Ash lifted his right hand, checking his palm for any new marks.
Nothing new.
Just the one summoning circle, burned into his flesh in intricate patterns.
The mark Moros had left.
He'd half-expected to see another one from Lilith, but his palm showed only the original.
One contract.
One mark.
Even though he'd summoned two different demons.
"You're awake."
Ash's head turned, and pain lanced through his neck.
Angela sat in a chair pulled close to his bed, her head resting on the mattress near his hip,
one hand stretched out toward him like she'd fallen asleep reaching for contact.
She was awake now, though; her green eyes watched him with exhausted relief.
She looked terrible.
White hair with black tips was disheveled, pulled back in a messy ponytail.
Bandages wrapped her left shoulder and right forearm, visible beneath her hospital gown.
Her face was pale, with dark circles under her eyes.
But she was alive, and the smile that touched her lips was genuine.
"How long—" Ash's throat was dry.
"A week," Angela said, sitting up slowly, as if her body protested the movement. "You've been unconscious for a week.
The doctors said your vitals stayed stable, so they let you rest."
A week. Jake had been dead for a week.
Outside, rain began to fall. Light at first, then gradually heavier, drops pattering against the window.
"Jake's and the Other hunters' funeral is today," Angela said softly.
"In a few hours. I wanted you to wake up in time. I've been staying here, waiting."
Jake. The memory crashed over Ash like a physical blow.
Jake Torres, B-rank body enhancer, mentor, father of three. Dead because Ash hadn't been strong enough, hadn't summoned fast enough.
"Stop," Angela said, reading his expression.
"Ash, stop. I can see it on your face, the guilt. You're blaming yourself."
"I could have saved him," Ash whispered, his voice rough from disuse. "If I'd summoned earlier, if I'd been faster—"
"You tried," Angela interrupted, her hand squeezing his gently but firmly.
"Ash, you fought that thing with your bare hands when you should have been dead three times over.
You kept fighting when anyone else would have collapsed. And when Jake fell, you summoned something powerful enough to save the rest of us." Her green eyes held his, refusing to let him look away.
"You saved us. Me, Helen, Marcus, Lin, and everyone who made it out are alive because of what you did."
"Eight people died at the estate," Ash said.
"Eight people, because I didn't understand how summoning worked. Because I asked Moros to 'end the threat', he killed everyone. And now Jake—"
"Jake knew the risks," Angela said, her voice soft but firm.
"He was a hunter. We all know the risks. Every time we step into a gate, we might not come back.
That's the reality now." She shifted closer, her other hand coming up to cup his cheek gently. "You didn't kill Jake.
That corrupted monster did. You fought to save him. The fact that you couldn't doesn't make his death your fault."
Thunder rumbled in the distance, rain drumming harder against the window. The grey morning light made everything feel muted.
"I can still see him," Ash admitted quietly. "In that dream, before I woke up. Jake was a kid, maybe ten years old.
We sat together watching the sunset, and he told me about his family.
His three children. His wife. He cried, Angela. He cried because he knew he wouldn't see them grow up."
Angela's expression cracked slightly, her own grief showing through.
"He talked about them all the time. Showed everyone pictures. He was so proud of his oldest daughter, who wants to be a doctor. His middle kid reads everything. And his youngest... she's only five."
"He asked me to find them," Ash said. "To tell them he loved them. That he was sorry he couldn't come home."
"Not just his family," Ash said quietly. "The other hunters who died too. They all had people waiting for them."
"Then we'll do that," Angela said simply.
"At the funeral. We'll find his wife and children, and we'll tell them exactly that."
She paused.
"And we'll make sure they're taken care of. Money might not mean what it used to, but we still have resources and connections. We'll make sure Jake's family doesn't struggle."
Ash felt something tight in his chest loosen slightly.
Not the guilt, that would stay, probably forever.
But knowing he could do something, honor Jake's last request, made the weight slightly more bearable.
Angela was quiet for a moment, then spoke carefully.
"Ash... what did you summon? In the gate, after Jake died. I saw the red light, felt the power. But I need to know, what answered your call?"
Ash looked at his sister, at the only family he had left.
"Her name is Lilith," he said. "The Queen of Chaos."
"Her?"
"Yeah." Ash closed his eyes, remembering. "She was... beautiful. Stunning, actually. Red hair that moved like it had its own will. Perfect curves in a black dress that looked painted on. Eyes like burning rubies." He opened his eyes, meeting Angela's gaze.
"But it wasn't just her appearance. It was the presence. The power. When she appeared, everyone in the gate felt it, this overwhelming authority. Like standing next to the sun."
Angela listened without interrupting.
"The Warlord tried to attack her," Ash continued.
"She didn't even turn around. Just tilted her head slightly and said the creature didn't need its legs. And they exploded. Then its eyes, lungs, arms. she just listed body parts casually, and each one destroyed itself as she named it. The Warlord died in seconds."
"And she just... left?" Angela asked.
"She held my chin first. Moved close to my face, said something about me being a 'pretty summoner', and that this would be fun. Then she dissolved into red light."
Ash looked at his palm. "But she didn't leave a mark.
Just Moros's mark remains."
"Two demons," Angela said quietly.
"You can summon two different demon lords."
"At least two," Ash admitted.
"I don't know if there are more. I don't understand how any of this works."
Thunder rumbled again, closer now.
The rain had become a downpour, sheets of water running down the window.
"We'll figure it out," Angela said.
"Together. Your powers, the summoning, all of it." She squeezed his hand.
"You're my brother. My only family. We deal with it together."
"Director Kim suspects something," Ash said.
"She's going to want answers."
"Let her suspect," Angela replied. "She can't prove anything, and I won't let her drag you off for testing.
We'll handle Kim together too."
"You need to rest more," Angela said after a moment.
"The funeral isn't for a few hours, and you just woke up—"
Ash caught her hand. "Stay. Please."
Angela settled back into her chair, her hand still in his. "Always."
They sat in comfortable silence, rain drumming against the window.
Two siblings bound by blood and secrets and the desperate hope that they could somehow survive the apocalypse together.
Outside, the world continued its slow collapse.
Inside, for just this moment, they had each other.
Family was all they had left.
And in this broken world, that connection, that bond of blood and trust, was worth more than any power, any rank, any resource.
They would protect it. Protect each other.
That would have to be enough.
Author's Note:
Today is my birthday.
And on this day, I want to share something important with all of you who've been reading Ash and Angela's story.
Family is everything.
In this broken world I created, filled with monsters, demons, and impossible choices, the one constant truth is the bond between these two siblings.
Blood is thicker than water, they say, but it's more than that.
Family is the people who stay when everything else falls apart.
Who loves you despite your flaws, your secrets, your mistakes.
Take a moment today to appreciate your family. Your loved ones.
The people who would sit by your bedside for a week, waiting for you to wake up. The ones who'd fight beside you against impossible odds.
The siblings, parents, friends who've become family, they are your greatest treasure.
Life is fragile. The world can change in an instant.
Don't wait for an apocalypse to tell the people you love that they matter.
Don't take for granted the hands that reach for yours in the darkness.
Cherish them.
Protect them.
Love them fiercely.
Because in the end, when everything else is stripped away, family is all we truly have.
Thank you for reading this far.
Thank you for joining Ash and Angela on this journey. And thank you for spending a piece of my birthday with me through these words.
With love and appreciation,
The Author, Perecosifa.