After a long ride through the Human controlled territory, and deep into Demon controlled territory a familiar castle comes into view through the thick fog, Mistress Isabelle said.
"welcome home Darius."
one of her Demon guards with medium horns, opens the carriage door, and says to Mistress Isabelle while offering his hand to her.
"was the ride pleasent for you and your guest, Mistress?"
She takes his hand and replies as she steps out of the carriage.
"I did a pleasant ride as always."
she turns to me and asks.
"how about you dear?"
I reply following Mistress Isabelle's lead, but I don't take the demon guard's hand and climb out of the carriage on my own, he growls me while raising his hand to hit me.
"disrespectful human brat!"
I stare him directly at his black eyes the most common color that the pureblooded demons have, and ask not showing any fear.
"do you really want to upset Mistress Isabelle?"
Mistress Isabelle eyebrows raises with interest and asks.
"what makes you think that I'll get upset?"
I sigh.
"I see."
I then tell the demon.
"alright then punish me for being disrespectful."
he sneers.
"I'd be happy to oblige."
he smacks me in the face, knocking me down on the floor, I think to myself.
"this bastard didn't hold back."
I stand up and Mistress Isabelle asks.
"are you okay?"
I nod.
"yes."
she sighs relieved to hear that and smiles.
"good."
her smile twists into anger.
"because I'm not."
she quickly pulls out a dagger and proceeds to stab the demon guard in neck multiple times while yelling like a maniac.
"you dare touch what is mine?!"
the other demon guards stare silently as they witness her killing their guards, she then composes herself and warns them.
"you are not to touch a single strand of hair from this child, or you will share the same fate as him."
she then grabs my hand and said.
"well let's get you settled."
as we walk towards the entrance of her castle, she asks curiously.
"how did you know that I would get upset."
I answer.
"it's simple, since you told me that I'm destined for great things, I assumed you don't want harm coming my way this early."
she smiles.
"you are a very perceptive for a child."
after we enter the castle, Mistress Isabelle escorts me to a room, I look at it and think to myself.
"this is not the room I previously stayed in."
I enter the room and Mistress Isabelle said.
"get some rest, you've got a big day tomorrow."
I lay down on the bed and stare out the window trying to sort out my thoughts.
"I don't remember any of this, Mistress Isabelle completely changed all of my memories."
I sigh and close my eyes.
"there is no point in regretting my choice, I'm already here, I just need to go through with it."
I get woken up by Mistress Isabelle's soft voice.
"it's time to wake up, sleepy head."
I open my eyes, and I'm met with her icy stare.
"I want you to meet your brothers and sisters."
this much I remember, meeting my adopted siblings, or my fellow captains."
I get up from my bed and ask Mistress Isabelle even though I know who they are.
"are they also adopted humans like me?"
she grabs my hand as we exit my bedroom together, and answers.
"no they are demons?"
I ask.
"would they accept a human as their sibling?"
she responds with a smile.
"yes, they will."
then her face turns serious and said.
"if not, they learn will meet my unpleasant side."
she smiles warmly at me.
"so don't worry your little head about it."
I wonder in my own thoughts.
"why is Mistress Isabelle giving me special treatment, I'm just a human that was abandoned in an orphanage."
she guides me to dining room, where I spot my fellow captains, who are around my age, and they already look unpleased to see a human in there presence, Mistress Isabelle points at an empty chair.
"go ahead and tale a seat my dear."
I bow my head.
"yes, Mistress Isabelle."
upon taking my seat, she points at me.
"I want you all to meet Darius, staring today he will
be known as your brother."
Frautz the demon with spiky maroon hair, and short horns, slams on the desk in protest.
"he is a human!"
a female demon named Jillian with short pink hair, and short horns also protests.
"yes I agree Mistress Isabelle, this absurd."
Mistress Isabelle stares daggers into then, and says with a serious tone.
"none of you see it, but Darius will become an important asset for our future."
they lower their heads down, as she says to me.
"Darius dear, please eat so that we can officially welcome you to our family."
while eating my meat, I think to myself.
"everything that is happening is not appearing as a memory."
I ask myself.
"just how much of my life did Mistress Isabelle fabricate?"
after finish eating Mistress Isabelle gathers all of us and leads us into a spiral stairwell that leads downward, I ask myself.
"why is she taking us to the dungeon."
she puts all eight of us in one row, and said while holding her dagger.
"as you all know, Darius is a human, and he won't understand our goal because of that."
she points at Frautz and asks.
"do you have any idea what we are going to do for him?"
he nods.
"you are going to feed him your blood, so that he becomes a Demon-Human."
I sigh.
"the time has come, this is my first step in growing stronger, so that I can get my revenge on Mistress Isabelle for betraying me."
she slits her wrist and pours the blood in a chalice, she then calls me forward.
"Darius grab the chalice."
after grabbing it, she places her hand on the wound and proceeds to heal herself, which comes in handy when she is coherent, unlike that time where Claire got the best of her, and was on the edge of dying and unconscious, I shift my focus again and ask.
