Seven Devils and a Rose

Yamato Kingdom

Along the eastern region of Aurora resided the kingdom of Yamato, a powerhouse of a nation with an eastern culture that fascinated many across the realm. In the capital city named Kyo was a grand palace, which sat in the middle and was surrounded by commercial and residential properties. Here, at this time of the night, citizens of many different natures and manners went about their business.

Across to the northwest of Kyo was the mystic woods, where the Great White Sage of Yamato, a six-thousand-year-old elf name Eri Hoshi, resided.

Within the depths of these woods was a charming eastern-style mansion, built simply out of wood, which was surrounded by beautiful eastern-style gardens and ponds. In the west wing of the house sat Eri, her kimono simple yet elegant, her silver hair braided and resting over her stooping shoulder.

She was currently sipping her tea while reminiscing over her youthful days. Suddenly, she saw the pure qi piercing the night sky, and instantly, she spurted tea from her mouth, spraying the liquid onto a man's face, who was sitting across from her.

She said, "Oh dear."

Lord Hara, a nine-hundred-year-old cat man with dark hair and furry ears, dark-brown eyes, and firm lips, wiped his sleeve over his face to clean himself. He asked, "What's with you?"

Trying to stay calm, Eri said, "I think shit is about to hit the fan."

The cat man rolled his eyes. "You're a Great Sage of Yamato, and here you speak like that? Just imagine if the emperor was here."

She frowned at him. "I'm only speaking like that because it's just you and me, for heaven's sake. Now stop nitpicking me and look." She pointed to the burst of white light in the sky.

The man's eyes widened in shocked surprised. He uttered in disbelief, "Holy fuck!"

Eri said, "See? Now who's using such foul language, and in front of a Great Sage, for that matter?"

Once he managed to calm down, Lord Hara said, "Could this be?"

Eri nodded. "Like I said, shit is about to hit the fan… again. Why no one could leave my daughters be is beyond me."

When Eri referred to her daughters, she meant the three cores of pure qi she had created some two thousand years ago, just before the Great Apocalypse. The stars had informed her that she'd need to invent three more, to form the existence of nine in the realm, if they wanted to save their dying world. Thus, create them she did, which had taken a great toll on her.

Once the cores had been completed, they magically formed souls, and then the two older ones turned into beautiful young women. Because they were her creation and she loved them to bits, she had given the two human forms names, and they in turn acquired their own thoughts and personalities.

The older one was named Yuki because her core qi was forged from the dust particles of snow. Her personality—contrary to her origin—was feisty, independent, and sometimes stubborn and fiery. The second was named Akari because her core was forged from the light of fire. Despite what her qi core was—a raging inferno—Akari was the opposite of her older sister, portraying a carefree, gentle, and calming character.

Even though a mother should not love one more than the others, Eri had her favorite, and that one was the youngest, the one that did not form a physical body, the one that a man from another world gave the name Alfie.

When the three qi cores had come to life and formed souls, Alfie stayed as a burning golden light of stardust.

During the Great Apocalypse, when she and her sisters, along with six other Great Ones, sacrificed themselves to save this crumbling world, Alfie had used her unique skill—which Eri had yet to figure out exactly what it was—to gather the scattering of the other eight Great Ones' souls and protect them after their physical bodies had disintegrated. Their pure qi then bonded with the dark qi to form the Aurora barrier, thus protecting what was left of their dying realm from annihilation.

It had been some two hundred and fifty years ago that Alfie's core had suddenly reappeared before Eri's eyes, and within her core were her sisters' souls. At that time, Eri knew that with the reemergence of Alfie's qi core, this meant that the others had been saved.

After much investigation via her magic, Eri had found that Alfie had distributed them across the universe, their souls reincarnated for a second chance at life.

Eri had been overwhelmed with happiness that the nine Great Ones' souls had been preserved and that her daughters had returned to her. However, that happiness was immediately flipped to worry because she knew that soon those with dark qi and those who hungered for power would hunt Alfie down.

Not wanting her beloved creation to suffer a second time, Eri began to seek solutions.

That solution came in the form of a young man named Touma Nakamura, a son of a realm watcher residing in a world called Earth. The wife, Elizabeth, was barren and could not produce a child. Even with advanced medical technology, she still couldn't conceive. Desperate, they searched farther afield until they stumbled across Eri's lair.

They had begged her for help after they had found out who and what she was with her powerful magic of life creation. Eri had refused at first, but after much deliberation, she decided that she would aid them.

Thus, she had used her magic to infuse Alfie's core and soul, along with her sisters', into Elizabeth's womb.

That fateful night a few weeks after she had started her magic on Elizabeth, a fetus was conceived and a powerful pure qi burst bright within the night sky, informing all of Aurora that The Great One had reincarnated.

Once Elizabeth was well enough again—because realm travel depleted an enormous amount of one's qi—Eri had opened the hidden door of Aurora barrier, which she had guarded with the utmost care for centuries, to leave the realm. Within days after that, those with dark qi invaded her woods and attacked her residence, demanding where the pure qi had disappeared to. Of course, she would have died a disastrous death if Prince Maximus, Akari's husband, and his soldiers had not arrived in time to save her from those beasts.

"Alfie," Touma had said to her once his wife was conceived. "We'll name our child Alfie, because you are an elf and that qi core… She was so beautiful, so bright and alluring, like you, an elf." He had kneeled on the tatami mat floor and prostrated himself in front of her. "I will never forget how much you have helped us."

God, how emotional and attached the humans from that world called Earth were. Just because she had helped them with conceiving a child they had desperately wanted and all because she herself had wanted to save her girls.

"The child will be a girl," Eri had said. "I will grant her middle names. She will be Alfie Yuki Akari Nakamura."

Elizabeth had said then, "Alfie Yuki Akari Nakamura. I love it, the names." She gently touched her belly, a smile on her face. "My daughter Alfie."

Eri felt tears brewing in her eyes, at seeing how much love these two were going to give to her creation. Alfie would have a chance at life. A happy and safe one.

Returning her thoughts to the present, Eri stared at the inferno of pure qi in the sky.

Alfie, she thought, what in heaven brought you back into this dangerous world? You have no idea what is waiting for you, my love. Every powerful being will be out to get you, wanting to claim your qi.

Eri felt sick thinking about it.

She said, "My daughters are back. I can feel their auras, especially Alfie, strong and free. She has been raised well for twenty earthling years."

"Twenty earthling years?" Lord Hara asked.

Eri nodded. "Our time is approximately ten times faster than the world where Alfie was raised."

Lord Hara nodded in understanding. "Which means she is still very young."

Eri nodded. "Very, very young."

"And she will be in danger here in our world," Lord Hara said. "Because many will want her. They will hunt her down. She will have no experience with protecting herself."

Eri nodded. "Most definitely."

"Then I will arrange for my men to protect her."

Eri nodded. "Yes, do that and bring her here as soon as possible. This will be the safest place for her."

Lord Hara nodded. "I will send my son, Kuro, to lead the squad."

Eri nodded. "Kuro is the strongest. Yes, send him."