1 The Demon Realm

Ring ring! Ring ring! The school bell rings as the day closes. A young boy stands up from his seat and walks towards the classroom door.

"Everybody! Make sure to finish your homework in time for the test tomorrow!" yells the teacher. The boy walks out of the classroom and down the stairs to the exit.

"Cya tomorrow, Nate!" yells a friend of the boy's in the hall as he's leaving.

"Yeah, cya tomorrow, Derek!" Nate responds. Nate walks out of the school and starts walking home. On his way home, he passes by trees with birds singing, stray cats fighting over food, and eventually, he arrives at a park. He decides to stop at the park so he can just relax for a while after a long day at school. He sets down his backpack and lies on a park bench. He shuts his eyes and before he realizes it, he falls asleep.

Nate's eyes open and he looks around, although he can't see much as it's pitch black outside now. He sits up from the bench, still half-asleep, and he grabs a snack from his backpack. He eats a chocolate chip granola bar before standing up from the bench, grabbing his backpack, and walking home. As he's walking home, he sees a figure standing in the distance with its back turned to him. He approaches the figure, now able to see that the young woman has white hair and a fairly average build.

"Are you alright? Can I help you?" he asks while walking towards the woman, being responded to only with silence. He gets right up next to the woman and taps her on the shoulder. The woman turns around to reveal her piercing red eyes. Nate blinks and when he opens his eyes he's high up in the sky, falling at a fast speed. He lands in a pool of water and passes out from the impact.

His eyes open and he finds himself floating in nothingness when all of a sudden he hears a voice calling out to him.

"Find the demons," the voice says to Nate. The voice keeps repeating this same phrase, "Find the demons," as it gets more and more distant.

"Wait! What do you mean find the demons? Where am I!?" replies Nate. His voice starts to muffle as he wakes up from the dream. He opens his eyes and stands up quickly, freaking out about the dream he just experienced. He looks around to see not his hometown, but instead endless fields and hills. Upon the hills are occasional lakes and rivers, and there seems to be a forest in the distance. Nate falls to the ground, terrified, not knowing where he is or what to do.

Still on the ground, Nate smells a distant scent of smoke. He stands up and looks around where he finds smoke in the distance. He realizes that this could be his chance to find civilization and he runs towards the smoke.

Nate arrives close enough to see where the smoke is coming from, and when he looks towards the smoke, he sees a demonic-looking creature with no eyes, no mouth, and no nose. The creature has seven arms and nine legs. He tries to hide from its view, but the creature spots Nate before he can hide. The creature rushes at Nate, which causes him to let out a scream.

"What the hell is going on here!?" Nate screams in terror to himself, still being chased by the grotesque creature. A small rock on the ground trips Nate, making his head land on another rock on the ground. His head starts throbbing as he sees blood dripping down from the cut on his forehead before looking up and seeing the creature about to slash at him with its claws.

"No, wait!" Nate screams out in desperation before a figure stabs the creature in the back. Nate's vision blurs and his hearing starts to muffle. He tries to stand up, but he falls back down and passes out.

"Who is he, and where exactly did you find him?"

"I have no clue who he is. He does look odd though. I found him over by the river."

"What's wrong with his hair? I've never seen somebody with brown hair before… did he dye it?"

"I'm not sure… and his clothes, they're weird too. His skin seems to be darker than ours, do you think maybe he's a-"

"No. There's no way he's one of them. That would be impossible."

"I see…" Nate's eyes start to open as he hears muffled voices around him.

"He's waking up!" Nate's eyes open fully, and he looks around to see people around him, their hair is white and they have green eyes. Their skin is very pale, almost fully white.

"W-who are you? Where am I?" Nate asks, confused.

"My name is Michl, and you're in the town of Cylvenia. Can you tell me your name?"

"Yeah… it's Nate." He manages to say that much before his head starts throbbing again, causing him immense amounts of pain.

"Agh!- It hurts! My head is killing me! What happened!?" Nate screams in agony.

"Just calm down, Nate! You'll be okay! It's just a minor injury!" Michl responds. Nate takes a deep breath and tries to calm down.

"It hurts horribly… but I think I can handle the pain."

"Good, now, can you tell me where you came from?"

"I came from Portland, Maine and I have no clue how I got here. I was walking home from school when all of a sudden I saw a woman with white hair and red eyes. She turned around and next thing I knew, I was here."

"A woman with white hair and red eyes? That sounds like an evil demon." Michl continues, "And did you say Maine? I've never heard of that before. Where is that?"

"It's in the United States… how have you never heard of it?"

"The United States!? Are you… human?" Nate was confused by Michl's strange words.

"Yeah… aren't you?"

"Do you know where you are right now, Nate?"

