Knights of Hell

Chapter 1

Azure was heavily bored, so he decided to stop by his best friend’s house to go and annoy him. The dark streets were lit by dull yellow lights, he stopped to stare at the two moons that graced the sky with their presence. The second moon, which had appeared after the split, had more of a bluer tint than the original. Looking up at them both, he almost believed the theory that the second moon was an angel.

He continued walking, pausing regularly to look up at the sky, trying to catch a glimpse of the stars, to no avail. When demons first emerged, humans believed they lurked in the shadows, and so they tried to brighten every nook and cranny, to make sure no demons resided there. However, that was no longer the case, and no one was quite sure why they hadn’t been taken down.

“Azure!” his head snapped over to the direction the voice came from, scared it was a demon. But his worries melted away when he saw who exactly was calling him.

The man smiled as he came over, Azure watched him. His blonde hair was tied up in a ponytail and said ponytail was resting on his left shoulder, he was wearing his priest clothes. It was what he wore these days. It consisted of a black shirt with a high neck and jeans. They had been adapted for these days. There was also a collar that he had refused to take off, no matter how much Azure asked, he didn’t quite like the thought of Kai being ‘tagged’.

“Kai?” Azure asked, eyes furrowed. “The hell are you doing out so late?”

“I could say the same for you,” Kai replied, a smile on his face as he walked over to the taller male. They both began walking in the direction of Kai’s apartment. “Killed a demon.”

That caught Azure’s attention as he snapped his head over in his direction. “Wait, what?”

Kai rolled his eyes as he stopped to look at Azure. “And you claim to listen to what I say.”

“I zoned out, but say what you just said again.”

“I was called, they had some demons.”

“How many?” Azure asked, feeling his heart pounding. He wanted to remind himself that if they were Knights, Kai would have said something.

“Two.”

Okay, maybe he wouldn’t. So Azure tried to contact his friends on the link they had set up. All demons could do this, it was simply a mental connection, and all parties had to accept it. Once they did, if needed, you could contact them, it would simply be someone else’s voice in your own mind. It weirded Azure out for the first 100 years, but now he was used to it.

‘Cedar, Nether, please tell me you’re both alive,’ Azure said.

Azure was still following Kai, trying to keep his cool, but it took longer than usual for the two to reply.

‘Someone reply now!’ Azure hissed.

'Sorry, I'm here, I'm here,' Cedar said, his deep voice relaxing Azure a little. ‘Are you okay?'

'Nether!' Azure snapped when he hadn’t replied.

'Nether?' Cedar asked.

‘Nether! You piece of-’

'What? I'm here. Why you screaming my name for?' Nether groaned. Azure felt himself relax, the two demons he killed weren’t his.

'Are you alive?' Cedar said. You could hear the relief in his voice.

'Unfortunately,' Nether replied.

'Just be at my apartment in thirty minutes,’ Azure said, and the two made noises. One was of approval and one was of disgust. Azure rolled his eyes, knowing what was about to happen.

'Not if that priest is going to be there,’ Nether spat. Yes, he always had to be the difficult one.

'He won't,' Azure replied, he wasn’t dumb enough to have Kai meet Nether. Cedar was a possibility, but definitely not Nether.

'So you say.' Azure was about to have a go at him, but he caught Kai looking up at him.

“Azure, are you okay?” Kai said and Azure smiled a little, ruffling his head. Kai hated it when he did that, it was exactly why he did it.

"Yeah, I'm fine, why?" Azure said as he continued smiling.

Kai laughed a little. “Your face went weird and you went oddly quiet.” Kai stopped to poke his cheek, Azure couldn’t help but lean into the little touch.

Given the okay, Kai walked up ahead, but Azure stayed frozen in his place as he saw how the dim light hit Kai. He saw how . . . Ethereal Kai looked, his light hair looking golden in the odd lighting. Azure wanted to know if Kai knew how perfect he looked right now.

