Sunlight illuminated her dark, honey-coloured skin and a gentle breeze floated the thin curtains that hung on the window to her right. She stared quietly with brown eyes, out there at the sky, while tightly tucked into her bed. She clutched the sheets anxiously and sighed longingly.

Long, lustrous black hair rested under the blue tunic on her back and her lips were so brightly pink. Her name was Nennabethe Jurojima, and the bandages wrapped around her head told a story of misfortune.

Minaka knocked before slowly creaking open the door, "Good morning dear!" She said with a smile. This woman was old enough to be Nennabethe's mother, sporting short brown hair and glasses with a modest purple indoor dress.

A smile spread across Nennabethe's cheeks. "Good morning to you too Ms Anefuwa... would you mind helping me into my wheelchair?"

"Not even after a million times, Nenna. Breakfast is ready downstairs, would you mind convincing that stubborn son of mine to get back here?" Minaka asked as she helped her into the wheelchair.

"I'd rather not interact with that mountain monkey at all!" She complained as the final straps were put into place.

"You say that," Laughed Minaka. "Yet you keep his hideaway a secret so diligently?"

Nennabethe became flustered as she pushed herself towards the door. "That... that's merely the honorable thing to do Ms Anefuwa! Despite being a monkey he told me that in complete confidence." 

"You'll tell him breakfast is ready for me then? I'll prepare a dress for you in the meanwhile." Minaka suggested with a smile.

Nennabethe sighed blatantly. "Ok, but only for you Aunty!"

∆

Logan perched precariously, squatting high up into the tallest tree for hundreds of metres. He always chose spots like this to be alone, to be at peace as he watched the forest for Devils.

His brown hair blew in the wind along with the open sides of his black jacket, under which was a white undershirt and khaki shorts. "There's no activity today."

Solitude was his bliss, but he had recently invited a certain someone into his sanctuary. From high above, he saw Nennabethe approaching with his violet eyes. He smiled mischievously as she came into view.

Nennabethe rolled the wheels of her wheelchair over the fallen leaves and exposed roots of the forest as she looked up into the trees. "Looking for me?!" Shouted Logan from a nearby branch.

"Ah! You frightened me..." Screamed Nenna as she clutched her chest. "You are such a child, you're already seventeen. Start acting like it someday!"

Logan hopped down in front of her and crouched. "I don't happen to care. How are your legs?" He asked with a smile, brushing his clothes back into place. His vivid purple eyes, confident smile and nonchalance would lead many a woman to find him handsome.

"The pain is gone, I'm okay. I've been supporting my back." Nennabethe said with an annoyed sigh.

"I can't believe you still speak to me like your nurse." Logan sighed and crouched in front of Nenna's legs. "Have you stopped trying to move them?" 

Nennabethe's brooding stare fell. "That's because you are my nurse, Logan. To answer your question, I did. I wish I hadn't, all I did was break my spirit." A subtle wind blew in currents through the trees and sent loose green leaves fluttering like insects in the air before falling to the ground.

"You give up too easily Nenna." Logan said tactlessly.

Nennabethe furled her brows in anger and fought back frustrated tears as she looked up at him. "How dare-"

Logan's hand was held out when Nennabethe lifted her head, waiting for her hand. "Try one more time, you can always give up tomorrow. If you think you need to give up then procrastinate." His eyes didn't acknowledge her, but there was warmth in his extended hand.

"You don't understand how hard it is! You can't just say stuff like that..." Nennabethe complained as she wiped her eyes.

Logan's hand was still held out. "So, will you take my hand or not?"

Though hesitant, Nenna reached out and grabbed his hand, allowing him to pull her up from the chair. She tried to tense her legs but lost her balance and started to fall. "L-logan!" In her panic she grabbed his shirt and dragged him down with her, causing them both to fall over along with the wheelchair.

Thud! Clang!

Logan laughed out loud as he laid on his back in the grass. "I can't believe you. You don't trust me at all huh." Logan laughed.

"I thought I was gonna fall! Stop laughing..." Whined Nennabethe, sprawled out with her limp legs knotted at the knees adjacent to the toppled wheelchair.

"... Well this isn't too bad." Said Logan.

Nennabethe looked at Logan's face, who stared up at the divided lights cast throughout the forest - like a high clarity kaleidoscope of trees. However, as Nennabethe rolled her head and looked up, foggy memories flashed through her mind instead.

"My Brother..." In her vision, a man led her somewhere gently, looking back at her with a caring smile. He opened a door, but the fog thickened until she couldn't see a thing. Surrounded by darkness she wandered around, lost and confused. "Brother... Brother!? Brother!?"

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Logan looked over at Nennabethe who stared blankly upwards. "Hey, Nenna?" He called out, noticing her lack of reaction. "She's fainted again, it's just like when we found her in the forest!"

Logan got up and lightly tapped her on the cheeks, but her gaze was locked somewhere not here. He picked Nenna up and set her back in the wheelchair slowly. "Mom shouldn't be letting her stroll around like this."

∆

Minaka pushed open the back door with her ankle and stumbled out with a basket of laundry. It was a quiet little spot clear of forest to let the sunlight in, that's how Logan intended it to be when he cleared it years ago.

She took a deep breath of the perfect air and started pinning the wet clothes on the lines.

Shuffle~

Minaka looked behind her suspiciously. "Is someone there?"

Shuffle~

The sound continued to shift from brush to brush around the clothes lines. "I asked who's there!" Shouted Minaka with upturned brows, then something peeked from the shadows and growled. She dropped the basket from her shaking hands and ran for the door, but just as she turned the doorknob the creature grabbed her from behind.

"Logan!" She screamed, but there was nobody to come to her rescue. Logan wouldn't know what had happened until he finally returned home.

