•Vatican City, Rome•
"I never thought i'd have to come back home so soon.." Anderson said as he stood in St. Peter's Square, which was silent as the moonlight shone over everything, casting shadows across the cobblestone ground.
He was wearing simple attire, a jacket with pants and leather shoes, not needing to really look his best, as this was going to be a quick visit, or so the man hoped.
'I better get inside before I get ambushed.' They thought as they walked across the courtyard and up the steps leading into St. Peter's Basilica, beginning to push the door open to head inside, before a long, sharp tipped spike pierced the wood beside him a few inches from his face, making him turn his head to see who threw it.
A few feet behind him, stood a mannequin-esque figure, their body twitching and convulsing as they stood in place, their ceramic like skin showing cracks and gashes in places, which oozed a black, viscous substance that dripped onto the ground.
Through the cracks, muscle like tissue and sinew could be seen, which pulsed periodically as if the figure had a heartbeat, the muscle like sinew intertwining with it's mechanical leg and arm, both of which creaked loudly as it moved, and were equipped with a sharp metal spike and a long, rusty razor like blade respectively.
The creature also seemed to be making some kind of chirping-esque noise, its head and face twisting and twitching as its body did.
Anderson let out a quiet sigh, his hope for this to be a quick visit thrown out of the window as the man quickly pulled a sword out from inside his jacket, before jumping from the top of the steps and slamming onto the creature, its skin cracking even more and with even more of the viscous substance pouring out.
"By the will of the lord, as one of his servants, I order you to leave this sacred place." The man said as he raised the sword and plunged it through the creature's neck, causing it to shriek and convulse before it went still and melted into the same substance it was leaking, which disappeared into nothing a few moments after.
Before he could relax, several more of the same creatures formed out of small pools of the viscous substance around him, the material fading away once they were fully standing.
Anderson began to reach for his second sword, but one of them swung their weapons at him, which he dodged but another followed suit, which was followed by another, causing him to get hit and knocked back onto the ground a good few feet away.
"D-dammit.." he said as they began to approach him, though before they got to him, a loud whistle cut through the air, which made them turn towards where it came from.
Not even a moment after they did, several daggers came flying and hit one of the creatures, piercing it in several places before it fell and melted like the one previous had.
The person who threw the daggers was revealed to be a man of Amharan descent, his outfit consisting of a shamma dress, which was tied at the waist and went down his knees, with a pair of white cotton pants and sandals to complete it.
Without saying a word, the man leapt forward, kicking one of the creatures square in it's chin, which made it dissolve instantly, deftly grabbing one of the thrown daggers and slicing the rest in one fluid motion, causing them to melt away as the first had.
"Alimayu..of course you're the one to save my skin." Anderson said, a soft smile coming onto his face as the other man walked over to him.
"Well, someone has to save you when you get in over your head, don't they?" He asked, extending a hand to them, which they took and he got the man to his feet.
"That is true, I suppose..but what brings you here?" The man asked.
"The demon's have been sighted in a few countries, including my own. Though, it's thankfully been in small groups and with the weaker variety like we've just seen." Alimayu answered, picking up his daggers off of the ground and putting them away.
"I see. Any idea as to what has made them so emboldened?" Anderson asked as the two men began to walk back to the Basilica.
"I have a few working theories, but nothing concrete." The older man answered, pushing open the door for the younger man, letting him go first before they went inside too.
The inside of the church was quiet, the moonlight streaming in through the stained glass windows, casting all sorts of colors across the large, open room.
"To answer your earlier question, I had come to search the archives for answers, or at least some information that could prove one of my theories as correct. But, what brings you here, Anderson?" The man asked.
"I have my own answers to find." He answered.
"Then perhaps we could pool our efforts together and assist one another." The older man said.
"I believe that would be best, now, let us get there before more demon's show up." Anderson said, pushing a hidden button under the altar and opening a hidden passage that led underground.
Alimayu nodded, the duo heading down the passageway, the entrance to which closed after they did.
•Meanwhile, in the Spirit World•
Alex slowly opened his eyes, covering them immediately as he was blinded by the light from the full moon that hung in the clear sky above, though it was then that the man realized that he wasn't in his room at section 13, however, it didn't take them long to realize where they were.
"I'm in the spirit world again..? Why am I back here so soon?" He asked himself, as he slowly stood up on his feet.
