Aki had begun to feel worn out. There were people everywhere, the peaceful environment of the ruins... was ruined. All day, there was so much chatter that a buzz of sound hung in the air, adorned with clattering from the stalls. It was tiring. While she was initially inclined to see her posting at the festival as a vacation, she quickly realized that it wasn't quite going to work that way. Unfortunately, certain circumstances, had finally convinced her to take her duty a little more seriously. Having been forced to take certain measures to rid the event and the world of a young but seemingly insane vampyre, Akira had to change her ways.

The deed attracted attention and suddenly she had requests that needed handling. Shirking her work was no longer an option. She had always been acutely aware that such a large collection of people, meant that innocent citizens were left quite vulnerable, but up until recently, that was someone else's problem... Now, it was hers, they expected her to do better, to work harder to avoid the debacle that occurred the other night. Like it was her fault for not acting in a more swift manner. The two lives lost were simply numbers that they wanted to keep low, the entire exchange between her and the committee had been so, transactional. Lucky for her that she didn't expect better.

So there she was in her Rune Knight attire... While the idea was to try and help people feel safe and comfortable, the dark-haired girl really wasn't equipped to handle that and the ones assigning the job had figured out that much. The Shimada really wasn't the friendly neighborhood, approachable Knight. But that didn't mean she couldn't effectively do her job, as silly as the currently designated undertaking was.

Why did she have to be on clean-up duty? Not the sort where she had to pick up the garbage people left strewn around, that would probably be easier... No, this was the sort where she had to force people to clear people out from a certain location, after the event, it was to be employed for, was over. It was a rather stupid thing to do and she hated it. Why did they have to tell people what to do with their lives? If a few wanted to linger, they should just be allowed to do so. The argument she got for this, was that the committee had hired people to set up for the next activity they had in mind for the area...

Freakin' idiotic excuses she thought. The bonfire got over so late that there was definitely no one who was going to set anything up now. It was probably just because they didn't want any more late night incidents or accidents. So that's what the Shimada was now, some sort of a warden of the Knight. Maybe the committee assumed she had what it took to take whatever necessary measures given her previous nightly encounter.

Well, at least they had deduced the time of the day, or rather night, that she'd prefer doing this. With any luck, most people would have retired from the festivities already. But luck rarely favored Akira, except when it was matters of life and death. She'd probably find herself dealing with drunk nutcases who'd fail to understand her request despite the numerous times she'd have already paraphrased it. Perhaps, just for the sake of keeping up appearances and not besmirching the name of the Rune Knights as an organization, Akira would have to stick it out. She really didn't want to though...

She fondly recalled the time when she would stray away from a place like this, simply because a part of her feared the judgment of the mob... There was no cause for that anymore. Ironically, now that she wasn't losing control of her magic, despite the contradiction of the elements, or perhaps because of the contradiction, her self-confidence had increased tremendously. She felt like she was coming into her own. Having grown up the way she had, the young girl had internalized the fact: Haters gonna hate. All she had to do, was use it to her advantage.

A small flicker flame sprung to life as she stroked the matchstick against the box. Having practiced ways to keep people at bay, the Shimada had resorted to her most harmless and efficient human-repellent, her cigarette. Particularly amidst the mingling scents of the flowers, hopefully, nobody would want to be around a person who was leaving chary smoke in their wake. This in turn would probably help directig people away. Of course, as usual, as she sucked in the smoke, she refused to actually inhale it into her lungs, she simply blew it out in a plume of grey, that left ghostly shapes to for the moon to eerily highlight.

She noticed a lone figure and rolled her eyes. As expected. Cautiously she approached the silver-haired figure. Akira cleared her throat to garner attention and as a fair warning of her presence. She took a few steps closer, unfortunately, the Shimada was approaching the woman from behind. Taking longer strides to swiftly take a spot beside the sitting lady, the dark-haired girl pulled the cigarette out of her mouth, letting it sit wedged between the first and second finger of her right hand. It still issued a wispy trail of smoke from the glowing tip. 'Excuse me miss? I'm sorry but you can't be here right now.' Akira said, dully. Her words hardly conveying any authority and definitely lacking conviction.

