Chapter 2: The Three Princesses…

Ash sighed as he woke up to an alarm. "Another say of school." He says bored. He did his routine: got dressed, brushed his teeth, stared at Yamato deciding if he should take it somehow. He always did, and even if he didn't show it, it was there in his pocket dimension. "Ember I know you're watching you piece of trash; I'm still annoyed at you." He says out loud as he steps out of his apartment and into the outside. He was 16 now, and he had already moved out of his parents' place. "By level 0 you didn't mean just loosing skills, you should have said I also start from infancy! Not to mention this thing you added..." He grumbles to himself with his hands in his pockets and eyes locked to the ground as he walks.

He was a prodigy of his time, strong, and skilled with a sword. Everyone around knew of him but didn't know him, so he had very little friends; well save for one peculiar person. Someone he caught interest in because of the similarities they shared. Not the brains or skill, but blood. He found this person sometime a few years back, he was her 'senior' as it were. This time around he was born in Japan, but he didn't know who his real parents were. It was odd for him to be back in another version of his original reality but he tried his best to shake that off. Focus on the here and now. He heard a commotion as he approached a bridge, looking down below it he saw the very person he found an interest in. "Fighting again huh? I guess I should 'help' her out." Ash says to himself as he slides down.

Before him was a couple of young guys, all local bullies he knew of. They once tried to corner him when he was alone but that didn't work out too well: he didn't even raise so much as a fist to them and was able to lay them out. They came back with their 'big bro', but he didn't fair any better. He actually made Ash use his fists. And then there was the girl. White hair, magenta eyes, and of course dressed in a male uniform rather than a female one. Ash shook his head at the sight before him. "When will any of them learn..." he says as he does a crime he knows works well. Letting off some Demonic Power he makes sure the people, two years younger than he, knew he was present. They all froze and all eyes turned to his own amber ones.

"A-ash! It's Ash!" One of the bullies says as the other gets taken down by the girl who looks over as well.

"Run for it!" Another says as they start scampering away. Ash walks over to his friend who is still holding the downed teens arm as he is scared, squirming around at the sight of not just one bit two powerful people.

"You can let him go now." Ash says to his friend who sighs dropping the guy's arm, and he books it the second she does.

"Honestly Ash, they're just so weak." She says to him.

"I can't disagree with you on that, but try to remember: you're stronger than most people your age." He chided her. He was tasked, when they were in the same school, with helping her as best as he could. He'd often go over to her place for a bit to help study. Her parents saw him as a good influence so after he graduated early they kept in touch so he could tutor and be a friend to their daughter. By this point he was basically seen as a sort of part of their family, though he wasn't sure how far that went in the girls' mother's head.

"I wasn't stronger than you, still ain't either." She counters him with a smirk.

He smirks back. "That's because I have experience." He cryptically says. "Let's get going, don't wanna be late for your first day at another school now do you...Towa?" He asks her.

Towa Higurashi begins to freak out a bit. "Oh right! Crap!" She says running off. "Thanks Ash!" He hears her yell to him as he waves her off.

Towa Higurashi...she was a halfling. Ash knew when he found her that she was the reason he was sent here, and that events would play out as needed but it's been a while. Today however felt different. "A storm is approaching...guess I better be ready when it comes." He says heading to his university to make preparations. It was almost the end of the semester and he'd already did his finals. He was due a lot of times off by now anyway so when he asked if he'd be fine to take a break for a few semesters the answer was a hard yes. Everyone believed it best for him to do so, in fact, so he wouldn't 'burn himself out'.

Now with that aside he sat on the subway, hitching a ride back to his home after leaving the school while listening to some hip-hop; 2020 had provided some good music if anything during its horrid run for a year. He was listening to a song he relayed with when he felt a shift in the air. It reminded him of DmC: Devil May Cry's change honestly; but it wasn't as drastic. The Demons are always there just not able to be seen in plain sight; but if they found you interesting enough they'd drag you into their 'between' to try and kill or corrupt you. They've tried many times for Ash now and still will keep trying but it was a first while he was on the train.

He stood as he held out his hand watching as circles appeared that deposited his targets, a red web that looked to have faces all over it appeared over the rear and front doors as well as the windows and hatch on the roof. "No way in or out, Demons being deposited before me, and on a cramped train car. I give you guys some credit, you're learning at least." Ash says as he puts a hand on Yamato's handle and concentrates. The Demons all slowly approach him before seeing him disappear; they looked around- confused of course- when suddenly one behind the rest started making strange noises causing them all to turn and see it convulsing as cuts appeared all over its scarecrow-like body making it leak a black fluid before bursting. Ash stood there behind where it once was with Yamato slowly going into its scabbard. "Who's next?" He asks making a 'come and get me' gesture with his hand.

