The atmosphere felt odd to Audrey, something she had never experienced before. She then realised that this would become her life for the next few years.

A man sat in his dull room, alone, the windows shut tight and the curtains drawn hastily about the worn out frame. He lay loosely on his bed, his thin and weak figure sprawled across the stained blue sheets. A green glass bottle sat on the bedside and he rested his hand on it.

A saddened look came in Audrey's eyes. So desolate. So sorrowful. And yet so... human.

Galen held her hand warmly, giving a small without averting his gaze from the scene. Audrey turned to her friend, smiling with gratitude, and he left her friend. Audrey took a deep breath, closing her eyes.

Breath. So human.

She let go of her opinions, her emotions, and let the scene flood in its entirety. As the little Shadow opened her eyes, the scene seemed changed but more... raw. No more sorrow, no more dejection. Simply a human in a bad stage of life. A bad stage from his then perspective, which was all it was. But it made his experience of life.

No creature seemed to be anywhere around the man, and that puzzled the little Shadow. Only a murky outline of a depressed and contorted aura, a blue dark as black, like a shallow halo coming out from his mind. Could it be that the creature was invisible? No, she would still be able to sense the presence. Galen certainly would.

Audrey looked to her friend again but the boy shook his head, momentarily averting his gaze towards her. That was when Audrey realised there was no creature, only the human and his mind.

Suddenly a fragile creature, almost a skeleton with rotting skin, appeared beside the man who took a deep breath, an odd sense of clarity now in that halo. He lifted his head up, looking at the glass bottle somewhat longingly and with hate, till his head fell back to the bed. A few moments passed and Galen took a step forward but Audrey held his hand gently. Audrey tried to lend a little bit of the light from her mind to the man.

After a few minutes the man finally stood up, taking the bottle and walking towards the dustbin, letting it go, walking back to is room only to return to his previous state.

Audrey nodded, though her eyes held a hesitant and saddened look. "Do we have to kill the creature?"

As Audrey's voice reverberated in a soothing tone Galen sighed, pausing. He shook his head, turning to her friend with a smile.

"I'll see what I can do, you help him," he replied with a small smile and Audrey gave a grateful nod.

Audrey remained by the window as Galen proceeded. She chose not to close her eyes, instead looking into the brown emptiness of the man's eyes. His thoughts came surprisingly easily to her; they weren't buried like she expected, but rather, were floating freely in his mind. He wanted to let go of his habit his mind, his blame and his deep remorse held all those thoughts together with a force like that of a massive sun. However, even that force wasn't enough to suck all the light in; that still escaped and so could the man, Audrey was sure of it.

"Remember your past, your goals, your true wishes, your duty," Audrey whispered in the sun's abyss, simply reading out the man's own thought, but perhaps her energy amplified his voice.

"Remember your self."

The halo had now become a part of the creature. Audrey sensed Galen's invisible presence behind the creature and noticed a faint but powerful shock in his eyes. Hesitantly he raised his blade, creating a simple cut on his collarbone while using his ability of invisibility to make the halo disappear, alienating the creature from it. Perhaps some of his innocence was stripped away, because a bundle of energy separated from him and met the dark halo, bursting and neutralising.

The man opened his eyes, exhaling. Slowly, steadily, in lithe but somewhat determined movements he stood up and went to his cupboard, removing a small key, then went the basin to wash his hands and the key with soap. Audrey followed him. He took the metal to another wooden cupboard blatantly holding the same glass bottles in the storage room, one of its door ajar. He placed his hand on the wood, a cold sensation seeping in, and he closed the door firmly, turning the key in its hole twice. He returned, placing the key back in its place. He sat cross-legged on his bed, his back straight. He took the notebook from his bedside, turning the pen in his fingers.

Audrey found herself in an odd trance, and her friend remained by her side. The man continued remain idle for a long time till the ink finally touched the paper, drawing a vague sketch that Audrey couldn't quite make out, but it brought a small on the man's face. That made her happy. He left the book by his side and closed his eyes, finally listening to his mind. Audrey and Galen began to leave but before that, Audrey opened the window very slightly, letting a new breath in. Such a minute physical change shouldn't make much of a difference.

Audrey turned, looking at the man one last time. For the briefest moment it seemed as if he opened his eyes and smiled towards the Shadow. Audrey blinked to see the man as he was, sitting with closed eyes, and shook her head.

She left the scene with smile.

- - - - -

"Galen, are you all right?" Audrey asked, worried. Galen had obviously experienced something terrible and Audrey wanted to know what it was if they would be doing this for a long time. He would always be with the creature and she with the human.

"It's nothing, really. Just the surprise of a first time," Galen said with a smile. Audrey firmly shook her head.

"You're lying. I know it."

Audrey pursed her lips. She shouldn't have been so direct.

"Well... I just felt bad for the creature. It was also helping the human, you know, taking away the negativity so that we could extinguish it, and we do that by killing it."

"We don't have to kill it, right?" Audrey asked, but her voice was small.

Galen sighed, closing his eyes, opening his gaze away from his friend. "Someday we will."

