"Paisley! Yarrow!" Aster called out in the halls. "Where could they be?" Stopping for a second to think, Aster realized, "They were probably working in the dormitory office!" He continued dashing through the halls, small water and blood puddles scattered throughout the halls, the results of various battles. As various demons dissipated after fighting hard, midnight weapons were the only thing left in their watery corpse.
Bursting into the dormitory office, the dark and still room sat silently. "Nobody's here?" After searching the small office, Aster dashed out of the office and continued sprinting down the corridor. "They could've been on their way to the storage room!" Aster turned down the hall he was down earlier, thinking, "this is the fastest way there!"
As he looked down the passage, the bone demon from earlier stood patiently next to the glass panes separating the hallway from the generator room, various electrical boxes and tubes quietly whirred.
"We meet again, boy," the demon greeted, "seems you broke our agreement."
Staring at the feral demon that stood in front of him, Aster mused, "No! He's right in my way!" He suddenly felt his hands beginning to rumble and shiver. "Not again, it's taking everything I have not to run away!"
"I don't know why you would come back, I guess I should just stop questioning teens, they rarely make good decisions," the demon considered, a crude club formed from bone manifested in the demon's large hand. Taking in a deep breath, Aster calmed his hands and his heart began to beat like a light drum.
"I just need to remember—remember that I can still use my sword to cut and slice."
Aster readied his stance, holding the pommel of his sword next to his side. The demon abruptly charged Aster, holding his club haphazardly above his head. Aster hesitated to attack the demon once he was in range, instead, moving like a deer and dashing past the demon, scurrying down the hallway. His face stressed his eyes to stay open, with his mind scrambling
, "I can't! I can't fight this—monster!" A distant memory of a pocket knife passed through his mind.
"Don't think you can run!" The bone demon declared, lashing a large whip-like mass at Aster, crunching against his side, sending him crashing through the window panes into the generator room. His blade was sent flying through the room, eventually lodging itself into the circuit breaker; broken electricity flying around it. Aster lay crumbled around a gallery of broken glass, blood painted his vision in crimson. He gasped as he lost the feeling in his legs.
"Aster," a voice called out. His weak and blinded eyes shifted up to his blade, even with his hindered eyesight, his blade held a yellow glow.
Aster stuck a hand out, ruminating, "if I could just reach it, I feel like—everything will be okay." His quivering hands dragged his crippled body, he could hear the demon's steps getting closing. In the darkness of his mind, Aster found the resolve to push his body, his teeth mincing against each other. The drum beat in his heart hit harder and louder, drowning everything else out. The demon spout an insult as it slowly stepped into the room, however, Aster's heart beat drowned it out. Aster propped his right arm down to lift himself, he felt the electric current dancing around his fingers. "This voice—I hear it now!" He declared. As he gripped the blade, he howled, "Conduit! You're power is mine!"