“Alert!” A commanding tone echoes through the stone halls. “The demon girl has gotten out of her cell everyone after her! She has the key to the gate! All available guards, go to section six!”
They scream too loud.. The echoing hurts my ears..
Her footsteps pitter patter against the concrete floors. She runs desperately with tears seeping from her eyes. She manages to reach the gate, nearing her freedom.
Somba stops..
Why.. am I even running?..
She holds the large silver key, staring with a lost sincerity and hollow heart.
I..
Her legs shake as she hears people running in the hall behind her.
No..
“No!” Her scream wobbles and breaks as her knees bleed, crashing down against the ground.
I don’t want to be a slave.. I don’t want to be caged anymore.. I don’t want them to hit me and-
“And..”
Please.. Guide me to a new world.. Somewhere different, like a fantasy world where this suffering isn't my abyss!
“Halt right there little girl!” echoes an angry voice.
No..
“I hate you all!”
Drip.. drip drip- drip..
Her hands tremble with terror, swinging the key up and stabbing it into her throat…
“E-ck.. I.. hate you.. All..”
Somba falls down against the floor, feeling a pain surging through her body, a horrible discomfort everywhere, but..
This.. hurts so much less…
“So.. m..ch…”
“H-h H-y!- da-it..!”
Random jumbled sounds of shouting fade out, crumbling around her ears. She shuts her eyes so the blur doesn't make her headache any harsher.
….
----------------------------------------
Time stands still, thoughts are meshed to nonsensical muck.
It.. kind of hurts? I feel pain.. So much of it..
“Why.. ca-”
I can’t breath!.. I..!
“Hhhh-!” She sharply gasps as she sits up, looking around a dark city alley, garbage cans and new things in sight.
Her vision thumps violently.
Budum, budum, budum.
Her head seethes with pain and she looks around.
“Ouch.. Ouch! It hurts! So.. much..” Her childish voice squeaks.
What's my name..? Oh..
Light trickling raindrops tap on a mysterious slate of metal from the roof above her.
What is that.. It's shiny, is that armor?
Somba stares at it, drawn in with curiosity.
“Khh-! That pain again.. My head.. What? I’m remembering.. Mn.. did I have a bad dream? Where am I..”
She slides down off of a dumpster.
“Ah! That.. hurts..”
Her body feels conflicted, confused as to why its so weak. Confused about her name, directions, location, and sense of self.
She quickly grabs the wall for support and stumbles.
My.. name.. Is Somba. I’m.. a demon? No.. what?
She argues with the thoughts, trying to avoid what confuses her, and sort what she can solve.
I’m.. young. Seven years old.. I just had a terrible dream.. I hate the form I’m in, my skin is like theirs.. In the dream.. My head has no horns.. It might be normal, but I don’t like it..
She keeps walking, and walking, sorting her thoughts one by one as her feet slowly drag against the rough sidewalks. Her tattered clothes drip from the rain, forcing her skin so cold it could frostbite the snowflakes of winter.
“No one else is around.. And my b-b-b..”
I can’t.. Speak, my jaw is shivering.. I’m shivering.. My body is..? Eh?
She looks down at herself.
No scars.. Did I have scars? I think I did.. From the humans.. Wait but I’m human? Why would humans hurt a human? But I was.. Not human..?
Somba slowly reaches down, feeling around her body, discovering no bruises, no scars, no scratches, and although ice cold, her body has a certain sweet feeling.
“Ah-.. hah… I feel.. Clean!..”
She feels a strange smile crawl onto her face and she suddenly hears loud bangs.
“Ah!-” She screams and ducks down, covering her ears.
“Shit! F-fine!” She hears loud voices in an alley.
Her body tries to force itself back up to her feet but-
“Kh-..” She quickly inhales from pain as she collapses.
It's no use.. I can’t move.. Feeling cold feels normal though, is that weird?
She rhetorically wonders, trying desperately to keep her eyes open..
…
Psh-..
Heavy boots splash against a puddle of rainwater near her head.
“Uh.. Hello? Tsk.. a little girl? Out here? What is she, six.. Seven?”
“Sir, I believe we should just g-”
“Shut your mouth Goji, we both know we’re not gonna just leave her here? We’re a gang, not heartless thugs.. She’s a child. Besides, the hell is she wearing?”
“S-sorry.. Fine, you have a point. She seems to be dressed in tattered cloth- she’s freezing! Also her knee is bleeding! Sir if you’d like to do anything about this, we’d better act fast.. Eh? Are those… chains?”
