Blood Flows Black

by Crimso

Maebara Keiichi has lived a boring life, not caring about anything, grades aside. But that all changes when he moves to Onigafuchi, a village infested with demons. There, he experiences the most horrifying adventure of his life, one stained with K

24. Chapter 23: Makoto I

Crimso's Notes:

This is a long Crimso's Note. You may skip past the writing, but please go down to the notes. They are VERY important.

This chapter is going to be written over this week, so it will take a while for this upload. Of course, by the time you are reading this, it's been uploaded.

I started this at exactly 11:11 PM on 11/11/11. So yes, I started this chapter the same day I published the other. I just wanted to start a chapter at 11:11 PM on 11/11/11. I'm going to be writing this throughout the week, as I said before, so don't be surprised if this is published on Friday or something similar to that. I feel really stressed out at the moment, and it's going to be tough to get this fanfiction finished before the end of January. I'm having a bit of trouble. I want to get to work on WAN before the end of this school year, but it'll be like GED, where I have to cram things in so I can finish before camp.

Note One: Once again, I'm not sure how long this story is going to last for.

Note Two: I believe that you should know that this is narrated like the other parts of the story, despite this happening a long time ago.

Note Three: Bare in mind that THIS IS VERY FAST PACED. You all want to get back to the main story as soon as possible, so I'm trying to finish this as quick as I can. I could probably expand this story to being around ten chapters, but my limit is four.

Note Four: I don't want to right in archaic style, as it would be complicated and you would probably rather read it like this, so everything is translated to how they would talk modernly, for the most part.

Note Five: Do note that demons do act a little funny for their time period. Their behavior is different from humans back then, since they are… well… demons.

Note Six: I am sorry for the delay. It won't happen again.

Note Seven: Thanksgiving Break is coming up, so I have five days off. I can write a lot more then.

