To The Same Tune

The blue-haired Demon slayer had been sitting around the Sabertooth guildhall while dealing with his boredom. He had ordered a few plates of fire from the bar, sat down at a table alone and had eaten two of them already. He tried eating them in fun ways to get rid of his boredom. One plate he spun around on the table while slurping in the flames like one long noodle into his mouth while the other he picked up and spun around on his finger while slurping the flames up. Neither of these ways helped him at all with his boredom.

His view caught one of his teammates leaving the guildhall, Raven. She had been acting weird lately with him and the rest of the team. It was as if she was pushing herself away from them. Cirven saw his team as a family so he couldn't help but quickly slurp up the last plate of flames and followed the girl outside. His advance was also enforced by the fact that he had a sort of like for the girl more than just the friends that they were even though he hadn't really expressed it to her.

By the time he had gotten out the door though she had took off flying into the air. "Hey Raven!" He yelled out but was unheard by the girl as she had already had gotten a good distance away. "Where could she be going...?" He thought to himself as he looked at her flying away.

He then jumped off the platform and used his flames to help him fly after her. He made sure to keep his distance away from her though to see where she was going. It wasn't like he could exactly keep up with her flying speed with his magic anyways. After some time of flying she started her descent to the ground in an area that Cirven knew as the Serene Cliff. He had been tested here by Zenshin at one point.

He followed her down while still keeping his distance. He landed some distance away from where she had landed and then slowly tried to sneak up to see where she was. The girl stood in a small area covered in flowers that was located just below the cliff itself.

"Raven...?" He spoke up and came out from hiding to confront her. "This spot is pretty cool. How did you find it?"

“I’m coming for you, Raven.”

“Let me out, Raven”.

“You were born to sin”

“This child can never find happiness”

Raven sat up on her bed, sweating and panting, looking around frantically as if trying to figure out where she was. Finding her companion sleeping on a tree close to her window, Raven let out a sigh of relief though her eyes held fear in them. Ever since she came back from the ancient ruins, Raven had been having nightmares about her past constantly. It was as if something was going to hunt her down and destroy her. ‘Ikaros’ she whispered in the still night, throwing off the white sheets covering her and moving towards her dresser.

She put on a simple black long sleeved shirt, a black skirt and a long coat of the same color. Black boots were added to match her outfit and she took off running out the doors, down the stairs and out of the guild. She only had an idea of where she should go when she released her wings and flew up. She needed a place to think. She was not going to sleep that night either.

She felt pain shoot through her chest when she clutched it tight, descending on her destination. She went to that certain place in Serene Cliff that always made her feel better. Standing in the middle of beautiful flowers and under the moonlight, Raven was always able to cry freely there.

The full moon night seemed to have brought some changes to her usual plans, however. She wasn’t expecting Cirven to follow her there. She wasn’t expecting anyone to follow her! “Wh-what are you doing here, Cirven?” she asked, her voice soft as she still clutched her chest. It was starting to ache really badly. Her eyes flashed a glowing red and back to her original red eyes as she fell to the ground, crushing some flowers under her. “Cirven...Cirven should leave,” she cried out, her eyes glowing again.

"Hey! Did I say something wrong?" He rushed up to the girl and knelt down while placing his hand on her back. "I'm not going anywhere until you are OK. Whats going on Raven?" He attempted to help her up from the ground as he continued speaking. "Why have you been so distant with everyone? We are here to help you through anything you are going through, you know?"

He couldn't help but feel as though his word were going to go through one ear and out the other with her. She had become distant but she had also become more stubborn than she used to be when she first joined the team. Cirven wanted to be there for her and help her fight her battles instead of letting her do it alone. "We can help you be stronger through all of this. Wait.. What is this anyways? Why are your eyes red like that?" He asked after he was able to see her face more clearly.

“Cirven! I said go!” she yelled at him, pushing his hands away from her. “I told you to go, you insolent fool!” her voice was more of a command now and her eyes were completely a glowing red now. “Who do you think you are? If you don’t want me to shred you into pieces, leave!” she said, taking a stance similar to that of a ruler or queen. Her demon side was completely out of a minute and she was back on the ground again, her eyes back to normal.

