Archive of Our Own ^beta

This mission was already beginning to feel like a huge drag.

Aphmau feels a little guilty about thinking like that, because she’s sure the potential lives that could be threatened by the demon here are incredibly important!

It’s just… they’ve been here for a whole month now. And no one has spotted anything that could be a lead to the demon since the first week they arrived here.

That first week, she was at the very least able to smell it. So that was something – they weren’t following a false lead. She’d have some strong words for Woof if they were…

Yet it’s like they’ve long disappeared since that week.

She’s getting a little tired of the waiting game. As nervous as she is (did she mention this is only her second mission too?), she wants to actually do something to help!

But Irene forbid she start to get bored of this. Garroth is too honourable, despite his silliness, to actually give up. She’s not known Laurance long enough to get a good read on him, but she’s pretty certain he wouldn’t want to leave yet either.

In fact, they’re busy leaving her here as they go patrol the outskirts of the village themselves.

Which is totally unfair, by the way, because she’s plenty capable as well. Her short stature doesn’t mean anything no matter how many times they point it out!

Why can’t she be with them right now? It makes no sense that they get to be out there when it was her crow that even gave them the mission in the first place. They wouldn’t even be a team if it weren’t for her.

The idea of leaving to search for it on her own…

It would be very enticing, if it weren’t for her own demons. Literally. She’s way too protective of Daniel to leave him alone, but she performs the best with her sword without the weight of him on her back.

Plus, if she goes out, then she’d have to tell Garroth and Laurance where she’s going, and then they’ll refuse to let her leave, and then…

Gaahhh! It’s not fair!

Maybe she’s being childish here, but Aphmau’s been looking forward to doing more missions. Her not alone buddies have probably gone on so many in the time she’s been stuck here.

…Maybe she should’ve teamed up with them instead.

She likes Garroth and Laurance, of course she does, but Vylad and Travis would’ve done a patrol with her instead of making her stay in the room with their stuff. They would’ve believed in her instead of treating her like she’s fragile.

She can admit that that’s also immature of her to think, though, that she should have a different team. She’s who insisted they come with her in the first place.

All she can really do about it is sigh and wait for them to return.

Though, then again, she sits up on her futon, my whole issue with sneaking out was the getting caught part…

If they aren’t here right now, then what did she really have to lose? As long as she avoids the directions the boys went in, nothing should really happen. She could smell it when they’re nearby too, if she really needs to!

Woof wouldn’t rat her out either. At least, if she tries, Aphmau’s sure her voice is way too annoying to all of them for anyone to bother listening. She thinks everyone’s started to tune the little crow’s voice out a long time ago.

With it being nighttime, she figured it should be easier as well. The moonlight shouldn’t make her purple haori too noticeable.

“It’s the perfect plan!” She whispers aloud to herself, pumping a fist up into the air as she stands up.

Stumbling a little through the pillows on the floor, she makes her way to her sword and Daniel’s box. The sight of it makes her hesitate a little. Could she really leave him behind like that?

Maybe they’ll feel more secure about me sneaking out if I had someone with me… She reasons, but really, she’s who’d feel more secure being able to keep an eye on him.

She may have to take the box off at some point, though, if there actually is any danger. As much as she would hate leaving him alone on the floor like that, she’d rather be able to fight to keep him protected.

…The whole village too, but she can’t help prioritizing her brother sometimes. He’s the closest person to her she has left at this point.

So, very carefully as an attempt to not wake him up, she picks his box up and settles it on her back, before brandishing her Nichirin Sword. The purple hue shimmered in the golden light of a nearby candle.

She can prove herself with this.

It’s silly, but she sort of feels like she has to. She can’t have survived Final Selection for nothing, or gotten there all alone in the first place for nothing, and Garroth and Laurance’s overprotectiveness has started to make her feel like she did.

She has to prove she was allowed to live for a reason.

Aphmau should’ve expected how creepy the woods would be when it’s a place a demon may be hiding, but she can’t help the shiver down her back at every little noise nonetheless.

Getting past the village was surprisingly easy – she was especially surprised that she didn’t catch any sighting of Garroth or Laurance while she was out. In her time with them, they were incredibly thorough people, and would no doubt do multiple checks throughout the whole village before deeming anything safe.

Maybe that should be a cause for concern, especially when she pairs it with the realisation that she couldn’t really smell anyone in the town.

Unfortunately, she was too distracted by how disturbing the twist and turns of the branches looked, and how unnerving the crunch of the twigs under her feet sounded. It was almost like she was stepping on a pile of bones.

Uegh, she did not like the visual she just gave herself.

She’s almost regretting her decisions. At least if Garroth were here she could ignore the anxiety she feels, as he always manages to brighten up the mood no matter the situation. Even Laurance’s strange quips would make her feel safer.

“Well, it’s fiiine, that I’m out here alone.” She starts to reason aloud in a whisper, nervously tugging at her hair, “W-well, not alone, because you’re here, Daniel! But it’s fine, because I’m proving myself, and I can smell that they haven’t been to this place yet.”

Sniffing again, she confirmed as such. There was hardly the smell of anything nearby, only something vaguely like the environment. She noticed this time how odd that seemed.

“Buuut, that means I could discover something new. I hope…”

Something new means action, action means she proves she’s competent, being competent means… Okay, her plan didn’t go that far ahead. But it’s still something.

Taking a deep breath, Aphmau continues her trek forward. Her hold on the straps of Daniel’s box was incredibly tight, using it to ground herself with the thought of him being there as she kept herself acutely aware of the smells in the air at all times.

It was so odd how little it was changing.

Just now they had passed by a patch of wildflowers, and Aphmau didn’t catch the scent of that at all. Instead she caught on to the scent of dirt and rocks.

Which made fairly little sense to her – shouldn’t wildflowers be a stronger smell than the dirt below them?

Why wouldn’t she smell the grass either?

Humming, she lowered herself to the ground and attempted to press her hand to it. She gasped as it phased through, the grass seemingly not being real at all. How did she not notice that earlier?

…Was that why she could smell nobody in town? Had this been happening the whole time, and she only noticed it now once she had left the inn they were staying in? She thinks her head might start reeling if she questions it any further.

At least Daniel’s really here, she hoped, my hand didn’t slip through the straps of his box!

But – But how come it took Garroth and Laurance so long to realize anything? Hadn’t they been doing patrols every day for the entire past month?

She knows they’re too worried about her to let her leave when they think there’s danger nearby, but she’d think they’re also the type to warn her of said danger instead of leaving her in the dark.

None of this made any sense to her.

She felt her breath shake at the next thought she had. Was it possible that the Garroth and Laurance that were staying with her were fake as well? Have they been this entire time? Did they swap with real ones the moment they reached the village?

But… Aphmau could feel the sheets she slept under in the inn. She could eat the food in there, set on and off a lantern, and use their bathing supplies.

She could feel the warmth of Garroth and Laurance’s hands when she grabbed them as she wished them good luck on patrols, could feel Garroth accidentally kick her in her sleep, could feel Laurance lean against her as they sat together in the hall.

She supposed, thinking back on it, they stopped being as affectionate last week. They’d leave on patrol earlier in the morning, when she’s still asleep, and they moved their futons further away from hers.

Her brain was trying to ignore it, or else she’d feel even worse about being on this mission, but… if they were replaced with fakes, or whatever it is that’s happening right now, they must’ve been avoiding anything that could lead to physical touch.

Someone, who very well may be the demon they’re here for, had to be messing with her.

Aphmau couldn’t help the hiccup in her throat as tears built up in her eyes. What the hell happened to them? How could I not notice!?

It… it must’ve been intentional that I didn’t, until now… If they could control those illusions on a whim, which seemed pretty likely for a demon, then they could’ve been able to stop her from running out here.

They had to be watching right this moment.

