Aside: When I was but a child, ten years ago:
Davarious First Born Light of the Autumn Wind:
Along the border between the demon side and the human side the Kingdom of Rentolt had existed for over a millennia. A powerful nation of strict traditions and a strong people. Although over the many centuries the laws and traditions that bound them had begun to fade, one did not. That was, the hate for demon kind. Sharing the border the two people had fought many times whether it be between men or armies, neither side relented. If one was to ask which Kingdom hated the demons most, the answer could only be Rentolt. Even the Klerical Kingdom lost in comparison. That was until the beginning of change.
Existing on the border between the kingdom and the demons was a buffer. A forest which the humans and demons rarely passed through unless for the utmost important reasons. The event which would spell Rentolt's change began here as two young boys carelessly played.
"Marker, hurry up!" I yelled behind me.
"First, please slow down. I can't fly like you," he acrobatically jumped from branch to branch but his speed still couldn't match mine.
"That's why magic is better," I laughed and slowed down.
"Ugh, but I can't use magic well," he moped.
"But it's so easy," I grinned.
"That's because you're the Lord's son."
"Ha ha, but Dad isn't so good with magic," I floated around him, "Grandpa on the other hand is amazing!"
"W-well my Dad can shoot a bird a mile away with an arrow!"
"Really!?" I said excitedly, "I can't even pull the string back."
Marker stopped moving and stood on the branch with his chest puffed out, "Yeah! He's even teaching me how to shoot. I'll show you later." He looked around. "Hey First, where are we?"
"Hmm along the border."
"What!?" he almost fell from the branch. "We can't be here, what if we meet a human!?"
"Do you really think a human could win against me," I said proudly.
"But what if there are like a hundred of them!?"
"…," I rubbed my chin, "Then we'll run."
"…." He paused and then smiled, "Yeah, we can just run!"
"Come on, let's keep going. I heard one of the adults say there's some ruins around here."
"Ruins? What kind?" he looked at me with glowing eyes.
I shrugged, "I dunno, but it sounds cool."
Together we made our way further into the forest. We spotted a few small monsters but being high off the ground they couldn't hurt us. Marker flinched when he saw them but to me they were nothing. With my knowledge of magic, I could easily defend the both of us. An hour passed and Marker turned to me,
"Hey, how much further?"
"I don't know but I get the feeling we're close."
"If you say so…." We continued for a bit longer but then he suddenly grabbed my arm.
"What?" I asked annoyed.
"Shhh, I hear something," he put his finger to his mouth.
"Isn't it just another monster?"
"No, it sounds different. Lighter, and more calm. Can you try sense them?"
"Hmmm, I'm not too good with that kind of magic yet," I landed on the branch beside him. "Where is it?"
"It's coming closer, we should probably run."
I grabbed him before he could leave, "No, let's stay here."
"B-but it might be a human!"
"Exactly, it might be a human! Now shut it, or it'll hear us."
He crouched down along the branch as if he was hunting prey, though the way he was shivering, it was more from fear. A minute later I started to hear something walking beneath us in the brush. I looked down with excitement and out popped two people. They were both wearing armour and looked like soldiers. From here I couldn't see their faces clearly but they didn't feel like demons. Could they be humans?
I floated off the branch.
"First!" Marker whispered, "Stop, they don't smell like demons!"
I ignored him and flew down closer. They were both female. One had short brown hair, the other had long tied up crimson hair. All of a sudden they stopped moving. What were they doing? I drew closer but there was a flash and wave of light collided against my barrier shattering it to non-existence. The light kept coming at me and I crashed into the ground in a panic. When I looked up there was a sword pointed at my neck and cold green eyes looking down on me.
"Leave him alone!" Marker screamed and jumped from his perch to save me, claws extended. The other one with brown hair however pinned him to a tree on the way down. A spike of fear shot through me.
"Huh? What are children doing here?" the one with red hair said. Her eyes became warm and she pulled her sword away from me.
