Chapter 21 - All Demons Are From Hell

Maya simply stared at him. She had no answer to his question, for her own questions were making it hard for her to think as well.

They both sat in silence for hours. Not a single sound was made. Dominic’s eyes stayed aimed at his parent’s dead body.

Night had come around, and Maya’s tears were dried up. She stood up, and tried to grab Dominic’s hand to get him to move. But, he couldn’t. He simply sat there. It was as if his consciousness had left him.

Maya, too tired to try and speak to him, picked up the food besides her dead parents and placed it next to Dominic, before exiting the house.

Before she closed the door, she looked at Dominic sitting in the middle of the room. The light of the moon from outside was shining at him, and yet it didn’t give him any light. She inhaled and closed the door, before walking towards the nearest Maylem warrior camp.

The Maylem warriors in Cittaglia did the jobs of the police from Jeti and the military from Jeti, but had specialized jobs. Unlike in Jeti, they were actually useful if you managed to contact them quickly enough. Where Maya and Dominic lived, there were rarely any issues with crime or sickness.

After six hours of walking, she arrived at the closest base. She opened the door and walked in as if it was a simple office. Her grandpa was sitting at the front desk, doing paperwork. He was an official in the Maylem army, but wasn’t on duty.

He saw her walk in, shirt and face stained with tears, looking as if she would collapse at any moment. She was not crying, and seemed to be holding up pretty well. She smiled softly at him, as he asked her a question.

“Why are you up so late?”

“I just wanted to see you.”

He was happy to hear that from his granddaughter who rarely visited him. But, once he looked up at her face again, his attitude changed.

She was shaking. She was still smiling, but there was a small vibration in her body. Mixed with the tear marks and tiredness, he knew something was wrong.

“Are you okay, Maya?”

With these words, she couldn’t hide her condition from herself anymore. She burst out in tears and broke down onto the floor. Her grandfather ran up to her and hugged her. Despite the cold reality, there was at least one person left for her.

This would be the last time she spoke with Dominic until he walked in with Ame. She lived with her grandfather until his passing, and went to study at the best academy in Cittaglia for medicine.

…

However, Dominic was still inside the house. For two days straight. The stench from the rotting corpse beside him didn’t even reach his clouded mind. The food left by Maya had been left untouched, and Dominic’s body mass was shriveling. He had not moved an inch. His mind had not either.

He was lost. He had no road to walk on. No vision to move forward. He was simply lost.

So, he didn’t move. His mother’s words rang inside his head, again and again. Every small movement she made, every sound his father made. They repeated in his mind as if to torment him for eternity.

“I am strong. I am free. I am strong. I am free.”

The words came back into his mouth just as quickly as they had left.

He was told to move forward, and yet his legs wouldn’t work.

He was told to be free, and yet he stayed chained down to the floor.

He would die in this spot.

The door slammed open.

“It smells like shit in here!”

Dominic slowly turned behind him as the sun shining from the open door burned his eyes. He saw a little girl, with bright crimson hair standing there.

“AH! There's a guy here!”

The girl walked up to little Dominic and skeptically observed him.

“He’s alive. Then what the hell was that smell?”

Dominic’s lips parted as if he would speak, and then closed again. He repeated this process for two seconds, until his voice decided to finally succeed.

“My parents.”

He slowly turned his head to the bed, looking towards his dead parents. The girl's eyes followed him.

“Are those your parents?”

Dominic nodded.

The girl, despite being only eight years old, showed an emotion that Dominic wasn’t capable of understanding.

“Why are you sitting here?”

Dominic tried to answer the question. He tried as hard as he could, but he couldn’t think of an answer.

Why was he sitting here?

It was because he didn’t know what to do. And yet, he was free.

He struggled to stand up, but succeeded. He wobbled around, picked up the moldy food and ate it.

Dominic looked down at the girl after finally regaining his composure. It wasn’t enough to think of himself, but he could at least put in enough effort to help another person.

“Where are your parents?”

“Don’t know.”

“Siblings?”

“Don’t know.”

Dominic rubbed his forehead at the girl, who was sitting there smiling innocently at him.

“Do you live with anybody?”

“I live with my pet worm. His name is Bron. He’s really big.”

Dominic sighed and turned around. His muscles were barely working, but they were good enough to grab a shovel and go to the backyard.

The little girl watched carefully as he shoveled dirt out of two pits.

“Why are you standing there?”

She ignored him and sat down on the dry soil as he continued shoveling.

After ten minutes, he grabbed his parents' bodies and put them in there.

He put the dirt back onto their bodies, burying them.

He stabbed his father’s sword into his grave and put a stake on his mother’s grave. In Cittaglia, there is believed to be no heaven. Everybody believed you either got sent to hell or simply returned to nothing.

Dominic believed in hell, and yet still hoped that heaven truly did exist. It’s tradition in Cittaglia to leave a loose stake on top of a grave to show that the person wouldn’t be pinned below. Dominic stared at the graves for a minute, before looking away.

