met some interesting and helpful new people, and got a crash course in how hard it is to come by functioning silver bullets. And I didn't lose my day job!"

Though at this rate, that might not be true in three weeks.
If word got out about this hit? Less.

A breeze occasionally pushed some spray from the fountain their way, but it was little more than a misting. To Enri, it felt good: cool and refreshing.

He settled again, the shift causing his hidden weapons to give a muffled scrape against the stone.

That suggestion didn't sound too appealing. Sort of scowling (it was a cross between a cringe and a scowl), he shook his head in response. "....Nah. Don't want it messin' up even more." He half muttered. Now it was clear that he was going to have to worry about his look later. That alone made him feel a bit more vexed than he already was.

Instead he silently focused on his response.

"Huh? 'Helpful' people? Man. Those are hard to come by. 'S real good you're doin' alright though." He fell silent after that.

At least the breeze is making things a little bit better. His ear flicked up at the sound of scratching against the stone. It didn't feel all too important to kick up a conversation about though.

Enri chuckled, letting the moment just be. The evening breeze, the quiet glow of the lights, and the bubbling of the fountain - they were all so... nice. Calming.

As long as he didn't look and ignored the prickling goosebump sensation, he could pretend he was having a normal conversation with some buddy from work.

Not that he actually had any of those. Not really.

After a length of silence, Enri sighed. It seemed wrong somehow, this arrangement they'd made. And it wasn't because of the murder.

"... We don't have to go through with this, if you've changed your mind..." Enri suggested, softly. Though his words were steady, they had a wry aftertone. Almost as though he didn't really believe what he'd said.

"If you haven't, then we should probably talk business for a bit."

The Revenant enjoyed the silence too. Not having to hear Damian's incessant nagging was something to just sit down and really savor.

The suggestion of calling this off, though, it didn't seem too far fetched. Oh man. Maybe he was finally loosing it. Erring on the side of caution, he decided to ask,

".... What's the reason of you proposin' that?"

He more or less wanted to ask because he was still unsure if he wanted to go through with this.

Enri shrugged, briefly scanning the square again. It gave him the moment he needed to try and put too many thoughts into words.

"See, I got no problem going through with the plan - 'specially for a guy like Casarano. He was bad news even back when he was still working. Er, legal job working..." He worked his jaw a moment, a visible counterpart to the mental chewing going on. "It's just... I dunno."

He rubbed a hand over his face and sighed.

"My partner tells me that Revenant can't be here without a human tether. And she made it clear that killing a Revenant gets rid of them for good. So... she didn't say, since she doesn't seem keen on killing the living, but does killing the human in a duo do the same? 'Cuz it's one thing if killing that bastard just sends you back to, uh, Purgatory or whatever. It's another if it's a double kill."

His eyes locked onto Severo - smooth, hard, and bright as the stone their color matched.

"And if I'm perfectly honest, sentencing you to a non-life of perpetual boredom sounds worse."

Severo turned his head, meeting his gaze and almost snorting in laughter in response to the last comment. Enri must've been serious about it, but for some strange reason, he just found it funny. "Yeah yeah, ya got it right pal. That place is just friggin' dull."

He paused for a moment. "... There ain't no sugercoatin' it. The human just dies. Afterwards, it depends on what they did in their life. Heaven, Hell, 'n all that mess. Sometimes they even end up in Purgatory, maybe cause they really wanted to win or somethin' and they couldn't handle losin'. I actually met someone that was in a past game who ended up there. ...Poor bastard."

"Agh, who the hell am I kiddin'? Boss don't deserve to die like this." He muttered.

Enri made a noncommittal noise, considering Severo's explanation. From what Enri knew of the cop Casarano, there was a good chance he'd wind up a Revenant by that logic. With what he knew of ex-cop Casarano, that chance was even higher.

"Does anyone?" he murmured back.

A million things swirled through Enri's head and his stony eyes, bearded face, and slight scowl made him look tired and old.

These thoughts settled into one burning question: how could he protect his allies from Casarano if Casarano stayed alive? Eventually, the ex-cop would run out of bloodthirsty criminals and mob-affiliate singers. And with the way most competitors spent so much time with their Revenant at their sides, there'd be no hiding their involvement. Given enough time, those bright-hearted, hopeful kids would be on the chopping block.

If Casarano really cared about that wish, he just might justify murdering those youths caught up in this sick game.

"Does he ever drop hints about what he'd wish for if he won?"