Note Eight: This is the longest edition of Crimso's Notes ever. I'm sorry.

~~~~X~~~~

Chapter Twenty-Three: Makoto I

The sun was shining brightly over the forest of Onigafuchi, allowing light to pass through the many trees in the area. There was a small patch in which no trees grew, and in that, there was a single rock, one that was of a rather large size. On that rock stood a young demon, who was observing the sunlight with amazed eyes.

"Wow, I've never seen it so bright before!" she cried out as she stared into the bright sky. "Hey, come up and take a look at the sky! It's so blue!"

Behind the rock stood a young boy, who was blinking at his friend. "Makoto!" he yelled to her. "Don't you think that that rock is a little…" he looked at it, his lavender eyes wide. "…High?"

"Oh come on!" she replied, turning to look at the other demon, managing to draw her eyes away from the bright sky for a moment. "It's nothing! It's just a little bit of height!" She turned to boy, gesturing with her hand for him to come up and join her on the rock. "See, you can see the sky really well from here!"

"Makoto…" he repeated, though this time his voice was lower.

The young demon smiled at her friend as she jumped off the rock, startling the poor boy, who was sure she had just tripped and fell. She ran up to him, grabbing his hand tightly as she ran up the rock again, this time forcing the boy on the top of the rock. He stumbled a little bit as she pulled him up, but she held him steady and made sure that he didn't fall. When he got to the top, she placed her arms around his shoulder to reassure him.

"You see?" she said, pointing up to the sky with her free hand. "It's so bright today!"

The boy, after gaining his balance, tilting his head up and looked at the bright sky above him. It really was brighter than usual, and a lot clearer. Usually, it was hard to see through the treetops, and when you could see it, there were usually clouds covering it. However, in this space, barren of trees, the bright sky was clearly visible. His eyes went wide as he looked at it more, realizing how beautiful it truly was.

The girl grinned. "You see? It's not that bad! We're not falling!" she cried out as she threw her hands up in the air, accidently knocking the boy off balance when she did so.

"Ma-Ma-Makoto!" he yelled out as he stumbled backwards, falling off the rock and hitting his back. He winced as he felt his back collide with the hard ground, and he could feel his eyes swirling in his head.

"Kai!" yelled Makoto as she realized her friend had fallen. She instantly jumped from the rock, thankfully landing beside her friend and not on top of him. "Are you all right?" she asked him, bending over to inspect the body of the blue-haired young demon.

He sat himself up and nodded, though his eyes were still swirling from that fall. He knew it hadn't been a good idea to go up there, even if the sight was pretty. "Y…Y…Yes?" he answered.

Makoto grinned when she saw him nod, and she instantly grabbed his wrist and pulled him right up. "All right then! Let's go move on! I bet you we can see the sun at a better spot from over there!" she yelled out as she pointed into the forest with a finger on her free hand. The boy opened his mouth to protest, but before he could say anything, Makoto had already dashed off, laughing as she ran through the trees.

"M-M-Makoto!" Kai cried out in protest. "You're going too fast!"

"Aw, come on Kai! The only words you've been saying are protests! Remember how beautiful the sky was when you finally decided to take a look? Come on!" she tugged on his wrist again and began to run even faster, much to the boy's dismay.

"But your mother is going to worry!" yelled Kai.

Makoto grinned. "Ah, come on! We're not going to far away. Mother has no reason to worry!"

The two of them stopped running when they reached an area that had a small amount of trees, though it wasn't enough to block the sky. She pointed up to it with a single finger, showing the boy next to her how bright the sky could be. "See, now you don't have to worry about falling off anything! There's just the sky there, right above our heads!"

The boy looked up, taking in the details of the sky, this time not worrying about stumbling and falling on his back. It really was beautiful to look at. He never really got a good look at the sky, as the trees mostly blocked it from being seen.

They were told a while ago that there was an area where there were no trees, and the sky was visible every moment and everywhere anyone went. However, there was single problem. They couldn't go to that place. And the reason behind that was very, very simple…

"Humans," Makoto spoke. "I wonder if they think anything of the sky? They always get to look at it. I wonder if they see the same thing we do when we look up at the sky."

Kai looked unsure. "Well, they ARE humans, so I doubt it." His face turned into a frown. "…Humans are mean. They think they're all that… but really, they aren't. And besides, all they are good for is to eat. They shouldn't be so hostile."

It was a rare moment where Kai actually said something that could be considered rude. A lot of the time, he would worry about various things and complain. Every demon thought negatively of humans, but Kai never really tended to talk about them. The subject of humans would always bring out a side of Kai that wasn't normally there.

"They don't get it. I don't think they see anything in the sky," she sighed. "I think that they just look up in the sky and go, 'oh, look. The sky. Boring.' That's how they are after all."

"I don't think we should dwell on humans and what they think. They're just humans, after all. They're mean, cruel, and rude," Kai replied, gazing at a single cloud that began to drift across the sky. To the boy, it looked so lonely up there, all by itself. "Besides, I like us demons more. We're nice and fun, unlike those mean, nasty things… At least we can eat them."

"Am I fun, Kai?" Makoto asked her friend, her gaze still fixed on the sky.

He nodded once. "Of course! You're my best friend. I don't think a human could ever be like you. Humans are just so. J-Just so…" He shook his head. "Makoto, I-I don't want to talk about humans…"

Makoto looked away from the sky to stare at her friend's face, which was looking a little serious. It seemed strange to her, so to cheer him up, she suddenly elbowed him in the stomach, causing him to jump. "Ahaha! Okay then, we'll talk about something fun. Like... like…" Makoto frowned. What was there to talk about? "Um…"

Kai laughed at his friend's lack of things to say. "A-Ahaha… well…" He paused, then looking up at the sky once more time. "I think I have to be heading back or Mom's going to worry," he looked behind him, into the forest. "Yeah, she said I couldn't be out for too long, so…"

Makoto's face turned into a frown, and the young girl looked disappointed. "Awww... you sure you have to go?"

He nodded, a slightly disappointed look on his face. "Mom's going to be mad…" he whispered, picturing his mother's angry face, which would soon become reality if he didn't go. He really didn't want to have to leave his friend, but there wasn't much he could do.

She sighed. She was sad that her friend had to go, since she had had so much fun playing with him. "All right… I guess that I have to go back, too. See ya, Kai."

"Yeah, bye, Makoto…"

She frowned as she watched her friend go off into the distance. Kai had spent many days by her side, and the two of them would often go out to play. While Kai was a little reluctant to do anything he considered to be dangerous, Makoto would always pull him into the situation no matter what his feelings may be. She believed firmly that he was missing out on life by cowering away in the corner. Despite this behavior, Makoto and Kai had always been close friends.

"Well, I guess that it's time for me to go home," sighed Makoto as she stretched her arms out. She turned around and began to walk further into the forest. While most people wouldn't be able to tell the difference between the trees, Makoto knew the place like the back of her hand. She could tell anyone every single corner of the forest and she could get to any exact spot in the forest. Of course, this was to be expected of a young demon who was born and raised in the forest. However, the rock she had just been to was an exception. She had wandered off from her usual spot, and had then found it.

She was told of the human land a while ago, one that wasn't covered by trees. However, her mother had forbidden her from going there for obvious reasons. Humans didn't like demons, and demons didn't like humans. For a young demon like Makoto, going near a human was dangerous. It was hard to kill a demon, but it wouldn't be too hard with Makoto, considering that she was very young. A human could outsmart her and lead her into a trap, for one.

