A Time of Change

Absentmindedly the Dragon Slayer stared off into the distance, her mind caught up in memories from the past and of those that went down in the ruins of the ancient civilization she and Imai had uncovered. How she’d lost herself to an emotion deeply shizzled within her mind, one that had overthrown her reason and plunged her into the madness of a seemingly violent, insane blur that had rendered her unable to act. Instead she’d lost herself to a violent side, unable to control her body while it acted on its own. It was the first time that she’d known something like that to happen… to lose herself like that. No, in fact, it had happened once before, though the severity of that time was nothing compared to this loss of sanity. The first time was during her fight with Lilith, where her anger had caused her to transform into a demon. In the end it seemed to be a corrupted transformation, as at this point, with her memories awakened and her birthright explained, she had managed to see her true demon form. No more clawlike hands and feet, no batlike wings sprouting from her back or grey skin and scales. Just pale hair and horns protruding from her forehead, the patterns on said horns distinguishing the fire she wore, and of course her signature red pupils. The hair and eyes reminded her of herself before she had been reborn, and almost felt nostalgic, but it was a life she wished to leave behind as a whole. Although it forged her into who she was today, even that identity back then had been a lie. Not her true self. Leaning against the window frame she sighed deeply and averted her gaze from the beautiful view through the window towards the paper in her hand. A report to be exact, documenting what had gone down during the exploration and meeting within the ruins in full detail; be it with a bit of help from Imai to complete it, as she didn’t remember several parts of what had went down… or at least not clearly enough.

The main point in the report also mentioned her own speculations as to why she’d lost herself to this bloodlust. After having consulted Avide and Akhator about the happenings both had agreed on one thing; her magic proved unstable. Extremely unstable. Avide blamed it on the fact that Kenna’s transition into her demon self and Ashen bloodline wasn’t going as smoothly as planned, whereas Akhator thought it to be caused by something different, something neither of them could fix, yet he did not know what exactly it was. It was certain however that Kenna did not yet fully control the Dragon Fire she’d been gifted, and they’d commonly decided to add that to the report rather than their separate thoughts. She’d bring it up with Kite soon enough… speaking of which, she was actually going to do today.  Her guildmaster had been aware of what had gone down during the trial in the ruins, but hadn’t gotten to see her actual demon form. By the time they’d reached the guild the demoness had reverted to her ravenhaired self and passed out from fatigue, only to remember passing through the portal that lead towards Yggdrasil’s Realm before losing consciousness herself, and finding herself coming to in the guild’s medical bay, with a tiny pink being staring her in the face. Sei’d quickly gone to fetch her master, Imai, who’d brought her up to date after worrying about her wellbeing.

Now almost a week had passed, the ravenhaired maiden found herself back up and kicking despite the few bruises that still dotted her body. She could’ve healed them with her magic but felt slightly reluctant to do so, and under the pretence of making her body acquainted to the burden of being wounded had left them untouched. A decision she came to regret several times already, but stubborn as she was denied anyone to heal it. Secretly she also thought of it as a lesson; not to rely upon her magic all the time, perhaps in fear of what the “inner Kenna" had said. Ever since getting back she carried Zanbato with her at every occasion, hoping to only have to use her magic in direst of need. She moved her shoulder and groaned as a jolt of pain flashed through her arm, mumbling some cursing words underneath her breath as she glanced at the papers once again. With a swift turn she moved away from the window and started flipping through the report a final time, only stopping to pick up the large sword resting against her bedside and closed the door as she left her room, stepping into the guild’s giant hallways.








Kenna stared at the giant iron mass emerging above her in all its naval glory; the Tailspin, the pride and joy of her guildmaster, Kite Wilhelm, and the place she was bound to find him at if he wasn’t present in the Realm of Yggdrasil. Seeing the vessel felt nostalgic, especially now she had the time to gaze upon it from this angle. This is where it all began for her when she was still known as Ageha Mohra; her first important mission, her first meeting with the man known as Kite Wilhelm and her first fight against him as well… and her first near-death experience too. Kenna’s fingers unconsciously touched her lips as the hint of a smile played upon said lips, and her memory played with the thought of another first she’d experienced because of it. Even though it had only been forced CPR, it still counted as a kiss, right? Sort of. The grin remained upon her face for a while longer as she walked towards the ship’s entrance, allowing her a glance at the side she’d decided to enter in during her previous life. ”I wonder if they fixed that hole completely…?” she wondered, amused about the memories of her previous life’s rashness.

