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There are four rules every mortician of the Vulture family must follow.
One: A Vulture must never consume a body that is still alive.
Two: The bodies they consume of other Beasts must be secured with the consent of that individual’s family and, failing that, to have their written will that explicitly gives approval to leave their remains to the Vultures.
Three: Once the flesh of a Beast is consumed, the memories of the deceased they will gain access to must be offered up by the lingering soul of the deceased. Any memories absorbed by force are considered apocryphal material and cannot be inscribed into the record of the Beasts history maintained by the Vultures.
Four: A Vulture must never consume one of their own. To consume a fellow Vulture is to gain access to both their own memory and every other Beast that they have consumed. Inheritance of too many memories can cause a mental instability within a Vulture, loss of self, and of the memories the Vultures are duty bound to secure.
Edogawa Ueda has just broken all four rules.
He had tasted the flesh of other Beasts before, of humans as well. There was never any joy in these rituals, the only satisfaction came from a successful retrieval of the deceased’s past. Yet this was no act of ritual, nothing but a selfish wish for more. Knowledge hidden away in his cousin, that which would lead to greater ambition. Vultures did not hold only the memories of the dead, but a fraction of their aura as well. To access another’s aura and make it their own was the ability unique to the Vulture family.
So rich, so delectable. He never knew eating for pleasure could be so enriching. The flavor in his mouth so divine that it caused him guilt to be enjoying himself so much. Tears streamed down his face, joy and sadness mixed together. That his dear cousin would have to die in order for him to discover such a happiness. This is what it meant to eat another being, to hunt and be prey. Edogawa had never felt so in touch with his human side before.
This would all be for the sake of a new future for the Vultures, he told himself in an attempt to stomp out the guilt in his heart. Now that he had finally learned what it felt like to be a hunter, seeking out live prey, it was time to challenge those at the apex.
--
The rotted scent filled his nostrils with a painful familiarity. The Vultures guarded the corpse with stillness. To them it was a shock that the young Edogawa, a potential future head of the family, could have done this to his own kind. They hadn’t understood the darkness within him, or that it was so profound at to let him succumb to such a level.
Takii recognized the body, one of the Vultures tasked with keeping the memories of those in the Migakaze clan.
“Goro was of a branch family. He had been brought here ten years back to assist our main activities in Koumiya after the influx of Beast families migrating into the city. It was meant to be a temporary stay, and yet he ended up becoming part of our main family.”
The woman’s voice, Hanako Ueda. She had been a confidant to Takii.
“He had never meant to be here. I’m ashamed that I couldn’t do anything to prevent this.” Takii expressed.
“There’s nothing you could have done, Takii.” Her words carried a unique weight to them, perhaps it was the lives of those she’d consumed swirling within her, giving her wisdom beyond her age.
“Our neutrality prevents us from asking for your help directly, I clarify so you understand that I have not called you here to request that you go and find Edogawa.”
Her eyes were shaded beneath her bangs, a dark chestnut curtain.
“I know. Whether or not you would have requested it, I would have gone regardless. I can’t sit still when a dead body is in front of me and the killer still roams free.”
A tilt of his head, a sharp gaze.
“But you already knew that didn’t you?”
Hanako didn’t answer his query, instead offering some advice,
“The Vultures’ aura changes with each Beast they’ve consumed. A mosaic of other spirits; if you can recognize those whose memories Edogawa possesses, you can find him.”
Among those would be the souls of his father, mother, and sister. A morbid way to track the Vulture down.
“Thank you. I know that such info isn’t meant to be shared…so if anyone asks, I’ll say I learned it on my own.” Takii said with guile.
Hanako, appreciative yet unconvinced it would be enough to throw off suspicion, accepted it anyways.
“Be careful, please. He knows you as intimately as those in your family do. Even worse…we were informed that he attacked one of the Snakes that same night he attacked Goro. The Snake didn’t fall victim to the ritual in full, but she was still harmed enough that Edogawa could have obtained some of her memories as well.”
One of the Tsukino family, the Snakes who held a vast information network that tracked every movement of the other Beasts. It was thankful he hadn’t killed her, but even with the harm minimized he was still a more dangerous element.
Especially since the Tsukino’s information network places keen emphasis on Takii, both for his involvement in a great deal of incidents and his many enemies willing to pay for anything about him they could use to their advantage.
“He’ll see me coming. That’s fine. Even with those advantages, the playing field is still in my favor.”
Takii didn’t expect a fight, he wasn’t sure what Edogawa might actually pull. All the more reason to be quick, end it swiftly before the Vulture could concoct a wicked scheme.
--
It was only when night fell that Takii could discern the whereabouts of Edogawa with any clarity. The Vulture had made it purposeful to not move during the day, knowing that it would only make him more obvious.
