A/N: After playing Shadow Hearts for a second time, this came to my mind. Took some time to write it down, but I think it turned out good.

Disclaimer: I do not own Shadow Hearts.

The inner demon

Every since his mother died, Yuri always was alone. He became a wanderer, traveling from town to town, surviving thanks to either the pity of others or hunting for food. His mother always taught that stealing is wrong and his father taught the basic for hunting, so he figured that this was a good chance to train. He did steal some candy occasionally, though. That made him quite strong for a boy of his age, having to fight for his life against some animals and monsters. He always had run away from orphanages because he was in search of his father. Even though he was scare, since he couldn't keep his promise to protect his mother, he still wanted to find him. So, he always ended with his feet on the road, travelling with determination. But that wasn't everything. There was something else that made him strong.

If he had told someone that he had a demon inside him, there was a big chance that people would either laugh at him or hit him in the head for saying such a thing. And the fact that he couldn't control it didn't help either. But even if he could, he still wouldn't dare to use its powers. The only time he had every used it, he ended up in a crazy bloodlust and only remember being covered in blood, with the lifeless body of the villagers around his house. They killed his mother and would had killed him too if he hadn't attacked first, but that didn't made things any easier for him. The fact that he couldn't control himself that time was enough to scare him. What if he transformed again and ended up killing everyone in some town?

But fate had other plans to his abilities. After he grew up, no more people took pity in him. Some were even scared of the guy. No more he stole candy. But he did take one or other erotic book whenever he had a chance.

One day, he was severely wounded when he was fighting with some thugs that happened to cross his path in a forest. When he woke up, he had found himself in some kind of graveyard. There were six tombstones, each one with a symbol representing an element, and a big door at the back. The one that represented the darkness was shinning, so he started to approach. Then he heard a voice that gave him a slight headache.

"Figh…demon…ins…yo..self…contr…" The voice seemed to be female, but Yuri wasn't sure.

When he was facing the tombstone, a dark mist appeared. Yuri took a back step and was in fighting position. From the mist, emerged what seemed to be a demon from a fairly tale, with sharp claws, wings, hollow eyes and a strange, but familiar dark aura.

"Who…or better yet, what the hell are you?!" Demanded Yuri, with a surprised tone.

"Have you forgotten? The mortals can be very rude…I am the one who heeded your pleas for help. I came because of your desire to become strong, just like last time." Spoke the demon, with a cocky tone on his voice.

"Don't tell me…You're the thing that was inside of me? The one who took control of my body after my mother…"

"Precisely. Although that time your body was too small to contain me, now we can become one. If you unite with me, we will be unstoppable, I assure you. Rejoice mortal! For I, the great Death Emperor, will become one with you." Spoke the demon, with a great arrogance in his voice.

"And you think I would let you take control of me again? Don't be stupid, demon! Think you can take me on?!" Taunted the young warrior.

"There is a price to be paid for power. You are one of the last Harmonixer and should be proud that I have chosen you to be my body. Give yourself to your anger and accept me!" Shouted the demon, lunging towards Yuri.

The battle was unavoidable. But Yuri was weakened by the previous battle and the demon seemed to grow strong by the passing of the time. However, when the demon was about to finish him, the same voice as before spoke:

"Do not…ose…or he…contr…you…calm…self…feat it…gain…his…power."

Yuri felt the same headache, but the demon let out a loud shriek and seemed to be in great pain, cowering while holding his own head. Taking advance of that, Yuri ran to the demon and gave him a straight punch in the face with all his strength, which send the demon to the ground. The rude young felt a surge of power, with a feeling of loathe at the same time. Everything was bright white, and when he came to, he was at ground, with the thugs around him. They had a terrified face, like they just saw…a demon.

"Finally free…Now, let us stript their flesh from their bones!" Said a demoniac voice inside his head.

Like before, he couldn't control himself and could only watch while he slaughters all the thugs. The last one was barely breathing, and when the demon approached him, Yuri was able to stop it. It took a great deal of strength to break free of the demon's anger, but he managed to do it. A little too late, but he regained control of himself. For the better or worse, he remembers exactly how he has killed them. Maybe a sign that he could use that power now?

"Why did you stop? Your anger gives you a great strength. It was you who wanted to stop them, was it not? So, why do you refuse to finish him? Afraid?" The demon in his head taunted.

"Shut up. I'm the one in charge around here. I doubt he will ever do something bad, now that he knows there's a hell waiting for him, and that a demon almost dragged him to his own damnation. Besides, it's better that he survives so—AARRGHH!!!"