"HELP! SOMEONE!" A voice yelled out from nearby, and was seemingly coming closer to where he was.
The man, hearing the voice, ran towards it, though it didn't take long for him to find the one who yelled, seeing Lenu running along the ground, being chased by the same creatures that attacked Anderson.
"Lenu!" The man yelled, running and drop kicking the creatures, knocking them away a good couple of feet and onto the ground, the lemur spirit turning and running to the man, climbing up his clothes and sitting on his shoulder after the man had picked himself up off of the ground.
"Alex! Oh thank goodness I found you-!" They started to say, panting in between words as the spirit was regaining his breath, though the creatures soon got back up onto their feet, and were running towards them both.
"Talk later!" The man said, the first demon slashing at him with its blade, which he dodged as the second landed a hard punch square in his gut, and the third landed another hard hit with the backside of their weapon, knocking him away and causing him to roll across the grass, groaning.
"Alex! Oh geez, are you ok?!" The lemur spirit said, having climbed into the man's jacket pocket as it poked its head out.
"Unh..do i look ok, Lenu..?" The man asked, coughing as he picked himself up off of the ground, seeing that the three creatures were coming towards him.
"Honestly? No, but given this is your first time fighting demons, you're looking better than most do." He answered.
"..Wait, these things are demons?!" Alex yelled in shock.
"Well, if you want to get technical, there are dozens if not hundreds of types of demons, but for these specifically they're more like foot soldiers, if that makes any sense." Lenu said, before snuggling back into the man's pocket.
'Wonderful..and i don't even have a weapon to fight these things with.' The man thought, though as if something heard him, a bright flash of light appeared behind him, the form of a longsword forming from it before it became fully corporeal, the light slowly fading afterwards.
"..huh?" Alex said, turning his head a little and seeing the handle over his left shoulder.
The man reached for the sword's grip, which seemed to be made of some kind of polished ivory, with his left arm and with some difficulty due to his shoulder still being somewhat sore and stiff, though he managed to lift it so it was now in full view.
And he then realized that it was the same sword that the Angel gave to him, which made his eyes go wide.
"Alex, we can worry about whatever you're thinking after these demons are taken care of!" Lenu yelled, which brought the man out of his thoughts.
"..Right." Alex said, gripping the sword's handle tightly as he looked back at the demons.
However, they had backed away from him and didn't dare to move closer, as if they were afraid, which he found odd, as they weren't like that a few moments ago.
'..They're scared of the sword, not me.'
The man rushed forward, swinging the blade and slicing through the first demon, a sickening cracking sound similar to that of breaking porcelain echoing through the air as it did, before the creature dissolved into a tar-like substance onto the grass.
The second raised its weapon to attack, but another swing of the sword cut it off, causing it to drop to the ground before a quick stab through its body finished it off.
The third shook before it seemingly dissolved like the other two, Alex letting out a pained noise and rubbing his shoulder with his right hand.
"I'm guessing that was your first time using a sword?" Lenu asked, poking his head out from the man's pocket.
"Yea..doesn't help that my shoulder is sore and stiff from where i got shot, either." The man answered, lifting the sword up so he could get a look at it.
It didn't look too different from a normal longsword, The blade being long and double-edged, with the forward-facing edge curving outward to form the guard, which almost made it look like a lance of some kind.
"In your hands lay a weapon forged of demon blood and angel's tears..a weapon which creatures of both the light and darkness fear."
"Huh? Who said that?" Alex asked, looking around but did not see anyone else near him.
"Who said what? Alex, there's no one else here besides you and me." The lemur spirit answered.
The man shook his head. "Anyway, where is ShiShi Gami? You would think they would be here to greet me or something.." he said.
"He ran off to guard the Sacred Spring at the center of the forest, we better get to him before those demons do." Lenu said.
The man nodded, putting the sword back where it originally was, on his back, and began to run in the direction that the lemur came from, ducking under branches and jumping over gnarled tree roots.
"You think ShiShi Gami can fight those things?" Alex asked, running through a big puddle, water splashing everywhere as he did.
"He can handle himself, trust me. They wouldn't be the guardian of these woods if they weren't capable of protecting it at any cost." The spirit said.
"That is a fair point, I suppose.." The man said, hoping that they would get there before anything bad happened.
