The sounds of screaming filled the air, and the smell of burning flesh enters everyone's nostrils. Little Kaito hides underneath the hallowed wooden foundation of a house. His face was covered in dirt, hair dressed in cobwebs. He watched in fear as the houses of his town were burning down. Smokestacks begin filling the air, casting a clouded view over the town. A man runs out of one of the burning houses. He drops to his knees, surrounded by corpses. He began coughing profusely, choking from the smoke he had inhaled. As he struggles to catch his breath, the sound of stomping feet slowly approaches him. He turns to see a demonic figure approaching him. The demon stood at nearly seven feet in height. Its skin is a dark gray hue with solid black eyes. Its body was humanoid, close to a woman's body. Its body was lacking in clothes, covered in black scales and scars. A pair of vibrant crimson horns sit atop the demon's hairless head, just a little above her forehead. The horns curved, making a swirl at the end. The man trembles in fear as the demon approached him. It reaches out for him, grabbing him by the throat. He tries to scream, but the demon squeezed his throat, so he couldn't.

“There's no use in screaming, your fate has already been decided.” The demon said with a bloodcurdling voice.

Kaito watches as the demon pushes its fist through the man's chest. Blood splashes onto the ground as the man's body goes limp. She rips her hand from the man's chest and licks the blood off it. A white orb float's out of the man's body and begins floating towards the sky slowly.

“Not so fast, I have something more than the afterlife planned for you.” She said, hastily grabbing the orb before it could float away.

Without hesitation, she begins chewing on the orb, ripping off piece by piece, chewing on them rapidly. Within seconds, she had devoured the entire orb. Suddenly, a second pair of smaller horns sprout up on her head, behind her first set. The horns were as black as the night.

“I need more, give me more power, you feeble humans!” She screamed out, laughing maniacally.

Kaito lays paralyzed, trying to fight back his instinct to cry. The demon walks towards the house Kaito was hiding beneath. As she steps into the house, the floorboard creeks underneath her weight. Dirt and dust drop onto Kaito's head. She stops in the middle of the house, sniffing the air.

“I can smell you, come out, come out wherever you are.” She ordered, grinning as wide as she could.

Every single one of her teeth was as sharp as knives at the end of them. She sniffs the air once more, stepping into each room of the house. There were very few belongings in the house and only a couple of rooms. She stops back near the front door, standing over where Kaito was hiding. She looks down at the floor, licking her lips, and drool hits the floorboard. Suddenly, a woman runs out onto the dirt road outside. The demon spots her and grins, making her way out of the house. As the demon chases down the woman, Kaito takes his chances and crawls out from underneath the house. He runs as fast as his little legs could go. Running into the wood, tears roll down his face. He trips over a tree root, falling and hitting his face on the ground. He manages to stand up and begins running once again. Making his way through the woods, he comes upon a shrine. Stone stairs lead upward towards a small wooden shack. With haste, he opens the door and hides inside. Inside were random farming tools and a few fishing rods. The shack hadn't been used in a little while, cobwebs had begun to build in the corners and everything had a small layer of dust on them. He crawled underneath a small workbench table, covering his head, praying the nightmare to end.

The sun slowly rises on the horizon, blanketing the small island with its glow. Small towers of smoke still rise from the town's building. Little embers fly through the air as the gentle breeze picks them up. Nozomi runs through the ruins of the town she had once called home. Corpses litter the streets, homes burnt to a crisp, their frames barely standing. She runs to a house on the furthest side of the town. Quickly making her way inside, she drops next to the corpses of a man and woman. Tears fill her eyes as she holds onto the woman's body.

“Mommy, please wake up! Please, mommy, I'm scared!” She cried out.

With no response from her mother's corpse, she lets go and begins crying out for Kaito.

“Kaito, where are you?!” She called out.

She runs around what remained of her once home, looking for Kaito, or at least his body. It only takes a few minutes before she has fully checked the house. Making her way outside, she begins to check every house and every corpse in search of her brother. To no avail, she was unable to find Kaito among the burnt remains of the town.

Suddenly, Kaito and Nozomi are jarred awake, covered in sweat. They look around, checking their surroundings. They were in their sleeping bags at camp with Brandon. Letting out sighs of relief, they lay back down to continue their slumber. Hours pass and the sun rises on their camp. Brandon was the first to wake, he stretches and woke up the others. Kaito and Nozomi awaken with bags underneath their eyes. They yawn as they slowly climb out of their sleeping bags.

“You two look rough, didn't get much sleep?” Brandon asked, rolling up his sleeping bag.

“Something like that, we both had a nightmare about what happened to our home,” Nozomi explained, rubbing her eyes.

“Wait, you both had a nightmare about the same thing on the same night? What are the odds of that?” He questioned.

“It's a curse that was placed over the both of us. The demon that destroyed our village placed it on us to make us relive the last day in our town. It happens once a year on the same day that our town was destroyed. It's why I still think the demon is alive, if she was killed the curse probably would disappear.” Kaito stated, rolling up his sleeping bag.

“I've never heard of a chaos demon allowing its victims to get away alive. You're both extremely lucky to have survived an encounter like that.” Brandon said.

“Lucky enough to be cursed for life. We didn't die, but we're forced to relive the memories perfectly. No matter how hard we try to forget or to move past it, we're dragged right back into the nightmare.” Nozomi explained.

“It's lucky because you might be forced to relive that nightmare, but curses can always be broken. If that demon is still alive, we'll find it, and we'll kill it. If it's already dead, then that means we'll just have to find a way to break the curse.” Brandon said.

“If it is alive, how would we even begin to find it?” Kaito eagerly asked.

“DHA is filled with expert demon trackers, I'm sure they could help us. Luckily, I know the leader of the group, and I'm certain he'll have no issues helping us. We're going to be heading to his hometown after our stop in Willowdale. We might be able to get a lead on your demon sooner rather than later.” Brandon said.

“Willowdale is where your master is right? How long have you been training with him?” Nozomi asked,

“About two years, a year, was spent in that canyon with a friend of mine. Well, I wouldn't use the word train really, due to the fact he never really taught us much. In comparison to physical or magical strength, we're stronger than he. Mainly, he just pitted us against each other in different competitions to see how far we'd go to win. I think the only training that's been a real lesson, has been taking in our own students. You can have all the strength in the world, but trying to teach other people, look out for them. That's on its own level in itself.” Brandon explained.

“It doesn't seem that hard to teach other people things, was it that difficult to train us?” Kaito questioned.

“It was, think about it like this, you're my responsibility. I took you in, I put you in that canyon, it was my job to train in your conditions that would make you stronger, but also make sure they were ones you could live through as well. I picked the canyon because you two are survivors, your years on the streets showed that. However, what if I had picked something too difficult or something you weren't ready for because the only strength I've had to worry about until now was my own. The canyon could've killed you, or I could've during training if I didn't carefully watch my magic. If one spell is just slightly stronger than it should've been it could've severely hurt or killed one of you.” Brandon explained.

“I didn't even think of it like that. I never want to train anyone myself.” Nozomi said, letting out a chuckle.

After their talk, they finish packing up camp and continue making their way to Willowdale. After several hours of walking, the small town comes into view.