Phase.001

Standing high atop of a cliff in the forest, Itame is gazing at the sight of one of the rare things that give him a feeling of peace, a waterfall. The moment doesn't last for long as he faintly senses a mysterious anima… an energy he's never felt before. Though strong, it doesn't seem to feel malicious? Its essence is pure, although he is unable to specifically identify it. Fading in and out like it's a heartbeat… The energy is seemingly luring him in, almost as if it's calling out to him. He leaves to find out where it was coming from. 

This leads him down a path of the darkest woods of Van Hollow, which during the night, is the most dangerous territory to be in. Many provinces have fallen & have been left to crumble, becoming nests for demons to continuously spread miasma through the rotten, barren wastelands of Van Hollow. However, even those don't match the demonic fog that rests throughout the forests of the land. For anyone else, traversing through here is considered a death wish, but for Itame, it is a normality. 

While keeping his eyes peeled for any demons that may spawn from the encircling miasma, he also felt the pulsation of this mystifying anima growing stronger… He must be approaching the source.

Reaching his destination, Itame is met with the sight of... nothing, just the cool breeze and trees swallowed in darkness. It didn't make sense to him… what was this energy? Where is its source? Now that he's in its vicinity, he's not even able to sense it anymore. But then… the energy returned? The strong but heavenly presence had struck Itame's consciousness again. Could it be?

He notices a young girl, unconsciously leaning up against a tree. Surely this amount of anima couldn't have come from such an innocent looking girl, Itame thought… She had long, brown hair that gave off a perfect shine from the moon light. It partially covered her face, revealing some dirt on her cheek, and still, she looked peaceful. He at first walked past her but then realized that indeed she is who he was sensing all this time. It didn't make sense to him… it startled him…

"Hmm. So it's you?" he said to himself.

Itame goes to check her pulse… if she's dead, then there would be no way the energy could be coming from her, right? And to his surprise, the girl was still alive, only in an unconscious state. But again, none of this really makes sense… Why would this strong anima be coming from someone like her? Why would someone who looked so out of place be in such a dangerous environment? He had to stop himself… his mission, his journey of atonement. Knowing what was truly at stake, the impending danger that he could only know that would be the end of humanity, Itame decides to leave and heads back where he had come from. However, he stopped in his tracks, sensing the incoming appearance of a demon…

Right on cue, the suspect had summoned itself behind him. Turning around, he notices that The demon makes a very uncommon decision... it totally ignored him? Astonished for a short moment, he quickly realized that the large threat was making its way to where he just left... the girl.

The amalgamation of putrid flesh and large bones had towered over the helpless girl. With a deafining screech, it began to wind back its clawed arm. Out of instinct, before the demon could strike the girl, Itame quickly slings the Führer Wolf across the forest, plunging it into the hand the demon used to attack! Successfully halting the demon, Itame smoke teleports to his blade & protects the girl from the strike. With the two now face to face, Itame creates static electricity from his left arm and exerts it through his sword to cause the demon to stumble away while simultaneously ejecting the blade from its wound. Resetting himself, Itame then swiftly slices straight through the rabid creature, leaving nothing but a trail of smoke as the demon splatters into giblets.

Flicking the cursed blood off of his blade, he slides it back into its sheath and proceeds to destroy the demon core that floats above its littered corpse. With nothing left for him, Itame goes to leave back to his journey once again but something had caused him to halt, only this time it wasn't a demon… but a vision? The vision of the girl abruptly flashes in his head. Clutching at his head, Itame frustratedly questioned himself, what was that vision all about? Why does he seem to be so worried about her? Situations like this, walking past dead bodies is sort of the norm for him, but, this time, this girl isn't dead… Itame turns his foot back…

"Tch! What am I doing?"

Itame takes a good look at her, the gentle breeze of the wind shuffles her bangs partially over her calm & angelic face. Out of nowhere, her body again flashes the same mysterious, sparkling white-colored anima that once brought him out of his post, miles away.

"What are you?" he thought to himself.

He then tosses her limp body over his shoulder, not knowing exactly where to go but he knows he must get her away from danger. On his way, he pondered to himself… confused at his own actions. What was he doing protecting a complete stranger? Or mostly... Why did it feel like he was supposed to find her? Is it her energy? He doesn't know but there's no turning back now. 

"I'm pretty sure she was lost so I'll have to make sure she's safe for now. Because had it not been for me taking care of that demon earlier, she would've been killed…"