Amare Flos (Demon Slayer)

Inside Eira's brain, there was a strange sense of emptiness. Standing upside down would've felt more normal than how she felt currently. Eira gulped, her throat dry as her eyes struggled to focus. Her eyes remained on Asumi and Kaze, who faced away from her. Just as they had her backs to Eira, Eira had her back to Ali, unaware of the events occurring. 

Ali's eyes were wide as he stared at the back of Eira's head, the blonde hair dull even in the moonlight. Ali's heart brewed with an uncomfortable mix of emotions. How many times had he been hostile to Eira for no good reason? None. How many times had she been hostile for no good reason? Every time. Ali's jaw clenched as his frustration peaked. It was difficult not to hate someone who had just 'killed' you. From Ali's head, his entire body began to regenerate, his neck, torso and legs. As Ali's entire body regenerated from the head down, he could feel everything. Every blood cell that flowed through his veins, every hair strand, every muscle that strained as he rose.

He stepped towards Eira, his legs weak to an extent. He limped slowly. In this intense moment of surreality, every single centimetre of his body that regenerated was born with powerful hate for Eira. A hate that didn't subside at all as he etched closer to her. 

Conversely, Eira itched with regret and guilt so deep that her entire world had become somewhat of a trance. Her senses were blurry, the smudged auras seemed to blend into the environment. Her eyes glued on her two friends as she completely dissociated from reality. She had killed Ali, for what?

"I made a mistake," Eira's hands held her head, "Why did I even…" 

A tornado of confusion consumed her, what did killing Ali even bring her?

Self-justification took over confusion as she made sense of the situation. She was a demon slayer who just killed a demon, what is there to be confused about?

Her breathing transitioned from shallow to normal, she was able to get a hold of herself at last. The world seemed to rebuild itself around her, and her senses accumulated back together. She could see it all once again, her favourite purple and pink not so far in front of her. She was ready to apologise.

Eira's wall of stability immediately crashed down, her mind engaged in a panicky frenzy as she felt an aura that shouldn't be there. The ghastly grey, the anomaly of her life. Ali's aura right behind her, an aura that was supposed to be slowly fading was only getting more intense and darker. The grey developed into a hate-filled black, centimetre by centimetre, it crawled closer to Eira. A cold sweat covered her face, and disbelief paired with terror paralysed her heart. It was impossible, she had cut off his head. Ali should be dead.

The black aura struck Eira with a sense of danger in every single direction imaginable. That's when she realised it, the black aura she had felt in Final Selection, in the Wisteria House, and the patches she swore she could've felt at times. They all came from the same source.

Eira's head slowly turned, her body shivered, her blue eyes widened further as her eyes met with a face she had just watched go lifeless. Ali stood centimetres from Eira. His desire to smash Eira's head into the ground boiled so hot his body might as well have been steaming. He stood there, his eyes wide and without movement, impaled onto Eira.

Ali's entire body bulged with veins, his thirst for violence boiled and scorched inside him so much he might as well have been steaming off his skin. It took every hate-filled cell in his body to restrict himself from slamming Eira's face with his fist. Even with all the actions she had taken against him, and even with the hate that churned inside him. His eyes still saw the girl he saw as a sister, his mind still echoed with the laughter they shared, his heart still remembered her as a friend.

Even with Ali's declining hate, the black aura maintained a sense of terror inside Eira. She stared at the terrifying sight, a dead person walking, a rage-filled ghost. Her entire body shivered with horror as the black aura poisoned her mind. Extreme mood swings took a toll on her body, she gave out.

Her knees collapsed. Her entire body broke like a demolished building. She fainted out of fear. Her sword fell out of her grasp and rattled as it hit the ground.

Out of reflex, Ali began to reach out to help, yet his eyes were caught by something else. The two blue flowers on the floor that Asumi had left there. Anxiety competed with worry for Eira, he passed by Eira quickly and grabbed at a flower.

The sword's rattle had alerted both Asumi and Kaze, whose faces were pale as they looked at Ali with the flower in his hand.