"No, I don't have a clue."

"You're in the demon realm. We are demons. How exactly did you get here from the human realm?" Nate was taken aback by this statement. His eyes widened and he crawled back.

"You're a… d-demon!?" Nate was terrified at the thought of being trapped with demons. "This has to be some kind of joke, right? Tell me you're joking! I don't understand… Stay back!"

"Calm down, Nate! I'm not going to hurt you, I'm a good demon!"

"How the hell are you a good demon!? Demons are monsters! They eat people and torture them in hell!"

"Not all demons are like that, Nate!"

"What do you mean?..." Nate asks, still terrified of the demon standing in front of him.

"There are three types of demons in the demon realm. There are good demons, evil demons, and then there are devils, a sub-class of demons, like the one I saved you from earlier. Good demons have green eyes, like mine, and it's in our nature to protect. Evil demons, on the other hand, have red eyes, like the one you saw walking home from school. It's in their nature to hurt and kill anybody they deem a susceptible target. You're already acquainted with devils as you saw one earlier. They target anything in their sight, trying to eat them at all costs."

Nate is taken aback by this statement, raising an eyebrow as he doesn't understand what Michl had just revealed to him.

"So… right now I'm in hell. You're a good demon, and the woman who sent me here was an evil demon," Nate continues, "So… how do I escape from hell?"

"There is a way, but it's nearly impossible. You'd never be able to do it. You would need to escape through the gates of hell."

"Then that's what I need to do. I need to get back to my world, even if it means death."

"You don't understand, Nate. Nobody has ever even made it close to the gates of hell. Anybody who's tried to escape to the human realm dies before even making it near the gates."

"Then what do you suggest I do? Just stay in the demon realm for the rest of my life, constantly being hunted by devils and evil demons? I'm not going to live like that!" Nate retaliates, showing his determination.

"That's exactly what I'm suggesting you do!" Responds Michl. Nate stammers, trying to find the words to make his point seen, but fails.

"Then I guess I'll just stay. I have no other choice, do I?"

"No, you don't. If you try to escape through the gates on your own, you'll be slain with haste." Michl disputes.

"I understand." Nate backs off from trying to escape and instead focuses on trying to fit in more in the demon realm. He leaves the doctor's hut and looks around, taking in the view of the village he's in. He is surrounded by straw roofs, small huts, and no technology. He instantly realizes that the demon realm has had no such advancements as technology yet.

Nate starts walking around the village, staying hidden from the other demons that reside in it. He finds a hut with a sign saying "Michl" on it. Nate walks into the hut where he finds exactly what he had been looking for; temporary hair dye. Nate applies the temporary white hair dye to his head, and then realizes another problem he's faced with; his eyes.

Nate searches around Michl's hut looking for contact lenses but unsurprisingly finds nothing. He does, however, find a pair of sunglasses that he puts on to shield his eyes from being seen. Nate leaves Michl's hut without being seen. Five hours pass and Nate has created a tiny shelter made of sticks and leaves on the outskirts of the village.

Nate is trying to fall asleep when he hears footsteps approaching his shelter. He sits up and opens the shelter to see Michl approaching.

"Hey, Michl. What's up? It's late."

"I know it's late. But we have something important to discuss, Nate. Will you come with me for a moment?" Nate gets out of his shelter and follows Michl.

"Where are you leading me?"

"You'll see," Michl responds. Michl leads Nate into a hut with the sign "Delia" outside. Nate follows Michl into the hut. Michl signals Nate to sit down at a table, which Nate does. Step. Step. Step. Nate looks up at the door to see a young woman walk in.

"Michl, who is this?" Nate asks.

"This is Delia. She is the smartest demon in this village."

"So, why did you bring her here?"

"It's a pleasure to meet you, Nate. Michl here tells me you come from the human realm, is this correct?"

"Yes, ma'am. It is."

"There's no need for formalities, as I'm sure you're older than me anyways. I'm only 15, you know."

"Oh… alright."

"Anyways, Michl and I talked it over, and we came to the conclusion that trying to escape through the gates of hell is reckless and idiotic."

"..." Nate lowers his head, pained by Delia's words.

"...however, we also came to the conclusion that with the right allies and the right strategy, it may be possible." Nate raises his head in shock, his eyes widening at the news shared with him.

"Does that mean that I'll be able to return home then?" Nate responds.

"Nate… this plan is horribly stupid. The odds are against us here. Are you sure this is what you want?" Michl asks.

"I'm sure. I want to return to the human realm." Nate responds.

"I see. Then you leave us no choice. Delia and I will accompany you and protect you until you reach the gates of hell and return home." Nate's eyes widen as tears start to form in his eyes at the thought of returning to his world.

"You will return home, Nate."