The afternoon sun seeped into Ame's room giving it a natural lighting that Ame couldn't avoid waking to. He tried his best to keep himself asleep, shuffling, covering himself, a pillow over his head anything to get away from coming to. After much defiance he still couldn't stop the inevitable, his body giving into the sun's rays. He sat up eyes squinting in annoyance. He made a show of going to get ready for the day, sluggishly yet dramatically dragging his limbs as if they weighed what lead did.
He then headed into the main room to get breakfast, meals for later, his satchel, his bow and arrows, and his short sword. He clobbered down the flights of stairs, " it's noon I thought Yuri was going to be back by morning" he contemplated as he hopped down the last two steps. He loosely walked down a brick path that was behind the big tree in the center of everything, The canopy was getting thicker the surrounding woods looking more and more like something out of 2020's fantasy novel. He slowed his pace once he saw a short cobblestone fence at this point the trees were also starting to thin out. He kept walking until he reached the wall, it had a wooden gate that was locked up with chains. He held the lock in his hand and searched his bag for the key. After a moment he pulled out a large ring with large iron keys on it, it took him a moment to find the right one. Once he had opened the gate he was walking towards a large secure looking building. The building had many sliding hatches one of which Ame was heaving open. Inside there was a terrarium a tropical like one, Ame took a few moments to observe his surroundings before he moved his fingers to his mouth took a breath and whistled. It was a loud noise one that remained even after it stopped. Ame's eyes lit up once he noticed rustling in the plantation. Something ran at him and then jumped up, directly above Ame, it then plunged into him bringing them both to the ground.
" Jeez ok ok calm down! AHhahahaha sop is's nah even been tha long Pfffft- hehehehe" He exclaimed as he wrapped his arms around the neck of the animal. It was what certain birds evolved into, they looked much like their drastic period ancestors. This one looked much like a raptor and a cockatiel. It nuzzled against Ame as he chuckled out a few more pleas.
Once he was able to calm the bird down he walked to the back of the terrarium and searched for a door. Once he found what he was looking for he quickly slipped in making sure not to let the parrot in. He was met with a tight hall with many doors like the one he just came out of, he walked for a few moments before he was met with graded stairs. He slowly stepped up holding onto the railing, there was a door at the end of the walk, it had a lock on it not as big as the one at the gate but still a hefty piece of metal. Once he unlocked the door he had to lean into the thing to get it to move, a metal door with rusted hinges. He walked into a room that had some kind of live maintenance on the stone wall that held the chamber and the land around it. It was keeping tabs of the circle Ame had cast, it was to detour things from getting in or out of the area. Once Ame was sure everything was in check he went into a nearby room. It had gears, levers, buttons, belts and chains, of course Ame started grabbing and pulling and pushing. Well after some of that there were multiple creaking sounds from the building that were quickly followed by simultaneous opening noises.
" Okay I fink thas my cue ta geh goin" Ame breathed as he dusted his hands off. He had opened the entire sanctuary up so the animals could roam. Once he made sure everything was in order he was back on the trail that led back to the house.
At this point the sun was starting to become that orange color that it does right before it starts setting. Once Ame made it back he was surprised to find that Yuri still wasn't back. He started to feel a bit uneasy so he thought there would be no harm in going to town to see what's taking him so long. The path to the village was about two hours on horse back, Onyx could easily shave that down to an hour at most but the sun was setting that meant it would take longer. As he started to get Onyx ready to go the wolf started jerking away something Onyx was usually quite good at not doing, this just started to worry Ame more. Once they were on the road the sun was fading, Ame wanted to get there as soon as possible but Onyx seemed a bit on edge.
The closer to the village they got the more Onyx would pull, when it was around walking distance Onyx stopped completely. He wouldn't budge. It was about dusk at this point, the fog was starting to set in . Ame was trying to get Onyx to move but the wolf was set on not going any closer. Ame let out a huff that mixed with a snarl he shoved into the wolf once more, to show his frustration rather than trying to move the beast. He barred his teeth at the wolf, at this point the boy was trembling with emotion, he was close to going into an adrenaline rush, the reason he was not sure of.