•Meanwhile, in the Mortal Realm•
"You're here for more than just answers, aren't you?" Alimayu asked, the flames of the torches that lined the walls flickering as they walked past them, their shadows cast across the stone bricked walls.
"As I told you, I have my own answers to find, same as you." Anderson answered.
"I know that look in your eyes, old friend. It is one you always have when you're suspicious of something." The older man said.
Anderson didn't respond, continuing to walk down the corridor, Alimayu sighing silently behind him as he walked to catch up to him.
Soon enough, they arrived at an ornate looking door, carvings and gold trim covering it as Anderson took out a medallion from his coat, holding in his hand as he raised his arm up and towards it.
After a moment, the medallion glowed, which made the lines of the door do so as well, both slowly fading a few seconds after, and the man put the medallion away as he went to the door and opened it, both of them heading inside.
Upon entering, both men sensed something was wrong, as if someone was or had been there, and it was made more concrete by the fact the library looked to be a mess, which was normal on some days, but this..this didn't feel right to either of them.
"You felt that too?" Alimayu asked.
"Yea, was anyone here when you first arrived?" Anderson answered, pulling out one of his blades as he spoke.
"A few of the trainees, but they put up the books they were looking at beforehand." The older man stated, holding a few of his throwing knives between his fingers, ready to throw them if needed.
"Anyone after that?" The younger man asked, giving a glance upwards to the balconies above.
"Not that I know of." Alimayu answered.
"Let's look around, but remain vigilant." The younger man said as they both picked up and lit two lanterns, walking side by side as the doors shut behind them.
•In the Spirit World•
"So..where..exactly is the entrance to this spring?" Alex asked, stopping to catch his breath as he put his hand against a tree.
"It's just up ahead." Lenu answered.
"Awesome.." The man said, removing his hand and getting back into a full standing position.
"We better not keep them waiting." The spirit said, which Alex nodded to and continued his way forward, soon stepping into a giant clearing in the forest, the area surrounded by massive trees, the bark on them seeming to be petrified, with trunks that seemed to be stretched up to the heavens themselves.
Rather surprisingly, the branches were covered in healthy looking green leaves, which seemed to block out the sky and only allowed for little beams of moonlight to stream through.
"Woah..how the hell..?" Alex said, taking a few more steps forward into the clearing as he took in everything around him, which made him feel like an ant in comparison.
"This area is the most ancient region of the woods, everything you see has been here for a very, very long time." Lenu explained, crawling out of the man's jacket pocket and climbing up to sit on his shoulder.
"Explains why everything is so gigantic..but where the hell is the Sacred Spring? You said it was up ahead, Lenu." The man said.
"Well, it is..but we're going to have to work our way to it, so to speak." the spirit monkey said, twiddling his thumbs a little.
"Figured it wasn't going to be so easy..well, i guess there's no turning back now, then." Alex said, walking across the eerily silent clearing, however, the man realized as he came to a stop that the only way forward was through a tunnel dug through the tree he was standing in front of.
"Here, I'll go first." Lenu said, getting off of the man's shoulder and going into the tunnel in front of them, Alex silently dreading how much pain he was likely going to be in tomorrow, but he pushed it to the side as he got onto his hands and knees and began to crawl into the tunnel behind Lenu, his vision going black as the smell of damp wood and mushrooms filling his nose as he crawled his way forward..
•Meanwhile..•
"Anything in particular you need help to find?" Alimayu asked as he lifted his lantern into the air to read the spines of the books in the shelves.
"Nothing that I won't be able to reach on my own." Anderson answered, setting his own lantern on the table beside him.
The younger man could remember the countless hours he spent down amongst these shelves and tomes, having to use the wheeled ladders to grab anything that was too high for him to reach, until one of the bishops came to retrieve him, which always made him pout.
But he shook his head. There would be another time to dwell on such memories, right now he had work to do.
The younger man picked up the lantern off of the table, heading off to another part of the archives, leaving The older man alone with his own thoughts as he reached for a few books, taking them over to the table and setting his own lantern onto it and began to read what information the first contained.
Still, Alimayu hoped Anderson would find what he was looking for, but if it was not amongst these shelves, then perhaps it would be in the restricted sections.
