Finding A Name

A choking pressure came from Violet's body as a large glob of blood shot out from her body and began to form into a large, curving bow. Her eyes were now glowing in the dark as her hair began to turn rigid, almost like a wild animal's would when faced with danger. A long arrow made of blood formed in the air and Violet took it before nocking it in her bow and letting it fly.

The arrow was so fast that even I had trouble following its path as a large amount of wind forced me back a few steps. I dispersed the winds around me and watched as the monster dodged the arrow and leapt toward Violet with its claws extended. Violet's bow shifted onto her hands and formed claws before she swiped her hand across and met the monster's attack.

Their clash crumbled the ground underneath them as multiple scratches and cuts appeared on their bodies. They both jumped back and the monster began to slowly circle around while also inching backwards. We made eye contact and I could see it's emotions raging in its eyes.

It was scared, and was desperate to live...

I looked closer and saw that it had a deep wound on its side with dried blood caked on its fur. It was severely injured before the fight even began, otherwise it would've most likely killed Violet with ease. Violet lunged at the monster with her claws extended, but the attack never hit it. I appeared in front of Violet and felt her blood claws pierced through my shoulder.

She quickly removed her hand and asked "What the hell was that for? I could've killed you!" I turned and pat her shoulder with a calm smile before saying "Trust me, you wouldn't be able to." as the holes in my shoulder began to close over. I then turned back to the monster and asked "What happened? I can treat your wound for you, that is if you leave us alone."

The monster held its side and snarled "I don't need your sympathy! I'll heal on my own! Besides, why should I listen to lowly Humans?" I cocked a brow and said "You act like you're above all else, yet you have such a nasty wound. I could kill you even if you were at your full strength, so I suggest you take my kindness before it runs dry..."

The monster growled and clutched its side as a flash of pain ran across its face. I sighed and began to walk toward the monster as I wrapped my hands in my Cursed energy. The monster lashed out with its claws but I was already behind it and closing its wound with my Curse. I had figured out how to do this a few years after having Onimaru, but I was only able to implement this skill because Onimaru is actually a support-type Curse...

The monster stopped growling and began to curiously look down at its side as the dry blood on its fur began to disappear back into its body. I stood up, dusted my pants off, and said "Now, I've healed your wounds, so I think I deserve an explanation as to why your aura is not that of a monster's." The thing froze as it glanced at me and said "Oh..." in a low voice.

The thing began to inch away but, before it could turn and run, I grabbed it by the neck and repeated "I think you owe me an explanation..." in a threatening tone. The creature sighed and said "Fine, fine! Just don't try and kill me when I tell you!" before sitting down on the floor. "Alright, you got me. I'm actually a Greater Spirit that was banished from the Dwelling of the Spirits and forced to spend the rest of my life locked up in the damned dungeon! The name's Skoll, and I was formerly known as the Greater Spirit of Darkness...nice to meet ya..."

I chuckled and extended my hand as I said "Nice to meet you Skoll, my name's Cerrin, and that one over there is Violet, and we're both 'Lowly Humans' as you put it." Skoll showed me a toothy grin as he shook my hand before standing up and touching his previously wounded side. He stopped and glanced up at me before looking at Violet and saying "You do know that you two aren't Human anymore...right?"

There was a long silence as Violet and I stared at Skoll with indecipherable expressions on our faces. I blinked and said "Ah, you must be talking about our Curses. Yeah, I used to get that a lo-" Skoll shook his head with a serious look on his face as he sniffed the air and muttered "You reek of Demon...yet you smell Human..."

I shook my head slowly before saying "Yes...? Our Curses come from Demons, so it's likely that you smell the Demon within my soul..." Skoll ignored me and moved over to Violet and sniffed the air before muttering "But you reek of Lycan..." Skoll took a few steps back before closing his eyes as his fur began to recede into his body along with his ears and tail. He now had the look of a handsome young man with spiky black hair and two icy-blue eyes.

He then put his hands together and began to draw a large amount of Magicules from the surroundings. Suddenly, Skoll's eyes snapped open and they were now a solid yellow. He scanned my body and stopped where my heart was located before squinting his eyes. It felt like he was gazing into my very soul with his bone-chilling stare.

