He woke up in a dead environment. Dead trees, plants, flowers, everything was dead. He knew that the Daemon would only chase him down if he entered the Grand Shrine again, so he took his time to make a bow. Yet again, he struggled trying to find string...
He spent almost half a day trying to find the perfect strand of string and took him a day or two to finished his bow. Now, it was time for him to make the arrows.
He roamed around the central town to find his materials and later he found a coop. Somehow the chickens were alive and healthy, but he didn't mind. All he knew was he had feathers in front of him. He took his time gathering feathers and spent some moments being attacked by the chickens.
Thankfully this time, it was better than the first one. After taking almost a whole day to make a bow, he tested it on a chicken. He shot a few to finally get used to it, but he didn't clean them up.
He took his time researching about Aernas and its history. He spent more than a day roaming around the ruins to look for illustrations and scrolls. Going through them, he read about what kind of creature their ancestors were.
"Blood sucking"
"Cannibals"
"Ruthless"
The descriptions were far from how Apollon was described in the books of Aomori. Apollon was described as The Guardian of Aernas who was kind and merciful, afraid of blood and afraid of inflicting pain towards another. How come he's different from his ancestors?
Was this the reason for his change of self? Kaori had many more questions. Somehow, the history of Aernas doesn't line up with everything he knew, and this frustrated him. How the hell was he going to "defeat" him?! Nothing gave him a step further to the answer, it all gave him more puzzles to solve.
That night, he was drifting to sleep when he heard slow and heavy footsteps. He looked out so see Apollon, weeping as he looked around. He was walking slowly with the body of a little girl as he tried to find somewhere to bury her.
"Sorry... Sorry..." He kept apologizing over and over.
He kneeled down and began to dig a hole for the little girl, and buried her gently. He stayed there for a while, as if he was praying. After half an hour, he walked back to the Grand Shrine.
Kaori walked towards the grave and even saw a rock serving as the tombstone for the little girl. The girl wasn't from around here, obviously. The girl had different clothing, he observed earlier. He took a look around to find another "tombstone", then another... and another. It was Apollon's little graveyard. Each one had a flower, and every flower was golden yellow. Petals from the golden tree were scattered on the ground. Maybe he wasn't that hostile after all. Maybe, just maybe, Apollon was still there.
Now Kaori had a hard time deciding between killing him or sparing him.
Kaori stood still, thinking... thinking and thinking... and became frustrated. What will he do now? He asked himself over and over again. "What now?"
As he stood there, it started to rain. He ran to his shelter and let out annoyed groans. To relax himself, he untied his hair and ruffled it a little, took deep breaths and looked out to watch the rain.
He was tired.
The rain was cold, both calming and uncomfortable. The rain accompanied Kaori throughout the lonely night.
In the morning, it was still pouring.
Kaori reached out to feel the rain on his hand, to feel the cold droplets against his cold palm. He fixed his clothes and prepared to head out, glancing at his bow. After a moment of hesitation, he brought his bow and arrows with him.
The streets of Aernas was cold and wet as Kaori approached the Grand Shrine. Sitting there, was "Apollon", The Daemon on Envy. His eyes were red from crying, his clothes were wet in the rain. He sat on the seat of the High Priestess and slowly he looked at Kaori.
"I never chose this path." He said as he caressed his pendant.
"It's her fault, but its not."
"I want to kill her, but I can't."
Apollon stood up.
"I want to kill you... but I won't."
"I wanted to be different from the ancestors of this land. The ancestors who birthed me."
"I'm no cannibal. I'm no blood-thirsty creature. I am a god, I am the Numen of Aernas."
Kaori stood in the rain, in front of Apollon. He held tight on his bow. He wants to shoot him, to end everything and be on his way home. Somehow, he feels as if he had a part in it. He felt as if, he had something to do with what happened to Aernas and it's Numen. So he prepared himself. He prepared for Apollon's attack and-
"Kill me" whispered Apollon.
Kaori froze, and looked up at him.
"What do you mean?"
"Just to it. Go forward, and kill me. Be my end, I don't wish to be breathing the same air as innocent humans. I shouldn't be allowed to."
Apollon then wore the necklace, placing the pendant to his heart.
"Shoot."
Kaori didn't know what pity or mercy is, nor did he know conscience. He aimed his bow at Apollon as he watched his eyes grow darker, his energy more hostile. In a second, Apollon was shot at the heart.
"Easy, wasn't it... Kaori?" Apollon fell to the floor.
Kaori stared at him, his body on the wet and cold floor. His surroundings being more clear. The rain had cleared the fog and from the distance, Kaori could see the exit. He saw the gate he entered from, the gate that led him to Aernas.
Kaori went forward towards the body for the broken pendant. Many tries later, he failed to pull the pendant from him. He stood up and grabbed a rusted, broken sword from the dirt. Went back to the body, and forced the pendant away from his body.
He held the pendant in his hands as he walked towards the exit. Apollon's blood flows with the rain water, down the stairs.