…
What.. were they saying? I can’t hear them anymore, their voices felt oddly gentle.. Is this warmth? Are my heart's beating? Eh.. but I only.. Have one heart..?
Her thoughts warmly echo through her mind for hours until-
“Hey! Hello? Are you awake? You moved a little.. Eh? You’re awake!”
Huh..?
Her eyes flutter open and she’s sitting in a small tight room with only a bed and a strange looking device that’s blowing warm air in her direction.
“Who.. are you.. Kh! Ouch.. my knee..”
She looks down at her knee that seems to be covered up by bandages.
The only person in the room aside from her is a kind looking man in an undershirt with long sleeves and jeans.
“Hm- hah, uh.. I should tell the boss that your awake. Can you tell me your name?”
“A-ah.. it hurts..” She says distracted by the pain.
“Oh right, ehm..” He cautiously looks around the room, trying to think of a way to say things that she’ll understand. “It will get better. It will stop hurting. Maybe scar.”
Why’s he talking like that suddenly..?
“Scar?”
“Yes, like.. Remains of-”
“N-no! No! I have no scars!” She begins to yell and he panics.
“E-eh! Please! Shush! Uhm.. It will get better I swear! Its not bad! The scar will go away!!”
She looks at him as her heart races.
“I.. don’t want scars.. N-not.. Not.. anymore..” She begins to sob after signs from her trembling voice.
“Uhm.. Shhhhh~ it’ll be okay little girl, my name is Goji, I’m the medic of our.. Uhm.. group? What is your name?”
My name.. Right! I remembered my name before.. It was…
“K.. uhm.. Its Ko.. Somba!” She shouts at him.
He smirks at her cuteness.
“Well Somba, don’t you worry, that scar will fade, while its there, use it as a symbol for memories.”
“Huh..?” She looks down at the blankets.
Stolen content alert: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences.
No..
“I don’t want to remember my scars! Not anymore.. I don’t want more.. They hurt.. They feel dirty.. I try to stop them but they give me more.. Eventually I stopped, I let them do it!”
“Whoa whoa whoa! C-c-calm down uh..” He fumbles with his words, unsure of how to comfort her. He reaches up and begins to stroke his fingers through her pure night black hair. “Right right, then so be it, we’ll treat it, and it’ll fade soon. You’re young, you heal fast..? Your hair is beautiful, lets keep your skin that way too, k?”
He smiles at her and she lets her tears drip down yet she stops crying.
“I.. mhm.. Goji.. I don’t know warm.. I don’t know how it feels, but this is nice..”
He stares at her, almost fearfully, terrified to think about the past she must’ve had before now.
“Do you.. Remember why you collapsed?”
“Mhm..” She traces her eyes upwards to him. “I was alone.. I got cold.”
“No, like before that.”
“It was..”
He raises an eyebrow, patiently waiting for her to talk.
“A bad nightmare I think..”
It feels like it happened, but it has to be a nightmare right?
“I understand Somba, I’m going to go get the boss man, k?” He smiles again and stands up. “You can meet everybody soon! It seems like.. You don’t have somewhere to go back to, do you?”
“Mmm.. the place you found me?”
“What? I’ll take that as a no..”
He shrugs and leaves the room. She sits quietly until someone else walks in.
“Ah, hi there, finally awake. My names Moru, I hear your name is Somba? What a sweet name. Can you tell me anything else about yourself?”
Hmm..
“I’m seven. I want to be free? Also I.. hate humans.. M-m! Are you guys humans?” She asks despite mostly knowing the answer.
He seems confused but sits down next to her.
“Uh.. hhh-.. Wow.. loaded question huh? Well, yeah, we may not be living life the normal way, gang fights and.. Ah.. you probably don’t get any of that, regardless, I’d like to think we’re still human. We’re happy, we all have eachother.”
“N-no!”
“No?”
“You.. shouldn’t be humans! You’re all so nice to me.. Humans are.. Disgusting… they hurt you, and force you to say things to satisfy them.. And they-”
“I do not like where this is going young lady, seems like.. You’ve been through a lot..”
“You shouldn’t be humans!” She yells again. “You should.. Be demons.. They’re more loving.. They have two hearts, they’re more compa-ss..ion.. Ionate?”
“Compassionate?”
“Mhm!” She smiles cheerfully.