Wiping her tears away before they managed to spill, she tried to pull herself together and put on a brave face, before calling out to whoever the demon may be. She won’t let them bring her down from defending her friends.

“I- I know this isn’t real now!” She yells, ignoring the tremble in her voice, “Where did you take Garroth and Laurance!?”

It takes a moment for any sort of response, but the moment she gets one, she finally, finally manages to latch on to the scent of the demon. The scent of one never fails to terrify her, and she can’t help the squeak she lets out when she hears laughter the next second.

“Hahahaha! It took you a whole month!?”

She feels her heart drop at the familiarity of it. That laugh, the sound of their voice, the way they made fun of her. Aphmau’s certain she’s heard it all before.

She playfully shoved the boy to the side as he complained about how quickly she picked up the breathing style. It was all in good fun to her, learning how to be a Demon.

Being put into this position because of her family already having been a part of the Corps, Aphmau didn’t really have any strong feelings on the matter.

She just liked the boost of energy she got from winning a spar, and it was fun to be better than her training partner at something for once.

It’s not like she had much else to do with her days anyways. The only other thing she could really do was draw, play with Daniel, and do her father’s other lessons.

He was better than her with every other lesson her father gave to his students, too. She didn’t see what there was to be upset about.

As if he could read her mind, he shot up from their spot on the bench and quickly grabbed one of the real swords this time, and not some shabby training one.

“Hahahaha! I could probably use it perfectly in a battle against a real demon!” He declared, and Aphmau thought nothing of it at the time, laughing alongside him. “You’d just freeze up on the spot and drop your sword. I wouldn’t be surprised if I have to save you from being gobbled up by it.”

“What!? No! I-I wouldn’t be scared at all!” She refuted, but she couldn’t help laughing more despite his words.

“Prove it then!”

How in the world could she do that? They aren’t ready for Final Selection yet. Her father had to tell him that over and over every night – for whatever reason, he’s really obsessed with the idea of being ready for it.

She tried to ignore how her dad only said he wasn’t ready though, and nothing about the rest of his students, each time it happened. If she looked closer, she could tell he couldn’t ignore it himself.

Shaking those thoughts off, her response to his exclamation led to one thing or another, and now she finds herself standing in front of a forest near her home after sneaking out of the place with him.

“Zack always tells everyone this place is unsafe.” He explained, brandishing his stolen sword. Aphmau had forgotten to steal her own in the rush to get here. All she has is the training one. “Dunno why he lives near it then, but whatever. Let’s go in!”

“W-wait–”

Her protest is left unheard as he grabs hold of her hand and runs into the woods, not caring for the potential danger in the slightest. Aphmau thinks that’s another thing he can hold over her head; actually being able to be brave.

But her worry quickly bleeds into laughter again as they run together, and she finds herself unafraid of what’s in here knowing that he’s not scared himself.

It’s a wonder how soon everything changed again. The moment she caught the brief horrid smell of a demon, she froze in place, but she didn’t even get to process it before it all went wrong.

One second she had been laughing with her training partner, and the next she found herself flung into a tree as he yelled in surprise. She didn’t even get to see what threw her before it happened.

“What–” She cut herself off with a cough as she tried to sit back up, floundering around for her flimsy excuse of a sword. “What was that!?”

“Yes!”

Yes!?!

Aphmau didn’t understand what there was to be excited about. She just got flung into a tree a second ago, how in the world is he not afraid?

Looking up, she feels fear pool her veins at what greets her.

It didn’t look human, not in the slightest. Glowing eyes and huge fangs were the most she could make out, and if she looked closer, she thought it somewhat resembled a wolf of some kind. Albeit a very messed up one.

“Ein– Ein get away from that thing!” She yelled, only to be ignored as he lifted up his sword. “We can’t fight something like this, are you crazy!?”

Her training partner didn’t care for anything she had to say. It stung a little, to be ignored like that, but she knew there were more important things than worrying about how he was treating her right now.

Shakily pulling herself up (ow, ow, ow, her back hurt so bad) from where she’d been carelessly thrown to, she made an attempt to get back to his side. Every step she took sent a sharp pain through her body.

“You already proved you’d be afraid,” he finally responded, glancing briefly back towards her, “Now I can prove myself too!”

“Wha– I- I was thrown– Prove what!?” None of what he was saying made sense to her right now. This is a life or death situation, not a spar.

“We need to run, get my dad– Anything but fight it!”

It was one ear out the other with him right now. She groaned in frustration, and immediately regretted it at how it reminded her body of how everything hurt. Why was he so focused on this?

She could tell Ein had issues before any of this. He craved the attention of his trainer like all of her father’s students did, but he never got it, and it clearly only made him long for it more.

Yet this had a whole other level to it.

All he’s going to do is get himself killed, and maybe even her as well in the process. The swords both of them have aren’t even Nichirin Blades. What are they supposed to do against a demon’s regenerative head?

“Ein, you can’t even kill it!” She yelled, telling him just that, “That sword is just... just like any other normal one! Dad doesn’t store anything super strong in the courtyard, I’d know!”

And, she adds in her head, he’d go on and on about how it’s the wielder’s strength that matters too…

She knew if she said that part out loud, it’d only egg him on more, urging him to keep fighting. He’d hate the reminder of how little faith her father seemed to have in him, especially when he’s not thinking right.

Levelling himself to the ground, ready to slash, Ein grumbled in annoyance. Did he not even want her helping him? Warning him? This hardly felt like her friend anymore, he wouldn’t shut her out like this.

Now she’s wondering if she really even knew the true him, even after all that time training together.

The demon knocks its giant, claw-like hand into Ein just as he attempts to leap towards it, and she flinches at the scream of pain he lets out as he lands roughly against the floor. Her anxiety worsens at the way he shakily tries to pull himself up.

I need to do something.

She thinks this, but Aphmau knows deep down that Ein was right. She isn’t ready either, not like her father thinks she is, because each time she thinks about drawing her blade in a real situation she freezes up immediately.

How come Ein can’t see that he has the strength for bravery that she doesn’t?

“Ein! You’ve proved yourself plenty, please!” She attempts to reach him again, trying her best to walk over to where he landed, “You’re stronger than any of my dad’s Slayers could ever be! Just- Just let it go!”

For a reason she couldn’t understand, that didn’t seem to be enough for Ein to stop.

Ignoring her words once more, he tries to stand his ground against the demon, holding his sword up above his head. Her heart drops at the sight of blood dripping from his nose.

His sword slashes down into the wolves muzzle, and she winces at the howl of pain it lets out, but the wound heals just as quickly as he landed the blow. How strong is this thing…?

Would Ein have a chance to at least subdue it if he had control over a breathing style?

Its glowing, red eyes didn’t give way to any hint of pain, though Aphmau wouldn’t exactly say she’s an expert on reading demons. This is the first one she’s ever seen in person, and now she’s beginning to think it’s the last thing she’ll ever see.

If anything, she thinks the glint in its eye was something of hunger, overriding any chance for pain to show. Her stomach drops at the thought.

A starving demon can be impossible to run from. It’d do anything to catch its prey, to satiate its hunger and desire for a meal. If she doesn’t start running now, while it’s distracted with Ein, she’d never have a chance to get away.

She stays frozen in place instead.

I’m too afraid to fight, she frowns, gritting her teeth through the pain blooming from her back, and too afraid to run… She knows it’s unreasonable to see it as something to take blame for, with their lack of a viable weapon, but she can’t help the pit she feels in her stomach nonetheless.

Watching as Ein gets slashed across the face again makes her feel all the worse.

This time, he stumbles a little more, losing his grip on his sword to cover the new wound across his nose with his hand. The sword was thrown to the side from the speed at which Ein moved his arm at, clattering on the ground just ahead of Aphmau.

Her breath catches in her throat.