•Back in the Spirit World•
The seemingly endless darkness the man found himself in was soon broken by an oddly soft glowing light that he soon noticed was coming from up ahead of him, which lit a fire inside of him and caused him to crawl faster as to escape the cramped passageway.
Before he knew it, he was at the other end of the tunnel, letting out a sigh of relief as he pulled himself out and slowly got back up on his feet, hearing his back pop as he did so, and dusted his pants off.
"Whoa.." the man said as he looked around, seeing they were seemingly inside the hollow trunk of one of the massive trees he had seen earlier, the interior being lit by what seemed to be bioluminescent mushrooms, their spores floating through the air around them, which also seemed to give off a light glow as they did.
"If you think this is beautiful, just wait till you see the rest of this place." Lenu said as he climbed onto Alex's shoulder.
"How large are we talking exactly?" The man asked.
"Well, in order to keep the spring safe, Shishi Gami had a temple built around it, and then made the forest surrounding it as a second defense, so.." The spirit explained.
"They made this forest?" Alex said, raising an eyebrow.
"..Well, he made this part of the forest, anyhow, the rest of it grew over the millenia into what it is today." Lenu said, rubbing the back of his head with his paw.
The man simply nodded, beginning to walk once again, going towards what looked to be the temple's entrance, though it had seemingly become fused into the trees around it, roots and vines having overtaken the chiseled stone that it was created from.
As he got closer, something seemed to hit him and it made the man stop in his tracks as he tried to figure out what it exactly was.
"Hey, you smell that?" Alex asked, raising an eyebrow again.
"Smell what? All I smell is damp and rotting wood." Lenu answered, scratching behind his ear with his foot.
"It's like an odd smelling cologne.." the man said, trying to pinpoint exactly what it was, closing his eyes as he spoke.
"Maybe it's something you're wearing?" The spirit wondered out loud.
Alex shook his head. "I've never worn anything smelling close to this. Besides, I only wear cologne when I have to dress up for an important event, and even then I always use the same one." He said.
•Back in the Archives•
"Anderson." Alimayu said, setting the book he was currently reading beside him on the table, putting a folded piece of paper where he was so he wouldn't lose his place.
The younger man's eyes moved up to look at them, not lowering the book he currently held in his hands, but lifted a hand to move his glasses back up into his face so they would not fall off.
"What?" Anderson asked, his eyes returning to the book.
"Who are you suspicious of, old friend?" The older man asked.
"And what makes you think that?" The younger man answered.
"Because I noticed where you went off to, old friend. Now, whatever it is you are hiding, or whoever you may be protecting, I promise you that it will not leave this room." Alimayu said.
"..It's not that I do not trust you, it is because I am not entirely sure of where his allegiances lie." Anderson stated after a few minutes of silence between them.
"And what do you believe this man to be? An angel or a demon..?" The older man questioned.
The younger man shook his head. "No. If he were either of those things, I would've sensed it." The man started, fixing his glasses again with a single finger.
"Perhaps they are a hunter, like us? And if not, then maybe they come from one of the old families?" Alimayu proposed.
"Both could be likely, I'll have to keep an eye on them to be sure of which one, however." Anderson responded.
"Then do what you need to do." The older man said.
"If you're worried, Alimayu, I do not intend to hurt this person.. They are innocent, and I will not raise a blade towards them." The younger man stated.
Alimayu gave a simple nod in response, before both men turned their heads towards the passageway that led into the Archives, the duo pulling out their respective weapons.
"Seems like we have company." The older man stated.
"Then let's give them the warm hospitality that they're entitled to, shall we?" The younger man proposed as the doors were kicked open and several demons poured in and ran towards them.
•Meanwhile, in the Spirit World•
"..It's coming from there." Alex said as they stepped into the room, the large stone door slamming shut behind him.
"What is?" Lenu inquired.
"The odd scent, it's been getting stronger the deeper into this place we've gone, and it seems to be coming from behind that door." The man answered, pointing to a large and ornate golden door across the room from where the duo was standing.
"That's where the spring is, well, behind that door is the Antechamber that leads to it but.." the spirit said.
"Then what are we waiting for? Let's go help ShiShi Gami-" Alex said, though Lenu stopped him before he took another step forward.
"Woah! You really need to watch where you're walking, you almost fell into that chasm!" They said, having grabbed the man's pajama pants leg to pull him backwards.