She soon reached a cave, one that was very familiar for the girl. This was the cave that she slept in, and the cave where her mother was waiting for her. She walked into the cave, allowing the dark tint of the shadows to envelop her.

"Mom?" she called out into the darkness. "Mom?"

Steps followed, and soon enough, a figure appeared. She was a much older demon whose dark purple hair mirrored the demon in front of her, along with those yellow eyes that were now blinking at the girl.

"Ah, Makoto! Did you have fun?" she asked her.

Makoto nodded, smiling up at her mother. "Yeah, mom! I just wish that Kai was able to stay longer. We were looking up at the sky from the rock, and it was so beautiful!" she explained, throwing her arms up to emphasize her point. "It was THIS beautiful, actually!" she then added on, trying to throw her arms as far apart as she possibly could. "I haven't seen the sky very clearly before that! It's usually cloudy, or the trees block, but there's this one spot I just found that has a rock and no trees…!"

Her mother smiled at her. "That sounds beautiful. The sky is very hard to see from the forest sometimes." She sighed at the thought.

"Mom, is it true that the humans always get to see the sky? They don't need to go searching for a spot to see the sky, do they?" asked Makoto, a pang of jealousy in her yellow eyes. She already knew the answer to that, but the subject just interested her. "Do they think anything of it?"

There was pain that filled her mother's eyes as soon as the subject of humans came up, as well as a bundle of hatred. No demon she knew liked the idea of humans, nor did their care for their very presences. As soon as the two species would get close, a fight would break out, often causing some casualties. Demons didn't like it when humans got too close, as they were often afraid that they would do something brutal, and they would then attack them in self-defense

"Yes, but you shouldn't dwell too much on the subject. You know that humans are nasty creatures that we don't want to be around." She narrowed her eyes at the thought of the humans, and then shook her head to get the thought out of her mind. Makoto blinked at her, knowing that the last thing she wanted to think about was humans. Her mother had been in several scuffles with humans before, after all.

Makoto decided that she would move on from the subject. Her mother didn't like it, and she would rather not talk about it, either. She nodded once before wandered off to the back of the cave, where she sat down on a bundle of leaves she had collected. She lay down on them, rather tired from having spent the day running around with Kai. She smiled as she recalled the memories that they had spent together. There had been one time where Makoto found her reflection in the stream of the water, and was intrigued by it. She had urged Kai to come and look at his, but he was reluctant to obey.

She finally got him to do so, and he too was intrigued by what he looked like. Well, he was until he fell face first into the water. Then he was just upset, and very, very wet.

Kai wasn't the type to be very careful when he actually got himself into situations. He was too careful about getting into them, but when he got into them was a different story. He would be scared about going to look into the water, and when he did, he would actually fall into the water when he forgot about that. The reflection had caused him to forget about his position and his balance, and he toppled right into the river.

She giggled a little bit at the thought. Kai could be so funny at times.

"Well, Makoto," her mother's voice called out as she walked over to her daughter, sitting beside her on the pile of leaves. "Are you going to take a nap?"

She nodded her head as she buried herself further into the leaves. It wasn't the most comfortable place to sleep ever, but she had little options, and sleeping on leaves was more comfortable than sleeping on the cold, hard floor of the cave. Besides, after playing, the girl was dead tired.

"All right then. Would you like to hear a story, Makoto?" she asked her daughter, affection in her yellow eyes as she looked down at her.

"Sure," yawned Makoto as she shifted her position on the pile. "That would be nice."

Her mother smiled. "Well then, let me tell you a little bit about the previous demon king, Hachirou. As you know, we currently don't have a demon king, but there used to be one named Hachirou who looked over the land of the demons. He ruled over us all and defended us from those vile humans," she began to tell.

Makoto listened to her mother intently. She had heard a little about Hachirou before, but her mother had never told her the whole story.

"Hachirou owned a small, golden orb that we call The Orb of the Demon Kings. It was something he always had with him, and it was considered proof that he was the king of the Onigafuchi demons," she told her daughter. "The golden orb was one that emitted a great power, and everyone was intrigued by the sight of it. But the truth is that The Orb of the Demon Kings had a dark secret to it, along with a great power."

Makoto blinked at her mother. "And what would that power be, Mom? What did The Orb of the Demon Kings do?" she asked.

"Well, The Orb of the Demon King had the power to control a demon's mind. What it does is that it binds itself to a demon's soul, and then the holder of the orb can control the demon who is bound to it. However, it can only control one demon at a time. It technically becomes a part of that demon's mind and soul." She sighed at the thought. "The holder of the orb can do anything with the demon's mind, then. They could tell it to do anything psychically possible and they will do it."

"Can the orb unbind itself?" asked a curious Makoto.

Her mother shook her head. "The only way that the orb can detach itself from a demon's soul is by the holder to order it to attach itself to another's soul. The demon cannot break free of the hold the orb has, nor can the orb release itself from the demon. Though this power was not why it was considered to be the object needed to become the Demon King. It was only considered this because the object was of a bright gold color, and it seems as if there's some kind of spirit swirling around inside of it, though all it is is the power of the orb. Every demon is intrigued by its color and the power that they can fell coming from it."

Makoto was indeed interested in this Orb of the Demon Kings. It sounded like something pretty, although the thought of it controlling her was downright horrifying.

"Anyways, back to Hachirou. Hachirou owned this orb, and he was the one who watched over the land. He would defend us all from the humans when they came, and we would fight for him. However, one day, Hachirou dropped the orb somewhere, and the demons refused to listen to him, as he no longer had The Orb of the Demon Kings in his possession, as it's what is said to make you king. Desperate, Hachirou went out to search for the orb." She looked down at her daughter, her eyes serious. "But he never found it. Try as he might, couldn't find the golden glimmer of the orb anywhere. People believe that a human took it without knowing what it was."

Makoto blinked at her story. It was a very interesting one indeed. So, the demons refused to listen to him, simply because he did not have the orb that was supposed to be the reason why he was king? And besides, wouldn't it be hard to drop an object like that somewhere?

"Wow, poor Hachirou," commented Makoto. "He just lost his right as king because he lost the orb…"

"It's very strange indeed, and the thought that a human may have it is just scary. Hachirou never controlled anyone with the orb, as it was only a mark because of how beautiful it was, but a human may actually try to control a demon," her mother shuddered a little. "He would become the strongest human ever with the power to control a demon, especially if you picked the right one. And since it's the mark of a king… who knows if the demons will obey him."

Would a demon really obey a human if they were to hold The Orb of the Demon Kings in their hand? The thought really did scare her. A human could become very powerful with an object like that in their hands, whether or not they actually controlled a demon with it.

"That's scary, Mom. I hope it doesn't happen," commented Makoto as she snuggled into the leaves.

"I hope it doesn't, too," her mother responded. "Now, get some rest, Makoto…"

She nodded into her pile of leaves and closed her eyes, thinking about the tale she had just heard. Was it really that easy for a demon king to lose their right as head? And what if a human really did have their hands on The Orb of the Demon Kings? She could feel herself cringe at the very thought of it. If a human tried to control anyone with the orb, then she would surely try to get it back from the human.

Well, if she even had the strength to do that, anyways.