His mind had lost its capacity for deep thoughts. He was simply reduced to relying on whatever human instincts and cultural life influences he would have picked up.

The girl sitting on the floor clapped as he turned away from the grave and towards her.

“What’s your name, child?”

She grinned at him and spoke pridefully.

“I am Seele Amina, heir to the Amina lineage of sword masters. I have been trained for eight years since birth, and I-”

Dominic stared blankly at her.

“Never heard of them. You should get going now. Stay safe.”

Dominic turned away from her and went into the empty house to sleep. He didn’t know what he would do after he slept. He would wake up, and do nothing. Then he would sleep. Then he would do the same. He wasn’t moving. This wasn’t freedom. This was darkness. It was as if he was chained to his bed, forced to rot his life away with not a single thought. He thought of his mother, and he thought of everything she said. He thought of his entire life up into this point. He saw it in his brain.

He imagined it vividly.

A road. A simple road, with a cliff far away. He ran towards that cliff. And there he stood. The words from his mother echoed in his mind.

“They call it the cliff at the end of the world.”

He stared into the nothingness in the pit. He had never truly seen nothingness before. It was a fear that no humans could imagine. So, naturally, he looked away. He searched for comfort out of instinct. He turned to where his mom’s voice came from. It was behind him.

And instead of his mother, he saw a little girl.

His eyes shot open as he came back to reality.

“Seele?”

There was a girl staring at him, crying.

Despite being unable to think clearly, his parental instincts kicked in.

“Are you okay?!”

He shot up out of his bed and looked down at her.

“I-I-I L-L-los-t-t B-B-Bron-nie… I-I le-f-ft h-hi-him here.”

Dominic sighed and grabbed her hand.

He hadn’t slept in three days, and yet he couldn’t leave her like this.

He forced his eyes open, gently grabbed her hand and walked her out of the house.

“I’ll help you look for him.”

She beamed at him and skipped out the door, while Dominic speedwalked to keep up with her.

“Do you know where he went?” Dominic asked.

She nodded.

“He’s around here somewhere.”

Dominic, still holding onto her hand, began to walk down each alley and street for this little girl. Road after road, he was getting nowhere. His progress wasn’t moving forward. A worm was rather slow, so it couldn’t get that far. What was his problem? Why couldn’t he move forward? The issue with the worm began to make him think of his own predicament.

He heard Seele speak to him while he was lost in thought.

“We’re wandering aimlessly, we’re not gonna find him like this! Look better for him!”

Dominic slowly turned to her, eyes wide.

He repeated what she just said in his mind.

‘We’re wandering aimlessly.’

He thought of it again.

‘We’re wandering aimlessly.’

He was wandering aimlessly.

His mind shot back to what his mother said to him.

“But, I had discovered that the reason isn’t something given to you. It is something you make.”

It had to be something he made. He got to choose his own reason to continue. He got to choose his own aim, his own path, and his own life. He could just grab onto what he wanted to and ride that wave until he died. That was a ‘path’ in its purest form. And it was freedom.

Dominic thought for a second.

‘Thank you, mother.’

He smiled and squeezed Seele's hand. He looked over to her and spoke.

“You’re right. Lead the way. You know your path better than I do.”

“Hehe.”

She grabbed his hand and dragged him down five different streets.

Eventually after a bit of searching, they found him. Bronnie was crawling on the floor in an alleyway.

Seele picked him up and hugged him. She turned her eyes over to Dominic. He was crying.

It wasn’t a cry of sadness. It wasn’t a cry of resentment, nor anger. It was a cry of a homeless man who finally found his way back to a home that he never knew existed.

He walked with her back to his house. He didn’t know how long he would be able to keep the water running and the power on without a job, but those were all problems for future Dominic.

They made it back to the house and Dominic sat down on the porch next to Seele.

“Where’s your house?”

She looked down before responding.

“I don’t have one.”

Dominic felt sad for her, and yet was happy at the same time. Normally, he would be disgusted at himself for feeling happy. But, at this moment, he wanted nothing more than to stay with this child.

“...You can live here. I can try to take care of another person.”

Without any hesitation, she hugged Dominic and agreed.

She began to live with him ever since. They went to the store every weekend, and Dominic would pick what to make her for Dinner. He learned how to cook, clean, and care for children despite not being much older than her himself. He acted as her father for many many years. He loved her as a daughter as well. He would spend all the money he received from his job as an enlisted member of the Maylem army to pay the bills and buy her anything she wanted. He even bought her a locket with their pictures on it. She never wore it, though. It always rested on her nightstand. She was rather spoiled, but Dominic loved to make her happy.

This was what Dominic wished for. When his parents died, he was sure that this is what they meant by wanting him to have freedom.

It stayed like this for six years. Every day was entertaining, and every day Dominic would smile more than the last. Before he knew it, Dominic was now 21 and Seele was 14.

It was raining, but Dominic did not mind. He liked the rain. He would always work so hard in his training and to support Seele, that the droplets of water were rather calming. But he couldn’t take his time.

