Canticle: Code Caligula

Chapter 21: Early Morning Embers

Firetrucks with their sirens blaring rolled to a stop in front of the blazing gardens of Tel Megiddo. Demons in heavy coats and protective gear ran out to access the situation and make sure everyone was evacuated from the building. Water sprayed out from the hoses firemen attached to nearby hydrants, quenching the greedy flames until they sizzled out with satisfaction.

The police were already on the scene, annoyed at the mountains of paperwork that would now interrupt their quiet night. Nergal had left once they arrived, informing them of the situation as he left the others to their devices.

Behemoth's corpse had to be incinerated on the spot, as transporting it to the morgue in his Primal Release state would have proved impossible. Police couldn't explain how or why, but the corpse of Suzu Belloch had vanished. All that remained was a charred dagger.

Lilith herself was sitting in the back of one of the ambulances that had arrived. She held an oxygen mask against her face; her side still tingling from where the paramedics had healed her stab wound.

Her eyes were bloodshot and stung with the ache that accompanied excessive smoke. Lilith turned and looked behind her at Mura, who was laid out on a stretcher. The repetitive blip of his heartbeat chirped from the machine he was hooked up to.

Mura had long since awoken from his unconsciousness. He had opened his eyes to unfocused blurred shapes and the ringing wails of emergency vehicles. He was met with cheers from unfamiliar faces, looks of concern from his friend and the blood of a man he didn't even know he'd taken the life of.

He looked up at the metal roof of the ambulance unblinking. Behemoth was dead, his crimes had been brought to light and his title now belonged to Mura himself. Yet a peculiar heaviness weighed upon him, as if a stone had been left on his chest.

"Lilith...?"

Lilith removed her oxygen mask and swung her legs up inside the vehicle to face her friend.

"Feeling better now?" she asked solemnly.

"It's complicated... But, everything you told me... What was I doing?"

Lilith felt the words inside her mouth ready to spill out, all the emotions she held bundled inside until this moment. All of the fear and worry she had felt during that moment when she looked up at Mura and him not recognizing her.

"That wasn't you. I don't know how to explain it Mura, but when Behemoth transformed... he was still himself. Whatever you did, whatever that was, it wasn't natural... not even in this reality."

Mura looked at his palm, gazing at where he was slashed by Behemoth's sword during his possession. Only a faint scar was left, barely any evidence of what had transpired.

He sat up, removing the finger clamp monitoring his heartbeat and oxygen tubes positioned under his nose.

"I killed a man... He was evil, honestly deserved what was coming to him. But it... It scares me that I could easily take the life of someone that powerful without even being fully conscious."

Mura got up from the gurney and walked out of the ambulance, his limbs still sore from the recovering paralysis. He turned and stood in front of Lilith. Looking into her eyes with a stern earnestness, he firmly grabbed ahold of her hands.

"There's something inside me that's different from the others, something that doesn't want me to die. But I'm making a promise to you, okay? I promise you Lilith, I won't let whatever that was ever hurt you or anyone else."

Lilith turned her head downwards once she could feel her vision become blurry. She nodded, still holding Mura's hands.

"Thank you..." she said through a wavering voice.