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"Where are these damn things?" Leven huffed, kicking a pile of leaves as the group hiked through the jungle.

Leopoldo helped (Y/N) climb over a fallen tree, and by help, he simply picked the girl up and climbed over himself.

"They have to be somewhere, maybe they are a little shy today." Ivo chuckled.

They have been in the forest for over an hour and have not crossed a single Possessed, (Y/N) did not mind that at all. She was rather enjoying herself.

She walked ahead of the three pirates to pace herself with Kazumi, who has not said much since they entered. She attempted to secretly look up to the pirate captain, glancing through her lashes inspecting his features for any tell of emotion.

"Yes?" He suddenly looked down at her, and she quickly averted her eyes back to the forest ground.

"Nothing." She quipped, stepping over a large tree branch.

"You were staring at me for fun?" Kazumi bluntly questioned, looking ahead himself as well.

"N-no, I was just wondering... how do you feel?" She asked softly so the others would not hear her question.

He looked down at her again with a pensive, golden stare.

"I feel fine." He simply replied.

"Truly?" (Y/N) pressed. "What about here?" (Y/N) pointed towards her heart.

"Excuse me?" Kazumi quirked a brow at her gesture.

"You might be fine physically, but are you okay in here?" She kept her hand over her heart.

Kazumi seemed to think about her question, wondering what he would define as being okay.

"I suppose."

(Y/N) smiled brightly at his response. "I am glad," She beamed. "I don't like thinking of you being sad."

Kazumi's heart crashed into his chest.

Before Kazumi could respond his friends caught up with the two.

"Do not hog her, Captain." Ivo teased.

"I was doing no such thing. It is not my fault she enjoys my company more than yours." Kazumi replied, blank-faced as always.

Ivo's jaw hung open with a fake gasp. "I am wounded, sir."

Kazumi ignored his dramatic friend and glanced over to (Y/N) who was taking Leopoldo's hand to cross a small stream. His facial expression did not change, but when he saw (Y/N) his heart warmed, and he felt complete.

"Here," Leven held out his pale hand. "Take my hand."

(Y/N) hesitated, but grabbed onto his outstretched assistance, helping to pull herself up with the root she clung to.

Kazumi, Leopoldo, and Ivo were all ahead, climbing the steep side of the mossy, dirt-covered mountain with ease. Leven hung back to help the struggling princess, who was already out of breath.

"We are almost to the top, so don't die just yet. You should not have come if you were just going to slow us down. I am not helping you again." Leven griped as (Y/N) got her footing on the ledge.

Her heart sunk at his words, but she did not show her sadness.

I know, I am sorry. I knew I would be a bother; I did not realize I had a choice though.

"Thank you, Leven." She smiled breathlessly at the youngest pirate, who turned to hide his blush.

He easily climbed to the next ledge, speedily catching up with the three in the distance. I feel like I am about to die. She thought as she grabbed onto another loose root to climb.

They have been hiking for about three hours now, with no sign of any Possessed, and the pirates were not even breaking a sweat.

(Y/N), who has not even climbed a tree since she was five, was trying to keep herself from panting like a dog.

As (Y/N) was about to hoist herself up to the next small edge when she heard something snap just below her.

What was... (Y/N) carelessly peeked beneath her and her heart dropped into her hiking boots.

🎼📣]]

"Whoa!" Was all that escaped her lips out of fear, not amazement.

Climbing up with inhuman speed was a man with sickly blue skin, a bulge in the middle of his forehead like a skin covered horn, and eerie wide, glowing green eyes.

His clothes were tattered, the sleeves of his shirt ripped off, showing the pulsing veins around the large biceps, all four of them. That is a possessed demon?

It bared its sharp teeth as soon as it was in arm lengths of the girl, reaching out for (Y/N)'s ankle, but she reeled it back. Instead of trying to run she slammed her leg back down, her boot connected with the entirety of the demon's face.

Its head cracked back from the force and it slid down about five feet, but the demon recovered. She used all of her arm strength to lift both her legs, hanging by the root.

Do they not see what is happening?

(Y/N) took a glance off the demon to see the backs of the pirates at the top already. Leven was already with them arguing with Leopoldo.

"I do not need you to carry me!" (Y/N) heard Leven in the distance as she looks back to the space between the rabid demon and herself.

I will be in the way if they come back down, I need to move!

She saw a gap, between the demon's legs and arms as it held itself out. Hoping her plan would work before it would move again, she squeezed her eyes shut and let go of the root.

She hissed in pain as her bare arms dragged against the rough mountainside as she slid down keeping as close to the ground as she could.

Please do not grab me! Please do not grab me! Please do not grab me! She screamed in her head.