Looking at the sword, she feels her hands shake (though, they probably already were) as she realises Ein’s now entirely defenseless. Her father never taught them anything of hand to hand combat, and she doubted it had much against this strong of a demon either way.

Why does she have to struggle with making decisions right now? Why is she faltering at all when her friend is in danger? Why did she have to go along with Ein’s whims?

Tears pricked the corner of her eyes, and apologies started to spill from her mouth before she even knew what she’d have to apologize for.

“I’m sorry.” she whispers shakily, taking a step away from the blade instead of reaching towards it. She watches as the demon gets closer to Ein in the same moment, baring its teeth. “Ein, I’m so sorry.”

She hates herself for it, but her fear of fighting outweighed her fear of running. Aphmau couldn’t get herself to do anything with that blade.

The apologies feel powerless on her tongue – a sorry wouldn’t do anything to get Ein away from the demon’s inevitable grasp, but Aphmau knows she’s too weak to carry him out with her. She knows she’s also too slow if the demon were to chase them both.

Sniffling as she wipes her eyes, she turns on her heel and starts to run as quick as she can with the pain in her back, trying not to think about how selfish her decision must have been as she runs and runs.

The last thing she heard before she made it out was the slashing of a sword (did Ein manage to sit up, then?) and the howling of a wolf. The sound pierced her ears.

I’m sorry, I’m sorry, I’m sorry–

She repeats the thought again and again as if it’d do anything to cleanse Ein’s blood from her hands.

Aphmau’s eyes widened, and she cursed herself for having the instinct to hold her sword out. She can’t help the fear that the scent of a demon was making her feel right now, and she can’t fight the urge to go on the defense.

“...Ein?” She tentatively called out, as though she could possibly be wrong about why his voice was so familiar, but she knew there was no way she was. “You’re… You’re alive?”

A condescending cackle is all she gets in response. It was confirmation enough for her, however, the distinct sound bringing a brief smile to her face before she remembered where she was. He’s clearly involved in this, somehow, don’t get distracted!!

“Nevermind that.” Aphmau shakes her head, grip tightening on the hilt of her sword. She needs to focus here.

“I won’t ask again! W-Where did you take Garroth and Laurance?”

A disappointed tsk echoed out around her, making her realise that her own voice had been echoing as well. Would they be in a cave with the illusion dispelled? That’d explain the scents.

She shivered as a wind suddenly blew into the cave, which she may as well just assume that’s where she is now, and shielded her face with her arms as she squeaked in surprise.

When it dies down, she jumps back at the face her eyes meet as she lowers her hands.

...They’re green.

It’s a weird first thought to have, when first seeing the childhood friend she’s thought to be dead for years now. But Aphmau couldn’t help but notice it. They were gray, the last time she had seen him.

Searching his face, she notices more differences.

The way he smiled seemed soulless, now adorning fangs in his grin. There was no light behind his eyes, the bright green feeling so artificial that she can’t help the uneasy feeling it gave her, as it was nothing like how he looked at her before.

Even with his troubles, Ein had a glimmer of hope in his eyes whenever they sparred. She can’t see even a hint of that warmth in his gaze now.

Thinking back on her actions, Aphmau can’t fault him for that. She left him behind for her own safety instead of bringing him with her, and now…

“You really are the demon behind this, aren’t you?” She whispered, eyes wide. “That demon, back then… it turned you.”

She doesn’t say the last part as a question, and instead as a statement. Aphmau doesn’t need him to confirm it for her to connect the dots for why his grin is pointer, why the newfound green of his eyes glowed, why his smell resembled that of the wolves that day.

Ein scoffed, as if her surprise was unwarranted. Perhaps it was, considering she’d be the reason why he wouldn’t be alive if it weren't for the demon that presumably saved him.

“Save me all the dramatics, Aphmau!” He exclaimed, rolling his eyes. “Duh. But the monster that day couldn’t compare to me now, and it couldn’t back then either. So no need to act so surprised that I’m capable of everything here, okay?”

Right. Because he totally had the upperhand in that battle.

Was he even telling the truth here? There’s no way that she can believe he got away. He’s obviously lying about the back then too, even if she doesn’t exactly know what went down after she ran.

He’s a liar now then. Of course.

Are his ears pointier too? The Slayer wondered, tilting her head to try to get a closer look. The demon raised an eyebrow at the action, his grin widening as he moved to flaunt his new demonic features.

It makes her stomach feel queasy. He’s seeing this as a good thing!?

The thought was uncomfortable. She shakes that off by looking up, realising his hair had fluffy parts to the sides of it. It somewhat resembles animalistic ears, reminding her of the demon that day.

“Oh, but it isn’t a huge shock to me that you are surprised by this.”

She didn’t think it was possible, but somehow Ein managed to piss her off more with his next words.

“You weren’t there to see it all happen! All because of that silly little fear of yours.” He said demeaningly, claws cupping the sides of his face. “Where was all this fighting spirit when you needed it, hmm?”

Stop it!

Her inner voice screams, but she can’t find the words in her throat. It’s clogged, her hands are clamming up, and she finds herself slipping back into the cowardice she felt that day. Just as Ein said.

“Just when your new little friends needed it too…” The demon sighed dramatically, now grabbing ahold of Aphmau’s face. She frowned and squirmed in his hold. “They were so easy to get away from you, simply by spinning a tale of your life being at stake. Though, I suppose it isn’t quite a lie anymore?”

Shakily reaching up, she managed to latch on to his wrist, digging her nails into his skin.

It did nothing to the quick regenerative abilities of a demon, and Ein leaned into her touch despite the disappearing and reappearing sting. It made her feel sick.

“But, I do have a proposal for you, Aphmau.”

Moving her free hand, the girl tried her best to gain back the upper hand in the fight with her sword, holding it to Ein’s throat to the best of her abilities despite their position and his height. It proved difficult, but she managed to twist around enough to make it work in the end.

“Like I’d listen to you!” She spat, finding that she can’t find it within herself to care right now. Her friends are in danger, damnit!

“Tsk, tsk, we’re having none of that, dear,” responded his sickening voice, and she thinks her nerves worsened at his choice of words. Who in the world said he could call her that? They weren’t even like that before any of this happened in the first place. “You’re not in a good position here to not listen.”

He grabs hold of the blade she finally got to hold against his throat, and presses himself against it without a care for the consequences, despite what he just said.

She could slice his head off so easily right now.

The opportunity is there, he is actively giving it to her, and yet she’s still finding herself freezing up in the moments that matter most. Her hands shake with the power she holds over his life in this position, and she cannot find it within herself to take it.

He knew she couldn’t do it, didn’t he?

“Ha– Hahahahaha! All you’ve accomplished here is proving me right!” He laughs hysterically, moving his other hand to help support the hold on her sword. “Why can’t you do it, Aph? What are you so afraid of?”

“Don’t call me that..!” Aphmau cries out, voice weak, and shames herself for it being the only thing she fought against.

She can tell from the look on Ein’s face that he noticed her lack of denying her fear as well. It makes her feel worse.

He pushes himself further against the blade, blood spilling from a cut the action nicked into his skin.

She knows that the moment the sword is pulled away from him, it’ll heal itself up in a matter of seconds, proving how little her efforts matter in this fight.

Aphmau couldn’t help herself from crying again, at the realisation of how powerless she feels right now.

“...’m sorry,” she mumbles, staring at where her weapon meets skin, “I’m so sorry.”

Ein pauses at that. It only lasts a moment before he’s laughing again.

“‘Sorry’?And what could the little Teacher’s Prodigy possibly have to apologise for?” He taunted, but she knew that he knew what she was referring to. It doesn’t take a genius to figure it out.

Then again, there’s plenty of other things she could say right now. Not just the abandoning of him, but also her ignorance to how he felt about his fighting ability – or rather, how she was aware of it, yet never reached out.

