Chapter seven

The Village

"So, where are we going now?"

Nadia looked back at Akashi, then back at her garments. The long cotton dress she had been placed in before her burning had been burned up to her knees, the sleeves torn and burned as well.

"Uh… we're looking for my mom, but I also need to get some other clothes."

"Why?"

"Why what?"

He sighed.

"Why are we getting you new clothes?"

"I'm wearing a dress." She said, thinking that that explained enough.

To Akashi, it did. He had never seen the girl in anything other than a shirt and pants. He looked her over, noticing for the first time that her leg had been burned. How had he not seen that before? He felt like an idiot. He wanted to slap himself on the forehead.

"Are you all right?" He asked her, indicating her leg.

She looked down at it. It looked... gross. But she couldn't feel it.

"It will heal." She said, distracted by the painless wound. Why didn't it hurt? Did she damage the tissue in her leg that badly?

Oh well, all she wanted were a pair of pants and shirt. She should probably dress like a guy anyway.

"Come on." She said as she spotted a sign up ahead.

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He dropped the lower half of the man's body, and tossed his torso to the other side of the arena. The last two humans in the pit were screaming and crying, as they held onto each other for dear life.

The tall half demon walked towards them, licking at the blood on his elongated claws. He picked the young raven-haired girl up by her tunic and looked her in the eyes. They were a dark green and bloodshot from all her tears. She was pretty, for a human.

He threw her to the side and grabbed the older woman still kneeling on the floor. He wrapped his hand around her throat and squeezed until he felt the bones break and then heard them crack. He dropped her lifeless body as the crowd cheered.

The other girl was slowly backing away from him, and up against the wall.

He picked her up and carried her with him, announcing that she was his prize. Her screams were still heard even after the double wooden doors closed behind him, the crowd yelling for more entertainment.

A flash of amusement passed through those same, cold blue eyes that peered down at the dead arena grounds. He laughed to himself at the stupidity of the ningens that he had lied to.

What foolish creatures, he thought.

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"Um… Akashi?"

The orange haired demon turned around to look at Nadia as she walked slowly behind him on the dirt road.

"Yes?"

"I've been wondering… what kind of demon are you?"

He smiled down at her as she came up beside him and they continued walking side by side.

"Hm. Well… I guess you could say I'm something along the lines of a morpher." He told her.

"Wait… if you can change your form, then why didn't you alter your appearance and escape from prison?"

Instead of giving her an answer, he turned around and took off his shirt. Her eyes outlined the thick and thin white lines that danced across his back and the back of his arms. Some of them were curved and swirled around each other, making tiny decorations run over his skin. And for the first time, she saw some of them swirling around the back of his neck. He pulled his shirt back on and faced her. She could see the scars clearly now on his throat. How had she not noticed them before?

"No matter what form I take, I always have those scars."

"Why can't you get rid of them when you change?"

"My jailer knew of my origins and had a monk bless a weapon that they used to carve into my skin. Whatever magic he used, I can't overcome it with my powers. It was a way to know who I was if I ever decided to try and escape. They actually cover my entire body when I try to change my form now."

"Did you ever try to, anyway?"

He nodded his head.

"Not all of those scars are from the weapon the monk blessed."

"Oh…" She said quietly.

They walked in silence the rest of the way up to the hill. The wooden sign that Nadia had seen earlier was now only a few feet away at the top. The sign indicated that they were about to approach Azoth Village (1). Nadia looked down and suddenly stopped.

Akashi looked back at her and asked what was wrong.

She just stood there.

"Nadia?" He said.

She shook her head and gazed over the village again, noting that it seemed familiar, yet different at the same time. Why?

Akashi stared at her. She could feel his eyes boring into her and so; she walked down the hill, taking in the village as they came closer. He followed after her.

"So, where are we going to get the money for your clothes?" He asked her.

"Uh… I didn't really think about that." She answered truthfully, although she was distracted by the familiar surroundings. Her eyes passed over a few shops and then fell on a blank white wall.

Or what would have been blank years before.

The wall had one long chain attached to the side of it, pairs of shackles bolted all along the length of it that were melted into it. The chain itself was lying unused and badly burned on the ground. On the wall where it descended from were heavy black imprints of flames that had attacked it years before. The wall had obviously been washed and parts of the building it was attached to rebuilt.

Nadia did a double take as she turned to stare at the other buildings around her. Some of them bore the same scars as the one she had been staring at, while others were newer looking, as if they had been built a couple of years ago. And Nadia knew why.

She had previously burnt this village down. Or, she thought she had. Apparently though, she had left some of it intact.

Like the wall her mother and neighbors had been chained too. The very same wall she had been chained too; where it all started. A dull ringing started to thrum in her ears.

"Nadia?" Akashi said as he looked at her worriedly. Her eyes were blank, but her jaw was clenched shut. He saw the way her hands shook slightly at her side.

Akashi walked up to her and put his hands on her shoulders, looking her straight in the eye.

"Nadia!" He said again, louder this time, getting the attention of some of the villagers around them, but not the one it was intended for. She couldn't hear him. All she could hear were her own screams from all those years ago. She couldn't even see him, as she saw the whole village turn back in time, back to when she was a small girl.

Nadia didn't answer him as her eyes turned a steely black.

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Azoth is actually another name for the Philosopher's Stone in Alchemy.

Damn, that has got to be one of the shortest chapters I've ever written. That's pretty sad. Oh well, my story, my chapters, they can be as long or as short as I damn well please. Anywho, hope you liked those… few paragraphs and I'll try to get something up as soon as possible.

Later,

Robin