To Ashes And Blood

Wake Up To Reality

Damien awkwardly turned to Rias, then back toward where the woman had been standing.

“She’s…..she’s gone,” he muttered under his breath.

Then, like a sudden wave hit him, his eyes widened slightly.

“She’s gone! Where did she go?”

Rias looked at him.

“Did you see her?” he asked as he walked closer to Rias.

Rias sighed.

“Arghh...”

He rubbed the back of his neck.

“You’ll probably see her again.”

He turned around.

“Come.”

Damien looked around for a second before following Rias.

They walked deeper into the Underground Ring.

The deeper they went, the more people greeted Rias with so much familiarity.

“Rias…..Amigo!”

A man shouted from across the street.

Rias immediately raised his hand.

“Hey, Gustavo!”

Another person passed them.

Rias slapped his shoulder.

“Still alive, huh?”

The man laughed.

“Unfortunately.”

Rias laughed with him.

Damien said nothing and just kept watching as they walked.

Everywhere they went, Rias seemed to know someone, or someone knew him.

It was either a bookmaker, a fighter, a bartender, or a dealer.

Everyone here seemed to know Rias, even people Damien couldn’t immediately identify.

And somehow, Rias greeted all of them like old friends.

Damien couldn’t help but wonder.

How many lives has this man lived?

As Damien’s eyes wandered, he saw the woman from before.

She walked into a small stall just between two other buildings.

Damien’s eyes followed her until the door was shut.

Rias noticed but didn’t say anything and just continued to talk with some of his old friends.

Less than five minutes later, the door opened, and the woman stepped out with a small pouch in her hand.

Her lips curved into a dark smile as she stared at the pouch.

As she lifted her head, her eyes locked with Damien’s, who was staring at her.

With the sinister smile still on her face, she winked at him and walked away.

Rias leaned over and hung his arm across Damien’s shoulders.

“Aii, aii, aii, aii, seems like you’ve got yourself an admirer.”

He chuckled.

“And from the looks of it, seems like today is her first payday in a long time too.”

Then he pushed Damien forward.

“Come on now.”

Damien looked back in her direction but only met her slender back, which was covered with a tattoo of two cobras with their tails winding down her leather pants.

Rias grinned.

“You don’t want to be caught staring for too long.”

Damien quickly shook his head and looked ahead again.

“How do you happen to know the people here?”

Rias laughed.

He pulled the old coin from his pocket and began twirling it between his fingers.

The miniature glove rested in his other hand.

“I told you before, everyone has a past.”

Damien looked at him.

Rias didn’t say anything else and just continued walking.

The Underground Ring seemed to grow stranger the deeper they went, but he paid no attention to it and just kept walking with Rias.

Then something caught his eye.

A slot machine.

It stood alone against a wall. The lights around it flickered brightly against the dark surroundings.

Damien appeared to be caught up in it and unconsciously took a step toward it.

“Whoa, whoa, whoa.”

Rias held him back.

“Slow down, tiger.”

Damien looked at him.

“I was just…..”

“Don’t.”

Rias’s tone had changed.

Damien looked toward the slot machine again.

Then he heard footsteps.

Seven officers, both men and women, approached from the opposite side.

Their uniforms were ivory cream, with burgundy lines running around the edges.

Damien froze.

His eyes immediately recognized the red phoenix badge on their chests.

He could recognize that uniform anywhere.

Anytime.

“Ashens.”

His expression changed.

“What are they doing here?”

Rias said nothing.

The officials walked directly toward the slot machine.

One of them looked around while another stood guard behind them.

“All set,” one of them spoke as he brought out two sacks.

Then one of them reached behind the machine.

Damien watched every move they made.

They pulled out a crate, then another, until they had stacked four crates in front of the machine.

Damien stared.

The crates were filled with embers.

Ash embers and a few blood embers mixed among them.

The officers opened the two large sacks and began transferring the embers into them.

Damien watched in silence as he suppressed the questions he had.

Four crates became two massive sacks.

The officers sealed them and, after nodding his head, walked away.

Damien watched them disappear into the crowd.

Not a single person tried to stop them.

He slowly turned toward Rias.

“Can they do that?”

Rias looked at him for a moment and said nothing.

Then he chuckled and let out an almost bitter laugh.

“Wake up to reality.”

Damien stared at him.

Rias slipped the coin and the glove back into his pocket.

Then he continued walking.

Damien stood there just staring at the machine.

His gaze shifted to the direction the officers had gone through.

Something about what he’d just seen didn’t sit right.

The Underground Ring wasn’t merely a place where people came to fight.

It was connected to something much bigger.

And Damien was beginning to realize, he had no idea how deep it went.