“Ignis, why are you asleep when five bounty hunters are on our tail?”

A heavy glass slammed onto the wooden table.

Ignis jerked awake, lifting his head slowly while rubbing one of his horns.

Ignis: “Hey, Kitten… how long was I asleep?”

Before she could answer—

baaaam!

The front door of the tavern burst open hard enough to shake the walls.

A short demon boy stepped inside. He looked young, maybe fifteen or sixteen, with messy dark hair and sharp yellow eyes. He walked straight toward Ignis without hesitation.

Hancho: “You’re Ignis, right?”

Ignis leaned back in his chair.

Ignis: “Depends who’s asking.”

Hancho grinned.

Hancho: “My name’s Hancho. I wanna join your treasure hunter crew.”

Kitten nearly laughed into her drink.

Kitten: “That’s one hell of an introduction.”

Hancho folded his arms confidently.

Hancho: “I heard you and your crew became half as rich as the demon king himself. Everybody in the demon realm’s talking about it.”

Ignis: “Yeah?”

Hancho: “And since being that rich is apparently a crime now… I figured you’re the kind of demons worth following.”

Kitten smirked.

Kitten: “So you wanna end up on the wanted list with us just for money?”

Hancho: “Absolutely.”

Ignis stared at him for a moment.

Hancho continued.

Hancho: “Honestly, the demon king can go screw himself.”

A few demons inside the tavern went silent after hearing that.

Kitten leaned closer.

Kitten: “Kid’s either fearless or stupid.”

Hancho: “Probably both.”

Ignis laughed under his breath.

Ignis: “I like him already.”

Kitten: “Same.”

Ignis pointed at an empty seat.

Ignis: “Fine. You can join.”

Hancho sat down immediately like he’d already been part of the crew for years.

Then—

baaaam!

The tavern door exploded open again.

Five goblin demons stormed inside carrying weapons.

Goblin Hunter: “Where are Ignis and Kitten?! We know they entered this bar!”

The goblin barely finished speaking before Ignis punched him straight across the room.

crash!

The goblin smashed through a table.

Ignis stood up calmly.

Ignis: “You people really don’t know when to mind your business.”

Outside the tavern, the five goblins surrounded them.

Hancho looked around carefully.

Hancho: “Five goblin-type demons. They definitely came for the bounty.”

Kitten cracked her knuckles.

Kitten: “Cute.”

Ignis: “Try not to slow us down, Hancho.”

Two goblins rushed first.

Kitten lifted her hand.

The wind around her sharpened instantly into invisible blades.

shhhhkkk!

Both goblins were sliced apart before they even realized what happened.

Hancho’s eyes widened.

Hancho: “Okay… that was insane.”

Two more goblins charged.

Hancho stepped forward.

Hancho: “Guess it’s my turn.”

He touched the ground with his palm.

The dirt beneath the goblins suddenly burst apart as giant vines erupted upward.

The vines wrapped around the goblins violently.

crrk!

The goblins choked and struggled until their bodies went limp.

Hancho dusted his hands off proudly.

Hancho: “Not bad for the new guy.”

Only one goblin remained.

The surviving goblin stared at the corpses around him… then suddenly grabbed one severed head and devoured it whole.

Hancho: “What the hell—”

The goblin ate another.

Then another.

His body began swelling larger and larger until he towered over all of them.

His muscles expanded grotesquely.

Fouzzy: “I am Fouzzy… and I will repay you for killing my comrades!”

Hancho took a nervous step back.

Hancho: “Uh… maybe we should run?”

Kitten rolled her eyes.

Kitten: “Newbie.”

Ignis walked forward instead.

Ignis: “Relax.”

Fire ignited around his fist.

Ignis launched himself forward and punched Fouzzy directly in the chest.

boom!

But Fouzzy blocked it.

Ignis slid backward across the dirt.

Ignis: “Huh.”

Fouzzy roared.

Ignis suddenly grinned.

Ignis: “Okay then.”

He thrust both hands forward.

A massive fireball exploded outward and slammed into Fouzzy head-on.

foooom!

The giant goblin disappeared inside the flames.

Seconds later only ash remained.

Kitten folded her arms.

Kitten: “Took you two tries.”

Ignis: “Still counts.”

Hancho stared at both of them.

Hancho: “You two are monsters.”

Kitten smirked.

Kitten: “You’ll fit right in.”

Hancho pointed toward her.

Hancho: “You’re a wind-type demon.”

Then he looked at Ignis.

Hancho: “And you’re a fire demon.”

Ignis nodded.

Ignis: “Looks like you figured it out.”

Ignis suddenly noticed something lying near the ashes.

A red apple.

He picked it up slowly.

The moment his fingers touched it, something strange washed over him.

A memory.

Warm sunlight.

Laughter.

Someone handing him apples.

Ignis frowned.

Ignis: “What…?”

Without thinking, he bit into the apple.

Crunch.

For a second everything felt warm.

Comfortable.

Then suddenly—

Kitten: “Ignis?”

Hancho blinked.

Hancho: “Wait…”

Ignis looked down at his hands.

His red demon skin was gone.

His horns had vanished.

Instead of clawed fingers, he saw human hands with a light brown complexion.

Ignis stepped backward.

Ignis: “What happened to me?”

Kitten walked around him in disbelief.

Kitten: “You look completely human.”

Hancho: “That apple did this?”

Ignis touched his face slowly.

Even the way he felt inside seemed different.

Lighter.

Less violent.

Almost unfamiliar.

Ignis: “I don’t understand…”

A loud shadow passed overhead.

Everyone looked up.

A gigantic flying stingray descended from the sky.

Two demons stood on top of it.

One of them waved.

Leo: “Hey! Where’s Ignis?”

Kitten pointed.

Kitten: “Right here.”

Leo and Amari stared.

Amari: “No way.”

Leo jumped down from the stingray.

Leo: “Ignis… why do you look human?”

Ignis sighed.

Ignis: “I ate an apple.”

There was silence.

Amari: “That explanation somehow raises more questions.”

Ignis: “Tell me about it.”

Leo crossed his arms.

Leo: “Well, weird transformations aside, we found a client with money.”

Kitten immediately perked up.

Kitten: “Now you’re speaking my language.”

Leo: “Big money too.”

Ignis: “Alright. Lead the way.”

Hancho pointed to himself.

Hancho: “By the way, I joined the crew.”

Amari looked him up and down.

Amari: “You sure about that?”

Hancho: “Too late now.”

Everyone climbed onto the giant stingray.

As the creature lifted into the air, Ignis quietly stared at his human hands again.

Something about the apple still lingered in his mind.

A feeling he couldn’t explain.

Like part of somebody else’s life was trying to crawl back into him.