The way that her father treated him like he was just a tool for the future of the Demon Slayer Corps, and not a kid that needed a role model to protect him. The way that he looked at her from across the room when her father tucked her in for the night.

The way she couldn’t mention she was having dinner with her brother, having to tiptoe around anything remotely close to the topic of family.

How he refused to spar anyone else training under her father, always aiming to beat her instead. How he grumbled and kicked the rocks by them when they overheard kids talking about how she was a prodigy (albeit a little anxious) with the sword.

How he would stay up for nights on end to try to finally master the art of a breathing style, something that Aphmau had long since learned how to do.

Ein was so miserable when he was living, and now all he can do is make others miserable as well until the day his head is cut off.

"I’m sorry you had to become this way,” she settles on, and Ein briefly falters again.

But, she doesn’t think there’s anything she has to apologize for when it comes to what he did after becoming a demon. He’s chosen to do everything he’s done here.

I… I need to protect my friends. At least let me make up for when I failed to before.

Gathering as much confidence as she can into her stance, she pushes back against the hold he has on her blade while he’s distracted by her words, and attempts to slice it through his neck.

It’s hard to push through his skin, and she shudders as she watches his body attempt to break off into weird, goopy forms as she struggles. She swats at every little bit of him (ew) that tries to escape from her sword.

Come ooon–!

"WOAH!” She yells, suddenly flying forward onto her face as Ein’s form disperses, but not in the way a dying demon’s dissipating form would. It’s all goopy, or maybe the term shadowy would fit better, and was attempting to presumably regroup a little ways from her.

Her sword clattered against the floor beside her, and she struggles to grab hold of it as she reorientates herself from the startling fall.

A Blood Demon Art…?

Looking around, she realised the fake grass beneath her had the same effect on it in the places that her real body had intersected with it. So that’s what the illusions were then… He’s some freaky shadow creature. How original!

Was his blood earlier goop, too, then…? Eugh.

If that’s the case, then the inn was no doubt real, then. She wondered if the owners were in on this, or if this was entirely a coincidence. It all felt too elaborate to truly be the latter, but how would she not notice something off in such a long time if it were the former?

…Wait, was it really bones and not twigs that I was stepping on earlier? Gross!?

Glancing back to the shadow goop, she will workshop a better name for that later, she realised Ein had mostly reformed already.

It was unnerving how quickly he could recover, but at least she knows how to stun him now.

A month… Aphmau recounts, carefully pulling herself up from the ground with her sword. She made sure to mind Daniel’s box on her back as she does. “What did you mean when you said it ‘took me a whole month’? Were you actually here, that whole time?”

Ein grumbles before responding, and she blinks at how he actually looks a bit disorientated still. That stunned him more than I expected…

Not that she can rely entirely on it, though, as it seemed like an action Ein consciously chose to do to escape her sword. He’d catch on to her trying to use it to slow him down much too quickly.

"Was it not obvious? Of course, I was, Aph.” He scoffed, scratching at his head. Weird. “Your little guard dogs noticed my presence early on. It was the whole reason they kept insisting on keeping their defenceless Princess safe in her little castle!”

The petname coming from Ein’s voice managed to make her feel even more uneasy than she already felt. She didn’t know how, but he found a way to make her emotions run wild every time he opened his mouth.

“That… doesn’t sound like them, though.” She weakly argued, because she refused to believe her fellow Slayers wouldn’t at least warn her about potential danger.

Yes, they’re overprotective, and yes, she can tell they’re both afraid to lose someone important to them. Hence their refusal to let her leave an area of safety if they can help it.

No, she didn’t think they’re the types to withhold important information from her. Not when it’d endanger her more to not know. So she doesn’t get what would make them do so now.

“Didn’t I already tell you?” He flicks some of his shadow goop towards her as he speaks, making her jump back – it seemed he wasn’t hiding his Blood Demon Art anymore.

“I threatened your life to get them to leave you alone. Easy. It’s funny, they seemed to hold quite a lot of care for their teammates.”

"They– But they fully disappeared a week ago, didn’t they? Why would they be all… weird about me, for the entire mission?” She countered. He wasn’t making any sense right now.

Ein hummed, spinning her sword in his han– What? When had he gotten ahold of her weapon?

Glancing down, her sword was still in her hand at the same time he was holding a sword of his own. She had assumed his shadows weren’t tangible, so he manifested a replica of her sword just for the hell of it?

...But, how come he’s able to spin it around in his hand then?

Shaking her head out of those thoughts, Aphmau took a tentative step towards him, slowly raising her sword up with each step she took. She refuses to be off the defense when he’s here.

"I asked you a question.”

Her tone held a clear warning in her words, but Ein only seemed bored by the direction she’s taking this. She resisted the urge to groan in annoyance, the fear and unease she felt outweighing it.

“And I answered, and my answer would stay the same no matter how you reacted,” Ein said, now floating above the ground. Maybe she should stop being surprised by what he can with his Blood Demon Art by now.

“I didn’t want them to go running home whining about their little sighting of me, so I showed them a thing or two of what I could do to you using my Illusionary Shadows!”

He said it all so cheerfully, like he was having fun with everything he’s been doing. Perhaps he was.

“Admittedly, that likely only worked because I had already harmed them before,” his tone held disappointment now, and she didn’t get how his tactics working out could be disappointing. “So, they knew more of what I could do. It’d have been fun to get to do more illusions for them…”

“Mm. Ah! The reason I let them go with only the threats for these past few weeks, was because I was just so curious how long it’d take for you to realise what was happening if they didn’t tell you.”

No, he definitely was having fun with this.

How in the world is any of this a game to him? How long it’d take me to realise… She wondered if it was the demon side of him that enjoyed everything, or if it was a side to him he’s always had in the time she’s known him.

“But,” he clicked his tongue, “I got bored. You took a little too long for my liking.”

Aphmau shifted uncomfortably in place. So this entire time, she really was being played. She felt vindicated for thinking the sudden disappearance of demon traces was strange, but the reason behind it only left her feeling hollow.

Why did it have to be Ein?

She grit her teeth. Past the uneasiness she felt, anger was bubbling within her, and it was getting harder to ignore with each passing moment. As much as it stings her younger self to yell at him, holding on to the old idea of Ein in her head, she can’t keep it back anymore.

"Too long? You actively encouraged my teammates to– I don’t know, coddle me? How would I have found out if I wasn’t able to leave the one real place there!?”

With a shing she shot her sword out, the tip of the blade making contact with his chin. She pushes it up, moving his head upward with the motion. Blood draws.

Her stomach churned at the way he was still smiling right now. His fangs gleamed in the moonlight, showing off his inhumanity like it were meant to be a pretty thing.

How could he be so carefree in the face of danger, when he’s being threatened with one of the few fatal things to him, without any hint of fear?

“You’re trying to get under my skin, acting like I was just being an idiot the past few weeks,” she ignores the fact that she has been getting bothered by his words, “but you’ve been just as afraid as I’ve been. Why haven’t you hurt me at all in the time you’ve held me here?”

Does he know I can barely let myself hurt him either?

She’d gotten so close earlier, yet it was like it was handed to her by him. He knew she’d fail. It’s been worrying her that she may not be able to gather up even a speck of the courage to try it again, discouraged by how easily he recovered.

“Do you want me to?”

Her heart lurched and face paled. Why did he sound giddy about the idea?

“Why would I want that!? You– You’re such a different person from before,” her voice trailed off into a whisper, as it really fully sets in how much this isn’t her Ein. “I don’t think you’re even a person anymore.”

"If I can manage to hurt you, it means I’m finally stronger than you.” He explained, like the words would sound at all sane to her.

Her grip on her sword grows shakey for a few moments. Heart skipping a few tense beats, she forces herself to relax her hold. She can’t keep letting her fear overtake her anymore.