"Princess, don't let you're guard down, they're demons!" the other one yelled as Marker struggled against her.
"But they're kids. Gilda let him down."
She let go but reluctantly. As soon as Marker hit the ground he was in front of me with his arms extended. A growl left his lips.
"Don't worry, we won't hurt you," the red haired girl smiled. "My name is Lisanna and the girl over there is Gilda."
I gently pulled Marker beside me, "My name is Davarious, this is Marker. Are you two humans?"
"Yep," she nodded casually.
"R-really!?" I grew excited.
"Of course we are," she laughed.
I began to skirt around them, "You don't look much different from me. Are you sure you're human?"
"Well are you sure you're a demon?"
I pulled down my shirt and showed my heart stone, "Do you have one of these?"
"No we don't have one of those."
"Prove it," I said determined.
"Umm, you can't just ask a girl to do that," she looked a little embarrassed.
"Why not?" I asked, Marker looked confused as well.
She paused while thinking, "Well, we're wearing a lot of armour. So just trust us that we're human."
"Okay!" I smiled, "You don't feel like demons anyway, but you two are a lot prettier than I expected."
"Thank you," she chuckled.
Gilda came closer to us and Marker backed away a little, "Princess you can't interact with demons. If someone finds out-,"
"And who would find out all the way here?" she gestured to the forest all around us. "Besides that's just a law that my stupid father is still keeping in practice."
Gilda was about to say something else but I burst in, "Are you really a princess?" I moved closer to her curiously.
"Well one of many," she smiled but it looked a little painful. "What are you two?"
"I'm a high demon," I said proudly and then pointed to Marker, "Marker's half fay and half a cat beastkin. He's a scaredy cat though."
"I am not," he huffed as his tail swang angrily.
"For demons you two are really cute but what are you doing here? It's dangerous you know," Lisanna said.
"We're looking for ruins!" I replied.
"Oh really? So are we," she patted my head. "Still, how old are you? Shouldn't you be with your parents?"
"I'm eight and Marker's ten. Our parents are back at the town, they told us to go play."
"This isn't somewhere you should just play…."
I felt someone tug me away. Marker was holding my sleeve while cautiously staring at Lisanna.
"First you shouldn't talk with humans too much," he whispered. "What if they find out who you are and try kidnap you?"
"It's fine these two don't feel dangerous at all," I smiled. I turned back to the pair, "Hey, can we go with you to the ruins?"
Gilda shook her head but I let out my most sincere smile and pulled Marker in as well, "Please?"
"Ah, it's too much!" Lisanna clutched her chest, "You can come."
"Milady! What if their parents find us?" Gilda complained.
"Then we can just explain the situation."
"We're from Rentolt, their parents will probably try kill us on sight."
"The two of us could at least stop them long enough to explain," she waved it off.
I pulled on Gilda's sleeve, "Don't worry my dad won't try to kill you, he's really nice."
Her stiff expression loosened a little. She sighed, "Fine, it's not like we can just leave two kids alone anyway, demon or not."
I let out a full blown grin.
With that Marker and I followed the two humans through the forest. Marker was sticking close to my side furthest away from them but when he was called to he still responded. The two of them were strong. Any monsters that came our way they dealt with in a flash. Of course compared to my father, they were nothing. Along the way I asked them questions about what humans were like and in turn they asked me questions as well. It was fun talking to these two. Gilda was a little stern but she was warming up to us. Lisanna was the opposite and when my legs grew tired, before I could fly instead, she offered to carry me on her back. Marker was aghast as I accepted her offer. Flying used mana so it was tiring in a way as well.
It wasn't all too long until we arrived in an odd open patch of the forest. It was filled with broken stone structures stained green with moss. I had never seen anything like it and jumped off Lisanna's back to get a closer look. At first it looked just like a mess however looking closer, you could see paths through the rubble and even some things that could have been buildings.
"This is amazing!" I cheered.
"First don't just run around. It could be dangerous," Marker ran after me.
"What is this place?" I asked the human females.
