The Demon Slayers Sidekick

The group managed to safely reach the surface and Rorio turned to Domino.

“Here. I found this while I was in there.”

He tossed a small bag of gold to Domino who barely managed to catch it.

Then Rorio turned around.

“I'm gonna scout around a bit. You two get some rest.”

After saying that, Rorio dashed off into the forest.

Risa watched as he vanished before turning to Domino.

“You won’t try to stop him?”

In Risa’s eyes, Rorio wasn't in a good state of mind to move around too much. However, Domino just looked to the sky.

“Sometimes, people just need a little time alone. Just leave him be for a while.

Risa felt her worry grow as she looked at Domino before turning her head to the forest.

Rorio was already long gone.

Domino and Risa started collecting items such as firewood, food, and other normal camping equipment in order to pass the time until Rorio got back.

But even after a few hours, Rorio had yet to return which made Risa worry he had gotten stuck in something.

Ever since Domino and Rorio saved her, the two of them had started to feel like family to her. So seeing someone she cared about suffering made her feel miserable inside.

Eventually, Rorio returned to the two of them and said he found a small cave where the three of them could stay for the night.

Thus, Domino and Risa followed him to the location.

Once they arrived, they all prepared for the night. Risa watched Rorio throughout the entire setup. His grim, serious expression stayed throughout the whole process and she felt too nervous to ask him anything so she kept silent.

Before long, it started to rain outside.

Deciding to change what she was looking at, Risa turned her gaze away from Rorio to the rain outside.

Sadly, even as she watched it fall, her thoughts were still on Rorio.

“I want to help. But how can I if I don't understand?” she wondered as she saw the rain drip down the front walls of the cave.

She continued to watch the rain for quite a bit longer before hearing someone come up to her.

“The rain sure looks beautiful,” she said calmly trying to start up a conversation.

“You think?” Rorio responded behind her in a tone Risa couldn't quite place.

Domino immediately jumped on the opportunity for a joke.

“You're right! Makes you wonder if it's wet or not!”

He expected to at least get a chuckle, but all he got in return were blank, empty stares which caused him to take a step back.

“Did you really just say that?” Risa said emotionlessly. Domino chuckled nervously.

“Hey. Gotta lift everyone's spirits somehow,” he replied, slightly disappointed that his joke didn't land.

Things were silent for the rest of the night after that as the group all decided to just head to bed and deal with problems like Domino tomorrow.

Thus, the day's events came to an end.

Risa was the first to wake up the next morning and groaned from the pain in her back. She was used to sleeping in a crate, but rocks were a whole other matter. So she still needed to adjust.

Letting out a yawn, Risa looked around the cave a bit as she rubbed her eyes as they were drawn to Rorio upon hearing strange sounds coming from his direction.

But what she saw shocked her.

While Rorio was still asleep, she could see tears trickle down his eyes as his face formed into an expression of pain which caused Risa to jump up from her bed and run over to Rorio.

"No...Don't do it...No!"

He was sweating up a storm and his breathing was growing faster at a rapid pace.

Looking him over, Risa remembered what her dad always did for her when she dealt with stressful stuff and grabbed hold of Rorio's hand.

After a moment, She was surprised to find that his tears did seem to slow down and the tension that was there seemed to drain bit by bit.

The tears stopped after a few minutes and Risa watched Rorio quietly.

After a few more minutes of silence, Rorio started to open his eyes and turned his head to find Risa sitting there holding his hand.

“Risa?” he asked tired and confused before noticing tears slowly streaming down her eyes which caused him to freeze.

She tried her best to wipe away some of the tears with her other arm as she looked ar Rorio with a serious expression.

“I don't know what you're going through, but I can promise this much, I will always stay by your side.”

Looking into her eyes, Rorio’s memory flashed back to the day before and how confused and terrified Risa must have been as she saw him ruthlessly kill those monsters.

“How? How can you say that after you saw what I did?” he asked.

Risa just shook her head and gave him a calm smile.

“No matter what happens, no matter what you think you are, I won't ever see you as anything but one of my friends.”