Taking a more careful look, the man noticed that indeed a massive chasm had formed in the middle of the room, splitting it in half, and allowing several trees, as well as a multitude of plant life, to grow into and around the room.
Deciding against any sense of better judgement he had in that moment, Alex kneeled down and peeked over the ledge, seeing that the chasm Lenu had just kept him from falling into was rather deep looking, the deepest parts of it obscured by a veil of darkness.
"What..what exactly is at the bottom of this thing?" He asked, feeling a shiver going through him.
"You do not want to know." The spirit answered.
Alex gulped silently, slowly picking himself back up onto his feet. "So, how do we get across the thing then?" He asked.
"Oh that's easy!" Lenu said, hopping off of the human's shoulder, and heading a few feet away from him, stopping in his tracks and beckoning the man over.
He walked over, and the spirit pointed in front of them, which made the man turn in that direction..and immediately got the feeling that his heart just cannonballed into his stomach as he saw a rope had been set taught on steel pegs dug into the floor.
"O-oh you are fucking kidding me.." he said, his legs shaking a little as he stepped back by a few steps.
"Are you scared of heights or..?" Lenu asked, his tail flicking as he spoke.
The man gulped again, and instead of speaking he only silently nodded in response.
The lemur spirit tapped one of his fingers against his chin as he went into thought, before a smile formed on his face as he quickly ran across the tightrope, climbing up one of the trees and after a few moments, a vine fell and hung from the branches beside it.
"Lenu, why did you do that?" Alex asked, the spirit climbing down, across the rope and onto the man's shoulder.
"So that way you can get across." The lemur answered.
The man gulped again, but took a moment to steel his nerves before he ran and jumped, gripping the vine and using the momentum to swing himself across the chasm and landing on the other side, though he did almost fall backwards into said chasm.
"Phew..that was close.." the man said.
"You're telling me." Lenu said, having held on to the fabric of the man's shirt during that whole thing.
Alex smiled softly before he turned his attention towards the door in front of them, noticing that, unlike most of the doors they had gone through so far, this one was locked and both of them doubted anything but the key that went to it would allow it to budge an inch.
"Great..now we need to find a key." The man said, crossing his arms as he spoke.
Lenu meanwhile looked around from his perch on Alex's shoulder, his eyes widening as be noticed a small alcove off to the side, inside of which was a large chest, embedded into which was a large red gem that gave off a soft glow in the low light of the room.
The spirit hopped off his shoulder, running over to the edge and climbing across the wall using the ivy that grew down from the cracks located near the ceiling, landing in the alcove with a soft thump sound before going to the chest and pushing the lid open, though it took some effort on their part to do so.
Once it was open, however, Lenu climbed inside, picking up what he hoped was the key to open the door with his tail and climbing back over to Alex, who took the key from him and allowed them to climb back up onto his shoulder.
"Come on, we don't have a second to lose." The man said, putting the key into the lock and turning it, which caused it to dissipate into dust before the door glowed and slowly opened, the duo heading inside.
•In the Antechamber•
Upon entering, the man noticed how large the room was, at least relative to himself, however, a bright flash of light made him cover his eyes to keep from going blind, and it was then he knew he wasn't alone.
Across the room was a tall figure, who was a good few inches taller than Alex himself, in his right hand was a saber sword of some kind, though the man didn't get to see it for long as it disappeared into a puff of black smoke.
Their attire consisted of what could be called motorcyclist attire, minus the helmet, though what really confused Alex was the fact that they were human, like him, only taller and more athletic looking.
He didn't think there were other humans who could enter the spirit realm like he could, but he had been wrong before, plenty of times.
"So..you're the one I sensed entering the temple..let's take a look at you, shall we?" The figure said, before turning around to face him.
"Ah..so it's you." They said, a small smirk forming on their face.
'This guy..his soul..it's full of malice...' Alex thought, a wince going across his face as a feeling similar to murderous intent went through him.
It made him honestly feel sick to his stomach, though thankfully not enough to actually throw up, but he certainly felt like his gut had just done a backflip.
"What is that supposed to mean?" The man asked, crossing his arms.
"Oh don't play coy with me, you know exactly what I mean." The figure answered.
"You're the mortal that has transcended the barrier between life and death, but where are my manners? I'm being positively uncivil." The figure said, before continuing to speak.
