Shiki-Oni

Oni Maid Everyone on Era Island knew that Shiki-Oni served as Kuzunoha's aide and maid. However, people seemed to be ignorant about her background. The Oni was reputed to be a cruel race, but Shiki-Oni appeared to be a quiet and understanding person. No one would regard her as a cruel member of that race. Farewell to the Past Ages ago, two Oni Clan girls are known as Mae Oni and Oku-Oni paired up and began a murderous rampage to gain greater strength. The two Oni left a path of ruin. Kuzunoha finally dealt with them and subjugated Oku-Oni. The spirit became a maid and changed her name to Shiki-Oni. The Oni value strength above all others. Individual Onis would be ranked according to the power they command. Most Onis, however, blindly upheld such codes. They believed that strength equals to the ability of destroying everything before them. Two Oni girls named Mae Oni and Oku-Oni did just that. They chose a murderous path to acquire greater powers. The two Onis were inseparable and left a bloody wake in their path. Their endless string of victories destroyed entire armies and killed numerous monsters. Even the "god" that people worshipped could not escape their wrath. The two Onis devoured the "god" and acquired its powers. They may have became stronger, but nothing else changed. By this time, Oku-Oni grew tired of the murderous quest for power. She could not see the point of this endless cycle of violence. While Oku-Oni questioned the aim of this quest, Mae Oni was not sated and forced the two to continue their pursuit until they met Kuzunoha the elemental mage. The two Onis at first felt fear when they encountered the mysterious Kuzunoha. The fear soon gave way to excitement as they knew that Kuzunoha was the powerful warrior they sought. The two Onis challenged the elementalist to a fight. Despite wielding the powers of the "god", Kuzunoha's elemental skills proved to be much greater. Oku-Oni had thought about her eventual defeat. When the moment arrived, a state of unexpected serenity welled up in her heart. She suddenly realized that powers acquired through death and destruction could not be considered true strength. The two Onis had embarked upon the wrong path from the very beginning. Even then, Oku-Oni would not see her companion die. Oku-Oni did all that she could to teleport Mae Oni to a safe place and faced Kuzunoha alone. Surprisingly, Kuzunoha did not deal the killing blow. In fact, she was intrigued by Oku-Oni's power and actions. The elementalist told the Oni that she would accept her as a Shiki-Kami and teach her the true meaning of power. Kuzunoha thus renamed the Oni girl "Shiki-Oni" and instructed her to rein-in her emotions and impulses, slowly molding her into a serene and understanding maid. Most Precious Gift Nevertheless, Shiki-Oni's transformation into a quiet and patient maid did not happen overnight. She started off as an irritable and uncontrollable Oni. However, the homely environment with Shena, Alven, and Kuzunoha slowly transformed the Oni who eventually regarded the time spent with this family as her most treasured memories. Kuzunoha promised to make Shiki-Oni stronger, but this did not entail giving her new powers. Shiki-Oni's body was already infused with great strength. Unfortunately, she could not wield this power and used it like a child wielding a divine relic sword. Kuzunoha's aim was to help Shiki-Oni gain control over the powers she had. The first step would be to help Shiki-Oni master her emotions. One day, Kuzunoha brought a young boy named Alven home and ordered Shiki-Oni to take care of him. Shiki-Oni thought she heard wrongly, for she hated nothing more than children. Having a cruel Oni take care of children was unthinkable, but Kuzunoha disappeared after giving her order. Shiki-Oni thus avoided contact with Alven, but the young boy became extremely interested in her and trailed after her everywhere. Having ran out of patience, Shiki-Oni warned the boy: "Get away from me, brat! Kuzunoha may have ordered me to take care of you, but I hate children!" The warning proved useless for Alven still enjoyed following Shiki-Oni who had no choice but to put up with him. Later on, Kuzunoha ordered Shiki-Oni to serve as Alven's training partner. This finally gave Shiki-Oni the chance to hit Alven. Shiki-Oni always defeated Alven in training, but Alven never gave in and always got up after being knocked down. That was how the Oni changed her views about Alven. Kuzunoha then introduced Alven's foster mother Shena to Shiki-Oni. Shiki-Oni spent many years living together with Alven and Shena. The cozy homeliness proved rather magical. It slowly transformed Shiki-Oni and the Oni noticed her personal changes when Alven fell sick. It was not the order that forced her to take care of Alven. She actually accepted her role as a maid and acquired control over her emotions. Alven was afflicted by a common cold, but his continuous coughing had Shiki-Oni worried and she felt the end of the world was near. "Should I send Alven to the hospital? But that would worsen his conditions! Should I tell the doctor to come visit instead? Wait, master left some panacea somewhere..." Shiki-Oni went into Kuzunoha's room and searched through the place before finding the secret panacea. Shena then came home before the Oni could feed the medicine to Alven. Shena's care restored Alven's health. Shiki-Oni felt extremely relieved to see the lad recover. There was nothing Oni-like about her by that point. Alven thanked Shiki-Oni for accompanying him all this while and surprised the Oni with this act. She had been detested by thousands. This was the first time that anyone thanked her for her deeds. It also happened to be the moment that Shiki-Oni appreciated her transformation. After this incident, Kuzunoha finally decided to teach her the ways of wielding her powers. Shiki-Oni was determined to use such powers to defend these special everyday moments.