In the driftless dark, I laid curled up into a ball, tranquil and undisturbed.
...…
Everything was still.
...…
Everything was silent.
...…
Everything was right—
[It's time.]
...
[Arise!]
...
My consciousness twitched, and I frowned.
...
[You don't want to die, do you?]
…
…Die…? Me…?
…No…
Not yet…
...
I sluggishly sat, fragments of my life slowly returning to me.
Ah…
That's right.
I couldn't go.
That person.
I still needed to save—
[Worry not, the boy lives.]
...
General Os was too old to be a boy.
...
Who exactly was speaking?
Becoming aware, I peered at the darkness around me, searching for the owner of the voice.
[If you're so curious…come and meet me], the voice teased angelically in the far distance.
…
I hesitated.
Then I stood and followed the voice.
║║║║║║║║║║
I jolted awake.
...…
For a long time, I stared up at the wooden ceiling above me, blinking several times to gather my senses.
When I finally did, I realized I was in a room, lying on a stiff bed.
No—it was my entire body that was stiff—and…wrapped…? Perhaps with bandages?
I wanted to check but…every inch of me broke into heavy tremors and sweat when I tried moving, so I soon gave up.
But not only that…
My entire face and head also felt bandaged, leaving me with only my right eye to see through—
Something violet rushed into my field of view and chirped, "Finally!"
I flinched and puffed out a small noise of shock.
"Aw, don't ignore me!" the violet demon pouted when I closed my eye to avoid it. "We had such a fruitful conversation, don't you remember?"
[…]
"Hmph! After all my effort to heal you…!"
I stiffened.
['Heal'…? Yuri healed me…? Healed me from...?]
My breathing hitched, and I remembered the beast——remembered it charging towards Winston as Winston shot arrows into it—the beast biting into Winston—Winston's scream—my own scream echoing as I struggled against the beast until—at last—it and I both met our demise—
No.
I…
…was still alive…?
Then what about—?
"Should I not have saved the other one then?" the demon lamented above me.
My eye shot open, and the demon nodded towards something across the room beside me.
I strenuously moved my head to the right, freezing when I caught sight of Winston.
Winston was lying in the bed beside me, his torso heavily bandaged. But although he appeared lifeless and still, I could clearly see the rise and fall of his chest.
…
Tears trickled from my eye, and I watched him for a long time, immense relief flowing through me as I repeatedly confirmed that he was here.
"…Why…?" I whispered hoarsely after my tears had stopped flowing.
[Why save us?]
The demon hovering above me smiled, and, for an awful second, I questioned my decision on acknowledging their presence.
"We~ll…" the demon drawled, "there's a few reasons [why]…"
Without warning, they leaned down, and something rough brushed against the bandaged side of my face.
"Your blood is one of them," they said as they pulled back, their tongue glistening brownish-red before it was snapped back into the mouth.
[What the…]
"…fuck…?!" I exclaimed, chills raking across my arms when I realized they had just licked me.
A rough chuckle of joy burst from the demon.
"Yours is the richest I've had in a while. It's just as tasty as Kcreya's! Isn't that interesting?" they said, flushing with bliss. "Heh, don't you find it interesting, little one, don't you?"
[…]
"…Yes…" I answered honestly despite being unsettled by what they just did.
"Right? Right?" the demon beamed. "And your [intent] is just as strong! Yet, I feel no urge to exploit either of you. I wonder why that is? Heh, I'm having fun! Isn't it fun when there are things you don't know, little one? Isn't it?"
"No…"
"Oh. Does [uncertainty] scare you?" the demon asked sympathetically. "Are you [afraid] of things outside your knowledge? Do you [fear] that which is unknown? Hm…I suppose you might since your life is rather [fragile]. And it's even more so when you are [unaware] of the things bringing you harm…don't you agree?"
…
If it wasn't for the slight, devilish smile splitting the demon's mouth, I might have believed the demon was innocent for bringing up my fears.
"…The other…reason…you saved us…?" I asked, shaking off the demon's probing questions.
"You didn't answer…" the demon grumbled before springing back to their chippier self. "Yes, the other reason I saved you! That reason is—"
Just as fast, their smile slipped away, and their expression shadowed as they uttered, "I was curious; the name you called as you died—how do you know it, human?"
I didn't know what they were talking about until they spoke a particular name.
"[Yuriael]."
[…!]
That's right, I vaguely recalled uttering that. Although…I didn't know why I had uttered Yuri-[ael] instead of just Yuri—
Out of nowhere, my heart squeezed painfully, and sweat ran down my face as the demon above stared at me.
"Answer. Truthfully," they uttered, their slitted eyes boring holes into me. "Else I'll take back the life I bestowed."
"I was…calling for 'Yuri'," I said as quickly as my dry throat would allow, "[Yuri is a Balancer] … [out to…balance the world by…]—erm— […feeding on those with…ill-intents]."
I paused, my head beginning to ache as I wracked and dusted through the oldest of my memories.
"[Yuri's archnemeses are his counterpart, the…]—the, uh— […Palancers…those who appear in times of peace…to...prey on those…with good intentions]," I clumsily recited from what I remembered from Yuri's introduction in the game.
I glanced at the demon, and when the intensity of their stare didn't lessen, I swiftly added, "I…I read it from a…[tale]…long ago. That tale described you, Yuri…and that's how I knew…what to call you."
The demon assessed me and the truth of my words for a long moment.
Then they scrunched their face in disgust.
"That tale boasts about those cursed Palancers as well?" they retched, and I exhaled with relief when the grip on my heart eased. "Tell me, little one, does it still exist? And is there anybody else who knows of it?"
"…I'm not sure," I ambiguously said since I couldn't exactly prove or disprove its existence in this world. "And I'm the only one…that I know of…that knows of it."
