It’s been about 3 months since Yuri’s death, just in that short amount of time so much has changed. People have become more worried about the risks of not being in a heavily populated area, others think the exact opposite, that the reason the demon came was because of the abundance of people. Not to mention all the lingering bad energy, in truth it would be hardly noticeable to most but the people of the village have always had Yuri and Ame to get rid of any unwanted energy. With Yuri gone Ame has fallen into an existential crisis (not that anyone blames him) therefore he can't control his own energy let alone external aura.
Ame has been trying to do exactly what Yuri told him to, to keep on living but everything just feels wrong, hell just walking around the house has become anguishing. He’s been consistently on edge, the people around him feel like they're walking on eggshells, He lashes out or completely isolates himself. The nightmares aren't helping either, the scene keeps replaying in his head, the demon taunting him “Ahhahahaha yes, don't even try to avenge the elf '' he'd sneer.
Ame growing more and more riled with each passing day is becoming less inclined to carry out Yuri’s request. “How can I just sit here and not do anything? I need to defend his honor! This can’t be how it happened, Yuri the great shaman killed out of boredom and not avenged, not respected!” Ame’s mind would chant, growing in volume with each passing day.
Then some strange people came to the village. They were humans, humans like Ame. Ame had seen other humans hell he’s talked to other humans, but humans never came into their village. One of the things that made elfs different from humans is where they are from and how they treat the earth. Elfs are usually from heavily wooded areas somewhat like what humans considered untouched, they also tend to care much more about the land they use and live with. Humans saw the world around them as resources, the humans are from the ruins of society. So it was somewhat strange to see humans so far away from any big civilizations.
The two humans both were dressed in bland off white pants, there was chainmail under the long overcoats they had on, both were armed and had duffle-like bags. One of them had short fluffy dirty blond hair and the other had long dreadlocks. Ame was originally out to get food from the markets but he stopped at the sight of the armed humans.
Usually Ame was quite interested in travelers but he has been in a constant state of irritation. His mind was made up once he saw the armor and weapons “If they’re here for a battle then they can have one.”
Ame grabbed the hilt of the sword that used to be Yuri’s and charged. The humans hardly had time to process the sideways sword that came under them to take them off balance.The blond human fell, the other jumped up. In that small window of time Ame had already been able to return to a fighting stance. The human that was still standing was trying to stare down Ame, the other still on the ground rubbing the back of they're head looked up at Ame, “dude what the fuck” they barked. The human that was still standing resheathed they're sword once they heard their partner's voice.
Ame didn't untense he glared at the two people, one now helping the other off the ground. “Who are you and wha is your business here?” he asked pointedly.
The blond human that had been knocked down was now making an irked expression at Ame while the other just looked at him with curiosity.
“This is an elven town is it not? You are human, correct, you’re quite good with that sword.” The one with long black hair interrogated. Ame just scowled in return, not saying anything.
“Ugh common luka lets just go.” The other one huffed. Luka did not respond, Ame was of course still in a fighting stance.
“I am Luka, this is Ari.” He finally broke the silence. Ame untensed the second he heard “i am”, Ari on the other hand peered at Luka with disbelief.
“We are Breakers. We heard rumors of one of the 25 harbingers being seen here.” Luka said.
Ame’s shoulders immediately tensed at the mention of the demon. He tried his best to brush that aside for the moment so he could get more information about why the humans were here.
“Breakers?” Ame questioned.
“Yeah Breakers, Y’know the cooperation of humans and elfs that have dedicated their lives to fight demons and keep people safe? The ones that are going to bring us all back to the top of the food chain?” Ari asked quite matter-of-factly. Ame just gave Luka a questioning look in return.
“Oh well it’s not very accessible or easy to get into, they try to keep all of the stuff under wraps.” Luka added after a moment.
Ame looked back back and forth at them with a very skeptical expression. “ You fink you can defeat a demon, leh alone one of those monsers?” Ame jeered.
“I was there tha day. I saw wha tha fing was capable of. The bess fighter I have seen died at dhe hands of that beast. Wha makes you fink you can even touch a demon?” He continued.
Luka and Ari just exchanged glances. There was a moment of silence that was getting heavier by the second.
“The only thing that can kill demons is blades made of god metal,” Luka said, cutting through the silence.
“God metal is a metal that came from the plains of the afterlife, it’s hard to find and hard to mine, most people don't have any weapons made of it unless they were a part of the Breaker Corps. Either as an exorcist or a demon hunter.” He continued.
Ame just rolled his eyes. “ I know tha I’m not stupid tha's wha dis blade is made of.” He sneered as he pointed down at his sheathed sword.
“ Is’s basically the only fing us mortals have tha can actually do anyfing to a demon. Wha I'm saying is you fink jus because you have a sword you can take on one of the Harbingers of doom?!” Ame scoffed.
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The two Breakers just stood there, Ame who had his arms crossed over his chest sighed after a moment of silence.
“Okay…yeah aere was a demon here, at first we din’in know he was a harbinger. It took quite a bih of looking around buh we found ouh who he is.” Ame admitted in defeat.
The three humans sat in a pub at a table in the far back. Ame had taken the two Breakers somewhere they could all sit down, he wanted to explain things well and he wanted to see if he could get more information out of them. Ari had ordered a mountain of food for themself, Luka had tried to grab a bite from Ari’s plate a few times, he was met with a quick swat to the hand so he gave up. Ame just sat there waiting for the continuation of their earlier conversation.