Ame took one deep breath closing his eyes then let out a shaky sigh, it was an attempt to calm himself. He glared up at Onyx before turning to walk the rest of the way. About fifteen minutes into walking he started to hear it. Chaos, the nightmarish sounds of chaos and death. Ame went pale, he ran, ran faster than he ever had before and without even a moment to think of what he was doing. He dashed towards the pandemonium without thinking of what was going on, what he was going to do.
As he entered he was met with an eerie lack of people, he could still hear the noises around him but he couldn't see anyone no bodies nothing just the aftermath of a struggle. He continued to run around aimlessly until he was met with a few healers from the town.
There were very few people in the town that could fight let alone wield a weapon but Ame knew that the ones who could were a force to be reckoned with. That's why he was sent into a gut retching shock at the macabre scene. The town iron smith laid out, missing limbs. Ame knew this man he was raised with him, he and Yuri taught Ame how to wield a blade, how to care for one, how to find beauty in one. There sprawled out and vulnerable laid a man that had taught Ame to respect every opponent to have an honer code. At this point Ame was quaking with anger. There were a few healers at the man's side, they had pulled Ame down once he was close enough to assess the situation. One of them a girl to his left was saying something but Ame couldn't hear her he couldn't hear anything. Ame went to stand up until the same girl yanked him back down. She held Ame to the ground until he had lost the irrational fury that his common sense drowned in.
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Once Ame was in a somewhat rational state the healers explained to him what had happened. It was an attack, a Nu demon attack. Something that basically never happened. The village was just that, a village there was nothing of worth here the only thing a Nu demon would want is food, flesh. The man laid in front of them was not mauled, if he lost a battle and was eaten the limbs would have been ripped, torn, and mangled but they were perfect slashes. Ame took a moment to look around the debris and just as he feared, a few meters away there laid an arm. It was left alone not eaten not used nothing. An unspeakable wrath erupted in Ame at the realization.
Ame stood up, the girl who had grabbed him the last time didn't take the risk this time around. The boy mustered up enough self control to speak, "where is it...tell me" he whispered, the tone was low and intimidating. The healers looked at each other as if they were discussing what to say. After a moment of silence Ame had grown impatient and placed his hand on the hilt of his blade, the healers immediately noticed, a man sitting across the girl to Ame's left looked up at him " That thing is not what you're used to fighting boy..." he said as he raised his arm to point to their far left outside the cover of destroyed buildings. Not even a moment later and Ame was gone.
Ame was in a state of pure rage, he hurtled in the direction the healers had sent him. Then all at once everything stood still.
Yuri staring down a Nu demon that was at least two times his size In muscle.image [https://64.media.tumblr.com/8ee765313f3883eb88e2b7c64b94dde7/c198f8bbb7a96579-5a/s1280x1920/33fd0268a3d67aa27a76279505a2c0528ccecacf.jpg]image [https://va.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_sg6662LBFt1an9sfa_720.mp4]
The two were about five meters away from each other, both had their fair share of woun- no. Suddenly the Nu demon's skin started to cover what used to be a gash, in the blink of an eye what should have been a fatal blow to a human or elf was gone. Yuri had no such ability, he stood his ground with deep slashes in his abdomen, limbs, and face, he was standing in a proper fighting stance unlike the demon who had his arms crossed over his chest. A low smooth voice snapped Ame out of his trance.
"Now you, you are fun" the demon stated with an evil kind of enthusiasm. Yuri rolled his eyes in return, the demon noticed and a mock look of pity spread across his face. "Aw is the little elf getting impatient. Hmm It must be hard for you to be reduced to such a weak thing huh? You are the strongest fighter here no? " He said with an obscene amount of condescension in his voice.