"Hm…your uncertainty displeases me," the demon softly hissed. "Spreading knowledge about us is quite dangerous, you see… I suppose I'll have to investigate and silence the source myself."
When the demon noticed my alarm, they grinned, sweetly adding, "But of course—if you are the sole human who knows about us—I won't kill you. Why would I? When you're the life I saved!"
[…]
The demon smirked before piping up with, "As a reward for answering, I'll tell you a secret in return."
They leaned over with their lips curled up, their violet hair hanging past my head as they whispered to my face, "I am not Yuri—I am Uri!"
Then they whooshed away with a humph, swimming circles in the air as they huffed, "I am not my brother! So don't call me Yuri! I am Uri! His sister! Not Yuri! Understand, little one?! Understand?"
[…]
"…Uri…" I breathed with mental exhaustion, no longer having the strength to question whatever information was exiting the demon's mouth.
"YES!" Uri crowed happily. "There's Yuri! And Uri—that's me! But there's also [Ouri]! And [Kana]! And [Cel] as well—no, wait, they'll visit if I continue calling. Oh…what if they learn about my humans and they start wanting what isn't theirs—little one, all you need to know is that there is Yuri, and then there is Uri! Understand?"
"…Yes," I softly said.
"Hm, are you sleeping?" I vaguely heard Uri say as my eye shut. "No~!! I was just having fun! Kcreya never listens when I talk this much!"
…
"Hm…Fine..."
…
"I'll see you again, little one…" was the last, melodic thing I heard before exhaustion and sleep claimed me.
║║║║║║║║║║
The next time I awoke, I awoke to grief-stricken sobbing.
When my eye opened, I found Winston weeping over me.
"…A…Airee…?" he sobbed out when he realized I was awake.
"Winston…?" was all I got out before he broke into loud bawls.
I sat up, shocked, and panicked.
Tears streamed down Winston's face as he wept aloud, and my face scrunched up when an equally heavy emotion wracked my chest.
"You…you...IDIOT!!" I roared at him as memories of the incident flooded to mind, as I remembered the moment when I thought I lost him. "You…you're…YOU'RE AN IDIOT!!"
"S-sorry…!!! I-I…I'm…sorry…!" he blubbered in-between his heaving cries. "I-I'm…s-sorry, Airee…!!"
I disintegrated into emotional sobs, causing Winston to weep and apologize even louder.
In the wake of our joined cries, loud footsteps pounded in the distance, and soon, the door to the room swung open.
Sir Ruloc loomed in the doorway, with Shire and the other knights crashing into his back as they rushed to enter the room.
Before anyone could even enter, however, Sir Ruloc sucked in an angry breath and roared, "YOU STUPID FOOLS!!!"
The veins in the captain's temple burst as he glared menacingly at Winston and me. "HOW DARE YOU CHASE DANGER?! DID YOU THINK YOU WERE BOTH STRONG ENOUGH TO HANDLE A CREATURE OF THAT CALIBRE??!! WHAT DID YOU THINK WOULD HAPPEN, THAT YOU WOULD LEAVE UNSCATHED???!!! HOW DARE YOU DISOBEY MY ORDER AND GET HURT LIKE THIS!!! HOW DARE YOU???!!! HOW DARE YOU—YOU STUPID—IDIOTIC—BRAINLESS—SELFISH—BRAAAAATSS!!!!!"
I didn't who broke first, but Winston and I began bawling in unison, both amplifying each other until we both became an indistinguishable blob of wailing.
"Aw, sir… Give them a break, sir…!" I heard Shire say playfully, though his voice sounded choked with emotion.
Sir Ruloc's jaws tightened, and—just when I thought he was reprimanding us again—he stormed over and embraced us.
"You…stupid…brats!!" he repeated, harshly but softly this time, his voice rough and choked with tears. "Don't you ever do this alone again!! Do you both understand?!!"
Winston and I both blubbered out incoherent noises of apologies and acquiesces before crying in Sir Ruloc's arms for a long time.
=====
Kcreya was travelling on horseback, leaving Claymore's Peak behind when Uri suddenly appeared next to him.
"And where have you been?" he asked with half-interest.
He suspected she had just fed since a satisfied smirk was splitting her face. Yet…although smug, she looked drained of vigor, her hair and skin having lost its richness and her antler's color having faded to an almost rotting tone.
When Kcreya questioned about it, Uri simply uttered, "You're not the only human I've invested in."
Before he could ask anything further, the person who was slumped over in the saddle in front of him stirred.
"…Kcreya…?" the person whispered softly.
"Your Majesty…!" Kcreya exclaimed, shocked to see his companion had awoken.
Forgetting about Uri, Kcreya jerked the horse to a stop and tended to the companion, worried and relieved.
"I feel much better…thank you…Kcreya…" the companion weakly answered to Kcreya's worried enquiries.
"I'm sorry, your Majesty—if—if only I had been stronger…!" Kcreya uttered in remorse.
"…No…don't blame yourself…" the companion murmured shortly before drifting back to sleep.
[…]
Kcreya leaned his head against the back of his companion and squeezed his eyes shut.
"Thank you…" he whispered, gritting his teeth. "Thank you for surviving, your Majesty…"
…
He stayed like that for a second before reigning in his emotions and re-guiding the horse towards the path home.
"I can make all your problems go away, Kcreya~!" Uri sang as she swam in the air alongside him. "All you need to do is ask."
"I'll keep that in mind," Kcreya responded as always.
Uri frowned before grinning.
She didn't mind waiting for Kcreya's downfall; he was the most interesting toy to appear in centuries, after all.
And of course—her new toy! She would also wait for her new toy, as well!
Chortling with anticipation, Uri shot up and swam excited circles in the sky above.