Double Black

the world may change, but we won't

The current world was far beyond housing just powerless humans.

Of course, mere humans weren't fully powerless. They had their wisdom and their knowledge to get by; and that was more than fine. In fact, majority of the population was made up by such humans. But that wasn't where the human species stopped.

Not anymore, at least. Other than humans without any form of supernatural powers, there now existed humans with varying supernatural powers. These powers came in two types as well. Some of them, the smaller minority, were unique powers. It was likely that only one person in the entire world had a power like that. There also wasn't much information available about such powers.

On the other hand, the other form of powers was the concept of communal powers. Some powers were used by a large group of people; they were well known, and there was plenty of information about just powers. It was somewhat like the concept of elves in folklore. Elves were a different species with the same powers, however slightly unique due to the person's individuality.

Communal powers worked the same way. Two of these communities happened to be Spirit Artists, and Advisers. Their powers were quite interesting. Lots of researchers had spent years in their attempts at gathering information about these two, very specific powers.

Spirit artists were humans that possessed the power to make magical paintings. Maybe 'magical' wasn't the correct term. These paintings had magic imbued in them; or rather, certain known or unknown spirits. Spirit paintings held high marketplace value; usually purchased by wealthy merchants or businessmen. Apart from their beauty, some also believed them to function similarly to the old shrine fortunes. 

The interesting thing about spirit artists wasn't just their panting capability. No, besides that, spirit artists lacked the ability to detect magic. In other words, while they could create magical paintings, they were unable to detect the magic they imbued in their works. They also were unable to detect any form of magic at all, which put them at grave danger when faced by other magical species.

As for Advisers, these magical species happened to be able to detect every and all forms of magic. Including spirit painting magic, of course. On the contrary, they were unable to produce magic of their own. This, of course, also put them in grave danger when faced my magic-producing species.

Hence, it's clear why the age-old custom came to be. Spirit artists and advisers always cohabited in pairs. They depended on each other for their safety, and their livelihood. An artist-adviser pact bond was considered sacred; once formed, the consequences of breaking the bond was dire. It could even cost the two parties their very lives. 

For a spirit artist, choosing their adviser was the most important decision they'd ever have to make in their lives. To prevent rash decisions by youngsters, the law stated that an artist-adviser bond be formed only when both parties were a minimum of sixteen years old. Hence, most artists and advisers found their partner the year they turned sixteen. That's when they went out to the real world by themselves, and doing so without a partner? 

A fatal move, undoubtedly.

Dazai Osamu was an eighteen year old spirit artist. He wasn't any spirit artist, however. His works were considered the best of the best, selling in the marketplaces for millions of Japanese yen. The Demon Prodigy, was what he was called by his business rivals and customers alike. It had something to do with the spirits housed by his paintings. They all had negative aura, according to the people who bought his paintings.

Dazai wouldn't know, of course. He has never felt spirits, or the magic he imbues in his paintings. They say that a spirit artist's magic reflects their inner feelings and other such things. Well, Dazai was at least self aware enough to know that his inner feelings were as dark as it could get. No wonder his paintings had such negative aura.