War.

That word alone cannot possibly describe the phenomenon. The blood, the stench, the screeches and screams and cries. The impossible numbers of layers of pain. The lives lost, the hatred…

And for what? It’s so meaningless! Hmph! Thought the moody, black haired demon who stared down upon the chaotic village from atop the overlooking hill.

Just as is the case on the planet we are so familiar with, when humans fight, they fight in great numbers. They try to outman each other and bring countless of relatively innocent lives into ridiculous affairs, and when it’s all over and done with, they still have nothing to show for it but bragging rights.

And that’s why it confuses me so! What on earth did my brother see in that girl? That human girl? He even took her human surname! Had a bloody halfbreed child with her! She thought angrily, grinding her teeth.

“Kill the halfbreed! Kill the filthy demon child!”

The demon growled. She knew the boy had some potential; she’d been monitoring him for quite a while. It was this very potential that alarmed the villagers and caused them to slaughter their own kind just to kill him. Knowing of this potential, she simply couldn’t just let him die…

Mentally promising her brother, Zashi, a good sound thrashing when she joined him in death, she started sprinting towards the tiny hut surrounded by the filthy humans and their pathetic excuses for weapons. As if pitchforks and fire could kill a demon. Zashi had always been to soft, hadn’t even fought back when the villagers came after him. Zayuki was not weak. That was why she was still alive, whilst Zashi was not. She promised herself that she wouldn’t let her nephew grow into the same kind of weakling her brother was.

Effortlessly, she froze the fires and the world went dark. At least, it did for the humans and their feeble eyes. Zayuki could see just as well in the lack of light as she did in its abundance. She walked past the frightened humans, slashing her claws across their necks as she passed them, then ripped the door off of its post, despite the fact that it was already open, and entered the dwelling.

“Boy, what is your name?” She asked, idly decapitating the man with the ax to her left.

“…Ha… Ha…!”

“Speak clearly or I shall rip out your tongue.”

“Hari! Kayayuri Hari!” The boy, no older than three in appearance, squeaked in fear.

Her eye twitched at the mere mention of the human’s surname. She kindly corrected him, “No, it’s not. It’s just Hari.”

He looked confused, so she continued.

“Hari… Did you know your father was a demon?” He cast his eyes down and nodded, tears forming. Well. She couldn’t have that, now could she? “Cry and I will rip out your eyes.” She warned, and he quickly wiped his tears away.

“Hari. I, too, am a demon. To be specific, I am your father’s sister; your aunt. My name is Zayuki. I’ve come to take you away, back to my manor in O-Rasen.” His eyes widened. He knew how far that was from his homeland, O-Dori. But, from the seriousness in Zayuki’s voice, he also realized he had no choice in the matter.

He turned to look at the woman lying behind him. Even as a corpse, she still managed to infuriate her.

“Kaasan…” He said sadly as he stroked her reddish-brown hair. Hair that he did not inherit, Zayuki noted, thanking her gods. He took after Zashi completely. Had he not, she would never have even bothered saving him. His hair was black, just like her brother’s, as were his eyes. They were black, indeed, with a pure white pupil.

He’ll probably have faulty eyesight later due to his imperfect human blood. Zayuki mentally spat, still cursing the woman.

“That’s not your kaasan, Hari.” She informed him sternly, “You don’t have a kaasan. If someone asks you who your kaasan is, you tell them, ‘It’s none of your damned business.’ Understand? From now on you are a full blooded demon, to hell with what anyone else says. And you are to tell no one about this woman, either. As far as you’re concerned, she never existed.”

He looked surprised at her words, and, at first, refused to answer. She sighed in frustration, “Hari.” She repeated, her voice much more stern than before, which caused him to jump, “Do you realize that I am the only person who is willing to take you in? Anyone else, human or demon, will kill you if they learn of your mixed blood. If you do not cooperate, then I will leave you here to die. Do you understand?” He nodded slowly.

“I… I have no kaasan… I… I’m a full blooded demon! A demon!” He yelled, his white pupil flashing red, if only for an instant. But that was enough to fully convince Zayuki.

She nodded, “Good. Then your training starts today. Follow me.”

