3rd pov:
A brunette stood in the woods with a few other kids, her lips slightly tugging down.
"Did you hear something?" Violet asked the group as they hid on top of trees.
"It's probably a river. If the map's correct, there should be a river ahead." Don spoke.
"How do you know the map if you aren't checking it?" Zack asked, looking at his own map.
"I memorized it." Don replied.
"Oh..."
"Y/n and Ray asked us. They had a whole stack of maps in the archives." Gilda explained.
"It's much easier than the tests we were taking at the house, don't you think?" Emma chuckled.
"So feel free to use us five as a map, if you need." Y/n and Ray told Violet and Zack in unison.
'Grace Field is no joke...' They sweat dropped.
"This is old information though. We don't just how old. But we shouldn't expect the terrain and demon settlements to appear exactly as they do on the map." Ray said.
"We can't predict when we will encounter demons with this map." Emma said.
"Steering clear of the demons is the top priority. Keep a lookout for any traces and make sure to avoid them." Chuuya told them.
"That's why I'm here. My deductions are never wrong." Y/n grinned.
"I do believe that./ Why is this suicidal bastard is always right in those things" Ray and Chuuya said unison.
"Hm? But there's a demon approaching." Y/n said.
"If we see one, get hidden before they spot you. But even if you do that..." Ray told Don and Gilda. Y/n muffled her laughter with her hands when she saw Gilda and Don look down at a demon.
"Aku~. You know what to do~" Y/n said, nudging the boy who nodded. He activated his ability.
"Ability: Rashomon" Akutagawa said as Rashomon beast rushed at the demon and aiming at its eye.
"...kill them before they call for more." Ray finished, deadpanning as Y/n said.
"Steering clear of the demons is the top priority. Keep a lookout for any traces and make sure to avoid them." Ray told them.
"That... was amazing..." Don said in awe as Gilda slumped against the tree.
"Wasn't it" Y/n said casually as she stuffed her hands in to her trench coats pockets.
Emma was quiet as she stared at the deceased demon.
"A nice reminder is that the most dangerous demons are the ones with intelligence and have human forms." Y/n said.
"We must avoid any towns or cities. The goal is D528-143." Ray said.
After days and nights of camping and walking, they finally reached their destination.
"We're here...! This is Khavitidala? Boulders... They're ruins?" Emma wondered as they all looked around.
"There exists a dragon is Khavitidala, whose eyes can see everything. Everyone desired its eyes, rushing to Khavitidala. The dragon village of Khavitidala."
"It was written in the old manuscript." Ray recited.
"Could there really be a dragon though...?" Don asked with a nervous smile.
"There's no way it could be something like that...is what I want to say. But, I just don't know anymore. In reality, demons could occupy this place..." Gilda said.
"At the very least, we can't see anybody right now or any kind of town." Chuuya said.
"All that's here are these big stones. It just seems to be old ruins." Zack said.
"I wonder what these are ruins of..." Don said.
Y/n stood in boredom in middle of Chuuya and Akutagawa before her eyes trailed over to her right. She walked towards it as Chuuya and Akutagawa started to explore other corners of the building.
She tilted her head as she spotted an arrow. Beside her stood Emma, who glanced at her in confusion. Y/n then motioned over to the arrow and walked over, Emma following.
They followed the arrow's direction to see a symbol of an eye engraved on a boulder. Y/n and Emma walked over and glanced at each other before placing one of their hands on the marking. Their whole world turned upside down.
Like really.
They made eye contact with a creature's eye, staring into each other's soul. Then, the scene changed and humans and demons were speaking. Y/n placed she hand to her head, her brows furrowing as she pursed her lips.
When Y/n opened her eyes she saw a void covered in darkness.
"Huh? You know if this represents my will to live, Then it is pretty accurate" Y/n said as she saw a pond as she looked into her reflection only to see a ghost, which made her a bit confused
"It's a ghost." A voice said
"A Ghost? What is?" Y/n said in a bit of confusion
"Your true identity."