"should I drink it now?"
she nods.
"go ahead dear."
I put the chalice up to my lips and think to myself.
"just chug it down."
I lift my head and fight the urge to vomit, as the thick blood slides down my throat, I then make sour face and say to Mistress Isabelle.
"I did it."
she grins.
"I knew you were special, any other human would have been throwing up."
I then try ask.
"what happ-"
my chest tightens up and I collapse on my knees, clutching my chest with both my hands.
"argh, it hurts so much."
I then remember back when I served Mistress Isabelle, watching humans writhing in pain, as their body try to adopt to the demon blood integrates in them, I the yell in pain.
"fuck, it hurts!"
I fall on my stomach, and begin digging my nails into the ground, Mistress Isabelle shouts at the others.
"hold him, prevent him from hurting himself!"
my body starts convulsing violently and I continue screaming in pain.
"ah, shit it hurts so much!"
they hold me down, while Mistress Isabelle kneels next to me, and starts caressing my cheek.
"endure it my dear Darius."
while I continue to writhe in unbelievable pain, she places her hand on my chest and said.
"hold on just a little bit, you are almost there."
I let out an animalistic roar.
"it hurts!"
after a few more minutes of suffering in pain, my body begins to feel light, I start to regain a steady flow of breathing, Mistress Isabelle notices and smiles.
"good job."
she thens says to the others who were holding me.
"let go of him, the demon blood has been integrated into him."
after they let go me, I sigh in relief as the familiar feeling of having demon blood runs through my veins.
"ah I missed this."
Mistress Isabelle pats me in the head and smiles.
"welcome to the family."
Frautz clears his throat to get her attention and asks.
"so now what?"
she answers.
"all eight of you will be in the care of Captain Reenon, she will turn you into exceptional leaders and worthy warriors."
she whistles, and Captain Reenon with slightly medium sized horns, that goes through her silver haired bangs, I smile to myself.
"for some reason I'm glad that I get to see her again."
I then remember back, when I was in my early adult years, when we recieved news that the Hero Claire defeated Captain Reenon, and think to myself.
"this is not the time to get sentimental, I need to stay focused and remember why I came here."
I think to myself.
"because I'll be the one to kill her this time, instead of Claire."
Mistress Isabelle makes her way to the stairwell and tells Captain Reenon.
"oh and before you start training them."
she points at me.
"makes sure he gets used to bloodlust."
she bows her head.
"yes, Mistress Isabelle."
she disappears as she climbs up, Captain Reenon
snarls at me.
"alright kid you heard Mistress Isabelle, let's get you used to bloodlust."
pretending not to know how to do it, as to not rouse any suspicions, she grunts and replies bothered.
"it's simple, you concentrate your mana and chant
Bloodlust, and your body should respond to it on it's own."
I nod, knowing exactly how it is done, and start concentrating on the mana flowing through my body and chant.
"Blodlust."
I feel the strength in my body rise and ask Captain Reenon with my speeched slowed down due to the effects of bloodlust.
"did I do it right?"
surprised she asks.
"how are you feeling?"
with heavy breathes I respond.
"I feel stronger."
she scratches her head in confusion.
"you don't feel like tearing things apart, or any violent instincts?"
I sigh and think to myself.
"shit, I forgot that using bloodlust, for the first time causes complete loss of control."
I ask Captain Reenon trying to play the part of being confused.
"did I do something wrong?"
she shakes her head.
"no it's just unheard of, any demon being able to control their bloodlust, let alone a Demon-Human."
she then smiles.
"now, I see why Mistress Isabelle is so smitten by you, their is something special about you."
I then calm down and as I let go of the feeling, I sigh in my mind.
"I don't like using Bloodlust, since it causes one to have an appetite for blood."
Still smiling about what I have been able to do, she said.
"I'll make sure Mistress Isabelle hears about this, she will be most pleased about this."
I think to myself.
"hopefully what I just did, doesn't cause suspicions."
Frautz comes approaches me with a grin on his face and says while offering his hand so I can shake it.
"maybe, I misjudged you."
I shake his hand and respond with a competitive spirit."
"of course you did, now will you be able to keep up with me?"
he laughs.
"I like you."
Captain Reenon interrupts us.
"alright, that's enough excitement let's focus on what Mistress Isabelle wants you all to do."
she points at a weapon rack and said.
"grab a weapon, so that you can all practice on your swings."
as we all grab one, we immediately notice that they are wooden swords, Frautz protests.
"no real swords?"
Captain Reenon shakes her finger at us.
"not yet, for now I want you all to use these wooden swords and once you have become accustomed with swinging then around, we will move on to real swords."
she grabs a wooden sword and points it at us.
"from here on out, you will all follow my drills and do them every day after breakfast and dinner, until
you all have proper sword discipline."
she then shouts.
"is that understood?!"
we reply.
"yes, ma'am!"
she smirks.
"good, let's not waste anymore time and get started then."
I stare at my wooden sword and think to myself.
"this is it, the next step of my plan, sharpening up my sword skills before using a real sword."