Nope. No luck in doing this the easy way. The Shimada was not surprised. Akira wondered what means was she allowed to reliably employ, in order to actually execute her task. She narrowed her eyes and carefully scrutinized the woman in front of her as she placed her hands on her hips, trying to act a little more authoritative. She rarely needed to pull rank, usually, Tsuru either did that, in his manic state or managed to sweet talk to ensure that they had their way. The Shimada had even gone through the trouble of putting on her Rune Knight robes, wasn't that supposed to inspire some deference?

After the woman uttered her first passive-aggressive request, Akira just folded her hands and stood there stubbornly, the moonlit area was bright enough for the lady to answer her own question. Obviously, as a Knight Akira did have permission to be here, it was one of the very few reasons that made her job a little lucrative. Curfews that were sometimes implemented on citizens rarely every applied to her. Did the woman know already and despite that she was going to pull this crap? Was this was just a threat of some sort? Or an assumption that Akira was either a coward or perhaps susceptible to being bribed?

Her refusal to move incited another response from panting the woman, post her exaggerated heavy sighing. Akira merely raised her eyebrows. 'That makes two of us.' the raven said curtly. 'And I do mind, actually.' she added. Akira really shouldn't have bothered to take the bait an engage in a personal conversation this way. Perhaps, she should have just announced her credentials and made the request again, but the only time Akira could muster the illusion of patience, was when she was too bored and uninterested in pushing a certain task. Today was not that day, she wanted to get this done with as soon as possible and now that she thought of it, the night was fairly pleasant and she was met with the selfish urge to have it all to herself.

'I am a Rune Knight, in case you haven't noticed, so I do get to be here.' she emphasized. It was very rare for Akira to add so many afterthoughts, usually, she was a girl of very few words. But despite the tall pauses between her sentences, the woman was refusing to take the hint. 'And you don't! So why don't you, "go away" huh?' she said, mocking the lady by copying her words. There definitely had to be a better way to engage in this conversation. But Akira was just tired, tired of people second guessing her words, tired of people refusing to listen... Technically, she was just tired of having to do such tasks, to begin with.

The young teen decided it was a good time to rant about how this was exactly what she expected. 'I knew it, I knew I'd have to deal with someone who was incapable of following simple instructions and rules.' The Shimada stated, a frown knitting her brows together. Her words, despite coming from a place of frustration were not loud, they were a flustered hiss. She went on, now divulging the reasons behind the implementation of the curfew. She talked about how it was for the safety of the citizens, ever since that vampyre had gone batshit crazy and killed two people, in a rather brutal manner. The Shimada just stopped short of mentioning how the blood of the young vampyre had been on her hands because she was not going to let this become a war of threats. In all fairness, while there was selfish urgency, it wasn't enough for Akira to let things get violent. 'So now you just sit here, defying me, because you know there is nothing I can do about it.' she finished, almost in a low growl.

The woman had seemed fairly surprised and skeptical upon setting her eyes on Akira. Like everything the girl uttered was somehow up for debate. Perhaps, Akira was reading too much into the situation, maybe she just assumed everyone was as doubtful as she was. The knight really had not been in the mood to prove herself. But even the defiant silence provoked her into that unexpected rant. At least after she had spilled all the pent-up annoyance, things seemed to have settled down just a little bit.

At least Akira had got her point across, that was a small mercy, additionally the fact that she had gotten away with it, without having things spiral into something that involved violence. She watched as the silver hair lady's demeanor change, particularly after she shared the bit about the vampyre. The Shimada regretted having divulged that information, considering that she was aware of the intense effort the committee was putting in to keep the entire ordeal rather hush-hush. She cleared her throat, as though that would miraculously wipe the mind of the woman... Needless to say, it didn't. Perhaps, for this instance, the fleeting expression of doubt and confusion that flitted across the woman's name, was a good thing. The raven didn't push the matter.