The Demons wailed as they charged forward, one swung at Ash but he ducked and slid forward unsheathing Yamato to cut another one's blade arm off. It titled in the air for a second before Ash kicked it back to the one he ducked under, then grabbed the now armless Demon by the head and threw it at the others making them bang into the walls and window barriers hard. Ash ran forward again and used the standing pole to spin with the katana's blade slicing apart all that were close before letting go and flying forward. He slid between the legs of one and quickly stood up straight, where once there was at least 7 Demons now stood 3. "Time to end this." He said while taking a crouching position with his hand on the hilt. "Try not to blink." He says drawing Yamato quickly and sheathing it without even seeming to pull it fully out. The Demons held still wondering what had happened before all bursting into black fluid as Judgment Cut hit them.

With the Demons in the area dead Ash made his way back to his seat as the 'Between' began to fade, placing him back in the human world as if nothing had happened- Yamato back in his pocket dimension. "Attention. Next stop approaching. All passengers who are to depart do so in an orderly fashion." The intercom said as he looked around to see everything back to normal. When the train stopped he stepped out onto the platform and made his way up to the street; he was close to a shrine he knew well enough about.

He was moving to head over for a quick visit perhaps, after all the owner who simply chooses to be called 'Grandpa' was Towa's grandfather. But today was different for some reason to Ash. He felt the air on his face and instinctively knew that trouble was before him within the shrine; so he prepared himself by looking around to insure no one was watching, then using magic circles to change his clothing and bring out Yamato. Instead of stepping forward he chooses to trick upward onto the roof where he carefully and quietly walked along the ridge looking around. His eyes landed on the culprits of his bad feeling: the same group of bullies from before, however this time with their 'Bro' next to them. Upon closer inspection Ash could see they had hostages and one of the guys held a knife up to the youngest's face. "Bastards. They've gone and done it now." Ash says to himself about to jump in when he notices Towa willingly taking a beating. "Maybe...I should see how this plays out." He says again before sitting and deciding to see what the halfling would do.

"You understand right? You can't do anything!" The older man says to her as he swings his kendo stick, striking her face hard multiple times. "You move, and that little girl gets a new scar across her pretty face!" He said as he began to laugh like an idiotic villain. Towa seemed to not be paying attention to the guy though, more that she was contemplating something in her head before nodding to herself with new resolve. Quickly she dispatched the two bullies behind her with ease, shocking the older one of the group. Even more shocking to them was the amazing long-distance jump from her position to that of the man with a knife to her sister's face. She took him out before smirking as she undid their rope bindings.

"There, sorry it took a bit." She said to her family members as she stood her ground with her katana in front of her.

"Hmm..." Ash says smirking at the spectacle he was shown. "Not bad, but her stance could use some work." He said now sitting more relaxed with Yamato leaned against his shoulder and neck.

"Don't fight anymore Towa! You promised you wouldn't!" The young girl shouts to her older sister, who looks on at the bigger man.

"Don't worry Mei, this won't take long." She says.

Mei shakes her head and continues. "No! If you keep fighting you'll never stop! I know you really wanna be like other girls and act girly right?" She asks with hope making Towa almost trip over herself.

"Well..." she says scratching at her cheek making Mei pout.

Ash chuckled. "Even I know that girl wouldn't be suited for such things...it's over." He says as his ears pick up the sounds of sirens as did the bullies. They scrambled away as Grandpa Higurashi walked over to the entrance and smirked walking back, saying something just low enough that Ash couldn't hear it. He watches on as Towa embraces her younger sister and smiles. "Guess I wasn't needed after all for this. But the storm I feel... it's not yet passed let alone arrived yet...there." He says, narrowing his eyes at the tree. Suddenly a bright light began to shine as a portal opened, making Towa stand and usher her family away to be safe. The portal stayed up as Ash prepared for whatever was to come out.

Three figures were dumped out onto the ground, two he immediately could tell were of mixed blood from the feel he got, while the other was clearly a full Demon of some sort, centipede like in appearance it had three eye and a couple of arms with dark skin and jagged teeth. "I can feel it! The Silver Rainbow Pearl is here! I'll have three of them!" The female voice it had said as it turned to Towa who was staring at a girl who fell from the portal.

"Setsuna!" She called out.