"Me?"
"Yeah."
Y/n started laughing at this
"People usually say I'm cute or cool or interesting, but they have never called me a ghost" Y/n said as she looked closely in to the pond as she saw a unsymmetrical figure which represented a human being.
Y/n panicked as she scratched her face frantically as she noticed her reflection was also moving. After a few minutes of understanding she looked at it with calm yet dull eyes and looked ahead in the dark void again.
"Can you see the truth?" Y/n asked
"Yeah."
"So...I'm not a human."
"That's right."
"Oh right, I'm ghost." Y/n said in a bit of disappointment as she looked back at the reflection and saw a light in the pond as a few memories of her started to play.
"Chuuya...Ray...Emma...Norman... Everyone.....and that Rat" Y/n whispered
"Why are you showing me these?" Y/n just questioned
"Oh, those are to show you that your....
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
Not a ghost in their eyes " The voice said and that was the last thing that Y/n heard.
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"Hey, Emma! Y/n!"
"Wake up!" Violet and Chuuya yelled as Violet slapped Emma and Chuuya did the same to Y/n.
Emma winced as she brought her hand to her face. She looked beside her to see Y/n looking forward with a dull expression, unresponsive.
"Huh? How come she's not waking up?! I just slapped her!" Chuuya said, shaking the brunette.
Then, Y/n's eyes widened as she brought her hand to her head. She blinked before looking at the others who looked at her in confusion and worry.
"Did you see it?!" Emma suddenly asked them all.
"See what??" Gilda flinched.
"The dragon!" Emma said.
"I didn't see anything..."
"Me either." Emma then looked at Y/n who sweat dropped.
"Well, I saw something. But it was not the dragon." Y/n replied, scratching the back of her neck.
She and Emma looked at each other before running to one of the stacks of boulders, climbing up.
"Wait a minute, Emma, Y/n! It's dangerous, get down!"
"Don't tell me that she agreed to Y/n's suicide proposal!" Chuuya yelled
"I'm sorry! I didn't mean to hit you! That weirdo told me to do it!" Violet yelled as she blamed Chuuya for her antics.
"HAH?!" Chuuya yelled as he grew a tick mark on his forehead.
"Y/n, Emma, what are you doing?" Ray asked as he hoisted himself up the boulders. His eyes widened as he looked down.
"This is...an eye?"
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"I feel bad for the Bayon family. It's already been over a year since the lord vanished.
September 2047: 1 year and 7 months since the collapse of the Goldy Pond Hunting Ground
"Do you think that disappearance could also be their doing...?"
"Idiot! Don't say such strange things."
"But, I really do want to try it at least once. High-quality farm meat."
Two kids heard the conversation and walked to the stall.
"I'll have some meat." The older one said.
"Comin' right up." The vendor said.
"I wonder if those Grace Field escapees are still running away."
"Ha! People have been talking about them for nearly two years now."
"But, wouldn't at least one be alive? Perhaps 2 or three? If they all died together, the finding of their bodies would have been spread throughout towns."
"I don't know. I doubt it."
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"All clear." Sonia said as she and a few children sat in the security room.
"Nothing unusual! You're good to go out and hunt!" A boy shouted down the hall, peeking out from the room.
Oliver, Dominic, and Thoma all stepped out into the open land, looking for food.
It had been 1 year and 8 months since the escape from Grace Field.
They grew many crops in the shelter to stay hidden inside the shelter as often as possible. Their supporters haven't contacted them though since back then. But they're still going forward with their plan of finding the Seven Walls.
When Y/n, Emma, and the others returned from Cuvitidala, they started to look for the temple Y/n and Emma saw.
July 2046: Approximately 4 months after setting out for Cuvitidala
"Let's see...A book with a description of where the temple could be..."Ray muttered.
"If we find these two things, we'll be able to meet him? Are they clues?" Gilda wondered as she and the kids searched the books.
