Daemons

The early fall breeze whipped through the tall skyscrapers, the lights of the city below reflecting off their glossy windows and illuminating the skyline. Monsters and humans milled about on the streets; The city’s lively atmosphere ever present despite the encroaching darkness of night. Yet this darkness did serve one purpose.

Hidden amongst the shadows at the peak of one of the tall buildings was a lone figure, his form indistinguishable from the surrounding darkness. Only those knowing to look for him would have a chance of noticing him, and even then he was a difficult find. His tall skeletal form was cloaked in a perpetually dripping inky substance, concealing his right eye from view. The black goop stained his clothes, turning the simple hoodie and pants he wore as dark as the rest of him. The only aspect of him not shrouded in darkness was a single piercing blue eye, which could be seen scanning the surrounding city. Four large black tentacles consisting of the same material that covered the rest of his body sprung out from his back, gently swaying in the night breeze.

The black skeleton’s single eye roamed across the nearby buildings, searching for familiar faces, threats, anything that could provide him with useful information. He really had nothing else to do as he waited for his companions arrive, and he was so used to constantly being on alert that it felt wrong for him to drop his guard, even for a mere moment. He knew he was strong, but he’d learned a long time ago that despite his enemy’s relative weakness in comparison, they were clever and had more than one way to make up the difference in strength.

His enemies were simply known as hunters. They were typically human, though a few monsters had been seen amongst them before. Hunters made a living by hunting down rare types of monsters, either killing them to sell their dust or capturing them to be auctioned off. It was something the dark skeleton and his crew had to constantly be aware of, otherwise they might be killed, or worse.

A sound echoed across the rooftop, originating at a point behind the goopy skeleton. He whipped around, tentacles raised behind him in a threatening manner. The figure was hidden nearly as well in the darkness, yet night vision was one of the many skills available to the first skeleton. He was quickly able to make out the other skeleton’s form and relaxed at the sight of one of his companions.

Jet black bones, accented with red and yellow, were hidden beneath a dark trench coat that faded to blue towards the ends, though the blue parts looked like they’d been stitched onto the coat as an afterthought. The coat was accented with bright gold along the collar and the pockets, standing out against the darker colors. He wore a red sweater and dark pants with a similar blue gradient to the coat underneath it. A blue scarf was wrapped around his neck, the tail of it swaying in the breeze. Blue tear marks streaked down his skull from a set of mismatched eyes. One eye was a simple white eye light within his red socket, yet the left eye was a dark blue surrounded by gold. Constant ERROR signs and glitches fizzled in and out of existence about his form perpetually, with no real pattern to them. Blue strings could be seen retracting from the air nearby to his fingertips, signifying his means of traversing to the top of the tall building.

“Nightmare that better be you.” The glitching skeleton called out into the darkness, lacking the night vision that allowed the other to see clearly.

“Yeah, it’s me Error.” Nightmare stepped towards the edge of the roof, still remaining hidden to any onlookers but allowing Error to see him more clearly. “Have you seen any of the others yet?” Error shook his head as he came to stand beside the taller. A silence settled across the two as they simply waited, knowing the others would have to be more careful in order to reach them.

There was a reason that the small group of skeletons were hiding from the world’s prying eyes, and that was because they weren’t normal monsters. Nightmare and his crew were a rare subspecies of monster known as a daemon. Daemons were stronger than typical monsters, possessing both a monster form and daemon form. Error was currently in his monster form to avoid drawing attention to himself, and Nightmare was in his daemon form simply because he preferred it.

A daemon form could usually be described as a hybrid between their monster form and an animal of some sort. The animal part of a daemon’s form often dictated aspects of a daemon’s personality and abilities. Nightmare’s daemon form, for example, was an octopus. It’s what created both the tentacles sprouting from his back and the inky goop that covered him. His monster form was noticeably smaller and less conspicuous, but Nightmare despised how weak he felt in that form. Thankfully, his daemon form came with the ability camouflage, so Nightmare could usually sneak about undetected despite his extra appendages.