"It's the ruins of a fortress from one of the previous wars," Lisanna explained.
"Cool," I said wistfully. "Why did you come here anyway?"
"We're looking for special stones."
"Like this one?" I pointed to my chest.
She laughed, "No, we're looking for ones that can store mana."
Before I could ask what for, Marker pulled into a crouch beside me and hissed. His ears were twitching and alert. There was something further in.
"Marker what is it?" I asked.
"I don't know but I don't like it," he slowly edged back pulling me along.
Lisanna and Gilda both drew their swords in the direction Marker was facing.
"My lady, I don't like the feel of this one," Gilda said. "We should retreat."
"No, we need these stones for the village," Lisanna replied. Her attitude had completely changed back to how when we first met her. Her eyes were sharp and calculating. "Besides, we can't just leave these two alone."
I tilted my head not being able to tell what was going on, "I can fight."
Lisanna let out a gentle smile, "I'm sure you can but right now just stay behind us."
There was a rumble and all of a sudden a mass of stone burst towards us. I set up a barrier but Lisanna and Gilda knocked the stone away before it could reach us. The impact caused them to skid back. To my surprise the pile of stone began to stand.
"Tch," Gilda spat, "A golem. We don't have the right equipment for this."
"Gilda focus on defending the boys," Lisanna said and dashed towards the golem. The ground shook as she struck down towards it but her blade deflected without doing much harm. She immediately retreated just in time as the golem swung towards her. It missed by a clear margin but as its fist hit the ground the stone beneath her feet ruptured into spikes. I reached out towards her and pulled her back quicker. It was odd and there was a lot of resistance but I was able to do it without her getting hurt.
She looked at me surprised, "Was that you?"
"Yep," I smiled.
The golem didn't let her distraction slip and rumbled towards us again. Lisanna slashed forwards pre-emptively managing to slow it down. There was another rumble and I felt the earth beneath us fill with mana. Before I could react Gilda thrust her sword into the ground and a burst of her own mana stopped the rumbling. I didn't like this. The golem was stronger than I liked and Marker was shivering in fear.
I pointed my hand towards it and clicked my fingers, "Obliterate." There was an explosion and the area filled with dust. There all done, I smiled to Marker next to me. He was still shaking. An arm suddenly surged through the dust and grabbed the two of us. We were lifted up and carried away just as a giant stone fist hit the ground where we had been standing. The impact cleared the dust and there before my eyes was the golem with only a slight chip in its shoulder. A shiver spread through me.
"Golems like this are strong against magic and this one is much stronger than normal. You two stay here," Gilda placed us back down. "Princess where are you!?"
"Raaar!" a yell came from behind the golem and with a burst of light it was pushed forward. Its body jerked and rotated, swinging its fist around. There was a gasp and Lisanna was knocked away clutching her side.
"Lisanna!" Gilda yelled and dived after her. I clapped my hands towards the golem and a spout of fire bloomed beneath it. The golem walked straight through it and looked directly at Marker and I. My hands began to shake but I remembered my grandpa's words, 'A magician must always stay calm, because it is from peace that we can protect others.' I tried to focus again but sparks began to run along the golem's body. With a grating groan it brought its arms together and a blast of static passed through me. As soon as it did I felt weird. I tried to grab Marker and fly away but my mana wouldn't react.
"It's not working!" I yelled in panic. Marker's eyes widened as he looked behind me. The golem launched itself towards us. Without magic I was defenceless. I could do nothing. A cold fear penetrated me.
My body was thrown aside and I looked up just in time to see my friend's body sail through the air and disappear into the forest.
"Marker!" I cried. This was all my fault, it was my idea to explore the forest, it was my idea to talk to the humans. Because of me Marker was killed. The golem turned to me. "No." The single word left my lips weakly as I quivered. Its fist fell down.
It never hit me. Instead fine crimson hair dangled in front of my eyes. Lisanna was holding it back. There was blood running down her face, her armour was dented and her sword chipped but she stood over me.
