Moonlight Demon

Keiko

What kind of person could do that? Keiko asked herself, as she watched the soldiers take the corpses off the camp. They were going to pile them up a far distance away, where Satsuhiro, and other mages, would use their Fire magic to burn them all. 

As she sat there, however, alone and with some time to think, the fight she'd gone through played back in her mind. Over the course of her life, she had never heard of an ability that could circumvent the Spirit Eye. She hadn't heard about such a thing at the Compound, nor at the castle where she'd had her tests. 

Is that even an ability you could learn from the Compound? Who even was that Nightmare when they were human? It couldn't have been Musano,  she thought.  Musano was the only Zayama to be chosen as a Savior, and his spirit is still at the Zayama castle. It doesn't make sense,  Keiko groaned, as Yumi sat down next to her. 

"Some water?" Yumi asked and Keiko accepted the flask she gave her. 

"How are you doing?" Keiko asked gently, knowing how frustrated she'd been. 

"I am better, just…" Yumi replied, seeming completely disheartened. "I'm still thinking. I know, I know, I am a better warrior than that creature. This is not the same as when I fought the Nightmare at the shrine. I swear, I can beat it if given another chance. But, one moment of surprise was all it took for it to be defeated." 

"We didn't know what it could do," Keiko said, placing a hand on the woman's shoulder comfortingly. "Next time, we'll be ready." 

"Yes," Yumi nodded. "I promise as much."

In the middle of their conversation, Keiko noticed a few people looking over in her direction. She had a guess as to who they were, and when she turned to check, that guess was confirmed. 

The three Zayamas had made it through the battle, mostly unharmed. Keiko was mostly indifferent to this outcome, but there was one person among them she felt she had to thank. Albeit reluctantly, of course, but she felt she had to do it nonetheless. 

The three of them looked her way as she approached, and Keiko cleared her throat. 

"Can I have a word?" She asked. The nervousness that came over the girl's face was amusing to see. 

"Of course, siya," she replied, however, and she stood, walking with Keiko to a little spot where the sounds of the conversations in the area were firmly in the background. Even though she was clearly concerned, the girl Keiko had pulled away put her hands behind her back, and kept her posture straight, as Keiko went to speak to her. 

"Thank you," Keiko said. "For earlier. If you hadn't helped Yumi and I out, one of us probably would have died. Again, thanks for that." 

"I was just doing my job," she replied, bowing her head. She was a girl with the same silver eyes as Keiko, but with her black hair tied into a ponytail, and a streak of gold going through it on the side. "I… I only wish I could have helped more of the soldiers." 

… I guess she has an admirable attitude,  Keiko thought. 

"What's your name?" Keiko asked. That question looked like it surprised the girl, as her eyes widened just a little. 

"… Hinata," she replied after a short moment. 

"Okay," Keiko nodded. "Hinata. Thank you, again." 

With that, Keiko walked away. 

—

Ash

"Based on recent events," Satsuhiro said, as Ash sat with some of the others, hearing him out, "it's clear to see Niven doesn't believe he can beat Ash in a straight-up fight. Not yet, anyway. He could still be amassing the strength needed to do that. In any case, whatever we do, we need to make sure we move as a unit. With Ash there, every time." 

"So, going out to kill demons on my own is off the table?" Ash asked, with her hands behind her head. Beside her, Kasumi was sitting with her legs crossed. Ahead, the general and a couple of his commanders also sat, listening. 

"Yes. Unfortunately, any EXP you gain is going to come from the siege itself," Satsuhiro stated. "It's the best way to ensure the rest of us don't get exposed to any danger. Anyway, have you gotten any word back from the Council?" Satsuhiro asked the general. 

"The reinforcements are already on their way. Mostly more of Jade's forces, but Sapphire is sending some people along as well." 

"Good. We'll wait for them to get here before we do anything." 

"So, are we just gonna sit around until they do?" Ash asked. 

"You can still train your attributes individually, if you want to keep getting stronger," Satsuhiro stated. "But, yes, as far as anything large-scale is concerned, we're better off not even trying anything yet." 

"Sounds reasonable to me," the general shrugged. "Savior, thoughts?" 

"… Yeah," Ash nodded. "Feels bad, but I guess we don't have a choice." 

"Then… Yeah. For now, that's it," Satsuhiro said. 

Everyone left that tent at that point, save for the general who went over to Ash and asked: 

"Is it true you gained an ability that restores limbs?" 

"Mhm," she nodded. "Why do you ask?" 

"A few of the surviving soldiers received grave injuries. They could use that, if you could help, of course." 

"Hm… Sure," Ash replied. "Where are they?"

"This way." 

Ash followed the general out of the tent and the two of them walked through the encampment. Now that the bodies had been cleared out, the space looked far less cramped than before. But, with so many soldiers dead, it also looked far emptier. The general took Ash to another tent where many soldiers were laid on beds, as their bodies had been healed back up but, she guessed, they were still tired. Most of them were missing a leg or a hand. 

Hm. I only have enough mana for three of them at a time, and then I have to wait. Okay, let's get to it then. 

Without warning, she walked up to one of them. The soldiers, who had been in the middle of a conversation, quieted down when she got there. She hovered her hands over the guy's missing arm and said: 

"Lumina's caress, for those in need, let them feel the touch of pure kindness." 

A white glow then wrapped itself around both her body and the soldier's. Some of the others in the tent gasped and looked in awe, as when the glow faded the man's missing limb was there, restored. 

"Holy shit," one of them muttered. 

Okay, next one. 

She performed the same task on a woman who had lost a leg, and then on one who had lost her eyes before she was out of mana. 

"Give me a second, my mana has to recharge," she told them before she walked out of the tent to wait in peace for it to do so. 

As she went to do that, however, she found Luvine, peeking from outside the tent. 

Hm?  She walked out and the little girl looked up at her, a strangely impressed expression on her face. 

"Need anything?" Ash asked, getting down on one knee as the soldiers around them moved from one place to another. 

Luvine simply looked around and shrugged, watching everything happening around them with a pair of analytical violet eyes. 

"… Smells bad," she muttered. 

"Pfft. Yeah, it does. Come on, let's walk for a bit," she told the girl and she nodded, following behind her. 

Ash didn't say much as she walked to the edge of the camp, where the treeline started and sat down with her legs crossed. As Luvine sat next to her, neither did she. Instead, both half-demons just watched the people at the camp move around, in quiet. 

Every now and then, Luvine would look up at her and as Ash noticed that, she said: 

"Got anything on your mind, Lu? You can just ask," Ash stated. "Not like we'll be doing anything, anyway. We've got time to talk." 

At that, Luvine looked down for a second. 

"… What were you doing?" She asked. 

"Hm? When?" 

Luvine's response was to point ahead at the tent they'd been in. 

"With your hands," she added. 

"You mean my healing?" Ash asked. 

"I think so." 

"Oh. I was just helping them get their limbs back," Ash shrugged. "Not like it costs me anything or whatever, so, yeah. Figured I'd get it out of the way." 

"… How?" She asked. 

As Ash looked over at her again, she noticed that Luvine looked strangely interested. This was the most intrigued Ash had seen the girl in a while. Upon thinking about it for a bit, she wondered something. 

"Lu, do you want to know how to heal things?" She asked. 

Luvine nodded. 

"I… I saw you do it," Luvine said with a little voice. "I liked it." 

"…" At that, Ash nodded. "Okay. I'll teach you.. We've got time, anyway."