"Check the first shelf, second row, from the top, the 5th and 7thbooks from the left. And in the 4th row, 10th book from the left." Y/n suggested
"On the second shelf, in the top row, the 9th and 15th books from the left. As well as the 4th shelf, 3rd row from the top..." Ray said.
"Yes!" Chris, Alicia, and Mark exclaimed, determined.
There was then yelling and some of the kids turned to see Y/n laughing as she away from Chuuya.
"Get back here, bastard!" Chuuya said.
"Nope! You're going to kill me rather painfully, and I'm not up for it!" Y/n said.
He then bumped into Paula before jumping on his back on his.
"Belladonna, he's trying to hurt me!" Y/n accused Chuuya, pointing at the irked man.
"Really now? Why exactly?" Paula sweat dropped.
"The bandage-wasting machine and her accomplice stole my share of snacks!" Chuuya pointed at the brunette who dramatically gasped, Thoma muffling his laughter.
"Me?! I would never! I'm just a innocent advocate of suicide!" Y/n said dramatically as Paula sighed at her.
"Why don't you share it?" Paula suggested as Y/n huffed
"Belladonna it would be a great idea only if i didn't have to share it with this hat rack chibi" Y/n said
"TEME!" Chuuya yelled
"CUT IT OUT YOU TWO!" Gilda yelled as she took the jar of snacks from Y/n's hand as they both frowned as they saw their 'Mom' take their snacks.
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Half a month later, Y/n and the others stood by the exit of the shelter as the others crowded around.
"You're going already?" Shirase asked the group who were carrying backpacks.
"Yeah! After checking the eastern side, we'll be back again!" Emma waved. After 7 months they returned.
The result was the entire east side being ruled out. Next was the west side which consisted of seven possible spots where the golden water could be, and three spots where the temple might be found. All candidate sites on the west side of the temple are towns inhabited by demons.
The six currently wore colorful clothing and masks where as Y/n, Chuuya and Akutagawa wore their normal clothes.
"Ummm why are you not going to wear these?" Gilda asked hesitantly
"Well there is no need for us to wear that nobody know that the top executives have turned traitor as the enemy organization can attack on the HQ building sooo~" Y/n codded
"So basically every common demon fears us" Chuuya said calmly as Y/n smiled foolishly
"Oh" Gilda nodded in acknowledgment
They halted in front of a demon who towered over them before proceeding to move on with its day. All the children could do was look around at the stalls of chopped-up limps. It was weird and unsettling since they were seeing how the demons normally bought their kind. But for the ability users it was not that different as they have always seen this mess.
"This meat is the mass-produced stuff too, huh?" A demon as tall as the human kids said, holding up a tube.
"We haven't seen it, much less eaten it. High-quality human meat it must be so good. Like it's on a whole different level."
As the demon and its younger sibling walked, the latter tugged his clothing
"Brother. Weird feet! Weird feet!"
"Hmm?" The demon turned to see what his younger brother was referring to But there was nothing The human group had quickly scattered away from the demon town, hiding behind some giant trees. Only the gifted were left as they faced the demon and Chuuya gave small glare as the demons squeaked and walked away.
"That was close.....!" Emma said as they lifted their masks.
"Don! I told you the way you walk would draw attention to us... yeah we just passed thanks to Y/n, Chuuya-kun and Akutagawa-kun" Gilda said
"Sorry..."
"Don't mind it!" Y/n just appeared out of no where making the others flinch
"Where you come from?!" Ray said
"Guess you will never know~" Y/n said
"But I'm glad we have these masks! When we get back, I need to thank Nigel and everyone." Emma smiled.
"Yeah. They're so well made with what little materials we had at the shelter. It's scary to think how much first-hand research the Grand Valley kids have on the demons." Ray said.
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The group then sought out for home and as they entered the shelter.
Emma exclaimed, "We're back!"