~~~~X~~~~

Daylight slightly blocked by the trees above greeted Makoto as she woke up. It had been a few days since she learned of The Orb of the Demon King, and by now, the story was in the back of her mind. She was currently spending her days with Kai, just as usual, playing around in the forest and not worrying about anything. Today was no different. Makoto was currently climbing on a tree while she urged Kai to come up along with her, who was once again not willing to do so.

"Come on, Kai! It's not that high up!" encouraged Makoto as she lifted herself up on a higher branch. "You won't fall or anything like that!"

Kai shook his head as he stared up at it, his eyes wide. "The last time that happened, I fell off…" he spoke, recalling old memories. He blinked up at his friend, fear and shock in his eyes as he wondered how in the world she could manage to go up there without being scared or worrying about falling off.

She laughed as she began to fiddle with the leaves on the tree, picking a few of them. "Ah, come on! I bet you could see the sky from there!" she exclaimed as she bunched her leaves in one of her hands and pointed at the sky. "See, the sun is visible from up here!"

She smiled as she looked at the sky. It was so bright, and so blue. It was a wonderful sight. Surely Kai would enjoy it if he bothered to come out and take a look.

"M-Makoto! You're going to fall down, too!" he cried out as he looked at her feet.

"Of course I'm not! I have practice climbing trees. I bet you I could get down from here in a few seconds without hurting myself!" Makoto replied, clenching onto her leaves even tighter. Before Kai could say anything in response, the girl had already jumped down from the branch and onto the ground, startling the poor boy. However, he felt somewhat relieved when he looked at her and discovered that she hadn't been injured at all.

"You see, Kai? It's not dangerous at all! There isn't even a scratch on me!" she boasted, lifting up one of her feet so that the boy could take a look at it. There were many scratches on it from previous encounters with sharp rocks, but there were no injuries from the landing.

Kai let out a sigh of relief. "Oh, thank god. I was so scared, Makoto. You know, if you died, I would have—"

"It's your turn!" cried Makoto as she pushed the boy towards the tree, not allowing him to finish his sentence.

"W-Wait! I don't want to! I still don't want to, even if I can't get hurt!" he cried out as Makoto shoved him against the tree. He looked up at it, fear in his eyes as he thought about climbing up such a tall thing. What if he were to fall and hurt himself? Makoto had jumped off, but that didn't mean falling off of it couldn't hurt him.

Makoto giggled. "Ah, come on! It's not that hard! Just follow what I do!"

Kai shook his head. He would rather die than go up in that tree!

"You know, you're never going to be a brave demon warrior if you don't learn how to climb up trees like that! How are you going to kill off humans when they attack if you're so scared to do anything?" asked Makoto, her words not meaning to be an insult towards the poor boy. She was actually genuinely concerned for him.

A look of realization filled the boy's eyes when he heard Makoto's words. She was right, after all. If a human were to come after anyone, they would need to have the power and bravery to fight them off. It was either that, or be killed. He gulped as he advanced towards the tree, reaching for a rather low branch with a hand. This tree was a rather large one, and there were very many branches that were sticking out. It would be an easy climb.

He pulled himself up on the first branch, careful not to fall off. This time, he was actually aware of what he was doing, so it was unlikely he would fall like the time with the river and the rock.

He was a little shaky as he clung to the tree, gazing down at the world below him as he stood on the branch. He blinked down at his friend, who was now clapping for him.

"Good! Now lets—"

Suddenly, the two of them heard footsteps coming their way, and they sensed a rather unpleasant presence, causing them to freeze. Kai stood in the tree, unable to move a single muscle. Slowly, Makoto turned around, focusing on the area the footsteps and the presence was coming from.

They could just make out the figure of a staggering demon coming forward. He had orange hair, but his eyes could not be seen, for his face was pointed at the ground. He had two, medium-sized gray horns on the top of his head, and he was slowly advancing towards the two of them.

Usually, demons were friendly towards one another, but this demon had a very strange presence. And not only that, but his presence wasn't the only one that was felt. There was another presence, though this one was much more uncomfortable. It was the clear, undeniable presence of a human.

"Kai," breathed Makoto. "…Let's get out of here."

Kai blinked. "E-Eh…"

"I… I don't feel safe," she responded, glancing from the demon to her friend in the tree. "There's a human here."

But before either of them could make a move, the demon picked his head up. Not that they would be able to move, anyways. Their feet seemed to be plastered to the ground. His eyes were one that seemed to be filled with madness, though that wasn't the strange thing. His eyes, for some reason, were an unnatural shade of pure gold. He licked his lips as he looked at the two demons; his hands raised high in the air.

A figure stepped up behind him, one that was cloaked in a great, brown kimono. All that was visible was the man's somewhat curly brown hair, which seemed to be at a rather long length.

"Demon," he spoke, his voice slightly raspy. "Kill them."

The man held up something, something that sparked a memory in Makoto's mind. He was holding an orb; one that was of a golden color, and one that's color was identical to the color in the demon's eyes. His face remained stern as he grasped it, and when he spoke those words, the energy within the orb swirled, and the whole orb lit up for a few seconds.

The demon's eyes glowed for about a second when the order was spoken, and he began to focus on the two young demons with the new intent to kill in his eyes. Before, there had just been madness.