Azure cleared his thoughts as he caught up with Kai, turning him around and placing his hand on the small of his back, nudging him forward. He flinched, shaking his hand as he healed himself. He always forgot that holy clothes were blessed, he couldn’t touch him without burning his hand and he would have to heal himself almost instantly.

“Let’s go, I’m walking you home,” Azure said.

Kia frowned, turning around to stare at Azure, who in return raised an eyebrow. “I’m a grown man, I can walk myself home.”

“Sure, but your 15 years too late. I’m walking you home, you’re no longer at the top of the food chain, Kai.”

“I hate you,” Kai grumbled, and he continued walking.

“No you don’t,” Azure replied. “I love you too.”

Kia grumbled something under his breath as he sighed. “Yeah, yeah. I love you.”

Azure often wondered how Kai would react if he found out how serious he was when he told him he loved him. Would he accept him? Freak out? Azure almost laughed aloud at the thought of the former. He knew deep down, Kai would never accept him. His wanting to be accepted was him being delusional. He knew Kai would one day settle down, he’d marry a woman, a human, they’d have kids and he’d have the family he had always wanted.

And Azure? He would watch from the sidelines because Kai had gotten what he had dreamed of. He may not have been his first source of happiness, but at the very least, he was still in his life. Azure knew he had to get rid of these feelings, Kai was his best friend, he was a priest, and he killed his kind for a living.

The duo reached Kai’s apartment building. He walked to the door, Azure would watch him go in and then he would go home, to his friends. When Kai was about to close the door, he opened it again, his eyes staring at him.

“Do you want to come in?” he asked and Azure froze. It was the first time in a while Kai had asked Azure to come in. He knew after a job Azure didn’t like being at his house. At the crackass of dawn, he would be there, but not right after.

But Kai was smiling and he looked beautiful. Azure tried saying yes, but his words seemed to be caught in his throat, so he nodded. He followed in after the male, a smile on his face.

‘Change the time, meet me in a few hours,’ Azure said, down the line. ‘I’m busy.’

‘Yeah,’ Nether said. ‘Trying to get into the priest’s pants.’

‘Piss off.’

They got into the elevator, taking it up to the sixth floor. Azure couldn’t keep his eyes off Kai, who seemed to have noticed. “Is there something on my face? You’ve been starring.”

“No, Kai,” he whispered. “There’s nothing on your face.”

Kai smiled, and he wanted to say it, just blurt it out and see how he reacted.

“Kai, I love you.”

Kai laughed, Azure liked the sound. In all honesty, it sounded like Kai was having an asthma attack, a wheeze was present, but Azure liked it nonetheless.

“I love you, too, Azure.”

Azure wanted to tell him he meant it was more than friends, and he was so sure he could, but he couldn’t. Not if it meant ruining what they had, and it most likely would.

Unlocking the door, they went inside. Kai went to change, which Azure was happy about. He wanted to touch Kai and was sick of having to heal himself. It was draining. He came out in a large white shirt and a collar.

The collar wasn’t anything flashy, simply a piece of black velvet about 1 inch thick, but it irked Azure.

Kai suffered from insomnia. That would explain why they were making brownies at 2 am, or well, trying to.

“Azure?” Kai asked. Azure turned expecting him to say something, but all he got was a face full of flour. Azure scrunched his face up, smiling a little.

Of course, Azure had to retaliate, and against Kai’s protests, he threw it at him. It landed on his face and then his clothes. Azure laughed at his expression.

Kai was about to grab another handful but he slipped on the tiles. He would have fallen if Azure hadn’t caught him. He panicked, he would have hit his head on the counter, and he could have gotten hurt, or died.

Azure pulled him up, hugging him. He wondered if Kai could hear his heartbeat pounding. Kai wrapped his arms around his waist, resting his head on his chest. He looked up at Azure, who scanned over his face, making sure he wasn’t hurt.

