Past meets future! (Celeste's Daughter & malmshodes)

[Celeste's Daughter]

The Demon x The Human Girl​

Don't ever go there. That place is locked for a reason. The previous owners of the shrine were saying something about that strange well.

Those words have stuck to her mind from the first day they moved in. She didn't actually believe this kind of stuff, but her grandfather always seemed obsessed with anything that was out of ordinary. No wonder that when the previous owner who was also pretty old himself spoke about what happened to his granddaughter and what strange things were residing in this place her own grandpa was fascinated. Then again, he always told her about how she should be more aware of what a great past their family had, rich in various stories about a priestess and her descendants who were even greater than the previous.

Yet, Mai simply shrugged at his stories. They seemed more like a child's story for bedtime. And besides, what was all this talk about priestesses, demons and witches? Unfortunately, she had no one left but the old man and the butler of the house who was just a little younger than her grandpa. Poor guy was doomed to hear his master's stories all day long. It was a miracle how much patience he had, and how well they got along. Either way, it was obvious she was one of the rich ones. Else they wouldn't move around so much. Still, this time it looked like her grandpa wouldn't leave the shrine alone. Thus, she figured that she would have to get accustomed to the sight for the rest of her years spent with him.

Another Monday, another dull and annoying day. To make it all worse, it was raining constantly in the last couple of days. The brunette stopped under the shrine's arch, blue eyes looking over the house, the Goshinboku tree and the house where the mysterious well was hidden. Something about the latter seemed to hold her attention. No, but rather, something almost seemed to call her, to draw her near. Reluctant steps were taken until she stood in front of the old shed. She frowned mostly to herself, wondering if the weather itself made her feel this weird, but there was more to it. Closing her umbrella, she stepped inside and then down the creaky staircase that gave her the goosebumps. For some reason, she was curious all of a sudden. Strange how before, she wouldn't even care about this kind of stuff that obviously sounded like fiction, but she did feel something pulling her towards the well.

Leaving her umbrella and her schoolbag aside, she moved towards it and looked down inside. A sigh escaped her lips. "It's too dark to see in there anyway. What did I expect?" she mumbled and shook her head at how silly she could be. And just as she turned around, she heard a faint sound and felt the shivers down her back. Looking inside it again, she almost froze at the sight of the light coming from the deepest depth of the well. Alright, now she believed it and she was freaked out. But that didn't stop her from being dragged inside, the force pulling her in unseen but felt on her very skin.

For a couple of moments, she felt like she was losing her conscious. Yet, when she opened her eyes again, the bottom of the well seemed to be lighted up. "What the-" she whispered, looking up only to see the sky. This was no joke. Something was going on. Weird things. After a little bit of effort and struggle she finally got out, once again being shocked. No shrine there, but a forest. She was sure she wasn't in Tokyo anymore by now. Normally, she'd freak out, but this time she wasn't sure whether to be amazed or scared for her life. Did her grandfather tell the truth? Too bad she didn't pay enough attention to his stories before. The curiosity got the better of her as she walked towards nowhere, hoping that she'd see someone who could tell her about where exactly she was. But hell, the forest seemed so scary, knowing that she was alone in a strange place.

 

[malmshodes]

The leaves above wrestled as the tiny things streaked across the tree tops in a mad dash for blood. Each of the tiny things was no more than a foot high, with a small black tail that ended in a tiny spike, and clawed fingers. Their eyes glowed black with a light that shouldn't be. On each of them, somewhere, sometimes on their necks and other times on different limbs, there was a pair of black marks that stunk of rotten flesh, where dark black veins moved into the rest of their bodies. They moved like apes, and spiders, shooting from branch to branch without any fear of falling. They tried to remain silent at first, but as the blood grew closer, and their chance of freedom from flesh drew near with it, their excitement got the better of them, and they all let out excited chirps and screeches that sounded like birds being attacked by injured cats.

Despite the need to taste their victim's blood, and the excitement which had all but gotten the better of them, the creatures were still capable of thought, and knew a head on assault would only end in failure. As much as their flesh pained them, they did not wish to discard the mortal shells by destruction. Only the freeing touch would be enough. They broke rank, and moved so their bodies were circling a particular spot over the thick forest canopy. It took a second, but they were in position to attack, and so they did, because the target knew they were there, and would only continue on if there was even a second's hesitation.

The first one to jump was old yellow, who was named so because he was the first to turn, after trying to run. He let out a strangled, crazed scream before he jumped into the leaves, which moved aside for him, and landed with a soft thud on the ground floor. Within seconds, the others followed suit, landing likewise till all forty of them were on the floor, grinning like killers at the individual, trapped in their circle. They didn't move right away, enjoying the feel of superior position and numbers far too much to let the moment pass without savoring it, if only for an instant. All their dark eyes glared with smugness at their prey.

