**Edited**
"Look, Ara!" Aren pointed to the group of men coming into the village. "Father's home!"
I squealed at the sound of my Father's arrival. He and some of the village's best warriors has finally come home a one month exploration, their goal was to hunt as many demons as they can before the migration.
I sprinted toward the crowd trickling around the men, Aren followed shortly behind. I could feel my eyes widening at the sight of the demon-filled wagons.
"Father!" I exclaimed at the man pushing past the crowd. "Father, welcome home!"
Father's baggy eyes brightened once they landed on me.
"Ara, come give me a hug!" Father opened his arms for me. I instinctively rushed into his embrace. "You've grown taller." He said, ruffling my hair.
Normally I'd get mad when someone messed up my hair, but today was special.
"Aren has grown really strong lately." I told him as he freed me from his buff arms. "He almost beat Mother during spar."
"I wasn't that strong," Aren piped in, rubbing the back of his neck. "I-I just got used to some new skills, that's all."
Father smiled at my brother," you make me proud, son." Aren's mouth twitched into a small smile.
"Welcome home, honey." Mother piped in behind us. Aren and I stepped aside so Mother could embrace Father.
Father broke his hug with me to kiss Mother on the cheek," this year's catch was very successful."
Mother's eyes widened at the news," t-that's wonderful." She was smiling from ear to ear now. "We will surely celebrate with a massive dinner tonight."
While Moth and Father exchanged ideas for tonight's dishes, I curiously peeked at the dead demons. I couldn't help but wonder what happened to the demons after they die. Can they still feel pain after death; or do they get reborn into a different life?
Father patted my head," what's wrong, Ara." He asked. "Are the dead demons scaring you?"
I shook my head," Father, what do the demons feel after they die?" My question made Father raise his brows. Aren, on the other hand, gasped.
"Ara, you don't just ask something like that." He slapped his forehead. Mother pursed her lips at my brother.
"Why do you ask, sweetheart?" Father asked, ignoring Aren's comment.
"Well, the elders always say our souls don't die. Does that mean they feel the pain when we cut them up?"
"Are you dumb?" Aren punched me on the arm. "It's bad luck to talk about death."
"Aren," Mother crossed her arms. "Don't say that to your sister."
"But it's true," Aren groaned.
Father laughed," it is fine, Aren. Curiosity is just another step towards knowledge." Father kneeled down to my eye level. "Ara, tell me what you remember about spirits."
I felt Mother's eyes on me. This was a lesson she taught me herself, but like any other lesson that requires listening, I wasn't totally paying attention.
"Umm," I kept my eyes away from Mother. "Everyone has a spirit. Umm...spirits can sometimes possess people and make them do bad things."
Mother uncrossed her arms at my response.
"Yes, very good." Father ruffled my hair. "When death hits us it means that our time in the physical world is over, we won't feel anything from our bodies anymore, but that doesn't mean our spirits are dead. We will continue living in the afterlife."
"So we still have to fight demons? Can we die again as spirits?"
"We won't know until we die." Father smiled softly." We shall discuss this later on when you are older. For now help me unpack my things."
"Ara! Ara, can you hear me?!"
I groaned, my head pounding with pain—I thought we couldn't feel pain in the afterlife.
"Y-you're awake." Chung's voice softened. "This is why we shouldn't have attacked, this is all your fault."
I cracked my eyes opened. The first thing to greet me was Chung's bruised and angry face. From what I can see, we are still in the sewers. The second flashlight I had brought was now on, sitting mere inches beside us. Our backpacks were leaning against the wall, both zippers left wide open. His cannon rested beside him along with my spear.
"Are we not dead?" I asked in a whisper.
"We almost died," Chung corrected. He frowned, scratching the edge of his nose. "Uh...thanks for saving me. I-I would've been dead if you hadn't done anything."
" I was a demon; wasn't I?" A small part of my prayed that wasn't the case.
Chung nodded hesitantly." I woke up to a bright light, it was from you."
I closed my clammy hands into fists. While I was grateful the demon didn't rip him into shreds, a part of me felt disgusted to be used again.
"You were being surrounded by a strong aura, a-and you had that whole demon look on. The fight was...messy. You nearly lost."
I glanced down at my hands, dry blood coated my fingers like a layer of paint. I scrunched up my nose in disgust.
"Did I get them all?" I asked.
