The path to a chained heart (EDITING)

Hindrances (including two close friends) - 8

The light which shone on Himari's palms was still clearer and brighter than ever, shining with a new reason. It reflected upon the crimson liquid oozing out of the beast that lay dead upon the ground, and they cringed in disgust when they saw this. Strangely enough, the pathway became more uneven and wider, unnaturally, as if something was controlling it. The two boys started to make silly faces, describing Himari as a demon, and you just had to feel bad for her. It was every few seconds that another noise and stupid joke was made, clearly annoying the living out of her. She tried exceptionally hard not to lose her temper - quite odd seeing as she was the wielder of water, which was meant to have a calm, yet destructive nature. To be honest, it only took around ten minutes in the darkness before she lost her temper to a very loud scream.

"AAARRRRGGGGHHHH!" She screamed in a high-pitched tone, after being jump scared, the likes of which had failed on her the previous few times. The two boys snickered, not bothering to hide it and prevent seeing Himari's wrath. 

"So you do scream like a girl! I am so gonna tell Mizuki-nee!" Asahi snorted, reminding her of his older sister, who'd also tried to do the exact same thing. She huffed in annoyance, still trying to ignore them. 

"Yeah, Mizuki will surely be happy to hear, I'm imagining the look on her face right now!" Homare chuckled uncontrollably.

"That. Is. It." Himari thought to herself. She had an astonishingly bad temper, which was unusually scary and ear-bleeding to witness. 

"WHY ARE YOU TWO ACTING LIKE PESKY LITTLE BROTHERS! STOP MESSING AROUND AND BEHAVE!" She screeched, better described as wailed like a banshee.

The two boys nodded in fear, but that wouldn't stop them from getting on Himari's nerves again. Which they surprisingly managed to do several hundred times.

"Demon Himari, demon Himari, demon Himari." They chanted again and again, however all it did was make her eyes twitch in annoyance. For several minutes. Or an hour. 

Slowly, the level of noise dialled down to a stealthily quiet and they could hear squelching. Of ooze or some sort of slime making their way towards them. The three looked at each other and nodded. More demons were approaching. By more, it sounded like several thousand were approaching meaning they were at a severe disadvantage. One they weren't too keen on.

"Beware, it seems like they've camouflaged in the dark. I summon thee, Earth staff! Give life to the good and banish the evil!" Homare had summoned an ornate mahogany staff, embedded with green jewels around the tip of a very, very sharp white crystal at the top. Asahi had chosen a silver longsword (one that was attached to his back), that could prove to be quite fast and light to wield. Meanwhile, Himari stuck with her preferred hand-to-hand combat, coating her hands and legs in fast jets of water once more - a style of fighting she found quite intriguing and handy to use. They stood facing outwards towards their foes, covering each other's blindspot against the numerous enemies approaching. 

The foes varied in size and shape, except the dark black colour they kept, which was how they were able to camouflage in the murky gloom. Some of them had sharp, knife-like teeth, while others had a slimy black ooze creating large puddles on the stone floor. There were spiders, big and little. Snakes of all sizes - even bigger than themselves and could suffocate them in a very painful death. Flying creatures,  beasts that tunnelled underground, but only one thing was clear. They were all from the underworld. There seemed like absolutely no end to the strange creatures, but all that the children knew was that they were obviously out there to kill them: the only humans in this strange little world of Mizuki's corrupted form. 

They all stared hungrily at them, saliva dripping from their mouths, (unless they didn't have any mouths, that is) ready to pounce and make a feast  upon their juicy and scrumptious flesh. There was no kindness or normality in their eyes - not like any normal animal, all except that sincere bloodthirsty look in their eyes. Himari's light didn't even make them cower away from the group - as if they were immune to it. Immune to the goodness of their world. The three friends held strong stances, to strike back against the hungry monsters at nearly all costs. There didn't seem like any other way out and they were going to die fighting or not die at all (preferably the second option). After all, they weren't too enthusiastic about dying.

As if someone had pressed the 'go' button, the creatures jumped, pounced, targeted and swooped at the three, with all instincts (if they had any) telling them to kill the innocent children. At the exact moment, they had striked back, protecting the other's blindspots at the same.

The beasts weren't that hard to get rid of, the only problem was their vast and endless number, which they would tire them out if they were to try snd defeat all of them. Sometimes, the flying slime balls would aim for the top of their heads, where they couldn't see, but that was quickly stopped with the poke of a sword, or a fist. 

At first, it all seemed well, judging by the pace they were defeating the monsters, but it was like they kept multiplying, like an extremely annoying bacteria. It was only a matter of time before they could see a large ring forming around them, with no means of escape, and the entrance was also blocked up with a variety of different beasts. Trapped with no way out - even the nearest entrance scourged by dark underworld disciples. No escape.

"Well, this is kinda a sticky situation, I guess." Homare said absent-mindedly. 

"You guess?! We could all be killed any second now!" Himari screeched.

"Well, this sucks, we... I mean Himari defeated a massive beast and more come?! Who's behind this?!!" Asahi yelled.

"Hate to agree." Himari replied, changing stances to combat the flying beasts zooming towards her.