The sun shone down brightly amidst the clear, blue sky, its warmth touching the skin of my face. Blades of tall grass grazed the edges of my body, and as I lay staring up at the sky, I reached an outstretched hand towards the sun, feeling the heat on my palm and the cool, pleasant shadow that fell on my face.

It was said that Aere created this world out of pure loneliness. Being the first and only thing that ever existed, there was nothing in the beginning of time except for a vast space of emptiness… And so, it was then, that Aere created man.

Giving everything that man could possibly ask for, man grew to resent and despise Aere for his overindulgence. Eventually, man was so consumed by malice that man lashed out violently at Aere, banishing Aere away from the world he, himself, created.

Aere was broken by man’s malevolence. Aere couldn’t understand how the very being that he created, loved and cared for, could in the end come to regard him with so much hatefulness and spite.

It was then that, after thinking for a very long time, so long in fact that man forgot Aere existed, Aere decided to create the Sun in the sky, hot and fiery, so that man would long for the cold. Then when the Sun fell, Aere made the Moon to rise, icy and cold, so that man would then long again for the heat. But that wasn’t all Aere did. Aere created opposing elements for all the perfections that once existed in man’s world.

For without pain, man could not feel pleasure.

“Hey, Kei.”

A voice sounded from behind me, breaking my thoughts and I pushed myself up from the grass, turning around. A girl with long black hair and innocent brown eyes greeted me. She was slightly on the shorter side of things in terms of height and gave off the feeling of blissful youth. It was my little sister, Ali.

“What are you still daydreaming here for?” Ali teased, a big grin on her face. “We have to get back to the village, it’s almost nighttime now.”

“Sorry, Ali.” I laughed, lifting myself up from the ground. Seeing Ali always made me feel airy inside. Perhaps it was my big brother instincts being activated, or perhaps it was just that dumb, goofy smile she always had on her face. Whatever it was, it made me feel good to be around her. “I’m getting up now.”

“Jeez.” Ali said, watching as I pulled myself up from the grass. “We were only supposed to get some water from the river for mum and dad, and we ended up taking ages!”

“Hey! You were the one that started a water fight in the river.” I retorted jokingly, picking up two buckets that was identical to the one that Ali held.

“Did not!” Ali laughed, her face blushing. “Anyways, you better not tell mum and dad!”

I walked ahead of Ali, pretending not to hear her. “Sorry, I didn’t catch that.”

“H-hey Kei!” Ali laughed, running after me as we headed back to the village.

Our village was on a remote and peaceful side of Zenora, the world that we lived in. Because of that, we did not have the typical number of fighters or hunters that a normal village would have. Instead, we relied mainly on gatherers to sustain life in the village. The downside of this was that we were far away from the city and the kingdom of Rize where we belonged as citizens. But to be honest, I quite frankly didn’t mind this.

Rize was one of the three kingdoms that ruled the lands of Zenora. The other two were the kingdoms of Lunthia and Azrael, and for as long as I could remember, there has always been an eternal struggle for power between the three kingdoms. At the moment, there are rumours spreading that a full blown war between the kingdoms could erupt at any time. I didn’t want to be involved with any of that, so the fact that our village was remote from Rize naturally didn’t bother me at all. All I cared about was my family and the village that we lived in.

“You guys are late!”

My mother’s worrying voice jolted me from my thoughts as Ali and me approached our house. It was a small rural house, just big enough to fit a family of four. Mother was standing outside, waiting for us, her arms by her side. She looked like an older version of Ali, with the same long dark hair and brown eyes, although the youthful exuberance was now replaced by the worrying face of a mother. “Did you stop to play in the river again?”

“S-sorry mum!” Ali quickened her pace, the bucket bouncing in front of her as she held on with both hands. “I just—”

“It was my fault.” I interrupted. “I thought there was a shortcut to the river, and Ali insisted there wasn’t, but I told her to just follow me.”

“Jeez.” Mother gave me a look that said she knew I was trying to cover for Ali. “Just try not to be late next time.”

“Sorry mum…” Ali repeated, then murmured a quiet thank you to me.

Ali pushed open the wooden door to our home and I followed her inside, while mother stepped to the side to close the door behind us. The interior of our home was modest much like the outside, the only luxury being the small fireplace in the corner which was commonplace around the village.

“Where’s dad?” Ali asked, looking around as she placed the bucket of water down near the wall. “Isn’t he home?”