The black-haired girl looked around as she and the other girl who came through seemed tired. "Who calls my name?" She says in a weak voice before collapsing back down.

Towa watches on as the centipede lady charges her, but the girl finds a new found fire within and meets her charge head on and swings her sword. "Setsuna, I'll protect you this time!" She yells out trying to slash at the creature. However it's skin is too tough, and the katana blade breaks. "My Kikujūmonji!" She says in shock. The creature laughs as she throws the girl to the side hoping to weaken her so she can take the 'Rainbow Pearl' she mentioned.

"Give it to me. Give me give me give me give me!" She yells out rushing forward. Ash was about to step in when Towa looked up and her eye began to shine. Her broke katana shot energy through it forming a blue sword of demonic power. It was pure, and surprisingly stable for someone who's never used her powers like this.

"Take this!" Towa yells stabbing into the creature just as it lounged for her now glowing eye. The creature slowly looks down and sees the blue energy blade through its stomach before yelling and thrashing around.

"How dare you! HOW DARE YOU!" It yelled, turning and rushing forward to escape, but it's eyes landed upon the humans within its path. Realizing it could heal if it devoured them it kept going. "I'll kill you!" It yells at them.

"No! Move!" Towa yelled out. One of the girls, a shelter one in red, spoke up next.

"Do something if you want to save them! Don't just stand there!" She said as the one Towa called Setsuna was getting up to move. However Ash decided now was better than any time.

Suddenly a dark and cold feeling overcame the entire shrine forcing all, even the humans and Rainbow Pearled powered creatures to look up at the roof. The smell of sulfur seemingly exploded out as Ash let his control and barrier lift off of his power as his eyes turned to slit red eyes instead of their normal amber. Towa looked up in shock as the other two mixed bloods as well as the full demon were shivering. "You're annoying me, three eyes." Ash says as he slowly stands.

The centipede demon backed up a bit as he took a step forward, but hadn't left the roof. "No...why is someone so powerful here!?" It asks as all suddenly saw a glint from Ash. The demon made a strange noise as all eyes saw Ash now somehow behind the creature; his sword clicking into its sheath.

"Fall." He says as the demon begins to fall apart. It's skin started to burn off as smoke rose from it.

Towa looked ok in shock as the boy sighed before brushing his shoulder off of any ashes. "Ash...what was that?" She asks her friend as she stands up and moves toward him. The two pearls within its eyes shone and floated to their rightful owners as he looked to Towa.

"That...was a thing." He tells her simply making her eye twitch.

"Stay back!" The one in red says as she grabs Towa by the shoulder. "Do you not feel it? How powerful he is?" She asks Towa. "That's a full fledged Demon! Maybe even a Great Demon with what I feel!"

Towa looks back to Ash in shock. "You're...a demon?" She asks him.

He looks her in the eye. "Yes." He says simply.

"Why didn't you ever say anything? If she can feel your not human then surely you felt that...something about me was off." She says.

Ash sighs as he walks over to the girl. "I said nothing because it wasn't relevant." He tells her as he's closer now. "Yes I knew you weren't fully human; but that's why I did not say anything. Those with demon blood are always cursed to seek out power, and the last thing I wished for a friend was to abandon everything in pursuit of power." He tells her. "I've seen many seek it out and there's always three ways it ends up: either they fail and die along the way, get close but never are able to achieve it and go mad or fall into depression, or achieve what they want...only to go insane anyway and drive themselves to their own demise. I would not let that happen to you." Ash tells her.

He moved pat them and looks over the tree with Yamato in hand. He puts a hand on it and closes his eyes, feeling out the power as Towa and the other two move closer to the humans to make sure they were alright (at least in Towa's case; the one in red grabbed the demon's skull for a bounty). Everyone was now just confused: Towa because her best friend had kept something so big from her, the humans because they were scared and confused, and the other two time travelers because they looked on at the city before them in somewhat wonder. Towa moved toward the tree as she talked to the two girls about being ones sister, when suddenly Ash's eyes snapped open as he felt another demon. He turned too late as it launched itself toward Towa. "Move!" He said, but to no avail as it not into her face and sank into her skin. "Damnit." He says as the black haired girl was near now.

"Rookie mistake to let your guard down like that." She says as she moves her weapon to point at Towa; a Naginata that he felt had some Demonic properties to it. The girl was focused on Towa till a small hand grabbed her clothing and tugged a bit.

She looked down to see Mei. "Please, save my sister!" She pleads with the older girl who's eyes twitch in response.

