𝗠𝗔𝗥𝗜𝗢𝗡𝗘𝗧𝗧𝗘 || douma

Chapter 31

▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃
╔═.★.══════════╗
𝑀𝐴𝑅𝐼𝑂𝑁𝐸𝑇𝑇𝐸
╚══════════.☆.═╝
▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃

This is a strange place.

Those were your first thoughts when you opened your eyes. In a place where it is neither heaven nor hell, where it doesn't seem to be the present or the future, you stood still. In the deepest part of your subconscious you found your past before your very eyes.

You saw a young girl, she's beautiful despite her simple clothes. And perhaps because her clothes are simple that her natural beauty stood out. She's talking, she's saying something you couldn't hear. But judging by her smile, she must have been talking about something good.

You then turned to the old woman who was sitting beside the girl. Her face is full of wrinkles and her hair is white, when she smiles her eyes would close.

This is trivial.

Whatever this is, you thought.

You had no idea demons could dream. You wanted to wake up, but you couldn't. Your body is exhausted, you have used a Blood Demon Art Technique you haven't used before. It was a risk that you took in your determination to become a kizuki.

You didn't even know how long your slumber would last this time. Last time, you were asleep for one, or two years, you really can't recall now.

But this is trivial, you thought as you turned around, ready to leave.

Until a voice stopped you.

"Where are you going, my child?"

It was that old woman's voice.

In a blink of an eye you were sitting beside her, on the same spot as that girl. And the old woman is looking at you.

"It's too early to leave," she said. "Let me tell you a story."

You don't want to hear it. But you didn't say anything. Or it was more like you couldn't say anything. So you sat there, looking at the old woman who seemed to have succumbed to the curse of time.

"When time fell in love with life, they had three daughters. Past, present and future. Past is the daughter who always looks back in longing, she lives in the melancholy of the things that had already happened. Present is the daughter who lives in the moment, she does not think of anything else but the things that are happening. Future is the daughter who looks forward to everything with hope."

What a trivial story, you don't even need to wonder where she had heard it from. You turned your gaze away from her as you looked ahead, and then you realized it was the golden hour of dawn.

It's the first time you have seen a sunrise since being turned into a demon. You had forgotten how beautiful this golden hour is. The sky is painted in an orange hue tinged with purple and blue. It's so beautiful that it makes you feel something in your chest. Like something warm spreading inside.

"And you, my child, which among time and life's daughters are you now?"

"Me?" you asked for the first time, finding your voice but it doesn't sound like it's yours. If anything, the voice sounds young. "I am..."