However, as they spoke, their attire began to disappear into the same dark fog their saber did, though it was quickly followed by their entire body, which after a few moments disappeared too, revealing they were actually a demon in disguise, their skin a dark, almost midnight blue color with sparkling gold lines running through their body almost like veins.
"My name is Miuna, one of the seven generals of the demon lord's dark hordes, but I do prefer to go by my full title: General Minua, lord of the hoarders, but I'm not fussy." Minua said, going into a bow of sorts.
"Why are you here?" The man asked, as Lenu climbed down and into the man's pocket.
"Oh no reason, really..call it running a few errands, though i know why you're here." The demon lord said, pointing a single finger at him.
"Enlighten me, then." Alex said, reaching his arm back, with some difficulty still, to grip the grip of his sword.
Minua smirked even wider, revealing they had rows of sharp teeth in their mouth.
"It's simple. ShiShi Gami summoned you here, how else would you know they were in trouble?" He said, disappearing suddenly, before reappearing behind him and placing his hands onto the other man's shoulders, their head inches from his own.
"But, I want to see what you're made of, mortal. So, instead of killing you outright.." the demon whispered to him, however they disappeared again as Alex swung their sword in a vain attempt to strike him, and reappeared in front of them again.
"I'll just beat you within an inch of your life!" Minua said, the gold veins on his arms glowing brightly against his skin.
•Meanwhile, in the Archives•
"That's the last of them." Alimayu said as he picked up another of his throwing knives off of the ground, wiping it off before putting it into its holster with the rest.
"Alimayu, can I ask you something?" Anderson asked, putting his swords away into his jacket as he spoke.
"You know you can." The older man answered.
"I've been sensing a growing presence in the Spirit Realm as of late, I'm not sure exactly what to think of it, have you..?" The younger man said, though he was surprised to see Alimayu nod in response.
"I thought i was the only one, though now i see that that thought was a stupid one. The one thing I know we are both sure of is the fact that it is a new presence, not one trained by the old masters." Alimayu said, which Anderson nodded to, like he had before.
"It has to be a new hunter, there's nothing else that comes to mind, as only they can enter the spirit realm, like you and I can." The younger man said.
"But we are more experienced. We can displace ourselves through the barrier due to our training and magic, someone who is new could not do that, at least safely, anyhow." The older man stated.
"Which is why I think it is a new hunter, as their magical abilities are untrained and highly volatile. Their emotions shifting suddenly can cause an outpour strong enough to break the barrier and cause them to slip into the spirit realm." Anderson explained.
"Do you think they found their way out?" Alimayu wondered.
"Perhaps, though we can only hope so." The younger man stated.
•Back In The Antechamber•
Alex thrust his sword forward, using both hands to give it some force behind it, though it was blocked by two of Minua's fingers which glowed a bloody dark red.
This wasn't the first time this happened, either as whenever the man tried to strike at him, the demon would simply lift two of his fingers to catch his blade, though he had managed to slash a long but shallow cut from his hip to his left shoulder one time, but that was really just pure luck.
"Come on mortal, this is just getting boring now-" the demon lord started to say, but before he could finish his sentence, the man's right fist connected with his stomach, causing him to let out a gasp as all of the air was instantly pushed from his lungs, but he didn't get a chance to recover before an uppercut connected with his chin, causing him to stumble back and fall onto his knees, using his hands to keep him up.
"L-lucky..shot." They said, looking up at them, however, their eyes widened as they saw that instead of the man being there, it was an older man, possibly in his late 40's, their face strikingly similar in appearance, minus the hair which was a dirty blonde as opposed to dark brown, and their eyes were a more dazzling green reminiscent of gemstones.
They also had what seemed to be a beard that covered their chin and went up the sides of their face that was the same dirty blond color as their hair.
The figure's attire looked to be that of a knight, with chainmail armor showing in places underneath loose clothing used to hide it, almost giving the look of a peasant or serf, but perhaps that was the point.
However, what caught Minua so off guard was the unmistakable feeling of fear that seemed to rush through him as he laid his eyes on him, and it was in that moment that everything clicked in the demon's mind, which made them begin to chuckle darkly as they picked themselves up off the floor, a wide smirk appearing on their face which revealed several sharp teeth.
"And here I thought you were just someone who managed to transcend the barrier between life and death, now..now you've certainly caught my interest." They said, coughing as they spoke, which confused Alex greatly.
