12. Dead Weight

"We lost Sylvan?" Kawachi spoke up.

Kai gave a grim nod. "Unfortunately, that's the case. But thanks to him, I don't think those other demons will try to get us for now, considering that he was their intended target..." He let out a sigh, propping his head against his right arm. "I was really hoping I could help him in some way, though. He never wanted to be a demon. He was originally human like the rest of us until Yukino turned him into a demon...There might have been a way to get him back to normal..."

"Well, right now, we have to definitely find Yukino and get rid of her." Kanmuri spoke up. "Maybe we can save him!"

"And how do we find her again?" Shachihoko asked, confusion taking over her face. "We're going to go to the Mystics for help, right?"

"Exactly." Mizuno told him. "And then as soon as they tell us, we have to go hunt down Yukino and destroy her. And try to help Syvlan, too. I mean, sure, he was bad and everything, and he even attacked Kanmuri, but I can't help but think he's a good guy inside. If he was seriously a bad guy, why would he even bother talking with me, or any of the other villagers days ago?"

"That decides it, then." Monica spoke up as everyone turned to her. "We're going to find those Mystics, get them to tell us where the heck Yukino is, and then we're going to hightail it over to Yukino and defeat her and save Sylvan in the process!"

"YEAAAAA!" Everyone else cheered. In Princess Tsukino's mind however, she was thinking different thoughts.

How dare they not pay any attention to me! I am the princess, they should be asking me of their opinion! And why should we bother rescuing that demon; all he did was nearly get us killed by other creatures earlier... All everyone else wants to do is rescue a dead weight.

Sylvan struggled against his invisible bonds as the demons dragged him down the hallway, but it was no use. He was weakened by their attacks and capture of him earlier; and struggling wasn't going to help him at all.

He kept his head down, his eyes closed as he felt the hot breath of demons leering at his face while evil spirits cackled with glee as they saw him. He didn't want to come back to Yukino. He never did. But he was willing to sacrifice himself to help a group of people on their quest to defeat Yukino. Especially Kai.

Kai. Sylvan couldn't help but smile to himself as he thought of the teen. Strong, brave, and...cold. He was a bit cold on the outside, but Sylvan knew he was quite caring as well. Kai had helped patch up his injuries after the whole fight at the masquerade, and even let Sylvan drink his blood. The latter action definitely took some willingness and caring to be allowed to happen, and Sylvan felt completely grateful that Kai allowed such a thing.

The teen's blood tasted bittersweet, Sylvan remembered, with hints of sadness and sympathy within the crimson, life-giving liquid. Maybe Kai had been left behind before, just like Sylvan had been, and knew what it was like to feel so helpless? Sylvan didn't know for sure, but he had a feeling it had to be something like that...Maybe. He wasn't entirely sure.

"Well, well, well." An icy, feminine voice lingered in the air, snapping Sylvan out of his thoughts. "Who would have known you would be so stubborn to actually try to live and go against me, Sylvan? Then again, you were always so stubborn."

Sylvan didn't say anything, and looked up at the Queen of the Demons with a near-blank expression on his face.

Yukino slapped him in the face harshly, and he simply let his his head turn to the right and absorbed the blow.

"Well?" Yukino spoke, pushing a few locks of hair behind her ear. "Why don't you tell me how your time with the other cockroaches went?"

Sylvan said nothing.

"Fine then," She snorted, "Be that way." She turned to the other demons and spirits lingering in the throne room. "Torture him as you please until he's willing to speak up about the cockroaches. And once he is, bring him to me so I may hear of them."

Sylvan felt himself get dragged away from the raven-haired demon queen, and all he did was smile. He was very good at absorbing pain. As soon as the smile formed, it immediately turned into a small frown afterwards.

But then again, pain wasn't an issue. How much blood could he lose before pleading for mercy?