For a little while, he only thought about it. Well, come to think of it.... There had been several occasions where he might have mentioned it. Or maybe even hint at it. Either Severo was too dumb to figure it out for himself or too disinterested to care about the wish.

There was one thing though. One thing that he had caught a glimpse of in the few previous weeks they'd been together.

Severo only gave a slight shrug. "... I dunno. It might have somethin' to do with bringing someone back from the dead—or gettin' revenge for their death...." He trailed off for a moment or so. Then he nodded slightly, as if he had some sort of certainty to his theory.

"... Yeah. I think it's somethin' like that."

There was plenty of time to think in the quiet that followed. Shadows chased shimmering light after it played across Enri's face: uncharacteristically stern and and betraying nothing more.

Then, finally, a drawn-out sigh.

When he looked back to Severo, Enri's face had softened. "Neither of those are easy to dissuade from... Which means we'll probably wind up fighting eventually, Casarano and me. Would you interfere if it came to that?"

The thought of fighting Severo seemed to pain him.

His ears drooped slightly, and he couldn't exactly look up now. As much as he didn't want to admit it, there was a good point there. No amount of persuasion was veering Damian off the path he had been going down so far, and there was little to no chance that he'd back down now.

The answer to that next question didn't come to him right away. His thoughts were wracking for the 'right' response, but he couldn't find one.

"Uh, n..." he stopped himself for a moment.

Then he shook his head slowly. ".... No. I won't go between ya."

The answer seemed a relief, if Enri's slow exhale meant anything.
Then he laughed, soft and brief.

"Well then, I'd better do my best to put that off as long as I can. I won't go after your boss, and I'll do my best to stay off the radar. Although..." Enri's tired eyes held an odd determination when they locked with Severo's. "I'll need a favor from you. And a big one, at that."

He shifted to face the bat-like Revenant, pulling a leg up onto the bench and resting one arm on it.

"The people I ran into - the helpful ones - are just kids. And good ones at that, if there is such a thing." He gave a wry smile. "If anyone doesn't deserve this tournament bull, it's them. Can you avoid them and steer Casarano off their trail? If it comes to that, I mean."

Enri ran the free hand through his hair and tapped his raised foot for a moment. Then he shook his head and recomposed.

"If you can't, then please go for their Revenants instead. Awful as it is, you're all already dead. And those kids, they aren't yet. And--" His composure slipped again, desperation and determination clear in his eyes in equal measure. He couldn't bring himself to put it in words, but his feelings were clear.

He was willing do do something stupid or crazy to make sure they stayed living.

Probably both.

It wasn't all too surprising, hearing that kids were also stuck with this sick game. Even then, he still didn't like hearing that they were. Poor chumps. And with Damian going around killing people like he was breathing, it made sense that he would ask a favor like that.

Now this one he could agree to easily.

"I got it pal. Ain't no one gonna hurt the kiddos on my watch." He gave an affirmative nod. "Not boss, at least. Least not him."

Severo was always good at reading expressions. And that look Enri had on his face said a lot. Frowning a bit, the Revenant hesitated to say anything more, and instead, he tried to very carefully consider his next choice of words.

"... You're gettin' out of this alive, alright, gumba? No need to be gira diment with all the self-sacrifice, eh?"

Not quite what he wanted to say, but it was good enough for now.

"Whh-- What?! Who said anything about self-sacrifice?" Enri laughed once more, eyes glittering. But there was no mirth in them. His gestures and tone had the exaggeration of a comedian, but his body was too tense. Whatever joke his tongue was trying to make, the rest of him didn't get the memo.

He gave it up, quick, laying his head in his hands. How did everything come to this? That a dead man cared for his well-being? Or at least his continued life?

"Thanks, Severo." He finally managed. "You've been a friend."

On some level, the exchange left Enri feeling foul. This Revenant thought so well of him. So did those kids and their Revenant, too. But those kids didn't know he'd so casually offered to off a man or had suggested their partners take a dive in their stead. Even the bat didn't seem to realize what kind of shitbag Enri really was.

Afterall....

Who said anything about sacrificing themself?

It took him a bit, and then he finally got it.

"Yeesh. Now I feel like a real jamook."

I guess this is why he was never got to see that interrogation room. He always was a bit slow.

But story was for another time.

"Hah, no problem. I like to think 'm makin' amends for all the horrible shit I pulled when I was alive." He soon stopped himself from saying anything else like that. Talking about his life made him feel mushy and bittersweet. So it was safe to say that he very much disliked those feelings and refrained from.... well, feeling them.

"Thanks for, uh, not treatin' me like a piece of trash."

Ugh.