“Uhuh.. fine then little lady, have it your way, I guess we’re demons. I’m fine with that.” He smirks, finding it both silly and oddly endearing to him.
She suddenly wraps her arms around him, giving him a great big hug.
“Mm.. Mhm.. you have to be demons.. Because your skin is warmer than a human.. Your skin.. Is so..” Her eyes flicker open and shut. “Warm..”
“Huh? Hah.. asleep…”
The door quietly opens and Goji steps in. “How’d it g- ah..” He gets quiet after noticing her softly breathing as she sleeps.
Moru lifts his hand and sets it on her head.
“Hey Goji.. random question, are we humans?”
“What?”
“Hahah- nevermind, I just thought, if we were in a fantasy world, maybe being a demon wouldn’t be so bad.”
“Uhm.. sir do you need medical attention too?”
…
----------------------------------------
“So you’re.. Zimba.. Hotura.. Moru, Goji and Gorou!” She excitedly says, suddenly getting sidetracked and sniffing the hoodie she’s wearing.
“Yes! Very good!” Hotura kneels in front of her.
His hair is a clean pretty blonde and he has deep sensational blue eyes.
“Mhm.. you have good memory.” Zimba chimes in.
Moru steps in with a commanding presence. “Alright guys, so, here’s the deal, we found her in an alley, I ask you all to not question anything about her past. She’s going to be with us from now on, any objections?”
Gorou snaps with a panic. “B-boss we really can’t! We’re struggling as is.. The other gangs er.. Uhm.. We just can’t take care of a little girl like her..”
Before Moru has a reply, Zimba steps in. His face is stern and his speech is minimal.
“Moru. Are you sure?”
Gorou hops in a second time. “Its not.. That I don’t like the idea but- sir.. We.. this girl would probably have a better life if we sent her elsewhere, its not like we’re qualified..”
Moru’s expression fades to disappointment and he stares at the ground, hiding his face until Goji speaks.
“Guys, if you’re saying this to defend Moru’s emotions, I hope you arent assuming our boss is that fragile?” His glare is fierce and forces them to back down. “I lectured him already.. The past is the past. Besides, there’s something special about this girl, don’t you think?”
“Ahem..”
Everyone falls silent as if the strings of sound were suddenly sliced. Moru opens his eyes and lifts his head.
“Hhh… please.. Don’t bring her up, she’s gone.”
They all quietly nod and Somba feels a discomfort in the air.
“Sorry boss..”
“Y-yeah.. My bad..”
One by one they apologize and Goji stands confidently behind Moru.
“Don’t worry, this girl is no replacement, she’ll be a new addition to our family, I’ll teach her to defend herself, to survive with us. If any of you would like to object..”
His eyes glance upwards and everyone flinches. His eyes are deep fearless orange, like the cascading sunset.
“Good, its settled, she’ll live with us, also, you all think I’m so incompetent?” His intense atmosphere quickly shifts off his shoulders as he smiles with a carefree bravery. “If we sent her anywhere nearby, she’d probably get sold off anyways or something Hahah~ but..”
He turns to the little girl and kneels down, patting her head.
“Don’t worry, you're part of the family now.. Ok?”
“Mm.. Mhm..” She whimpers quietly.
Hotura kneels down beside him. “Hahah- come on boss, your scaring her-”
“No! I’m.. snnf.. Thankful.. I’ve never.. Mm!” She leaps into a hug and holds tightly around his neck.
Hotura smirks.
“I’m so thankful!.. Your definitely demons.. You can’t be human, your so.. Snnf.. snnf.. so- Waaaah!” She sobs against Moru’s shoulder and he slowly smiles.
“Mm.. yes, we’re demons, arent we guys?”
They all initially tilt their heads but soon chuckle.
“Uh, hahah- I mean.. I guess so? I have my days where I wonder if being human is really something I should be proud of..” Gorou says, reminiscing on nightmarish scenes he’s witnessed.
“Demon huh? Hm..” Zimba nods.
Hotura pats her head. “Yes yes kiddo, we’re demons. It makes enough sense to me. What a creative mind you have.. How old are you?”
After her sobs calm themselves she mumbles.
“Seven..”
“Oh? Really? Awh, we’ll all take care of you.. Hey Moru, if you don’t mind, can I be her teacher? I used to teach middle school before-”
“Who else would do it?” Moru asks.
“Ah.. haha, fair enough.”