Towa moved forward with her energy blade extended toward Setsuna when she was cut off by a sheathed Yamato. Ash locked eyes with the girl Towa said was her sister. "Get Mei away from here." He told her pushing Towa back making her slide. She used her hand on the ground to stop herself as she now sets her eyes on the True Demon. "This is one of those instances I was speaking of. A lesser demon is now possessing you to achieve power; and it will die as I said." He says while making a 'come get me gesture'. Just before a fight could let loose however Setsuna rushed past him and engaged with Towa.

"Sorry, but not gonna happen! I'm fighting her to see if she's got anything to back up her claims." She says as they begin to clash and lock blades.

Ash sighs annoyed while the one in red comes up and watches. "Oh come on! You're a Hunter, you gotta have something like a potion to kill it; it's only a Hitokon after all." She says with her hands behind her head. "So...your names Ash huh?" She asks turning to the Demon. "You feel pretty powerful." She says plainly.

Ash nods. "Indeed. I've spent a long time training to ensure I was. I'm glad it paid off." He says. "I caught her name, but I didn't catch yours." He says, looking at the girl. He was slightly taller then both Towa and Setsuna, but this girl was by far the smallest of the three.

She smirked and watched as the fight kept going with Towa throwing herself into the tornado Setsuna made to slice it in half. "I'm Moroha, a Bounty Hunter." She says. "What's a full Demon on the cusp of becoming a Great Demon doing here? I can't feel anything outside some small timers here and there so...what gives?" She asks him.

He shakes his head as the battle continues; the creature hoping out of Towa and to...her younger sister. "It's a long story. All I know is I was born within this city but my parents abandoned me. I don't know why or when, but they did. I was adopted into a family and learned of myself on my own. I trained till I got to where I am now. The only thing I have of my parents" he holds up Yamato "is this blade." He says. As he finishes, Setsuna uses a move called 'Moon of the Resting Moth' putting the humans and Towa to sleep. She moved over and got a pellet of something from her elbow pad and broke it over the young girl, the pieces sprinkling over her forcing the Hitokon out and to die.

Moroha and Ash moved over with the former looking rather smug. "I knew you had something on you that's do it." Moroha says snuggly to the taller girl who tsks in response. "Why didn't you just cut it out like you wanted to? Change of heart?" She asks.

Setsuna humps as she turns to the two others. "No such thing. It simply was a more convenient option, less effort then what was needed." She says.

Ash chuckled at the girls words making her shoot him a glare. "That's what they all say, but the way Mei cried out to you to save her sister probably touched something in your heart, after all it's still half human. Come, let's move these two to their beds. I know where Towa lives after tutoring her for a while so I can take us there." He says.

After settling Mama and Grandpa Higurashi on their beds within the shrine Ash led the two misplaced mixed bloods through the streets toward Towa's home, Mei on Setsuna's back while Ash himself carried Towa. Ash kept his guard up for any Demons looking to take him into the Between as they passed through streets. "I don't get it, where's all the Demons?" Moroha asks.

Ash breathes in and begins to explain. "I'm guessing you must have come from the past, meaning Demons and such were running rampant back then. But as time passed more people became Demon Hunters and Exorcists to combat these threats. Eventually they were able to all but nearly wipe them out." Ash says.

Setsuna notices what he said. "'Nearly'?" She asks him with an eyebrow quarked up.

"Yes, nearly. The Demons and Spirits adapted, with some powerful magic and enough time they took themselves to another plain of existence as Hell was no longer safe with the last bits of powerful demons fighting for control; they called this new home the Between. There they eventually devolved into merely wild beasts worse then their ancestors, and once proud noble lines of families were reduced to nothing but semi-shadows of their former glory. They exist still, but because they thought themselves better to the natural law of the world they were punished." He says cryptically.

Both girls look at him with confused expression which he picked up on. "I shall explain as it seems you don't quite understand. The natural law, or order if you will, of the world. Humans and Demons alike have natural drives to eat, drink, and procreate so their species and themselves survive. It's ingrained naturally into our very being. As too is the Natural Law of the world we live upon. At some point the world dictated Demons and the supernatural to be the strongest, but as time passed and Humans became more plentiful the world dictated a passing of the torch. But the Demons did not wish to be so easily pushed back; and so they fought to retain their status. But the world doesn't work like that you see, so it granted Humans the abilities to fight them: sacred arts, holy objects and powers, all to correct the balance. This when the humans succeeded the remaining Demons were sent to ruin." He finishes as they come upon Towa's apartment complex. "We're here. Let us go inside- I know her parents so this shouldn't be too hard." He says.