PATH OF THE STAR HUNTER

Suddenly struck by the loneliness he had been keeping away, Desmond sat alone in the living room with a full glass of scotch. Although Desmond knew that the alcohol would not affect his current body, the mere taste of the whiskey and that burning sensation as it went down his throat was enough for him.

After what seemed like an eternity to Desmond, where all he had consumed was blood, anything else he tasted was a change for the better. However, this did little to improve Desmond’s mood.

In a dark, empty house, sitting alone drinking whiskey, this was not the scenario Desmond had imagined would occur when he returned. “I’m back.” Desmond murmured and couldn’t help but remember everything that had happened in these last few days.

Even for someone like Desmond, the environment full of madness and carnage in that place was too much to tolerate without any side effects or stress. Desmond then remembered all the things he had done, being quite indifferent to most of them but still being affected by a few.

To make matters worse, Desmond didn’t know exactly why he had subjected himself to such hell. This was different from the past, where he told himself he was doing what was necessary; he had chosen to go to that place to free Lilith, but why?

The commitment to Myrilla was only a small part. Getting Lilith’s bloodline and all her powers was undoubtedly a great motivation, but there were other reasons Desmond got involved. In the end, it all went back to Lilith, and Desmond realized a very simple truth: he simply wanted to save the girl, and since he had the power to do so, he did.

As much as this seems like a no-brainer, to Desmond, it wasn’t. Desmond had always based his plans and behavior on what he needed to do to survive, to get stronger, and to advance; he had never done something so selfish as make an important decision based only on what he wanted to do.

Beyond his love affairs, Desmond was very pragmatic, so saving Lilith when there was no real benefit but a great risk did not fit his modus operandi.

.....

With one last swallow, Desmond drained his glass and sighed contentedly. Despite all the risks and difficulties, Desmond was quite pleased with himself for once in his life. He had entered a world of darkness and depravity to rescue someone from the shadows, his heart could live with that, and with the sins committed along the way, he had at least that conviction.

“You seem to be better now; welcome home, Desmond.” exclaimed Kyuru, who at some point had appeared and sat on Desmond’s shoulder as was her custom.

Desmond smiled, his mind and spirit feeling that subtle calming effect of being near his fairy companion. Kyuru once explained how their bond could function as a spirit anchor and how part of her role as a fairy companion was to bring him peace; Today, Desmond fully understood what the fairy meant.

For her part, Kyuru felt a world of darkness spill over from Desmond’s heart, a lurking, growing madness that had been kept hidden beneath the surface. However, how the fairy looked at Desmond never changed; she loved the man with whom she shared her fate. At times like this, Kyuru wanted to welcome all of Desmond’s darkness with open arms and give him as much warmth as possible in return.

For Kyuru, a being that bordered between being a physical and spiritual entity, with tremendous sensitivity and ability like empathy, Desmond’s presence at this moment was like poison. Nonetheless, the origin fairy drank the poison with a warm smile while holding her loving gaze on the man next to her.

The subtle atmosphere lasted for a few seconds until a portal quite familiar to Kyuru materialized in the living room. Desmond reacted quickly, taking Kyuru in his hands and stepping back quickly. One can imagine his surprise when he saw the archangel of balance, Katya emerge from the portal.

“Katya, what are you doing here? What happened to Lilith?” Desmond asked, surprised and somewhat worried about his recently acquired sister.

Katya was silent for a brief moment, keeping her own stoic countenance as usual. Still, Desmond could swear he saw something akin to helplessness gleaming deep in the archangel’s eyes.

“Lilith should be here shortly. I need her help, so I’ll wait for her here.” Katya exclaimed as she finally deigned to answer Desmond’s question.

Desmond didn’t even bother to say anything else, the archangel didn’t ask for his opinion on the matter, nor did she respect that this was his home, but Desmond decided not to think about it. He knew Katya wasn’t being rude on purpose; she lacked common sense. In other words, Katya didn’t need such a thing as common sense; Desmond doubted that the archangel would deal with many people on a personal level on a normal day, so things like etiquette or the like were not among her concerns.

Desmond almost felt the need to thank the goddess of fortune and make a small temple for her in his home when he saw Lilith come out of the portal. One more minute of awkward silence with Katya would have killed both him and Kyuru. Coming out of the portal, Lilith looked serious, maybe even sad; Desmond could already imagine why.

Coming out of the portal, the first thing Lilith saw was that hateful archangel she had fought before. Still, her attention quickly turned to Desmond and the beings around him. Looking genuinely surprised, Lilith turned to Desmond. “It seems my brother is much more charming than I had thought. I did not think you would have such a special fairy at your service. I can’t determine the specific race, but the mana she emits is extremely pure. I admit it, Desmond; I’m surprised. That cute stone doll must also be some kind of Natura, albeit one of a very low level and class, still quite rare nonetheless.”

Seeing the pout, Kyuru was making with her puffed cheeks and her hands on her hips, Desmond stepped in and corrected Lilith. “This is Kyuru, my companion fairy. She is not at my service, she is my friend and companion. This other little girl is Estella; she takes care of all the housework and is part of the family.”

Although he tried to soften his tone, both Lilith and Katya sensed how defensive and territorial Desmond’s tone of voice and body language were; the hunter did not appreciate at all that his family was insulted, even if it was by accident. Fortunately, Lilith’s pride didn’t extend to these topics, and she quickly apologized. “Sorry if that seemed offensive, Desmond; I thought I spent too much time looking at things through the eyes of an empress.”

In the same way that Desmond tried to hide his emotions from her, Lilith did the same, almost succeeding in hiding the sadness and self-loathing she felt when she mentioned her title as Empress.

Seeing Lilith’s discomfort, Desmond decided to divert the subject and talk about the archangel in the room. “Katya, you mentioned earlier that you need Lilith’s help.”

Immediately, Lilith gave Katya a rather strange look. She never expected the reason the archangel of balance was looking for her was to ask for her help. Beyond that, she could not imagine why Katya wanted help from her.

Feeling the gazes on her, Katya spoke. “I’m looking to reach someone who is very difficult to track down. After many efforts, I managed to find the person, but I am currently unable to meet him.”

As if she read the mind of Desmond and Lilith, they were looking at her with questions written in their eyes, Katya added. “The person I am looking for is an Oscuras, someone who is very difficult for me to deal with. That Oscuras is a powerful user of the law of madness, having been born from it, unfortunately, means it’s nearly impossible for me to use any of my abilities on him.”

“What are you talking about?” Desmond questioned as he eyed Lilith warily, already knowing who this Oscuras Katya was looking for.

“I am the archangel of balance; balance and destiny are my domain, but none is of much use against that Oscuras. There is no balance or equilibrium in madness, and it is almost impossible to hold on to the fate of a person whose mere existence emanates chaos and madness.” Katya replied.

Seeing Lilith’s deathly silence, Desmond asked for her. “Why do you need Lilith?”

“I need an anchor or bond to hold on to so I can follow the flow of destiny to it.” Katya responded with mercy in her eyes as she looked at Lilith.

Looking up, Lilith showed a hollow smile; as a blood mage, she knew many things that Desmond did not. “You need my blood. That bastard took and used my blood on himself; you want to use my blood to track him down.”