Know Your Place (1)

" Well, I should probably get going...", I say with a smile on my face.

" This is not over.", Lecia whispered and then took Eric away with her too continue on with their dance.

Whew...

" Follow me.", Kirsi says while already on the move.

I follow her through the palace's hallways until we reach the biggest door I have ever seen in my life.

Without giving me time to prepare myself Kirsi opens the door with her bare hands, impressing me. I'm pretty sure that this was the throne room.

As soon as the doors were opened, my eyes focus on the demon king. The demon king looked at me, his focus on me was absolute. Even as I walked closer to him, his eyes never leave me.

The demon king looked like a popsicle stick, he was so thin I swear I could see his heart beating. The Demon King had black eyes that reminded of an unending well, but the thing that got my attention the most were his horns...or horn, I suppose.

One of them had been cut off during battle all those years ago.

A demon's horn being sliced of was the biggest dishonor a demon could receive, who had the nerve to cut of a horn from the mighty demon king ?

It was the Enchantress.

After all they first met as enemies on the battlefield.

" Cease your insolence at once, human !", a man standing behind the throne says while glaring at me.

Seeing as how he stood beside the demon king, he must be one of the generals, looking at his features it was easy to understand which one of the generals he was,

The General Of Wrath, Helmer.

A cold-blooded warrior that would kill himself without even giving it a second thought if that was what his master wanted.

Did I do something to offend him ?

As I think, I realize that I was still standing....not bowing would be considered as insolence I suppose ?

I start to bow since I couldn't afford to offend anyone in this room, but before I can the demon king, Belial Crowcolt says,

" There is no need for you to bow, child."

I look up to see a faint smile on Belial's face.

I try to say my thanks but before I can, the huge door opens again. I turn around to find Bal and a woman clad in red armor beside him.

The woman must be a general as well, seeing the enamoring red armor she must be the,

The General of Dawn, Aurora.

Aurora was a unique demon in the sense that she wasn't fully demon, she was half human. Intermixing of species was considered a taboo in the demon's culture so the fact that she was general was a testament to how powerful she was.

People born of mixed blood like Aurora go through a second 'awakening', this was when the latent power inside them would awaken. Intermixing between species wasn't considered taboo because people were disgusted by it....it was considered taboo because their offspring's were monsters of unimaginable degrees.

Now that all the four generals of the demon king had all gathered here, they took their rightful place next to the demon king. Bal winked at me from behind the throne and I ignored him completely.

" It's nice to finally meet you, Adam Creed.", Belial says with that faint smile still on his face.

" It's an honor to finally meet you as well, your majesty.", I say in response.

" Firstly, I thank you for rescuing my daughter and granddaughter."

I shake my head and say,

" It was my honor to be able to help you, your majesty."

Helmer nods his head in approval hearing how I spoke.

" You really do look like him....", Belial says, his eyes filled with a strange sadness.

I tilt my head to the side in confusion, but don't question him...mostly because I was afraid but let's not get hung up on small details.

" Do you trust me ?", Belial asks yet again.

" I do, your majesty.", I say dutifully.

Now, I don't know about trust... but I knew that he was person who kept his word no matter what.

Belial looks at Kirsi, who still stood beside me and says,

" Show it to him."

At her king's behest, Kirsi takes out a piece of paper...no a photo of someone. She hands it to me and I'm surprised to see that it's me.

....

No, it's not me..

An older version of me ?

Confused, I look up at the demon king and he says,

" That's my son."

....

Okay.

What's happening here ?...

Why does an human orphan with an obscure past look way too similar to Araceous Crowcolt, the prince of the demonic kingdom ?

I'm pretty sure that I didn't make a character like that, but by now I'm already aware of the fact that the plot is as reliable as a sinking ship and I'm the captain. I still refuse to accept it but I know and I have nobody else to blame but myself.

But this was not something I had anything to do with at all.

" Seeing your reaction, I assume that you didn't know ?"

I nod my head.

" He's lying...all humans are liars.", Aurora silently added in.

.....

Well... thank you for that.

Helmer nods his head agreeing with Aurora's words.

By now, I'm pretty sure that the only thing he can actually do is nod.

" Please don't mind her, but her words aren't completely false, looking at the history between our two races.", Bal tries to help me but ultimately just makes it worse.

Now, I should be extremely careful... this topic of conversation was akin to landmine. If I get trapped in one...I'm done for.

" Seeing that you have human roots....there's a chance you're lying about me being a liar."

...

Well...shit.

A very awkward silence falls over us untill-

" HAHHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAH---", Belial, the demon king, the one said to have singlehandedly held his own against the twelve angels laughed.

Bal also started to laugh, soon everyone in the throne room were laughing except for Aurora of course..

She had frown on her face, but kept her silence. I was glad for that.

The Demon King stops to catch his breath and says,

" It seems that you're similar to my son in more ways than one..."

" Errr, thank you.", I say rubbing my head not knowing how to react.

~~~~

After making sure that everyone calmed down, Belial said,

" We want to have a friendly relationship with you, but for that we need to be able to completely trust you."

I think for a moment before saying,

" What can I do to make you trust me ?, your majesty."

Hearing me, Belial smiles and says,

" You don't have to do anything.. we already have an idea."

~~~~

Kirsi stood in front of me, staring into my eyes.

" Are you ready ?", she asks

I nod my head, she gently touches the center of my forehead with one of her fingers. I watch as her eyes lose focus and then completely turn white.

The solution Belial came up with was simple, Kirsi apparently had an skill that would help her look into the 'inner eye' of a person. As to what exactly this inner mind was... I had no idea.

All I knew was that it had to do something with the soul of a person, I accepted his request since it sounded simple enough and the whole process would apparently end in a single minute as time ran faster inside this 'inner eye'.

Everybody in the room looked tense and waited for Kirsi to awaken.

After exactly a minute, Kirsi does open her eyes but instead of speaking she screamed-

" AHHHHHHHHHHHHH--"

She fell to the ground and started backing away from me.

Before passing out she says a single word that echoes throughout the throne room,

" Monster."

....

What the fuck was that ?

I step forward to check on her but before I can even take a single step, Helmer and Aurora vanish before me and appear in front and back of me. Their weapons, an axe and an spear respectively over my neck.

I don't even have the time to blink.

" What did you do to h-", Aurora begins to speak but another person's voice drowns out her voice completely.

" STOP !"

The voice was high pitched, it sounded like a kid....

I turn my head sideways and the door was once again swung open and outside stood Victoria and in her hands was Tiana who looked red from all the screaming.

' Oh, thank god,', I think thanking the god of fortune.

~~~~

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