Amare Flos (Demon Slayer)

Chapter 7: Grey

It was about 2 months after the Final Selection that the swords were finished and sent out. Along with a Crow who would give them orders. The demon slayers would be ready to exit for their first mission. The sunlight fell on Asumi's flower field, the flowers glowed their proud colours. She sat on a wooden chair, admiring the view. She was so close to dozing off.

"Asumi Dear..." Her mum tapped her on her shoulder. Asumi jumped at the sudden noise. She calmed down after she saw her Mum. With a rather cheeky smile on her face, Asumi looked back at the open door, the mail.

Asumi found a crow standing on top of the rather fashionable box which contained a silver sword. She covered her mouth, the crow tilted its head. As she opened the wooden box and grabbed the sword's blade, a pink colour bled through the sword, the sword changed colours, with subtle white stripes that went diagonal on the well-crafted blade. She couldn't help but be hypnotised by the sword that would be in her possession from now on. The crow looked up at her with a sparkle in its eye. Asumi looked back at her parents, and her Mum with tears flooding in her eyes. Her Dad was trying his best not to cry. After all, their daughter was about to embark on her dreams, and that was nothing to be sorrowful about. He failed and started to cry a river as Asumi smiled her bright and sweet smile.

They all hugged. "Stay safe dear, you can always come back, don't get hurt too much and don't..." Asumi's father said through tears. Asumi gulped as she felt her neck choke. The goodbye lasted for several minutes. She wished her family goodbye with one promise.

"I won't be dying anytime soon. Don't worry," she assured with a smile.

And just like that. She departed, walking down the path that led to outside of town. Making sure she didn't forget anything important. She looked back every 5 seconds, her parents didn't go back inside the house til she was out of sight.

The crow swooped down as she passed the vibrant flower field so dear to her heart. The crow alerted her of her first mission.

A band of demons that resided in a town. The crow also mentioned she would not be alone in this mission, and to expect company. She nodded and started to speed up a bit. The sun hung high in the sky, its light made the clouds around it an unimaginable white, adding shading to make them look like kernels of popcorn. The green grass was soon out of sight as Asumi sprinted into a thick forest. The cold settled in as the sunlight disappeared. Although, the cold was nothing compared to the mountains. Eira sat on her porch. It was rather warm for the time of year. The sunlight was barely peeking through the thick clouds above the mountain. Eira's face felt warmth as it was met by the rare sunlight. She heard an excited shout from her older brother. She jolted and ran to where he was, she saw an exhausted messenger holding out a box that was tied by a ribbon. An albino crow rested on the messenger's head, it hopped down to Eira's feet. She found it adorable.

Eira had the same shocked reaction as Asumi, both she and her brother shared that innocent excitement unravelling the box. As they saw the brand new sword, it was a very similar colour to their father's sword, yet unique at the same time. The soft and icy blue crawled up the sword as Eira's fingertips made contact with the sword's handle. Her brother shed a few tears seeing his dear sister enter a new chapter of her life.

"First mission huh? I know you're going to kill it out there. Make us proud, the whole family, I'm sure they're watching you up there" Her brother hugged her tightly. Eira couldn't help but have a mixture of emotions all turmoiling inside her, she squeezed her brother tightly. His words sunk deep.

"Even Dad?.." Eira whispered to her brother.

"Yeah... Even Dad." Her brother whispered back. He had a slight hesitation in his voice, Eira didn't bother noticing this and took a deep breath before breaking from the hug.