Makoto felt a bead of sweat snake down her forehead. That's The Orb of the Demon Kings…! That man has the orb! She had to admit that the orb's color and the power it gave off really drew her in, but she tried to ignore it as best as she could.

"KAI!" she screamed to the boy. "KAI, RUN! THAT ORB CAN CONTROL A DEMON'S MIND!"

Kai blinked in surprised. "H-Huh?"

"D-Don't question it, Kai! Just RUN!" she screamed out to the boy.

But before anything could happen, the demon ran for Makoto, his claws outstretched. He was screaming out something that sounded like complete and utter gibberish, Makoto felt fear pulse within her body as she stared at the demon coming towards her. She wanted to run far, far away from the man, but she couldn't find the strength to move her feet. She knew she had to, but she just couldn't. It felt like someone had paralyzed her feet.

The moment the demon got closer, and the moment the girl's yellow eyes met the demon's unnaturally golden ones was the one where Makoto finally found the strength to move, but only just in time. It wasn't enough, though, and the side of the demon that had lunged towards her hit, causing the girl to fall down. The demon did not stop his charge, however, and ended up ramming right into the tree, though it was likely on purpose.

Kai yelped as he clung to the tree, trying to keep his balance as the demon rammed into it over and over again with his horns. Kai was rather high up at this point, and the demon wasn't thinking logically through his madness, so to him, it seemed like ramming the tree until he fell down was the best idea.

"Don't touch him!' screamed Makoto without thinking as she ran towards the demon with her small claws outstretched. She wasn't even considering the fact that the demon was at least twice her size, and probably three times as powerful

The demon whipped around as he noticed the girl coming towards her, and the first thing he did was lunge towards her, knocking her over, though he didn't manage to do a lot of damage.

"Don't fool around, demon," hissed the owner. "Kill her first, and then get the little brat in the tree! I don't care what you do as long as we manage to eliminate every single demon in this forest!"

The demon let out another screech and ran towards Makoto, knocking her into the tree with his body. She screamed as the demon began to slash at her with his claws, screaming words at her that couldn't be made sense of.

Kai looked down at the commotion, fear in his eyes and heart. When Makoto managed to get a quick look, she realized that he was debating over whether or not he should help. He wanted to, that was for sure, but Kai was usually such a coward that he wouldn't even be able to force himself into such a situation.

Makoto wailed as she tried to force the demon off of her, struggling about. It was working to some extent, but that didn't stop the demon from slashing her every here and there. Had she been a human, she probably would have been dead.

"D-Don't touch my best—" Kai started, looking as if he were about to jump off the tree and onto the demon.

But he never finished that sentence. Out of nowhere, another figure appeared, throwing the demon off of the poor young girl. Makoto felt relief as the slashes stopped, though the pain from the wounds was still strong. She grumbled as she leaning against the tree. Red blood was flowing out of her, and was slowly staining the grass.

"Makoto!" the figure spoke to her, the tone of voice causing the girl's eyes to widen. "Get out of here!"

"M-Mom!" cried the demon as she stared at the woman in front of her, who was none other that her own mother. She had fierceness in her yellow eyes that she had never seen before in her whole life, and it scared Makoto slightly.

"Makoto, listen to me! I'll get this demon, and you run far away from here. Kai! That goes for you, too!" she screamed out to the two of them as she stood in front of the demon, staring it down with the intent to kill in her eyes. "No matter what happens, Makoto, Kai, I want you to run. I don't care if another demon goes after you, or humans attack you. Just run."

Makoto glanced up to her friend, and then to her mother, and then to the demon and the human controlling him. The demon was still muttering a few things that couldn't be understood, and the human was just standing there, not fazed by anything that was going on for some strange reason. He just stood there against a tree with that golden orb in his hand, not doing anything else.

The demon let out another screech as he ran towards Makoto's mother, colliding into her.

"Mom!" screeched Makoto, fear filling her at the sight of her mother injured.

"I told you to RUN!" she screamed at her daughter, using the harsh tone a mother would use on a child when they were scolding them or giving them a very, very strict order.

This was enough for Makoto. She trusted her mother, after all. Closing her eyes for a brief second, she decided to clear out any protests she had. Giving another quick glance to the trees behind her, and then to her mother, and then to Kai who was about to do the same thing, she turned around and ran off as fast as she could.

She was surprised that no one followed her, not even the controlled demon or Kai, but that wasn't what she cared about at the moment. All she needed to do was to run, just like her mother had ordered her to do. She had told her to run no matter what happened, after all. So when was she to stop? She didn't know. But whatever the case was, Makoto found herself running about the forest, panting as she did so. She just needed to get far, far away from that man and the demon.

She stopped at the great rock, where the sunlight was visible. She was too tired to continue, even though she had promised her mother that she would keep running. She had run far enough, after all. With a deep breath, she sat against the rock and recalled what had just happened to her. Was that really The Orb of the Demon Kings?

There was no doubt about it. That orb was certainly The Orb of the Demon Kings. She had seen its color and its power, and she had been strangely drawn to it when she saw it. It was said that such a thing marked the power of the Demon King, and that everyone went against the Demon King when he had lost the orb. And it really did end up it the hands of a human. Now, that human could control demons, and he had said something about wanting to kill every demon that dwelled in the forest.

She buried her head into her knees. Where was Kai? How was her mother doing against that possessed demon? She didn't know, and she was scared.

Trembling, the girl got up. Perhaps she would go back and take a quick look to see how things were. Perhaps her mother was done, and they could go back and find Kai, and then return to the cave. She nodded with her decision as she began to take steps back towards where she had come from. She knew the location of that tree, so it would be easy for her to find it again. After all, she knew the forest well.