“Ah! Cirven, you should really leave...I-I can take care of this myself. You are only gonna get hurt if you stay here,” she said, her voice, the usual soft and calm one. “You need to understand, Cirven. This battle is for me to fight. I need to do this alone,” she said, pulling herself together. She stood up, gave him a small smile and proceeded to run away from him.

Cirven's hands were swatted away by her as she forced herself back up to her feet. Her voice had changed and Cirven could feel something was different about her. She started to feel similar to him in some way as she spoke but then suddenly lost it and fell back to the ground.

"Raven.. What the hell was that? Are you a demon or something too?" He questioned her and tried to help her up again from the ground. "Look. I'm not going anywhere now without you feeling as well as you used to be. I know you say you can do it yourself but that doesn't mean you have to."

“Cirven...you just don’t know....and I’m in no condition to explain,” Raven said, sighing as she rubbed her temples. This was very frustrating. She was fighting with her inner self and the urge to just tell someone about her problems. Share it with someone for once because honestly, she was getting too tired of the whole predicament she was in. Ever since she fell into this world, she had not spoke of her past. No one knew who she really was or where she was really from. Everyone just thought she was some cool kid with raven magic. Apparently, having a magic was common in this place and that just helped her cover up her trails. She pushed herself into more and more darkness, thinking it’s fine if it’s just her and that she can handle it. But sometimes, loneliness is a terrible thing.

“Cirven,” she started, her voice shaking a bit as she decided to sit down. The pain was gone for now and maybe she just needed to get some things off her chest. “Do you know where I am from, Cirven?” she asked, looking at him, dropping her hands to the ground from her chest. “I’m from a far away land. Did you know that a world solely for ravens existed once? haha and that I’m actually from the past...even before this world existed? Ahh that would make me so old,” She chuckled, tucking a few strands of hair behind her.

“We were demonic in nature. Our world, before a Goddess appeared, was nothing but a big battleground. Ravens killed ravens just because of their primitive instincts. It didn’t matter who the ravens killed but killing gave them a sense of achievement. So as the Goddess came down, she gave up her own heart to spread peace throughout my land. She left everything in the hands of an able ruler and vanished, saying that if that world fell into chaos again, she will return to take everything back. Everything seemed fine from then….till I was born. When I was ten, father died and Ikaros, because I was too young, took over. He made the then peaceful ravens to go back to their primitive nature. Kill or be killed. Without doubt, the world fell into chaos again,” she stopped there, wondering if she should continue with the next bit of information. After a long pause, she began again, “I...I, as the reincarnation of the one who spread light to our land, when darkness descended once again, was assigned to destroy my own world. I succeeded….I killed everyone...every single one of my people except Ikaros himself. We fought but it was too much for me and everything around us. Portals started to appear and I fell into one, which took me here”.

“When I got here, I was amazed….so many different people, different instincts, different powers. It was all too new to me. But Sabertooth gave me a home, I was desperate to forget my past. I did and in fact, the last eight years for me was great. I found Kuroe and you guys. But….I suppose I can’t run from things for long. For some reason, ever since we came back from the ancient ruins, my demonic side have been trying to takeover. It was dormant till now...I don’t understand what’s triggering it….” she finished, letting her head fall on her lap.

"Another.. World..?" Cirven mumbled out as he was confused on what she meant but continued to listen. It was pretty out there for him to think about with a world full of ravens that was pretty much a battleground. He couldn't help but think of his own tragedy in the deaths of his parents as she spoke but then found that he couldn't exactly compare to her much at all. Killing everyone you know just to be sent to another world alone sounded like a horrible thing.

"Raven... I'm sorry that I can't help with your past at all but I know I can help with your future here. You just have to let me try, OK?" Cirven stood in front of her and then tried to help her up from where she was again. "Let me help you up.."

Did she have a future here? The memories of everyone dying in her hands had haunted her for all this time. There were night she spent alone without sleep because whenever she closed her eyes, she could see the blood on her hands, she could hear the painful cries for help and pity, she could feel the beat of life coming to a stop on her palms.

She looked up as she felt warm hands on her although it was too late and tears were already flowing. She looked like was going to tell him something but instead, the silver haired girl simply threw herself at him, wrapping her arms around Cirven’s neck, hiding her face in his chest as she cried audibly. “It’s difficult...so difficult...I can’t take this anymore,” she mumbled into him. She wanted to stop herself. She didn’t want to sound so weak but...it was too much for her.

