A Demon's Tale

Knowledge of the future is a curse that no being should truly have.

In theory, it is a wonderful ability. You may see everything that lies ahead. Any tragedy, any misstep, any action that brings ruin; all can be prevented if you know what lies ahead.

But, what if nothing could be changed? What if, regardless of your ability to see what lies ahead, the events that unfold could not be stopped? What then?

The ability to see into the future is truly a horrifying ability.

Not a single being could have predicted what would happen so many years ago.

Quite some time in the past, two worlds had collided together from two different realms.

Instead of causing what would likely be the destruction of all three worlds, the planets had somehow merged.

The first world, known as Earth, possessed a plethora of different species, though only one could call themselves dominant. Humans. Beyond humans existed creatures of close origin, like the group of haired animals referred to as mammals, and far more different creatures, including flora that gave scenery a deep green color. While more elaboration could be made, it seems self-evident that you should be keenly aware of this first world and its inhabitants. This place had brought its wildlife and nature into the new world.

The second place, Varantora, had beings much like humans. These creatures had stood upright, had arms to do tasks and build tools, and could speak, think, and decide for themselves. The people of this domain, however, had come in many different races: Demons, Elves, Kitsunes, among countless others, each different in their own unique ways. Much like Earth, this planet had too brought its own wildlife and nature into the world.

However, it was widely speculated by many that a third world had existed. While there had been many theories as to why there might have been another world in the mix, it was completely undocumented. There were no records on what had possibly been from there or what beings it could have possibly brought. To many of the inhabitants of this new world, Earthly or not, it never truly existed at all.

This may sound as though the world would now fall into total calamity shortly after this merging, however, this merging did not cause many problems at all

The residents of Earth and Varantora had gotten along rather quickly, and, in time, had made peace with one another. Political scuffles had died down peacefully. They had even begun to coexist in some areas; many even starting families between vastly different races in this new world, now known as Shin.…for quite some time.

How little they all knew, however, was truly unfortunate.

The ability to see into the future is truly a horrifying ability.

Had they known what was to come, perhaps they would have tried to stop it.

Perhaps they would have sought out what was truly going to cause all of the madness and rid it from this world.

If only they knew. Then, and only then, could the suffering of many be washed away from history.

The ability to see into the future is truly a horrifying ability.

Dear viewer, please bear witness to the madness that will soon occur to Shin.

It is a tale that must be told and must be known to all who hope to understand.

To understand that peace without caution can lead to a greater problem in the future. To understand that in order to gain strength for ourselves, we must gain the trust and help of others, and not abandon all emotion when something goes awry.

To understand that:

The ability to see into the future is truly a horrifying ability.

Dear viewer, please bear witness to what shall come of this world, from a tale of two friends achieving great feats alongside each other, to a destruction like no other at the hands of an awful tragedy.

The age of madness has only just begun.

△▼△▼△▼△△▼△▼△▼△△▼△▼△▼△△▼△▼△▼△△▼△▼△▼△△▼△▼

A sky. A beautiful blue sky had been hanging over the world around the girl. Clouds lightly blanched swathes of the sky, a subtle breeze pushing them through the daylit air.

To the girl, this had been the perfect day to sit outside and take everything in.

This was not to say that she was not used to doing activities in the meantime during her off time. She had multiple different ways to waste her day away. However, what she enjoyed most was sitting out in the front of her shrine-like house, and watching as the day passed into the afternoon, and then into the evening.

There was even a large lake a few feet in front of her. So while she stared at the sky, she could enjoy both the sounds of the breeze flowing through and the waves moving.

If she could, she wished she could spend the rest of her entire day sitting here. Perhaps even the rest of the month. Perhaps the rest of her life. However, the unfortunate reality for her, a reality that she herself had already known, was that this liberty would not be something given to her.

Mature-Sounding Woman: [Shiro!]

Shiro: [Mmm…..]

Mature-Sounding Woman: [Shiro!]

Shiro: [MMM…..]

Suddenly, the door to the shrine-like house that was behind the girl had slid open, and a short woman with light blonde hair had been the person standing where said door previously was.

Blonde Woman: [SHIRO!]

Shiro: [WHAT?! I answered you already but you refused to add onto anything! You just kept saying my name like I didn't already know it!]

Blonde Woman: [Last I checked, “Mmm” does not constitute an answer. It’s merely a sound you created with your mouth closed. I’m sure I raised you better than this.]