"Welcome home!" The kids, adults, and demons shouted in happiness.
"Is everyone doing well? Safe?" Emma asked.
"Yes, every single one of us is well." Oliver confirmed.
"Anna, Nat, Gillian, Paula, Pepe, Sonia, Sandy, Shirase, Nigel everybody..."
"Wow! You've gotten taller, Don! Akutagawa!"
"All of your guys' hair has grown too!"
Truly, their hair has. Y/n's hair was now longer and her bangs occasionally got in her face. Her beautiful brown hair also curled naturally reached down her waist up to her thighs. Geez they had gotten long in these years.
"So? How did it go? Was it there?" Shirase asked.
"We found it. That temple and the golden water." Emma grinned.
October 2047~
Almost all the kids with the adults and demon were gathering in the dining room to discuss what the group had found.
"And?"
"You found the place with that temple and the golden water."
"Did you figure something out?" Mark asked.
"We're there any hints?" Chris asked.
"We found the golden water at the third possible spot, and the temple at the second candidate location."
Flashback~
"This temple...There's no mistaking it." Emma muttered.
She and the other six stood before a huge temple in the middle of nowhere.
"This is it! The temple Y/n and I saw back at Cuvitidala."
"We did it!" Gilda said, hugging Emma.
"We found it! It's here! It's really here! I'm so glad!" Don cheered.
"Shh! Cool it." Chuuya hushed them.
"This temple's real quiet, huh?" Zack said.
"It's a lot different from how lively the city was." Gilda agreed.
"That's a long staircase. How unfortunate. But, look. There's someone here." Y/n said, motioning over to the top.
"We shouldn't stay here for long." Zack said.
"Yeah, let's check this out quickly." Ray said.
When they reached the top, there indeed was a demon. An old looking one who fed the birds. The demon didn't acknowledge, or perhaps didn't notice the group pass by.
'How unexpectedly small...Short towers? 6 of them. All the doors are steel-gated...? So we're not able to get inside...'Ray thought. He peeked in and the site was definitely something, a tad bit strange.
'Everything here is ancient...and also, another one of those eyes What is this? What is that? '
"Hey, everybody! Over here!" Violet called them.
They looked in and it was definitely unusual A demon with no face, perhaps a statue? Food and lit candles were around the faceless demon too. Perhaps it is a shrine?
"...A human? No, a demon?" Don said.
"It doesn't have a face..." Emma said.
"Similar to him."
"Huh?"
"No...His clothes and physique were both totally different, but this gives off the same atmosphere." Emma said.
Y/n on the other hand was looking down at the floor being extremely quiet. She thought she heard something as she saw a red drop fall on the floor startling her.
Y/n narrowed her eyes at it a she looked at her hands making her eyes widen in shock as she saw Odasaku's dead body with a bullet hole in his stomach and " It was your fault " written all over the floor with his blood making her petrified.
Chuuya noticed her vague expression as he tapped her shoulder making her snap out of it.
"What is it?" He asked as Y/n looked at him
"Oh it's nothing" Y/n said with a small smile
"But you know, seems like this temple doesn't have any clues regarding the Seven Walls. What is the deal with this temple-?" Violet said.
"Hey, look at this!" Ray called them.
"The ceiling!!!"
"Day and Night..."
"What's drawn on the other ceilings?!" Emma asked.
They split up and looked into the other areas, reporting back what they found.
"Over here!" Y/n waved to the others as Emma stood beside him.
"Golden water...!"
End of Flashback~
"Did you figure it out? Not just clues, but an actual method to be able to get in?!" Lannion asked with anticipation.
"Yup!"
"Hurray!" The kids cheered.
"It's thanks to all of you. This past year, everyone has done their part." Emma smiled.
"Only two months left. With this, we can make it in time." Chris said.
"Yeah, we still can't escape just yet, but now that we're able to go find the "Day and Night", we can go forge a new promise." Ray smiled.