Error, while being not as strong as Nightmare in his daemon form, had the distinct advantage of being capable of partially transforming. His daemon form was a spider, though he was often disgusted by the full extent of that form. Instead, he would call forth his strings, which were really made of his own spider silk and infused with his magic to be unbreakable or produce an extra set of arms if a situation required it. Other than that, he preferred to stay in his monster form. Error knew that his full daemon form was significantly more powerful, but he would never use it unless he absolutely had to.

The peaceful silence of the roof was soon broken by someone whooping and hollering. Both skeletons peered over the edge to see one of their own scaling the side of the building, not taking much care to conceal himself. The blue hoodie they wore did nothing to help the other two identify them, as three members of their group all practically dressed the same. It had been convenient at the time they’d stole the clothes, yet now it was more of a nuisance than anything. Nightmare added get everyone new clothes to the mental list of things he would do while here. As the skeleton climbing up the building got a bit closer, a bright tuft of orange fur could be seen wiggling behind them, which alerted both the other two. That idiot was in his daemon form and not even bothering to hide it!

Thankfully, it wasn’t long until the skeleton flipped himself over to land in a one-handed handstand in front of the other two, his red and blue eyes sparkling with a desire for praise. Instead, a black tentacle wrapped itself around a long orange tail and pulled. The childish skeleton yelped, being dragged into the air and left hanging. “Dust, you are such an idiot! What would you have done if someone saw a skeleton monkey scaling a skyscraper?!”

Dust thought for a moment before shrugging his shoulders. “Start screaming ‘King Kong’?” Unamused, the goopy skeleton flicked his tentacle, releasing Dust as he sent him flying back towards the middle of the roof. The monkey twisted in midair, angling his hands to catch himself before springing up and onto his feet. “Ta da!” He waved his hands about as he looked at the other two. Nightmare simply showed no signs of paying attention while Error scoffed and turned his back on the younger one.

Not getting the desired response, Dust frowned before looking about the barren piece of flat concrete. He wandered over to a small enclosure on the roof, housing a compressor or something similar, before climbing up to the top. Seeing none of the others there yet, he simply sat there with a bored expression, his tail flicking about.

Every member of the group had come to begrudgingly accept Dust’s childish nature, given that he was in fact the youngest in their group and his monkey side didn’t help things. He hadn’t bothered to change back, still sporting his hand-like feet and long tail. The same soft orange fur that covered his tail was present on the tops of his hands and feet when he was transformed. A bit of the orange fluff could also be seen around his spine and the edges of his skull to complete the look.

The monkey daemon had been able to easily scale the side of the building due to the perks of his form. The same could not be said for the next arrival, who pulled himself over the edge of the roof with a bloodstained axe, breathing heavily. This skeleton wore a similar set of clothes to Dust, though there were multiple dark red stains that had never been washed out of the fabric. Ignoring the stains, the most noticeable features he possessed were a blood red left eye light and a large chunk missing from his skull.

Dust was the first to notice his companion’s arrival, waving energetically to the skeleton who was still on the ground trying to catch his breath. “Heya Horror! Nice to see ya made it! How ya doin’ buddy?” The only response Horror had the energy to give was the middle finger.

Not having the energy to walk, Horror decided to take advantage of his other form and began to change. His legs were quickly covered in dark green scales before merging together, creating a long, serpentine tail in their place. His heavy breathing slowly came out as a hissing noise, signaling his completed transformation into his snake form.

He lazily slithered over closer to the others, keeping his distance from Dust as he really didn’t feel like getting tackled by the energetic monkey. Horror offered a silent greeting to the others, enjoying the chance to catch his breath as he returned his trusty axe to its resting place on his back. In terms of physical strength, Horror could beat all of the others in both forms, but he was pretty lacking when it came to magic or some of the abilities the other daemons possessed. As such, he always had his axe on hand for situations where brute strength wasn’t quite enough, like scaling a skyscraper.

Next up was another skeleton possessing a bright red eye light, though thankfully not the same outfit as the last two. A black hoodie rimmed with white fluff around the hood was over his red sweater, black track pants with a gold stripe running down each leg completed the outfit. They had climbed up in a comparable manner to Horror, yet he barely showed a fraction of the fatigue that his serpentine friend did. It was one of the perks of his form, a mountain cat daemon, which allowed him to climb most things with relative ease.