"No, the flying one escaped." He answered curtly. "You fainted right after, and it took me forever to find that flashlight again. I tracked down your spear before moving us to another location, I doubt you wanted to wake up to blood splatters."
Maybe he isn't that bad. If he was a real jerk he would've let me wake up in the spot of the battle.
Chung turned his attention away and began digging in his opened backpack, bringing out various containers, some empty and some filled with a colored liquid. I watched as he mixed various liquids together in a small plastic cup, creating a magenta coloured substance.
"This potion should help you feel a bit better," Chung held the cup close to my lips. "I can't rest assure you it'll be tasty, but it can restore some energy and ease some of the pain."
"Thanks," I mumbled. "Sorry to trouble you."
"Whatever, just shut up and drink."
Chung gently placed the cup on my lips, tilting it slightly so the potion can trickle down my throat; I nearly threw up the moment his potion touched my tongue. Chung wasn't kidding when he said it might not be tasty. It tasted like sour milk mixed with old cheese.I held my breath and forced the remaining liquid down my throat.
"At least you don't complain like Elsword." Chung said once I finished the drink.
"I thought you said I complained a lot." I chuckled. "Changed your mind?"
"In your dreams," Chung proceeded to return his supplies into his bag.
I snort," still a jerk I see." His mouth twitched into a smile at my comment. "What time do you suppose it is?"
"Four?" Chung shrugged, zipping up the two backpacks. "It doesn't matter. We should get out of here before that flying demon comes back with reinforcements."
Oh goody, I get to hobble my way back to Ruben. I thought with a frown.
"Here," Chung threw my backpack haphazardly onto my lap.
Narrowing my eyes at him, I slipped the bag onto my back. All the newfound respect I had for him vanished with a blink of an eye.
I should've known he would continue to treat me poorly. Why did I bother thinking he was kind? Just as I was about help myself up, he threw the flashlight into my hands.
"Hold onto that," he said, throwing his bag over his shoulders. "I'll also need you to carry my canon."
My jaw dropped at his demands," wh-why would I carry your stupid weapon?"
His nose flared at my comment and looked as if he wanted to snap back at me. He sighed and responded instead with," I-I'll piggyback you home."
"What?" Was the first thing to escape my throat.
"Yeah," he scratched his cheek feverishly. "I'll piggyback you home. It'll take forever if I wait for you to hobble back to Ruben."
"O-oh," I said, flabbergasted at his offer. He was the last person I'd expect to carry me back.
"B-but in exchange," he added hastily. "You'll give me half your dinner tonight."
I clicked my tongue at his response," are you serious?" I said, jaw dropped. "That's so unfair."
"It's either that or you can walk the entire way back, and don't think I'll wait for--"
"Fine," I snapped, blood pounding at his demand. "Just get me back home."
*****
Chung explained to Lowe and the others about the events that took place in the sewers while I returned to my room so Echo could tend my wounds. After forcing down several more foul tasting potions, I was allowed to take a shower before joining my team downstairs for dinner, and true to his words, Chung took half my dinner. Aisha, however, was kind enough to split her share of food with me.
I finished dinner fairly quick and retreated to the living room, where Lowe was watching Echo play one of the team's games. Gradually the remaining team poured in to watch Echo play.
"Jeez, you suck at this." Elsword commented as he settled himself down beside Aisha.
"Put a sock in it," Echo snapped, fingers vigorously tapping against the controller buttons. "You're not that good either."
"Excuse me," Elsword began. Everyone in the room gave a unified groan. "I beat Raven yesterday without any help, and he's the best player in this house—was the best player."
"We can see about that," Raven said, smirking.
"Raven, please don't encourage him." Aisha said, rubbing her tired eyes. "We don't need to hear him screaming like a sore loser again."
"I'm not a sore loser," Elsword answered almost instantly. "You're just jealous because you suck at this game."
Echo screamed an array of curses as her character's health bar reached zero, thus ending her playthrough.
"It's just a stupid game," Echo muttered, nearly throwing the controller down. "I never liked video games to begin with."
"You're only saying that because you lost," Lowe's comment erupted laughter among the group. Echo's face flushed brighter than a tomato in response.
"Now, it's time to get back to business," Lowe's comment dissolved any lingering laughter. "I want a full report from the remaining groups."