Azure leaned in and kissed his forehead, he wouldn’t, couldn’t let anything happen to Kai, not when he meant so much to him. Kai smiled at the affection, moving away to continue making the batter. The first thing Azure did was clean up so Kai didn’t have the chance to slip and fall again.

When they finished, the duo continued making the batter, Azure couldn’t help but feel content at that moment.

‘Azure, hurry up, I have things to do,’ Nether snapped down the line.

But Azure didn’t want to go, not when he had everything he had ever wanted at that moment.

‘In a bit,’ he replied, and then disconnected himself from the line. He knew he would get s**t from Nether later, but it would be worth it.

Kai moved away, he had finished making the batter and was now pouring it into the moulds.

“You have batter on your nose,” Azure said, snorting a little.

Kai finished pouring the batter and then crossed his eyes trying to see where it was. He rubbed his nose and still missed. Azure placed his hand on his cheek, using his thumb to wipe it off, he looked up at him, and Azure looked down, he smiled a little, pulling away. He licked the batter off of his thumb and looked down at it. It tasted good.

Azure felt his phone buzz, he scowled, knowing it was probably one of his siblings, or on the happier side, maybe it was Mint or Church. He pulled it out of his pocket to look at the screen.

Nether

u hav 5 min to get back

or i show up

in demon form

He scowled at his phone, he would have to leave Kai. Nether would definitely show up at his place if he didn’t go, so he sighed as he looked up at Kai. “I have to go, some friends are coming over.”

“You never let me meet them,” he whined as he put the tray in the oven and set the timer.

“And you’re going to save me some brownies. And try to get some sleep at least. I was trying to be polite but your eyebags are horrendous.”

Kai rolled his eyes as he walked him to the door, Azure ruffled his head and Kai swatted his hands away. He laughed as he left.

He had decided to walk back to his own apartment, which was a considerable bit away. He wanted the fresh air.

Azure arrived at his apartment with ease.

“Why are you like that?” he groaned when he walked in.

Nether’s demonic form was an odd sight. He had skin the colour of fresh blood with pine green eyes. His hair, which he usually kept down, was dark, dark, blue, it almost looked black, but you could see the blueness of it in the sun. He was also a lot taller in his demonic form, being 6’6, which was quite tall compared to human standards, so Azure had no clue why he liked to complain about his height.

Nether rolled his eyes. “I don’t get the big deal, we’re all demons here.”

Cedar smiled as he looked over at Azure. “So, why did you call us over?”

Azure scowled as he took a seat on the white couch. “I knew you’d wind up here sooner or later. I might as well have called you over.”

“Have you spoken to the other two?” Nether asked as he began to float, crossing his legs in the air.

Azure never understood his need to float. Why could he not just occupy a seat like the rest of them did? Sometimes, he was sure Nether just liked showing off that he was the only one of the five knights that he could fly.

“I have, yes,” Cedar said. “They are both fine. Well, as fine as Feather can be, considering said circumstances.”

“He’s being a little b***h,” Nether deadpanned. “Boo hoo, he’s not calling me back.”

“Yes, but if you think about his personality, that is really unlike him. You know, he was hounding Feather every chance he got.”

Azure shifted in his seat a little.

“I heard from a little birdie that Yua had to physically haul his ass home because he was about to get physical with a large group of humans who said something about him being a demon,” Nether said, Cedar flinched.

“So, Azure,” Cedar said, turning his gaze to look over at the scowling demon on the couch. “Are we ever going to meet Kai?”

“No.”

“Good. I don’t want to see his ratty face.”

“Nether, that’s not a nice thing to say. Azure, he’s a big part of your life, and so are we. I want to at least meet him, officially at least.”

Azure thought about that. Clearly, if Cedar transformed into his human self, he didn’t see why he wouldn’t be able to meet Kai, he would be keeping Nether away from him. But it would be nice for him to talk to Cedar about Kai and not just the boys when they came to visit.

