Shudders: Retribution

Chapter 13 - The Storm

"That guy same as you, kid?" Marsol asked as he pushed a bookshelf up back to where it belonged.

     (Y/N) sat on a table and watched the old demon fix the shelves while Yama was busy studying the map back in the employees' room. "No. He was always a demon. He found me and now we travel together."

      She sounded enthusiastic when she said that, happy to have a travel buddy. Someone she can depend on to have her back. Even if it's someone as grumpy as the blond.

"He found you and let you just tag along?" Marsol questioned.

"Well..." She muttered. "At first he said no but then I told him what had happened to me. That I was a human until now. So he let me come with him because of what I know about the Elitists. He wants to learn more about them and what they're doing."

"Better than what I was thinking, I guess." He said. "A pretty girl like yourself oughta be careful around demon men especially. We have the tendency to claim things."

     Her eyes widened. Claim?! Like, claim her?!

"Had to tell my daughter this at one point. It's in our nature, some stronger than others. I claimed this library but one might claim another person. Just be careful is all I'm saying."

      She was a young pretty female demon and especially with a backstory like hers, any crazy male would try to take advantage of that. She looked to be the same age his daughter was before he lost her so he felt the need to tell her this. He always warned his daughter about these things. Nothing's worse than a possessive demon with a claim on something or someone.

      After pushing another shelf back into place, he turned to see the girl trying to hide the blush on her face.

      Yama didn't have a claim on her, did he?! He didn't act like he did. Did he think she was pretty? Could that be a reason why he let her travel with him?

      He chuckled at how flustered she became but it was a serious thing. She needed to be careful with who she interacted with. The wrong guy could ruin her life. Literally. "Unless I'm wrong and you two are already a thing."

"What?!" Her voice heightened as the blush grew worse. "No-o no no i-it's not like that! We're partners!"

      Then she realized how that sounded and saw the old demon chuckle even more. "Not partners like that! We-We look out for eac-each other!"

"I get it, kid." He said, amused. He turned back to fix another shelf. "Reminds me of how me and my wife were. We were just 'partners' at first."

      She used her flannel to hide her face and tried to get the blond demon out of her head in this context. They didn't see each other in such a way. They just met for crying out loud! They were partners who looked out for one another and watched the other's back. Nothing more, nothing less. "New topic please..."

      Yama folded the map up after studying it and shoved it into his pocket. Being able to see all of the roads and possible routes back to his home made things way easier than just using his notebook. He went over which routes would be the fastest to take but also the easiest to avoid the Elitists on. He lowered it down to just one that'll bring them back to the lakeside area and from there he'll know where to go. As long as they kept pace, should only take 3-4 days.

      He heard the girl and the older demon back up front in the library area talking. He couldn't hear exactly what they were saying but as long as it was civil he didn't feel the need to intervene. Last thing he needed was to fight someone as large as Marsol.

     (Y/N) somehow took to conversing with Marsol pretty well though. At first, she was asking him more about his time with Zankoku but avoided saying anything about her abilities. Then it switched to the bear thing that chased them. Apparently, it's some animalistic demon Marsol had tamed and now keeps around to help protect the library. His daughter came up with the name 'Sorrel' for it.