Finally, when she noticed the night dweller lift her hands into the air, she felt a sense of relief. Would this always work? Is this what I have to do to get my voice heard around her? the raven, her hands finally slipped off her hips, as her state relaxed just a little bit. A speck of ash from her abandoned people-repellent fell onto her clothes. Akira was still in a guarded state, simply because the change in the stranger had been rather sudden. She ended up analyzing the movements of the woman in front of her. It didn't take too long for her to figure out something was off. The fluidity of the movement was lost, there seemed to be an underlying struggle that ensued.

The Shimada paused, there was more to the exaggerated, condescending patience that the woman displayed. The Shimada in all her distractions had missed the cues, initially but not anymore. It wasn't anger that caused the words to be issued through grit teeth, it was a pain. Yet, maybe just to avoid confrontation, the woman pulled herself off the make-shift bench. But the entire process didn't last too long.

Akira let out a soft squeal of shock as the silver-haired lady fell over. She ended up imitating her actions as well, the Shimada's hands shot up in the air, defensively in an I-didn't-do-anything manner. Her concerned gaze rested on the woman and as soon as she realized there were no witnesses around to accuse her of anything, she crouched beside her, noticing the tears that glistened in the moonlight. Unlike most people, at least Akira refrained from asking the stupid are you ok? question. She placed a tender hand on the woman's shoulder. 'Nevermind that, can I get you help? Are you hurt?' the Shimada asked, wincing now at the shriveled state of the woman, this really was difficult to watch... She'd almost never seen someone in as pitiful a state.

Whatever it was that was causing the lady to suffer so much, was getting worse almost every second. Akira couldn't help but wonder if she incited this... The woman had been silent, just sitting there by herself in her peace and now Akira had forced her into all this... discomfort, to put it mildly. Flustered, her eyes raked the gently twitching body, for signs of any injuries, as she waited for the acute hurt to subside enough for the woman to be able to respond. 'I'm here... I'm here...' Akira tried feebly, there wasn't much she could do until she had more information on what the hell was happening. Tentatively, she reached for the woman's hand and held onto it, as a gesture of false reassurance

'More time?' Aki asked softly, using her free hand to push away the strands that fell around her face, to tuck them behind her ears as an impending sense of doom filled the atmosphere.  'I... I'm here.' was all Akira could repeat, as though her mere presence would suffice to offer something to this woman as she gathered herself and found something that she could ask for, a solution Akira could employ to fix this. This was very frustrating, she was used to calibrating a situation, collecting data and racking her brain to find a way around things, at the moment she had nothing. Nothing... Except for a heavy sense of guilt. Perhaps, it was unfounded, but it didn't matter, she couldn't just sit here and watch this happen.

A part of her wanted to scream for the healer, but their tent was so far away. It would only serve to create panic. 'I should go get he-' but her earnest whisper was interrupted as the woman finally mustered the strength to convey what was happening. Just the very first sentence was enough. Akira's grip slackened, her blood felt like ice in her veins. She'd read about demonic possession and she'd read of the slayers... Finally, she had read about the rare cases where one had the misfortune of being a victim of a possession after being a slayer. The demons that punished the slayers by inhabiting their bodies were... brutal, to say the least.

To a much smaller degree, the Shimada could empathize. She knew what contradictions did to the human body. She recalled the moment the light was introduced into her, the explosive pain it caused... the struggle and how she was sure she was going to die. Akira had been lucky, but her situation was also one on a much smaller scale in comparison to this. The empathy made this personal, tears pooled in her eyes. She would not have been brave enough to endure anything of this sort. Akira would have given up, much sooner, while she was still capable of taking matters into her own hand. The Shimada just nodded earnestly while the woman explained... Occasionally shushing her softly, to prevent her from wasting her energy on all those words. 'Please... It is ok... I understand.' she said, tightening her grip on the woman's fingers once more. She couldn't lie and say it was all going to be fine because it wasn't. Not unless by some miracle, the event had attracted some super powerful mage who knew how to reverse this possession. Even then, the mage would've had to be within the vicinity, to have witnessed this, there was no way.

Her next words caused the tears to stop clinging to her long lashes and stream freely down her face. 'Oh... no no... Just hold on!' she said in a futile manner. There was no point in holding on, they both knew that. Akira was begging in response, begging to not have to bear this burden. It only served to prove to them both that a part of Aki was a coward. She swallowed, as her free hand wiped the tears from her cheeks. 'No...' she repeated softly. 'I... can't possibly...' she said a slight tremble in her voice, mimicked by her hands. There was a tall pause while she contemplated the moral balance that hung there, between action and inaction and then the girl steeled herself.