Elsword and Eve shared their (lack) findings to Lowe. Lowe pursed his lips at the empty reports but didn't comment on them any further.
"Well, we aren't completely at a loss." Echo chirped. "We now know the demons are searching for some laboratory in the sewers. That's better than not knowing anything at all."
"W-we don't have to wander through the sewers again, d-do we?" Aisha gulped. I found myself feeling queasy at the simple thought of returning down there.
"Not yet," Echo replied. "I got a reply back from the library earlier. They said you guys are allowed to search through their archives."
"Do you think Wally would write about his laboratory?" Elsword asked. Aisha looked genuinely shocked at his question. "I mean the dude must wanna keep it a secret. I don't think writing it down is a good idea."
"Y-you actually have a point." Raven blurted.
"What's that supposed to--"
"Wally must have hinted to the laboratory's creation somewhere." Echo cut Elsword off. "L-like a rough draft of the lab's blueprint or an outline of his plans."
"It's worth looking into." Lowe piped in, rubbing his chin. "Echo, how long are we able to look through the archives?"
"As long as we like," she answered.
Lowe clapped his hands together," in that case, I will need Aisha and Eve to search through the archives tomorrow, be sure to look through all of Wally's books and journals."
The girls bobbed their heads.
"Elsword, Chung, and Raven, I want you three to go on patrol. Keep a sharp eye out for any suspicious characters, I suspect the demons will be working more desperately now that they caught you down in the sewers."
"A-and what about me?" I piped in sheepishly.
Lowe and Echo both exchanged glances, as if silently urging each other speak up.
"Ara," Lowe turned his eyes onto me. "I want to suspend you from any further missions." He said slowly.
"W-what?" My jaw dropped at his response. At the corner of my eyes, I caught Chung smirking. "B-but why?"
"Now don't get me wrong," Lowe began gingerly, eyes locked onto me as if I was a hungry tiger. "You're more than capable of helping out, but I want you to stay behind and learn to control the demon possessing you."
Everyone in the room seemed to turn white. Some of my friends avoided looking at me while others couldn't stop staring.
"P-possessing me?" I blinked, my hands were starting to tremble.
Echo nodded," I suspect you're being possessed by a demonic spirit. The symptoms you told us seems to point to that conclusion."
I know I should be rejoicing at the news, after all, it proved I was human. Yet the idea that some unknown spirit was living inside me made my skin crawl; it was like finding a stranger secretly living inside your house.
"W-what if this demon is evil?" I dropped my gaze down.
"We doubt the demon is evil," Lowe answered gently.
"H-how can you be sure?" I swallowed down the lump clinging onto my throat.
"Every time it...takes control of you." Echo spoke the last part of her sentence uncomfortably. "It happens when you're in danger. Other than that, it just leaves you alone."
It's leaving me alone for now. How can they be sure it won't lash out one day? How can they be sure it won't betray us? We don't know the true motive of this spirit.
"Ara," Lowe spoke my name carefully. "We promised we would help you control your powers. Now is the time for us to help you."
"Just trust us on this one." Echo added. "I think we're onto something."
"But..." my voice came out dry.
"Ara, think about what you can do once you have control over this demon." It was Elsword who chimed in.
I snapped my head up at the sound of his voice, locking eyes with him. He was grinning ear to ear, like a child who had just won the world's biggest lollipop.
"You'll be stronger than you are now and you can play with your nine tails." His comment made me chuckle.
"Seriously, Els'? Play with her tails?" Aisha rolled her eyes. "As stupid as Elsword's comment is, he does have a point." She bore her eyes onto mine. "I think it'll benefit you to control the spirit."
"I vouch for the idea," Eve chimed in.
"I-it would be pretty cool to have a demon on our side." Raven scratched the back of his neck. "I-I'd love to see you fight in a demonic form."
Chung, on the other hand, kept his face locked in a constant frown. He slumped into his seat, folded his arms and scoffed.
"Everyone is supporting you, Ara." Echo gestured to all my new friends. "We all believe it's best to control this spirit. So what do you say? Want to learn how to control your that demonic spirit.
I was still left in awe at the overwhelming support, the knowledge on the spirit's possession didn't seem to faze me anymore. All that mattered was my friends and what they wanted me to do.
I wiped the corner of my damp eyes with my thumb," I'll do it." I answered. The room erupted into cheers at my answer.