Long Story (Part 1)

Intro

Neku: Hehe, Master really slept with Neku. So happy, Neku was useful to Master. But, Master got hurt because of Neku. Not only he use all of strength fighting demons, Neku's power couldn't fully heal Master, koy-koy! No, Master said not to speak of fault. He's forgiven Neku, so Neku has faith in Master. Hopeful, Master won't disgust by Neku's secret. Oh, Master's finally awake. PRRRRURRAY!!! We tittled through the cave. That witch left behind her rubble, HISSS! Master was too weak to remove it, but Neku had just enough mana to *port past. Master was happy and carried Neku. Master should ride on Neku's back, but resisting offer was futile. Neku loves to be cared by Master. That she-devil did not call back Master, that worried him. Que, he think Witch might succumbed to Lupus. Kirrruuu, Neku wouldn't mind if the thought was truth. She's too instinctive, can't hide secrets from her, nor she like secrets.

***

Aaron: "I don't hear any noise. I hope Eris is alright."

Neku: "Don't worry, I'm sure She-Devil is still alive. Lupus is brutal, but merciful. He hates killing, most of times."

Aaron: "Well that's reassuring. How are you feeling by the way?"

Neku: "Kit-kit, my body hurts. Feel like it'll fall to pieces, que que."

Aaron: "Same. Carrying you is quite difficult."

Neku: "Sorry Neku is so heavy, should get down?"

Aaron: "Nnmm. It's fine. You did great back there, so you deserve a little reward."

Neku: "Master delights Neku with praise."

Aaron: "Geez, it reeks in here."

Aaron walks past a demon corpse. It had been horridly mangled. Chunks of meat hanging off its body and half its face eaten off.

Aaron: "Looks like your friend has been busy."

Neku: "Hue, nasty. Smells! Look ahead, bright light, Master."

Aaron: "Hmm? Alright, bout time we made it inside."

Aaron and Neku finally made it inside the cave. Their eyes open in aw at what they saw inside. The beautiful moonlight shining through the ceiling, the shimmering stream trickling threw a crack and down the sidewall, and a lovely shiny green colored moss evenly spaced on the cave walls, gave the room an enthralling aura. It was truly a site to behold, but the caves beauty was unfortunately cut short for a long dreadful and repulsive realization. Blood, guts, and corpses were spewed all over the cave. Blood leaking into the stream tainting is purity, moss turned dirty brown from old blood, and the site of the mutilated bodies and body "parts", was enough alone to repulse Aaron and make him fall to his knees as he gagged on the unfiltered air.

Neku: "Are you ok, Master?"

Aaron: "Yeah, I'm fine. I just need, a little time to collect myself. This place, is nauseating. Makes me wander, how long has the spirit here been fighting?"

Neku: "A long long time, unfortunately. He's been here long before you and She-Devil fell."

Aaron: "Hey, would you, stop calling Eris "She-Devil"? I know you don't like her because she comes across as a little rude sometimes, but she's really a good person at heart once you get to know her."

Neku: "Look Master, there's the flower."

Aaron: Way to dodge the question.

Aaron sits Neku down and begins walking towards the flower. It was a shiny color of dark red and had a small patch of brown grass at the base. "Weird, I wander why Eris hasn't picked this up yet", he thinks to himself as he bends down to pluck the flower. "Hold on, where is Eris?" Aaron pauses mid reach, right before his instincts flare up.

Crackle!

Neku: "Huh? Master get back!"

Aaron: "Huh, WOAH!"

Something flies past and grazes Aaron's neck as he stumbles backwards, barely dodging the object. He inspects his neck just be sure the piercing wasn't deep. Neku rushes to shield Aaron.

Aaron: "What the heck was that?! I almost died."

Neku: "Master, look."

Eris points to a dark corner of the cave. Something begins slowly emerging from the shadow. At first, Aaron believed it to be the wolf spirit since the creature's arms and legs were covered in fur and it had a pair of ears on top of its head, but he soon realized that fact wasn't completely true because the creature also had Eris's face.

Aaron: "E-Eris?!"

Eris: "Aaron, step away from Neku, now."

