Amare Flos (Demon Slayer)

Chapter 19: Failure

"He's a demon now."

Eira stared into the eyes of Asumi. Eira stood still, turning to the sword that was impaled into the ground. The sunlight shining into her eyes, usually it'd feel good, but it felt as if it was burning her skin. Eira's finger twitched as the world around her became irrelevant, she became lost in memories and thoughts.

The words that had just slipped out of Asumi's mouth had killed her hope. Ali was a demon. Eira's mind was going wild, it was all so fast to her. Eira's heart sank, had she failed her goal? Already? In the first month of being a demon slayer? Her goal of protecting those close to her? Her thoughts stopped when she saw Asumi, it wasn't any time to remember her goals, whether she had fulfilled them or failed them. She knew Asumi was much more hurt than she was. After all, they were childhood friends. She could feel Asumi's heartache, which throbbed that a burning flame. Eira sighed and forced herself to remain calm.

"Let's go find a safe place. Then we can talk about it. How does that sound?" Eira looked at Asumi. Asumi wiped her tears once more. Eira didn't know much about comforting people in loss, Eira glanced at Ali's sword that was deeply lodged into the ground. She put a hand on its grip, it felt nice and quite new. Eira put all her force in trying to pull the sword out of the ground. It was useless, only someone of great strength could pull the sword out. Eira felt a pain in her soul as if it was burning with guilt. She felt great guilt for leaving it in the ground. Free for anyone to see. She hoped it wouldn't be stolen, or taken by anyone.

All of a sudden, memories of her hometown flooded back. The small temple her family ran, the white snow slowly hovering at the entrance, the warmth of the candles as you walked in, statues of the gods in front of a miniature replica of their very own mountain.

The memory of her mother's funeral. It was only honourable that Ali had a funeral as well. Eira reached for her pockets, a small flint. Asumi watched Eira search for something in the ground. After gathering a few flowers, she put it on the sword. After a while of closing her eyes and paying respects. She lit flames to the flowers, it was a weird mix, a disgusting burning smell of flowers, it was nice, but bad.

With the lighting of the flowers, both Asumi and Eira stood in front of the sword, thinking about different topics. Eira was in a dilemma. She had a certain thought, a question.

Was Ali their enemy now?

She had sworn to defeat any demons. Ali was a demon. But Eira felt a burning agony in her chest, like her heart was affected by this choice she had to make. Eira stared at the flowers, the last petals burning.

"Asumi. If you see Ali. Will you kill him?" Eira asked bluntly, there was a loud silence. Asumi's eyes seemed to stare at the flowers. As they glowed with the small heat the flames had left. A pile of ashe blown onto the base of the sword. Asumi looked at Eira. She knew the right answer.

"Yes." Asumi lied. Asumi knew if she saw Ali, she would not have the heart to even harm him. Would she even see Ali? Eira seemed pleased with the response. Although, the great blue of her soul didn't falter. Eira felt that this decision was the first step to getting over it. Eira's mind tricked into a denying state of lying. She was so obsessed with her goal she made desperate excuses in her mind.

She hadn't become a failure. She hadn't failed her goal. Ali was still alive. And if she wasn't close with Ali anyways, even if he died. The goal would still remain intact. It was a rather crude way to think about the situation. But Eira hadn't known Ali for long regardless. She could only offer sympathy now, now that Ali was a demon, she had to do what had to be done. Although it would hurt her at the time. Eira looked at the sky, which was a light blue.

She took a deep breath, she had realised the silence that came with Ali being gone. She shook her head. Why did she care? A small voice shouted in her head.