The warm night bathed by the sea breeze spreads through the busy streets of Rio de Janeiro, the music of the kettledrums and the troupes singing in hubbub frame the famous carnival. That gives free rein to seduction and the colorful cultural nuances of the area, where tanned skin bathed in sweat invite eroticism.
Not far from the busy streets where emotions run high, two figures attack each other as they move through the tin roofs of the favelas.
"Yes you are a persistent bitch, but the only thing you have going for it is your speed" - A slim figure with curly hair as black as night and a mulatto skin that contrasts with the silver tone of her astral armor. Lea Balderrama is the identity of the Loa guardian of the famous city in the heart of Brazil.
Ahead of her an elusive void left a trail of debris that he used as projectiles, trying to gain space to escape from her pursuer. The moonlight under that clear night sky gave a ghostly appearance to the two figures that moved freely over the incredulous gaze of some inhabitants that swarmed the area.
"Olha meu amigo eles são loa" - Looking askance at that group of people, Lea knew that they were thinking of voodoo when they referred to them as Loa; but she was offended at being framed on the same plane, with the despicable voids that she hunted.
When they finally reached a point in the favelas where not a single soul was seen in the streets, nor the sound of music was heard from the houses, she Lea raised her right arm while she took her left hand with her fingers pointing at her forehead.
"Seven buddha relics" -Above her right hand, seven orbs that shone with the moonlight flew in a circle around the void, which was desperately trying to escape from that perimeter. But every time she tried, the orbs projected the concentrated light of the moon onto her body, inflicting great damage on her.
Holding both of her hands bringing them up to her chest, Lea began to recite a Sutra in a low voice as she extended her arms in front of her.
"Now miserable garbage disappears" - When he finished saying those words, the moonlight was concentrated throughout the body of the void. Who screamed in screams of pain as his ashes fell to the floor. Leaving a small mound that little by little the wind of the breeze dispersed throughout the air.
Having completed her mission, Lea descended into a deserted alley to perform her transformation back into her human form. As he did so, she began to gasp as if she was going to run out of breath. Although it is true that the Loa have regenerative capacity, the congenital diseases that the host container had would be considered as the original state of the body. In this particular case, the original owner of the body that she now used as a container had died of an asthma attack.
Taking an emergency inhaler from his jacket bag, he proceeded to give himself first aid so as not to stay in that painful state for longer than he should have. When he was finally able to come to, she slammed a lamp post that swayed from the intensity of it.
"Of all the possible bodies, did you have to give me one with such an annoying disease boss?" - Speaking with Freyja through her astral stone, Lea gave the report of the mission that she had been entrusted with.
But unlike previous years, this last one was something out of the ordinary. Because the number of void sightings had increased considerably. The report seemed to come without major incident, when suddenly a slight static in the air enveloped Lea. She breaking her astral stone, thereby cutting off all communication with her superior.
"What the hell is happening here?" - While trying to think clearly about the situation of her in front of her, awkward steps as if dragging her feet, approached from behind her. Trying to turn quickly to launch a kick, she ended up restraining herself when she saw that it was an old woman whose age was around 80 years old.
"Damn old woman, it almost made me have an asthma attack with that scare" - Putting the starter back on her lips, Lea dropped it while the pupils of her eyes began to dilate due to the fear that overwhelmed her at that moment.
The old woman began to laugh in a sinister way as the light from the street lamp flickered to the point of breaking completely. Momentarily leaving both of them in the dark.
"What painful meat they gave you to inhabit Dante, it seems that that stupid woman did not like you at the time she made you reincarnate" -How did he know her real name? Who or what was in front of her? As she walked backward without turning her back on her enemy, she Lea was trying in every way to control that panic attack. She had been Guardian Loa for the past 20 years and in all that time, she had never experienced such a sense of panic as she before her in her and his past lives.
Inadvertently Lea had crashed into a wall, she was in a dead end and no matter how hard she tried to invoke her powers as Loa, the channel was completely damaged and still not repaired even a little.
The clouds passed, leaving the moon once again lighting up the alley, leaving that stage in front of her with the sinister figure of the old woman, whose face looked completely gloomy. She clearly showing a slight blood red glow in her pupils, like the glow of a predator about to eliminate her victim.
"Are you afraid, little Dante? They had told me that you were the most powerful guardian in South America. Do not disappoint this old woman, I am your most fervent admirer" - Caressing her face with her haggard hand, which showed her long, sharp nails Claws of a harpy, sweat ran down Lea's skin as her lower lip trembled uncontrollably.
The smell that the old woman's breath gave off was like sour grapes after fermentation. And the feel of her wrinkled skin was like the rough bark of a tree trunk.
"You know what? Every so often I need to hydrate to look as beautiful as you do. So I want to know if you would be kind enough to give this old woman some water to quench her thirst?" Nodding her head without uttering a single word in panic and shortness of breath, Lea tried to convince the old woman that she would help him.
