A Stroll through the Carnival (CCC)

Since the beginning of time, mankind has always wondered about a realm different from theirs, namely what many refer to as ‘The Spirit World’. Some believe it is a realm where they are free to call on their services, as if they were some sort of mercenaries. Others believe it to be simply a different area of residence, that the spirits still needed to be appeased. In a no doubt filial act to please the ghosts of their ancestors, certain humans burns paper and leave food items out to rot, hoping that it would reach ones who don’t even need such necessities in the first place.

All of these were amusing theories. 90% of them are dead wrong.

The Spirit World is only one thing: A constant battlefield.

Of course, to a being such as Leidensblick, it was more of stroll through a carnival.

The Darkness was such a sacred terrain to the former Satori, but to her slight irritation, she had to share such a commodity. Not a step into the shadows beneath suburban Tokyo, and she could already see soldiers, thieves, assassins and anarchists alike. No matter what role each spirit had, they were engaging in more or less the same action, and that was warring against the other group. Be it a blatant combat with the clashing of swords, a combat of words and persuasion, or perhaps even some sort of stealth mission (which, in the Prophet’s opinion, was quite redundant), there were always two sides, at least two warriors perched on the fragile shoulders of a single human. Quite distinct were the sides as well.

The first group, Leiden never took any interest into for good reason. Valiant, shining creatures, with either wings of fire or wings with the ability to immediately blind you. Most carried swords or bows, but others were blindly (figuratively and literally) confident that their mere presence was enough to make their opponents cowered in fear. Yet, every single one of them had one similarity, namely that every fiber of their being radiated light. A truly abhorrent existence.

But the second group, ah, that was where the Prophet of Babylon took interest, for they were, as the humans so crudely put it, ‘the fun ones’. Except for their shared aura of malevolence and their wonderful (or not so) tendency to cling to the shadows, each and every of these creatures were different. Name one animal that a human could think of, and these spirits took on its form…of course, with their own ‘adjustments’. There was a crow perched on the sill of a window, its feathers and skin falling away to reveal bone and bloodied flesh. There was a toad whose skin was a swirly concoction of brown and beige, and it was plastering itself over a young girl’s face. There were even giant centipedes! (A rare sight, thought the Prophet. She would have thought they would cease assuming such forms the moment a foolish human writer got his hands on their correspondence.) Of course, there were many still, imitating, mocking with rotten hands and blackened eyes, the form of a human. If you had placed them next to Leidensblick, you would see little difference. Hilariously enough, some of them were walking side by side their unsuspecting victims.

Demons. The utterances of such a word amongst the humans bring to mind scaly red monsters with horns, carrying pitchforks, and ruling some sort of fire and brimstone hell. It was easy to see why this actually pleased the little vermin. No one in the universe could take such imaginary creatures seriously! And as even a child would know, the moment you underestimate your enemy, it’s all over.

The Prophet chuckled. What a carnival, indeed. She was starting to rethink her prior irritation – mockery and drunken delight was always a much better indulgence than loneliness. Yet one could never be too comfortable around even the company of such fine folk…

It was at that moment Leidensblick felt a creature grabbing her leg, and whatever noise it was making, it was getting louder. When she looked down, she saw what it was (and what was heard): a bony (but still retaining of flesh), drooling, slobbering Tasmanian devil. He looked even more hideous than what those American cartoonists portrayed him as. It would have certainly been a cute sight, if it weren’t for the fact that it was capable of speech.

“Heeeey, gorgeous…” The creature began, saliva still falling from what was barely discernible as a mouth, “You want to spend the ni—afternoon with me? I’ve got a really juicy piece of meat here, and I like my ladies how I like my meat…”

“Get back to your post, imbecile. You should be inducing flirting, not craving it. Not now.” Another voice spoke. Not yet shaking off the pest from her leg, the Prophet followed it and found a wolf, similarly bony and decaying, though the large fangs it had gave the entire body a monstrous feel, rather than his colleague’s pathetic one. Ah, yes, these two were on duty.