It was equivalent to seeing a corpse moving. Ali's eyes met with Asumi's. As much as he would've loved to continue talking, the sunrise was imminent. His lungs filled with oxygen as he put the flower back into the wooden case he carried with such care. Asumi was struck by disbelief, not a sound came out her throat.

Ali knew his talkative nature, it was best to say a brief goodbye, otherwise he'd never shut up. He wanted to talk to her, the desire was immense, he would embrace the sunlight in its full power if it meant he could spend eternity with her. His emotions clashed in an intense conflict as the silence enveloped both of them.

"Sunrise is soon, and… I'm a demon. See you next time," Ali stared at Asumi, his eyes slowly glanced at Kaze. They held eye contact for a brief second.

"Wait," Kaze proclaimed as he stepped forward. His hand reached for the sword he had carried for too long.

Ali didn't acknowledge Kaze to the extent it would take for him to listen. Ali leaped forward and in a matter of seconds, he was out of sight.

"Your sword…" Kaze sighed as he held the green blade by the sheath.

Asumi remained still and stared forward, Kaze turned towards her and put a hand on her shoulder.

"Well, he's alive, you don't have to worry," Kaze was able to give a slight smile. It was nice, he was happy that Asumi didn't have to go through the same event he did. As much as he wished Xia could've sprung back up just as Ali did, he didn't let the twinge of jealousy consume him. He was happy for Asumi.

"Let's check on Eira," Asumi wiped her tears and took a deep breath. They both tended to the unconscious Eira, as much as Asumi felt a certain dislike for her, it came with no ultimate consequence. 

When Eira opened her eyes next, she was being piggybacked by Kaze. The sun shone brightly, illuminating the vivid scenery. The sky was completely blue with an absence of clouds.

Her heart jumped as she didn't feel her sword in her hand. It rested once again once she saw her blade being carried by Asumi.

The last she remembered was feeling immense fear once she saw the ghost of Ali. That must've been a hallucination. Her memory was foggy, she wasn't sure what was real and what she had hallucinated. Her head pounded and her body felt weak. She felt an urgent need to say some words. 

"Asumi," Eira spoke abruptly, "I'm… so sorry, for breaking our promise, for killing Ali,"

Out of reflex, her arms seemed to tighten around Kaze, her only support at the moment.

"I made a mistake, I don't know what I was thinking. I don't know why I was so full of hate. It was like I had a voice constantly telling me to kill him. I'm just... so sorry." Eira's voice was full of genuine remorse. Her heart pounded with guilt.

Asumi's pink eyes met hers, like a wave, her pink aura washed over Eira's mind. The red outline seemed to be faded. Eira took a deep breath. 

"It's ok," Asumi's first words were able to clear Eira's conscience. The next words were about to plunge her into a cold sense of reality.

"Ali didn't die," Asumi's lips formed a small smile. Eira's mind seemed to go empty of thought. The hallucination was real.

"Oh…" Eira's unconscious action was to smile back. Was she happy though? She was guilty for killing Ali but she felt more dissatisfied with this news than before.

"Asumi, you should probably tell Eira," Kaze's voice soothed Eira, yet was the precursor for even worse news. Eira's eyes stared at Asumi with anticipation.

"Eira, I'm… going to retire," Asumi's were clear and hit Eiraa like a truck. 

"Oh…" Eira couldn't formulate anything in her mind, "Why?"

"Well, I've decided it's time I drop the stress and injury this job brings me. I want to

go back to farming flowers with my family, "Asumi put forward a valid reason. 

A part of Eira wanted to beg at Asumi's feet that she stay with her, but she instead suffered in silence.

"I'll miss you," Eira spoke just loud enough for Asumi to hear her, "I'm sorry,"

Asumi smiled. Her smile lit up the entire world, the soft subtle gentleness behind her expression was enough to soothe an enraged tiger. Eira was brought to tears just by the reminder of Asumi's nature as a kind person.

"It's ok Eira, I don't hate you," Asumi reassured Eira, "I forgive you."

Her words were genuine, a broken promise wasn't worth putting an eternal burden on someone else, especially when Ali didn't even die. Asumi's forgiveness, although hard to believe, was genuine.

Eira cried.

Mission to Kill Lower Moon One, Ali: Failed.