Garroth and Laurance need her to prove she really can fight more than ever.

Glaring up at him, she digs the tip of her sword further into his chin, “You’re crazy. Tell me where my friends went already before I drive my blade through your neck.”

"You just care so much for them, don’t you?” He responds strangely, and it seemed to her like he was making a point by not divulging any new information. She held back a groan. Can he take me seriously for one second?

This isn’t the time he’s made her friends a point of contention during all of this, though. At first she thought it was purely due to how their disappearances and replacements played a role in everything, but now it’s starting to sound personal.

She’s afraid of what the reason may be from him when she asks, but she can’t help the words leaving her mouth in the end.

"Of course I do, why wouldn’t I?” Aphmau asked, not bothering to keep the bite out of her words anymore. “I couldn’t have gotten this far without them. Why do you care?”

"Is it because you finally found people stronger than you? Was I not strong enough for you to be worth saving that night?”

It’s the most real he’s sounded all night, and yet it’s also the least emotion she’s heard from him as well. He sounded so tired. It unsettled her, and she feels the fight leave her body again.

Unconsciously, she loosened her hold on the sword again. It starts slipping as she speaks.

“...This is all because I left that night?” She whispered, “I’m who wasn’t strong enough that day. At least you could find the strength to be brave.”

Ein grabs onto her sword right before it falls, the sharp tip of it digging a cut into his palm. It heals just as quickly as he got it, expression refusing to betray anything that could be a sign of pain.

She instinctively grabbed hold of it again at the same time, worried he’ll try to take the sword from her and switch their positions.

What he does instead may have been worse.

Slowly, he moves it to his neck like he had been leaning into it earlier, holding the blade with both of his hands at its sides. He’s cradling it gently despite where he’s pointing it to.

He leans deeper into the tip of it, but just enough so that it wouldn’t mess with his vocals. “And where did that get me, when all you could do was blabber out apologies as you ran? Did you ever even call for the help you kept saying we should’ve gotten?”

“Your fellow Slayers are gone because of your cowardice,” his smile widens, as if that fact was the best thing that could ever happen to him, “and you’re too afraid to kill me when I’ve given you a second quick and easy opportunity to.”

Gone?

He… He couldn't not be right, not about this.

She hates so badly how right those words sounded to her, but she can’t find any fight in her body anymore to argue against what he’s saying. It took her a week to even consider they were being off, and yet the reason why still had to be spoon fed to her.

How did she not notice that it wasn't really them? If Garroth and Laurance really are gone, then what point even is there in proving herself anymore?

No one would be there to tell about her accomplishment.

Ein was there once, who she’d always go to for talking about her good news, but he’s long since been dead because of her.

The Ein with green eyes, a scar across his nose and strange wolf-like ears atop his head is not her best friend, but it’s not like she could go to him about his own death anyways.

She suddenly feels incredibly alone, and incredibly small. She feels like the Aphmau who ran away from her best and only friend again.

“But, if you’d care to think back on what I was trying to tell you earlier,” the harsh tone to his voice returned, no longer sounding empty. She didn’t like this sound for him any more than how he spoke before. “You’d realise I was going to offer you a proposal.”

Aphmau shouldn’t agree to hear him out on this.

She shouldn’t even consider agreeing to it, and yet, she finds herself hesitantly nodding for him to go on. In all honesty, he probably would have kept talking regardless of how she responded…

But what did she have to lose at this point?

"Good.” Is the response she gets for nodding, and she thinks she actually wanted to have something to lose now just from how uncomfortable it made her.

She doesn’t know how she can take a gesture back, though.

“Become a demon with me.”

Her sword actually drops on her end this time, but Ein swiftly catches it once more. Did she hear him correctly? Did those words actually leave his mouth?

In what world would she ever even want this?

How could he possibly think she’ll say yes when she’s been holding a sword to his throat this entire time? She couldn’t even fathom the idea of becoming the very thing that turned Ein into what he is now.

…The very thing that turned Daniel into what he is now. She almost forgot he was with her.

She feels a bit of her fight come back to her at the realisation. There’s still someone here to keep trying for.

“Are you insane!?” She spat out, eyes wide with fear. “I’m not doing that! How would you even be able to do that!?”

Discreetly, Aphmau bumped her elbow into the box three times, praying that Daniel will finally pick up on her distress. Honestly, she’s a bit surprised her brother was still asleep during all of this.

Ein’s eyebrow raised, he takes a step closer to her. She backs up without thinking, refusing to close any semblance of distance with the demon, but all it does is make him move closer again.

"I need to bring you back with me, anyways,” he explained vaguely, and that didn’t make any more sense than anything else he’s been saying. He was told to bring her somewhere? “If you're a demon, you won’t have any need to run away anymore. You won’t have a need for those other Slayers, either.”

What? Does he really think she’d give up on the thought of Garroth and Laurance?

She knows he said they’re gone because of her cowardice, and she doesn’t really know whether or not to believe him on that, but that doesn’t mean she couldn’t at least keep them in her thoughts.

She wouldn’t do that to them after how much they helped her.

Something about her thinking must have shown in her face, as Ein’s demeanour shifted into what somehow came off as a crueler one.

“It really is all about strength for you, isn’t it?” He brings back up his words from before, and her stomach churns at the way he moves the blade up to his face as he steps closer again. “You won’t let go of your little Slayers because they’re someone strong to rely on. You can just let them do everything for you!”

"But, me? You could throw me to the wolves and move on like I had never mattered to you,” he brings his face down to hers, and her hands start to shake again. “However…”

Blood rolls down his face from where steel meets skin, healing a moment later. He intentionally moves forward to inflict the wound again, even though it’ll all be healed once more in a matter of seconds.

Why does he keep making her sword hurt him like this?

“If you’re a demon, we can fight together forever! I can learn everything from you! I’ll be able to beat you in our spars, I’ll finally be strong enough. I’ll be able to spill your blood without it only being because you let me.”

You’re not even supposed to spill blood in a spar.

At least, that wasn’t what they were taught to do when being trained under her father. The moment someone accidentally did, the spar would be called off and deemed a tie, and they’d have to try again after the wound is cleaned and wrapped.

She can’t understand how Ein thinks any of this is right, yet she can’t find everything he says to be wrong at the same time.

“Wouldn’t that life be perfect?”

"No– No, I was always more worried about how strong I was,” she said weakly, shaking below him, “I didn’t run away because of you… I- I was more afraid of myself messing up the fight. Of… hurting someone.”

“Oh, dear. By running away, you did!”

She tried her best to knock on the side of the box again as discreetly as possible. It was much harder to do while Ein was this close to her, but she’d prefer to think she managed it than not.

At least he didn’t get more upset at her again. So she’ll take that as a good sign.

Come ooon, Daniel! Get up!

Ein brings a hand up to the right side of her face, and she flinches away at his cold touch. He digs his claws in this time as he pulls her back towards him, not caring for how she tried to flinch away again.

"Sooorry, you need to have blood spilled into a wound for this,” he didn’t sound at all sorry despite the apology. “And now we match!” He shifts into the sword poking his cheek again as he speaks, making up for his inability to gesture to it with a hand.

She bites back a yell at the pain, tears pricking her eyes. At the same time she pushes the sword the slightest bit further into him. The sight is unnerving.

“You’re who’s been so obsessed with becoming strong this whole time.” She spits back, “You’re crazy! No one– No one thinking right would act like this!”

It’s a weak argument, she knows, but it was more so for herself than anything he needed to hear. She needs to ground herself with the reminder that he isn't acting right at all.

The demon hummed uncaringly, rubbing a soothing gesture over where blood was spilling from her face. He seemed more interested in admiring the wound he was behind than listening to anything she had to say.

