Chapter 7

The demon world

Charlie looked at her like she was crazy. What was she thinking?

"Being a demon is nothing like what you're mentioning, Stacy. It's not for a better life, in fact, it's far from that."

Stacy appeared puzzled, "what do you mean?"

"You are missing the point," he explained. "If what you are after is a happy life as a demon, then you'd rather be dead. I only stepped in for you at the ritual ground just so your life could be saved, not for it to be better."

She was already getting frustrated. Every time she came here, he always said things that added to her anxiety. Now she'd agreed to his condition, and he's saying something else to discourage her. Since she promised herself she wouldn't walk away from him again, she had to take her time to understand him clearly.

She didn't say anything, but Charlie saw the look on her face which demanded for more answers, so he continued, breaking things down to her understanding in the best way he could.

"The demonverse is made up of hell and the underworld, with majority of the less powerful demons residing in the underworld. In these two realms, there are three levels of demons; the servants, the masters and the royals. The less powerful demons are the ones who were formerly humans, they are called the servants, they are at the bottom of the food chain, and they are killed mercilessly."

He saw the fear in her eyes, but that didn't deter him from stopping. Stacy needed to know what she was getting herself into, and he would deliver it in the best way possible.

"Once you are reborn, you automatically become a servant demon, and the demon that transforms you becomes your master. For a thousand years you will have to serve under your master, running errands, possessing humans, granting the requests of the humans that pray to your master, and a lot of other demon stuff. Another horrible thing is that just as a master can have many servants, a servant can have many masters, depending on the number of companions, and also the level of compassion your master carries.

"If you do not wish for this, you can decide to become a runaway and live among the humans like I did. No regular demon has ever survived this because in no time, you will be hunted down by either your master or the prayer warriors and killed."

"Prayer warriors?"

"Yes. The prayer warriors are the soldiers of the church, sworn enemies of the demons. They yield the holy bible as their strongest weapon and they use it to proclaim incantations that are deadly to demons. In other words, a prayer warrior is what every demon should avoid, and the farther you are away from Lucifer, the closer you are to them."

"This is so confusing and upsetting at the same time. I thought that life would be better having demon powers and all."

"The demon life is only good as a master or a royal, because then you can have as many servants as you wish, but that won't be possible for you because the only way to become a master is serve under one for a thousand years. The demon powers you'll get will be meant to serve your master, not for yourself."

He didn't know what she was thinking, but she suddenly diverted the topic. "You live among the humans, right? Which means, you're a runaway."

Glad that she was finally understanding, Charlie nodded, "yes. I've been here for about 500 years."

"So how come you haven't been hunted down by your master or the prayer warriors since? Is there some sort of protection you use? Is there a way I can live like that? By being a demon and still having my human life without having to move to the demon verse."

Charlie chuckled, amused by how she was asking so many questions all at once, he would do his best to make her understand better.

"Like I said before, Stacy. No regular demon has ever survived being a runaway for so long. I am no regular demon."

"What kind of demon are you?"

The way she asked the question made him sort of shift a little, he didn't know the kind of way he felt then.

"Charlie?"

His thoughts had wandered off for a few minutes, he'd been distracted. Stacy's voice then made him snap out of it.

"I'm sorry, what were you asking again?"

"You said that you were no regular demon."

"Oh, yes," he recalled. "I am a demon royal, Stacy. A royal is the highest ranking position after Lucifer, the king of hell. The royal is a direct descendant of Lucifer, and they are also the rulers of the seven demon clans that occupy the underworld. I am, or rather was the Daivie clan prince."

This was so much information for Stacy to comprehend at once, but it still didn't bring her to understand how Charlie had survived in the human world for so long. He would be getting to that in his next statement.

"The royals are the most powerful among all demons. So powerful, that even the prayer warriors don't stand a chance. Given my abilities, I can defend myself and stay away from danger, but for a regular demon, that would be impossible."

Stacy's heart sank at the revelation. This was way more complex than she'd thought, and her mind must have been scattered by now, but then, she realized something else, probably there was still hope, maybe.

"If you're a royal, and I get married to you, does that mean I become a royal too?"

Charlie's mind hadn't even gone through that line of thought, but he knew the right answer to that.

"A master or servant can only become a royal by marrying one."

"I think that solves it! You're a royal, so if you transform me and we get married, I don't have to live as a wretched servant under anyone."

"Not quite. Like I said, I'm no longer the Daivie prince because I left my responsibilities behind. I might still have my supernatural abilities as a demon royal, but I've lost all my entitlements after leaving the clan house. So if we get married now, you will still remain a servant because I no longer hold the title."

The ray of hope in her heart disappeared as Charlie spoke. Her mind was still unclear about so many things, but from the little she understood, she couldn't imagine what could have led to him becoming a runaway. She turned her thoughts to words.

"You are a demon royal, which means you are so powerful and you could have so many servants under you if you wished. Life couldn't have been bad for you in the demon verse. Why then did you choose to become a runaway?"

"There's a lot of reasons I chose to become one, none of which I will be discussing with you. Our focus should be on letting you understand the kind of life you're about to choose."

"Oh, okay, I'm sorry."

He heard the disappointment in her voice, he felt bad for the way he'd pushed aside her question, but the answers she was asking for were too personal to him, and he didn't know if he could trust her with them yet.

"I'm sorry that I can't explain to you any further than this. All you need to know is that I have no intentions of goin g to rule the clan, that's why I left."