Love is my religion remix

The sands of time cannot be stopped. Memories can be kept, yet life still rolls on. Let me enlighten a memory, one that has been passed throughout generations. A recollection told by my great grandmother, and even before her great grandmother, and before that, and before that. One that has been kept and treasured. One that you, my child, must learn to pass onto your own spouse.

And so we begin.

In the beginning there was word… The word was with God… And the word was God. As the word prospered throughout the world, a force grew stronger and stronger, and this force was evil. The more people believed that God would save them, the stronger the demons would become. There is no such thing as the Devil. They, as a whole, are the Devil himself. The strongest among them would prevail and become their leader. The smarter humans became and their knowledge to God, the demons would always be one step ahead. But who really knows, maybe we were the true evil.

And as human knowledge learned about this, they soon feared the word and broke all contact. That's when the demons struck. Their wrath spread across the nation and soon enough our world, where plants grew and love, peace, and hope once prospered, diminished. The world was taking over by demons and there was nothing anyone could do to stop it.

The word was gone.

And hope was lost.

Who knew it would be left in the hands of a 17 year-old girl

named Aya Matsuri.

-!-!-!-

A young girl peered through her dust-covered window, staring at nothing but bars that chained her from peering out into the world beyond. It was a rule now. As the clock struck thirty past six, their freedom to roam the streets was forbidden. People were bound to their houses as the weary night roamed on, only to leave their dwellings 12 hours prior to this one moment. If you were willing to risk your life, and leave the safety of your home, you would surely be eaten, or taken captive of the demons and their Demon Lord.

The Demon Lord. A ruthless tyrant. Yet some would say that this certain "thing" is "striking". Attractive maybe. Girls would disobey the binding curfew, allowing their safety to become minimum. They would wait outside, just to become detained, and if they were lucky enough, to be brought to the Demon Lord to be used as he "saw fit" and then never to be seen again. Men would also wait outside to be brought into the demon world, so they could attempt to obtain eternal youth... or so the rumors proceeded. They were called Night Crawlers.

A normal demon can live on infinitely unless killed. The years between humans and demons are convoluted. One year in a human life is 50 years in the demon world. In Aya's case, if she were to be a demon, she'd be 350 years old, almost close to her mating year. Once a demon turns 500, or 20 in human years, they must search for a mate. If not found, their powers will vanish. The Demon Lord had just turned 400 years old (18 in human life) and apparently toying with human girls like ragged dolls.

Just as some love the Demon Lord, there are those who loathe him. They rebel and kill thousands of demons yearly non-stop. They believe that "the word" still exists and often preach about it on the streets regularly, as where their name originates. They are called the Preachers. So it comes down to this: either you lost hope long ago or you still believe. But it seemed, no matter what, that the believers and non-believers both agreed on only one thing: Demons are here to be exterminated. Aya on the other hand, had no belief. She only wanted peace between the two worlds. It seemed like a child's fantasy that would be destroyed upon reaching adult hood, but Aya continued deeming.

The only true reason how she knew all of this information, about the Demon Lord and all, was because this little seventeen-year-old breaks the curfew and leaves her house at 6:30, just to spy on the demons and learn anymore… gossip.

In the reflection of a cracked vintage clock, that adorned the bare pasty walls, Aya's pale and lanky figure could be made out. Her ivory hair shined with the greatest intensity under the cinnamon sweet sunset. Her garden green eyes were the only feature that seemed to stand out above all the rest. A dull plain yukata, reaching only up to her thighs, blanketed her curled up, malnourished body. The room was no bigger than a walk in closet and the small round window was no larger than a doggie door. The stench of death and famine teamed everywhere she turned. Aya picked herself up and grabbed her worn out knapsack containing her only possessions.

Her roommate then walked in, greeting her like any other day,

"Hello Aya… did you have a nice day doing nothing?"

Aya didn't bother to turn and greet Suki Yamaoko instead she uninterestedly replied,

"Yup…"

Because of the short simple answer, Aya could feel Suki become agitated.

Suki flipped her dirty blonde hair, rolled her brown eyes and said in a snotty manner, "So how about we get a move on?"

"How about I shove my foot gently down your throat?" was what Aya wanted to say. Instead, Aya ignored her comment, only clutching her bag and heading out the door, Suki right behind her.

The bell toned 6:35, which told citizens that they should be in their houses. And who would be sneaking around the city but Aya Matsuri and Suki Yamaoko. As Aya looked left and right she could see demons coming out of the shadows. Aya grasped Suki's sleeve and pulled her into the closest alleyway to avoid being seen by the approaching fiends. Although she would've gladly pushed Suki into the bloodthirsty savages, she continuously stopped herself, knowing that if she did her position would be spotted. But on the other hand she kept thinking that if it just so happened that she "accidentally" pushed her out into the clearing, she would get the apartment to herself.

Aya released Suki's wrist and walked off, not looking back to see if Suki had been stupid enough to get captured by the demons right away. Aya suspected that Suki would wander off to the place where all the Night Crawlers usually met... the opening in the middle of the city where the demons would go for dinner. For a majority of the time, Aya hid, lurked and listened. By the time she checked the bell tower, it was 12:35 and still she had nothing.

Tired and disappointed, she started heading beck to her humble home when she began hearing muffled whispers. She snuck behind a pair of stacked cardboard boxes to see two very unpleasant demons having a conversation:

One of the demons spoke, "Have you heard the news?"

"No, I haven't. What's going on?"

"You haven't heard that four of the great demons are here tonight!"

"No way! All the catch is going to be hogged."

"No Shit."

"…" All remained silent for Aya. Her eyes widened as she realized what was going on. The Great Demons, or so the demons usually called them, are the Demons with the most power and most strength. Not only are they strong, but if you imagine an army, they are the lieutenant's, the captain's and generals and the Demon Lord is their leader. From a human's perspective, this situation was not good.

"SHIT!" she uttered to herself in the process of dropping her knapsack on the ground and running from the hiding spot. She thought the weight from the bag, even if it didn't weigh much, would slow her down from the goal at hand: getting as far away as she could and avoiding all open spaces. As she dodged being seen, Aya finally ran into a clearing.

She came to a halt as the bushes rustled. Her head faced the direction, fearing what would jump from it. Surprisingly enough, and almost a little to cliché, Suki appeared.

"Suki?!" Aya spoke in bewilderment. Suki's vacant expression then distorted to a grimace.

"What?" attitude intended.

"No time to explain, just c'mon!" Aya shouted sliding over to where Suki stood and grabbing her arm. Suki immediately tore her sleeve away from Aya's touch. Aya rolled her eyes, growling a "Forget you" before stomping off.

When Aya turned to begin to run again, the bushes stirred once more. Hoping it was just the wind Aya persisted. She stopped as she heard Suki's voice tremble.

"What… what is it?" Suki stuttered. Aya slowly lifted a terrified finger to her lips, trying to hush Suki from screaming. Suki's face flashed a notably frightened look, and she too lifted her own index finger and pointed directly behind Aya. Aya sluggishly turned, knowing well what awaited her. Once fully crooked, she looked up to see the two dark figures of demons. One spoke, before Aya was out cold.

"Too easy."