Rorio could feel water starting to form in his eyes before he turned away, trying to hide the fact he was about to let the waterworks flow.

Meanwhile, Domino, who had woken up silently, just watched the exchange with a smile.

A bit later, the group had finished packing up and were about to head out when Domino decided to ask Risa a question.

“Hey, Risa? What was up with the vision you saw in that cave?” Risa looked at him confused for a moment before getting at what he was saying.

According to what they knew, the monsters in the cave would play out a person’s desires while they got drained of their life force.

This caused Domino to wonder why Risa's vision seemed to represent a wedding.

Risa thought for a moment before responding.

“I dunno. I've always wanted to get married, but because I was sold off by my mother, I found myself trying to give up on that dream. But I guess deep down I still wanted it even after all this time.”

Domino seemed to understand that response and nodded before continuing.

“While that does make sense. What still doesn't make sense is the guy who was supposed to be your husband. He looked more like an empty shell than a person.”

This was indeed true. While most of the monsters in the illusion were people Risa knew or may have known, the one she was being wed to was completely empty. It was just a void of color and that was it. No facial features or anything of the sort. It seemed to just be a completely empty being.

Risa just shrugged.

“I guess it just means that I haven't found the right man yet. But maybe I will someday, and I think that's something to look forward to. Who knows, maybe the one I'm looking for is someone I already know!”

She ended her reply with a cheerful smile which Domino returned.

Then Rorio ruined it.

“Good luck with that,” he muttered in a bored tone.

Risa immediately turned toward him, upset.

“What's that supposed to mean!?”

“Well from what you've told us, it seems like you don't know that many people. Let alone feel a certain way towards them.”

Rorio's words cut like a knife as Risa admitted defeat.

“You...have a point,” she said as she pouted. Rorio just chuckled a bit as he gazed at his companions.

The group chatted for a bit longer before Rorio looked at the sky.

Their next stop would be DragonBane City. Thanks to some information from Lori, Rorio learned that DragonBane was actually the location of the first Creator Knight. It made Rorio glad they waited to visit as he wouldn't have had time to prepare for such a fight on the spot.

The Creator Knights were spread out throughout the entirety of the Outbursts. Two were located on the outer layer, while two more were inside the inner layer.

This was all decided by the Creator who seemed to be the oddest of the group. No one knew anything about the Creator at all. Not their name, gender, voice, not even their face. Nothing was known about them other than that they were the Creator.

But saving that for another time, the primary focus was the Creator Knights.

According to what Rorio had learned, each Creator Knight used a unique single element used solely by them.

However, the elements of the Creator Knights were kept hidden in terms of who was where. So they couldn’t prepare for one element over another beforehand.

The elements themselves were fire, water, earth, and darkness and all the knights acted as protectors for the Creator and were entirely loyal to them and only them.

Because the location of each element was unknown, the group would have no idea who they'd be fighting going in which concerned Rorio.

But as they got closer to DragonBane, Rorio easily understood who they'd have to face.

After about an hour of walking, the group finally entered DragonBane, with the intent of defeating the Creator Knight lurking there.

As the trio walked through the streets of DragonBane, all they found were empty stone buildings that seemed to keep their tan complexion despite how old they looked. It seemed like a desolate wasteland and made it clear who the group was about to deal with.

While the city seemed to be somewhat normal, what stood out was the statue in the town square that towered over everything. It was the picture of a dragon that seemed to be on its last breath as it sprawled forward in an attempt to claim victory against something. Its left wing had been cut off and a shiver went down Risa's spine when she noticed that its belly was gaping open with the organs leaking out.

Quite disturbing for a simple statue.

After a bit more walking, the group found themselves standing in front of what seemed to be a church.

According to what he’d been told during his conversation with Quiv a while back, Rorio knew that the Creator Knights resided in churches. Why? No one really knows. But the best guess was that since the knights were so loyal to the Creator, it was safe to say they thought of them as a god and saw themselves as the Creator's followers. Taking that into account, it was probably safe to assume these churches existed to show their devotion.

