Worthless

Chapter Ten

As the days passed on, Ichimatsu continued to weep all alone in his jail cell. His body was getting weaker and weaker each and every day. So weak, that Ichimatsu no longer had the energy to even move one of his wings. That alone was supposed to be an effortless thing to do.

"Why must I have been born...?" Ichimatsu thought as he sat on the scorchingly hot floor. There were burns covering his entire body now, but he really didn't care at all. All he cared about was Karamatsu, but he was dead. The demon would never be able to see his pure friend again.

Weakly, Ichimatsu reached out and grabbed the metal bars to his cell, screaming out in anguish.

At that moment, Jyushimatsu came gliding down from upper Hell to Ichimatsu on the outside of his cell.

Twirling the single key around on his finger, Jyushimatsu sat down on his round wooden stool, intently watching Ichimatsu.

"Please..." Ichimatsu rasped, "free me of this misery! Execute me! I don't want to be alone!"

Jyushimatsu stood up and walked towards the demon's cell.

Ichimatsu flinched pitifully, expecting to get spat on or his fingers kicked off of the bars. But instead, the damaged creature watched in astonishment as Jyushimatsu unlocked his jail cell.

Turning back around, Jyushimatsu held tightly onto the keys as he sat back down on his stool, scooting it back a bit farther in the empty prison room.

"Come and get them," Jyushimatsu said softly. "If you can walk to get them, Osomatsu will set you free."

Hope began to arise in Ichimatsu's soul as he stared at the keys that Jyushimatsu held so tightly to.

"I-I..." Ichimatsu mumbled, trying to push himself to his feet with his thin, bony arms. "I haven't walked in years..."

"That's exactly why Osomatsu is making you do it. If you fail, you spend eternity here. If you get them, your soul is free," Jyushimatsu replied. His eyes seemed to shimmer with happiness, something demons didn't commonly show in their eyes unless they were about to murder someone.

Pushing himself as hard as he could, Ichimatsu struggled to his feet. As soon as he was standing upright, he heard a loud snapping sound from inside his left leg, followed by a numb pain. The demon fell hopelessly to the ground.

Stretching out his hand, Ichimatsu began to cry once again. Only this time, there was something else added to them. Anger.

"You don't have to rush yourself. You have all of eternity to get here," Jyushimatsu said, staring at Ichimatsu with a blank stare.

Angrily, Ichimatsu banged his fists on the ground, forcing himself back up onto his feet. And though his legs couldn't support his body for long, the demon leapt with all his might.

Landing face first on the ground, Ichimatsu spat out bits of ruble from his mouth as the numb pain in his left leg began to worsen. It was clearly broken. When he turned to look at it, there was nothing natural about the way it appeared.

Sighing loudly, Ichimatsu arose to his feet once again, stumbling forward a few inches before he fell back down. Tears continued to roll down his face as he tried harder and harder to reach the keys.

"I need to do this...I need to do this...I need to be free from this place of loneliness..." Ichimatsu thought as he suddenly felt weaker than ever.

Struggling to his feet, Ichimatsu took several steps foreword before he fell to the ground. And with those few steps, the demon began to realize that his efforts were useless.

Tears rolled down his cheeks in disappointment.

"Who am I kidding..? I'm a cripple...I can't walk. Now I have a broken leg that will never heal. My wings can barely support me anymore either. I can't walk...I can't do anything. I'm the most worthless demon there is..."

Ichimatsu closed his eyes, wincing in pain as his left leg began to throb. With both hands outstretched in front of him, the demon completely gave up on trying again.

At that moment, a hot, brass feeling object was slipped into Ichimatsu's hands. The demon unconsciously heard the stool being pushed even farther away. Then, a single pair of strong arms lifted his broken body up into the air, gently setting him down on a comfortable resting place.

Ichimatsu felt something strange happening inside his body as the darkness began to engulf his entire world for the final time.