“I’m here.”

Father’s heavy voice boomed from upstairs, and sturdy footsteps came marching slowly down as he came into view. Father was a large man with rugged features, scars from his time as a soldier of Rize could be seen all over his body. He had short jet black hair, and a matching set of black eyes that told of a rough life. Similar to how Ali looked like mother, I was more resembling of my father except that my hair was longer. I had also inherited his tall height.

“Did you get the water from the river?” Father asked, speaking to me.

“Yes, father.” I replied, lifting up the buckets in my hands slightly, then placing them to the side where Ali placed hers.

“Good.” Father nodded solemnly. “We are going to need some more fresh water this season. The kingdom of Rize is going through difficult times at the moment.”

“Ah, right…” Ali stared down as the mood in the room darkened.

I knew father was talking about the heightened tension between the three kingdoms and the possibility of war, but I didn’t know if Ali knew much about it. After all, our village was so far away from everything that news of what happened at the capital often didn’t reach us. Furthermore, I’ve always made an effort to shield Ali from these things.

“Come on, let’s have dinner!” Mother said cheerfully, breaking the negative mood as she headed to the kitchen. “We are having roasted chicken for tonight.”

“Yay!” Ali’s face brightened up as it usually did at the mention of food. “I’m so sick of eating just fish and potatoes!”

I laughed at Ali’s comment as I followed my mother into the kitchen to help out in preparing dinner. Ali watched and helped out where she could, while father kneeled down by the fireplace, setting up the fire for tonight.

I swung up from my bed, covered in sweat, my eyes wide open. It was nighttime and the cold seeped into my clothes without the cover of the blankets. Everyone had gone to sleep after eating dinner. A faint memory of Ali laughing during dinner time as she told me about a joke she heard from her friend flashed in my mind as my brain slowly started working again. The memory of my dream disappeared with my thoughts, but the adrenaline was still pumping in my body.

“Ah, it was just a nightmare…” I muttered to myself, although I couldn’t remember any specific details. I turned to the window to look outside. Judging from the darkness, it was still pretty late.

I pulled myself out of the bed, sighing. It wasn’t like I was going to go back to sleep any time soon. I decided to head out for a stroll to try to ease my mind. It had become some sort of a late-night routine of mine recently.

Changing my clothes to something more warm, I stepped out of my bedroom then glanced at the closed door of Ali’s room. I should probably make sure she’s asleep. With that thought in mind, I walked to her room, gently pushing open the closed door. I could make out her figure in her bed, her innocent sleeping face pointed towards me. I felt myself relax at the sight of her.

Quietly, I closed the door then I walked down the stairs into the living room. The fire had burnt out now, sizzling to ashes. The smell of burnt wood filled my nose. I went outside the house, unlocking and pushing open the front door.

I was greeted by the cold, starry night, a soothing wind gushing past me as the door opened. Whenever I couldn’t sleep, I would always come out to walk alone. At this hour of the night, there was not a single soul walking around in the village. It felt as though I owned the place, being the only one outside.

One day, I would probably join the army of Rize to be a soldier like my father. He always told me that I had to protect those that I loved because I had the strength to. I guess his influence was why I was so overprotective of Ali.

I remembered a time when we were kids and she had been bullied by the daughter of the village head. The daughter was feared by the other kids because of the reputation of her parents. Not caring for any of that, I tried to teach the girl a lesson by tying her up to a tree for all the other kids to laugh at. Of course, I was severely punished for my act, but seeing Ali smile when she saw what I did for her made everything worth it.

Something moved in the sky, breaking my thoughts and I rubbed my eyes, thinking that there was a problem with my vision. Taking a closer look, I saw the dark outline of something big rapidly approaching.

…

What the hell?

I could make out what appeared to be wings flapping at its side, but it was definitely not a bird. It was way too big and it was moving way too fast.

The feeling from my dream came flooding back to me, and fear etched across my mind, paralyzing my body. It was closer now and the size of it was truly tremendous. It must had been as big as the tallest tower in the Rize Kingdom, which was the capital city of Rize. I had only seen hand-drawn pictures of the towers from books, but this thing in the sky was definitely as big as what the pictures indicated.

