If Only In Our Dreams

Chapter 3 - Insanity In Plain Sight

Just as the hybrid was coming to terms with giving up entirely and heading back home, shouts of distress and panic filled the cool autumn air not too far from where Eekainine had been standing. His eyes shot wide as that sinking feeling filled his chest and stomach as the sudden ruckus started up. Without another second to waste, his feet immediately healed themselves as they launched forward to carry him through the crowds to get to the cause of the noise. As soon as he turned the corner to Bourbon St., however, that feeling of dread of facing the demon he had been ready to save the Earth from once again, had suddenly disappeared. Around that corner was, in fact, a demon, just not the one that had raised such an alarming threat. Standing at a massive nine feet tall, towering over all the humans on the street, was an extremely famous demon by the name of Zekai.

Zekai was best known as being one of the five Gods of Hell. Much like Heaven's Council and their Elders, Hell was run by the Court which consisted of the Gods of each of the districts within Hell. Zekai held control of the Seventh District, and was considered to be one of the biggest threats to the greater good due to that specific title. In all reality, however, that particular God was actually the least hostile among the majority of the demonic species. For centuries, he had been one of the leading public figureheads for peace between demons and angels. Since the beginning of time, the two species were constantly fighting as good and evil typically does, but a recent trend among the younger generations came the idea of actually working together and getting along among every type of being. And although he was the oldest demon in history, Zekai was truly more neutral than evil. Although, due to his age and titles, he still had to honor the duties to secure the balance of good and evil in all the worlds, which put him at the disadvantage of seeming neutral to those younger activists. He truly did wish for more civility between demons and angels, but most beings would lean towards disbelieving him after finding the truth about who he was and his reputation.

Truly, though, the most frightening aspect of Zekai was his appearance. Being nine feet tall naturally gave the God quite an intimidating front as is, and the sharp features he had only aided in the typical demonic aesthetic needed to scare the weak of heart. Zekai had short and messy dark brown hair that stuck up in every direction as if he just awoken from some deep slumber, bright orange piercing eyes, and a set of fangs that glimmered in light of the night whenever that signature grin spread as wide as possible across his face. The demon God wore a completely buttoned up dark gray dress shirt with matching black pants and shoes. He was one of the more handsome and well put together demons, but in contrast, he was absolutely insane. Harmless, for the most part, but insane. Zekai couldn't exactly help his insanity, however, since spreading insanity to the human species was one of his duties as a demon God to help keep the balance between good and evil. And, as it would have appeared to be, the God had decided to take advantage of the upcoming Halloween and directly spread his influence to the people of Earth.

As soon as Eekainine had seen the tall figure from around that corner, he knew exactly who it was. The hybrid couldn't help a smile from spreading across his lips, his head slowly shaking at the sight that was more amusing than anything. Zekai, the feared demon God of Insanity, was chasing people down who had buttons on their outfit that were loose, and he was 'fixing' them by fitting the small bit of plastic through the buttonhole. Of course, the humans found the act as weird and a mild form of harassment, but since Eekainine personally knew Zekai, the scene before him was simply humorous.

Deciding to end the human's suffering of the sudden act of 'terror' brought about by the aloof demon, the Elder hustled over towards the next victim to intervene. He firmly grasped onto Zekai's wrist while doing his best to hide the amusement in his voice. "You won't be able to get them all, stop disrupting the peace." His words appeared to be most effective as the demon god grinned from ear to ear, immediately disregarding his lunatic mission of fixing the buttons as he saw who had grabbed him.

"Oh, Kain! It's been forever! What are you doing here?!" The demon exclaimed loudly as he turned and suddenly pulled the hybrid into a tight hug, practically lifting him off of the ground since he was three feet taller than the mixed being. The embrace managed to shock Eekainine for a moment, not quite able to respond in time before the demon had separated himself from him once again. Although, he couldn't resist his own grin from spreading as he shook his head once more since the sudden randomness of the demon god always managed to catch him off guard.

"My original intents of being out tonight were to pursue a potential threat." Eekainine began his explanation to answer Zekai's question, his arms folding over his chest like they typically would when discussing business matters. Even though he remained solely focused on the demon god before him, his bright blue eyes darted back and forth throughout the crowd among them, still on high alert from the mission he was about to mention once again. "M'koyna was supposedly around here earlier."

"Oh, yes! I do recall seeing that little devil recently! Was that today? I'm afraid to say, but I may have lost track of time again!"

For a split second, Eekainine felt that dropping feeling in his chest again when the demon god practically confirmed the sighting. His smile immediately dropped, however, as he remembered just who he was talking to. It was not uncommon for Zekai to lose track of time or recall certain memories as exaggerated simply due to who he was and his role with Insanity. In fact, it was almost expected for all of the demon gods to act as similarly to their influences as possible. For the hybrid's sake, though, this certain time was most disappointing since he truly was concerned for M'koyna being out and about and for the safety of the greater good.

"Yes, that was today. It would appear as though the sighting was false, or he has moved on already. If I were a betting man, I would have to place my odds on that scoundrel not actually showing up in public yet. He is capable of so much destruction, but knowing him, he'd more likely wait until it was certain that no horde of angelic reinforcement could stop him here on Earth." Eekainine spoke with a colder edge to his tone of voice, the pure hatred he held towards M'koyna clearly shining through as he spoke with the demon god. As another brisk wind of the autumn air flew past them, a sigh escaped the hybrid's lips as he glanced upwards at the demon standing before him. "Anyway, it matters not. It is getting rather late, and I must make it back to Heaven before midnight, just like every other Halloween before this one."

"It doesn't take you that long to get up there, right? I mean, you can't fly there, you've always just magic'ed your way back home." Zekai began to argue back to him suddenly, the right corner of his smile slanting just a small bit higher than the left side to form a smirk. "There's probably a solid hour before you truly have to worry about getting back there in time. Want to grab a drink somewhere? You sure as hell look like you could use one!"

With a playful punch to the shoulder that nearly knocked the hybrid back a couple steps, Eekainine couldn't help but shake his head in amusement again. "Yes, I do 'magic' my way back home. That simple spell only takes a couple minutes." He confirmed the demon's assumption as he glanced up and down the street at the various bars and clubs on Bourbon St. It took less than a minute for him to come up with his answer to the offer. It had been quite a stressful day, especially towards the end of it, and knowing he'd have all day on Halloween to finally relax at home with Inari and Navezan, the hybrid turned back to Zekai with a confident answer.

"Sure. What harm could it actually do? I've got an hour, and not a second more."