Like all he wanted to do right now was prove her words right. She tried not to let it deter her, though it gets harder the longer she goes without help here.

Finally, after another elbow into her box, she feels it start to shake.

Oh, thank Irene!!

Carefully, Aphmau schools her face, trying not to let any excitement show to Ein. She doesn’t want him to realise she has backup just yet – Daniel’s abilities would do best when catching Ein off guard.

“Come on, I was actually talking to you here!” She grumbled, trying to shift away from his hold. It only made the pain from his claws hurt more.

Ein grinned again, flashing his fangs as he looked away from the wounds to her eyes. “You can’t fault me for being caught in the moment, can you? It’s not often that I’ve seen you like this!”

Eugh.

“Daniel, huuurry.” She whispered aloud without much thought, and she freezes in the same moment Ein does. Fuck.

The demon’s nails dug further into her face, eyes narrowing and smile dropping. “‘Daniel’? That scrawny adopted brother of yours is travelling with you? He’s here?”

Honestly, Aphmau is shocked that Ein didn’t have a clue about any of that.

Perhaps it was an upside to the inn being a real place, then, as it made it harder for her to interact with any of his shadows. She sighs in relief at that – if she was still worried that the Daniel with her wasn’t real before, this had to have confirmed he was.

Shaking her head, Aphmau refused to say anymore. She won’t let a slip of the tongue happen again.

Ein growled, slightly pulling away from the sword now to look around the false forest. It was strange, how he made a point to not fully detach himself from the weapon yet, instead causing her to start turning with him whenever he did.

It made her wonder if he was able to see the reality past it, or if the cave they were supposedly in was just as hidden to him as it was to her. Were they even actually in a cave?

…Not exactly the time to be curious about this.

Time felt like it froze the moment Ein’s eyes landed on the box situated on her box. She couldn’t help herself freezing once more as well, no doubt giving away confirmation about what was in it.

She tentatively attempts to step away from him, but he promptly follows her movement like it was natural for him to be close to her.

“He’s in there, isn’t he?” He asked, and she gave no answer. It didn’t seem like he necessarily wanted one from her anyways, not from the way he tried to circle around her to figure it out himself.

Aphmau shifts in place, twirling to the other side before he can get close enough to the box. It was a bit silly – it’s a giant box on her back, he’s already seen it, but she’s still trying to protect and hide Daniel nonetheless.

Before she can even process it, a shadowy figure flashes behind her, not giving her a chance to turn around. Damnit!

In front of her still stood Ein, though he seemed less tangible than before.

She completely forgot that that could’ve been a possibility, cursing herself for the blunder. There isn’t anything she can do about there being two of him with his Illusionary Shadows.

...Did he reach a limit to his power, then, if he had to separate himself?

That’s gonna get confusing. Um. I’ll call the second one… Shadow-Ein!

Keeping that in mind for later, she pulls her sword out of the original Ein’s face, shuddering at the sound that came with the motion. It was weird that it hadn’t even fallen out earlier, did he purposefully keep his face tangible?

Ick, ick, ick!!!

She holds it in front of her in a defensive position, though she knows it won’t do much right now. Ein’s (thankfully) took his attention off of her for the time being.

The same moment that Shadow-Ein digs his claws into the box, Daniel bursts out, kicking the door open.

She held back a laugh at how the door springing open knocked Shadow-Ein back and left his nose red for a moment, looking stupid with how he had to hold it before he healed. Not the time for this!!!

"Daniel! You’re awake!” She cried out, forever grateful for her brother’s helpful presence. She might actually cry too. …He could have taken a shorter nap though.

The smaller demon looked towards her at the sound of his name, humming cheerfully against his muzzle in response. Aphmau held back a coo at the noise. How was her brother the cutest demon ever?

“He’s a demon!?” Shadow-Ein yelled in surprise, still rubbing at his nose. Did the door really hurt that bad…? “Oh, so your brother can be one, but I can’t have the perfect life with you as one? Seriously?”

That’s what he’s focusing on right now…?

He’s just acting like a child now, and Aphmau feels herself relaxing a little at how immature he was being about something so small. It let her forget the severity of the situation for a second.

Aphmau rolled her eyes right as Daniel’s ears flicked at the sound of Ein’s voice, making her realise that he hadn’t noticed him before because of the door hitting him.

Funny, but she knows this moment to breathe will be over soon.

Looking her face over, she watches as his eye widens at the puncture wounds on the right of her face. Oh god. She knows she woke him up for a reason, but an angry Daniel is not a fun one. Ein is in for a round of hell.

His tail fluffed up as he turned around, meeting Ein’s affronted stare with a glare of his own.

“Mm mm mmm!” wasn’t a very threatening string of sounds, especially when coming from someone as short as Daniel, but Aphmau knew him well enough by now. He was furious that Ein had hurt her the way he did.

She backed up away from the Eins and her brother, deciding to search around for anything else she could help with.

He’s weaker now, right??? He must be pulling himself thin with his Blood Demon Art’s illusions spreading so far out.

If he’s starting to fight Daniel, too, he'll be too distracted to focus enough on maintaining it. I could try stunning him again!

Aphmau isn’t entirely sure if he’ll be stunned by her breaking one of his illusions, the same way that breaking his shadow-body had done, but it was worth a shot.

As she searches around for any possible weak points in the illusion – she didn’t want to just slash at the air all willy-nilly, that's bound to get everyone's attention – Daniel made his way towards Ein, claws unsheathing.

“You’re who Aphmau called for help from?” Shadow-Ein laughed incredulously, yet Daniel didn’t let it make him give up. He knew he was small now, but it wouldn’t matter during a battle.

Instead, he continues making his way over, staring up at him with a glare. Again, it’s not at all threatening when Daniel is this small and this form, but he stands his ground regardless. Ein won’t get to him like he did his sister.

“...Right.” He briefly falters as well. The lack of response wasn’t ideal for him, always eager to get the reaction when he messed with people.

Daniel refused to give him any of the satisfaction he desired.

"At least you’re just a runt. You should be easy to deal with,” He said flippantly, and if it bothered him a bit how little he seemed to care about this, Daniel didn’t let it show on his face. “I’d even say it could be fun.”

He took a deep breath instead of letting himself get agitated. Aphmau needs him right now.

Shadow-Ein rushed toward him carelessly, Daniel using his size to his advantage to easily slip by his fist. He jumps at a feeling at his back, twisting around to meet the original Ein’s eyes.

His own widened. He didn’t notice him at all, nor heard any sort of movement.

He falls backwards into the first as the other grabs hold of his arm, caught off guard by the sudden appearance. Daniel grits his teeth at the sting of his nails.

How is he supposed to fight two of them?

One was fine. Maybe he could struggle a bit with his illusions, if Ein decided to get crafty, but Daniel wasn’t sure how he’ll fare against two opponents. Normally when there’s been more than one, he has his sister and her friends to back each other up.

Right now, he wants more than anything for his sister to stay safe.

Looking around, he can’t see anything resembling Garroth or Laurance either, nor can he smell their blood. They must be gone then.

Meeting the eyes of the first Ein again, all he can see in him is a filthy, man-eating Demon. There is nothing that makes him think of family in how he carries himself, no warmth in the green glaring back at him, and oh, his claws.

Those claws are why his sister is bleeding right now.

With a newfound rush of rage, Daniel adjusts his size enough to shove both Eins away from him, spinning around and away to create distance between them.

He breathes heavily from the sudden movement, but that doesn’t matter right now. This isn’t the time to catch his breath.

When he thought Ein would grow frustrated at the move, preparing himself for possible retaliation, he instead heard the other demon laugh.

“That’s what you can do? Hahahaha!” He runs a hand down his face as he laughs, claws digging into his skin. The scratches heal before blood can even begin to flow.

He can hear the unspoken words, “Can you really protect Aphmau like this?” and bites his tongue to calm himself before he crushes his muzzle with his teeth.

