Chap was written on my phone, so it's gonna be messy and lazy. Buckle up botchez 👹👹🥰

——-

I swayed on my feet as the afternoon sun bore down on me. "Where...am I?"

——-

"Well? What's your choice?" I stared down at X's hand once again as I felt the weight of my options.

"I..." I started weakly. I could go back. Without any more work. It would be over. iIf I refuse this choice now, I probably won't get another chance to make a new promise.

And yet...

"I refuse."

Maybe I just wasn't ready to say goodbye to Sonju and Mujika. Maybe it was because of the nervous twist in my gut. Or maybe I was just being a coward again. Regardless, I turned down X's deal.

"...are you sure about this?" the deity spoke darkly.

I nodded, though I wasn't any more sure of my decision. "...Yeah."

Now, X groaned. And then sighed. "Well, I tried." they chuckled drily. "Very well." the demon deity raised a hand towards me. "Just don't come crying if you regret it."

And then the seven walls folded in on me, and i was struck with the feeling of falling. I squinted as I awoke on the ground, staring up at the sky as the sun peeked through my eyelashes.

"Home sweet home..." I muttered as I blinked the fog out of my eyes, finding myself in the midst of the capital city. It was quiet– peaceful, even, as citizens bustled around me on an average day.

And then, from the wall, an explosion rocked the ground and a plume of fire rose to the sky. Immediately, citizens sprang from their houses and stopped in the streets. "Shit!" I seethed, looking at the sun.

I realized the time– it was nearly afternoon, and the bandit's attack would be happening soon, if it hadn't already.

There was a clamour of fighting from the direction of the fire- the East, and screams erupted from the West. The citizens began to panic as the clamouring grew in volume.

From the West side of the street came a shriek of pain. I whipped around to see who it had come from, and through the chaos and bustling bodies recognized a bandit, having sliced the head off a citizen.

I shoved my way through the screaming demons until I broke out of the crowd, where a single bandit stood over the bodies of the handful of demons it had managed to cut down.

I ducked and ran towards it, catching them off guard. I drove a knife under their mask and into their core before they could fight back. I glanced around myself and then ran towards a fruit stall. I jumped and pulled myself up onto a canopy, surveying the chaos as more bandits were pushing themselves into the city.

"Everyone!" I yelled down at the citizens. "Evacuate to the castle!" I called above the panic, praying at least a few of them heard me. "They'll provide shelter and aid until it's safe!" as the demons began to move towards the castle, they started to stampede. "Please move carefully!" I begged, panic rising in my chest. "You'll trample children!"

The trampling subdued, though everyone still pushed and shoved.

As soon as they were well on their way I climbed down from the canopy, hitting the ground. I prayed that when a bunch of hysteric citizens made their way to the castle, they'd be let in. Mujika cared for her people, and I hoped that'd be reason enough.

I continued to push myself through crowds of panicking citizens, repeating the same yells above the chaos; "Evacuate to the castle! Keep an eye on the young and the elderly!"

Within the hour, most of the capital was deserted. As time went on, I frequently encountered more and more bandits closer to the castle. It became clear what had happened; a decoy force had been sent to the East gate, while a larger force broke in from the West. And then, from the other gates, small groups of bandits snuck in.

All of them were trying to get to one place– the castle.

I heaved for breath, leaning against a wall. God, I was getting tired. I didn't sleep last night and I hadn't eaten, and it was taking it's toll. I reached and grabbed an apple-like fruit from a nearby stand. I bit into it, lifting my mask slightly.

Of course, the bandits running towards me didn't have a care for my recharge moment. I grunted and switched the hand I was holding it in as the first bandit approached. I lunged and drove my knife into the fleshy part of their jaw. It was a demon's second weak point– if you hit it with enough force, you could reach the core behind their third eye. (Though it was hard to hit it from long distance.)

The bandit slumped and I fumbled the apple in my hand, nearly dropping it. Next thing I knew, I was challenged by a tall demon; at least 15 feet tall. I ducked and rolled, going for the ankles. The massive demon swung a huge battle axe down at me, but soon fell to their knees as their Achilles tendons were severed.

In the seconds before they could regenerate, I levered the mask off their face from behind and then redirected my blade, plunging it into their middle eye.

I took out another 3 bandits before I finally managed to finish my apple. I tossed the core on the ground– hey, a lot of stuff was going on, no one was going to mind a little litter in this chaos.

(Poppy did)

"What the hell is Sonju doing?" I muttered at last, wiping juice off my mouth with my hand and then pulling down my mask.

I ran through the streets, looking for people to help or bandits to kill. I was moving through town square when Zev burst inside from the end opposite of me, followed by his friends.

"Oh, shit." I cussed, taking a few steps back. Zev noticed me now, and raised his huge sword at me easily, like it was a toy.