"So…you...contr…mon now…head…south…tains" The strange voice spoke to him. But this time, the headache was so intense that he thought that his head would've split open. Without noticing, he had reverted back to his human self.

"Argh…Who the hell are you?! Dammit it! Why do you want me to go to those mountains south of here?!" Shouted the warrior, hoping to reach the one who had spoken. But there was no reply.

"Tch… Whatever. It's not like I have something better to do, anyway."

Yuri followed the voice's instruction, but what he found there was only monsters and some bandits. He cursed the voice, but the voice spoke yet again, and told him to head to a different direction. Once again, he decided to head to where the voice said to go, and he again was faced with hardships that he overcame. He noticed that wherever the voice told him to go somewhere, that place would be filled with monsters and others dangers. That, and the fact that the voice would start to yell at him if he didn't followed the direction given to him, which would make the headache worse than what it was already, were enough reasons for him to follow the instructions and the demands of the mysterious voice. Along the way, he learned how to control his powers, albeit he did lose control of it once or twice.

In one of the occasions happened at the night he got to a town in the region of Manchuria. He saw a woman being dragged by three men to a dark alley. He decided to play hero and fought with the three thugs. But one of them happens to be armed with a pistol and shot him. The demon inside of him awoke and killed the man who shot him, terrifying the other two and the woman in the process.

"Aww shit! The last time I killed someone was a pain in the ass to run from the police until things got to normal again." Complained the Harmonixer, while he turned his attention to the other two, who apparently were frozen in fear.

"Kill them! Let us bath in their blood!" Said the demon in his head.

"Shut up! You had caused enough trouble already, you damn demon." With that, Yuri knocked out the two thugs easily, without killing them. The police showed up after that, with rifles pointing towards him.

"Wait up, wait up! I'm the good guy here! I just saved the lady over th—"

"AAHH!! Shoot him!! Shoot the demon!!" Yelled the woman while running behind a guard, when Yuri pointed his finger at her.

"What the?! Hey, I saved you!! Can't the people around here show a little more appreciation for my generos—*BANG*" The bullet hit right in his forehead, and he felt his anger rising as the demon once again was able to take control of his body. He lunged forward ready to pierce the guard that shot him with his claw-like nails, but Yuri took control of himself once more. He was able to close his hand into a fist and contain most of the strength, but wasn't able to stop completely before hitting the guard's nose, which made him fall to the ground, holding his nose. Seemed like it had broken.

"Oops. My bad!" Yelled the "hero", while jumping over the guards and starting to fly away. Once he noticed that there wasn't anyone near, he started to descend to the ground.

"I hope they forget about the nose and don't try to hunt me down. I think the woman didn't saw my face too well, so I guess I'm safe…" He mumbled to himself.

"If we had killed them all, there would not be reason to worry about being chased." The demon said once again.

"I thought I told you to shut up! I'm the boss here! It's my body and I decide who I'm going to kill. I not going to end an innocent's life, even if they did tried to kill me. There was no way they could've beaten me. If you try to control me again I swear I'm going back there and I'm going to beat the crap outta you ag—"

"Train…protect...girl…no…los…sight…her."

Yuri let out a loud scream as he hit the ground. He had reverted back to human moments before he heard the voice. Luckily, the ground wasn't too far and no one had come out to see what had happened.

"Shit! Why the hell do you have to speak like that without warning! And next time, try to ask more nicely! There's no reason to send me a headache every single time you speak with me." Shouted the wanderer, with a hint of irritation on his voice.

"Do this, go there, kill him, rip his heart out… When this is going to stop? These voices sure are getting to my nerve… And why do I have to save this girl?" Questioned the traveler.

"…" The wind was the only sound heard.

"No particular reason? Well, I suppose its better that you shut up. Your voice is never pleasant to hear anyway…" He replied to himself.

"A girl, huh? I hope she's cute. And after all the trouble I'm going through, its better that at least she says thanks this time. Or else, she'll wish that I didn't show up at all." He chuckled at his own thought. He knew full well that he couldn't hurt or do anything bad to a woman. That is if the woman doesn't try to kill him, of course. If she is a innocent sweet girl, the worst he could do is leave her alone in a forest and wait until a monster shows up, and then proceeds to save her, making the battle look dramatic just to make the girl feel bad for making him risk his life to save her. Or maybe transforming in front of her.

"Well, I could use some company, anyway." With that, he headed to the train station.

A/N: So, how was it? The title was the hardest part, in my opinion. Anyway, thanks for reading. I appreciate any kind of review you decide to give. And if you spot any stupid mistake, please let me know.