The girl’s name was Shiro. Shiro Fuloreen. She was young, but not a child, however not an adult either. She had been in her teens, but given her race, it was odd to even call her that to some people in the world. She was of the demon race, however said race had many different categories of demons to it. Shiro specifically, had been a succubus, one of the more common demons alongside their male counterpart of incubus. She had white hair, white like snow. It had been stylized in an interesting fashion. In which, the backside of her hair had gone down to her collarbone, and to the top left side, her hair had been pulled up to create a ponytail with many edges of hair along it. Her eyes were a bright red, with a dark circle around the middle of them. Her fingernails were long, sharp and black, which had been a complete opposite contrast to her clothes. Much like her hair and name, Shiro enjoyed wearing pure white clothes the most. She often stated “It’s a color that represents me, not just in name, but in spirit!” The explanation to this meaning was never understood to her mother nor anyone else she had told it to. In fact, even though she had not known what it meant, it had just sounded like something cool for her to say when the topic was brought up.

Her mother had been the light blonde woman who was previously yelling at her, Airi Fuloreen. She was a short woman who was completely blind due to past experiences. Despite this however, she was completely fine with performing her daily tasks. Though she may have been blind, Airi was quite strong in terms of her ability to sense. It wasn’t just the ability to sense however, she had been incredible in a variety of battle focused fields, and was often considered a legendary hero. The only reason why she wasn’t known as well now was due to her marriage, where she had gained the last name of Fuloreen, without many others knowing. Thus, she was able to live out peacefully in a shrine her late husband had built for the family, without a single soul disturbing her or Shiro for the rest of time.

Shiro: [I think “Mmm” is enough to at least get a response. Unless you’re also going deaf now. First the blindness and now this, you’re starting to become real old you know tha-OWOWOWOW!]

Airi: [The last I checked young lady, while I may have aged a fair bit, I still don’t have any wrinkles or the like yet. So I recommend you hold back your rude comments. If your father was still here I’m sure he’d scold you heavily for such behavior]

Airi had begun to pinch Shiro by the ear, telling her off for the rude comments that had just been lashed out at her.

Shiro: [Last you checked? Last I checked you wouldn’t even be able to see something like that given your eyes don’t wor-AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA]

Airi: [Do you have anything else you’d like to say? Or will you let me continue with what I had been trying to ask you this whole time?]

Before Shiro could even finish her sentence, Airi had grabbed her left arm and put it into a lock from her backside.

Shiro: [OKAY OKAY I GIVE I GIVE PLEASE I’LL LISTEN JUST LET ME GO COME ON MOM THIS ISN’T FAIR!]

Shiro, pleading for the arm lock to stop and furiously slapping her right hand on the ground, was finally willing to listen to what her mother had been trying to ask her.

Airi hearing this, let go of her arm, and walked a few steps before beginning to speak again.

Airi: [You’re aware of what tomorrow is correct?]

Shiro: [Haaah…….haaah….yeah….it’s that whole god school thing…whatever you’d call it, right?]

Airi: [The Academic School for Apprenticeship in Godhood, yes. I’m glad you’ve at least remembered that much.]

Shiro: [You don’t gotta worry at all, Mom. I got it all memorized. I packed all I needed to, studied what you told me to, I’m pretty much all set. I’m not growing into some old goblin just yet ya know-THAT WASN’T A COMMENT AT YOU THAT WASN’T A COMMENT AT YOU!]

As soon as Shiro had made the old comment, she had noticed an immediate change in Airi’s facial expression, from a neutral face to an upset one. From her perspective, it had even seemed like there was shade hanging over Airi's face, now making the upset face a dimly lit, horrifying one.

Airi: [Haa…..well, I’m glad you were able to perform everything you needed to in order to get ready. That does make me quite happy. I’m very proud of you Shiro]

Shiro: [You say you’re proud of me all the time. I got an inch taller when I was a kid and you said it then as well.]

Airi: [Then that just shows how much as a mother I truly love my daughter.]

A smile had begun to arise on Airi’s face.

Despite the almost aggressive nature Airi showed upon Shiro’s rude comments, Airi did genuinely love her daughter very much. As much as she did not want Shiro to sit outside and waste the days away looking at the sky, if that was something she truly wished for, there was a chance she would be willing to let her do that until the day Airi would pass.