Audrey's aura went under, feeling hesitant to feel anything. She took a deep breath, sighing. "Let's go to the others. They should be at the library now." Galen nodded, though he made no attempt at hiding his concern for his friend. Audrey pursed her lips.

Her attention skipped her journey, seeing her friends sitting silently at a table, each reading a different book, although Elek and Trina seemed to research the same topic. The sight made Audrey quite happy, seeing them all quiet together.

"Haalo," Evelyn looked up immediately from her book, eyeing Audrey and Galen rather gleefully. Audrey raised an eyebrow, suppressing a smile.

"Were you even reading you book?"

"She actually was," Conrad said in a surprised tone without looking up from his book. Evelyn gave a proud nod with her eyes closed but stopped midway. She scrunched her nose, crossing her arms and turning away from Conrad.

"It's training time, isn't it? Let's go together!" Elek said suddenly, his voice oddly soothing, Audrey thought he was comforting her.

Audrey nodded, and the four stood up. The six walked together, their footsteps silent on the wooden floor, all lost in their quiet thoughts, though one was rather chaotic. As they stepped outside, Audrey felt a strong gust of wind ruffle her hair, tickling her chin. The sunlight was dim and warm, the atmosphere cool and comforting, the sounds of her surroundings lively.

Such odd sensations.

"Do the creatures exist because of us? The Demonic Creatures, I mean." Trina raised her eyebrow, but soon returned to her usual demeanour. Elek was now ahead of the group, walking backwards with a smile.

"Not really. It's a little complicated but... they exist because of the minds of living things and the Shadow Dimension. They are born out of the thoughts and emotions of sentient beings."

"Do we also exist because of them? The Shadow Beings, I mean."

Audrey's immediate question was a little unnerving, but Elek shook his head, much to Audrey's relief.

"The Shadow Beings and Sentient Beings are very different. In terms of our fundamentals itself we are separate. For them, we would be paranormal. For us, they are a physical part of Nature. We are an abstract one. Does that make sense?" Trina explained.

Audrey nodded, and Trina wore a satisfied small. However, the former wasn't settled just yet.

"Then why are we so much like them?"

Trina was surprised, almost stopping. Conrad sighed, as if disappointment. Evelyn was now curious too, but Galen maintained his neutral expression. Elek now joined the group again, a comforting hand on Trina's shoulder.

"There is no objective answer to that, but I believe it is so that we can understand them. Empathise with them so that we can help them and, maybe in some way, help ourselves."

Elek smiled, his eyes closed, and Audrey pursed her lips, wearing a wary smile.

"I suppose I understand that. Whenever I read about the demons I feel... angry, I don't understand why they suffer so much, why they deserved to be trapped because of one demon lord and somehow I blame humans. Then I remember that I feel anger."

Conrad's head faced the ground, his small voice trailing. Everyone walked slowly now, no motion seeming evident, but things passed.

"Is it our duty to help humans? Is that our purpose?"

Galen looked at his friend with curiosity. He thought he knew her, but he never imagined she'd have so many questions after their experience. But perhaps after what had happened... even though it had been seven months, he realised this was natural.

"Duty and purpose are different, isn't that what you say? I think it is something that changes with time. Maybe it's not defined."

Elek looked rather proud of Galen. Of course, different perspectives led to different opinions, which is why he was happy his friend was so liberal with such topics. Not many Shadows were like that anymore.

Audrey suddenly stopped. A bright smile came on her face and, extending her arms as far as she could, she brought her friends in for a long embrace, then continuing to walk.

"Thank you."

"Don't thank us, we're your friends! We're a team." Elek said firmly, trying to contain his grin.

"Is this what it feels like when I randomly hug you all?" Evelyn asked in a serious tone.

"Yup," Conrad replied simply. There was a pause before Evelyn broke into laughter.

"Awesome. You should do this more often, Audrey."

Conrad rolled his eyes and the six broke apart, still walking together till they reached their destination.

Audrey didn't yet know her duty, her purpose, her meaning, their meaning and all... but she knew what she had to do next, and she decided to focus on that.

----- -------

"Wow, that was so long ago, I don't even remember it now." Audrey thought, grateful to her friend and to the entity who had been taking her through this journey for so long, now. Somehow, there was no nostalgia or melancholy, only the remnants of a seemingly distant past.

"I was never wrong in my doubts," Audrey said quietly, expressionless, although content soon came in. "But I had to experience that to be where I am now."

She did believe she was on the easy path, however. She would help the human, Galen had to be with the Demonic Creature, had to sentence its fate most often alone. She no longer felt guilty, but she hoped it was all for the best, one way or the other. She decided to make the hope true if it wasn't.

It was silent all around. Audrey realised that it was night time, the crescent moon's shine gentle and lightening. Now, knowing what her duty was or at least understanding it, everything felt so natural. She was learning a Truth, the Truth, slowly with time. Even if someone told her that everything was false she wouldn't care because she'd simply remember what it said...

"All is true, and true is false."

Recondite concepts. What a bizarre world. Somehow, Audrey found it all comforting.