He looked back only once, then turned around and took her hand, following her out of the tiny house and forward to his destiny…

Fifty years later, in the snowy land of O-Nyuuki

There could not be found, not in the entire land of O-Nyuuki, a prouder son than Okou Atsushi. And why not? Atsushi’s mother was none other than Okou Kasuru, the strongest, most intelligent and most beautiful bounty hunter in the land. No one Kasuru set her sights on, be they demon or human, escaped once she decided to capture them. She was the perfect hunter, keen and merciless.

Of course, these facts only make her death even more unfortunate.

Human thieves despised her. She had killed and captured many of their bosses, leaving them penniless, no more than common pickpockets again.

Demons loathed her. Her strength made them look weak, especially since she made it a habit to pick off lower demon lords more often than she captured her own kind. She infuriated them, no doubt.

It was for this reason, a group of the strongest human assassins and even a few mid-class demons came after her one night, fully intent on killing not only her, but her husband, Okou Otomaru, and her son, Atsushi. After all, if this wench was already so strong, her whelp might grow to be even stronger one day. That was something they simply could not allow.

And they were right, too. The boy was capricious, strong and loud. He loved nothing more than impressing the village girls by telling them of all his mother had done and what she had taught him. He loved sparring with the village boys, and never lost, either. He was on the fast track to becoming the next link in the chain of Okou bounty hunters.

Or, at least, he was.

Otomaru had stayed behind to try and slow their pursuers, but had been killed in less than a minute. Arrows flew, narrowly missing Kasuru and Atsushi as they ran through the forest. Where exactly they were heading, Atsushi didn’t know, but his mother wouldn’t let him down, he knew she wouldn’t.

Then again, children often make it a habit to think they know everything, when, in fact, they know nothing.

“Kaasan… My legs… They feel like they’re on fire…!” He said, almost completely out of breath.

“Just keep running, Atsushi! We’re almost there!” She replied, dragging him by the arm in desperation.

And poor Atsushi tried. He really did. But the short, weak legs of a seven year old can only do so much. Minutes later, he tripped over the root of a tree, only for a second, but it was enough. The arrows flew, quickly approaching the fallen boy…

“Kaa… Kaasan…!”

Kasuru coughed, blood escaping her lips. But she stayed exactly where she was, in front and over her frightened son, no matter how much her body ached to simply fall over and die.

Atsushi turned around to face his mother, his eyes wide and full of tears. She coughed again, blood falling on her son’s sweaty face as she fought to speak.

“Atsu… Atsushi… Run… Run away… Don’t try to be a hero… Don’t try to fight… Just… Just…” Blood bubbled from her lips and down her neck as her last word emerged, “…Run…!”

Atsushi, the ever obedient son, took one last look at his beautiful mother… Her white-blonde hair and pale, porcelain face covered in dirt and blood, her once pristine white apron and her favorite royal blue dress torn to shreds, her back and, undoubtedly, her heart, pierced with at least a dozen arrows…

And then he ran.

He ran so fast that even the ever-swift Death, who was said to be among his pursuers that night, could not catch up with him. He ran as if he were possessed, as if he could bring his mother back if he only ran fast enough. He didn’t know or care where he was going.

He just ran.

Two days later

“…-alright? Dear, can you hear me? I said, are you alright?” The plump woman who stood over Atsushi sighed and shook her head, “He’s awake, but unresponsive… Dear? Dear, where are you from?”

Atsushi blinked. His whole body felt like it was torn apart and put back together.

“…O…” He began, his throat completely dry, “…O-Nyuuki…”

The woman shook her head, “He’s delirious... O-Nyuuki? The border to O-Nyuuki alone is over sixty miles from here…”

Far, far away, in the land of O-Sabaku

As you might have caught on to, the last two aforementioned boys were born to parents of some kind of high caliber, be they a demon lord or one who hunted demon lords. Tsukishita Suneshi, however, is the first exception. His parents belonged to a nomadic community that did little else in their travels but work for others, and gain very little from it. Like most of the people in his tribe, Suneshi had blood red hair and bright, orange eyes.