She began to run back to where she came from, back towards where she had been attacked. How were things back there? Where was Kai? These questions kept pounding in her mind, and she needed to know the answer to them. Perhaps she would run into her friend on the way back, but she wouldn't know how things were until she took a good look at them for herself.

Still though, even as she ran, there was no sight of her best friend anywhere. She hoped that she would run into him in another part of the forest later, or that he had gone off in an opposite direction and had not been murdered by the man and his controlled demon. She could feel her heart race with worry as she took each step towards the area, worry and curiosity plaguing her mind.

She stopped when she got closer, and began to inch forward. She hid behind a tree and then peeked out ever so slightly at the place before her.

"Good, demon. That's one down. We'll need to work harder if we're to kill every single demon in this forest," the man told his demon, who was standing above Makoto's mother with clear insanity in his eyes.

Makoto's heart froze when she saw her mother. She wasn't moving, and she was covered with blood. She gasped, her eyes widened with realization. Had her mother really failed to kill that man?

The demon began to move about, and she realized that she had to get out of there are soon as she could, otherwise she would be caught.

She turned around and ran off as fast as she could, the image of her dead mother still strong in her mind as she tried her best to get away from the man. A tear dripped down her face as she recalled all sorts of memories they had shared together. They would never be able to speak to each other ever again after this, and it was all because of that stupid man with The Orb of the Demon Kings.

She had to get away, but she didn't even know where she was going. Salty tears were beginning to blind her vision as they welled up in her eyes and streamed down her face, flying behind her as she ran faster than before. By now, she was just going in a random direction, a direction of the forest she had never actually been in. The forest was large, and there were actually a few places the girl hadn't been to before.

Though that was mostly because there were a few places where her mother hadn't allowed her to go. Now, she was running towards a place where she had been told that she couldn't go to, no matter what. But the girl wasn't thinking at that point, and all she wanted to do was get away. Whether or not not she was allowed to go anywhere was the last thing on her mind at the moment.

She suddenly halted as she heard voices, and then took the chance to look around at where she was. She didn't know this part of the forest, nor did she know how to get back from there. Glancing towards a few trees, she realized that there was something on the other side, something that wasn't just endless trees. With a gulp, she walked towards a tree and hid behind it. She poked her head out from behind it, getting a good look at what was there.

She was absolutely shocked by what she saw. There seemed to be a whole community behind those trees, and there were so many things there that she didn't recognize. There were these tall things that looked sort of like shelter, and there were a whole bunch of trails made with dirt. She blinked at the space before her, wondering why she hadn't gotten a look at it before.

She looked up from there, noticing the sky was completely visible.

The human world! She gasped as she took a few steps back from where she was. The human world was a dangerous place, and she had been advised to never go there.

She couldn't help but take another look, though. The whole place was so much different from the demon world that curiosity was beginning to overflow. She watched as the slight breeze blew the small blades of grass that covered the land, and she just gazed in awe at the whole area in general. How did someone make such a thing? There was nothing of this sort in the forest.

A few humans walked by, chatting to each other about matters that didn't concern the young girl. She felt a twinge of fear as she noticed them, but decided that they wouldn't be able to see her, and that it didn't matter. The humans were acting so casually towards the place, and they weren't amazed by it at all. Well, of course, seeing as they were humans, and that they had lived in this world for a long, long time. There was nothing new and nothing amazing about it to their eyes.

But to the young demon who had spent all her life surrounded by trees and rocks, the world was a whole new one, one that was full of new adventures. Her jaw nearly dropped to the ground as she caught sight of a giant shelter in the center, one that was surrounded by several people.

"Wow," gasped the demon as she clung tightly to the tree. "It's… so… different."

Suddenly, a human who was walking by turned around and caught sight of her. Their eyes locked with hers, and the demon felt herself shrinking away with fear. She clung tighter to the tree, knowing that she had to run away, but this encounter mirrored the one with the possessed demon before. Her feet were frozen to the ground, and even if she wanted to move, she found that she could not.

"Demon!" cried the human, pointing at her. "There's a demon!"

All of the humans turned around and looked at where he was pointing, surprised that a demon had actually come. Makoto knew that the demons always stayed away from this place and avoided all humans, so such a sight was rare to see. She looked behind her briefly, not knowing where exactly she should run. Well, if she was able to muster up the strength to move, that was.

A bunch of humans crowded around the demon, chattering and screaming out threats. "Kill her!" screamed a few of the humans, though none of them actually had a weapon on hand, as they hadn't been expecting a demon to appear out of nowhere.

"She's small, so she should be an easy kill! Anyone have a sword? Perhaps some kind of object that can be used as a weapon?" someone yelled out from the crowd. "I don't have anything on me!"

Makoto really, really, really wanted to run, but people were beginning to lunge towards her, and some people were beginning to appear from the behind and began to push her forward and away from the forest in the midst of the commotion. They latched onto her arms, holding her back as she struggled for release. She had no way to fight off a bunch of men who were a lot older than her and much bigger than her.

"I'm sure there's some kind of weapon here," a man yelled out to the crowd. "Anything that could be used as a weapon could work, even if it's not one used often!"

She screamed as she saw more people begin to gather around, and the grip on her beginning to tighten as her resistance grew. She had to get out of here somehow! She had promised her mother that she was going to run away no matter what happened, and she was currently breaking that promise. Those were the last things that her mother had told her, after all. She couldn't defy her mother!

