Amare Flos (Demon Slayer)

Ali opened his eyes. His eyes felt heavy, his arms felt weak. His whole body quivered and trembled, a indescribable coldness crawled over his whole body and he had this indescribable hunger, for something particular. He had no idea what had happened or how much time had passed since the encounter with Akaza. Ali groaned as his body felt like it had been beaten to a pulp. The soreness pulsed throughout his entire body.

Ali used whatever strength he had to use his arms to push himself up from the tough surface. Ali's eyes darted from one side of the room to another. It was a weird setting, a rather traditional house, but it seemed infinite, there were confusing turns and entries all over the roof, walls and ground. An endless hallway of similar room, some blocks of wood floating in the air, an eerie song played throughout, and bounced around the intricate room. He stood on a square platform. Ali felt a shiver run down his spine as he heard a voice boom right behind him.

"You disobeyed me! You created this creature using your own blood instead of mine. Do you know what this means?!" A powerful voice boomed through the large enclosure.

Akaza stood pale in the presence of Muzan, he rightfully had his head down, whether in shame or not was unknown. Ali was confused, but as he turned his head, he too was paralysed by the very sight of Muzan. His hair stood up. Muzan, King of all demons. Gruesome stories of him circled in every community, every village, every town. It was said that he was the first demon. He was thousands of years old, and he had a crazy obsession with immortality. He is no doubt the strongest demon, as he was the creator of every demon, and could kill them whenever he wanted. That same demon stood only a few metres away from Ali.

Ali had just made sense of what Muzan had said to Akaza. Made a creature. Ali's heart dropped, looking down at his hands his eyes couldn't believe what they were seeing. His heart filled with despair and his mind flooded with thoughts and he felt his heart overwhelmed with intensity.

Ali's arms were a pale blue, similar to Akaza, spiky trails going all over his body like a pattern, spiralling. It reminded Ali of the wind pattern on Sanemi's sword. Ali had a crude thought come across his mind. It was very delayed, but Ali's mind had taken a toll from all the things that were happening. He was a demon. Ali's whole body tensed and he felt like throwing up. He couldn't handle it. All he had trained for, all he had wished for. It had become useless.

"Why did you do this to me?!" Ali screamed out.

Muzan glared at Ali. A glare with no remorse. Akaza looked at Ali and gulped. The dim lighting of the room as Ali's despair only grew larger. He looked up with tears in his eyes, flowing down his face slowly.

"Just kill me... I don't want to." Ali sulked.

Muzan's eyes glowed red with anger, veins popping in his head, his sharp teeth showing. Wind rushed as Muzan dashed towards Ali, his hands sharp with red fangs striked. Ali felt his stomach drop, in less than a second, Muzan had appeared right. Fear took over Ali's body, the most powerful demon himself before his eyes. About to kill him.

A ghastly sound of flesh being piercing. Ali's eyes wide, blood dripped. Akaza stood in the way of Muzan and Ali. Muzan's arm lodged right through Akaza's body. Akaza's face crumpled in face, his breaths deep. He groaned and turned his head to face the King of Demons.

"Please. I know I disobeyed you. But this boy. He has the potential to wipe the whole Corps." Akaza pleaded with Muzan, who was still in intense anger. Muzan's jaw relaxed and he seemed to let out a deep breath. His glare at Akaza did not disappear. He pulled out his arm and turned. He turned his head to the right, staring at Akaza while facing forward.

"Akaza. You're the most loyal member of the Moons. Don't break the trust." Muzan's eyes wide and sharp. His gaze turned to Ali. Who was still still from shock. A loud creak, a sound of a string being plucked. Ali felt a twisting sensation, his vision blurred. A new setting appeared before his eyes. The inside of a house of some sort, a tough bamboo floor, dim lighting and little items in the house, apart from a bookshelf, a brutally beaten up dummy, the empty house had a few rooms. With a single door, far from where he was standing.

Akaza walked up to Ali, blood from his wound still dripping, although it regenerated fast. He looked at Ali, who was still in his ripped and shredded demon slayer uniform. Akaza saw little emotion in Ali's lifeless eyes. Ali felt as if his whole life had collapsed within a day. His soul was dead, he was dead. It all felt dead. The overwhelming feeling had taken over Ali in the moment, all his dreams crushed to a pulp by the one incident that had happened. Ali's mind wandered, he didn't want to be a demon. He would've preferred dying at that battlefield. Ali's fists balled up, his muscles tensing.

"Is it morning?' Ali asked. Akaza was confused and glanced at Ali.

"Should be." Akaza shrugged. Ali sprinted, dashing towards the door, his sore body limiting his usual speed. Akaza's mind finally caught up to why Ali had wanted to know why it was morning.

"That bastard is going to kill himself!" Akaza realised, Akaza dashed after Ali. To Ali the sun felt like an escape, if he could just. Die.

The sunlight was in Eira's eyes. She gasped for air. Her scream for Ali had made birds fly out their nests. Her body ached. Asumi looked back with pity. Eira blinked and looked at the area, Ali's sword lodged deep onto the ground, a gruesome sight of blood all over the dry dirt, turning the light brown colour to a disgusting brown crimson. Eira gagged as the smell of a corpse filled her nose. She looked in front of her and there was an arm, flies hovering over it, slowly decaying the arm. Eira's body shook a bit. Asumi's aura had a bold red outline, almost consuming the sweet pink, the bold red burned brightly, even more distinct than the first time they had met. Eira stood up tearful.

"Asumi... Where's Ali?" She asked bluntly. Asumi didn't respond. Instead, she just stared forward, like she didn't even hear anything.

"Where's Ali?!" Eira shouted and grabbed Asumi's shoulder and turned her towards her. Asumi's face was full of tears, her eyes red and her ears pink. She wiped her tears and gulped.

"It's too late. He's gone." Asumi sniffed. Eira felt the massive burden fall onto his shoulders. She felt the words crush her, the world seemed to darken with this news. She stepped backwards and covered her mouth.

"He's..." Asumi continued.