∆

Logan stared with widened eyes at the clothes line clearing after he got back. "What the hell is this?" The basket of clothes was carelessly flung over, lines dug by dragging fingers scarred the ground, and worst yet there was blood.

"She's been attacked..." Logan whispered with trembling breaths.

Nennabethe rested quietly in her bed as Logan dug through the shed outside, clanging metal against metal as he flung tool after tool aside. Soon he had a machete in hand and an antique rifle slung over his shoulder. "I'll find you Mom, just wait for me!"

"What are you doing?" Asked Nennabethe suddenly from behind, who knew when she rolled the wheels of her wheelchair to the door of the shed. "You understand what's out there right?" Nennabethe asked discouragingly.

"It doesn't matter, I'll use the devil killing you taught me to the best of my ability." Logan said with a clenched fist before turning around. "She needs me."

Nennabethe was shocked; Logan was sobbing, he was anxious and he was terrified. It was the first time she had ever seen him like this. "I guess I'd only be a hindrance as I am, but let me do something before you go. I'll read your power and tell you where you how much progress you've made."

Logan looked away then got down on his knee. "I thought you were going to try to stop me, thanks. I'm ready."

Nennabethe leaned over and put her forehead against his. "I can't take care of myself and I'd miss Ms Anefuwa too much, so you better save her and come back." She said with a smile.

It wasn't the first time Nennabethe had read someone's power - connected to their soul - and she had expectations, expectations that Logan would betray. Something she had never experienced before awaited her.

Nennabethe gasped for air suddenly and separated their foreheads, her breath bated and out of rhythm. She looked up at Logan with widened eyes and sweat trickling down her cheek.

He grabbed her by the shoulders and shook her lightly. "Nenna, what is it? Are you fainting again!?"

"N...no it's okay. I'm alright." Nenna said, chuckling nervously. "It... it didn't work, I'm sorry."

"Oh, well that shook you up pretty good. Get rested okay, just keep an eye out for us." Logan told her as he turned away.

"Logan, I changed my mind!" Nenna shouted, causing Logan to pause in his tracks. "If what we're thinking... if devils took Aunty then there could be more nearby, I'm not safe here. The safest place to be is probably with you." She reasoned, but in truth she was afraid to be alone now.

Logan turned around and rolled his eyes. "Just don't get in the way okay! We'll save her with our magic."

∆

Minaka slowly creaked open her eyes, observing the dark, damp setting she was in. Panic started to set in and she sobered up, she tried to scream with her gagged mouth, tried to move with her tied up limbs - but she couldn't do anything but observe and struggle.

As if it was planned, due to her forced observation, she noticed him. His still silhouette was eerie and still, but certainly that of man. "So you finally noticed me." He said in a hoarse voice as he shifted, walking towards Minaka.

With every step Minaka shook her head frantically, warning him to stay away. He walked over to her and entered a light shining down from above and revealed himself. He wore a long black cloak that covered his body, with a mask of strange and ancient symbols. His hair was black as the night and long and rough. "We finally reunite, Aoi..." He celebrated.

The volume of Minaka's mumbling increased with her fright, but more was yet to come. "All of us... have come to free you."

From the surrounding darkness, devils crept forward in the hundreds, countless adaptations seemingly under his command. "I am known as Reaper. But my old name was much, much closer to your heart." Reaper reached forward with his gloved hand and poked Minaka on the left side of her chest, pressing down on her breast with his index finger.

Minaka shut her eyes tightly, trying to ignore him. "Logan, please don't come here! Gods, guide him elsewhere please!" She prayed.

∆

Logan and Nennabethe trekked through the blossoming forest, following the damaged trail left behind by Minaka's assailant. New buds of pink, purple and red colored the plant life all around, still young with pastel shades - but all the animals were gone. Nennabethe stayed behind Logan, cold sweat trickling down her distracted face.

"You saw it, didn't you." A voice echoed inside Nennabethe's mind. She flung her head up and looked around with frightened, widened eyes.

"You've seen his true nature." It said once again.

"What's happening to me..." Nennabethe whispered under her breath.

Logan noticed that she was acting strange and turned to her. "Are you okay?"

Nennabethe froze up, hesitating to answer. "L-logan, I don't think this is a good idea anymore. Something is wrong." Nenna said, in her tone of voice was severe concern.

"What the hell are you talking about? My mom is somewhere out here and I need to rescue her!" Shouted Logan with furled brows. He stomped towards Nenna and looked her in the eyes.

"It's dangerous, something dangerous is happening! This isn't some random devil attack, my skin is crawling the further we go." Nennabethe said, staring further down the trail.

Logan did the same, but clenched his fist. "You think I don't feel it too? But I don't have a choice Nenna, and it's not your place to try and stop me."

"Logan..." She called.

"I thought you cared about her..." Logan said as he walked off, going further and further up the trail and leaving Nenna behind.

He followed the broken branches and clawed earth, eventually finding what seemed to be a hub, hundreds of marks and trails clues gathered chaotically in a single area, and as he lifted his head, the dark purple otherworldly gape in the cliffside stared down at him. "A Devil's Den." He said with furled brows and a gulp.

Nennabethe had remained at the same spot where Logan left her, struggling to control her fear and move forward. "You really are such a terrified little bird, aren't you?" Said a familiar voice

She flashed her head around in the direction of the voice and saw what appeared to be a young man, almost the same stature as Logan. He wore a dark blue cloak that covered his body, and a red mask with a symbolic golden eye that complemented his bright blue, fluffy hair.

"The voice that was in my head..." Nennabethe concluded as she rolled backwards with her wheelchair.

"No need to worry, Nennabethe, I am just your escort for the night. Call me... Hanged Man." He said with a bow.

END.