Daniel narrowed his eyes. His laughter was grating his ears, and only egged him on to fight harder.

With a step back he readies himself to attack, flexing his claws before launching himself at Ein while he’s distracted with his amusement.

Ein screamed in surprise, but his shock didn't last long, scratching at Daniel’s back as he attempted to shove him to the ground. The latter dug his claws deep into his shoulders, latched on as he tried to shake him off.

“Get. Off. Me.” He growled, right as the Shadow-Ein rushed towards Daniel, grabbing his arms and pulling him off of him.

He drags his claws down Ein’s arms while he’s grabbed off him, and the scent of blood only pushes him to fight harder. His work healing so fast was frustrating, but it only served to made him wish to hurt him again and again.

The younger of the demons claws at the air, trying to get back to him as he’s pulled away. Ein scoffs at the displays of desperation beginning to bleed through his actions. To him, it’s a fruitless effort.

Yet it doesn’t take long for Daniel to try again.

Crushing the muzzle holding him back with his teeth, he bites at the arm keeping him in place, watching as the original Ein flinches ahead of him.

The arm he bit visually distorts, and the hold the shadow has on him begins to slip as he takes a moment to recover from the attack. Both Eins seemed especially harmed by the pain the Shadow went through.

Oh. Daniel’s eyes lit up as he came to a realisation. That’s his weakness.

Eyes burning with determination, Daniel moves to bite the other arm, claws slashing at the illusion’s body in as many places as he can reach when being held like this. It doesn’t take much for Shadow-Ein to let him go with a scream.

He needs to get rid of as many illusions Ein set up as he can, starting with this one.

Running away from him while he had the chance, he glanced around and met Aphmau’s wide eyes. He nods towards her in hopes that she got the message he was conveying, assuming she was watching the whole time.

Break the illusion around us.

He prays she understood that this is what he wanted to say. It’s not the first time that Daniel wished they could speak the same way again.

She returns the nod, and he lets out a breath he didn’t know he was holding, but he doesn’t let himself stay relaxed for a second longer than necessary before throwing himself back towards the Shadow.

Both of the demons yell in pain again as he pushes Shadow-Ein to the floor. It’s hard to grab hold of him with how he’s phasing in and out after his prior onslaught, trying to recover his tangibility.

Digging his claws further into him, his nose scrunches up at the feeling of him beginning to slip away. What was skin before turned into a strange, goopy substance, the texture of which discomforted him.

Glancing behind him, his eyes widened at the goop gathering back up to where the original Ein stood.

They had to have gotten him in a corner then. He must have no longer felt like his plan with the shadow of him was working for him to merge back together.

But now he should have more strength…

He quickly rose to his feet, not bothering with the Ein dissipating beneath him any longer. While he’s focused on gathering his shadow back to his body, he runs over with the intent of kicking his leg into Ein’s side with as much power as possible.

Only for the demon to slip past him the moment he intended to make contact, throwing him away with newfound energy.

Daniel growled as he hit a wall, the impact winding him with stinging pain. He coughed, trying to keep himself from choking as he focuses on healing the throbbing in his back. It took longer than he was happy with.

…A wall?

Looking behind him, he watches with surprise as the illusion of the forest he was thrown into wavers. It was glitching in the way that Shadow-Ein had been earlier, and looking back, Ein was gritting his teeth at the same time.

His eyes brightened once more, picking himself up with a wag of his tail.

Raising his leg, he grows it in size and kicks into the illusion with as much strength as he can manage. It falls with the force of his attack, and Daniel can’t help the wide smile growing on his face as he kicks in again, again and again.

Ein yells each time, falling to the floor from the pain.

He laughed as the rest of the illusion fell from all around them. It’s unclear if it was purely from the damage he caused, or if Ein had to let them go in order to fully recover, but he felt a rush of glee at how exhilarating it was regardless.

That demon was right. This was fun.

“Daniel!” A voice calls out, and he gasps as a body rushes into him and hugs his sides. “C-Calm down! You already did it!”

He blinks, looking down to a head of familiar black hair. Oh.

It was Aphmau who called out and grabbed onto him, then. His ears flattened against his head at the realisation that he almost forgot who he was fighting for.

This isn’t the first time he’s gone overboard and gotten lost in the feeling of a fight. Feeling shameful, Daniel shrinks back down to his usual side (leg included), and reciprocates the hug.

“Mm mn…” he sounds out his apologies to the best of his ability, and she sighs before patting his head with a tired smile.

Not that he’s particularly sorry to Ein. Daniel only feels bad for the rush he had felt in the moment, and from what he can pick up, his sister seemed worried for him everytime it happened too. He didn’t like to worry her.

…Ein!

He jumped up, peering around Aphmau’s side to look back towards the weakened demon. Said demon was still down to recover his strength, and Daniel felt eternally thankful he remembered his existence before he had gotten back up.

They need to behead him before he has the chance to even try.

Breaking apart from the hug, the siblings were quick to move, running over to the demon in sync. Aphmau stood behind his back, sword held and ready, as Daniel took guard at his front.

Ein made the effort to glare at them as he regathered his form, despite how much energy such a simple action must have taken. It wasn’t all that threatening in this state.

All he’d managed to do was make Aphmau feel uneasy at the sight of his body doing all that. She couldn’t quite understand how his body could even function like that, but she supposed she should stop questioning how demons work at this point.

Daniel, on the other hand, felt more than ready to take Ein’s life in a moment’s notice. His claws flexed in wait for Aphmau to signal him to do just that.

Looking from her brother, to Ein, then her brother again, Aphmau grumbled. “This never feels any easier to do…”

The smaller demon tilted his head. It’s always been easy to deal with other demons in his opinion, as anyone who threatens his family must then be threatened by him. He doesn’t even think about it clearly half the time.

Humming in an attempt to reassure her, Daniel holds his palm out to Aphmau.

Shakily, his sister takes it, squeezing his hand the moment she has it. She takes a deep breath and squeezes again before letting it go.

“You’re right… We have to do it.” She said, though Daniel wouldn’t quite say he said all of that.

Not that Aphmau is at all wrong. This has to be done, regardless of their history with a demon, even if Daniel is a demon who’s been allowed to live himself. Ein also seemed to be someone they were particularly warranted to do this to.

He was lucky an exception was made for himself as is. They’d be heavily pushing it to ever bring the idea up for another demon. Especially if it’s one who’s certainly tasted human blood before.

It was a bit concerning that his sister was still struggling with the fact that they have to kill him, after all that he did.

Shaking his head, he puts on as determined of a face he can in spite of the situation they’re in. Aphmau hesitantly responded to it with a smile after a moment passed, and the sight soothed him a little.

With a sigh Daniel lifts his hand up, claws ready to strike, only for a hand to suddenly grasp onto his wrist. He hissed at the feeling of nails digging into his skin.

“Ein!” Aphmau yelled out, jumping in surprise the same moment the demon had caught his arm. Neither of them expected him to recover enough for anything tangible yet.

He glared down at him, blue-pink eyes meeting gray, and felt all his fight from before rush back to him in fullforce. Daniel refused to let Ein get the upper hand once more.

Ripping his wrist away, he grew in size and shoved his elbow down into Ein’s chest, effectively pushing him against the floor. He pinned him with his other arm, holding him in place before he could make any more sudden moves.

Ein swore under his breath as his claws dug into Daniel’s skin once more, pure desperation to live in his actions. The demon above him didn’t give him any chance or opportunity to get away.

Looking up, he meets his sister’s conflicted gaze.

Not now, he hoped his pleading eyes would convey. Though it’s been hard for him to express anything but happiness and anger like this.

Unknowingly, he let out a sound of relief at the determination crossing her face. He watched as she steadied her grip on her sword, stepping closer to the demons on the floor as she pointed her blade downwards, inches ahead of Ein’s face.