"There she is!" just as the bandit said these words, from the left side of the town square, a herd of at least 20 bandits burst into the area.

"Freaking hell." I spun and ran as fast as my legs could carry me, ducking into alleyway after side-street while a small army chased after me.

I finally shook them off when I dove through a window, knocking over a shelf and bruising my ribs in the process. The group of bandits ran past the house, missing me.

I groaned and pushed myself to my feet, stumbling out of the small house. "I'll have to pay them back for that..." I grimaced, glancing behind myself at my destruction.

I took a few steps back down the street wearily, when Zev suddenly strolled in, blocking my path. "You have got to be kidding me." I groaned.

"What did I ever do to you?" I called down the street, grabbing more throwing knives from my belt. "I quite like being alive, you know!!"

Zev didn't answer and instead broke into a run, wielding his huge sword.

"Mommy." I squeaked, fumbling my knives.

Though, as I ducked under Zev's first swing, it was not 'mommy' who came to my rescue. Instead, as a deafening "clang!" resounded through the clearing, Sonju blocked Zev's blade with his spear.

Zev redrew his attack, pulling away his sword. "You must be Sonju." he spoke darkly.

"The one and only." Sonju hummed and looked down at me. "Fancy meeting you here."

I chuckled sheepishly, sliding to hide behind the big demon. "Yeah, still alive, somehow."

"Mujika's worried sick."

"My bad." I grimaced. "Anyhow, that guy's strong." I gestured to Zev. "Don't underestimate him."

Sonju shrugged. "Yeah. Now get outta here."

I nodded. "Alright. Stay alive, old fool."

"I'm still in my prime, brat!"

I grinned while I left Sonju and Zev to their own devices. I ran until I was a safe distance away, and heaved for breath, bracing myself against a wall.

There came a sudden noise behind me, and I spun to face a demon as they raised a sword over their head. As I scrambled to grab a knife an arrow was driven into the back of their head, through the demon's mask.

The body slumped forward and I stumbled out of the way as it fell down, dead.

I made eye-contact with my saviour from across the clearing, and panic subtly wormed it's way into my chest as a second arrow was nocked onto the string. This time, it was aimed at me.

"Aurelia," I breathed shakily, raising my knives in defence. "put down the bow."

-----

Aurelia had always been smart for her age. She could speak complex sentences while others her age were still learning to form words. Yet, despite her intelligence, Aurelia always admired fighters. They were tenacious and skilled, and above all, strong. She wanted to be that way, though she had no skill with a weapon.

She was trained as a diplomat, as the likely next leader of her clan, and praised by everyone for her keen intellect. And yet, when Cozbi and Benny would leave to go hunting with Zev and the others, she watched them with a burning envy. She wanted to hunt, too.

That burning envy grew and blossomed with the years, until it warped into a hate. She loathed everyone and everything– especially her clan's ways. They were full of strong warriors, and they were gifted with a special blood. Yet they treated even the meekest peasant with respect. Because they were special, they even got along with humans. She didn't get that, no matter how smart she was.

Even then, the one sitting on the leader position was a sly bastard, instead of a warrior. When Aurelia looked at Zev and saw his strength, she found herself still not getting it.

And Cozbi, who held the same qualities as Zev, should be the next leader, not Aurelia, she thought. Or even Benny, who, although a little thick-skulled, got along well with everyone.

Aurelia didn't understand. And when someone is used to being smart, it makes it that much harder when you don't get it.

Feeling suffocated in her clan, Aurelia soon sought friendship in other demon children. She would sneak out of the camp– and Zev, who knew this, would let her. When she was away, Aurelia would busy herself talking to the children of whatever village they were stopping by.

She quickly befriended a demon girl, who, while not as intelligent as Aurelia, was kind, unlike her. She was sweet, and gentle. Aurelia admired her for this gentleness, and for a while, she found her hate buried.

As she grew close to this girl, Aurelia opened up more and more. This girl listened to Aurelia, and though she couldn't relate, she comforted her. And then, one day, Aurelia let it slip. The thing she couldn't tell anyone.

Her clan's special ability.

But Aurelia thought it would be okay, with this sweet girl– call it childish naiveté. And for a while, it was. Yet, the girl soon began to grow distant. She detached herself. And shortly after, Aurelia's clan was packing up to leave the village they'd been at for several years.

As they had nearly finished, Aurelia encountered this girl, waiting by their usual meeting point for the first time in a while. The girl was frantic. She would say nothing but "sorry" until she admitted that she accidentally spilled Aurelia's secret to her parents.

And that soldiers from the monarchy were coming for Aurelia and her people.

Though they had strong warriors, their clan was outnumbered by thousands. More than 80% of her clan were killed in the attack. Her family, her friends.

In the attack that was her fault.