To a normal human, the only thing that was happening on this tiny bench in the park was a couple. A couple that was engaging in a rather tensed conversation. Nothing out of the ordinary. What they couldn’t see was that crouching by the shoulder of the irritated female, there was the rage-filled wolf. What they also couldn’t see was that the post of the ignorant and very distracted Tasmanian devil was right next to the nervous male’s brain.

Even more startling, though? There was something not even these two demons could see, but Leidensblick could, clear as the night. As much as she loved to spit in the faces of humans, their psyche was truly complex machinery. Layers upon layers of personalities, subconscious acts, thoughts, some desirable, others…not so. It didn’t quite matter to Leiden, all she ever wanted was to indulge in the darkness, no matter where it lurked.

But to these two novices? They could only see a small duplicate of the male lover, equally as anxious, floating right next to his side. And the demons were doing a rather poor job negotiating with it.

“L-Look, let’s not do anything too drastic, okay?!” The specter yelped, though at whom none was sure. “You’ve—we’ve—they’ve been going at this for six months. If she finds out, it’s all over. I just want one, one night, alone with her, under the covers…”

“Silly humans, it’s always just one.” The Prophet finally spoke, sweet mockery lacing her voice. She could not resist the chance to have a little fun with these fools. “Just one more day. Just one more bite. You want just one more, and that’s it. Except it never is. You never stop craving, you precious little hoarders…”

The wolf finally acknowledged Leidensblick’s presence with a look of contempt. “Ethereal scum”, he growled, “You don’t belong here. I’d rather be burnt to a crisp by a cherub than work alongside the likes of you.”

“Oh, are you ever so mistaken!” The Prophet responded without ceasing her laughter, “I have no interest of fighting alongside you. A poor little lady such as myself needs amusement once in a while, does she not? You seem to be doing fine work disrupting that, given the position of your paws.”

Indeed, this particular spirit’s job was to increase the anger of the aforementioned female lover. Scratch her mind with thoughts of impatience, chafe at the shackles that bounded her known as ‘love’. Now if only that slobbering fool would do his job…

Leidensblick then had a wonderful idea. She knelt down to the drooling creature at her heels, and with absolutely no attempt to hide her disdain, had her lips make contact with the creature’s forehead. So excited, so delirious was the little fool that he roared and he ran and he leapt, till at last what little fangs he had left went straight into the spiritual duplicate of the human man. At first, the shadow was stunned by the vampiric approach. Then it started to smile. Then its transparent blue skin mutated into a slithery black-clawed one. It was barely recognizable as a human imitation anymore, and became much like the creature that seduced it. Soon, the two attackers were whispering in the man’s ear.

“Go for the kill, go for the kill, it’ll be all worth it…”

In an instance, the male lover placed his hand on the female’s lap. Scarcely could he withdraw his hand that the woman reached out hers to give him a mighty slap. A shouting match ensued, accusations of perversion flew, and eventually, the couple parted ways. The battle was won. And much amusement came of it.

Predictably (and somewhat thankfully), the Tasmanian demon took no notice of Leidensblick any longer, and was much more satisfied riding the shoulders of its victim. The rage-inducing wolf, however, shot a similarly devious glare at the Prophet.

“You are fortunate this time, Ethereal. If Screwtape were in this terrain, he’d sooner have you in his grinder.”

“Ah yes, Screwtape, that wise senior of yours who lost his letters written to his Nephew and had them retrieved by a human.” The Prophet remarked without a single trace of regret. She innocently put a finger to her face as she continued spewing her talk. “What was that vermin’s name? Staples…C, Staple something…”

“Doesn’t matter! Compare how many people read his useless stack of papers to how many did not. Our secret is safe. And too vital to let it be carried out by creatures such as yourself, possessing the flesh of man…”

“Should you not be doing your job, tempter? I would hate to see a Seraph swoop down all of a sudden to soothe the screaming girl’s temper…like now.”

Leidensblick turned around, as if she wouldn’t be amused by the sight she had just predicted happening right in front of her eyes. Then again, hearing the sound of the ensuing panic and screaming was enough for her. She had enough fun at this attraction. There were many other lost souls to be observed…

Just another stroll through the Carnival.