With a genuine smile Moru stares to the wooden floors and begins to mutter. “You’ll teach. Goji’s our doctor, Zimba and I will teach her to fight, Gorou, you’ll be her big brother, See? We have everything we need..”
They all begin to light up and nod.
Gorou swipes his light brown hair to the side with a shrug.
“Hmh, guess so. I’ve got no choice.”
I don’t fully understand, what they’re talking about, I really have no idea.. But I like it, a lot..
“Mhm! I like you all!” She shouts.. “We’re family!”
Moru chuckles. “Yes, yes we are.”
…
----------------------------------------
Krck-
Quck! The gravel beneath Moru’s foot drags as he dodges a swing from a plastic bat and he swiftly advances, swinging his own plastic bat against Zimba’s knee. Zimba intentionally falls to the ground, swinging another hit that Moru easily dodges.
“Tough luck.” Moru says, swinging the bat and bashing it against Zimba’s face, but the bat simply crumbles.
“Nice..” He complains back.
“Whoa!” Somba lights up and rushes forwards. “That was so impressive! You move fast.. Its no fair.. How am I supposed to move like that..”
Zimba darts his eyes to her with a bland stare. “Mm.. just move quickly.”
“What Zimba means to say- is that the more you do it, the quicker you’ll do it. Practice makes perfect, and never give up, that’s all. Luckily, you are quite strong, good genetics I guess.” He boops her nose and steps back as she pouts.
“How much practice.. How long until I can fight like you!”
He begins scratching his chin. “Uh.. twenty years..?”
“What!?”
Gorou steps in with an enlightening smile. “Oh come on, what’s this about fighting? You know-”
“I know I know!” She interrupts, surprising him. “You and Moru say it all the time.. Its been a year, “We don’t fight, we protect. Our morals, our family, our spirit, and our soul, because even if all is taken, those will always remain.”
Moru and Gorou exchange glances.
Gorou looks down at her, impressed. “Hm, that’s uh.. That’s right, and to build a strong spirit, you train, you practice. Respect world and it respects you.” He leans down and his eyes a slightly more narrow, with his eyebrows being sharp yet strangely sweet.
“Your eyes are deep green like the forest! They’re like a labyrinth.”
“Huh? Hahaha~ Thank you, thank you so much, well, Hakura told me to deliver these, so here you go.” He hands each of them a cookie. “Anyways, dinner is ready soon. Also, Moru, preparations for tomorrow are set, be safe.”
“Mm.. Of course.”
“Where are you going Moru?”
He smirks back to her. “Just a little business, to.. Protect the family, I need money to take care of everyone, don’t I?”
Gorou stands a bit shorter than everyone else. He steps back and begins to wave. His aura is almost brotherly, and protective.
“Bye Gorou!”
“Bye Somba!” He smiles back and re-enters the building from the backyard they’re in.
“Oh! Moru! Zimba! Thank you! Its time for my lessons with Hotura.” She respectfully bows and runs off.
“W-wait.. and she’s gone. Damn.. she’s making such incredible progress intellectually.. And, truly her physical strength is impressive, what kind of freakish genetics did this girl have?”
Zimba shrugs.
“Hm.. I do wonder where you found her.” He says.
…
“Hi Hotura! Can we study something cool today?”
“Eh? Cool? Cool how? Everyone’s definition of cool differs..”
“Like.. uhm… interesting!”
He sighs and sits down with her. “I guess… well, we could delve into the arts a bit? How about music? Do you know the names of any instruments?”
She sits quietly and stares at the table.
“Mm… Hotura…”
“Yes?”
“What’s the name of that one wooden thing, the one that had strings on it, I saw Moru playing it on the rooftop one day when I couldn’t sleep..”
“Eh.. really? I feel like that’s not something I should know about… anyways- I’m assuming you’re talking about a guitar? I have one, I only know a little so it might be hard to teach.. But I guess creativity is part of learning arts.”
He leaves the room and soon comes back with the instrument in question…
. . .
----------------------------------------
Hello, message from the author, New chapters are going to be posted WEEKLY every Saturday unless something changes.
I'm going to be publishing this story onto amazon as a paperback incase you want a physical copy. (Planned around January atm)
If you want to keep up with updates, my twitter or discord will have them. I deeply appreciate any support, whether its feedback, book sales, or just you enjoying my writing. This is what I live for :)
I also have several other published books, which you can find through my linktree on my twitter bio. (Idk if royal road gonna shank me for posting links