" Shut the hell up" Yuri scoffed in a very uninterested tone. " Fine have it your way little elf" the demon muttered. Ame couldn't even see what happened, the demon was fast, somehow he was now leaning his weight on Yuri"s blade which he had brought up to protect his chest. Yuri was left unstable, his knees bent his torso going along with his hips. The things that kept him from falling were his feet that were luckily stopped by bricks from the now destroyed path and the demon and his opposing strength both pushing the other away.
Now only inches from each other's face Yuri asked " Why are you HERE" he spit the words like they were acidic. The demon just smirked, and right when Yuri was going to open his mouth to say something he was cut off, "You still don't get it little elf?... I am Bane harbinger of doom number 8...Harbinger of paranoia" the demon muttered.
Yuri's eyes filled with sorrow, he let out a broken breath. The demon realizing that he had caught the elf off guard slammed him to the side. Yuri tumbled down to the ground the demon now a few pace's away raised his arm as you would with a sword and then brought it down. Yuri's abdomen suddenly had a horrid gash. At this point Ame was unstable du to how much adrenaline was pumping through his senses. He was sprinting on all fours tears in his eyes and letting out guttural howls. The demon being caught off guard looked around for what was making the noise. Then In a flash Ame jumped at the demon, he wrapped around his head and bit, scratched, pulled, yanked, kicked, and punched anything that he could. Ame went into a complete adrenaline rush that made him act on his old feral instincts. He was seeing red so much so that he hadn't even realized that he was thrown into what used to be a wall. He was left awake but not being able to move his body.
The demon was chuckling, he looked at Yuri who was still processing the entire situation, trying to convince himself that it was all a dream. Unbeknownst to any of the three, someone was taking aim. Ame had rushed down in such a blind rage he only had his short sword on hand, all of his other things were left. There hiding in rubble was Eve, she had Ame's bow in hand...One...Two...She let go. She waited for a thunking noise...it never came.
The demon raised his arm faster than should have been possible, and stopped the arrow, he looked over at where it came from and snapped the thing in his hand. Eve let out a dreadful sob as she started bawling.
The demon looked at Yuri then to Ame. "You were worthy opponents" he said. The demon then started to dissolve and flake into a kind of dust. They said that was something some demons could do, deform and reform their bodies.
Eve was rushing down the hill. Ame was conscious but he had barely any energy left, Yuri was surprisingly still conscious and competent. Eve grabbed Ame and helped him over to Yuri. Yuri looked at Eve with bittersweet eyes, "hey sweet girl, hehehe. Eve I love you I want you to know that I love you so much it hurts I want you to be happy okay fall in love have the life you've always wanted just don't forget me okay". Eve let out a sob and looked at him " I could never forget you, not in a million years...and I'm sorry but I won't I wont fall in love again not until my next life when I can fall in love with you for the first time all over again" she admitted. Yuri let out a sweet sigh "I love you" they said simultaneously, Eve scotched to the side to make room for Ame.
Ame hardly had the energy to but even so he opens his mouth "Yuri I'msorryI'msorryimsorryimsososorry I should have been here" he sobbed into Yuri's chest. Yuri pulled his face up so they could have eye contact.
" NO! don't you ever ever say sorry" he said his voice struggling to keep stern, the words were cracking from tears and pain. Ame looked at him as he sniffled.
Yuri began to speak again "Ame I'm not gonna make it out of this..okay kid? and that's okay, its okay. I just want you to do one thing for me okay" Ame looked at him with distress but still humed an affirmation.
"I want you to live no I need you to live, and I mean actually live. I want you to go places do what you love make friends fall in love, LIVE. I know you Ame don't let this change how you see things for the rest of your life, d-dont let it stop you from taking risks...don't try and avenge me that is a path of anger and self hatred and its life consuming . Ame go live your life...go.....live" he continued until he started to trail off, off into the afterlife.
Ame and Eve sat there burdened by Yuri's last words to them.