"So? How do we get in?" Shirase asked.
"The entrance... The method to get to the "Day and Night", is this!" Y/n grinned, pulling out a jar of golden water.
"Golden water?"
The doors then burst open.
"Everybody, run away now! The enemy is attacking!" Zack yelled.
Haring this the gifted quickly held their guard up as Y/n cocked back her gun and helped everyone to hide.
The shelter's entrance was then blown up, forming a cloud of dust.
"At last. At last, I've found you. Now, this time, it will be a slaughter." A man said, standing in the dispersing smoke. It was Andrew.
"Now, dispose of them and capture 82184 Y/n ,DV-5623 Chuuya and 3D562 Ryonosuke. Be careful they are special grade" He ordered the soldiers who stormed inside, equipped with bulletproof vests, gas masks, and weaponry. The kids hid in a lower room that was dimly lit, the creaking of the floorboards heard above them.
"Everybody alright? Is everyone in here?" Emma asked.
"I just counted. Of the 62 of us, with the exception of Rossi and Lucas, everybody is here but two people. It's Y/n and Chuuya-kun." Gilda said.
"Y/n? Chuuya-kun? Weren't they with us? Where'd they go?!" Nat harshly whispered in fear.
Y/n and Chuuya were not currently with them.
Y/n and Chuuya were in the other room discussing a plan as they hear footsteps and grew quiet. The guards kicked open the door and spotted them as Y/n gave a calm smile.
"Why hello~ and who might you be?"
"Nobody that you need to know"
"Oh mean~ Well then how you wanna do this?"
"Why don't you start with telling me you emblem-" The man said as he was speaking he felt his body getting heavier and heavier and red light surround him making him collapse on the ground breaking his bones.
"Good work Chu~Chu~" Y/n said as she gave him a high five
"Yeah yeah" Chuuya said as they walked out of thee room.
"Emma!" Y/n Chuuya shouted as they entered the armory.
"Y/n! Chuuya-kun!" The others kids gasped in relief.
"Let's get going, shall we? I don't think our new friend is happy that Chuuya had knocked him out and might have broken a few bones." Y/n sweat dropped with a smile, grabbing her gun cartridges weapons and putting them in a bag.
"Okay. Let's quickly, calmly, and quietly leave so they won't notice us." Emma said. They walked in some underground route, carefully looking around.
"The next path is this way." Chris said.
"And then this way."
"Over here." As they were walking, Y/n finally took time to think and her eyes slightly widened.
"Oh...I see" He muttered.
"Hey, Ray. I have a bad feeling." Shirase told the boy.
"It's about the enemy. Why 8 people? There are over 60 people occupying this place, with weapons as well."
"I don't think it's too little. They also might not have been able to figure out our total number and what kind of weapons we're armed with." Ray said.
"But if they do know all of that..."
"If that's the case, they sent an elite team to sufficiently suppress us. In addition to that, this raid to the Ratri clan could very well be something that they have to move forward with, in secret." Ray said.
"Hey!" Y/n said as she stopped in front of the group with extended arms and a nervous smile.
"What is it?" Nat asked, all of them looking at the boy in confusion.
"How about we go somewhere else? We can build a hole and crawl towards a different area? We can do something else that's not escaping through here." Y/n said.
"But we're almost there? Why take more time in escaping when we're nearing the exit?" One of the kids asked.
"Because!" Y/n said before stammering.
"Well...you see...um...that...uh... you see...."
"Don't worry, Y/n. We're going to be just fine once we step out and flee the shelter." Another kid said as they all started walking past Y/n.
"That's the point! We're not going to make it out! At least, not through here!" Y/n said. Then, two bloodied corpses fell just near the ladder. Chris, who was just ahead of the group, stared in horror as she felt paralyzed, a sniper pointing at her. That was the last thing he saw.