After a while of sitting one of them finally spoke up. “So you said one of the harbingers was here?” Luka asked
Ame, who had been taking a sip of his drink when Luka started talking, let out a few small coughs to clear his throat before he started to speak. “Yes… um dhe Demon was-was a harbinger, his name is Bane, ‘m noh sure wha his number is but i fink it migh be in dhe top tens.” He rushed out. Luka just gave a look that told Ame to continue.
“I found a book tha was made a while ago, it said he was um…number 15 at dhe time i fink. He’s prolly gone up in dhe numbers sense dhen. He is the demon of well it’s kinda hard to explain,” Ame admitted while scratching his head.
“He is a demon of paranoia, specifically paranoia dat makes people lash out or kill fings in “self-defense” like i said is’s hard to explain, it’s kinda like the fear that makes people angry, y’know wha i mean?” He continued, sounding unsure of his explanation.
Luka just looked like he was contemplating, Ari who apparently decided to listen was now tilting their head to the side and looking at Ame while chewing their food. There was a long pause.
“Okay,” Ari sighed as they stood up and stretched their sides. Luka and Ame, both still sitting, looked at them puzzled then back to one another. The hesitation was annoying to Ari who decided that the best answer was to just start walking away. Ame and Luka scrambled out of their chairs quickly to follow.
a pic of Ari [https://64.media.tumblr.com/7d49f8fec304a00befdc62f4c481b04b/98094197255f41ae-70/s1280x1920/7b82b6e7fb7c0fa527ded207615b607db6900cb8.jpg]
Ari was walking out the entrance of the pub, Luka and Ame following. The three walked to the cobblestone bridge that was a few meters to the right. Ari leaned against the wall and looked at Ame and Luka, who in return just looked at each other then back to Ari.
“Oh my god,-” Ari muttered while pinching the bridge of their nose. “ Where did you SEE the demon” They huffed.
“Ohhh” Ame said at the realization.
Luka just looked between the two before sighing, “I don’t know Ari, I mean if Ame’s right and this guy’s in the top ten harbingers…We aren't qualified to deal with that” Luka admitted.
Ari just gave a somewhat worrisome look to Ame. “Wait, he's still around here?!” They asked, sounding a tad panicked.
“Oh no of course not” Ame blurted out waving his hands as if smacking the accusation.
Ari just scowled at Luka once the confusion was cleared.
“Jeez Luka I’m not saying we should go look for the guy! I’m just saying we should check out the area! Usually “the human killer” has a reason to send his warlords out! There must be something here that could be useful. I mean like there'd be no other reason for a Harbinger of doom to be here…right?” Ari asked as if wanting reassurance.
“No…” Ame said his voice sounding hoarse. “No he came-he came here to look for a fight.” He continued barley keeping his voice from breaking.
The two Breakers looked at each other not knowing what to say. The silence around the three was broken by Luka, “Demons are monsters, I'm sorry you had to experience them” he sighed.
Ame’s head snapped up a quizzical expression on his face. “What do you mean that was just this guy, demons EAT people don't they?” He asked, sounding confused.
Luka and Ari just shared a questioning look.
“Yeah…that’s what makes them monsters” Ari said after a moment, they said it as if Ame was asking what the color of the sky was.
“But we eat animals too?” Ame said, sounding even more confused.
Luka shook his head, “Okay we’re getting off topic,” he said.
“Me and Ari are Breakers, we heard rumors of a Harbinger being here. They were true so now we need to take the information we got back to the corps. Ari we need to find the closest base.” Luka started as he made a motion for Ari to stand up.
He looked back at Ame with a smile, “Thank you for your help.”
“Yeah no problem” Ame said, somewhat shook by the turn the conversation had taken.
Luka and Ari were about 6 feet away before Luka stopped.
“Wait, Ame you… you seem to have lost someone to a demon. I did to I know what it’s like-” He turned around to face Ame.
“What it’s like to lose someone to a demon, you don't want anybody else to have to go through it. I think- well i think maybe you should consider becoming a Breaker. You're already quite good with a sword, you'd only need to learn about different spirits, sprite’s, demon’s, Nymph’s, and things like that well and some curses and wards, "he continued.
“There’s an old Breaker that lives in the mountains not too far from here, he’s retired but he trains new Breakers.” he said as he started to turn back around to continue walking.
Ame was left standing awkwardly with a shocked look on his face.
Two weeks, it had been two weeks since Ame crossed paths with the two Breakers. It was the perfect chance for him to at least make an attempt at avenging the man who raised him, but at the same time he knew that Yuri wouldn't be exactly happy with Ame doing the exact opposite of what he asked him to.
And that is why we are here, Ame sitting in front of three bags full of his things and an envelope with keys tied to it.
“Okay okay okay…..Is’s not disobeying if I do it later…much later…” He said trying to convince himself that he was making the right decision.
“UGHhhhh” the boy groaned as he stood up and started to walk away from the coffee table.
“And he basically jus told me tuh retire.” He said squinting as he waved his hands around in defense.
He let out a sigh and turned back to look at his belongings that had been neatly packed. It wasn't all of his things, just things he didn’t know if he could handle not seeing for a long time. A lot of it had been from Yuri. He looked around once more and let out another sigh. The boy quickly gathered all of his bags and got saddled up on Onyx. He looked back at the only place he had ever called home and whispered a shaky “Goodbye” before he was off.
It was barley dusk outside, everything still wet with the morning dew. He just had to make a quick stop before the real journey began. There the young boy stood, at the doorstep of one of the most important people in his life. He took a deep breath and layed the envelope with keys tied to it on the step. He breathed out “ I am sorry Eve i just can't sit here idly” the young boy muttered. He stepped back, got onto the wolf, and he was gone, away from the village of elves, away from the land, and away from the place Yuri had raised him. Away from his home.