Singing Demon

Mai and Jonathan exclaimed at the same time looking confused as well, this was because in the distance, though subtle, they could hear the sound of singing.

Glancing at Aiden, Jonathan said, "Let's get out of here."

But upon hearing this Aiden shook his head, "let's go check it out," he said with furrowed brows as he walked towards the source of the sound.

Mai also seemed curious, she wanted to find out who was singing as well so she followed Aiden.

Seeing both Aiden and Jonathan walk towards the source of the sound, Jonathan cursed in his mind before following them.

"Why don't you both listen, who in their right mind would sing in the abysmal enclave," Jonathan argued but received no answer from Aiden.

Turning to Mai, Jonathan asked again "I thought you were smarter than this, why are you following him?"

"I'm following him because of the same reason you're following him, I've gotten used to his recklessness, besides, he's the strongest person around," Mai muttered to Jonathan.

Hearing what Mai said, Jonathan hesitantly followed behind her sulking as he did so.

Walking for a few minutes, Aiden noticed that the rocks around them were getting smaller in number, but he didn't have time to worry about that.

As the group walked closer to the source of the sound, the melody around them increased, growing from a distance sound to a full opera centered around a charismatic female voice.

The lyrics were unintelligible, but the sound couldn't be more captivating, drawing one into its source.

Soon enough, the group reached their destination, and when they saw the source of this sound, they decided to hide behind a large rock, to better observe the situation.

"Is that Binder?" Jonathan whispered in shock as he gazed at the scene in front of him.

A masked woman, stood still in a dazed state, staring at the singing creature in front of her, she wasn't the only one though, there were three more people around her, two men and a woman, by the armor they wore, and orange tags on their shoulders, one could discern that they were another team participating in the trail to cross the abysmal enclave.

Ignoring the frozen people for now, Aiden focused on the singing creature sitting atop a rock.

It had a humanoid appearance, with two arms and two legs just like any other human, but they was were several things different about it.

Its skin was shriveled like an old lady's but worse, it was brown, a brown that reminded one of dirt and scum, it had healthy black hair flowing down its head obscuring its facial features from view.

With a black dress that was no better than a rag, it sat quietly singing its enchanting melody, its gaze locked on its lap.

As the demon's voice echoed in the unspoken void, its surroundings seemed to resonate with it, playing imaginative instruments to complement its voice.

Feeling curious about what could possibly be on the demon's lap, Aiden leaned in, his posture open as he observed with an inquisitive expression.

Unfortunately due to the angle, he couldn't see it clearly, but he could swear that she had a book on her lap

As Aiden struggled to find out more about the strange demon in front of him, Landon's voice sounded out in his head, "Only 1 minute and 6 seconds left, looks like you're going to fail Aiden.

Landon's remember made Aiden's heart skip a beat, and a pang of anxiety followed suit, feeling restless, Aiden's eyes darted towards his companions as he said, "I'm going to in, you guys stay here."

Hearing what Aiden had just said, both Jonathan and Mai looked shocked, "I don't think that's a good idea Aiden," Mai whispered before darting in, "there's nowhere to hide, if you get any closer you will be discovered."

Mai's words were completely rational, if Aiden did get any closer he would be discovered, there was simply nowhere to hide.

Feeling a bit frustrated Aiden said, "I'm going in alone, you guys don't have to follow me."

Saying this he walked out into the open, ignoring Mai and Jonathan who tried to stop him as he listened in to the demon's melody.

As soon as he walked Into the open, he could finally see what was on the demon's lap, it was a book, exactly what he was looking for.

Upon seeing this book Aiden was excited, maybe by killing this demon he would finally be able to escape his penalty.

"Bam!"

A small thud sounded out as Aiden made a mad dash for the demon, quickly he passed the people who were frozen like status but just when he was within arms reach of the rock the demon sat on, it suddenly raised its head revealing two huge eyes that seemed to make fifty percent of its shriveled face.

"Badump!"

As soon as Aiden made eye contact with the otherworldly demon his heart skipped a beat, as his steps involuntarily slowed before coming to a halt.

He suddenly felt blank and invaded as the melody playing around him became increasingly apparent to him.