However, Suneshi’s people were by no means unexciting. Indigenous to only O-Sabaku, Suneshi’s people were among the last of a type of shamanic breed of human that verged on demonic. Because of this, they were shunned by most, which was why they had to settle for such low pay for all their hard work, and never stayed in one place very long. To do so would put the last of their kind in great danger.

In the sun, they were relatively normal people, if not slightly stronger from all the work they did. During the night, however, they boasted powerful elemental magic powers. And depending on which Tsukishita you talked to, on a certain phase of the moon, they gained powers that were said to rival those of upper-class demon lords. It was for this reason that the Tsukishita clan never worked during the night, or even went where there may be humans during the night. It was a chance they couldn’t take that someone may recognize that their normal bronzed skin had paled to an almost pure white during the night.

And they were right to want this secret kept.

One night, the young and capricious Suneshi was even more energetic than usual. He couldn’t sleep, he couldn’t sit still; he had to go out and do something. He crept out of his tent and snuck past the others, quiet as he possibly could be. He was thirsty, but the noise made when taking the stopper out of the water jug would alert the others for sure. Instead, he made his way out of the maze of tents and a walked about sixty feet away to where a small oasis was located. There, he began to drink.

“Hey, what are you doing here?” A voice suddenly acquired from behind him, startling him so that he choked slightly on the water he was drinking and began to cough, trying his best to be quiet about it.

“Hey, turn your head if you have to do that!” The feminine voice hissed, “Other people have to drink from there, you know.”

Suneshi choked out an apology and turned around, facing the girl in question. She blinked in surprised as she gazed upon him, then squinted as the moonless night provided little light. Suneshi fidgeted under her scrutiny, wanting to run for it, but didn’t. Running might alert the girl and cause her to scream. So he let her stare all she liked.

“Hey…” She murmured, “You… You’re one of those devil rat people my daddy has been talking about!” Suneshi winced and glared, but didn’t bare his teeth lest he alarm the girl, though a silent rage did begin to bubble at the pit of his stomach and in his heart. He was old enough to know to be offended at the term the stupid girl had used. Devil rat. Or Hell rat or red vultures, they were also called sometimes. They called them that because of their habits of taking what they could get without complaint, like scavengers.

But it wasn’t true. They worked for what they were given. They were dogs, surely, but not rats or vultures. But Suneshi said this not. He said nothing at all, just continued drinking.

“Hey!” The girl said again, in that annoying habit of hers, “If you really do eat garbage like daddy says you do, I’d appreciate it if you didn’t drink like that. Get a cup, don’t use your hands!”

“I don’t eat garbage.” Suneshi finally said softly but clearly, not being able to suppress it.

“Huh? You don’t?” The girl scratched her head in confusion, “But daddy said that’s what you devil rats ate…”

“Well, we don’t.” Suneshi replied shortly, wiping his hands on his trousers and motioning to leave.

“Hey, wait!” The girl called after him.

Suneshi turned around obediently, suddenly very tired, “What?”

The girl blushed, “Aren’t you going to walk me home? It’s not that far…” Suneshi raised an eyebrow at this request, and the girl huffed, “Well, are you a man or aren’t you? You can’t just let me walk alone by myself, a wild animal could get me!”

Suneshi scoffed, “You made it here by yourself just fine, didn’t you? No wild animals are going to come this close to civilization.” He glared slightly, “Besides, I doubt you want to be walked home by someone who eats garbage.”

The girl cocked her head in confusion, “What are you taking about? I thought you said you didn’t do that?” She rolled her eyes and flipped her blue hair, “Well, come on!” She demanded, grabbing his hand and pulling him towards her town, only about fifty feet away.

Suneshi mentally cursed the moonless night. On nights with no moon, Suneshi’s people became even weaker than normal humans, so it was all too easy for the girl to drag him along with her.

“You know, rat boy, you aren’t so bad. But I think you need to work more like the others, you’re so weak! Hey, maybe I can convince my dad to buy you, and you can become my playmate! I’ll make sure you get lots of exercise... Oh, the other girls will be so terribly curious!” She prattled on, whilst Suneshi was already planning three different ways to ditch the girl once they’d made it to town.

