NOVEL SIMPLE Ch 68. From the Past
This is a story from the past, from the time before I was even born. The things that happened that time carved deep feelings into the ones that lived through them, meaning that it's not my role to tell you this story but theirs.
Even if you asked how long we have been running around, there's no way I could answer that question. We, Demons, simply live day by day, not worrying about the future, because our lives are supposed to be short.
It's not like we have a short lifespan or something like that, there are legends about demons that have lived more than a hundred thousand years… However, since we are just a bunch of childs running for our lives, there should be no hope for us. Humans are really terrifying, you know?
No, there's still hope. We have been losing a lot of comrades through our journey, but we also have gained new ones. What's more, even if our party is built from members of different kinds, we haven't lost a single member for years, or that's what they say. But yesterday…
“Hey, Beatrice, are you listening?”
A familiar voice shook me out of my thoughts, it was Phlum’s, she is an Harpy girl that I found while she was still an egg. Since I didn't eat her, we ended up being really close friends. If I’m the leader of this party, then she is my right hand.
“Sorry, Phlum, I was distracted by my thoughts… Even if I can't be distracted… I’m the one in charge of everyone’s safety, you know?!”
“Yeah, I know that, of course I know. However, you should relax a bit, we are fine, no one died, and there's no signs of Humans around.”
That's right, yesterday no one died, however, we were really close to that.
While we were sleeping, a party of traveling monks entered the cave where we were hiding from the hazards and started attacking and exorcizing us. It was a fierce fight, blood, mana, spells, curses, witchcraft, each of them left its own taint in every single inch of the cave, but in the end, we managed to escape.
However, some of us were seriously injured, and now our perfect formation that managed to survive for years, is about to crumble, and it's all my fault.
“It's not your fault, you know?”
A soft voice talked right to my ear. A Human child with blond hair and blue eyes was right by my side, or that's what anyone would have thought, of course, there's no Humans in our party.
“I told you not to dig into my thoughts, Ariel.”
The kid was extremely androgynous, so none of us knew if it was a “he” or a “she”, what's more, its body and factions were extremely beautiful. I guess that's what you get from the breeding of an Angel and a Curse: A fallen child, weirdly, that's the name it likes to be called by.
“My Lady, I’ve told you not to call me Ariel, that's the name I was given by birth. I prefer the name that I was given by joining your side, so call me Afallen, plese!”
“I’ll do that if you stop digging into my thoughts…”
“Arhg! But you looked so worried! And again, it wasn't your fault! There's no way for you to knew that Humans were travelling through that mountain, and let's not talk about the chance of them being a party made of monks and priests!”
“No, you are wrong… They were not just traveling, they were looking for us, that's what's worrying me…”
“Are you sure about that?”
This time, the one who talked was a little Faunus named Fluph.
“T-Thats what the trees told me…”
A shy Dryad talked with a soft voice. Kaashi doesn't usually talk, but she is really useful in times like these. However…
“Wait, wait! Are you telling me you knew about them and didn't tell us?!”
Kaashi’s shadow rose from the floor and started a menacing walk towards her. It was Nero, and he was furious.
“N-no, n-no… T-There's no way I…”
“Stay right there, Nero. She knew nothing about that. They were hiding even from the eyes of the trees. Honestly, I think they might still be following us.”
“Tsh!”
Nero clicks his tongue and melts into the floor once again. This guy…
But he is right to be angered, right now we are nothing but a defenceless bunch of children being chased by an experienced party of Humans that are ready to kill us the moment we lower our guards.
With those thoughts in my mind, I saw something unbelievable with the corner of my eye. Between two trees, an enormous and dark room that looked like a library.
I had to go back on my steps because the moment I passed the trees the vision simply disappeared. A warp maybe?
Everyone stopped while I examined the two trees and the ground around them. I was right, there was a warp between those two trees, a warp that was only visible from a really specific point of view, almost as if it was placed for me to see it.
A miracle or something more malevolent...? With doubts in my heart, I decided that it was our chance to survive this, and we went down through the warp, down through the rabbit hole.