The crew of the Tailspin greeted the ravenhaired ace of Sabertooth as she appeared within view and walked unto the gangway, greeting them in return and asking where she could find their captain. With a few directions given towards his location Kenna found herself wandering around higher levels of the ship, passing by the kitchen for a moment to peek her head inside and take a look around. It really still looked the same way as it had when she last came here. Letting out a chuckle again, the demoness turned in her steps and found herself moving towards the quarters one of the crewmembers had told her to go to if she needed the captain. In front of the door, Kenna halted and while motioning towards a doorknob that wasn't actually there, she found herself stopping midway, seemingly hesitant, although she was perfectly aware of the fact that Kite would’ve probably noticed her presence with his slayer skills by now… The ravenhaired maiden shook her head and exhaled deeply, closing her eyes for a moment to let her mind calm down a bit more. She’d be doing a lot of explaining as soon as she entered… including the not-so nice details that weren’t included in the report. After all, her trial of becoming a dragon slayer shouldn’t have been known yet by anyone but Imai… or at least, him and Kite, but be it vaguely. Explain about her heritage… and a request. For all these things she needed to have her mind focused and her conscience clear. Knocking on the door, the maiden slightly nervously pulled the hem of her white shirt straight and inhaled deeply, waiting for permission to enter before stepping forth and bending her head a bit to get through the opening of the doorway, allowing herself to enter. ”Good afternoon sir, it’s me.” Waiting for her guildmaster to have spoken, Kenna pulled out the stack of paper containing the report and extended her arm towards him as she stepped closer, handing him the report to read. ”You might be needing this. It’s a fully-detailed report of the happenings during the trial… well, fight, in all honesty… me and Imai had in the ruins we discovered not too long ago.” she almost sounded like a professional, but her fidgeting hand betrayed she was hiding her nervosity trying to select the right words to continue. ”Also, if you have some free time on your hands, I would like your advice on something… and there’s something I’d like to tell you too.” Kenna mustered as her hand ran over the old scars on her arm, the same arm holding her guild tattoo, and awaited Kite’s reply.

The tired haze the crimson eyes of her guildmaster held made the young slayer realise she’d woken him up from what seemed to be a shorter than usual slumber, and made a mental facepalm at the action. Yet said mental reprimanding gesture towards herself was just as easily halted when her eye fell on what Kite was wearing, or rather, what he wasn’t wearing, made her eyes grow big in surprise. Be it with a hint of fangirling at the sight of his sculpted, underwear-only endowed body. Kenna nearly choked as a bright blush appeared on her face and turned her head slightly, letting out a series of small babbling underneath her breath as he turned around and asked her to following him down into his room. Nodding the dragon slayer followed Kite with her eyes, peering down into the hole as he descended into his bunk again and let go of the ladder somewhat before the ground, dropping unto the floor with a muffled thump. She blinked and followed suit, as soon as she’d made sure Kite had left the immediate premises of the ladder and descended a few steps into the bunk before sliding down entirely in one swift swoop. As she turned around the ravenhaired maiden was just in time to gaze upon the bluehaired slayer throwing on something to cover his bare chest and unconsciously swallowed a lump in her throat as she softly shook her head. No. This wasn’t the time to have her thoughts stray from her current goal.

She carefully stepped further into his room, slowly letting her gaze wander through it in search for nothing more than the satiation of her curiosity. When Kite called out her name asking what advice she needed from him, the young demoness stared at him for a brief moment, followed by a deep inhalation and an even deeper sigh that followed. It was a burdened sigh however. ”Well… heh, yes. Where do I start?” Kenna started hesitantly, not knowing which part of the information bomb she was planning on bombarding her guildmaster with to drop first. ”I’m… not sure whether Imai told you already or not, or whether you found out through other means, but I think it’s already come to your attention that I’m no longer human. Or rather, I never was in the first place… I just didn’t know yet, back then. Most of it should be mentioned in the reports as well but… I guess I should-" she silenced for a moment, leaving an almost dramatic pause fall before continuing, her voice slower and clearly uncomfortable. ”I should…  It’s better just to show you rather than to explain this all.” She sighed again, deeply, and closed her eyes as she allowed her ravenhaired façade to crumble before his eyes. From the top of her head her hair started growing pale, and as it crept further down her strands of hair grew to an almost unnatural white color, until all of her dark hair had become white. Small flames burst from her head and from them a pair of horns grew, protruding somewhat more than 5 inches from her forehead. As she opened her eyes again their golden color had shifted to a deep crimson, her pupils constricted and elongated to resemble those of snake or even feline nature. Cautiously Kenna tried to make eye-contact again, yet similarly with Imai earlier she feared for a negative reaction, or a sensation of loathing to be found in Kite’s eyes. The man was a demon slayer after all. And she was a demon. ”This is who I truly am. What I truly am. And my actual identity… is… my name... “ She started hesitating even more, trying to suppress the sudden shaking by clenching her hands, her nails digging into her skin in an attempt to keep her bearings. ”I’m a demon, Kite. The daughter of the late Demon Emperor of the South, Caradhras Calanthe di Endovier… to be precise. And my true name, as it was revealed to me; Aelin Kenna Calanthe di Endovier, of the Ashen Bloodline, and heir to- to… no, that doesn’t matter now.” She decided, shaking her head as she averted her gaze again, waiting for Kite’s response.

It was strange though; before she knew who and what she was, before her demon heritage had been revealed to her, Kenna hadn’t had any issues with showing her demon transformation to anyone. Probably because she thought it to be but a corruption of her magic and not a permanent thing. But now… The ravenhaired maiden knew how much demons were loathed in this world. The evil they wrought upon mankind. To have lived among humans for her entire life, well, both lives, to be exact, and had always felt like one. Yet she wasn’t. She was a demon. A feared infernal species most were deadset on destroying. Having already lost so much in the past, the mere thought of losing even more; perhaps that was why she feared their reactions. Of the ones she held dear and wanted to protect. ”I also… have a problem with my magic. My dragonfire. During my fight with Imai I lost control. Not only of my magic, but also of myself; as if my magic took control of me at some point and let me fall to the whim of my primal self. Every time I use my magic I can feel it now, something unnatural lingering deep within me. Something dark. I’m afraid to have it control me again like it did with Imai… experiencing everything from the side-line unable to stop my own body… what if I hurt someone again?” This last part she nearly exclaimed in a voice of despair, once again looking up at Kite with eyes nearly begging for help.