Abruptly, an extremely cold wind rushed past the two children, chilling them both to the bone and causing both to stop and look about in confusion as to where such a numbingly cold gale had come from.

Suneshi looked to the left of him and out towards the desert, shivering. When he felt the girl who held his hand stiffen, he looked back to her.

For the first two seconds he just looked, the sight before him taking a bit of time to register in his mind before his eyes widened, and a jolt of pure terror traveled up his arm and to his throat, heart, stomach and brain. His legs wobbled, threatening to collapse underneath him. He wrenched his hand from hers and stumbled back a step. His mouth hung wide open, but no words, not even an incoherent scream would emerge.

The girl’s head was gone.

Suneshi stared for another few seconds before his legs gave out and he fell on his bottom. The girl’s body finally slumped forward with a thud as it hit the sand, and if he hadn’t been in such a panic, Suneshi might have made a note of the oddity that there was no blood. The flesh around the neck and on it was burned black, more than effectively cauterizing it.

And then Suneshi heard a noise from behind him that startled him so that he immediately turned his head to see what it was. The sight alone would haunt his dreams for months to come, what he saw, however, would haunt him much, much longer than that.

What he saw could never be effectively described. It was far beyond any level of hideousness he had ever even imagined, and the fear that pierced his heart at the first sight of it was deeper, more painful, more suffocating than he’d ever experienced before.

It was black, tar-like and slimy, in an amphibian sort of way. Its form was tall and muscular, with long, needle sharp fingers and toes. It had no nails, the fingers and toes themselves were hard and sharp enough to count as such.

And then there was its face; Square shaped with unnaturally long, pinpoint teeth that jutted out every which way, nostrils with no nose, and three bulging eyes which were shaped on his head like a triangle. The bottom two were black, whilst the one on top was hell-red, like Suneshi’s hair.

The grotesque thing(The word ‘creature’ was much too polite) lifted the missing head of the girl behind him, opened his huge mouth, and with a stomach-churning crunch of bones splintering and cracking and the squishing noises of brains, it bit off the entire left side of her head.

For the first time in his life, Suneshi was glad that he’d had a miniscule dinner. He vomited what he had had and on the most basic of instincts, he got to his feet and ran as fast as he possibly could back to the campsite, tripping several times in his haste. He didn’t, no, couldn’t care, though. He couldn’t care about the pain that shot through his toes and knees and he tripped over and onto them, couldn’t care how the sand got in his mouth or caked on and stuck to his chest and down his chin where he had vomited. His only thought, if an instinct can be called such, was to get away from that monster and back to the safety of his mother’s arms.

“KAASAN!!” He screeched, effectively waking up nearly everyone in the campsite. The first to meet him outside was Nariji, his cousin’s husband.

“Suneshi?! What’s this screaming about?” He inquired, but Suneshi ran right past him, his mother the only person in his mind.

He ran to his tent where his mother, Aone, met him with outstretched arms.

“Suneshi, what’s wrong?” She asked, her voice wrought with concern. A scream from the front of the tent soon answered her when the terrified and exhausted boy in her arms could not.

“MONSTER! DEMON!” One woman screamed, only to soon afterward be silenced forever.

Quick to action, Aone thrust her son into the tent, hissing, “Suneshi! Stay here, Suneshi, and hide yourself under the blankets!”

Obeying his mother, Suneshi threw the blankets over his body, slightly relieved that he could no longer see anything, but still shaking from the noises he heard. The screams, the tearing of flesh… Finally, after what seemed like days, but in reality was only an hour or so, the noises ceased.

Shaking, Suneshi slowly removed the blanket and peered out of the tent. His people lay scattered across the ground, covered in blood and some with parts of their bodies missing. A very few were valiantly trying to move still, but it was in vain. Suneshi nearly choked as he spotted his mother lying on her back a few feet away, blood seeping from her torso.

“Kaasan!” Suneshi cried, running to his barely living mother.

“Suneshi…!” She hissed, “Go hide! Don’t stay here, hide!” But the stubborn boy refused, clutching to his mother despite the pain it caused her.