The sound of wind breaking came with every flap of its shadowy wings. Fiery red eyes, glowing fearsomely, sat atop a gaping jaw, its teeth razor sharp and dripping with a dark red substance. Clunks of horn pierced out from its head of varying sizes. Its figure was similar to that of a human, but there was something seriously wrong with it. The more I stared at it, the more frozen I became as I started to realise what it really was.

A demon.

I couldn’t just stand here and do nothing. I had to warn everyone, I had to tell my family, I had to tell Ali. We had to get out of here. And quick. I unfroze from my spot, and spun around, throwing myself into a sprint for my house. Quick. Quick, Kei!

“E-EVERYONE! WAKE UP!” I screamed at the top of my lungs into the empty village. “THERE’S A DEMON COMING!”

Luckily, I wasn’t too far away from my house, and I kicked the front door open, not caring for how loud I was or the damage I may have caused. That thing outside was no ordinary demon. I had seen what demons looked like from books, but the ones in the books were much smaller than what I just saw. I ran as fast as I could, maneuvering through the house, stomping as I reached Ali’s room, hurling the door open.

“Ali!” I yelled, marching to her bed. “Get up!”

Ali’s figure jolted from the sound of my voice. She rolled away from me, raising a hand to rub her eye. “K-Kei?...”

I grabbed onto her hand, jerking her up from the bed. She yelped, her eyes now wide open. “W-what? Kei? What’s wrong?” She asked, her face extremely concerned.

“We… we have to get out of here. Now.” I breathed heavily, trying to structure my thoughts. “We can’t stay here.”

“Why? What’s going on, Kei?” Ali asked, now frightened. “Y-you’re scaring me…”

I took a deep breath and stared her in the eye. “There’s a demon outside.” I said.

“Demon?” Ali mouthed. “A-are you…” She saw the serious look on my face, then swallowed, nodding. “Okay, Kei, let’s go…”

I pulled her with me, not letting go of her hand. Instead, I only gripped it harder, probably hard enough to cause pain, but she didn’t say anything. We walked outside of her room and to our parent’s room.

“Mother! Father!” I kicked their bedroom door open, cracking the hinge. “There’s a demon outside, we have to get out of here!”

Mother rose from the bed, her face alert and terrified, while father jumped out immediately, rushing to the closet. Instead of opening the closet, he threw the closet aside, smashing it into the floor. Then, he raised a feet and without thinking, kicked his heel into the wooden wall, shattering the planks. He reached into the wall and pulled out a giant sword.

It was the first time I had ever seen his sword. It was silver from the top down to the handle, and the blade was thick and sturdy. There were no marks along the blade, despite the fact the dirt on it indicated that it had been used for a very long time.

“Let’s go, let’s go!” Father yelled, pushing past me and heading down the stairs. “Hurry!”

“Follow your father!” Mother shouted, as she pushed us down the stairs.

Father was already out the house when we got to the living room, the front door was smashed open. He had knocked it down with his sword judging from the marks that were left behind. I remembered opening the door when I entered, but it must had closed again from the wind.

“Kei!” I heard my father shouting my name.

We hurried outside, and saw my father staring up into the sky. The demon was in the air, right above the village now, its wings paused but still it was floating. It was hideous, horrifying, and something undeniably malicious reeked from its aura.

Father turned to look at me, his face pale and sweat dripping down from his temples. It was the first time I had ever seen him look like that. “Kei, get Ali out of here now.” He said. “This is the real deal.”

“W-what about mum?” Ali cried, tears were gathering at her eyes. It made my heart hurt to see her like that. “We can’t leave without you guys!”

“Don’t worry about me, Ali.” Mother gave Ali a stern look. “I need to wake everyone else in the village. We need to save as much people as we can.”

“We will go with you.” I said. “We can help too—”

“No!” Father cut me off, bellowing. “You need to go now, Kei!”

“But—” I started.

Father grabbed me by the collar on my neck and pulled me towards him, shocking me with his strength. “Get. Your. Sister. Out.” He said behind clenched teeth.

“O-okay.” I nodded, frightened by his seriousness. I gave them one last look before gathering my resolve. Father was right. I had to protect Ali first and foremost. That was what I had been doing my whole life.

Mother gave me a tired smile, while father’s face was back to its usual calm, stoic manner. He turned away from me to face the demon.

“Go Kei.” Mother said. “Please protect your sister.”

“I will.” I replied, then I tugged at Ali’s hand. “Let’s go!”

Ali looked up at me, scared and worried. Tears were streaming down her face. “O-okay, Kei…” She choked, trying to force back her tears.