Upon reaching the top the feline skeleton stretched out similar to a house cat. He smirked up at Horror who was still breathing fairly heavy. “Wow, the fatass snake beat me? Heh, didn’t expect your slow ass to get here till sunrise.”

“Oh, piss off and go get stuck up a tree again, Fell.” Fell didn’t seem too impressed with his friend’s retort, muttering “one time” under his breath before stalking over to the other side of the building.

Not wanting to stay on all fours, Fell quickly abandoned his current form. The tawny fur that covered his body in a similar fashion to Dust’s practically melted off of him, his tail receding and his clawed appendages returning to his regular hands and feet. The only remaining feline aspect to him was his sharp teeth, yet those were a staple of his monster form as well, the single gold tooth he possessed glinting in the low light.

A bit of time passed before another skeleton in a blue hoodie hopped over the edge to where the other skeletons were. What set him apart from Dust and Horror were his empty eye sockets that leaked some strange black substance, and the glowing red target-like symbol on his chest.

“Killer!!!” Dust was hopping from one foot to the other on his perch, waving both arms around like crazy to get his best friend’s attention.

The second Killer spotted his friend he hopped over and jumped up to land beside the fidgeting monkey with a huge grin on his face. He was hopping everywhere, due to the fact that his daemon form was that of a frog. A black pseudo-flesh covered his arms and legs, capable of producing mucous with various effects. The effects ranged from harmless or sticky to hallucinogenic or lethal, and Killer had complete control over the production of these various substances. The only place he lacked control was his eye sockets, where black goop perpetually streaked down his face. The substance was usually harmless, as Killer didn’t want to accidentally hurt someone if they touched his face.

Killer had made use of a sticky mucous, as well as the sticky surfaces at the ends of his fingers and toes, to stick to the side of the building and climb with relative ease. His climb had been the quickest and easiest out of all of them, save for Error or Nightmare. Once he was situated next to Dust, his arms and legs reverted to normal as the two fist bumped with large grins. Despite their energy, the two of them kept silent, especially after the glares Dust received from his loud outburst. All of them were here now, except one…

“Looks like we’re all here.” A deep voice came from behind Dust and Killer, startling both of them off of their perch with a screech. The two skeletons untangled themselves from the pile they landed in, ignoring the laughter coming from behind them and instead glaring up at the source of the voice.

“Fucking shit! I swear to god you’re trying to give us a heart attack Reaper!” Killer cursed, his gaze meeting the equally empty sockets of Reaper. The final member of their group could barely be seen in the dark thanks to the jet-black cloak that he always wore, yet his wide smirk was clearly visible. Fell and Horror were laughing still their asses off, while Error seemed unimpressed, and Nightmare looked annoyed.

Reaper slowly descended, his feathery black wings practically shimmering as they caught some of the light from the city below. The sound of his talons clicking against the hard concrete beneath them echoed across the roof, giving the raven daemon a much more sinister atmosphere. It didn’t help that Reaper was by far the strongest of their group, even more powerful than Nightmare or Error. The only reason he wasn’t the one in charge was because he was simply too lazy, not wanting the responsibilities involved.

Because of Reaper’s disinterest in leading, the job fell to Nightmare as he was the one who brought the seven daemons together in the first place. Error often served as second in command since he was the smartest, coming up with plans and strategies that had kept all of them alive so far. Reaper and Horror were the group’s heavy hitters, being the strongest in terms of magic and raw strength, respectively. Dust was the fastest and the most agile, so he often functioned as the group’s scout. The wide variety of substances Killer could produce made him a bit of a wild card that Error was quick to take advantage of. And then there was Fell, who wasn’t the strongest in any one category but had no obvious weaknesses as well, making him capable of performing any task required.

These distinct roles had become a necessity. It was what kept the group alive despite the numerous hunters that had tried to kill them over the years. When everyone knew their job, it was far easier to be in control of a situation, allowing them to stay one step ahead of those pursuing them. Which made most them wonder why the hell they’d come to the city. The group often made a point of avoiding heavily populated areas, as less people meant fewer potential enemies and less sets of eyes that might notice they weren’t normal. Yet nobody dared to ask the question that was on all of their minds.