“Do as she says, boy!” Suneshi’s grandmother and one of the Tsukishita elders, Vinra, added, trying to get up.

“I can’t!” Suneshi replied frantically, “I won’t! …Kaasan, don’t go!”

“There you are!” A deep, croaky voice boomed from behind the horrified boy, “Been looking for you, I have. Children are always much tastier, you know… Heh heh.”

“Stay back, monster!” Vinra growled through her pain, grabbing Suneshi by the arm and dragging him to her, clutching him tightly.

“Oh?” The monster chuckled, “And who’s going to stop me, eh? You, old woman? Are you, in all your frailty, seriously planning to try and protect that morsel from me, the great demon god, Jeinzrok? Don’t jest!”

“Don’t underestimate me!” Vinra retorted, clutching Suneshi ever tighter, “…You won’t get this one, demon… THIS ONE WILL LIVE!”

Vinra slammed her right palm over Suneshi’s chest, causing him to choke and cough heavily. Over his own coughing, he could barely hear the words Vinra chanted; Though, he could feel her magic flow into his chest and surround his heart, travel through his spine and nerves and envelop his brain. It made him feel numb and he could barely even hear or comprehend what was going on around him.

“Vinra…” Aone murmured, “I know of this ritual… It will need us both… Who will take care of Suneshi?”

“Better alive and alone than dead with us, Aone.” Vinra replied.

“But it won’t last forever!” She exclaimed, “It can’t protect him forever, it will wear and eventually break! Then what will he do?”

“When that time comes…” Vinra replied, “…He must face it.”

And then the world went dark.

Far away, in the floating land of O-Tsubasa.

I now bring you another exception to this chain of strapping male protagonists, for the last link in this chain is female; a beautiful girl named Hecate.

Firstly, a little about her homeland; O-Tsubasa. This land was different from all others in that it literally floated thousands of feet in the air. It was a haven surrounded by and protected with an ancient spell and aided by the spells of the elders. No one was allowed in or out; it was completely isolated.

And things were fine that way. Hecate’s people didn’t want outsiders in their country. What good did outsiders ever bring? None. They were stupid and destructive and thoughtless. Which is why it was a good thing that it was nearly impossible for anyone to even reach the country’s border.

Hecate herself was the elder of two children, her younger sibling being a bright, cheery, sometimes impertinent young boy with golden hair and eyes, and whose name was Hael. She adored her brother greatly; nearly everyone did; even though she herself was nothing like him. She was silent, always busy as most young women who had just entered adulthood were.

It’s not fair! She would often think to herself, none of my friends have started their bleeding times; why did I start mine so early? Of course, she never said these sorts of things. She rarely talked at all, and when she did, it was usually with her brother.

Life for a woman in her position was hard. Girls who had just reached womanhood underwent a certain training, which, really, consisted basically of learning to do all the domestic things that were expected of women and being bossed around and insulted by the crones, who were convinced that they were merely preparing the girls for the hardships that followed motherhood.

Hecate had never minded the thought of being a wife. It was a necessary evil; after all, how else would things ever get done? Men simply couldn’t survive on their own. But despite this knowledge, there was seldom a day that went by where Hecate didn’t think of how grand it would be to be doing something more… There was nothing wrong with being a mother, but Hecate… Hecate wanted to hunt.

It was a secret desire of hers; certainly one she’d never tell anyone besides her dear Hael, who always kept her secrets. It wasn’t acceptable for a woman to want to hunt; it wasn’t natural. Women were supposed to be kind, gentle and docile. They weren’t supposed to want to kill or even hunt things. But Hecate did.

Hecate remembered when she started thinking like that, too. It was years ago, she couldn’t have been any older than five or six at the time. She’d been exploring; how she missed it now; and had stumbled across an old box buried at the bottom of an old chest in the attic of her home.

Hecate wasn’t allowed in the attic, for some reason or another. She’d be whipped something fierce if her mother or father found her, so she tried her best to be quiet. It wasn’t too hard for her, being unnaturally silent was one of Hecate’s talents.

