The Birth of the Unknown
['Demon Slayer' Universe]
Zenitsu Atagama peacefully passed away. It had been 87 years since Tanjiro's gallant sacrifice, slaying the forefather of all demons… the demon slayer corps spent 35 years vanquishing the remaining vile demons all in the name of Tanjiro's sacrifice… as Zenitsu's serene soul drifted through the abyss it collided with a considerably weaker soul…
With his consciousness gaining activity mid-collision he let out a silent sigh, 'Sorry Nezuko, it seems we won't meet in the afterlife…' with these final thoughts Zenitsu let his consciousness burn away, allowing the weak soul to seamlessly merge with his soul…
How did this happen? Not even Zenitsu knew, it was just…
Zenitsu Atagama disappeared from the universe, never to be returned to the cycle of reincarnation… as for the newly merged soul… it drifted off course into the everlasting abyss never to be found again…
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In an unknown universe, the 'Cycle Of Reincarnation' whisked away an unknown soul into the flow of reincarnation, for some reason the cycle 'adopted' this intruding soul. Giving it life once more…
….
…
..
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A baby girl with fair skin, downward-sloped fearful-looking eyes that fade from soft brown to a dark honey and short black hair had her hair ruffled by the man standing over her, his imposing figure cast a shadow over her as she stared up at him with her 'fearful' eyes. Although her young mind didn't process things like fear, the way her eyes rested made her look scared… Something the man absolutely adored, to him the look wasn't 'fearful' but actually adorable.
Carefully picking up the baby, he cradled her in his arms, softly rocking her as he mumbled under his breath, "Sonu, Felle… if only you could see your daughter… I'll make sure to keep my promise and ensure her safety." Carefully laying the young girl back into her crib he turned to face the maid standing at the door, "From now on your duties are to be Lela's personal maid, I trust you can accept this…"
The maid bowed low, "Of course, My lord," the man nodded as he passed her, "I expect you to surpass my expectations…"
Hearing his footsteps fade away she rose her head, this was the promotion she needed. If she could get close to the lord's youngest daughter she would only rise in status, pumping her fist she got to work excessively cleaning the room… She couldn't have the little lady inhaling dust now could she?!
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[3 Years Later]
"Papa!" Bursting into the room a young girl waddled up to the desk, the man behind it set his paperwork aside with a small smile, seeing the maid rushing down the hall he couldn't help but shake his head. This young girl had way too much energy for her age, let alone how she was able to sneak past the maid…
"Lela," The man picked her up and sat her in his lap, "What have I told you about interrupting papa when he's working?"
Lela's eyes trailed off towards one of the paintings as if she didn't hear a word he said before snapping her head towards him, "I-I had that dream again…" her slight trembling aroused some guilt in the man's heart.
It's not like he could do anything, but these repetitive nightmares had constantly plagued Lela since he could remember, "It's just a dream darling, no need to be fearful of it…"
"B-but…" Lela words stopped in her throat, she didn't know what to say, she knew it was just a dream but it felt real… all too real… everytime she closed her eyes she could still see that man with black hair that had a red tint fighting that… demon…
Just thinking about it caused her trembling to become more violent, the man pulled her close into a hug as he softly consoled her, "You're safe here, I would never let harm befall upon you…"
Releasing the hug, the man wiped Lela's tears before setting her back on the floor, "Go with Anna, once I'm done with my work we will take a walk in the garden alright?"
With a meek nod Lela looked up towards the man with large eyes, "Promise?"
"I promise."
Stretching out her hand the maid spoke, "Come Milady, it's nearly time for your history lessons."
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[1 Year Later]
"Milady! You mustn't play in the mud, it's unbecoming of your status," Anna; the maid, hurriedly pulled Lela back towards the Castle. The headaches she suffered from the little lady were innumerable, she didn't understand how a girl could enjoy such things, nor did she understand why she loved to track mud through the castle…
"I just wanted to play…" Lela puffed her cheeks in annoyance, she never got to play how she wanted to play… she didn't enjoy tea parties with the other noble children, and she absolutely hated the balls her father would drag her to…
"My Lady, you have already skipped most of your lessons for the day… shall I inform Lord Fidellis that you've been skipping your lessons?" Anna eyed Lela from the corner of her eye, watching as her expression morphed from pouting to betrayed as she was pulled along, the resistance fading as if it was never there, "Then I assume you will return to your dance lessons?"
