Souled Out

Chapter 5: Soul Connection

You fell asleep to Eustass exhausting his date for the evening. You didn't greet her when she arrived, you already tucked away in the spare room, putting in ear plugs and noise canceling headphones. Even with the double protection it was impossible to block it out entirely – even with a hallway and the living room separating everything.

By the time you drifted off to sleep you were more surprised that the police hadn't shown up at your front door, but you had read somewhere that the summoning itself could effect physical space, so maybe your apartment was magically soundproof now. Whatever the reason, no one came to complain and you slept well.

The next morning you got up and went about making breakfast out of habit. It was hard to remember to eat when you could barely even feel hungry, but you had put yourself into a habit some years ago and now operated almost automatically during mealtimes. Part way through the process you realized you weren't alone as a bleary, half-dressed brunette woman meandered into the common area, and sat down at the breakfast bar.

"Hungry?" You ask, tending to the easy breakfast.

"... I am. Sorry, I didn't realize you two lived together." She sounds apologetic but you wave it off.

"It is an arrangement of business and convenience, miss, don't worry." You hand over a plate of easy over eggs, and toast. "It's not much, but I hope it suits your tastes."

"Oh, thank you." She smiles. "I usually skip breakfast, this is quite the treat."

"Coffee? There's apple juice as well, or tea, or water." You list off the options.

"Coffee if you're making it for yourself, otherwise water's fine." She answers. "We're not gonna exchange names, are we?" There's a smile in her voice.

"We could." You answer, grabbing a glass and filling it with water. "But to answer your inference, it is unlikely we would see one another again."

"So I assumed, what a shame, he's really good." She sighs as you set the glass of water down nearby.

You almost wanted to tell her 'you're welcome', but it would take a lot to explain that she survived the night in large part because of you. There wasn't any real way to explain it – worst case she would think he was a serial killer or something, and you'd be dealing with police. Best case she'd think you were both off your rockers and you might still have to deal with the police.

"He does seem to excel in all he does." You admit, making yourself breakfast. You can hear him waking up, stretching and getting out of bed, and are relieved and confused to hear him go into the bathroom. Perhaps demon bodies work like human bodies when they're on this plane. Either way, it gave you time to eat before you handed off your breakfast to someone else a second time.

"Are you like... a butler or something?" She asks and you can tell from her tone she's not being rude.

"... Butler is a close enough title." You answer between bites. "It's, perhaps, a little more informal than that."

The two of you finish eating in silence and she goes back into the bedroom, coming out a couple minutes later dressed as, you assume, she had been when she arrived. Eustass is almost right behind her, yawning and offering and mumbled 'good morning'.

You had assumed he would be more of an ass, when his piece of ass wasn't gone before he was up, but he was surprisingly convivial. Or at least neutral about it.

He sits down at the breakfast bar and nearly lays across the counter. "Where's breakfast, lil' co-er-(Y/N)."

"Still in the fridge," you answer as you open the refrigerator and pull out some eggs. "I fed your guest and myself, but it won't take long."

"Gilda," she says, standing at the edge of the kitchen space. "Since I heard your name, I figured it was only right." Gilda extends her hand for a shake. "Thanks for the breakfast."

"You're welcome." You reach out to accept the offered hand. "It was a pl-!"

The second your fingers touched Gilda's there is a crackle in the air. The explosion of energy throws you both away from each other. You thought you heard someone yell, but the speed and force of the explosion has ripped your consciousness from you just after you feel yourself impact into something.

Eustass coughs, shrugging off bits of plaster and wood from his and your newfound position in the bathroom. The crackle of energy had given him just enough time to react and he managed to cushion you before the force of the explosion slammed you into the wall. There's not so much as a scratch on him, but if the blast had been able to hurt him, the apartment building probably wouldn't have survived, never mind you.

"Shit." He shifts around in the broken bits of wood and moves you around carefully. Nothing's bending in the wrong direction, and you're only bleeding a little. Looking up through the new hole connecting the kitchen to the bathroom he sees the girl from last night. Gilda, apparently, didn't survive.

"You better not blame me for that death, contractor."

Standing up carefully, he looks you over again before lifting you up. Your heart's beating, and he heals the few shallow cuts on your arms and legs easily enough. He can't sense or smell anything wrong, and it doesn't seem like there's any internal bleeding to be worried about. Picking you up carefully, listening for any unwanted noises like bones grinding or internal injuries gurgling, he walks out of the bathroom through the door and sets you on the couch before going over to Gilda.

Something had blown her hand off. More like disintegrated it. Eustass grabbed her arm and looked at the wound. The stump was smooth like glass, and there was even a shine to it. There were wounds on her consistent with taking an explosion practically to the face like she had, but it was almost like her hand wasn't even her own in the first place.

Nothing had been off before the handshake. He hadn't been on this plane long enough for anyone to be reacting to it – his kind or humankind. Demon hunters were still a thing, laughably weak as they were anymore, and sure there were plenty of others on Earth at any given point, but even with the list of people who'd give a shit about him, none were connected enough to know he was even here yet.

What was it about the name Gilda that bothered him though? No matter how much he thought about it, nothing came to mind.

"Was she gunning for you from the start, contactor?" He murmurs, glancing at you before turning his attention back to the corpse.

Eustass' eyes shine and he peers at the broken body of last night's screamer. There's no tattered remains of a soul on her, she's already left for The Turn, and it wasn't like she was a homunculus. All of her pieces and parts, what were left of them, were flesh and bone and blood. No heart crystal, no remnants of magic, and no signature.

"Well lady, you're a missing person now." Eustass murmurs, setting the body to flames like he had the poster board the day before. In seconds there was little more than a few ashes mixed in with the dusty disaster the kitchen was in.

Turning his gaze back to you, his eyes keep their eerie focus, and he growls. There's more soul in you now than there was yesterday, but what's there doesn't look stable. It's not going to disappear or disconnect from you in the next few hours, but as well as Eustass can see souls, they aren't his area of expertise.

He already knew he was going to have to see the freak the second you told him why you summoned a demon, but now he was going under terms he wasn't thrilled about.

Tossing open the curtain that covered the sliding glass door, he pulled it open and looked around the balcony. No one was around, not that it would matter much. Coming back into the living room he scooped you up into his arms again. Emotions or not, it was probably for the best that you were unconscious for this.

Stepping up onto the railing Eustass Kid leapt into the air. The black scales that had shivered over his body before gather and bulge at his back, and large red and black wings catch the air as magic and muscle take the two of you higher and higher. It would only take a few minutes to reach where he needed to go, hopefully that little freak hadn't picked up and moved shop already.