Staring at the church, Domino was the first to step forward as both Risa and Rorio followed behind him. And as he pushed the door open, the three of them walked inside.

After making their way inside, the three found themselves in what seemed to be a giant empty room.

It was made of sandstone that looked as dry as the desert while the sound of the wind blowing by leaked through the walls.

Suddenly, the door slammed behind them and Domino let out a rather lady-like yelp as he jumped in surprise.

Risa chuckled while Rorio rolled his eyes.

Once the group made it a bit further into the empty room, they saw a sign sitting in the middle and walked over to it.

“Only those who face their trial of sins are worthy of facing the godly being of the Earth Creator Knight. Face your past pains if you wish to pass,” read Domino aloud.

It seemed both straightforward and confusing at the same time.

Unsure of what to do, the group looked at each other and were about to discuss what to do next when a voice echoed in front of them.

“Well Well Well! What do we have here?”

Risa’s blood went cold. She nervously moved her head to look in the direction of the voice and the one who stood there sent a chill down her spine which only caused the one in front of her to smile.

The one standing there was none other than Angelica. The woman who not only killed Risa’s father but also helped in handing her over to the slave trader.

Angelica’s grin widened as she looked into Risa’s eyes.

“Well Well Well. If it isn't little miss knight. Find your voice yet?” she asked as she let out a small chuckle

Risa didn’t respond. She was frozen by fear. Even with Xeto at her side which she gripped tightly.

Angelica didn't look any different from all that time ago. However, she was now wearing what seemed to be a set of shining armor that glowed with enchantments that would make penetrating it quite difficult.

“Well Well Well. I sense my precious little curse has been broken and yet you still refuse to talk. Such a shame.”

Deciding to move her attention away from Risa for a moment, Angelica turned toward Domino and Rorio before she pointed her hand out.

“Well Well Well. I guess I'll just take my frustration out on your friends here. Now, let's dive into their worst failures, shall we!?”

Angelica immediately shot a strange glowing ball of energy toward Domino at full speed.

Domino prepared for impact. However-

“What the-!?”

Before he could take the attack, Rorio sensed something up with the ball of energy. Thus, moving without thinking, he jumped in front of Domino. Taking the attack full on.

“Rorio!” Domino shouted. But it was too late.

As Rorio slammed into the ball of energy he was sent flying backward. He crashed into the wall and the stone shattered on impact.

After that, Rorio slumped to the ground and fell unconscious.

Risa, who had been frozen up to that point, turned to Rorio and looked at his unconscious body lying on the ground.

“Rorio!” she shouted terrified.

Angelica smiled before another ball grew in her hand.

“Well Well Well! This is getting interesting. How about we all enjoy the show!? This is gonna get good!” she shouted.

She then immediately shot the ball into the air and a dome surrounded her, Domino, and Risa before she fell to the ground unconscious. Domino followed soon after. And after a moment, Risa collapsed as well. Everyone in the room was out for the count.

Rorio thought he was falling from the sky. The wind blew past him as he felt a breeze forcing itself onto his back.

He wasn't sure what was happening, but just as he started feeling his consciousness come back to him, he crashed through some trees and continually landed on branch after branch while shouting “Ow!” the entire way down before finally landing on the ground with a CRASH!

“Oww. What the heck?”

Sitting up, he groaned as he rubbed his head.

Blinking, he noticed his voice seemed to have gotten a little higher, along with his body feeling a bit smaller.

Suddenly, he heard a voice behind him.

“Rorio! Rorio, are you okay!” came a voice he recognized all too well.

He turned his head to look and there she was. A young girl around the same age as Rorio was holding out her hand with a concerned look on her face.

Her hair was smooth and straight as it fell all the way down her back.

It was a slightly brighter blue than Rorio's hair and her eyes had a different shine then her brothers. Add on the aura that made her kind soul shine, and it almost made it difficult to look at her.

Rorio stared in shock for a moment before rubbing his eyes and looking at her once more.

“Sis?” he said in shock.