With a sigh Lela spoke with reluctance, "Yes, I will return to my lesson…" Her downhearted voice squeezed Anna's heart, she nearly gave up and allowed Lela to run off again, but knowing that she would be scolded by the head-maid she didn't entertain that thought much longer.
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Fidellis Fiefdom, governed by the Fidellis Heritage for nearly a dozen centuries. The land was fertile and the ore was plentiful, summer seemed to last all year round in this beautiful land which was part of the Stolan Empire.
The Fidellis' once held the title of Duke, but due to a wayward heir and a runaway princess the Fidellis had lost that title long ago…
Surrounded by the rising peaks of mountains, the Fidellis Fiefdom was governed by Reynold Fidellis much like his father before him. The land was prosperous much like the kingdom, which was rich in precious metals and fertile land. However due to the prosperity of the kingdom, the surrounding kingdoms had grown greedy, eyeing the rich land in hopes of taking it for themselves… all but the Sturin and Lido Kingdom showed their hostility.
Due to the surrounding kingdom's blatant hostility, the Sturin Kingdom had sent the oldest daughter of their Queen to the Crown Prince in the form of a political marriage. This had given the Stolan Kingdom a breath of relief from the pressure of the 4 bordering Kingdoms. The Stolan Kingdom wasn't afraid of war, quite the opposite, it actually invited war… the King was an ambitious man always wanting more land, more wealth… leading his armies from behind he wanted to burn all the kingdoms to the ground and steal their wealth, but much like many of the Kings before him he was married to a woman who knew her way around a man…
Thanks to the Queen, the Stolan Kingdom found a moment of peace from the seemingly unending war the previous and present kings have engaged in for the past hundred years, something no Queen had managed before in this Kingdom… She was praised by the masses, lifted upon a pedestal by the commoners and nobles alike, and in this peace they had found allies in the Sturin Queen. Unlike the Stolan Kingdom, the Sturin Kingdom was a Matriarchal Land where women held the majority of power.
As for Reynold Fidellis, he was just a Viscount with the most important land next to the capital itself… the Fidellis Fiefdom was like an Impenetrable Fortress thanks to the surrounding mountains and the effort from the previous lords, a tall wall traced the mountains separating the Fiefdom from the rest of the Kingdom… Long before the Fidellis Family lorded over this land it was once the capital of an ancient kingdom that fell long ago, much of the land in the Stolan, Lido and Sturin Kingdom once was ruled by this ancient kingdom, but this kingdoms name was forgotten with time, not many records were left of the time before.
Only the Capital and some of the higher ranked nobility had castles that were newly built as they found it more to their liking to lord over something they had built 'themselves'. Reynold's father had the chance to rebuild the castle but he respectfully turned down the King's offer. It took Reynold a long time to understand why his father turned down the King's gracious offer, something no 'normal' Viscount would receive… but once he succeeded his father he understood, the night his father passed the lordship(?) onto him he was shown the castle and the surrounding land in a new light…
Hidden tunnels, ancient magical arrays, a hidden vault… and yet the mysteries of this castle were still being uncovered… How the King didn't come to find all this was unknown, but due to it the Fidellis Fiefdom had rapidly grown to the powerhouse it was today. With an army a fourth the size of the King's own, coffers deeper than most Earl's own, and a fortress that was known to be 'Impenetrable' none dared to march upon the Fidellis.
It was useless trying to starve them out, every harvest was more than bountiful enough to feed the few hundred thousand mouths thanks to the ancient magical arrays fertilizing the land and air, getting past the towering mountains and the walls on them had long been deemed 'impossible' by all those who dared to try before…Due to this the Fidellis Fiefdom had a population that was nearing that of some of the Duke's lands.
Which was something that gave Reynold a major headache, the taxes he had to pay to the crown were little more than outrageous, but like every Fidellis man before him he kept his mouth shut and paid his taxes.
Pushing the stack of papers to the corner of the desk Reynold stretched, his mind trailing back to almost 5 years ago…
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[~5 Years Before]
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"Push, come on, nearly there!" Felle helped his wife, Sonu as she pushed. On the other side of the carriage, Reynold sat with his eyes closed, his wife had already warned him that if he dared to peek he'd lose his balls… something he didn't want to test and find out.