Slowly, Azure nodded. “Sure, Cedar. You can meet Kai. I’ll speak to him and let you know when he’s available.”

Cedar smiled as he stood up. Nether raised his eyebrow. “Where you going?”

“I’m a bit busy with my flower shop, I need to set things up for tomorrow.”

“Oh,” Azure said, smiling. “How is that going? How’s the part-timer?”

“It’s going well, he’s a little intimidating to the customers, but I handle them and he helps in the back.”

“And he’s human, yes?”

“Yes, he is.”

“Does he know?” Nether asked.

“No, I don’t believe he does.”

“Keep it that way.”

Cedar didn’t reply, he simply gave his signature closed-eyed smile to the duo before he opened up a portal and disappeared within.

“You get out too. I’m going to Kai’s.”

Nether scowled but didn’t argue as he opened a portal mid-air and floated through. Azure sighed as he ran a hand through his hair and nodded to himself. He locked his apartment door, and frowned a little at the apartment across him. It seemed like someone had moved into where Mrs Henderson had died. He would have to be neighbourly and greet them later, but right now, he needed to get to Kai’s.

He once again decided to walk there.

He let himself in and wasn’t surprised to see the two boys there.

“Mr Azure!” Church yelled as he ran over, a smile on his face. “Mr Kai made brownies. Do you want some?”

Azure hadn’t even walked through the small entryway when Church had hounded him. He led the teenage boy into the living room, where Mint was sitting on the couch, stuffing his face with brownies.

“Hi Azure,” he said through a mouthful.

Azure scowled at the mint-haired boy. “Don't talk with your mouth full, Mint. How many times?”

He swallowed his bite, splaying a grin. “Sorry.”

Azure took a seat on the couch as Kai walked out of the kitchen.

“Azure, hello,” he said, smiling. “The brownies are done.”

Azure rolled his eyes. “I thought I told you to go to sleep, Kai.”

“I’m sorry,” he whined as he went back into the kitchen. Azure sighed as he got up and followed him, leaving the two teenagers to talk in the room.

“So?” Azure asked, leaning against the frame.

“Okay. I know you said to sleep, but they came and then we got to talking and then the brownies were done and we were all going to watch a movie, And now you’re here, so stay?”

Azure sighed as his eyes raked Kai. “Yes, I’ll stay the night.”

Kai grinned as he turned his back to him, and placed some brownies on a plate. Azure walked over, placing his chin on Kai’s head. He frowned when he felt Kai tense.

“Are you okay?”

“Fine.”

Azure nodded, although he didn’t believe him. Kai turned around with the brownies in hand. “Want one?”

“Of course, I do.” Azure grabbed a brownie and stuffed the entire thing in his mouth, much to Kai’s horror.

They walked back to the living room, and Church and Mint were watching TV. “It’s bedtime,” Azure deadpanned.

“Oh, come on Mr Azure,” Church whined. “Just one more episode.”

Azure eyed the TV. “What are you watching?”

“It’s a show. It’s so good, it’s about grim reapers who help people who are going to kill themselves.”

Azure blinked a few times. That was not the role of the reapers, they simply picked up souls, and they did not intervene in human affairs.

“What episode are you on?”

“The first.”

Azure eyed the attractive woman with pink hair on the TV and shrugged. “Move over. I want to watch it too.”

“Azure, you’re the adult here,” Kai deadpanned.

Azure grinned as he made space for Kai and patted the empty seat. “Yes, and as the adult, I say it sounds interesting, so I want to watch too.”

“You’re worse than them,” Kai muttered and Azure raised an eyebrow.

“Are you trying to tell me that doesn’t sound the least bit interesting to you?”

Kai sighed. “No, it sounds pretty cool,” he said as he took the seat Azure had patted too.

Church passed the blanket over and Mint got up to turn the lights off. The four of them settled down and played the first episode.

~*~