Aaron: "Eris, what in the heavens are you doing?! Are you trying to kill me?"

Eris: "I'll explain later, but right now you need to get away from Neku!"

Aaron: "Why? What's this about, and why do you look like that?!"

Neku: "Master, the witch, she's under spirit possession."

Aaron: "What?!"

Voice: "Aaron, I advise you to listen to your comrade. You would be wise to do so."

Aaron: "That voice. Is that you, Canis Lupus?"

A black vapor forms behind Eris. It thickens as it begins to take the shape.

Conan: "Indeed. My name is Conan Lupo. I thank you for getting rid of those vexing demons."

Aaron: "Tch, what did you do to Eris? And why did you attack me?"

Conan: "My apologize. Our goal was only to simply knock you out and capture the Mamono, but unfortunately you noticed to soon. I hope we didn't startle you too much."

Aaron: "More than that, you cut my neck you clod. So, this was a mutual decision?"

Eris: "Yes it was, and my apologize for the injury."

Aaron: "Why? Why are you going after Neku. What is this about, tell me?"

Eris: "If you want an answer, then ask her. She knows why she can't be trusted."

Eris sharply points at Neku.

Aaron: "Neku, what are they talking about?"

Neku: "Like said before, if Master finds out the truth he will hate Neku."

Conan: "Go ahead Mamono, tell him. Tell your master the real reason why you want this flower, why I've been stuck in this cave for decades protecting it, why you ran away when you saw the demon army, all the atrocities and horrible sins you've committed, why our people hate us so, and why you've been alone for nearly a century."

Aaron: "Neku, what is he talking about? What aren't you telling me?"

Neku: "As said before, our village was destroyed by demons."

Aaron: "Ok, but why? Why's that important?"

Neku: "Nmmm…."

Neku turns away, reluctant to speak.

Conan: "Because this darned Mamono led those vile creatures right to the village."

A freezing chill shot down Aaron spine. He looks at Neku with a horrified expression.

Aaron: "Neku, is that true?"

Neku: "This is why, Neku didn't want Master to come."

Conan: "And the story gets better. You've done more than just get our people killed, right Mamono? There have been plenty of others who died because of you. Some could say, that you've even killed a few yourself."

Neku: "HISS, you tell too much, you stop talking!"

Aaron: "Neku, I think it's about time you tell me the whole story. And, who exactly it is you killed."

Aaron turns towards Neku with a piercing grimace. To keep himself from losing his temper he sat down against the cave wall behind Eris. Conan and Eris were surprised that Aaron would deliberately give them an opening to attack Neku. Conan was readying to do so, but was interrupted by Eris. She knew better than to insult Aaron's trust in her. Neku, still sitting on the ground, was reluctant to speak.

Conan: "Fine, if you won't tell him then I will."

Aaron: "No, I want to hear it from her. Come on Neku, time is wasting."

Neku shutters in place as she tries to gather herself to speak.

Neku: "N-n-Neku was naïve, should've know wiser than to bring a demon home, thinking demons and spirits could be friends."

Conan: "You might want to sit down Eris, this will take a while."

Eris sat down on a rock beside the Sin. She didn't want Neku getting any ideas about stealing the flower and running off.

Neku: "Even though we were just children, Neku should've known our kind were never meant to be together. It was foolish, thinking a demon child could erase our fears."

Aaron: "What exactly do you mean by that?"

Neku: "...."

Conan: "It means that she wandered out of her territory, befriended a demon child, and brought it back home with her. But, because a demon's scent is only really potent to other demons she didn't realize she was leading a trail right back to the village. But that part is not necessarily her fault, I just recently found out what demons smell like, I'm sure you can deduce how. As for why demons were in the area in the first place, that's a mystery in itself."

Aaron: "I said I wanted her to explain, Conan."

Conan: "Right, my apologizes. It's just I know this story already. I wish to rap this up quickly."

Aaron: "Well, you'll just have to be patient."

Aaron turns to Neku, signaling to her to continue.

Neku: "Demons flooded our village. We didn't stand a chance. They wiped us out in hours. We tried to fight back, but efforts were useless. Men enslaved and chained, women turned prisoner and pervade, and kids eaten. Anyone unfortunate left alive, killed. Only a hundred of us managed to flee. Conan and Neku…"

Conan: "Canis!"

