And I'm awake. Wait? Where am I. I was just holding Ren's hand. Now I'm in a forest? Where's the underworld I should be? Or maybe Gaia for an even worse-
Fuck!
Saying her name definitely is still not allowed for demons.
Hmmm.
Now that I think about it… I did promise to be friends with Ren in another life. Maybe Ga- Earth Lady has graced me so I can follow through with my promise. Thank you.
I should see if I still can use magic.
Huh. It seems I have lit the surrounding aflame.
No matter, my information has been earned.
And like that, the fire is gone. Got to love magic. Still amazes me to this day.
I shouldn't draw too much attention. I'm still not sure what domain I reside in. This forest appears large.
Crap! People.
"Fen I thought you said we'd be gone for a few da-"
Fuck they have good senses! They're staring directly at me? Seriously? I didn't even have time to hide my presence.
"Show yourself."
Do I have a choice? Here goes.
I've learned it's best to keep my mouth closed. And it's clear they've tensed from my presence. I should probably seal some of it.
"Phew. I thought we were about to fight a beast."
I grin…I would love to just toy with them.
But I won't. I promised I'll be good. For now.
"Who are you?"
Oh right.
"Ae-"
Crap. Do they know about me? Is this in the future?
"Ae? What a waste of time. C'mon Fen."
"Aetriek."
"Mn. Hey! Stop pulling me?! He smells interesting."
"Fen stop sniffing this forest weirdo and let's get in with our quest."
Ok. He's asking for a fight. I can't let myself get humiliated like this. Forest weirdo?! I'll- ugh.
I can't kill him. He's just rude. His aura [1] is mainly white.
"I um-"
What's a good lie?
"I'm kind of lost. I make and gather potions. I seem to have lost my bag when I got chased by a beast."
"Intriguing. Where's you're guards?"
Alright this- calm down. He kinda does have a right to be concerned.
"I can handle for myself."
"So then how…"
"Stampede of Ixtel" [2]
"I thought you were chased by a beast?" This time the person I can assume is Fen chimes in.
"I was fighting a Vernith [3] when the stampede of Ixtel came."
I had extended my arm, having used magic to create a Vernith scratch illusion.
I could see their suspicion in their eyes fade, not completely. It was definitely still there. But it lessened.
"Join us, we're off to the next town over. We part after that."
"Deal."
——————————————————
Okay so like… now we're walking.
——————————————————
And… shits about to go down.
So because I'm a demon, my powers work differently than Fen and the other guy's. Which also happens to mean I can sense auras from a longer distance.
I only didn't notice them originally because I was deep in thought. However, I can definitely feel something coming at terrifyingly fast speeds towards us.
But I can't do anything.
If I do, they know I'm super powerful and wouldn't have lost to a Vernith and some Ixtel.
However it seems that the least of my worries, because they've already realized I've noticed something.
"Spill it."
And there it is. A sword to my throat.
"Um-how do I put this lightly?"
He chuckled,
"You don't scare me."
"Yeah yeah. I'd be more worried about the beast flying extremely fast towards us. Should be here in about 3.2…1"
Tumble, Crash, Sssss?!
So I might have reacted extremely fast and pushed me and the guy out of the way.
But this beast just took out a whole tree with its charge and set it on fire.
And I'm currently on top of the guy in a ambiguous manner.
Both of my hands are on either side of his head, with my legs right up next to his hips.
"Fen?! Are you okay?!"
"I'm alright!" He began to fly to us, but you could tell he definitely hadn't fully reacted to get out of the way.
The person I'm above has not moved his hands, resting them onto mine as he looks up to meet my eyes.
"How did you-"
"Not important. Let's just kill it."
"Thought you were a potion maker?"
"Never said I didn't know how to use magic. Plus, while I have made potions before, that was clearly a shitty lie."
I've now scrambled off him, as he happened to chuckle and stood up.
I looked towards the direction of fire burning and realized that that was a fucking demon flame. So much for hiding my identity, I'm definitely going to get found out now.
Yet I thought deeply.
Demons shouldn't have found their way to fully get across to the human world yet, right? And why was one here anyways? Should I reveal that I'm a demon? Would I be able to stop myself from losing sanity in my demon form?
"It seems we're about to die," the person I still dunno the name of spoke first.
"Damnit, I wanted to hide a little longer." I mumbled under my breath yet it seems they heard me.
The demon, having now looked at me, spoke with a lower voice that probably would have hurt my ears if naught I was used to it, couldn't say the same for the other two.
"The reject, Aetriek. Come to do better this time? The human world might've rewinded, but not us."
Fen stared at me with a confused expression, with his partner staring in anger.
"I'm not here to cause harm. But next time Aetriek, we will see whose stronger. We will see indeed."
Who is he? Why can't I remember. In fact, I don't remember any of the demons. Why is this all blank? Why is his face blank?
And the demon vanished.
Tackled from behind, I let the guy fist my shirt, pulling me head level with him.
"Who are you?"
"Aetriek."
"Why does the demon know you."
"I-uh. Hmmmm… how do I say this correctly? So in another timeline I happened to have made a promise with someone and died. Now, it seems like I've rewinded time and I'm here."
"The doesn't explain why the demon knows you." Fen added
" I'm a demon, but I've lost my memories about the other demons so I dunno who that was."
An awkward silence broke through the forest, as I struggled to get out the man's grip.
"Who are you now, I shared."
"Wolf."
"As. As in the animal?" My suppressed smile formed a line of my face.
"Yes you brat."
"Hey! I'll show you who's the-" I paused. I don't want to hurt anyone,"I just want to live a normal life this time" I mumbled, hoping they wouldn't hear me.
Finally Wolf unclenched my shirt and sat on the ground.
"So what can you do?"
"Your not afraid I'll just like… kill you?" Was this man reckless?
"You would've already."
True. I probably would've…
"Well I can fly, with and without wings. I have a high metabolism, I'm physically fit, I have a higher aptitude [4] of magic, ect."
"I see. Well we need to keep going, otherwise we won't be back in Tyn for the school exams."
I paused… they're going to Tyn?
"Can I tag along? There's someone I need to meet."
"No."
"Of course!"
Fen nudged Wolf before whispering in his ear
"How else will I be able to see a demon's powers. Plus, he could be useful in defending against demons."
"Fine," Wolf grumbled.