Akira drew in a long shaky breath, with the exhale let go of all the selfish fear, of consequence, of burdens. This was not about her, this was about the victim, who had braved this ailment far longer than Akira could have. The woman had made the choice to suffer with this demon, as long as she could, to the point where a simple choice like this, was no longer her own.  There was no point to this woman suffering. The Shimada was not family, she was almost a nobody, but she was here... The woman was not going to die alone. 'I... ok.' Akira managed, tensing almost all her muscles to prevent them from shaking, from betraying the weakness.

'Can I have your name? And of those you'd like to inform?' she said, after clearing her throat and in a voice as detached as she could feign at that moment. Her words were accompanied with a gesture, her fingers slipped out of the woman's hand. arced in front to create her light bow, the one that now would have the blood of two creatures... For two very different reasons. She shifted her wait and rose a little, now kneeling on one knee. Akira didn't want to be standing over the woman when she took the shot. She wanted the silver-haired woman to know that the one doing the deed was on the same level as her, if not below, that there was no shame in asking for what she had, no shame in the surrender and that Akira didn't judge her for it. She aimed the arrow so it was perfectly aligned with the woman's heart.

She picked the target in hopes of making quick work of the death, to prevent any further suffering. She chose her light, hoping to give the demon inside one last dose of pain that equated the kind he was putting the unwilling vessel through. Despite all her pessimism, a small part of her brain screamed inside her mind, hoping against hope that by some miracle, the light would only take the demon and not the person... But her more rational mind knew what was going to transpire. 'And anything that you'd like me to relay in particular...' she added, her voice succefully cracking through her temporarily strong demeanour.

~~~

She'd wait for the time it took, for the woman to relay the answers to Akira's questions, with any information that she was willing to provide, before taking the shot... The light piercing straight through the woman's heart was sure to put an end to things...

Perhaps it would have been better to have her be a nameless entity, that Akira had aided... The identity only served to accentuate the burden the Shimada felt. There was a smile on the face of the demon vessel, the face of the slayer. She wished she had the time to know more. She wished she knew what the woman had faced, what events led to her sitting on this heartbreaking precipice today. She hoped at the very least, that it was worth it. It was morbid curiosity, was Akira going to end up leading down a similar path, especially with the healer guiding her subconsciously?

She nodded, curtly at the responses she received. She felt a slight stab of annoyance that no one was here with Leyaria. Fate was cruel, to have tempted the silver-hared woman in such a way, to have made things so unbearable and drawn her into accepting death sooner than anticipated. Despite all that, at least there was peace, contentment, the sixteen-year-old focused on that instead. For the sake of those she left behind, there was no reason to have her suffer more, just so they could watch her depart...

She swallowed as the woman mentioned a sister, it appeared that she was going to join a lost loved one... The Shimada had no faith in the afterlife, but she could see why people would want to believe in it. Standing there, with the lady's life in her hands, she found herself hoping that the siblings would indeed meet... That someone was there for this demon and slayer on the other side.

Finally, she took the shot and immediately after, she almost stumbled forward after the arrow left the light crossbow. Such a simple act with such a grievous fallout. The knee that she had propped up, fell to the ground, painfully scraping against it. Akira keeled forward and reached for the woman's... No! Leyaria's hand again. The Shimada watched as the light sapped away her life. Akira stayed, but unfortunately, she didn't have the strength to reflect the smile as it assumed a hollow nature.

The Knight couldn't see the victim through this end, with any semblance of the stoic bravery that she'd briefly displayed before casting her spell. The consequence of her action weighed down on her as wide-eyed, the raven watched the spirit of the woman wither and be stolen away by the moonlit night and silently wept. 'I hope you find peace, Leyaria.' When the body was quite still and the pulse gone, Aki shuffled away, still quite horrified and decided to not assume any more responsibility for the night. She needed some space... some time to just be by herself.