I pulled her with me, and we ran to the forest, towards the river. I turned around, looking back for a second, and saw father charging towards the demon, wielding the sword above his shoulder. I couldn’t see any more as I turned back to focus on our path.

A terrifying screech pierced the air, and suddenly the ground exploded followed by my vision disappearing. I felt a terrible heat soaring throughout my body, burning the very essence of my being, an unbearable pain beyond anything I could ever imagine. Despite all that, I still did not let go of Ali’s hand.

When my vision returned, I was lying on the ground. The forest had disappeared entirely, and instead my surroundings represented that of a barren wasteland. A high-pitched noise buzzed in my ear, covering any sounds around me.

I suddenly screamed, realizing the horrible pain I was in. My entire body was hurting from the ends of my toes to the tip of my scalp. I lifted my head shakily, afraid to look at my body and saw a sight that stopped my heart.

My skin had torn right off completely, revealing the flesh underneath as it pulsated in a grotesque manner. I could make out broken bones on parts of my body where the flesh were missing. Dark blood gurgled up my mouth, spluttering into my own face, causing even more pain. I couldn’t hear my own screams because my eardrums were blown out.

Ali. Ali. Ali. The thought of her came to my head and panic flooded my mind. Where was she? Was she safe? I looked to my side and saw my hand holding onto something that barely resembled a human.

No… no… this couldn’t be happening. Just a while ago, we were all eating dinner, having fun, she was telling me about her day, and mother and father…

Ali…

I tried to close my eyes, but felt no eyelids to cover them. The physical pain was nothing compared to what I was feeling right now. I looked up into the sky, cursing the world around me. How could something like this happen? Why?! WHY?!

I pushed myself to my side using all the strength I could muster, then fell to my stomach. I could make out a winged figure disappearing in the distance of the sky and an intense hatred surged through my body, urging my body to move. I needed to get revenge. I needed to avenge my family. I needed to kill the demon. I needed to tear it apart. I needed to… for Ali...

I pictured her face in my mind, that goofy smile she always had on, the sound of her laugh, and the image gave me the strength to move forward, pushing the ground beneath me, dragging my body through the dirt, tearing my flesh against it. I crawled onwards, my shaky hands pushing me, one hand at a time. I needed vengeance… I needed justice…

I found my father’s sword buried in the dirt, but no sign of him anywhere. I grabbed the handle of the blade, pulling it with me. It was incredibly heavy, but I could feel nothing but hatred.

“Stop!”

…

“There’s something on the road…”

…

The sound of a horse carriage slowing down grew louder, though still barely audible to me. Iron cladded boots strapped with laces came into view, seemingly belonging to a female, and I watched their feet walk down the steps of the carriage, then towards me. They stopped right in front of me, but I had no strength to look up to see anything besides her shoes.

“You poor thing…” A gentle whisper came from above. Her voice was sympathetic, caring, and there was an accent that hinted at aristocracy.

I felt her getting closer, bending down to me, and a gentle hand touched my cheeks, somehow causing no pain. Perhaps I was already in too much pain.

She whispered something under her breath, and the hand that was at my face grew warm. The warmth eventually spread to my entire body, relaxing my muscles. My breath slowed down, and I felt myself inhaling deeply.

The girl reached her other hand towards me, lifting me up delicately from the ground. She placed my head on her lap, and I stared up into her face.

A girl, no older than myself, perhaps even younger stared back at me. Azure hair highlighted by silver fell past her sholders, and enigmatic lapis lazuli eyes gazed into mine. Her eyes were illuminated by a mystical glow, emphasising the distinct colour of her eyes. She had a dainty nose, and a face that seemed to have no faults. She was extremely beautiful, breathtaking beyond all doubts. A strange black mark was imprinted on the right side of her face, just beneath her eye. It looked like an ancient symbol of sorts.

Staring into her face, I felt my consciousness fading as the warmth in the centre of my body grew hotter.

I was lying on something soft, and there was a caressing comfort all around me. A pleasant scent filled my nose, and there was no longer the unbearable pain or the high pitch screech of my broken eardrums ringing in my head. Instead, my body felt well rested and in better shape than I had ever been before. My mind though was still a wreck. My memory was foggy and I couldn't remember how I ended up here.

…

Where was I?