He was large, but only compared with them. To touch his peak, only six of them would need to stand on each other's shoulder. They weren't worried about his size difference. Forty of the tainted were more than enough to deal with all but the strongest of demons. Even a single could be a threat, if given enough of a surprise advantage. They were a great deal stronger than they looked. His face was pale, and his eyes were grey. They had seen his type before, and knew he wasn't a higher demon, and so wasn't a threat, or even a challenge against their miniature horde.. Their grins all widened.

"Well?" He said, taking his hands out of his garments pockets, and showing his palms to them. "Are you all going to come at me, because I know that's what she wants, or stand there, staring at me like cowards too anxious to follow through?" He challenged their smiles with one of his own, and motioned them to come. They did, with a scream, and it was the last mistake any of them would ever make.

The prey put his hands in his pockets and closed his eyes. Unseen to most of the tainted, and unnoticed by the ones who were in position to see, something began to happen. Along the back of the lower demon their were little bumps, clear which jutted out like stalagmites, started glowing a fain, ominous grayish purple. Just before the the things were able to reach him, the prey opened his eyes, and a burst of purple light shot from around him, and turned every tainted into ash. He took a moment to smile at the dust, scattering to the wind before his eyes narrowed, and he turned his nose to the air to sniff. "She's here." He growled, before spinning on his heels, and taking off after the scent.

The scent was close, and he was upon her in a matter of brief seconds. Just as she came into view, the lower demon howled with rage, and shot himself in the air, claws outstretched before him. It wasn't till the last second that he caught a look at her face, and a better scent of her, he realized it wasn't who he was searching for, and forced his body to veer off to the right, hitting a nearby tree.

 

[Celeste's Daughter]

Well, for a while it was quiet enough to have her calm down at least to the point where she could think clearer. How was she supposed to get back home, however, she had no idea. Or would it really work to go inside that well once again and that would be enough? Was it possible that it was that simple? Yet, she couldn't understand why this was happening to her. She was sure old William, their butler, would clean the shed once in a while, but he never went through this, did he? Why was she pulled in the well, and why did it have to be her? It didn't make sense. Moreover, she had yet to wonder where exactly she was. There was the same well, the same big tree she had at her shrine, yet... there was no house around and she was positively that this wasn't her Tokyo anymore. Another dimension, perhaps? She shook her head. That sounded ridiculous. Everything here seemed ridiculous actually.

But what really felt ridiculously scary was when she heard a howl. That's when she actually got scared for real, heartbeat almost ceasing for a couple of moments out of fear, before she turned around to see what was going on. A shriek went past her lips at the one coming forth, losing balance in her attempt to move away and thus landing back on her bottom, face pale. Yep, she was sure she just lost a decade of her life from this scare. Thankfully, this person, or rather creature, backed out right in the last second.

She simply had to blink as she was finally at some safe distance from him, now overthinking what just happened and what she just saw. Did she just saw claws? On a person. Also, that leap, the way he moved, it almost felt unreal. No, she wasn't going to believe this. This had to be some sort of a bad dream or something. There was no way demons could exist. She was well aware her grandfather was speaking only foolish things. In spite of that, she had doubts that this was a normal human. Unaware that even her breathing was uneven from the scare and the situation she was in, she reluctantly looked towards the one that seemed to attack her earlier. "W-what do you want?" she managed to somehow speak, before gulping down and then realizing this wasn't the right question. "Who are you? Or rather, what are you anyway?" she inquired again, moving to slowly stand on her feet again, subtly patting the dust off her school uniform.

 

[malmshodes]

There was some light curing from within the tree the man had dug his head into, but that ended after the woman asked her question. His form stilled for a moment as he thought over the question. "Excuse me?" The voice mumbled into the tree. "Did I hear you right? Did you just call me a What?" The demon blinked, pulling his head out of the tree, which had been pressed in by his skull like a hot knife moving into warm butter. "I'm not a what. That's a bit rude." He winced a little at the tenderness of his skull, but figured the pain wouldn't kill him, and forced his face to return to it's previous neutrality. "Didn't you parents ever teach that?" He shook his head, and little splinters of wood, and some flakes of leaves fell off. The same thing happened with his clothes, but instead of shaking himself, he brushed and patted himself down. "I mean." He looked at his claws, and picked out a small splinter on the right index finger, and another one that was stuck in the lower area of his palm. "it should have been one of the first things you were taught." He shook his head and sighed, turning around to look at the forest, and try to figure out where it was he should go from there.

He took a moment to think about the last couple of days events, but none of them gave a hint as to what he would need to do next in order to find the witch. He opened his mouth to complain, but that's when an interesting scent caught his attention. The young looking man stopped. His eyes sprang open like a Jack in the box as something came back to him. He sniffed the air, and turned a firmer look at the woman. The sharp looking ears on either side of his head twitched like a drug addict's hand. "The question isn't who am I." He took a step towards her. "But who are you, and why do you smell so much like the dark priestess. Are you with her?" He didn't exactly run to her, but the speed in which he moved made it look that way. He stood over her, trying not to frown, but doing it anyways. "Wait." His head tilted to the side, and he blinked. His eyes moved up and down over her. "Why are you wearing such odd clothes? Your not from around here, are you?"