"You are a very kind young lady" - Finishing saying these words, the old woman's body began to fall apart, revealing that it was made up of a large number of land snails. Which began to climb all over Lea's body, who she fell on her knees without being able to move.
The slime that those animals left on her body, contained a neurotoxin that paralyzed all the muscles of her victim. She making her way from her until she reached her eyes, mouth and nose, entering all the cavities of her body while she felt how her moisture was absorbed little by little.
The moans he emitted in desperation to ask for help were soon silenced as his heart stopped completely. A couple of minutes later, the completely dry body of that warrior Loa fell to the ground without a single trace of life.
Having finished the task of her, the snails returned to group once more to shape the body of that enemy. That this time it was no longer the figure of an old woman, but a voluptuous woman with brown skin and gray eyes.
"Aaaah, that was so refreshing" - Running her hands over her face, that woman began to walk down the alley leaving behind Lea's remains. She reached into her hand in a bag to take out a cell phone that was beginning to ring.
The voice on the other side of the speaker seemed to question him about her activities, to which she yelled haughtily as she shook her hair until she reached the main street. Ending her call, she prepared to board a taxi that would take her to a hotel out of town.
The driver looked at her sideways, concentrating on the most erogenous points of that statuesque beauty that she contemplated. "I look beautiful to you" - Leaning on the backs of the front seats, she that woman flirted with that man while she laughed mischievously.
Upon arriving at the hotel, she got out of the taxi, moving seductively to attract the attention of the subject, who, completely captivated, parked the unit and went with her to her room. The pleasant night was long for both of them, but the next morning in the hotel bed there was only a mummified body and next to it a tarot card: The floats.
It was a February 22, 2019, in Rio de Janeiro, where a series of horrific murders occurred over the course of the carnival festivities.
On the other side of the world, on a highway about eight hours from Hokkaido, a small compact car is parked in the parking lot of a mini market. Between the shelves, long and thick hair red as fire, swaying from side to side in a frantic search.
"Where the hell are the manju?" - Shaking a bottle of green tea, that woman seemed dismayed by a simple candy. Calling the attention of the store clerk, who approached with a box in her hands extending them before a blushing Hanabi, who wanted to be swallowed by the earth when she saw how the clerk pointed out that the manju were right at the counter from the cash register.
Going to the checkout to pay, she ordered a couple of packs of menthol cigarettes and a diet soda. She trying to get out of it as soon as possible while she with one hand she was holding the grocery bag and with the other she covered her face as she lowered her gaze.
When opening the car door, a voice was heard coming from the passenger seat: "If you don't have my cigarettes, don't even think about getting in the car."
Long silver hair that reached a little below her shoulders, sunglasses that covered her eyes, hiding the eye socket of the left. An orthopedic prosthesis where her right hand used to be, she rested along with her arm on the window frame of the passenger door.
"You've become very grumpy lately" - With a friendly smile, Hanabi extended her hand with the pack for that woman to take. It had been two years since she experienced death the second time, but her vigor had returned to her body along with the plans she had in mind.
"The heat is unbearable and you did not have the grace to put the air conditioning in the car, to top it off I have had to endure the infernal sound of the cicadas for more than half an hour" - Yukino took the diet drink while opening it to give it a sip that mitigate its heat. As Hanabi entered to start the car bound for the city of Hokkaido.
As the car moved down the road, the landscape shifted from an urbanized environment to rural parts. With every kilometer that traveled, the landscape passed from the sorghum fields to more temperate and slightly cold climates.
Yukino gazed at the changing scenery in silence, as if it were a living painting. She only for moments she puffing on her cigarette while the two listened to the news on the radio.
The time had come to enter Hokkaido University, although the original plan had been truncated by Akane's actions and the irreparable tragedy of Kaoru's death, Hanabi set out to fill that gap in Adam's life.
"You could have stayed in Tokyo, but you still decided to come with me. Not that I'm ungrateful about it, but I can't fully understand your decision." - Braking the car suddenly, to the point of making Yukino hit the dashboard of the car, Hanabi tried not to lose her temper at that cutting attitude.
"If you bring up the subject again, you'll have to walk to Hokkaido" - With a serious tone and a commanding look, Hanabi reminded Yukino that those two years of preparation were not a game. And that she alone could not achieve anything, even more so with the persecution that fell on her heads from Freyja.
Yukino understood the situation and decided to keep quiet the rest of the way. She falling asleep from the movement of the car.
"We have arrived, help me to lower things" - The knock of the pilot's door closing, woke Yukino from her lethargy, contemplating in front of her an austere housing complex in one of the economic parts of the city.
She taking her suitcases while she did not take her eyes off that structure, she let out a sigh as she walked towards the stairs that would lead them to her new home.