But before the man could figure out exactly what the demon was talking about, their body began to fade into the same dark fog their sword had, which slowly went up the entirety of their form, until the fog covered them and then faded away, leaving the man alone.
"What the hell was that about?" Alex asked, Lenu finally poking their head out of the man's pocket.
"No clue, though it seems like something must have happened, almost like he saw a ghost." Lenu answered.
"Well, either way at least he's gone now..we should head on through to the spring to make sure everything's ok." The man said, which the spirit lemur nodded to as they headed through the door Minua was attempting to get through, immediately being blinded by sunlight as the duo did so.
Once their vision returned to them, Alex saw that the spring actually took up the entire area they were in, the only feasible land was a sort of chiseled stone platform with a pillar on each corner, and across from which was a large rock cliff with a waterfall pouring down from the top of it, which seemed to be filling the spring.
"Ah, I was wondering when you two would show up." ShiShi Gami said, laying down on its haunches on the ground beside the duo.
"Glad to see you're ok, we thought those demons might've gotten to you." Lenu said, as he climbed up to sit on the man's shoulder.
"No need to worry, dear Lenu. Even if they had gotten to me, they would not have survived the encounter, I can assure you of that." The deity said, their antlers glowing lightly as they spoke.
It was then that the deer spirit noticed the sword on Alex's back, and for a moment he saw a flash of the same figure that Minua had seen previously, though rather than feeling fear, it made them smile a little, as if they were seeing an old friend.
"That sword on your back, what do you think of it?" They asked.
"Hmm? Oh, well..i'm not sure, honestly. I'm more confused about it than anything else, really." The man answered, rubbing the back of his head with his hand.
"That is understandable, perhaps I can help relieve some of that confusion." ShiShi Gami said, their antlers glowing brightly as an orb began to form in the air, and slowly floated down in front of all three of them.
However, before either Alex or Lenu could say anything, the orb flew out to the middle of the spring, floating for a few moments before diving into the water, its glow slowly fading to nothing.
"Um, ShiShi, what exactly-?" The lemur spirit started to ask, but was cut off as a path began to rise out of the water, seemingly leading to the center of the spring where a large circular platform rose afterwards, in the middle of which was an altar of some kind.
"I always enjoy doing that." The deity said, slowly standing as they began to walk across the path, the man and lemur spirit following next to him.
"I did hear a voice when I first got the sword." Alex said, glancing around him as he spoke.
"And what did this voice tell you, Alexander?" ShiShi Gami asked, the leaves on its antlers moving as it walked.
"It said 'In your hands lay a weapon forged of demon blood and angel's tears..a weapon which creatures of both the light and darkness fear.'" The man answered.
"Alex, why didn't you say anything earlier?" Lenu asked, a look of concern on their face.
"I didn't think it really mattered at the time, and besides we were kind of busy getting to ShiShi." He answered, huffing a little in exasperation.
"Well, the voice, whoever it was, was correct. The sword you hold is indeed one that both light and darkness fear, however, I managed to see a little of your fight against one of the demon lord's generals and saw you managed to cut him, am I correct?" The deity questioned.
"Well, yea, though it was complete luck that i managed to even get a hit on him. At the same time, you would think a sword would do more damage than only a shallow cut, it was like skinning his knee or something." Alex said, shaking his head.
"It was most likely due to the fact the sword seems to have lost its power, which makes sense as it has not been wielded in over 900 hundred years..but that can be remedied, thankfully." ShiShi Gami explained, the trio arrived at the central platform, the water gently moving onto it like waves in the ocean in a back and forth motion.
"And what exactly is going to need to be done for that to happen?" The mortal asked, as the deities' antlers glowed again, the altar, which was actually a pedestal that looked to be a sword could be placed into, began to glow as well, the symbols carved into it glowing too.
"Several things, the most important of which at the moment is getting the blessings from the other deities that protect the other regions that make up the Spirit World." The deity answered as the symbols glowed even brighter.
The sword, as if somehow sensing what was happening, started to glow as well, though instead of glowing green, it was a white aura that covered it from the pommel to the tip of the blade.
Alex reached with a hand, grabbing the grip of the sword and lifted it off of his back, holding it in front of him as he seemed to put two and two together, walking up to the pedestal, though he glanced back at the deer deity for a moment, who gave a small nod to him.
