Nextgen Kids: Down in the Negaverse

The Thirteen Darknesses, Part 6: Old Legends

Uno Household

Cheren and MaKayla gazed longingly at the former's dresser mirror. "This is really your only way of talking to him?" Kayla asked.

"It's the most obvious way. But I think we can also get Mr. Facilier to open a portal." Cheren held his left hand out to lightly tap the glass with his fingernail. It made quiet, brief ding sounds with each tap. ...The kids gasped: the mirror spun into a vortex. "Oh, I guess he's home! Let's go in, Kayla!" They locked hands and jumped up onto the desk, through the portal.

After exiting the sub-dimension, the two carefully stepped off the dresser onto the floor. "Nerehc!" Cheren beamed. His Negative was passed out on his front on the bed, head rolled away from them. His red jacket was off, exposing his black T-shirt.

Nerehc turned his head to look at them with one eye. "I, have had, the worst, week."

"I had a bad week, too, so one of ours must be better." Cheren replied as they grinned blushingly. "What've you been through?"

"Well, it started when I just wanted to walk over to your world to meet you. So now that we're finally meeting, please tell me you've been making progress with this whole thing."

"Well, taking Kayla, Sheila, Fybi, and Jessie's stories into account, we now have four Lights." Cheren counted up fingers. "What about you guys, Nerehc? Any word on the Thirteen Darknesses?"

"Actually, yes. We found two Darknesses." The two kids exchanged smiles. "But we had some 'help.'" Nerehc kicked himself out of bed. "Some bitch possessed my body and got us to work with her. She's also looking for the Demon Saints."

"The Demon Saints?" Cheren questioned.

"A title given to powerful and threatening demons." Kayla confirmed. "I came across the term a few times. Although I don't think the Demon Kings ever had it."

"So, what else is going on with you?" asked Nerehc.

"Aside from getting my butt kicked by Aunt Morgan and turning into a Rainbow Monkey, nothing much's happened." Cheren informed.

"Speaking of the Demon Kings," MaKayla mentioned, "I wanted to talk with you about your Demon State, Cheren."

"That's out of nowhere."

"I wanted to bring it up for a while. I know you lose control because of it."

"How much does your timebending tell you?"

"A hell of a lot." She smiled proudly. "I clearly have to know a lot of things about you. Having 20 girlfriends gives you a lot to think about, clearly."

Cheren turned a hot pink. "You better fuckin'-"

"I'm kidding, but it's written all over your face. Cheren, let me ask you something: how often do you go into Demon State?"

Cheren returned to normal peach color and looked down. "It happens when I'm really angry, or when I'm in danger. Of course, I get really angry when I'm in danger, so that's... And when I go in Demon State, I can never remember what I did during that, and I still feel really angry after it's done..."

"Can you name a few times?"

"Well, you probably know that thing with Doflamingo, but I remember back in Termina—why are we even talking about this?!" Cheren shouted all of a sudden. "We completely changed the subject! Nerehc was saying some person is looking for the Demon Saints!"

"And by extension, the Demon Kings, then by extension, you two." Kayla reminded. "Cheren, the truth is, I saw an event like this coming back when Clockwork was inside me. I didn't know when it would happen, but this sounds like it. Cheren, you're upset and ashamed about your Demon State because you can't control it. But you need to learn how to control it if you wanna protect it from being stolen."