5 Departure

I remember blacking out shortly after I had regained my eyesight, and I awoke in my room with my head killing me. I sat up while clutching my face and noticed that I was alone with a pair of new clothes on a random chair in front of my bed. I got up and walked over before picking up a note that was left on the shirt.

"These are special clothes that are able to withstand the summoning of Mor'Ulthan. Don't freak out, the tattoos covering your chest are the seals that he used on himself to finalize the contract, and it can only be broken if you will it.

Yours truly

N.V."

Confused, I lifted up my shirt and saw a bunch of black and red tattoos, that looked like runes, covering almost the entirety of my chest and back with a single eight pointed star in the middle of my chest. They actually looked pretty badass, but just thinking about them being correlated with that monstrosity gave me the chills. I put the letter on my bed and lifted up the shirt, or rather vest, and inspected it.

The vest was made out of a black material and felt rather comfortable to the touch. I took my shirt off and slipped it on. I realized that it didn't have any vest and displayed a rather decent amount of my chest. I then looked at the pants that were on the chair and saw that they were made of the same material and that they were loose-fitting and very comfortable.

I looked at myself in the mirror and noticed that there was something else that wasn't supposed to be on my body. I had two hanging earrings with eight pointed stars and a crow head in the middle on either ear, and my pupils were now slightly pointed at the top and bottom. A sudden, dull pain in my head made me quickly gather my things and wonder about where I was supposed to go in order to get back to the Human Realm.

Just as I was thinking this, Daarvess and Synfael appeared in front of my door and bowed before Daarvess said "We are here to guide you to your departure point, young Lord." I smiled and nodded my head before following behind them. Syn looked back as we were walking through the halls and nudged me in the ribs before saying "I didn't know you had tats man, and piercings too? Lookin smooooooth..." with a teasing smile.

I shrugged my shoulders and said "They do look pretty cool though, you can't lie about that." Syn held back a laugh as we neared the portal room from yesterday. Daarvess knocked once and Nalia's muffled voice called out. "Enter." We walked through the door and I noticed that only one portal was active with Nalia standing next to it in her usual black dress.

Daarvess and Syn moved over to stand next to her as Nalia motioned for me to come over. "This will be the last time you see any of us for a while...just make sure you don't do anything stupid, or let the masses know about us, all right?" I let out a small laugh and nodded my head before saying "Don't worry, I'm not dumb enough to put the entirety of Noir in danger. I think of this place as my home, even though I haven't been here for long."

Nalia smiled and Syn walked up to me with a pair of sheathed daggers in his hands. The scabbards were made of a type of white metal with gold and dark-blue accents. The handles were made out of the same white metal with a dark blue gem in the right dagger's pommel, and a black gem in the left's pommel. "Syn...I can't take these...I-" Synfael placed the daggers in my hands and said "Don't worry about paying me back, just stay alive and keep in touch!" with his thumb up and a smile on his face.

Daarvess pat his son on the shoulder before fishing in his breast pocket and producing a golden amulet with a gleaming ruby in the center of its circular frame. "Here, young Lord. This will help you keep Mor'Ulthan in check until you learn how to properly control his energy. I believe that there are more upsides than downsides when it comes to having him under your control, but you shall find these things out in due time."

I reluctantly accepted the amulet and put in around my neck before putting the daggers behind my back where, ironically, there were two loops big enough to fit the two daggers snugly. I then turned back to Nalia and she wrapped me in a warm embrace before whispering "I'll give you one hint. Half." in my ear. We parted and I waved the three goodbye before bracing myself to enter my home Realm.

It was weird to me. I used to be a Human, and then I died and was turned into a Half-Demon, only to live in a Realm completely isolated from the Human's Realm. Then I was told that I would have to return to the world of Human's and strife. How was I supposed to act? I mean, I can't go and get attached to anyone, right? So was I supposed to be cold and distant all the time...?

I shook my head and thought 'Well, I'll figure that out when I get to that point.' before stepping through the glowing red portal.

---

A middle-aged man with long grey hair sat on an ornate throne with his red eyes glowing in the dimly lit room. A knock came from the large double doors and the man began to tap on of the arms of his throne impatiently before saying "Enter." in a deep and commanding voice. A young woman, no older than 16, entered and knelt immediately before saying "I have done as you requested, father."