Moments away from slicing his throat.

Aphmau took a shaky breath as she readied herself to swing her sword, tightly shutting her eyes so as to not see the look on Ein’s face, as she takes his life for what feels like the second time.

She thinks if she saw it, she’d find a way to justify not doing it again. She’d purposefully let her nerves get the best of her, and blame herself for it later down the line, but at least she wouldn’t have to watch as the light left his eyes.

Maybe that was one upside to her being a coward that night. Not having to see her best friend die, even if it was by the fault of her running away that he did.

“Mmn!”

The Slayer jumped at the sound of her brother’s call. Right. She can’t get distracted when she’s so close to finally doing this.

Without hesitating any longer, she slashes Ein across the neck.

The demon hisses in pain, his body shooting up as his head falls back, disconnected in a way that appeared much more gruesome than his previous separations had looked.

Daniel’s expression twisted with disdain at the way Ein’s body grasped at a head that was no longer there. They flailed around for anything tangible, claws out, eventually landing on the top of Daniel’s own head.

He flinched back with a growl, shoving the body away with urgency.

Aphmau finally allows herself to open her eyes at the sound, arms shaking as she slowly pulls her sword to her chest. She’s afraid to look down, and when she eventually allows herself to, she feels the urge to look away and flee as soon as possible.

Ein’s head was at her feet.

His eyes stared up at her, wide in what she can only assume is fear, and she’s surprised to find they aren’t devoid of life. Somehow, this outcome makes her more queasy than the other hypothetical one.

She jumps away from him, afraid of what he could do if she’s too close, but also because she finds herself stricken with fear herself. He’s dying, is all she can think, I’m actually watching him die.

She feels sick.

She felt vindicated for being right about the demon, she hates herself for killing her best friend, she’s proud of herself for proving him wrong, and she wants to slice this sword through her own neck for even making it this far without him being a Slayer with her like he was supposed to be.

It wasn’t fair, what this job would make her do. Maybe Ein will at least find peace within himself in the afterlife.

With all these conflicting thoughts, she tried to settle onto a blank face, blinking away the tears that threatened to build up in her eyes. The tired look in her eyes persisted despite this. It was hard to hide it anymore.

“I’m sorry,” she whispers to him a final time, in a manufactured neutral tone.

Her voice doesn’t waver, not letting herself sound afraid anymore. She wants to sound assured in herself for once, as fake as it may be.

“I’m so sorry,” the Slayer whispers again, as the demon’s body starts to fade. “You… don’t have to be strong anymore, Ein.”

With the way Daniel is glaring at him, Aphmau figured that perhaps Ein did not deserve this apology once more. Maybe he didn’t even deserve a wish for peace. She couldn’t help herself from wishing so regardless.

She slowly lowers herself to her knees as Ein’s eyes soften in his final moment of clarity. Her brother meets her on the floor, and curls up to her in his typical smaller size as the demon finally dissipates.

It’s silent for a while.

Aphmau breaks that silence a few minutes later, the sobs she was holding back finally bursting free. She pulled Daniel up as she cried into his hair, running circles into his body as if he was who was meant to be comforted.

He returned the gesture the best he could with his size. Something about that made her cry more.

At least they’ll always have each other.

They sat there for Irene knows how long, finally finding the energy to gather themselves and leave after comforting each other for a good while.

Admittedly, Aphmau didn’t even want to go back to the inn. She wanted back to the mansion as soon as possible instead, but she knows that’s not plausible without Woof, and she needs to find Garroth and Laurance still as well.

So she grits her teeth, ignoring the aching pain in the side of her face as she trudges her way back, hand in hand with her brother.

She’s also admittedly very grateful that her brother was able to walk back with her.

His box was hardly damaged, but he seemed to not want to leave her alone judging by how tightly he held her hand. It almost made her cry all over again just from the thought of it.

She almost cried again again from seeing the inn in front of them after what felt like years of walking around aimlessly, now that the illusion of the town was gone. Ein must’ve used a lot of his energy on maintaining that.

It was weird to think about. If Garroth and Laurance weren’t in the fake town at all, then did he dispel the shadows of the village to maintain his focus on the forest he was using to mess with her in?

How could he have been straining his powers, then, if that were the case?

He was clearly struggling with it all, particularly by the end, but that forest had been there the entire time they had stayed at this fake village. So it wasn’t that he was struggling with the village, got rid of it, then made the forest alone and felt strained by it too….

...Stop thinking about him right now.

Shaking her head and squeezing Daniel’s hand, she rushes into the inn before she can think anymore about everything that happened.

She jumps back at the sound of something falling – something loud like steel, she thinks – looking up from what fell to meet a familiar pair of pale blue eyes, matching her currently widening amber.

Without thinking she surged forward, dragging Daniel alongside her as she wrapped her arms around Laurance. Daniel simply joined her in the huddle.

“You’re okay!!” She cried out, tears falling freely once more, “You’re… Laurance, oh my god, is Garroth–?”

“Shhh.”

She settled her babbling down as Laurance started carding his fingers through her hair gently, and meeting his eyes once more, she realised he was tearing up as well. Her heart swelled.

"Yes, of course Garroth’s alright too, Aph. We were more worried about you when the Demon we were after took us away. Which… Um, we can talk about that experience, uh, another time.”

Ignoring how the nickname brought back up the thoughts of Ein, and how he tried to so sweetly call her that again as if he wasn’t actively attempting to ruin her life, she tightens her hold on Laurance.

She didn’t ever want to let go of him again.

His eyes creased with worry as he looked her over. “You fought him, didn’t you?”

Duh, is what the childish side to her wants to say. Instead she goes with saying nothing, preferring to lean into him and just finally, finally relax. Laurance’s naturally high body heat was really helpful for that right now.

His thumb carefully soothed the skin around her wounds, avoiding the actual injuries themselves. She had to hold back a shiver of pain nonetheless.

Laurance sighed at the lack of response, but didn’t try to push her to talk right now. “I’m glad you’re both safe, at least,” he settled on in place of prying, and all she felt like doing was humming in confirmation.

Leaning a little ways from them, Laurance raised an arm out.

“Garroth!” He called down the entrance to a hall, cupping his mouth with his hand, “Come here now, dude!!”

Shortly after, in a tired voice, “This better be serious!” was yelled down the hall.

It didn’t take long for said Slayer to rush over, albeit with a somewhat frustrated expression.

Laurance would have laughed at his reluctance to do anything with him right now that wasn’t involved in searching for Aphmau, had it not been during such an important moment.

Garroth’s eyes widened much like the other Slayers had before the second he met Aphmau’s gaze, right before the brighter blue welled up in tears as he ran towards the group hug as quickly as he could.

Mindful of Daniel and Aphmau’s smaller frames, he nudged his way into everyone’s hold, getting his tears everywhere as he tightened his hold. Everyone ignores Laurance’s ew at the last bit.

“You’re okay!’ He cried out, much like Aphmau had prior. “You’re alive!”

She feels her heart soar again. It felt like all of her hope had been lost after that fight, and yet…

She’s definitely still hurting. She’ll probably stay hurting. But she’s never been happier to see her teammates before, safe and sound and fine, and she smiles all the wider despite the pain in her face.

“Yeah… I’m okay.”

Had she been any more emotional now, maybe she would’ve apologized for worrying them. But she thinks she’s done enough apologizing today to last her a lifetime.

Everyone is quick to ignore Laurance again when he promptly comments on how badly they all really need medical attention, as true as it may be.

Woof chews him out enough later for his poor timing for the three of them.

It feels like home again as she chases him around with her squawks, his own crow soon joining in, and she laughs at their antics with her brother and Garroth.

Aphmau truly, honestly, feels like it might all turn out fine with them.