Qrow.

Chapter 81 | Distrust

It seemed the second they reached Alfheim, the natives met them with hostility. Their weapons drawn, they stared down the three demons with spite. Light elves couldn't ever hope to beat demons. What they were thinking, they had no clue. Asher couldn't help but think how ridiculous the whole thing was. He would've just blown them all away but Sixteen had a much more subtle approach.

"Please," He spoke softly yet strongly, "We mean you no harm. We've only come to retrieve someone. Then, we will leave."

"And who exactly would that someone be?" One of the oldest elves spat.

"You're not taking any of us!" An angered mother yelled.

"We do not want any of you. Considering you are not fond of demons, it's a good thing we're here for one. We're looking for a demon named Haven. We've been told he's here somewhere."

Light elves, well, all light creatures in general thought demons to be the most evil of creatures. Even some dark races hated them, not caring what their intentions were. Good or bad, all others saw demons for was their stigma. 

Hesitantly, the leader of the tribe stepped forward through the crowd. Surprisingly, he wasn't as old as you'd think. The grand headdress of beads upon his white hair symbolized his leadership. He gestured out to a mountain in the distance, "You'll find him there. Though I may not be fond of your kind, if you were able to remove him, you would earn my respect. He is the reason our village is suffering, but even the strongest in Alfheim do not hold a candle to him."

"Suffering?" Drake questioned, confused, "We were told he was a pacifist. We would he hurt you intentionally?" 

"I couldn't tell you if it was intentional or not. All I know is he absorbs sunlight in great amounts. So much so, our crops cannot grow. Our children and elders have become ill from a lack of sunlight, and our hunters have nothing left to hunt. The animals and plants can't survive without the sun's warmth."

"Trust me, it's not intentional. It's his curse. The sun in this realm is much smaller than the one on Earth. This one cannot manage to feed him and still have enough energy left over for the rest of the world." Sixteen gazed up at the mountain they'd been directed towards, "I must admit, I'm surprised he'd act so selfishly."

"What else would you expect him to do? Earth is disgusting, most demons aren't allowed in Asgard, and the rest of the realms are don't have sunlight." Asher said. 

Sixteen started to walk, the other two following. "That's very true, but even if Earth is vile, humans deserve to suffer. The elves don't. They've suffered enough."

"What exactly happened here? I was always told this place was thriving." Drake replied.

"To make a long story short, the entire royal bloodline was killed in a fire. No one stepped up to the plate to rule, so they all broke off into small tribes." Asher responded.

"That may be part of the reason why Haven has found comfort here. The tribal lifestyle reminds him of his people." Sixteen stated, "Let us hope that the light elves aren't to suffer like the Native Americans did."

He glanced back at the village they'd just left. From far away, it was easier to see how brown the crops had become. Even the mountain they were to climb was covered in bare trees. It was hard to look at that and imagine, in the small hut on top of the summit, lived a demon that was almost afraid to raise his fist. 

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Beau pulled off his reading glasses a moment, rubbing his tired eyes. He could read plenty of languages but that didn't mean some weren't a struggle. Jasper was already long gone, taking a few of the others with him. No one was really complaining about the sudden change considering he wasn't a thought of fondly among most patients.