But it's all useless. No matter what she tried, she knew that she couldn't escape the crowd. There were just too many people. She was now heavily regretting having taken a look at this place. Why oh why did she have to get so close to the humans?

"Stop!" a voice suddenly bellowed out, one that for some reason caused all the struggling to halt and all the voices to die down. Why that was, Makoto didn't know, as the voice wasn't as loud as the other voices, nor did it seem as threatening. "Clear a path. Let me take a look at this demon!"

The humans began to break apart, and they bowed as the figure that had appeared began to walk through the path created by them. And as she walked by, each and every human greeted her respectfully. The figure's eyes were now gazing at Makoto, and she instantly noticed that her eyes had fierceness in it that probably caused people to obey right away. No one wanted to argue with a person who had that kind of sternness in his or her eyes.

The figure stepped in front of Makoto, and she began to stop struggling. The grip on her softened just a little bit, though it wasn't enough for the girl to break free from the crowd.

She sighed. "Ah, she's just a little demon," the figure spoke as she observed the demon before her. "Around ten to twelve years old, I'd say." The figure blinked at the demon, observing her closer. "Well, I suppose she's still a demon. Allow me to take her to the shrine and kill her for you."

"F-Furude Chiharu-sama! You have no need to do that! We'll do it for you! We cannot force something like that on our leader, after all," a voice cried out from somewhere in the crowd.

"No, it's fine. As the head of the Furude family, I insist I do something about it," she reached towards the demon and placed her arms around her, and the moment she did so, the grip the men had on her released. However, before Makoto could escape, the woman picked her right off the ground. "She is very light for someone her age. Perhaps my estimate was off."

Makoto struggled, trying desperately to get out of her arms. She knew that the woman would take her to her place of death, and that her life wouldn't contain anymore adventures. But there was so much I wanted to explore! She tried kicking and struggling, but the woman just held her tighter.

"Chiharu-sama, please, allow me to take her," a villager spoke out. "I do not wish to force you to do something like that."

"I already told you that I would take care of it. Or are you questioning me?" she asked the man, her tone harsh.

The man froze to the ground and dipped his head in apology.

"Good," the woman spoke, holding the protesting girl tightly. "This incident is now over. Forget anything ever happened," she ordered the rest of them.

The villagers headed off, not speaking a word to one another. Makoto was relieved to see them go away, but she knew on the inside that the fight wasn't over. She still had to deal with the woman who was currently holding her. Her grasp was firm, and she knew that she wouldn't be able to get out of it very easily. Her struggling up until now had done no good, and even though the woman was now focusing on getting home rather than holding her tightly, the grip did not soften.

Her eyes went wide as she noticed that the two of them were going into the shelter. She struggled even more now that she knew that the place they were going in was one that she would never come out of. Now, more than ever, she wanted to go back to the forest, even if it meant that she couldn't see the sky clearly every single day, and even if it meant being surrounded by an endless amount of trees.

The woman opened up the shelter and walked inside, still holding onto the girl tightly. She had tried to escape when one of her hands left to open the door, but her efforts were in vain. She let out a wail as she entered the area, still thinking about the forest and how much she wanted to go back to it. Even if she didn't have a mother, she would be able to live there in peace. No demon would hurt another demon. She could go off and live with Kai and his mother, or perhaps find another demon to stay with.

But the humans were different. They were not kind to her in the slightest. She had already seen how evil and cruel they could be around her. They were totally different from the demons.

Makoto observed the area she was in. It was a lot different from anywhere she had ever been before, and the inside of it confirmed her suspicion that the place was some kind of shelter. Of course, it was a lot different from the cave that she lived in. This place had a different type of structure, and not only that, but there were many strange objects that the girl didn't recognize.

She was plopped down on to what seemed to be some soft place to sleep, and she found herself looking directly at the woman's eyes. She was scared of what the woman was going to do to her. She was going to kill her, yes, but how would she kill her?

She looked around the room nervously. She didn't see anything that could be used as a weapon, but who knew? She was a human. Makoto didn't know humans very well, but it was possible that they had some kind of power to kill demons or something similar to that. Perhaps they were stronger than demons? She didn't know. She was never taught anything about humans other than that they were cruel, and that they had to stay away from them. She had heard many stories about demons getting brutally slaughtered by humans, and that was enough for her to know that the woman wouldn't be kind.

Fearfully, the young demon turned to meet the eyes of the human, only to see not the intent to kill in the human's eyes, but a rather kind and gentle spark.

"I should not be kind to demons, but you are only a little one and I do not see why I need to kill you," she explained to the demon, who was rather confused. "What is your name?"

"M-M-M…" The demon was hesitant to share any information with the human, but she didn't seem too bad. But who knew? She was a human. She could be pulling some kind of sick joke on her.

"Don't be afraid, I will not kill you. Do you see anything in this room that I could possibly kill you with? There's nothing." She held out her hands, showing that they didn't contain anything in them. Makoto had already figured that out, but such a gesture was reassuring. "My name is Furude Chiharu, and I am the head of the Furude family. Now go on, tell me your name."

Makoto felt slightly better now that the woman had shared her name with her. Did that mean that it was okay to share her name, too? She wasn't sure. However, she was right when she said that there was nothing in the room that it looked like she could kill her with. "M-Makoto…" she managed to squeak out. She regretted it afterwards, though. What if the woman had some kind of power?