I opened my eyes slowly. I was in a bed, a massive bed. It was nothing of the sorts I’ve seen before. There were marble pillars at each corner of the bed, and velvet lining raised at the top. I had multiple blankets laid on top of me, smooth and seemingly made of silk.

I looked around the room, and saw surroundings much like the bed. An astounding room, multitudes larger than my living room, with giant portraits of what appeared to be historic paintings hung up on the walls. Whoever’s room this was, they must have been a very high-ranking noble in Rize.

At the side of the bed was my father's sword. I never really got a good look at it before, but now I could actually see it properly in the light. The sword was massive compared to the ones I had seen in books. Its length, from the tip of the blade to the handle, almost matched my height, and the width of the blade was around the length of my forearm. There were inscriptions written alongside the middle of blade, appearing to be in another language. I couldn't believe that I had had managed to carry it with me.

At that moment, the door of the bedroom creaked, and I snapped my head in its direction, feeling alert. A girl stood by the door, one hand keeping it open. It was the girl I saw from the horse carriage, the one with azure hair. Looking at her again, I realised she wasn’t as tall as I thought. She almost looked like a child even, but not quite. She was wearing a milky white negligee that took on the illusion of being transparent even though it really wasn’t.

"You..." I tried to ignore the girl's clothing, staring at her face instead. "Where am I...?"

“Oh, you’re finally awake.” She said, walking up to the bed. Her azure hair trailed behind her at a length just below her shoulders. “I’ve been waiting a long time.”

"Huh?" I didn't understand her last statement. "What do you mean... a long time?"

"You've been asleep for four months."

"...!"

“Well,” the girl plopped herself down on the side of the bed near me, and I instinctively edged backwards cautiously. Her lapis lazuli eyes had a cold undertone to them, like someone that had seen too much. “How do you feel?”

“Uh…” I didn't know what the hell was going on. Why was I even here? “I, uh—”

Suddenly, I found myself coughing and a strange pain stabbed itself into my lungs. I moved my hands away from my eyes, now covering my mouth.

“Ah, you’re still not fully recovered yet.” The girl gave me a concerned look, though her eyes were still cold. “You should be careful not to exert yourself.”

The pain gradually resided, almost as sudden as it came, and I glanced up at the girl. “W-was I... in an accident... or something?”

She nodded, giving me a sympathetic smile.

I guess that must meant that she was the one taking care of me the whole time.

“What is your name?” I asked, giving her a sincere look. I wanted to thank her for taking care of me.

“My name…”

The girl paused, and for a second, it seemed like she was debating on whether to tell me her name or not.

“Lily.”

She finally said, then stood up from the bed, bowing in an elegant manner. She was definitely a noble of some sort.

I felt at edge, seeing her bow. I didn’t know how to respond. I had never been around nobles before.

Instead, I gave a grunted cough, feeling embarassed.

“I’m Kei... It’s nice to meet you, Lily...”

“And the same to you too, Kei.”

A pause.

"I guess you must be the one that was taking care of me after my accident." I glanced around the room. It certainly didn't seem like a medic's place. It seemed more like a royal bedroom to be honest.

"That is correct." Lily said.

"Thank you." I turned my gaze back to her, staring into her lapis lazuli eyes. "For taking care of me. I really appreciate it."

She nodded her head, acknowledging my gratitude.

"So, I guess I'll just get going then." I made a move to get off the bed. "I have to go back to tell my family I'm alright."

"Do you remember what happened?" Lily suddenly said. "How you go into an accident?"

I stopped, thinking about her words.

I tried to think back, before I woke up in this room. But my memory was failing me.

Damn it...

How was it that I ended up here?

For some reason, no matter how hard I thought, I couldn't seem to remember having an accident.

The last memory I remembered was eating dinner with my family. Father, mother, Ali—

Something flashed into my mind for a brief second, but I felt myself pushing it down.

"I..."

I tried to think harder, my eyes looking around at my surroundings in a dazed state.

"I was..."

"It's okay if you don't remember." Lily said. There was concern on her face as she watched me.

I glanced down from my surroundings and at the bed instead. I raised my hands up from the quilt of the bed, staring into my palms.

"I was eating dinner with my family... and then..."

A distant voice shouted inside my mind.

"Kei!!"

It was Ali's voice.

I got up from the bed, surprising Lily and she moved out of the way to let me go.

"I-I'm sorry, Lily. I need to go... now." I said, sweat dripping from my forehead.

