The Prince of Demons

Luna

I saw Nil rolling on the ground screaming profanities as he clutched his eyes. He cast a terrifying as he seemed to open a massive hole in the sky for a few seconds before it collapsed. Nil was writhing as Lux stood next to him cackling; Lux was so supportive whenever Nil did something this stupid. Empress Senna was looking at me, and then at Nil. Why did I fight to date this dilwaul? It was like the instant he had some dumb inspiration for he had to test it; this one was at least Lord inspired stupidity. Part of me was imagining the sky laughing at Nil as he was cursing up a storm. I walked over to him, carefully peeling his hands away from his face to inspect his eyes. The black really highlights the amber. Nil was looking at me sheepishly as I ran over them to check for damage. It must have been wildly uncomfortable whatever he did, as there were no signs of damage from what I could tell. His face made it apparent he was still experiencing immense discomfort. I ran a minor over his eyes and Nil’s face improved.

“Now, do you mind properly explaining what you just tried?” I inquired as I was looking at Nil.

“Kron informed me to get a I need to use my to open a passage. That was my attempt at performing the .” Nil explained as I helped him to his feet.

“Is that the only method?” Nez probed while clearly fighting the urge to laugh at his nephew.

“There are two. This is the easier one given my .” Nil clarified. By his face I could tell he was mentally revising the to try again.

“Come on dear, you have lessons with Naval Admiral Nautilus.” Dad prodded. Nil was going to need to rely on Lux for healing then. Might get him to think a little more before trying again.

I walked next to my dad, giving him a hug before we began seeking out Nautilus. It wasn’t overly challenging to find her. As expected, Helga was in her lap as the two flirted with each other. I was glad Helga seemed to like Nautilus. I might need to ask her for insight on dealing with the special breed of idiot that Nautilus and Nil both seem to be. That was for later as now was time for lessons with Nautilus. I fought the urge to let out a massive sigh. So much of me hoped it would be a long while before I hopped back on the Nautilus Torture Express. Behind me I heard an immense rumbling followed by Nil swearing again. Then a thwack as apparently, he summoned Duthane with his foul language. I could feel myself smile a bit. He’s such a dork. The nerd clearly planned on slamming his head into the wall of that until he succeeded.

“Thin’ abou’ royal grublin on ya own time.” Nautilus snapped playfully at me as she begrudgingly set Helga down.

“Thank you for your time Naval Admiral Nautilus. I will be assisting the Chancellor if you need me.” Dad stated with a polite bow before leaving.

“So, what’s today’s lesson?” I asked, trying hard not to audibly sigh as I asked.

“Fightin’.” Nautilus answered. She was great at being succinct.

Nautilus was also not one for warnings as she rapidly pivoted into a palm strike that I narrowly dodged. She began her assault, using her to augment her attacks with several spectral hands. was one of the most basic , but she was so good at using them. I conjured my own, using mine to deflect away hers. Nautilus launched a surprise kick which put me to the ground; her kicks were so fast. She kept them at a speed my eyes and body could follow, but they came out so efficiently I struggled to block them. As I got back to my feet, I saw Nautilus took her overcoat off to show she was wearing boots, pants, and what looked like a sports bra. Even after becoming Naval Admiral she hasn’t been one for wearing much. To be honest, the fact she had on boots and pants was a vast improvement from what I remembered. Her entire body was toned, and I saw Helga admiring her. Nautilus smirked as she draped the overcoat over Helga with the two smiling at each other.

“Think about Helga on your own time.” I taunted her. Without even turning around she began the next round, launching a kick straight into my chest.

“Sass m’ lass when ya stronger.” Nautilus chuckled as I was coughing on the ground.

“Was that necessary?” I gasped as she had knocked the wind out of me. Nautilus was smirking at me as I got back to my feet.

“Lil bit.” Nautilus stated while I took a few deep breaths to compose myself.

I retook my starting stance, getting ready to practice with Nautilus again. Practicing fighting with her was torturous as her lessons before were kind of strict, but after the Void King and knowing I was mentally about thirty, they became quite draconian. Nautilus held back enough for my child’s body, but the bruises she left hurt and needed healing. I knew the Imperial Family was helping me get a for , but I had no idea how long that would take. Until then, I could only heal and endure the lessons; I wish I had a because it would greatly increase the effectiveness of the lessons. Unfortunately, I had to train as much as I could given the monster after us. I just had to keep learning from Nautilus as efficiently as I could. I endured several hours of her ruthless sparring, feeling like my body was screaming at me. Nautilus gave me a break as she returned to flirting with Helga. Nautilus didn’t even look mildly inconvenienced by hours of sparring with me. Not even an extra breath to recover. It’s not fair just how strong adults are. As I was healing myself back up, I felt a hand on my shoulder that instantly healed me; I turned to see Empress Senna standing there. Helga politely bowed while Nautilus remained where she was, much to Empress Senna’s visible chagrin.

“Empress Senna, what brings you here?” I inquired. Empress Senna glared at Nautilus for a few seconds before letting out a sigh.

“I will be taking her for the rest of the day. You two may use the time as you wish.” Empress Senna informed Helga and Nautilus.