Chiharu smiled at her. "All right." She bent down to the demon's side so that she was closer to her height, and then gently patted the girl on the head. "No reason to be afraid. My men were just worried that you would attack them. They are foolish at times. I do not think that a young demon like you would be able to kill. How old are you?"

Makoto looked puzzled. "Old?"

"Yes, as in years," she clarified.

The purple-haired demon blinked in confusion. She didn't understand the question.

"Ah, so you demons don't keep track of age. That's fine. You seem to be around ten, perhaps eleven. Though you are very light for your age. I had no trouble carrying you over here." She suddenly reached out and placed a hand on the girl's stomach, something that startled her. "It seems you are quite skinny. Have you eaten recently?"

Makoto shook her head as she thought of meat. It was very, very hard to get any, as they had to kill humans to get to it, and that meant that they had to go near them. That was always a challenge for the demons, as they were worried about what the humans would do to them if they went too close. They were brutal creatures, after all. Sure, they were brave and would kill when they got the chance, but that further enraged the humans for some strange reason that they couldn't point out.

"Poor thing. Hunting humans isn't always easy, I would think. My men are strong, and I don't think they would like to be eaten."

Makoto blinked at those words. She hadn't thought about humans not wanting to get eaten. To her, they had always just been food that had a very vile attitude.

"You do not understand. Well, you are a demon," Chiharu sighed. "You see things different than a human can." She paused for a moment. "Where is your mother?"

The demon girl felt her heart break at the mention of her mother. She had spent every single day with her, and now, suddenly, she was dead. Her mother would never wake up, and it was all because of that man with The Orb of the Demon Kings. She felt a small tear trickle down her face as she thought about her mother's dead corpse, which she barely even got to look at. The sight was just all too horrifying for her.

"…Have you lost your mother?" asked the Furude.

"Y…Yes," answered Makoto, a few more tears coming to her eyes. "She was… she was…"

Chiharu placed a hand on her shoulder. "Yes?"

"A human killed her," she finished.

Just the thought caused all the painful memories to resurface, and the pain was now highly visible in those yellow eyes of hers. She wanted her mother back right now.

Chiharu looked completely taken by surprise the moment that she saw the pain in her eyes, as it was easily readable. However, that shock softened after a while of looking at her. "So it seems that everyone was wrong," she spoke softly as she smiled at the girl. "You are clearly in pain at the loss of your mother. I was told by my father and my ancestors that all demons were evil and cruel. Perhaps it's because you are little, but you do not seem evil and cruel to me." She placed a hand underneath the girl's chin, lifting it up so that she could take a good look into the girl's eyes. "Do not worry. I will be here for you. You can stay here. I will protect you. I will not allow my men to see you."

Makoto looked taken aback from the sudden promise, especially since it was coming from a human. Would she really protect her? She was hesitant at first, but then she remembered how she had saved her from the crowd, and how nice she had been when she offered to tell her her name, and then her soft tone. She didn't seem bad. Besides, where else was there to go? She looked back up into the woman's soft purple eyes, and that was enough for Makoto to realize that she wouldn't cause her any harm.

"T-Thank you," she whispered.

Chiharu smiled. "You are welcome."

Sure, she was now with a human, and she had lost her mother and probably wouldn't see her best friend again, but Makoto had a strange feeling that things were going to get better. Perhaps living with a human wouldn't be all that bad. Besides, from what she had seen today, the image of this woman contrasted greatly with what her mother had told her in the past. Even if those men and women from before were scary, this woman certainly wasn't.

I wonder what life will be like with a human.

Maybe she would gain a better understanding from this experience.

~~~~X~~~~
Crimso's Corner V.2

It seems like forever since I finished a chapter. I. AM. SO. SORRY. I cannot even begin to explain how sorry I am. I was supposed to get a chapter up on Sunday, but I just couldn't. I am under so much stress right now that it's CRAZY. I have a Math test on Monday, and all the problems and concepts are so tricky that I'm getting confused. Not only that, but there are so many concepts that I'm beginning to forget. We usually have a test every two weeks, but it has been a month since our last one, which means this test covers a month worth of learning. A whole month. We learn a new concept almost every two days, and sometimes every day, and… well, you see where I am going with this. I've been trying to keep up.

I got my grades back for the first quarter. Here they are. History: A- Everything Else: B+. I don't know how this happened. I haven't gotten a B+ in Science since 5th grade. I haven't gotten a B+ in Math since 6th grade. …Actually, since 5th, since I got A C, C-, C-, and a C+ in math last year. But it's still crazy. It's a new grade. It's a higher skill level. But hey, it's the first time I got anything above a B in Spanish. Even though I just failed the quiz we took. My English grade was expected, as my English teacher has given me a B+ in every quarter last year except for one, but that's about it.

Anyways, there is a reason I am writing this whole tale out instead of telling it all in one chapter. It's important to know the details. And no, this isn't just so that you know that demons are similar to humans, there are actually things that will come up once again. Like The Tale of Sonozaki Ayame, if you have read Green-Eyed Demon. And no, the legend about the previous Demon King will not be expanded. The information here is all that's being said. It's like a story within a story.

This is getting too long. Please review, and I will love you forever. You can have a kitten or a puppy for reviewing. Unrelated, but still. Or any other animal if you don't like those. Or if you don't like animals, you can have a soda. Or a bowl of pasta if you don't like soda. Or a… well, you get the point here. You can have another one of any of the above if you point out a typo. I think my doc editor is starting to work again, so we'll see what happens. I want to get back to editing all those typos in the last few chapters.

~Crimso