As someone who was interested in music he could even discern some of the ancient instruments playing in the background, orchestra, pianos, harpsichords, harps, brass Instruments, strings, and even woodwinds it was the whole package.

As Aiden slowly got lost in the myriad of instruments playing, he suddenly heard Landon's voice, "Snap out of it Aiden, she's peering into your mind, you have two minutes left, clear your mind and don't think about anything."

Landon's advice only served to increase Aiden's anxiety, but as Aiden struggled to break free from the demon's gaze the voice of the demon which was only unintelligible mutters until now suddenly became as clear as day.

With its gaze still locked onto Aiden it spoke through its shriveled mouth, its human-like teeth as black as charcoals as it sang.

[Ohh such unrest, what plagues you my child,

Is it time's heavy weight, a bottled-up bile,

The agony of death runs through your veins,

Yet, thou are too timid to have faced such a trail.]

The demon's now clear voice was even more enchanting, invoking a feeling of nostalgia, this feeling was like a drug, forcing Aiden to remember his roots as the demon's melody continued.

[Oh my, oh my, what a sweet and lovely child, please do tell the tale of how you gained such a lofty life.

Your mother was a doctor, your father so vile,

your sister a pawn, to the testament of life.]

As the demon spoke, its hand started moving, scribbling some strange characters on its pages, and as it did so Aiden suddenly felt a sense of loss, like the memories of his family held less meaning to him. Having a faint idea of what just happened Aiden widened his eyes at the still singing demon.

Seeing Aiden's eyes the demon's smile widened, its poem still as enchanting as it sang.

[Young child do tell

I feed your every breath, the thoughts on your mind should be all laid bare,

don't keep me in the shadows, not that you have a choice,

the fire burns true, increasing with every breath.]

As the demon sang, the enchanting melody once again invaded Aiden with a feeling of nostalgia, but he fought it keeping his mind blank as he tried to regain control of his body.

"A-Aiden you're, you're out of time, you've failed your task," Landon's voice suddenly sounded out and just as he spoke, a book suddenly appeared in front of him, which was the book of souls, it read:

You have failed to complete the given task, level one punishment initiated, your punishment is as follows: Due to the traumatic nature of the events that occurred in the realm of your inheritance, your brain locked up a large portion of your memories to lessen the emotional impact on you, those memories will now be forcefully recovered, chances of death, 8%.

(Notice: the next punishment will be different in terms of difficulty, nature, and intensity.)

Seeing this Aiden was confused and so was Landon, "what's the book talking about?"

"I don't know," Aiden replied in his head, still trying to resist the onslaughts of musical attacks aimed at his consciousness.

He didn't understand, he still remembered what he experienced in that strange realm, but according to the Book of Souls, he had forgotten some things.

"Ok, ok let's calm down, let's see, Aiden do you remember the war demon under the purple mountains that smashed you to a bloody paste with its hammer?" Landon asked.

"No I don't," Aiden replied in his mind.

With shock evident in his voice Landon asked, "What about the demon in the black rain? Or the demon that repeated your sentence before killing you, what about the demon with the flying eyeball, and the skeleton with a gem on its forehead?"

Feeling Landon's shock, Aiden replied while realizing that some parts were indeed missing from his memory of that place, "I don't remember any rain, it never rained in that place, but I remember the demon that repeated my sentences before killing me, I remember the demon with a floating eyeball, but I don't remember a skeleton-"

"Ring!"

Aiden suddenly felt a ringing sensation in his head as a large amount of information invaded his brain causing major confusion.

This information consisted of snippets repetitive in nature, he remembered being in the middle of black rain, as the water that dropped on the soil rose like razor-sharp spikes impaling him slowly.

He remembered fighting a skeleton and killing it with a stone to the head.

He remembered fighting a demon that was no different from a giant that smashed him to bits with its war hammer.

He also remembers a goat-like demon that ripped him in half with its human-like arms.

The experience was so vivid overtaking every inch of his mind.

Aiden felt his head crumple as a large amount of information mostly pertaining to the different ways in which he died surfaced, so vivid that he could feel it, his muscles twitching with the memory.

With the dawn of his punishment, Aiden had completely let his guard down, allowing the singing demon to invade at will.