🐑 Sir Death Sheep Baby 🐑

If there was one thing that Emizel remembered from his last visit to the city, it was that attacking people for money was socially unacceptable. It was a human concept, and since the majority of the city was populated by humans, it made sense. He could live with that. Attacking unsuspecting civilians was something a bully would do, not someone with any self respect.

Now... since he couldn’t fight to make a living, what could he do? He at quietly at the table shaded by the large colorful umbrella, face scrunched in thought. He flipped his half filled water bottle once, then twice, just to give himself something to do.

On the third flip the cap came off, splashing the contents of the water bottle forward onto a few unfortunate people walking in from of him.

It was an experiment Emizel had yet to try in the city, despite living here previously. Back home, in the Netherworld, armor or accessories would protect the one wearing it, but it would also be able to enhance its wearers capabilities beyond what normal armor could do traditionally. Would donning more gear here affect him in any way?

“Probably not,” Emizel muttered to himself as he walked down the street of Sector 001. He was wandering, yes, but he didn’t have much of a choice considering how the sector operated.

One minute. Five minutes. Twenty minutes... At this rate it would take all day to find what he was looking for. He ran a hand through his messy blond hair, knocking his hood off the top of his head. Time to just ask someone. Maybe he’d have better luck with that.

He scanned the streets looking for anyone who could help him, and his pointed ears perked up when he spotted a perfect candidate, a taller boy with brown hair and round glasses. Perfect!

Every passing day in the city, Shalem felt himself surrounded by more and more unfamiliar faces. Oh for sure long ago the assassin had acquainted himself with countless of people, but as he stayed in the city as others disappeared without a trace, he had started to close himself off from the rest of the city.

He didn’t feel the need to bother himself with getting to know people who might no longer be around the next day. He simply could live with himself being nothing more than being stuck in a sea of unfamiliar faces.

But the rare occasion a familiar face did appear, one who he could have sworn disappeared so long ago, it was enough to leave the assassin at a loss.

“… Emizel?” he repeated, staring at the young boy in front of him. That face, long ago, how the both of them got wrangled together for a robbery. They had made minor contact in-between from then until one day Emizel simply disappeared.

The assassin had thought the worst, that the scientists had found the young boy’s usefulness in their project to be done, and had simply been rid of. Yet to see that face again, well now the assassin questioned what truly happened to those who disappeared.

“You’re… you’re here. What… what happened? Where did you go? Did the scientists simply let you leave only to bring you back later?”

The look on the taller man’s face could only mean that he recognized the demon. Relief swept though Emizel’s face. He wasn’t quite alone after all. Maybe he could even get some answers for all the questions running through his mind. Though, from what he heard, anything he learned might just bring up new questions.

“Yeah, it’s me. I’m here.” His voice was soft, just enough to hear past the white noise of the street. He spoke to convince himself of that fact. Emizel was still trying to process everything that was going on. How could he answer Shalem’s questions if he wasn’t sure of the answer?

“I didn’t even know I left until... until I woke up in that hospital room again?” He raised the tone of his voice, unsure of his own experience. “Maybe I was sent back to my world, but I can’t remember ever leaving. I know I was home, just like nothing happened, but...”

All the memories were tumbled together. When did things happen? What exactly happened? Emizel was almost glad for the chatter around him, it filled the pauses in his words with noise at the very least.

“I was home. My life went on like it was supposed to, but it was like it was never interrupted in the first place. This city never happened.” Another pause. He was starting to question himself and his memory now. “But if this city never happened, then how come I remember being here. Everything was too real to be a dream, but that’s exactly what it feels like right now.”

He hated to admit it, but he was lost. Emizel lived in this city for a year, disappeared for who knows how long, and reappeared as if it were nothing. The foliage and the clean air, told the demon he was in the green sector, but which one was it?

He knew he had an apartment now, but where was it?

He knew there were train stations that could take him through a whole loop, but where were they.

What was the point of all of this. Couldn’t the scientists magically restore all his memories? Emizel sighed, running a hand through his messy blond hair knocking down his hood in the process.

“This is stupid...” he sighed, once again feeling like a helpless child. He would have to ask for help.

The first thing Emizel did was take inventory. The demon sat himself down at the first free cafe table he found, emptied his pockets, and ordered the miscellaneous items on the cold wood surface.

He had a wallet, a standard phone, keys to an apartment, a small sharpening stone, and a worn down notepad. It wasn’t much to work with, but it was more than he started with. He had some money on him; anything else he would need could be bought or, if he was lucky, found in his apartment.

The streets were filled with pedestrians, more and more faces that Emizel didn’t recognize, some more unique than the last. There wasn’t any use in sitting any longer. He swept up his possessions, knocking the notepad on the floor in the process revealing a collection of pictures he had nearly forgotten...

Didn’t he see someone like that just pass by? It was someone he knew, someone her remembered. Emizel jump from his seat, diving into the crowd to catch up with the man.

It wasn’t every day that Emizel decided to take walks outside, it was actually every night. The harsh light of the sun never failed to bother him, no matter how long he’d been exposed to it. Tolerating less than ideal conditions for a demon was easy, but why put yourself to discomfort necessarily?

The air was crisp, cold enough for one’s breath to just be visible, and the street was sparsely lit with evenly spread street lights. It was a perfect night. He didn’t even need to worry (too much) about danger. What kind of human would willingly run up to any figure in the dark with bright red eyes?

Emizel continued his walk, talking in the layout of the city once again, only stopping when he cam across a few crumpled bills. The closest person to him was some scruffy old guy in what appeared to be a dirty jacket.

The city was the same as far as Emizel could tell. The sky overhead looked the same as it did before, clear but somehow oppressive. The buildings were the same, the streets were the same, and the traffic was the same. The only thing that was different as far as he could tell were the people inhabiting the city. As far as he could tell, nearly every name on his phone’s list belonged to a stranger, a stranger whose name he didn’t even recognize from before.

He shifted the scythe on his shoulder, just to remind himself that it was there. It least he was able to come back with memories intact and body intact. It was unnerving to be stripped of what made him a demon the first time.

Artina... Etna... Valvatorez... Desco... Who else? It was hard to remember. Emizel’s thoughts began to drift as he crossed the street, only snapping out of his trance when a biker rushed past him. That was when he noticed a familiar shape, and a familiar color palette.

A mage? Out here?

// Hello! I’m back after a year of being gone. I’ll write a nice comeback post laterrr, but for now like for a starter?

- - -

// Emizel will be returning mid-June prooooobably. I’d come back sooner, but I have finals soon, followed by wisdom teeth, followed by pain killers and suffering.