‘What does human flesh taste like?’
Was a question that haunted Reginn for all of his existence. Fittingly as the child of blood, his favourite meals were always the fresh, raw flesh of animals of all kinds. Of course, the best of them all were demon flesh, though the different subspecies of demons all tasted differently.
He wasn’t quite sure why they were even called ‘demons’ rather than ‘phoenixes’, ‘ogres’, ‘onis’, ‘vampires’, ‘succubuses’ and such. Demon wasn't a species per se, but more of a cultural term. Perhaps it rose from the fact that despite the special differences, the demon kingdom was extremely united — their core identity.
In the end, he was not too picky about his food, and he soon forgot about the question once more as he devoured the flesh of a pack of mountainwolves within the forest, their blood still warm.
Rustle, rustle.
Reginn knew that he needn’t turn his head, for he knew exactly who was approaching and they knew his range of senses. He simply waited for him to begin the conversation.
“It’s a bit dark, don’t you think?”
Elem sat down on the grass next to Reginn, unbothered by the strewn flesh. As the child of the forest, he knew the natural cycles intimately, and his brother was but another apex predator. If it wasn’t him, something else would’ve dirtied the floors of the forest anyway, it was just how life was.
“The moon is bright enough.”
A moment of silence, the air still. It was warm. Though he did not care for humans, Reginn still enjoyed the company of his siblings, his only equals. As their oldest sibling, the hero felt a sense of responsibility as well, though he supposed that was no longer the case, the other children far outgrowing him. But then again, the children will always be children.
“...It’s been a while since I last talked to a sibling,” said Elem.
“Oh yeah? When was the last time?”
“...I think I last met Odinn around 50 years ago.”
“Do you know where they are?”
“No clue.” replied Elem, “As the guardian of Cadra and its forests, it’s kind of hard to leave this place. Our brothers and sisters told me that they would explore the world, and return to tell the tale but…”
“But?”
“Well, they haven’t returned yet.”
“What about Odinn?”
“He’s a bit of a special case. He’s almost like a patron saint for heroes now, so he sometimes drops by.”
“...I was wondering how heroes can exist if the Goddess is sealed. I thought all heroes were personally appointed?”
“...The children don’t appoint heroes, we just find those who have been chosen.”
“So you don’t know…”
The two stared at the moon, not a speck of blood in sight.
“This kind of reminds me of the old days when we used to all play in the forest together.”
“For me, that was just a year ago,” said Reginn.
The narrative has been taken without permission. Report any sightings.
“Heh, I suppose you’re right,” said Elem, “but my dream is to unite the children once more — not just to resurrect the Goddess.”
“...I’ll be staying here a while. There’s a lot that needs fixing, so if you ever need anything, make sure to come to your big brother, okay?”
Reginn could see that even after all these years, Elem had not changed much. Though he may have grown older physically, learnt more spells and increased in strength, the vulnerable, innocent child in him still remained.
The hero supposed that his role as a big brother was not over just yet.
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The subways do not operate 24/7, and this was the final route of the day. As such, the seats were vacant, the density sparse — it was a lonely night like any other.
A young lady, an office worker, sits tiredly in one of the many available seats, choosing one nearest to the entrance. It was another extended shift, the deadline for her team’s project looming over them like a tsunami just about to hit. The best she could do at this point in time was to build a makeshift raft, though she was unsure how long that would last.
Her shoulders slouched, her eyes glazing. Even though they were hidden under the make-up, the dark circles under her eyes could not be any more obvious. After she looked around to ensure that no one else was around, she took off her cramped black shoes. She could not fall asleep just yet — for she could not repeat the last time’s incident — but at least she would be comfortable during this hour’s ride.
She looked out to the night’s city, shining even brighter than the moon.
‘It’s a beautiful city,’ she thought, ‘too bad I lived in it’
Perhaps the city was better observed than experienced. The lady simply wished to return to her hometown.
Unwittingly, she began to doze off again into dreamland. Maybe she should just give up…
“Lady!” a child’s voice called out.
The office lady was surprised awake, finally noticing the girl in front of her after rubbing her eyes. She hurriedly put her shoes back on before responding.
“Y-yes?”
A cute yellow jacket and a hat to match as well as a flower. Must be an upper-middle-class child — she even had a pocket watch. However, she presumably was missing her phone — or perhaps never had one — seeing that she was asking the office lady a question.
“What’s your name?”
“My name?” said the lady, “It’s Yery.”
“What about your last name?”
“I’m not sure if I’m comfortable with sharing that information… Are you lost or something? Where are your parents?”
“Yery is a beautiful name. You’re very beautiful, the most beautiful I’ve seen so far.”
Yery was immediately weirded out by the child, but simply assumed that a child would ask strange questions — and that was normal.
“Do you need something from me or…?”
“I like you. Here, have this flower.”
The girl picked a flower that was sitting on her hat and handed it to Yery.
“Th-thank you.”
Of course, she couldn’t refuse a gift from a child. It was a red flower with six petals, its seeds oriented like a star with six points, similar to an emblem of Avangarden. The sun, a goat, a snake, six stars… There were many symbols for the kingdom over the ages, though only the flag, created less than a hundred years ago remained. It reminded her of college days, though she did not recognize this particular flower.
Yery also noticed that the flowers did not follow the Natural Sequence Rule; for flowers must have petals numbering 3, 5, 8, 13, 21, 34 and so on. It was unnatural, like a four-leafed clover — a mutation. A deviant of the natural order. Strange.
She continued to observe the flowers for a bit before being interrupted by the electric outage of the train — or so she thought.
Darkness.
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Headline: Serial Killer Targetting Women Rampant, Endlegion Responds
1 adult man, 5 girls, 4 women in a single night, mostly younger human women, but including a security guard and an older demon woman.
“We believe we know who the culprit is with significant confidence — we battled not long ago at the mall,” said Yuta referring to yesterday’s incident at the Cadra Central Marketing District, “Not sure if the name ‘Kyriekaos’ will help you though. They’re capable of mind control and taking over their victims, and seeing as the guard who was possessed perished, it seems that once you’re possessed, it’s over. Just make sure to stay off the street if you are a woman under the age of forty for a bit, the Endlegions will take care of it soon enough.”
When asked why three Endlegion Silverguards allowed this ‘Kyriekaos’ to escape, we received no comments.