"Where are you going off to?" Lily stared at me curiously.

"I..." I walked to the door that Lily came in from. "I-I need to go find my family."

Reaching the door, I felt myself falling onto the door, leaning against it to stay standing. I felt dizzy and out of breath. I grabbed the door handle roughly, struggling to open it. My hands were shaking.

"Kei..." Lily called out to me softly.

"I-I need to go...!" I kept trying to open the door but it wouldn't open.

"When I found you," Lily was speaking to me from behind, but I was still trying to open the door. "You were almost dead. You had no skin and you were dragging your flesh on the ground because your legs had been blown right off."

"Y-you're lying..." I muttered to myself. My palms were so sweaty, and it didn't seem like I could get the door open. Did she lock the door?

"I tracked down the route that you came from," Lily continued, "and I found a village that was completely destroyed and burnt down."

"T-that's...!" My heart was pounding inside my chest. I turned around to face her, completely pale. "Y-you're lying. I know you're lying. M-my family, my family is..."

"They're probably dead."

My eyes widened, and the beating of my heart was getting uncontrollable. "T-that's impossible...! I was... I was just eating with them... I was..."

I couldn't breathe.

I felt myself falling down onto the floor on all fours, struggling to stay conscious. The clothes I had on me were completely drenched in sweat.

"A-Ali... Ali...." I mumbled incoherently, staring down at the ground. "N-no..."

“You were very lucky to have lived after the wounds that you suffered...” Lily stared down at me from the bed. “I wouldn’t had been able to save anyone else that suffered the same wounds that you did.”

"Y-you..." I felt anger bubbling inside me, and I forced myself to raise my head up. "You're lying to me, you're making this up..."

"I"m not."

"Y-you...!" I jumped up from the floor and stormed up to Lily. "Where are you keeping my family?! Why did you lock me in here?!" I shouted at her, then made a move to grab her.

I felt a sudden supernatural force throwing me backwards with immense force, and I flew across the room, my back slamming against the wall hard.

I dropped down onto the ground, rolling around in pain.

"If you try to touch me again, I'll kill you." Lily said.

"I-I..." I rolled around on the ground, my face disillusioned. "Father... Mother... Ali..."

"Jeez." Lily sighed, getting up from the bed, then walked to the door that I had struggled to open. "I'll come back when you're better."

She opened the door easily, then the door closed, leaving me alone in the room.

I lied on the ground, staring emptily at the ceiling.

Were they really all dead? Was my village really gone?

...

I could remember now...

There was something that came to our village on that night...

I had tried to warn everyone, but...

I winced, rolling sideways on the floor.

Lily was right.

My family was dead.

Lily came back into the room the next day, and I was lying on the bed, my back up against the wall, staring outside the window that was on the opposite end of the bed. All I could see outside was endless plains of grass.

I didn't bother to look at her when she came in.

"Hey." Lily spoke to me softly, walking up to the bed. "Are you feeling better?"

I didn't respond.

"..."

Lily watched me silently, then sighed, turning to walk out the door.

She kept coming to check up on me in the following days, and the days after that, but I kept ignoring her. This went on until...

"I got you some food..."

Lily placed a tray of food on the bed. She had been getting me food persistently, but I had yet to take a single bite. I was wondering when the hell I was going to die from starvation.

I was still staring out at the window, watching the fields outside.

The tray laid on top of my lap, untouched.

"You're not going to die, you know?"

Lily's words pierced my mind, and I glanced at her on my side. She was sitting on the bed, staring at me.

"Yes I will..." I said tonelessly.

Lily sighed, placing a hand on her forehead. "You haven't eaten for three weeks now, haven't you wondered why you haven't died yet?"

T-three weeks?!

Has it been that long?

To be honest, I couldn't remember.

"If you're under my care, you're never going to die." Lily said.

"Just let me die..." I said. "Please..."

"Don't you want to revenge your family?"

"...!"

"Or are you just going to sit here and die with them?"

"I..."

Lily picked herself up from the bed, walking out of the room. The door closed behind her.

I glanced down at the food on my lap.

That's right...

That was what I had wanted to do...

I needed to get revenge, right?

I had forgotten all about that day, because I had tried to just push everything out of my mind.

Slowly, I raised my hand up from the shelter of the bed. I reached for the food in front of me, picking it up to my mouth.

"Lily, why am I still alive?"