He saw the white around her eyes begin to change to a all too familiar color as he touched her. All he could think of doing was what he did for his sister when she was soon about to start her own rainfall. He smiled at her and hoped that it would have a similar effect that it would have had on his sister which to his surprise it had that and a bit more.

She practically jumped into his arms and buried her face in his chest. His face changed into a blush of red as she forced herself into him. His heart pounded quickly from it all and his thoughts were all blank. This was probably because he hadn't done anything like this with anyone but his sister before, especially not with a girl that he liked.

"Hey... Uhh... It will be alright, OK?" He placed his arms around her too to make the embrace more mutual once he was finally able to get his thoughts back. "If you need someone I will be here for you, OK? Just let it all out." He smiled as he felt his chest being drenched with liquid where her face had been buried causing his face to still have a blush to it.

Slowing down your pace and relaxing a little once in a while was a good thing, wasn't it? It was suffocating for Raven all this time. For the past eight years, the silver haired girl had felt like she was drowning in a black lagoon with black vines tugging her deeper and deeper into it. Ever since that night of ruthless carnage, Raven had been busying herself with travels and jobs. Her desperate attempts to run away from her past had even made her start being a singer. In the end, no matter how much she had ran, it looks like she was running down a path with no exit.

Holding on to Cirven, she realized how much she had been keeping bottled up inside her. All the worries, fears and nightmares of the past eight years. Sh had been carrying them all by herself for so long and finally letting it all out was good. Even her demon side seemed to agree with it for once. She wondered if it is because Cirven had a demon side too but whenever he was around, she was much calmer.

That's when she realized what she was doing, however, and with a soft yelp, she jumped out of his hands and turned around with her hands on her face. "Uhh I'm sorry about that. I didn't mean to just break down like that," she said, turning back with a small smile and a pink glow on her cheeks. Weird...that never happened to her before.

He held her softly as she continued to embrace him and just let everything out. He was used to doing similar things with his sister when she was sad somehow but for some reason with Raven it felt different. His heart was racing with how close they were but he was still managing to hold himself together and not give in to the nervousness he felt.

She suddenly released herself from around him and moved away a few steps showing her face was full of red and how nervous she looked from embracing him in such a way. He smiled at her and and scratched the back of his head finally showing his nervousness to what had happened but something still wasn't right for him. He felt as though he needed to do more than just end their embrace in such a way.

He moved closer to her without a word, which was weird for the usually loud Slayer. He then looked into her eyes and was entranced in some sort of euphoric state by them. He wrapped his arms back around her and kissed her lightly.

After the kiss he came back to his senses and backed away from her with a face even more red than hers earlier. "I.. Uhh.. Sorry! I just felt like that should happen for some reason! I have always liked you and just haven't come out and said anything on it because I was scared!" He bowed his head to her to help with his apology and hoped that she would accept it.

A moment ago, her other side was raging inside Raven with a loud demand to let it out. It had been like that for a while now. But somehow, when she was in Cirven’s hands, she noticed that her demonic side didn’t bother her anymore. In fact, it went back to its place without uttering a word of protest. Had it given up or did something calm it down? She didn’t have the answer to it.

A hand placed close to her heart, Raven wondered what the loud pounding in there was. She stood there staring off at nothing when she felt hands turning her around. Blue. So blue that it reminded her of the sky. By the time she realized she was looking at Cirven’s eyes, there was something warm on her lips. For a moment, everything went blank and when she came to, Cirven was already in front of her, apologizing for the kiss.

She wasn’t sure what she should say or how she should react either. She had never stayed in one place for too long, had always traveled and had always been keeping everything locked inside her. This was till she met Cirven and the others of Holy Tempest. Now, she felt that she knew where her home was and as she had taken a bite of that apple, she just couldn’t let it go. She was ready to fight with herself to stay with them...to stay with him.

Chuckling, Raven put her hands under his cheeks before pulling his face up so that their eyes could meet again. “What are you even apologizing for?” Raven asked, smiling at the tall blue haired man. She wasn’t going to tell him she liked him too. That would be way out of character for her. So instead, she placed a quick kiss on his right cheek before pulling herself away. “I wonder if that is good enough for an answer,” she mused, turning around to walk away, smiling to herself.