Zev knew. He had been the one who let her leave to go meet her friend. But he told no one. Not even Cozbi. The next thing Aurelia knew, the clan was dividing. The warriors would leave to get revenge on the royals.

Aurelia watched while Benny and Cozbi were offered the chance to go with them. Though the pink-haired demon made eye contact with him, Zev didn't say a word. Benny denied first. They said they didn't want to leave their family. Then followed Cozbi, who said she wanted to stay with Benny and Aurelia.

Somehow, this made Aurelia furious, rather than grateful. Her friends were getting the chance she dreamed of, and yet, they turned it down for her sake. Despite this anger, Aurelia loved them more than anything. So, weeks later, when the worst-case scenario occurred, she made a choice she'd inevitably regret.

The leader had somehow found out about the young demon's slipup, and threatened to spill it to everyone.

That blackmail would stick with Aurelia for a good thousand years. Aurelia grew to copy that girl's personality, becoming kind and gentle, and as she did so, she became more and more fearful of her reputation being tarnished.

She assassinated members of her own family who the leader disliked. She gathered information on her people. Aurelia's sins only grew as time went on.

So when the leader told her to follow Cozbi and Benny on their mission to go to the castle and kidnap Y/N, she agreed.

It wasn't until weeks later, when the leader told her to take the life of Y/N, that Aurelia faltered, though she wasn't sure why. The demon made the excuse that there was not a good time to do so, to both herself and the leader.

Then the perfect chance arose, and Aurelia had no choice of refusal. Though, as soon as she walked through the door and approached the so-called sleeping Y/N, Aurelia knew that there was no chance of killing her. Not this time.

As she left the human's room, she spotted a demon kid, walking down the hall with a knife clasped between their hands. It was now that Aurelia realized that she was not the only one being manipulated by the cold-hearted bastard. Her anger grew again, but now, it had found someone to be directed at.

She grabbed the kid's hand and led them away from Y/N's room, quickly taking their knife and concealing it in her own robe.

Months passed in an instant. And one night, Aurelia finally snapped. Lead the leader to a closed off space, and cut off his head.

No one seemed to notice. Or they didn't care.

Within the minute, Orion had suddenly arrived at the farm. Cozbi and Y/N had been kidnapped, they said. In a daze, Aurelia left with Benny to follow after them.

She hardly remembered anything until they finally caught up to the bandit camp. And then, she saw Zev. And something inside her shifted.

Several days later, Aurelia stayed behind while Y/N and Benny went back to the castle. At her first opportunity, the demon girl strolled into the camp.

She walked so confidently, not one bandit tried to stop her. Not even as she made her way into Zev's tent. Zev didn't recognize her right away, of course, but once he did, he offered her to take a seat.

Aurelia talked to him a long while. She remembered why she had admired him so much. It wasn't his strength, not at all, she realized. Rather, it was his charisma. This innate ability to... talk to people that Aurelia had to copy the personality of another to achieve.

She was so blinded by admiration that, for the first time in years, slipped up. She admitted to Cozbi's betrayal of his plans.

At that moment, instead of feeling relieved, Aurelia instead found herself more conflicted than she had ever been.

She loved Cozbi and Benny, more than anything. But she admired Zev more than anyone.

The same Zev who looked her in the eye and told her that he'd lost control of the bandits. That he'd redirected their rage towards Y/N. And that if Y/N died, they would stop their fighting. If Y/N died, Zev and the other warriors could come back to the clan. Her sins would be erased, and everyone could live together.

Now, as Aurelia raised her bow, she was faced with another decision. Y/N was human. There wouldn't be any regeneration. Just one shot to the chest and it would be over. Everything.

Still, Aurelia's hands shook.

Unlike the leader, Y/N hadn't done anything to deserve this. If anything, it's the other way around. She'd single-handedly pulled Cozbi out of her wallowing, who felt the weight of her family's deaths on her shoulders, when Aurelia couldn't. Yet, just because she was human, Y/N had to die?

Once again, Aurelia found herself not understanding.

She was tired. How many times would her opinions be swayed by others? When she killed the leader, the first thing she had ever done for herself, Aurelia felt relieved. Even as his blood dirtied her robes. Even at the frightened stares of the others.

Oh, that was it. They knew, after all. But when they looked at Aurelia, they didn't say anything.

Because maybe, everyone but Aurelia knew that the one bearing the weight on their shoulders was not Cozbi after all, it was her. All of the sins, all along.

It clicked. Aurelia lowered her bow. She watched as Y/N's shoulders relaxed a little along with the movement.

Then, before another second passed, Aurelia raised her bow and fired off a shot.

-----

besties we really speeding towards the end aren't we 😍😍

I've had like 6 different drafts of this chap and I STILL don't know how to feel about it.

BUT HEYY Y/N'S STILL IN THE DEMON WORLD WHICH IS... GOOD?