Skoll's eyes widened as he took a step back and fell to the ground with his mouth agape. I heard a low growl of annoyance sound out in my head as a deep voice rumbled. 'Don't let him do that again...I won't be able to sleep if he stares at me like that...' The voice yawned and went silent, but I paid it no heed since I knew I wouldn't get a response even if I yelled.

"Y-Y-You...How the hell did you get such a creature...no, that thing is a true monster...!" Skoll's eyes turned back to normal and he was shaking slightly as he refused to look at me. I sighed and said "Look, don't worry too much about it. What you probably just saw was my lazy friend, Onimaru, who is also the Demon who supplies me with its powers. You have nothing to fear, mainly because he sleeps all the damn time..."

Skoll formed a pair of loose fitting shorts and an open jacket around his body before standing and apologizing. "I'm sorry, what I said was uncalled for. It's just...I've never seen such a powerful entity before, not even in the Dwelling of the Spirits..." I chuckled and waved my hand in a placating manner as I replied. "Don't worry about it, Onimaru just asked me to tell you not to do that again so he could sleep."

Skoll let out a nervous laugh as he rubbed the back of his head, not even bothering to look into Violet's soul after seeing Onimaru. Speaking of Violet, she was sulking off to the side for some odd reason as Skoll and I began to tell each other of our pasts and what it was like growing up while being different from everyone else.

"Oh wait, that reminds me. Do you happen to know of a True Dragon that resides in this place?" I looked and Skoll and watched as he cocked a brow and put his chin in his palm. Skoll shook his head and said "Nope. I haven't heard or felt a True Dragon in this dungeon ever since I was sealed here." I nodded my head and focused my Pathfinder to the maximum.

It continued on into the darkness and eventually dropped off a few hundred feet away from where we were. I shrugged my shoulders and continued to talk with Skoll until Violet had come over and said "Hey, shouldn't we be trying to find that Dragon and kill it? Or did you forget about why you wanted to come here so badly...?"

Skoll and I glanced at each other before shrugging our shoulders and standing up. Violet held her hand out and said "Lead the way, oh great teacher..." with more than a little sarcasm in her voice. I ignored her for the moment and looked toward Skoll before asking "So, will you join us on our little adventure and help kill this Dragon?"

Skoll snorted and said "Hell yeah, of course I will! I want to see what you're capable of, as well as see if you're truly stronger than me." I activated my Aura Sense and saw Skoll's pale blue aura flare up as his eyes shone with a competitive light. I was utterly amazed at that moment, because his aura was much, much greater than the old man's...

"Yeah...I may have been underestimating you when I said I could kill you when you're at your full power..." Skoll laughed and put his hands behind his head as he said "Ahaha! Looks like you really can see auras! You're an interesting guy! Hey, do you wanna make a deal?" I furrowed my brows and repeated "A deal...?"

Skoll nodded his head and explained. "Yeah, if you want, I can give you a name since you're not Human. However, if I do, then you'll end up being my servant, but you'll be able to grow much stronger in a short amount of time." It sounded like a pretty cool idea, but I didn't really like the "servant" part.

"Is there anyway to get rid of the servant part, or no...?" I asked as I began to think back to one of the old man's lectures. Skoll shrugged and said "Hell if I know, I've never named anyone before." Suddenly, and idea popped into my head. "How about we come up with a surname for the both of us. I remember a friend of mine telling me that you can void most of the negatives in the naming process by doing something like that..."

Skoll shrugged his shoulders once more and said "Don't get mad if it doesn't work." I smiled and replied "Oh well, if it doesn't work then it would be my fault anyways. Let's get started, shall we?" Skoll nodded his head and held his hand out toward me as he closed his eyes. A few seconds passed before Skoll's eyes opened and turned a bright purple as he said "As of today, I shall become Skoll Ezre and you shall be Kira Ezre."

A bright yellow light enveloped both of our bodies as it felt like something was being engraved on my very soul alongside Onimaru himself. Then I could hear it. The sweet melody that I had forgotten so long ago.

The melody of my dear friends calling out my name.