Lily was sitting at the side of my bed, having placed another tray of food in front of me.

"Shouldn't I be dead?" I asked her.

"Who knows." Lily replied.

"I... I was in the village with them... they all died, except for me..."

Lily didn't respond.

"Lily, you're a sorceress, right?"

"Yes..."

"Can magic bring people back from the dead?"

"..."

"You healed me with your magic. Why can't you bring my family back from the dead?"

"There is no magic that allows you to bring people back from the dead, Kei."

"..."

I sat there silently, staring at the food she placed on my lap.

"Why are you so nice to me, Lily?"

Lily shifted, hearing my question. "You ask too many questions, Kei."

"You should have just let me died when you found me."

"..."

"I... I have nothing to live for anymore... except revenge..."

"That's as good of a reason as any other, isn't it?"

"I just... I just feel empty inside... do you know, Lily?"

"Maybe that's because you've been sitting in this room, in the same position for two and a half months now."

"..."

I glanced up at Lily. She was still sitting by the bed, her lapis lazuli eyes staring down at the ground.

"Lily..." I called out to her.

She glanced at me.

"Will you help me get revenge?"

"..."

Lily paused as though she was thinking about it.

"Sure." She said.

"Thank you... Lily..."

I woke up again, seeing the sunlight entering from the window. It was another day.

But... today was different.

Today I was going to...

I stared at the door of the bedroom.

I'm going to get out of this bed, and leave this fucking bedroom.

I was sick of being a burden to Lily, and I was sick of waking up in the same position, doing the same thing, staring at the same bedroom every day.

I'm... I'm going to do it!

I lifted the quilt from on top of me slowly, then placed one leg outside of the bed. I could feel the cold air, touching the skin of my feet.

That was a sensation I haven't felt in a while.

I pushed myself further out of the bed, sliding closer and closer to the edge of the bed.

As I tried to put my feet down on the ground, I saw an image of the demon flashing in my mind, fire burning up the village, people screaming, my family's voices.

I quickly scuttled back inside the bed, going back to my sitting posture.

I was panting now, a sweat dripping down my forehead.

Come on, Kei.

What the fuck.

You're just trying to get out of a bed! You're not trying to compete in an athletics competition.

...

I took a deep breath, recovering myself, then stared back at the door of the bedroom with renewed strength.

You can do it, Kei.

Do it for Lily.

Do it for your family!

I pushed myself quickly out of the bed, swinging my legs out and throwing myself onto my feet as I stepped out onto the cold hard floor.

...

I was now standing at the side of the bed.

I had done it!

I felt triumpth falling over me, and I took slow steps towards the bedroom door.

I reached the door, placing my hand over the handle.

Another uncomfortable memory was quickly surfacing when I touched the handle, but I forced it down, and pushed open the door.

The door opened, and I was faced with the sight of a lavish hallway much like the bedroom inside.

I breathed out, taking in my surroundings.

This was the first time I had seen something other than the inside of that godforsaken bedroom and the grassy fields outside the window.

I walked around, taking slow steps.

I was dressed in a sleeping wear of sorts, that Lily must had got me. Nothing special, just plain pants and shirt.

"L-Lily..." I called out to the empty hallway as I moved further and further out.

My voice echoed inside the hallways, but no one responded.

God damn, this place was big.

I kept walking, eventually coming to the top of a grand hall. I was on the upper level, looking down from the stairs.

"Lily!" I called again.

Nothing.

I walked down the steps.

There was a large grand door at the end of the grand hall, which must be the front door. It seemed unnecessarily large, being able to fit in way more than just a regular human.

I walked to the grand door, facing it, studying the details of the door.

"Congratulations."

I spun around, hearing a voice from behind me.

Lily stood there, facing me, a soft smile on her face. She was wearing a dark travelling cloak around her, that covered up her entire body except for her head.

"L-Lily!"

"You've finally made it outside of the bedroom. I'm surprised you got this far on your first try."

"I-I..."

"I would had thought you would had needed another month before you could actually get out of the bed." Lily continued.

I shook my head, trying to control my emotions. "Thank you, Lily... I'm ready now... for revenge."

Lily's face showed a hint of disappointment, hearing my last words. But, it quickly disappeared again. "Are you really ready?"

"Yes!" I gave her a firm look.

"Well... I said I would help you to get your revenge." Lily sighed. "We will have to do a Blood Pact then."

"A Blood Pact?"