They didn’t argue and quickly left for somewhere. I wondered what Empress Senna wanted as she began walking into the castle. We walked through the first floor and began descending into the lower levels. The two of us walked further until we reached the door of a massive vault. What was in this gigantic vault? Empress Senna walked up to it, inputting several combinations into the dials. The door swung open without noise to reveal that inside was full of neatly arranged metal boxes built into the wall. In the center of the vault was a pedestal with an ornate wooden box that seemed to radiate . What was in that box? Empress Senna motioned for me to grab the box; I stepped inside as I felt the fluctuations of whatever was in the box. I walked up to the box, lifting it. Before I could ask Empress Senna what this was, I was surrounded by a blank void. What? Where was I? Was this the Void King? I immediately began looking around me and sending out feelers with to try and get a grasp of where I was.

“What do we have here?” A male voice asked. It was eerily pleasant and soft.

“Who are you?! What are you?!” I snapped at the voice.

“Why are you panicking? Relax.” The voice cooed. There was this odd warmth as the voice spoke that was unsettling.

“I don’t know who you are or where I am. Answer me.” I spat at it, forming my the best I could.

“Some would be happy to hear the voice of a Lord. I guess not everyone.” The voice taunted, still emitting the same warmth.

What? This voice was a Lord? I knew Nil told me he had talked to Kron and Utol. Which one was this? The voice was male, so that eliminated Utol, Nyx, and Sul. According to Nil, Kron’s voice was difficult to tell, and this was distinctly male, so this was either Dha, Uhm, or Andel. The warmth as the voice spoke made it difficult to narrow it down between the three. Why was I hearing a Lord? How was a Lord tied to what was in that box?

“I’m sorry, I was worried you were tied to the Void King.” I apologized. I could feel the confusion of the Lord.

“But you aren’t some Reincarnator, so he should leave you alone. How do you even know he exists?” the voice probed, sounding genuinely confused.

“My boyfriend is a Reincarnator, sir.” I informed the voice. The voice now had a new level of confusion.

“Wait, why is your soul older than your body? That’s peculiar. Mind informing me of how?” the voice requested. Before I said a word, a blank outline appeared to look at me. It was just the outline of the body with no features. I will apologize to Nil later, that is unsettling to look at.

“I’m technically a Regressor. My soul was sent back in time. If I may ask, which Lord am I talking to?” I answered. A wide smile went across the face of the outline.

“You’re Luna. Interesting. Interesting.” The voice chanted as the outline began floating in a laying position. How did that instantly tell the Lord who I was? I’m guessing Regressors are not common probably helps immensely.

“If I can press, which Lord are you? Why am I talking to you?” I asked, still not grasping what got me this meeting.

“I am Dha, Lord of Life. You touched an item of mine. Hmmmm. The by the feel of it.” Dha informed me. That was a I touched which would be immensely helpful.

“So, why did me touching the box it was in get me a meeting with you, Lord Dha?” I inquired. I was coming to terms with the fact I was talking with a Lord.

“Items with our have our on them. Upon realizing your soul and body didn’t align, I came to inspect what interesting being crossed my path.” Dha explained while yawning. His form was kind of floating around.

“What do we do from here, Lord Dha?” I probed. Did we talk terms of use? Make a contract saying I was renting it?

“Well, I determine if you are worthy of using my . Clocks ticking, so do not worry as you will not be here for too long.” Dha assured me. That was comforting at least.

“How do I argue for my worthiness? Is there something I can do to help you decide?” I asked. Dha hummed a little bit as he mulled it over. I felt a wave of hit me as Dha seemed to scan me with it.

“How do you feel being the girlfriend of a man who killed you? Someone you opposed and fought against until the end?” Dha probed. How relevant was that answer to this?

“They’re not the same. I mean, this is Nil before he lost everything and had his life systematically destroyed by the Void King. He’s a completely different person than the one I knew.” I answered. Dha seemed amused by my answer.

“Interesting. So you define people by the events in their life. That people can change based on their experiences.” Dha mused. Several statements Nil made were beginning to make a lot of sense.

“I mean, yes. Don’t you think people change based on what happens? What shapes their world view?” I asked back, wondering what Dha thought.

“What I think on that doesn’t matter. What matters is what I think about you.” Dha pointed out. I fought the urge to sigh.

“Any other questions for me then, Lord Dha?” I checked. Dha was floating around as he thought it over.

“Questions? Maybe we should play a game. That might be fun.” Dha cooed, sounding like he didn’t have a care in the world.

“Isn’t there a clock? Didn’t you say I wouldn’t be here for too long?” I asked. Dha laughed.

“Oh yea, the clock. I need to decide quickly.” Dha chuckled. This was a Lord? This was nothing close to what I imagined.

“I get that a lot.” Dha interjected. Wait. He could read what I was thinking?

“Correct. Lords, , and well-trained individuals can do it. Reading your memories takes a bit more work.” Dha explained with a bit of a giggle.

“I don’t understand what you want.” I confessed. Dha was honestly difficult to get a read on.

“Oh no. A being much stronger and older than you is hard for you to grasp.” Dha taunted with a small laugh.

“Why aren’t you taking this more seriously?” I inquired, trying to understand why Dha was so lackadaisical.

“Because that’s what you want.” Dha pointed out as a nagging sensation was eating at the back of my mind.