CHAPTER 1: THE BOY WHO'S NEITHER HUMAN, GOD NOR DEMON

Flap! Flap! The sounds of the wings of a falcon flapping in the cerulean blue sky. The sun beamed down heavily on the earth below and the breeze albeit faint swept across the lands. It rattled the Adam's ale and the trees.

"Move!" A raspy voice scared the forest critters crawling around the foliage.

A boy no younger than 17 leaned against the tree to his left. His lips split and blood flowed to his chin. He was covered in grime and dirt, turning his alabaster skin dark. His long white hair tied neatly into a ponytail pooled into his face. He raised his head after a series of deep breaths, his obsidian eyes peered into the distance. Swallowing the vicinity in their abyss.

"We found you boy!"

"Devour him."

Deep voices tore through the forest. Yu gritted his teeth as he heard the rushing footsteps. These steps were heavy and each step made his heart palpitate in anxiety. He had to make it through the forest.

Rwaar! One of the creatures in pursuit leaped from the tree above Yu and lounged with its long tongue protruding aiming for Yu's shoulder.

Yu clutched the sword in his hand and swung it, expending his remaining strength to deflect the tongue which skewered through several trees. Having bought himself a window, Yu took off running, With each step he took his chest tightened and breathing became harder.

Why? He was burning through oxygen faster than his lungs can expand leading to them contracting to make space for the brief intakes of oxygen in his lungs. He squinted his eyes and reached out his hand, the light at the end of the forest covered his hand and Yu stumbled out of the tree covers into the sun.

His face hit the hot ground and he lay there, temporarily safe from the creatures after him. He was out of the shadows, and from the month they spent chasing him. He knew that they could only move under the covers of the shadows and night which was assuring.

Yu's eyes moved up and he breathed a sigh of relief as he saw the imposing walls of Toru. A kingdom south of Tsuki where he was from. 'I made it Mom. I made it to Toru.' he thought as exhaustion claimed him.

Yu opened his eyes expecting to be in the desert but the moment he did he was confused. His vicinity had drastically changed, he was no longer in the desert but was in a cold room with bars in his front. The lamp across his cell door illuminated the area around his cell but did not stretch all the way to the hallways on either side.

Yu tried to move only to feel something heavy on his hands and legs. He looked down and raised an eyebrow. He was in cuffs, it took a moment for him to realize what was going on, once the graveness of his situation settled in, his eyes widened and he started to panic.

"Stop your fussing." A feminine voice called out to him.

Yu looked up and his eyes slightly widened. Standing outside of his cell was a woman with blond hair, piercing blue eyes, and a scowl. She had a pale skin tone like him and a beauty mark underneath her right eye. She wore a white long-sleeved shirt that barely held onto her bosom, beige pants, and black combat boots. On her waist was a katana and to finish her attire, was a spiral tattoo on her neck.

"Where am I?" Yu asked as he sat back down.

The woman clicked her tongue and folded her arms under her chest. "what were you doing outside of the forest? Did someone hire you to infiltrate the lands of Toru?"

Yu could not understand the questions. Someone hired him? The longer the woman talked, he found himself thinking that she was delusional. But one thing that made his heart rest was the fact she said Toru, which meant he had made it safely to the kingdom, after a month of being hunted by humans and demons alike, he was finally at the kingdom of light.

"No one hired me, but someone told me to come here and I'll be safe."

Karin looked Yu up and down. "Who sent you here? Depending on your answer, I'm either going to kill you on the spot or let you talk to the queen."

"Amaterasu sent me."

Karin's hands fell limp to her sides. She stared directly at Yu's eyes. "Amaterasu, the maiden of the sun blade?"

Yu nodded, although her mood change had him on the edge. The cell was colder than it was earlier and he was forced to dodge as a katana shot past his head and stabbed on the wall behind him. He glared at Karin. "What the hell is your problem? That would've killed me."

Karin opened the cell doors and walked in. "That was the intention, anyone who lies in my master's name deserves the punishment of death." She raised her hand and a flame manifested, the heat from the conjured conflagration pushing away the coldness causing the room to be extremely hot, the bars to the cell melted from being in the range.

Yu moved back, his eyes watching the woman with the flame in trepidation. "I have no reason to lie, Amaterasu gave me her sword and told me to come here and find someone named Karin… from your reaction, I'm guessing that's you? Right? I don't have any bad intentions and I have no reason to lie believe me."

"He's telling the truth, Karin." A man with dark hair said from the wall, he wore the same attire as Karin but his was male custom made.

"Tch! Consider yourself lucky brat." Karin scowled and lowered her hand. The ball of fire disappeared and she walked out of the cell, shooting Kuro a glare on her way out.

Kuro chuckled and walked into the cell, he undid the cuffs on Yu and told him to follow him. Yu not wanting trouble, nodded and trudged behind Kuro.

"You said Amaterasu sent you here right? The name is Kuro by the way." Kuro broke the silence as they walked.

"I'm Yu. Yes, Amaterasu sent me here."

"What happened to her? It's unlike Amaterasu to take an interest in anyone. Hell her last protégé was that hot head you saw there."

"She sadly died trying to defend me."

"That's unfortunate, but what force could take down Amaterasu? Not to open closed wounds but I'm curious."

"We were attacked by a man named Susanoo, he said he was one of the 7 lights."

Kuro stopped, he turned to face Yu, his eyes portraying a level of seriousness that contradicted his laid-back attitude from a minute ago. "Did he have a cross over his right eye?"

Yu nodded, he was curious about what the man named Susanoo was, he could tell when he nodded Kuro froze a bit. Albeit faint to the human eye, Yu had special eyes, even he could not describe them but he could see the slight discomfort from Kuro.

Was Susanoo such a threat that a person who radiates so much Aenether could be uncomfortable knowing he was back?

Yu's unending questions ended up making him blurt his mind out. "Who's Susanoo and why is he special?"

" so this is the kid Amaterasu sent huh?"

"He looks kinda scrawny don't you think?"

"Hn!"

"He's cute right Karin?"

"Don't talk to me about him. He's nothing but an immature child who thinks the world is all bright and colorful."

"Ne, Karin cut the boy some slack, you've known him for over a couple of hours. That's not long to deduce someone's character."

"Tch!"

Yu stopped as he stepped into the open room with a round table at the center, seated around the table were seven people, each one of them sitting in a designated number, from one to eight.

Yu looked at them, on the number seven was a man twice the size of Kuro, he had scars running all over his body and face. His golden eyes stared down at him. For a moment Yu thought he was looking at a feral beast due to his black hair.

Sitting on the sixth spot was a girl with pink eyes and vibrant pink hair, she had a beauty mark like Karin but it was under her lips.

Occupying the fifth one was a woman with long silver hair, she had a blindfold over her eyes which prohibited Yu from seeing her eye color.

Yu's eyes trailed onto the next one and he looked at number four. His eyes immediately diverted to number three as Karin shot a glare that screamed "Look and you are dead."

On the third seat was a man with a sickly-looking skin completion. He had long shaggy white hair and a pair of multi-colored eyes. The left was red and the right eye was blue which was odd to Yu.

Next to the man was the second seat, and on it was a gigantic metal ball with extensive arms. The technological advancement left Yu in awe, he barely saw such up north but his awe quickly faded as he gazed at the head of the table but it was vacant.

"I see everyone is here, okay then let's begin!"