The box was relatively small, only slightly larger than her hand, and made of a curious wood. It had a red tint to it and had strange symbols carved all over it. Her interest piqued, Hecate blew on it to remove the excess dust, then carefully opened it. It stuck at first, indicating that it hadn’t been opened for quite a long time. She blinked as she peered inside, her curiosity growing ever stronger.

Inside were ten different rocks, all of them a different color and slightly different shapes.

This first that attracted Hecate’s attention was the brightest, of course. It was a stark pink and looked as if it were cracked from the inside. The pink was lighter in some places, and overall it had a crystallized look to it. It was square shaped, slightly thin and crooked.

The second was light mint green, also crystallized and cracked from the inside. Its shape was that of a crooked box.

The third was a deep, dark blue, with some lighter blue in some places. It might’ve also been cracked, but it was too dark to tell. It was mostly round and had a curve on one side of it that Hecate enjoyed feeling against her finger.

The fourth was a forest green speckled with gold, a gold band following around it as well. It was square.

The fifth was also forest green, but mingled with lighter greens and whites. It looked like a green storm was captured within that rock. It started off as a square shape, and then sloped into a rounded point.

The sixth was shaped like a crooked rectangle, and colored a murky white with cracks inside of it.

The seventh was black, and shaped like a rounded box. It was smooth with no visible cracks.

The eighth was plain. It was round and flat; the perfect shape for a skipping stone, and colored a light grey. It had a few cracks, but not many.

The ninth was, then, Hecate’s favorite. Its texture was not smooth like the rest of the stones; it was hard, dark, dull grey and shaped like a hybrid of a crooked box and a triangle and plenty of nooks and cracks. But despite this, a beautiful array of colors were present upon it, glittering and oh so pretty. There was green and blue, pink and purple, red, silver and gold.

The last was the smallest. A bright, slightly thin, crooked box shaped tiger’s eye.

Staring at those stones made Hecate feel powerful. She wanted to use that power. But she knew such thoughts were inappropriate for a lady, so she pushed them aside.

However, Hecate did decide that such beautiful things should not be hidden away. She took them to her room and shared them with no one except, of course, Hael, who adored them. His favorite was the tiger’s eye, so Hecate let him keep it, with the condition that he show it to no one.

Hael kept his promise. He always kept his promises. It was one of the many reasons Hecate loved him so. He was very honest boy, bright, and sympathetic, too. He was all the things Hecate wished would come more naturally to her. It would certainly make her life easier.

He would often sleep in her room, too, because he was afraid to sleep by himself.

“You’re a big boy!” Hecate would tell him, “You know there’s no reason to be afraid.”

Hael would shake his head vigorously, “You’re wrong, sister! There are demons! They only come out at night, and they fly like us! But their wings are strong, and black, and they have no soft feathers like ours! They’re waiting for us to let our guard down so they can eat us, sister! They-!” Hecate frowned and hefted the small boy over her shoulder, carrying him to her bed.

“Who is telling you this filth?” She demanded, “Is it Maire? Ooh, that boy’s ears need a good, firm pinch, if you ask me…”

“No, that’s not it! Sister, I’ve seen them myself, with my own two eyes!”

Hecate stopped for a second, a worried countenance forming, if for but just a moment, before she threw him onto her bed and scoffed, “Nonsense!” She crawled next to him, pulling her blankets over them both, “No demon could get up here-!”

“But they have wings!”

“-And even if they could,” She continued, as if he hadn’t spoken, “The guards would have them killed so easily and so quickly, it would be as if they’d never come!”

Hael was quiet for a moment, “…Are you sure?”

“I’m positive!” Hecate assured him, “No one could possibly be as strong as the Angel guards of O-Tsubasa!” She added sadly, “…I wish I could become that strong…”

“Sister is strong.” Hael said, snuggling against her and wrapping his arm around her torso, “And sister can be as strong as she wants…”

Hecate smiled, “Maybe.”

Hael sat up and shook his head, “Not maybe! What’s to keep sister from being strong?”