To her dismay, she felt a rough hand grab her arm, but she yanked it as her body weight still carried her down the side. It had no choice but to let her go as she slipped between its legs.

(Y/N) snapped her eyes opened and quickly leaned onto her feet.

"Guys!" She shouted as loud as she could hoping that the pirates could get to it easier now.

Leven's mouth slapped shut and they raced to the edge to look down at a four-armed demon-man running after (Y/N).

"Al—" Kazumi began to shout to warn (Y/N) what she needed to do but a weight crashed into him, throwing him to the ground.

A pink scaled demoness had tackled him from above, trying to claw his throat.

He kicked her off with such force she went flying. Kazumi unsheathed his short sword and the other hand reached into his pouch for a spirit chain.

"What the hell?" Ivo snapped pulling his blade on a third demon, this one resembling a bear with fur and large, sharp teeth.

It was swiping the air with its large paws, trying to clobber Ivo.

"Where are they coming from?" Leven evaded a spiked tale from the fourth demon, a red-skinned man with blacked-out eyes, without a nose or lips.

"Someone needs to get to (Y/N)!" Leopoldo shouted trying to slash the two twin purple demons coming at him from both sides.

They had thin green hair, bone-skinny, and had razor-sharp claws.

(Y/N) made it down to the base, running with all her might she glanced behind her.

The bluish man was running on all six of his limbs, his arms propelling him and his legs pushing him forward with inhuman speed.

I am pathetic! I am about to die running! Why are the guys not coming? Did they realize that I was a bother? Who is going to help me?

"Momo!" (Y/N) screamed, taking a sharp turn, she hurdled over fallen trees and ducked under vines.

"You called?" A calm voice chimed to her right.

(Y/N) whipped her head to see Mamoru running beside her as if it was a casual jog.

"Help me?" She begged to look back to the demon who was ripping the vines from his body after he got caught in a few.

"You can't handle that wimp yourself?" Mamoru scoffed looking back at the struggling demon.

"Mamoru, please!" She cried.

Mamoru's heart tightened.

What was less than trivial to a terrified (Y/N) at the moment, upset Mamoru to an extent he has not been since he found out Silas lost her.

Swiftly, Mamoru wrapped one arm around (Y/N)'s waist and jumped making her release a frightened yelp.

They settled on a tree branch, about fifty feet off the ground. (Y/N) looked at Mamoru in amazement, but it was short-lived as the demon released an unnatural screech.

"Don't fall, ugly." Mamoru sat (Y/N) down on the thick branch, making sure she had a tight grip on the wide trunk.

He was about to step off when (Y/N) grabbed his cloak.

"Don't kill him, please," (Y/N) begged.

"Come again?" Mamoru questioned ominously.

"Can you just knock it out... or something?" She shakily spoke looking down at the pacing demon.

"You want that thing loose to fight against your soldiers?" Mamoru asked, lazily pointing down at the human-turned-creature.

My soldiers? (Y/N) pressed her lips into a hard line.

"Please?" She asked softly.

Mamoru crouched on the branch facing her, his fire-like eyes stared into her (e/c) orbs. He lifted his fingers to her forehead. (Y/N) closed her eyes, braced herself for the flick but it never came. When she peeked, her eyes open she saw Mamoru was gone, now squaring off with the demon below.

Kazumi felt the rage in his gut boil over, as his skin prickled, and muscles tensed. His sclera flooded with black, his raven hair had turned a firebrick red, and his skin became paperwhite. He shifted into his demon form, as did the others. They were worry stricken over their girl who disappeared into the forest with a four-armed demon on her tail.

Ivo's sclera turned a blood-red shade, his pupils were slits. His hair became long with a green streak running down one bang strand. From his head grew two arched horns, matching the light brown shade of his hair.

Leopoldo's white hair grew to his knees, blue just at the ends. His ears became sharp and pointed. The whites of his eyes were black as midnight, and his blue eyes became more vibrant, almost glowing.

Leven's hair grew to be shoulder length, blue streaks racing throughout it. The white of his eyes, also, turned a black shade but his irises became an illuminating bright red. On his back were large white bat-like wings. Leven's skin turned a deathly white, with a blue cast over it as if he were frozen.

Kazumi locked the last spirit chain on the purple twin demons.

"We need to go find (Y/N)," Kazumi said as he stood.

The fight with the demons was a short-lived territorial fight, as the aggressive Possessed mistook them for humans. Once they had reverted into their demon forms the opposing demons halted all attacks, submitting to be put into chains.

"If she is even alive," Leven scoffed but was already heading down the mountain to trail after her with his wings.

They all thought in unison