Eris: "Conan's your name though."

Conan: "Tch, true. But, it disgusts me when that Mamono speaks it."

Aaron: "Hey, quiet you two. Neku, continue."

Neku: "Canis and Neku were two of the hundred that fled. We wandered the world for sanctuary. The journey was perilous, many souls lost along the way. As numbers dwindled, so did our hope. We were left down to a handful. Hope had long faded and living seemed torturous, but Lady Luck pitied us and guided us to sanctuary. A human village. Ecstatic to see spirit visiting's, they welcomed us and insisted we stay as long as needed. To our surprise, few of the lost children found human village first. Two of which, great friends. Drava Gon, fire dragon kin, and Sephor Wisc, snake kin."

Aaron: "Ok, so why did you leave?"

Neku: "Problem, forced to leave. We stayed, everyone died."

Aaron: "Died? How?"

Neku: "You know Master, what seeks to destroy, pillage, and conquer all."

Aaron: "Demons."

Neku: "Yes, and not random, the same from our village. They swarmed, destroyed everything. Nothing was left untouched. Houses burned, animals rounded and captured, and humans slaughtered. We tried fighting back, but to no avail."

Aaron: "So how did you escape?"

Neku: "Humans. They're quite weak, but have a very strong sense of compassion. They stayed to fight, and us spirits guided them."

Aaron: "What do you mean by guided?"

Neku: "Exactly what it means. As we did master, the spirits and humans became close, allowing spirits to grant them small portion of powers. Master should know this, he and Neku have done it once before."

Conan: "Many of the spirits had already formed close bonds with the humans and formed pacts. Once a pacts were formed, the master acquires great powers from their domestics. And once a bond is formed, it's extremely hard to break."

Eris: "Domestic, pact, what are those?"

Conan: "A pact is just what my kind call the contract they make with a human. Other spirit races will have a different name for the term though. And a domestic is what my wolf clan calls spirits that choose to serve a human."

Aaron: "Ok, so how exactly did you two escape again?"

Conan: "By being cowardice, Mamono."

Eris: "And what does that mean, for those who don't know?"

Conan: "Well, my master died protecting me. I was greatly wounded, too injured to fight, but still willing. My master hated my stubbornness, but found it admirable. He took pity on me and used a great deal of his strength to force me to flee from the fight while he stayed behind to buy me time. I still resent him for that, but looking back if he hadn't done so we both would have died."

Aaron: "Ok, so what happened to your master, Neku?"

Neku: "Hmm..."

Neku turned away again.

Aaron: "Answer me, Neku."

Aaron begins to get frustrated with Neku's repeated unresponsiveness. She grabs and shakes her head frantically.

Aaron: "Neku, what happened to your master?!"

Neku shakes her head harder. Aaron approaches and faces Neku.

Aaron: "Neku, I can't trust you if you won't be honest with me."

Neku curls into a ball and clamps her mouth shut.

Conan: "It's pointless. She's not going to tell, even if you are her master. That Mamono has always cared more about what others may think of her than what they will think. Either way, she'd rather run from an unpleasant thought instead of confronting it, even if her thoughts are misplaced."

Aaron: Exhale. "I see."

Aaron begins to walk away from Neku.

Neku: "WAIT!"

Neku grabs Aaron by the leg.

Neku: "MASTER PLEASE, YOU CAN"T ABANDON ME!"

Aaron: "WHY NOT?"

Neku: "I NEED YOU!

Aaron: "THEN TELL ME!"

Neku: "I CAN'T!"

Aaron: "THEN THERE'S NOTHING I CAN DO!"

Neku: "MASTER WILL BE MAD!"

Aaron: "IF YOU HAVEN'T ALREADY FIGURED OUT YET, I'M ALREADY MAD!"

Neku: "PLEASE, MASTER. I'M BEGGING YOU?"

Aaron: "THEN TELL ME?!"

Neku: "I DON'T WANT TO!"

Aaron: "WHY NOT?!"

Neku: "BECAUSE HE'S DEAD!"

*Port: Teleport.