Hecate smiled sadly at her brother’s ignorance, “I’m a woman, Hael…”

“So?” Hael replied, not understanding, “You never believe me when I tell you things, sister! And maybe I am wrong a lot of times, but…” He hugged his sister tightly, “I know this, sister! Sister is strong, and sister will get stronger, if she lets herself.” He let Hecate go and held out his pinky finger, “Make me a promise, sister. Promise me to do what you feel is right, and never listen to people who say you can’t do something, for whatever reason. Promise to become strong, just like you want to.”

Hecate was surprised for a minute, then giggled. Her brother was so stupid, but he had a good heart. She wrapped her pinky finger around his, “Okay, I promise.” She said, but not at all intending to keep it.

Three hours later, in the very dead of night, all hell broke loose.

“WAKE UP! DEMONS ARE ATTACKING!”

Hecate’s eyes opened immediately, and she shook her brother to awaken him, but he was already awake, and shivering.

“Sister, what’s happening?!” He asked, the terror in his voice abundant.

Hecate didn’t trust her voice not to sound scared as well, so she said nothing. After all, what good would it do to let the boy know that his sister, who he believed to be so strong, was just as afraid as he was?

Hecate left the bed for a moment, unlocking her chest and digging out her box from the bottom of it, and returned to her brother. Whenever she was scared or sad, she would hold one of the stones and she would feel empowered. In such a situation as the one she was in now, their presence was nonnegotiable.

“Ah, my tiger’s eye!” Hael remembered, “I have to get it!” And before Hecate could stop him, he sprinted out of the door and down the hall to his own room.

“HAEL!!” She screamed, but he paid her no attention.

Hecate only stayed still for a millisecond before she leaped out of her bed and, with her box of stones in hand, scurried after him.

“Hael, please, come back!” She cried, thrusting his bedroom door open.

“Got it!” He exclaimed happily as he grasped the tiger’s eye in his small hand. He turned to his sister, and his relieved face was replaced with one of horror.

“Hael…?” She murmured, “W-Why are you looking…?” Slowly, she turned around.

Before she had time to realize what was happening, let alone react, Hecate found herself being grabbed by the neck and thrown right out the window of Hael’s room, the glass shattering at the force by which she was thrown. She fell two stories from Hael’s room to the ground, barely realizing what was happening until she hit the ground, the world stopped spinning, and she gasped greedily at the air that had been knocked out of her. She’d never been in such a world of pain as she was experiencing at that moment; some pieces of glass, thankfully small, were still stuck to her back. She was quite sure at least two of her ribs were broken and she was completely helpless.

That was the worst part. If she had to be in such pain, at least let her still be mobile; At least do that, God, She thought, If you’re going to let me still see and hear everything…

His screams, the sound of him choking on said screams, and then the sight of a very bloody Hael being thrown out of the same window and landing with a sickening, wet thud as he hit the grass a few feet away from her.

She struggled, not ready to give up, to roll over and get to her knees, ignoring the excruciating pain it put her in to do so, and begun to crawl to her brother, her right hand still clutching the box. Clutching so hard and desperately, in fact, that her palms grew sore and tender from doing so. But that didn’t matter in the least; Hael needed her…

She reached out to the boy; grasped his shoulder. He didn’t respond. Using what little strength she had, she flipped the boy onto his back. Hecate rarely cried. After all, what use was it to anyone? She couldn’t stop herself now.

Hael’s chest was covered in blood. Blood, dirt, deep gashes and even a bit of… Drool. Hecate felt her heart sink to her stomach. This was her fault. If she had been stronger… If she had listened to Hael, maybe…!

“…S-Sister…” Hael’s voice broke her chain of thoughts, his hand weakly moving towards her. In his outstretch palm was the tiger’s eye.

“Sister, please…” He rasped, “Take it…” Hecate wasted no time trying to reassure the boy that he would ‘make it’. Neither of them were fools, after all. She squeezed his hand tightly, took the stone, and quickly put it back in the box it had originated from.

“I…” She hiccupped, “I love you… Hael!”

“I know…” Hael nodded, “I love you, too… Sist…”

Hael stopped moving.

Hecate didn’t want to leave him, not yet. But she had to, if she stayed any longer—

Hecate gasped. A cold, scaly hand grasped the base of her wings, ensuring that she wasn’t going anywhere. A shiver went up her spine as one of those cold, clammy fingers, brushed against her back.