Even Nightmare couldn’t conceal his uncertainty, making it clear to the others that this wasn’t his idea. Nightmare hated his monster form, so going out in public was something he tried to avoid. Easier said than done when surrounded by millions of people. Reaper seemed to be the only one unfazed by their surroundings, confidently striding up to the edge of the building to look out over the lively city below.

“Yeah, we’re all here now, so wanna tell us why you suggested we do the one thing I said we should never do?” Error’s glitched voice betrayed his frustration as he spoke to the skeleton dressed in black before him.

“Because” Reaper looked back over at the collection of daemons behind them, smirking as he continued. “They’re here.”

“They?” Horror spoke up, moving a bit closer along with everyone else. “You mean, your soulmate?”

Reaper practically spun around, spreading his arms and wings out as an almost giddy expression danced across his face. “Not just mine, I can feel them. All of them. Somewhere hidden within this city, all of our soulmates are hiding, just waiting for us to find them!”

The other daemons could hardly believe Reaper’s energetic proclamation. All daemons had a soulmate, a single being that their souls were unexplainably connected to. A daemon’s life felt hollow and empty until they managed to find that person, the one person destined to accept them. As a result, most daemons made it a mission in their life to find and protect that individual, no matter the risks involved. There were more complicated aspects to the concept, but most of them would only present themselves once a daemon had managed to find and connect with their soulmate, which is something the seven skeletons had yet to do.

The group had been relying heavily on Reaper to have any chance of finding any of their soulmates, as his magic was strong enough to sense the invisible bonds that connected them. While he wouldn’t be able to find their exact location, Reaper would be able to detect the general area where they lived. And this city contained all seven of them. Hope could be seen on all of their faces as each of them pondered what kind of person their soulmate was, all trying to envision a life that was more than just fleeing and survival.

Despite indulging himself in his own fantasies about his soulmate, Nightmare was the one to voice the group’s skepticism. “Are you serious? What are the odds of all seven of our soulmates living in the same area?”

“Well, it is a pretty big city, and there are a lot of people.” Killer piped up, but instantly shrunk back as Nightmare’s cold glare was directed at him.

Their leader turned back to the raven daemon, who nodded his confirmation of Nightmare’s questions. “Well, if that’s the case, I guess we’ll be staying here for a while.”

“We don’t have to move right away?” Fell seemed apprehensive, seeing as how their little group had never spent more than a month in an area.

“I don’t like this, what about the hunters?” Error tried to bring logic into the equation, but it seemed like nothing could kill Reaper’s good mood as he danced along the edge of the rooftop.

“Oh please, you never like anything. And besides, I’m fairly sure if we can’t hide from a few hunters among millions of people, then we can simply get rid of them.” Reaper made of point of flashing the scythe that was usually concealed under his cloak, sending a devious look to Horror who gladly returned it.

Dust was starting to get just as excited. “Yeah! We can’t afford to pass this up if they’re really out there! I can’t wait to meet them!” Killer and Dust were practically dancing as the older skeletons tried to weigh the risks involved.

Nightmare sighed as he took all the details into consideration. “As much as I never thought I’d say this, Dust is right. We should find our soulmates as soon as we can before any hunters have a chance to notice our presence here. Besides, I do have a brother in this city who should be able to help provide a safe place for us to stay. I can get in contact with him in the morning.”

“A brother? Blood or bound?” Error questioned. Daemons had two types of brothers. Blood brothers were biologically related and could be either a daemon or a normal monster, whereas bound brothers were what the group of skeletons were. While not related to each other, they had all forged a literal bond with the souls of each member of their group, creating a relationship that went beyond mere friendship. This bond could be used to call for help if any of them were ever in trouble and would alert the others if one of them died. It also made living together a lot easier, making the group into a sort of family.

“Blood. He’s a normal monster but he knows all about our kind, so we’ll be able to trust him.” Error deemed the answer satisfactory, finally giving in to the excitement the others were feeling. Nightmare looked out over the city as the other skeletons celebrated the chance of finding their soulmates, a wistful expression on his face. “Looks like I’m coming home, Dreamy.”