Lost in Dreamland

Chapter 10

They were still hanging out at the estate. Rengoku laughed at something that Muichirou has said while Sanemi is already fuming in anger. Chiaku is having a conversation with the girls when she suddenly became distracted.
"Chiaku? What's wrong?"
Her ears twitched and her face suddenly plastered with both fear and worry.
"Chiaku." Shinobu placed a hand on her shoulder. The fairy looked at her in fear and suddenly flew away.
"Oi! Chiaku!" Sanemi chased after her while the other pillars followed.
"Chiaku! Where the hell are you going?!"
The fairy continued to ignore the wind pillar, not slowing down a second. Sanemi kept his eyes on her so he won't lose her as he keep on running as fast as he could, hopping on trees and rooftops, his companions also hot on their heels.
"What is that airhead creature doing?"
"I don't know, Iguro-kun. We were just having a talk about sweets and outfits when she suddenly stopped midconversation." Mitsuri sounded so worried as she is explaining.
"She looked so scared all of a sudden so we figured out something must have happened," Shinobu added.
"She's heading to the western woods!" Giyuu yelled, gaining the attention of his fellow pillars.
"Man, this is getting annoying." Despite that, Iguro is starting to worry a bit.
"Chiaku!" Sanemi roared but the fairy did not respond nor did she try to slow down. "Tsk!"
Chiaku gasped when she heard familiar cries and screams.
Her expression changed to anger and fear as she glided through the woods and swooped down against an unknown creature chasing after a little children with inhuman features. The nine pillars arrived just in time and were all surprised with what they just witnessed. Her wings suddenly turned into sharp blades slicing the demonic creature into pieces. Blood splattered into the ground. The children who were all confused, ran and cried in fear. A little girl with butterfly wings ran and bumped on Giyuu's leg and stumbled onto the ground. The water pillar looked at the new creature in surprise as the latter looked back at him with eyes widened in fear. Suddenly a demon emerged from the bushes and was about to attack the winged girl. She screamed in fear as Giyuu slashed the demon's neck. The detached head rolled to the ground, bumping into a tree log. The girl ran to him and clutched on his leg.
"Non! Taka! Haru! Dadaimaru! Kei!"
"Hime-sama!!!" The children ran towards her as Chiaku embraced them, giving out a sigh of relief. All of a sudden, another creature appeared behind Chiaku.
"What the hell is going on?!" Sanemi hissed as he sliced of the neck of another attacker.
"Demons suddenly came attacking!" They heard a familiar voice and saw Tanjiro running towards them, a sword on his hand. Zenitsu and Inosuke trailing behind him. More demons suddenly emerged targeting the children.
"Something must have lured these demons! They never came close to a village, much less in group!" Uzui commented as he put out his swords.
"Agreed! Must be these children." Rengoku pointed at five newcomers huddled closer to Chiaku. Uzui spared a glance and it is obvious that these children aren't humans either. Knowing that the fairy recognized them, they must have come from her place as well. How they managed to leave their place, no one could guess since Chiaku didn't know how she left her home at the first place.
The pillars and the group of mizunoto all go in action and with them working together, these demons didn't stand a chance. A demon jumped out of nowhere aiming at the winged fairy when Nezuko suddenly came out of her box, kicking the demon's head. Chiaku stared at the new face in both surprise and slight fear. She doesn't smell human but she can feel her spirit, kind and protective.
"Who are you?"
Nezuko looked at her indifferently, touching her cheek and patted the heads of the children who are trembling and crying in fear. Nezuko frowned and growled in anger and rushed to help her brother and friends. The fight didn't last long. Chiaku watched the demons disintegrated and disappeared into ashes. She saw Tanjiro ushering a smaller Nezuko back into her box. Chiaku did not relinquish her hold of the children who now seemed to calm down. Sanemi went to her closer, sheathed his sword and knelt down to touch one of the children's head. "How did they come here?"
"I don't know!" Her tone surprised Sanemi but he didn't snap back the usual, knowing that she must be feeling both angry and afraid.
"Calm down, Chiaku. I understand it is your first time encountering demons." Shinobu knelt down and looked at the children curiously. She unconsciously touched one of them. The boy looked at her shyly and buried his face on Chiaku's clothes. Shinobu simply smiled back.
"Those are demons?"
"The sun is setting. We should all go back. You should take a quick bath, Chiaku. You'll feel better." Mitsuri told her when she noticed her bloodied wings.
The girl whom Giyuu saved a while ago looked up at Chiaku and spoke. "Hime-sama! The guards said you disappeared and so we were worried!"
A boy with black feathered wings spoke, snot coming out of his nose. "Haru said he saw you jump on a tree hole and so we decided to follow. Also we wanted to play!"
"Uhn!" A caramel haired boy with plump cheeks and pointy ears nodded.
"You shouldn't have! You should have stayed at home! I'm so sorry I lead you to this!" Tears filled her eyes. Seeing her do that, the children started crying again.
"But we missed you!" Another boy with webbed ears and light blue hair said as he also starts crying.
"We got lost so we asked those people if they saw you then they turned into monsters saying they wanted to eat us!" An orange haired boy with fox tails added.
"Hmm...you should come with us then! It is not safe for you here." Tanjiro told the children with his usual kind eyes and smile. Suddenly, their stomachs growled causing them to blush in embarrassment. Tanjiro laughed softly and offered to cook meals for everyone. The children cheered and clinged immediately to Tanjiro. Zenitsu started complaining on why Tanjiro is so popular while Inosuke hits him telling him to shut up.
As they were walking back to the quarters, Chiaku remained unusually quiet. Sanemi who is walking beside her, glanced at the fairy but didn't say anything. Mitsuri looked at her worriedly. The other pillars noticed this but they don't know how to comfort the fairy who seemed to be in deep thoughts, probably traumatised of the event.