The man looked at his daughters kneeling form, her long blonde hair covered her face as her blue eyes glowed brightly from underneath her bangs. The man nodded his head and asked "What of the boy? Does he still live?" The girl shook her head and said "No, father. He died shortly after you contacted me. I am sorry." The man clicked his tongue before shaking his head and saying "No matter, our plans shall continue as ordered."

The girl nodded her head and stood before bowing and turning around to walk out. "Wait. I need you to do one more thing." The girl turned back to the man and knelt down once more before saying "Of course, father." The man nodded his head with a smile before gesturing for the girl to come closer. "I need you to go to the capitol, Archven, and get into the Archven Academy. Gather intel on the Student Council, as well as the Professors and the strongest students. That is all."

The girl nodded and once again turned to leave as the man said "Don't get caught...Sylia..." with a low chuckle. Sylia shut the doors and leaned on them with a sigh as she closed her eyes and thought about the skinny, dirty-blond haired boy with bright green eyes. 'He was a year younger than me, right? Yet he was always in the same grade as me. I wish I would've spoke to him sooner...'

Sylia opened her eyes and began to walk down the dimly lit hallway as her irises started to shift from blue to a deep red.

---

The warm rays of the sun hit me instantly as the sounds of leaves crunching under my feet filled my ears. "Looks like I got unlucky..." I muttered as I looked around at the densely packed forest surrounding me. I immediately began to climb the tallest tree in order to get a good view of where I was at. The forest extended out for miles and miles with the vague outline of a giant wall in the distance.

I sighed and climbed down from the tree before making my way over toward the direction of the wall. The forest was serene and bursting with life as all kinds of animals peeked out from the brush to see the intruder wandering through their domain. Hell, I even saw some rather nasty looking beasts fighting along the way.

The world looked completely different since last time I had seen it, but I knew it was still the same place I had grown to love as a Human. However, I felt nothing more than a hollow emptiness ever since I stepped through that portal. I sighed once more and began to mess with my vest while casually strolling through the forest.

I quickly got bored with no one to talk to and with nothing to do except for walk, hell I didn't even really need to sleep or eat so that was off the table. It would just eat up time...see what I did there...ok, never mind. The sun was already halfway into the sky, so it got dark pretty quickly, and that's when the REALLY big beasts began to come out.

I was tempted to try and take a few of them down and sell their body parts and such, but I didn't even know which parts would be the most valuable, and I knew my limits very well by now. I was confident in my ability to outrun most of the beasts that would likely show up, so I continued on with my little journey.

As if cursing my thoughts, a loud shriek sounded out nearby and many other similar shrieks began to echo all throughout the forest. Silently cursing, I drew my daggers and started to pay attention to my surroundings while continuing on. The sounds of branches cracking and leaves crunching echoed all around me as the winds began to pick up, limiting the range of my hearing by quite a bit.

At times like this I really wished I had some sort of ability to held fend for myself, but no I just had to be born different. Suddenly, a large, feathered creature with a long tail, sharp talons on its small arms and large feet, as well as a long snout filled with razor sharp teeth jumped out at me from above and I instinctually rolled out of the way before rushing the stunned creature and stabbing it in the neck.

It let out a loud howl of pain as it writhed about on the ground with its blood gushing out from its large wound. at least ten more of the things emerged from the trees as they snarled and bared their teeth at me with hesitant looks in their eyes. 'Damnit...I just had to find some intelligent species to pick a fight with...' I thought as my eyes darted back and forth trying to observe even the smallest movements the beasts made.

It was like my body moved on its own as I spun out of one of the creature's claws and slashed the back of its neck in one fluid motion. The beast fell to the ground limply, its spine most likely severed. Three more of the beasts leapt out at me with haunted cries and, once again, my body began to move on its own. I dodged one of the creature's claws before ducking under another's maw before plunging my daggers into its stomach and rolling out from under it to face the other two.

They stood near their dying companion as they darted their eyes from one another like they were communicating silently. All of a sudden, the bushes and trees surround my began to shake and more of the creatures began to emerge. "Just great! Bring some more and make it a damned party why don't you!" I yelled in frustration.

I brandished my daggers and felt sweat drip down my face as I began to realize just how many of the creatures were actually surrounding me. Just as I was about to charge toward the nearest beast, a voice rang out from the dark trees.

"Need a hand, or will you get mad at me for stealing your haul?"