When a single claw ran lazily across her shoulder, she wanted to vomit.

“Such a pretty angel girl…” A deep voice chuckled, sounding as if its mouth were full of dough. Hecate didn’t dare breathe.

“Yes…” It hissed, “So very pretty… I’ve always wanted to break something as pretty as you…” Without warning, the disgusting creature reached around her and grabbed at Hecate’s still developing breasts.

Momentarily forgetting her fear, Hecate trashed about in a blind attempt to get free, kicking at the demon with all the strength she could muster. A few hits managed to connect, and the demon hissed in irritation and slight pain.

“How dare you, wench!” It roared, digging its claws into the base of Hecate’s wings, causing her to scream in pain. Hecate continued to thrash and kick, all the while grasping the box with all the strength she had, as if the box was the only thing keeping her alive…

And then it happened. It happened so fast, Hecate didn’t even realize it. Muscle, tissue and bone gave way as the demon behind her completely ripped the wings right off her back. Hecate didn’t scream. She couldn’t. The unbearable pain had caused her to fall into unconsciousness.

“Worthless thing…” The demon growled, grasping her by the neck and carrying her near limp body to the nearby edge of the country. He wanted to send the stupid girl off properly, after all. He didn’t even look at her, however, had he, he would have noticed the oddity that the girl was still, even through unconsciousness, desperately clutching a small, wooden box.

Once at the edge, the demon didn’t even think twice. He threw the girl over the edge, watching with pleasure as her limp body began to fall, the wind whipping past her wavy brown hair, now stained with dirt and blood. After watching for a few seconds, he already started to grow bored, and went back into the city to look for another girl to terrorize.

The cold wind brought Hecate back to consciousness, if only for a moment. She fumbled with the box, almost in a possessed manner, not knowing what she was doing, only that that damn box needed to open right now--!

And then it did, and she reached blindly into it. Her fingertip rested against a smooth indentation, a slight curve in cold stone, and, suddenly… For a moment, everything was okay. She closed her eyes again, the cold stone comforting her into a blissful sleep…

Now, Hecate never quite remembered how she survived, but you shall. The dark blue stone grew warm under her touch, pulsing, coming to life. Hecate’s hand, no longer controlled by Hecate herself, grasped at the stone and closed the box before any of the other stones could fall out. She squeezed the stone, and a surge of ancient, powerful magic flowed through her body. Her hair turned grew long, straightened out, and changed color from brown to royal blue. Her legs grew long, her torso filled out to the proportions of a twenty-something woman and her eyes went from gold to blue. Thick water-boots appeared on her feet, as well as a short, blue dress.

“Don’t worry.” This new, strange creature murmured, “We won’t let anything happen to you.”

Using strength Hecate undoubtedly would not, could not, have had, the blue haired one flipped herself around so that her feet, and not her head, was in immediate danger of hitting the ground first.

Or river, in any case. She thrust her hands down towards the dark body of water below her, and, miraculously, they began to part. Her freefall slowed. Finally, she landed harmlessly at the bottom of the muddy bed. Calmly, she walked away from the river, finally letting the two walls of water crash together again. The surrounding lesser demons stared at her with bulging eyes and clicked their tongues in distaste, some howling, and some hissing. It mattered not to her.

“You know what I am. What we are.” She called out for all to hear, “Dare try to harm this girl.” She chuckled, “Well? I dare you!” The demons continued to howl and click and hiss and stare, but not one of them moved. She knew they wouldn’t.

Without another word, she walked out of the hostile forest, heading for the nearest town. The nearest town still proved more than two hours away, but it mattered not. The only thing that matter was the girl.

The second she found a hospital, she released the girl, the magic flowing back into the stone she still grasped in her hand and her body returned to its natural form. She fell to the ground with a thud, alerting a young man inside who was up early to treat the sick. He gasped when he saw her, immediately bringing her inside and fetching a more experienced healer to tend to her.

Many hours later, when Hecate finally opened her eyes, her first words were, “I’ll… I’ll never…” She reached over and grabbed her box off the nightstand, hugging it tightly, “I’ll never forgive the demons!!”