'Oh no again you are the reason people will die tonight what a shame, because of your foolishness everyone will die.' A voice said in Y/n's head making her rethink her choices
Luckily, Emma ran ahead and dove to grab him when a bullet was shot. She made it just a bit too late. The young boy had already been shot.
"Emma! Run!" Gillian yelled as she and a few others held guns. They shot at the culprit while Emma and a few others gathered around Chris.
"That guy has a bulletproof vest." Gillian said.
"Of course he does! They planned this all out!" Chuuya yelled.
Thoma and Lannion looked at the two corpses that fell, in disbelief.
They were actually dead.
They are gone.
"Can you hear me, dear cattle children? I'm Andrew, and I've come to kill you all. I know you're still here. It's useless to hide. This past year and nine months I've sought out your one and only remaining supporter and taken care of them."
The children flinched in shock. They had hope that their supporters were going to help them, so they waited. But it was all for nothing. They're dead, according to Andrew.
"See what I meant" Y/n mumbled
"So of course, we'll have known the exact location of this shelter. We even know all about the internal structure. The exits are already locked down. Today, right here, you will all die. That's all there is to it. Now, please come out quietly. If you do that, I'll make it painless." Andrew said.
Y/n perked up. Painless, you say? Oh my. She liked the sound of that. She stepped forward and his mouth was opening, but someone pulled her back and slapped their hand over her mouth. She glanced to see Chuuya glaring at her with the others.
"Calmly, let everyone in the back now." Chuuya whispered to the others
'But seriously. What do we do here? These guys came here with genuine killing intent. There's no way they're even thinking of capturing us alive. Well, I guess that's only natural. To the Ratri clan, all of us are a blunder that absolutely cannot see the light of day. While this is going on, they're not pinching us...No, they're probably setting us up for a siege. There are 8 enemies and 3 exits. Counting the people in front of us, there are a maximum of 5-6 more approaching. That means, it'll be 5 or 6 men attacking us? But...ls there any other way out of this? We need to decide what to do.' Ray thought.
"Emma...?" Lannion muttered as he and Thoma looked at the quiet girl worriedly.
"Why?!" Emma asked as she stood up and stepped near the ladder.
"We never planned on breaking the promise! We found the Seven Walls and we were going to reforge the promise! We won't be a bother to the human world! There won't be any reason for them to fight us! All of us just want to protect our natural, everyday lives!" Emma yelled.
"Oh god..." Y/n and Chuuya muttered.
"The Seven Walls? I see. So all of you found the Seven Walls, huh? Moreover, you've already reached the stage where you're able to reforge the promise. Did he-"
"Quiet!!!" Y/n and Chuuya yelled, interrupting the man.
"That's right! That's why-!" Lannion yelled.
"It doesn't matter!" Thoma finished.
"That's not how this works. Rather, that being the case, I definitely have to kill you here. Even if the world would allow it, as long as the Ratri family keeps order, it will not come to be. Natural everyday lives? Protect them? Don't get it wrong. From the very beginning, you all never had anything like that. Everything has been a façade" Andrew said as he placed a mask on his head.
Y/n clapped as she stepped forward "What a amazing speech you gave Andrew, I must say heart touching. Though do tell Peter-san that I said to kindly leave us alone or the consequence would be worse." She said as she cocked back her gun behind her back and shot the stone making a puff of dust in front of Andrew.
"Everyone, run! He's going to throw gas! Close the door!" Y/n yelled to the others. One of the kids quickly turned the lever as the door came crashing down as Andrew threw the smoke can.
Everyone ran out side and closed the door blocking out the smoke from the exploded can. Some of the kids coughed from the scent while others did not.
'It hasn't even been that long. While we're bunkered down here, the enemy is surrounding us. The exits are blocked. We have no positional advantage. How do we get away? Even if we don't know it at this moment, we need to find some way to get out of here! ' Ray thought.
(4367 Words)
Sorry i got carried away with this chapter....
But hope you enjoyed it....
Till we meet next time....
Have a great time...
Byeeee