Hello there! This is my first story I've uploaded (not written) to fanfiction. Later chapters will have gore, blood, torture, and death, so bear with me while I build up the story line!

Enjoy!

"Piper, wake up silly girl!" My eyes fluttered open only to see the farmiliar face of a black cat with slightly lighter stripe over the left eye. Pawing and prodding at my stomach, he urged me to get up. I merely brushed him aside and lazily rolled over.

"Yeah, yeah, five more minutes Eros." I slurred as I closed my eyes desprately longing for acouple more sound minutes of slumber. Eros wasn't giving up. Now in the form of a sparrow, he delicately fluttered next to my ear and affectionately nipped it.

"Don't tell me you've forgotten how important today is."

I yawned. "Enlighten me, dear Eros."

As he landed, he shifted to the form of a fuzzy brown tarantula about the size of an outstretched hand. This was the farmiliar state I knew him in, his most comfortable.

"Well, dear Piper, I thought you might not want to sleep right through your very own festival."

At that word, my eyes flung open and I threw myself up. How could I have forgotten? It was Festival Day in our village! Holy shit, it took me entirely by surprise. I lugged myself from the bed and stumbled to the mirror still half asleep, grumbling about how I couldn't believe I had forgotten. My daemon quickly followed, turning into a swallow and landing lightly on the vanity mirror top, peering into the relfection. My jet black hair ran down my back and my heavy bang lay in front of my eyes. Although I looked small, I could pack a punch. I guess growing up around Maddox and Ace, my two best friends, you had to. Rough play was their middle name.

The only off set thing about me was my piercing eyes. Bright green, they appeared aas two giant orbs that protruded out of my head. As a girl, classmates would call me bug-eye. Hell, to this day Ace still likes to tease me about it.

I peered at my pocket watch that swung around my neck. 5:15. Shit. I overslept, again. The Festival stared in 15 minutes. Probably the most important day of my life, am I'm going to be late to it. Go figure.

I guess I should explain what Festival is. Festival comes around once every year on New Years. Everyone in the village stops what theyre doing to go. There are merchants from other villages, huge spectacles with people and their daemons doing acrobatics. Magicians preform on huge make-shift stages and never cease to amaze the townsfolk. Music is played by street performers who are also known for being very skilled pick-pocketers. Children with pockets full of jingling coins rush to the well-known sweet shops buying their hearts content of candy and goodies. But the main reason Festival is so important, so valued, is that it is the time of the daemon maturity. It is on this day that if you are 16 years, your daemon will take its absolute form to live wit for eternity. Your spirit will determine the form. Every child looks forward to this day, wondering constantly about what their daemons absolute form will be.

Just thinking about it made my heart skip a beat. I pulled off my night shirt and tore through my wardrobe. I threw on a pair of black pants, a fleece grey shirt, and a black bandana to keep my neck warm. Pulling on a pair of clunky tall boots as I walked, I made my way to the door.

"Eros, let's go, we're going to be late!"

"Already one step ahead of you." He was right on my shoulder, catching me off guard.

"Of course you are." I rolled my eyes.

Eros climbed into a fold of a bandana, taking the form of a mouse, and wrapped himself. I tugged on the door and was fully awakened by a gush of irritatingly cold air. My nose immediately had the faint feeling of frost bite as my breath escaped as a faint stream of vapor. I started up the path through the woods, a shortcut I had descovered many years ago, and headed in the direction of the festival, when I heard a faint voice that stopped me in my tracks. Heart quickening its pace, I listened again. It had stopped.

"Yes, I heard it too" Eros has read my mind, or rather my facial expression.

"Weird." I breathed. Then I started my journey once more. Moving over grown tree branches out of my way, I walked along the twisted path I was sure only I (and Eros of course) knew about. Just as I had convinced myself that the sound I heard was just in my immagination, I heard more voices. This time it was four or five hushly discussing something. I turned around, desprately trying to find where it was coming from.

"Sh-show yourself" My attempt to sound brave probably sounded rediculous.

Eros moved onto my shoulder to get a closer look. This was in vain, however, the voices had stopped almost as quickly as they had been heard. Taking a couple more minutes to make sure that the voices had definitely subsided, I cautiously started walking again. This time I reached the end of the trail uninterrupted.

"Piper!" I got tackled at once in a bear hug I never failed to recognize. Knocking the wind out of me, Maddox had seemed to underestimate his obvious strength. He let me go and smiled at me, revealing a perfect set of teeth. He was about six feet tall and sort of muscular but slim. His short brown hair and goofy smile made him seem harmless, yet his stature was strong. His daemon, now in the form of a ferret refugeing in the front pocket of his jacket, was called Sybil. She nodded to my Eros who bowed to her.

"Come on," Maddox said to Sybil "You guys have known each other since me and Piper have been in freakin' daipers!"

"Maybe they just know it's a special occasion" I elbowed him playfully.

"Oh, hey look who it is! Bug-eyes!" Slinking lazily behind Maddox was Ace, his partner in crime. He was slightly shorter, though not by much, and slimmer. His freckles stood out with the red hoodie he was wearing and his long burgandy hair hanging in front of his eyes, swooping to the side. If he hadn't been so much like a brother to me, I'd say he is really cute. His daemon, now a monkey, waddled beside him. Her name was Cordelia, and she also greeted Eros.

"Let's head on shall we?" I said, offering an arm to each. We linked arms and set off to tackle the Festival. Now that my spirits were raised, the voices in the woods seemed like a silly thing to worry about.

We played just about every game, winning our fair sare in wages. Our trio was unstoppable. Maddox had unmeasurable strength, Iace had a cunning and mischevious nature, and I was smart and had impecable aim. We stopped to buy treats and joke around. I was having so much fun I didn't even mind when we ran into Evelyn, a girl who was my age who acted like she was too good and too cool for everything.

It was only until Eros suddenly realized what time it was that we remembered why we were even here. At 11:30, We made our way to a buliding nearby, leading to the village catacombs. It was tradition that down in the catacombs was where the Daemons would take their form.

An short, plump elder named Orphi, a descendant from the village's first Oracle, held a burning lamp, gathering any 16 year old and their daemon. Her daemon was also aged and wise, a snowy owl with bright yellow eyes being illuminated by the flames of the lantern. Something about her presence made the noise of the restless crowd abruptly fall and an eerie feeling settle over us. Ace gave my hand a squeeze and smiled at me.

"Welcome," The old lady began in a noble voice, "Welcome to the ceremony. You have been waiting for this night for 16 years. Take an old ladies word, you will never forget tonight. This will decide your companion and your destiny. Your daemon will guide you, and you will guide your daemon. The shape it takes always has a reason, and I will explain that reason to you. After tonight your daemon will have one shape, but still be the same as it is right now. The time is near."

She looked skywards at all the stars and took a deep breath, perhaps trying to get as much outside air in as she could before entering the moist depths of the catacombs.

"Let us begin."

Please review if you liked it OR if you have any ideas for upcoming chapters? Maybe something you'd like to see? Thanks for reading!