Sonu and Ireltih had been friends since he could remember, the duo went everywhere together. Maid and Noble… much like his own friend Felle, who was a knight who swore to protect Reynold with his life…
Who would have known that as Felle and Sonu's daughter took her first breath, the wheel of the wagon would fall off… sending them tumbling down the rocky cliff face… he could still remember Felle shoving the infant into his arms, the promise Felle begged Reynold for as he was thrown around the interior of the carriage…
He could still see his wife being tossed around like a rag doll, she didn't even survive the initial tumble, something he was happy about.. if she had survived to hear her best friends screams, the crunches of bones as their bodies were slammed against the interior of the carriage, the wails of the newborn…
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[Present Time]
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Breaking into tears, Reynold rested his head against the desk, not only had he lost the love of his life and his friends but he had lost a child that day, an unborn child of his own flesh and blood… Lela and him were the only survivors of the tumble, the surrounding bodies of his friends were left as unrecognizable piles of flesh decorating the walls of the carriage. Only Felle's body was left recognizable due to the magic-tempered body of a Knight…
Since that day, Reynold hadn't left the castle, he spent his time drowning in work only able to breathe at the sight of Lela, his only true comfort in this hell called life… but sadly this comfort would soon have to leave… The entrance exams for Stolan Magic Academy were quickly approaching and he couldn't help but feel that Lela wasn't ready, but before that she had to be awakened worrying Reynold.
Most children awaken their mana at the age of 3 but Lela was approaching 5 this year and yet had awakened her mana, Reynold began to worry that she would never awaken much like her mother. To be bullied because she was different, to be told she wasn't truly a noble because her mana wouldn't arise. To fall to the position of a maid, due to the rumors of others…
Oh how the baroness had fallen…
Letting out a long breath he calmed himself, no matter what would happen he would stand tall next to Lela, she was 'his' daughter after all… he looked out the window, watching as the rain pelted the paned glass.
*Bang!*
A flash of lightning startled Reynold, the tree near instantly lightning ablaze from the strike that descended from the heavens, however as he watch a silhouette fall from the tree his heart cramped as he leaped out the window, his mana forming a coat of wind boosting his speed… the closer he got the more worried he became. The figure crashed against the ground before Reynold could even reach them, but as he rapidly closed in his worries slowly faded as he saw a few strands of remnant lightning dying her hair a blistering yellow that faded to a dark brown at the tips.
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Reynold felt idiotic for allowing his nerves to calm, it had been nearly a week and Lela showed no signs of waking up, her breathing became deep and irregular, she was stuck in a constant cycle of having a fever and her body temperature dropping.
After a few days he called upon the priest, the doctors, and the physicians… each of them had no explanation for why she wouldn't wake up, every day since then the priest would come and pray for her before bestowing the blessings of god upon her in hopes that the gods would heal her…
A month passed like this, Reynold spent a fortune in various Magicians, Doctors, High Priests, even the Royal Doctor came but they all said the same thing… that they couldn't wake her…
Reynold had been pulling his hair out in frustration, his work had piled up as he refused to leave Lela's side, it was all his fault if he had spent more time with her maybe she wouldn't have been so rebellious as to run out in a storm… replacing the damp rag on her forehead with a fresh one he held her hand… Her breathing had become more and more noticeable, her once irregular breaths showed a pattern as they became deeper… at one point he believed her lungs would explode from the lengths of some of those breaths, but they hadn't…
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There was only a week til the Stolan Magic Academy entrance exams, Reynold had already given up enrolling Lela… there wasn't a point even if she woke up now her body had taken a toll from her prolonged unconsciousness, her ribs were pronounced, her cheeks were sunken… it hurt him to see her like this, his only daughter, his only child… why'd it have to be her?!
He internally screamed to the heavens, cursing them for what happened to Lela, for the harm that had fallen onto her… Slowly he passed out, holding Lela's hand in his own much like every night before… however just as Reynold's eyes closed, Lela's slowly opened… her body felt unfamiliar as if she hadn't lived in it her whole life, there was something deep in the fiber of her being that wasn't always there.
Slowly sitting up with unknown difficulty she saw Reynold in the flickering candle light, how long had he waited on her? She could see the wet spots from his tears… "Papa…?" Her voice was harsh and rasp from the lack of use in the past month but Reynold's head shot up as if his sleep was nonexistent, his eyes were wide, and all he wanted to do was pull her into a hug but he couldn't convince himself to move. All he could do was look into her dark yet light honey eyes…
(A/N: This is rarely gonna be updated, I'll try to keep the chapters long, but do remember this is solely so I can get fresh thoughts for my other work… Enjoy, or dont :)