Giving a nod back, the man lifted the blade skyward, before he spun it so it was pointing downwards and placed it into the pedestal, falling into a kneeling position with his hands gripping the sword tightly.
After a few moments, the sword began to glow the same green color, the symbols floating around it before a blast of energy went skyward, though it disappeared after a few moments as did the green aura followed by pure quiet.
"What..what just happened?" He asked, though before he could pick up the blade it disappeared, reappearing on his back in its usual place, though it felt..different.
"Your sword has regained a little of its strength. While it is nowhere near it's full power, it is a start at the very least." ShiShi Gami explained.
The man nodded. "So, you mentioned there were other regions to the spirit world, how am I supposed to reach them? Cause i doubt i can simply walk from point A to B." Alex said, walking back over to them.
"Much like the way you entered my forest, there are places all around the mortal realm where the barrier between the two realms is particularly thin, which will allow you to pass through easily." ShiShi Gami said.
"And different places will lead me to the different regions?" The man asked, walking back over to the forest guardian.
"Precisely." The forest deity answered, giving a soft smile to the mortal.
The deity then led them out of the temple, back through the tunnel and into the ancient clearing, before it laid on its haunches next to them.
"Climb onto my back." ShiShi Gami said, which Alex did, followed by Lenu, and the trio then began to make their way through the forest, a destination clear in the deer spirit's mind that neither the man nor monkey spirit had any clue as to what it could be.
Alex also knew that it would take more than just ShiShi Gami himself to get the man back to the mortal realm, remembering the events from before, so it meant that he would likely have to stay in the Spirit Realm for a little while.
Even with that, he couldn't help but worry about everyone back home and how worried they would be about him since they had no idea any of this was or that it had been happening.
He would tell them about it eventually, of course but he didn't really know when that would be. Perhaps after the talismans had been gathered and they all could breathe a sigh of relief.
"Where are we going, ShiShi?" The man asked.
"Somewhere safer than this place. While yes most inhabitants of these woods are kind and gentle-natured, there are some less than friendly spirits in these depths, and I would rather you not meet them or they meet you." The deity answered as they kept walking, not skipping a beat.
"..Any idea as to why that demon general was here?" Alex asked, a light breeze blowing past them and through the trees around them, which gently blew his hair and leaves as it passed.
"Hmm..of the exact reason I am uncertain, though if i were to venture a guess, he was likely after me, given it has happened before." ShiShi Gami answered.
"Wait, wait, wait..this has happened before?!" The man said, his eye's widening in surprise.
"Yes, but it was centuries before you were conceived." The forest spirit said, chuckling softly.
"I was only a little baby back then, at least that's what I was told." Lenu said, poking his head out from the pocket of Alex's pajama pants.
"How little? Cause right now you aren't very big since you can fit into my pockets so easily." The man said, glancing down at them.
"I was small enough that i could fit into your hands perfectly if you were to cup them together." The spirit said, before he heard what sounded like giggling and realizing it was Alex doing it.
"Aww, that's adorable." The man said, a small smile on his face as he spoke.
"..Alright, we're here." Shishi Gami said, which caught their attention and made their heads turn towards him.
When they did, the two noticed that they had been brought to a village built into a very large clearing in the forest, which was surrounded by trees on all sides, and what seemed to be people and animals walking about, no one having noticed the trio's arrival.
"A village, here?" Alex asked, as the forest deity sat down to let him off of his back, which he carefully got off of after a moment, landing in the grass beside him with a soft thump sound.
"It was the closest place where I knew it would be safe for you until I could find a way to get you home." The forest guardian answered, watching the man walk past him.
However, the deity's head quickly turned away from him, as if something in the direction he looked in had caught his attention, and he stood back up and began to walk towards whatever it was.
"Hey, where are you going?" The man asked, turning towards the deity, a look of confusion on his face. Weren't they coming with them?
"I will return shortly, I just have some..business to attend to. Stay here until I get back." ShiShi Gami said, his tone serious rather than indifferent, as it normally was, and it honestly made the man worried a tiny bit.
Alex nodded, watching as the forest guardian walked into the forest, disappearing into it after a few moments, leaving him and Lenu on their own, before they turned towards the village, sighing quietly before they walked into it, a light breeze once again blowing past as he did so.