Seele had stayed home for this specific shopping trip because she felt ill. Dominic was rushing to get home so he could prepare dinner. It wasn’t anything serious, for he had checked with the nearest doctor. Just a common cold.

He gently opened the door to the house so as to not disturb her, and began to prepare dinner. He gracefully chopped vegetables. The sound of the knife echoed throughout the house. It was rather quiet. Dominic didn’t mind though.

Dominic completed his soup, and knocked on Seele’s door. There was no answer however. He opened the door, but she wasn’t there. He placed the dish on her nightstand and began to search the house for her. But, she was nowhere to be seen. He double checked every nook and cranny faster than he had ever moved before. He turned his head to the TV, and his heart sank.

“Breaking news! Cittaglia magic monster invasion! Stay indoors and contact the Maylem Army for emergencies.”

He stood there, staring at the TV for a second that felt like a minute.

He grabbed his blade and dashed outside. He yelled into the rain, searching for Seele.

“Seele! Seele!”

He chased down his fear like a cat and a string, until he heard a noise.

He turned to the growling from beside him and drew his sword.

In front of him stood a worm. An incredibly tall worm. Large worms were commonplace around the world, but this one was not normal. It was not a magical beast.

When Dominic stared into its eyes, he knew it was a being directly from hell. The despair in its eyes. The longing for a home and love. It was a being that nobody could love however hard they tried.

“Help…me. Guide me.” It spewed out.

He had no time to dwell on such a disgusting creature. He swiftly sliced its torso apart and left it to bleed out. He had no time to finish it off, even if it would cause another being pain. The ends would outweigh the means.

He searched for another hour, and there was no sign of Seele. He began to panic even more than before. His breath was escaping in distinct, shaky bursts.

Soon he thought that maybe she had returned to the house after hearing the news.

So, he rushed back as fast as he could. The rain under his feet dispersed from the pure force of each step.

He opened the door. Seele was not there. Nor was his house.

…

He was in his internal world, standing at the cliff. The fear of losing Seele far outweighed the fear of the abyss he stood in front of.

He stared directly into it. Inside of that pit, was hell. A hell he couldn’t describe with his eyes. The walls were blocking his sight from underneath his eyes. His senses stopped working and yet there was sight. In the middle of that hell, stood a man and a woman. The man looked up at Dominic from the bottom of the canyon, staring directly into his eyes. Dominic had no knowledge of this place nor this person, and yet he knew that he was the reason this was happening. The worm beasts came from him. He was sure of it.

A voice resounded throughout his head.

“Dominic Karna. Come down here. You don’t need to suffer. Hell will welcome you as their king.”

Dominic yelled down to the being.

“I am not suffering! Leave me be!”

The man did not speak. Instead, Dominic was sent back to reality. He was in his house. And Seele was still not there.

The TV was still yapping away about the army's retaliation. Dominic was supposed to be on the frontlines, but was busy.

The TV was interrupted.

On the broadcast was the King of L’eau. He came with a message.

“Dear citizens of Cittaglia. I know what this seems like. But, do not be afraid. These monsters are not hostile. I’ve gotten word from the lord himself that these beings are children of this world. They will not harm you. They have come from heaven.”

Dominic stared at it in disbelief.

He was lying. They didn’t come from heaven. They were everything he hated. He stared into its being and only saw what he hated. The monster was aimless. It deserved to die. It was from hell.

The TV spoke again.

“If your child was one of the victims of this, do not worry. The children who may have felt sick or gone missing yesterday had transformed into those creatures for the time being. If any of them died, they are in heaven. I am sure of it. Do not be afraid. I know the people of Cittaglia do not believe in such a thing, but the children are happy. Goodbye and goodnight. We will be sending prayers.”

Dominic dropped his sword. The blood of the “monster” he had killed was dripping onto the carpet he bought. He worked hard for that money to buy it for Seele. And now, it was stained.

He rushed outside without bothering to pick his sword back up. Step after step, he was on his way back to the location of the dead worm. The rain that he had previously dispersed had already filled right back up into the very same puddle, and Dominic ran straight over it again.

He stopped. Blood was pooling to his foot.

In front of him laid the hellish creature he slayed.

And on its bleeding body, there was a locket. An incredibly expensive one that Dominic knew all too well.

Hands shaking, he opened it up. Inside was the thing he was most afraid of. More terrifying than the hell he witnessed. More terrifying than not having a road to walk.

It was the loss of one.

Inside the locket was the picture of them both, framed as if it was a family portrait. The same locket that Seele never brought with her. He thought it was fake. Every excuse imaginable went through his mind to calm him down. But it failed.

If Dominic had his sword with him at this moment, he would have stabbed it into his heart. But he didn’t. He simply had to deal with the pain. Without any time to think, tears started flowing from his eyes. He collapsed to his knees and threw up.

Seele was dead. He had killed her. He saw her as a monster from hell. She was pitiful to him before he killed her. That isn’t what a parent does.

That’s what a demon does.