Van seems to think about it for a moment.
I grin, I like it a lot more than I think I probably should. “While I appreciate your willingness to kill for me, in fact, I think it’s pretty fucking hot, actually. I would rather that he pay for what he’s done, and the number of supernatural lives that he’s destroyed by being locked up. He’s not dangerous enough to warrant killing, not like Casimir is, and it would actually be more of a punishment, and more fitting to keep him alive and facing the consequence of his actions here before he then gets to the Spirit Realm and the Luciorekis punish him for eternity.”
Raiden sits forward in his chair, his gaze studying me closely, “How do you know that word?”
I frown, “Luciorekis?” I ask, although there really isn’t any need for the question. All of the other words in my sentence were pretty normal words, and I’m going to assume that he wasn’t asking me about one of them.
Raiden nods, his gaze still intently watching me as he replies simply, “Yes.”
My eyebrows draw down. “I don’t know. Now that I’m thinking about it, I have no idea where the knowledge has come from. I know I definitely didn’t get taught it, and I’ve never met one of them. They don’t come to this realm.” My eyes widen, “Again, I have no idea how I know that, but I do with almost one hundred percent certainty.”
The Voices are loud, but they aren’t saying anything, it’s just a cacophony of noise. I get the feeling that they’re trying to tell me something, but can’t. Which doesn’t make much sense to me because I know that they can talk to me now. Although maybe it's only in certain situations? It’s not like they’re talking to me all of the time now.
“What’s going on, Raiden?” Ransom asks.
“I’ve never heard of the Luciorekis,” Griff adds with a slight frown.
Raiden nods, “Very few people have. I technically shouldn’t even know who they are, but I had a run-in with them when I went to the Spirit Realm trying to find my mom. I shouldn’t have been in the level that I was in. I’m reasonably certain that the only reason why I was able to escape was that they were so shocked to see a kid reaper in their level, it gave them enough pause for me to leave. I think if it weren’t for that, they would have at least taken me in for questioning. That incident was another reason why I locked the other half of myself away.”
“You never said anything,” Van says, his eyebrows dipping slightly.
Raiden shrugs, “Honestly, I had forgotten about it until Neith mentioned Luciorekis. My run-in with them on their level of the Spirit Realm scared the fucking shit out of me, and I was dealing with everything to do with my mom, and my father stepped his shit up. I was happy to forget.”
“That makes sense, actually. It’s perfectly normal, it’s the brain's way of protecting itself,” Coen replies. He then adds curiously, “So what do you remember now?”
“Everything, it would seem. Looking back now, it doesn’t fill me with the same amount of terror that it did when I was a child, but it definitely leaves me feeling uneasy,” Raiden replies.
Before he can explain anything else, Ransom interrupts him, “How do you know so much about them if you were only there for a short amount of time?”
Raiden smirks slightly, “I said that they were so shocked to see me that it gave me a chance to escape, not that I hadn’t been there watching them for a while.”
I burst out laughing. “You know what, that sounds about right, actually. You were absolutely terrified of where you were and what you were seeing, but so curious that you had to stay and get as much information as possible.”
“Pretty much,” Raiden grins.
“So what happened?” Van asks with curiosity in his tone.
“I learned what they were called, it wasn’t just them on that level of the Spirit Realm, there were others as well, supernaturals that I had never seen before and haven’t seen since. They spoke of the Luciorekis in hushed tones, with fear in their expressions. I think they were a breed of supernatural beings who exist specifically to punish those who deserve it in the Spirit Realm. It turned out that I had somehow made it to the level of the Spirit Realm that was for punishment and torture. Reapers shouldn’t be able to get to that level. In fact, in all of our teachings, I’ve never even heard of that level,” Raiden explains. “It’s simply not mentioned. Although with the reapers, that doesn’t necessarily mean that they don’t know about the level or the supernaturals that occupy it. All it means is that they haven’t deemed it important enough for the general populace of reapers to know.”
“Or it’s too important,” Coen points out. “The reapers like to keep the important shit on a need-to-know basis, where only the higher-ups need to know, and even then, I’m not convinced that all of the higher-ups know what they should. If the general populace learns what you told me about the factthat the current Reaper Council are not the ones who should be in charge, then all hell will break loose.”
Raiden’s eyebrows rise slightly, “You aren’t wrong, but I’m not entirely convinced that they would do anything, they’re too afraid of the consequences or being demoted down a tier.”
“Wait, they demote people?” I ask incredulously. “I thought the system was based on strength.”
Raiden sighs, but anger fills his expression, “It is. However, the council decided that under certain circumstances, a reaper can be demoted and lose the privileges of whatever tier he or she was in. It doesn’t take away their strength, not even the Reaper Council can do that, but it does take away their status and the perks that they get with being in a higher tier.”
“You mean the perks that the Reaper Council made up when they decided that they would be in charge because the original Reaper Council mysteriously didn’t make it through the portal in time when Trieneliea was evacuated?” Griff growls with snark.
Raiden nods, “Yeah, those. It’s all so that they have tighter control over the reapers. Obviously, because they’re all corrupt and power hungry, the demotion punishment wasn’t just saved for criminals, it is also used for those who had the misfortune to piss off the Reaper Council. If it weren’t for the fact that my tier is the lowest anyway, they would have demoted me many times, simply because I questioned them on their shit.”
“Of course. I mean, I’m not even surprised the Reaper Council are controlling assholes who absolutely abuse their power,” I mutter. “Actually, that reminds me, you still haven’t been called for using your power, and you have used it a couple of times now. I know you said that it can take a while, but do you think that it’s just that reason why you haven’t been called?”
Raiden nods, “Yes. Honestly, I’ve seen them go for years before getting around to calling someone in. I don’t know why, it actually doesn’t make much sense to me.”
Coen’s eyes widen, “What if it's because they aren’t the rightful council? So they don’t immediately know that there is something going on or that something has happened. Maybe they’re relying on something else to tell them, but it has a delay. I mean, think about it, you said that you’ve seen them take years to call someone in, did they mention it years before, or did they only mention the time that had lapsed once they had brought the reaper in?”
Raiden frowns as the wheels in his head start turning, and then his eyes widen, “Shit, you’re right. It was only ever when they brought them in. They would mention the offence, or the power flare, or whatever, and the date. I think you’re onto something.”