Shiro: [It’s certainly going to be an interesting journey for me. Guess I’ll meet a bunch of people and do a bunch of stuff. That kinda sounds like fun.]

Airi: [Despite your comment, your tone sounds as though you wouldn’t like this very much.]

Shiro: [What? No. I’m excited for it. It’ll be cool, and hey, I’m one of the few people born with that god energy stuff in me right? That’s super rare and even saves me a step from a lot of the other people going in who have to try and obtain that. It’s gonna work out great for me!]

Becoming a God is quite the task to do. There are two methods of obtaining this. Firstly, to participate in the school, go through its courses, and after many written tests, you will participate in a physical test to see if your body can handle the divine chi given to you from the instructors. Of course, this is cut off before anything bad can happen should you not be compatible. But should the test come out successful, you will be moved onto the next step. There is a shortcut however, and that is with the second method. Every hundred years, beings with divine chi are born around the world of all different races. These beings, due to being born with this chi, are allowed to skip the divine chi test step and go straight to the next one. Thus, the only thing required of them for the first phase is that they pass all of the written tests. This is of course required to ensure the safety of choosing each and every one of the future gods of the world.

Airi: [...Shiro.]

Shiro: [...]

Airi: [I won’t be mad at you, Shiro, but please explain to me what’s wrong so I understand.]

Shiro: [...It’s nothing.]

Airi: [Shiro please.]

Shiro: [It’s just…I don’t know…I get kinda bored thinking about it. Like yeah, sure, I can become a God, but do I even really want to do that? I’d love for the world to just be completely peaceful, and that would definitely be a massive step forward to getting there, but taking on that role is such a big thing that…I don’t know…I’m not sure how I feel about the whole ordeal.]

Airi: [I see…then, how about this? Go there, see if it’s what you’d like to do. If you enjoy what you learn or what it involves, keep moving forward. If not, you’re free to come back here and figure out what you want to do. I’ll even be here to help.]

Shiro: [Y-You’re sure?! I mean, I have that divine chi and everything and at this point I feel like it’s kinda required I go or-]

Airi: [It’s fine. I understand if you don’t see it as the best option for you, so I’ll leave the decision up to you once you’ve figured everything out. The divine chi part doesn’t bother me either. It’s almost funny to think about. My daughter with divine chi who might desire different dreams than becoming a god like the chi entails, and her mother, some regular succubi who got found by two martial artists when she was the same age as her daughter, and became quite the strong demon.]

Shiro: [Well…if you’re fine with it, then I guess that’s what I’ll do. I gotta get up early for the boat in the morning, so I likely won’t see you by then. I’ll give my goodbyes when I feel like I’m ready to head to bed later if that’s okay with you.]

Airi: [That’s fine. I’ll give you a nice good luck charm I used to have then as well, just to make sure you stay safe. Though I will be rather sad in the morning once I realize the house just has me in it.]

Shiro: [You’ll be fine. I’ll make sure to send letters, and if someone is stupid enough to try and rob the place or hurt you, they’ll get a good understanding of the true identity of Airi Fuloreen.]

Airi: [Hehehe…I suppose they will.]

After this exchange, Shiro patted off any grass on her clothes, and walked back into the house. Time passed and after having a large meal and getting some good exercise, Shiro said her farewells to her mother, receiving the good luck charm Airi had mentioned, and then headed for bed.

△▼△▼△▼△△▼△▼△▼△△▼△▼△▼△△▼△▼△▼△△▼△▼△▼△△▼△▼

Visions. Every night, the girl had the same vision.

She was in a hall in what felt like space. She had just been standing there, staring at someone who was on the opposite side. She could not look anywhere else, she could not move, only stare.

Who was this person?

Why were they here?

Nothing she could truly answer.

No matter the question she asked, nothing was responded to.

The only thing that occurred within this vision, was the person turning around shortly after the vision started.

Red hair.

Red eyes.

Red like blood.

Their identity unknown, gender unknown, everything unknown.

Their entire body had been blackened out like a shadow, only the color of their hair, and the creepy wide open, blood red eyes staring at her were the only things visible.

Who exactly…

Shiro: [...are you….?]

△▼△▼△▼△△▼△▼△▼△△▼△▼△▼△△▼△▼△▼△△▼△▼△▼△△▼△▼