"Run!" she yelled. I did as I was told but I couldn't just leave without turning back. Her eyes locked on to mine. She was relived and smiled sadly, "Gilda will get you out of here."
Her legs gave out and the fist fell down. There was an explosion of stone and dust as the ground shook far stronger than it had ever before. I reflexively covered my face and when the air finally cleared the golem was crushed, standing on top if its broken body was a muscular demon wearing a black fur lined mantle, horns grew from his head and a gold stone in his chest stood out powerfully.
"Dad!" I yelled in joy.
"D-dad?" Lisanna managed to say as she looked up at him on her knees.
I ran to his side, "Quick, help, Marker got hurt!" I yelled.
"Where?" he asked. I led him to where I saw Marker fly. Gilda was holding his limp body. I ran to him immediately and began to panic.
"Don't worry he's alive. I managed to catch him," she coughed painfully.
My father leant beside Gilda, "Thank you, I will take him now." He picked up Marker like he weighed nothing and from his pocket placed a stone gently against his body. He spluttered but woke up.
"First!?" he called for me when he came to.
"I'm here," I smiled in relief.
"Thank the Lord, if you died, my dad would kill me," he smiled then looked up. "Ah! My Lord!" he jumped from my father's arms.
"Thanks dad, you saved us," I said. He looked at me with a soft smile and reached out his hand. There was a quick flick and my forehead burst with pain. "Ow!" I crouched down and clutched it.
"I told you to not go too far," he reprimanded.
"Sorry…." I began to tear up.
"I'm glad you are safe," his hand reached out again but this time gently caressed my head. "Now, who are these humans?" he looked at Lisanna and Gilda who were standing a distance away. They looked scared for some reason.
"We're just adventure-," Lisanna began to say but I cut in.
"She's a princess from Rentolt," I happily exclaimed. "Her name's Lisanna and that's Gilda, her friend. She saved us before you came." Lisanna shot me a look of despair.
"Rentolt?" my dad mumbled. He took a step towards them and they flinched, "Do you know who I am?"
"Y-you're the Demon Lord aren't you?" Lisanna backed away.
"Yes I am, as such," he raised his hand, the two girls flinched. My father bowed to them with his hand on his heart stone, "Thank you for saving my son and his friend."
"Huh?" Lisanna let out. "Ah, I mean no problem! No need to thank us, we'll go now."
I ran up to them, "Are you leaving now?" I said sadly.
"Well…."
Marker followed behind me and looked at Gilda, "You don't have to go now do you?"
"Umm, Davarious-,"
"Call me Varry!" I smiled.
"Yes, Varry, you see we're humans. We're not meant to get along with each other."
I tilted me head, "But we do."
"That's true but we're still not meant to."
"I don't get it."
A low chuckle came from behind me and my father came closer, "Do you dislike my son?"
"Of course not!" Lisanna replied.
"Do you dislike me?"
"You saved my life, as a knight I will always be indebted to you."
"Then is there a problem?"
"My father… the King, he's very against demon kind."
My dad sighed, "Yes, he certainly is." Then he smiled, "However you aren't?"
She smiled bitterly, "I've lived enough of a life to know we're not all too different."
"Then perhaps you can help me allow others to feel the same way," he leant out his hand. "Besides my son has grown to like you and I'd like if you could keep him company occasionally. He is quite the handful."
Gilda looked at the stunned Lisanna, "My lady you can't make a deal with the Demon Lord!"
Lisanna regained her composure and faced my father, "Even if I wanted to, I'm the King's thirteenth child born to one of his concubines. I don't have any real power. I'm pretty much just a knight with a title."
My father didn't remove his hand, "It is to my knowledge that Rentolt chooses its successor based on merit not birth. Even one such as yourself can become Queen."
"And how would I do that?" she laughed.
"Allow me to teach you."
"What!?"
"You saved my son. It is the least I could do. With my tutelage becoming Rentolt's Knight Commander would be a possibility even within a few years."
