hell-bound ; my inner demons

4 ; battle

"You may have lost the battle, but you will win the war."

No one tried to stop Asch as he strolled off, and I don't think it was because they didn't care, but it was because they did. They cared for him deeply, and they didn't want to stop his ambitions, or question his motives. It wasn't only because he was the prince.

Besides, he was finally doing something a prince would do, like take charge and move forward. He was maturing. Finally.

He'd been acting like a big baby since forever, so it's about time. Still, I didn't exactly want him to walk directly into his possible death.

"Asch." I called softly, placing a hand on his forearm and squeezing gently.

He shook me away with a fling of his arm, and he gave me a menacing glare. His lips were curled into a scowl, but his eyes were showing the worry he was hiding.

"Are you trying to stop me?" He growled, taking a step towards me, daring me to block his way.

"No, I'm sending you off." I said, a small smile on my face.

His face scrunched up, as if he was trying to determine whether I was telling the truth or not. After a few seconds of surveying me, he decided to just let it go and continued up the steps to the outside world.

"Be safe, alright? We're a team. One of us gets in trouble, the others will come in for the rescue, then kick your ass for getting hurt." I said, patting him on the shoulder reassuringly.

I don't think he was reassured.

My speech was a failure, it seemed. But it was cool to me, so whatever.

"Shut up. I'll make it back with information. Now go back and have your fun with your boy toys or something." He said, running off into the trees.

I was frozen in place.

How does he even know..?

"They're wise words from a wise woman, Y/n! Now follow them!" He yelled, his voice fading away into the dark night.

The heat rushed to my cheeks at that statement, and my hands unfolded from their fisted position, and I sighed. I was going to have a talk with him when he got back. So, Mrs. Oats influence stretched beyond Rhys. I guess he's not the only one who respects old women among demons.

That made me think of that lady I saw in my dream that one night. I wonder if she was a daemos too. She seemed like one, with the horns and all. Maybe she was trying to send me a message of some sorts. I dunno, but hopefully it wasn't too important. I don't need to spend all my time pondering over some demon woman.

So I went back inside the bunker, and as I closed the small wooden door, I felt my heart sink in my chest, like something bad was a about to happen. I don't know if it was my body predicting something, but I prayed that nothing would happen to us. If something did, I don't know who'd be left to find Ava.

Rhys was standing by the doorframe of the staircase, and he greeted me when I walked back inside. His hand slowly found mine, and he squeezed my hand tightly, dragging me to the room he'd claimed as his.

The room was a shade of dark purple, the lights dim. There were several shelves of books lined upon the walls, and judging by the stack on the floor, he'd already started reading. He pat the space on his bed, and I sat down cross-legged.

He sat next to me, smiling as he rubbed his thumbs over my knuckles repeatedly. He did that sometimes. It was soothing. Then, he looked straight into my eyes, giving me a serious stare.

"Y/n, did Asch seem to be acting strange to you?" He asked, his tone full of worry.

"I... I don't think so. He seemed more responsible, in a way. But maybe he's finally getting over his bratty phase." I chuckled.

He gave me a light smile.

"Well, did he say anything in particular that seemed weird? I don't know what's going on with him. He's acting differently." Rhys said, his head tilting down, staring at the ground.

"It's alright, Rhys. He's going to be fine. He was still joking around before he left. Maybe that's what's different about him. He never cracks jokes." I lied, smiling a wide smile while putting my hand on his shoulder.

Well, I wasn't exactly lying, but I did have a strange gut feeling something was about to go down. And I didn't want to find out what. But still, I needed to reassure Rhys. He didn't need any more fear instilled into his heart.

He smiled gratefully, snaking his arms aaround me and bringing me into a gentle embrace. I hugged him back, and he placed his chin on my shoulder, as I did to him. But he, sneaky guy, decided to turn his head a little, just enough to press his lips against my earlobe, kissing softly on that spot, his lips grazing my skin.

His lips sent sparks flying through my body like electric jolts, and I felt tingly everywhere. I think he took my silence towards his actions as a signal to move forward, because he started slowly kissing down my neck. I didn't really know what to do at that point, since my brain was already malfunctioning, so I just sat there, closing my eyes tight and holding my breath.

"Hey, Rhys, have you seen Y/n?"

I looked towards the doorway, to see Leif standing there, looking pretty pissed off seeing Rhys holding and kissing me. He strode over and grabbed my arm, pulling me away from Rhys.

Rhys glared at him, and they continued to glare at each other silently, until I decided to walk away. This was a battle between daemos, so I'm not involved. And with that, I snuck out of the room and into the living room, where Dew, Pierce and Noi were sitting and talking.

I sighed, sitting down next to Noi and gave him a small hug. He gave me a pat on the back, and I smiled.

"Hey, guys."

Heyo! Sorry I've posted late, but I've been watching anime as well as doing preparation for next year. I've just finished watching Kimetsu No Yaiba: Demon Slayer, Free! and the first season of Assassination Classroom, and I'm starting up Kakegurui, Bungo Stray Dogs, Tokyo Ghoul and Blue Exorcist. That's a lot of anime lmao, but I'm super excited to continue watching because I'm in love with all of the storylines.