To throw himself headfirst into fire was a method that he had grown accustomed to. It didn’t matter if he got burnt in the end, so long as he was the only one to taste the scorch of flames in order to settle things quickly. A self-sacrificial way of doing things, Edogawa was surely planning on that.
Yet he still moved forward, led by the lingering aura of loved ones long since dead.
What he came to reeked of death. Corpses, not of the fresh variety like had experienced in the Vultures’ home. Skulls lined his path towards woods of grass grey like ash. He heard a distant sound of laughter, mocking in a chilling way that got down to his core.
The aura of those dead became stronger…far too real to be mere fragments of a larger tapestry. He despised the feeling.
To toy with the dead was a grievous crime.
“Don’t take another step.” A voice belonging to the living. Silver haired, calm eyes that held an astral knowledge. Why did the image of that woman come to mind, why her voice?
The Snake’s memories.
Edogawa could make apparitions of more than just whose memories he held, but was clever enough to produce visions of those living, gathered from the vast information the Snake had on Takii’s allies.
Or was this the power the Vultures feared, a monster with a thousand faces, but none that he could call his own?
“Edogawa, enough of these games. It’s time for you to be put to rest.”
“This is no game.” The illusion now game in the form of her, the woman with a smirk on her face and a tender side that he found difficult for someone who was so used to giving, rather than receiving.
A woman with pink hair, pointed ears and an ever joyful expression stood in the middle of his path.
“Come on, Takii-sama. Let’s go back home.”
Takii passed right through her, knowing she was no more than a vision.
This mind would not be so easily broken.
But his steps felt labored as more and more voices called back to him. Warmth touching his hands, a vixen of rose-pink hair looking up at him with eyes that he knew far too well. Their faces were always so warm, loving and caring. He felt unworthy of it all. This careless Tiger that would disregard his own safety, knowing it would only cause others worry.
Release them.
They kept him human. The connections he made throughout his life. He felt weak, wanting to return to them.
A woman he knew as the ever-charming bartender. He could go back to her, be honest with his feelings once he got back.
For now, those feelings were driven back. Supplanted by the empty form of a Beast, single minded in his motive.
He released himself from those constraints and moved forward.
Falling deeper into the Vulture’s plan.
“The more you lose yourself, the weaker you become.”
Edogawa’s voice, unmistakably the scent of a Vulture.
“I’m impressed you’d appear in front of me.” One step was all it took to end things. The Tiger’s eyes their own sort of terrifying as they fixed themselves on the Vulture.
“Heheh…this is how it needs to be…to surpass you, I need to kill you at your strongest…”
An unsettling air came from the Vulture. Even his appearance had changed to become something unrecognizable, a warped combination of different faces incongruent in their makeup.
All at once, hands grabbed at Takii from all sides. They anchored him down, limbs without bodies, ghastly and cold with vice grips like those of a corpse. Quickly they manifested, the amalgams of those he could recognize in an unsettlingly abstract way.
The souls of the dead manifested within the Vultures. Edogawa had managed to bring them out. How?
Takii struck back at the hands, tearing them away from him as he jumped away to reassess the situation.
“Bringing back ghosts of the past, physically manifesting them…”
It was pieced together. He uttered in disbelief:
“The mirror.”
“Yata no Kagami’s shards weren’t fully retrieved after all.” Edogawa spoke. He brandished a thin piece of the sacred treasure, a shard so small it nearly looked like a needle.
“Its power is minor…so minor I have to compensate with my own aura. But when you possess the very spirits of those you bring back, however small, then you can create wonders! This power is perfect for me!”
They came for him again, their bodies took shape. Beasts in decrepit forms, hollowed like mannequins left abandoned to crack and break. He could see in their faces people he once knew…familiarity? Hesitation? He gritted his teeth and did his best to avoid them.
He had always hesitated when fighting others, always careful to not kill. But these people...they weren’t real, were they?
Something stirred within Takii.
Edogawa was a killer. He had mocked Takii with visions of his own loved ones. Now he was forced to fight these tortured remnants of the deceased. He despised such trickery.
Let go.
His fangs grew. His pupils constricted, a feral burning in his irises as gold and azure irises became intense, glowing with their violent energy.
‘Alright. A once in a lifetime chance to cut loose.’
Claws were drawn. His muscles tightened and readied themselves.
It was time.
Carnage was unleashed with a laughter that set blood to ice. A monster who, in that instant, had forsaken his heart and allowed himself to succumb to that primal instinct that he always fought back.
Limbs torn, death at a single touch. The deathly land became the sight of a chaotic mass.
The Vulture could only look on, the Tiger proved himself true to his nature. The monster he fought so hard to never be, awakened.