Lisanna was overwhelmed, "Hang on, even if I did accept that, where would that be, your castle?"
My father looked around the ruins, "No, here would suffice. I have always wanted to create a town where humans and demons could become one, here would be the perfect space."
She was shocked at his words. He said it so casually but the actual ramifications of such a plan would be immense.
"What's wrong?" I asked, "If you help dad make a town here, we can play together!"
Lisanna looked at me and let out a heart-warming smile, "Let's do it. It's time for this land to change anyway." She took my father's hand. "I promise you one day I'll become the Knight Commander, no, that I'll become Queen and we'll make a place where our two people can live in harmony." Gilda looked at them in horrified amazement. "Is something wrong Gilda?"
She shook her head and smiled exasperated, "There is nothing wrong my lady. I've been following you're outrageous plans for a while now, what is one more."
"I'll be teaching you as well," my father smiled.
"Huh?" Gilda froze.
I placed my hand on top of Lisanna and my dad's, "Then it's settled. When I become the Demon Lord I'll help too!"
"I-I'll help as well!" Marker said beside me.
Lisanna let go and rubbed the both of our heads cheerfully, "Yep, I expect you two to help a lot."
"We will!" we said in unison.
Seven years later:
I swung my legs off the railing as I looked down at the town plaza. They were all happily celebrating, demons and humans together. An ogre was lifting two human children on his shoulders spinning around. A man was teaching a group children, human and demon, how to dance. A new couple between an orc and a human were sitting beside each other. It was an amazing sight and I smiled.
"So this is where you are," a voice called from behind me. A young women with long crimson hair. "Marker is looking for you."
"Is he now?" I got off the railing and turned to Lisanna. "I'll go find him."
"Hang on there Varry," she grabbed me and pulled me back. "This is a party to celebrate you becoming the Demon Lord! You shouldn't be all mopey."
"I know, but it still doesn't feel right…."
Her grip on me lessened and gently she patted my head, "Your mum would be proud, no, she is proud, I know it."
"You're right," I forced a smile. "But it doesn't change the fact that we let her die."
Her hand tightened on my head, "Now look here, you couldn't have done anything. The four of you tried your best. Now stop being gloomy, you're ruining the mood." She wrapped her arms around my sides and began to tickle me.
"Stop!" I laughed, "I get it, stooop."
"It's pleasant to know you always react the same way to that," she smiled.
"I'm the Demon Lord now you know."
"I know, it's just a shame I'm still not Queen. I feel like I lost. It's all my stupid father's fault, he should just retire."
"We can dream."
"Dreaming is one thing but I have a few plans. It might take a few years but I'll get there."
"Oh? Sounds like treason," I teased.
"I'm pretty sure I passed that point when I didn't kill you back then," she laughed and rubbed my head.
We both looked down at the plaza. Someone spotted us and raised his glass towards us. The people around him noticed and soon their eyes were all on us,
The man began to cheer, "To our new Demon Lord and the future Queen of Rentolt!"
"To our new Demon Lord and the future Queen of Rentolt!" the crowd followed along with a powerful roar.
Lisanna yelled back at them, "Don't jinx me!" They erupted into laughter and went back to celebrating.
The door behind us opened and Marker came out, "Ah, First there you are. Can you do a speech for us? Also have you seen Gilda anywhere?"
"Are you finally going to confess?" Lisanna pestered him with a nudge.
He blushed, "Wha-what are you talking about? I just wanted to talk to her."
I turned away from them and looked up at the sky as I let the cheerful atmosphere flow around me. I really loved this place and one day I wanted the rest of this land to be like this. There were a lot of problems with that but the main one was still coming. Now that I'd become the Demon Lord the Heroes would be summoned soon. How would I deal with them? Would they try to kill me? Could I reason with them? I sighed, it didn't matter. If push came to shove I'd just crush them before they could grow strong. For now however, I had to make a speech. And with that I followed Marker with a smile as Lisanna continued to tease him.
Aside End: