RE: A Guide to Demonic Ascension

Interlude: Lumina au Hescaria


Their senseless babble bounces off the walls of my war room. Most battle plans, assaults, clandestine manuevers, and defenses are engaged here. King never misses a meeting without telling me.

Swirling my cup, I bleed the foulest thoughts as it spins. What is she up to? She took the Egg too even though she asked me to protect it, who does that?

The chatter dies down in unison, and I look up to find Denkel's Crown Prince, the Dwarven Guildmaster, and Hescaria's three royal family heads moping at me.

"What?" I bite, a bit harsher than intended. Sitting up straight, I set the wine aside and swish through the contracts, requests, and demands from every one of them.

Countess Gertrude clears her throat behind me, stepping out to address them. "Bless Her Majesty, she is not accustomed to this degree of audaciousness."

"It is well earned," Kofu, Denkel's Crown Prince, starts. "This is merely a formality, I hope you understand. For the sake of our continued alliance, I suggest you go along with it. Hescaria as it is couldn't withstand the remnants of the Empire and Denkel, can she?"

"I wouldn't be so quick to speak of what Hescaria can and cannot do, Prince Kofu, not in your position," the fine-robed Hescai House Head snaps, glowering at the imposing Orc.

Dark and brooding Revens leans forward. "That is true… those things you call plagues, they're Demons, aren't they? Legion after legion. D-tier after D-tier."

Turlens, a broad, scarred Elf and mother to Navi, spits, "You wouldn't survive whatever is brewing without our magic, and our Princess is quite the expert on Demons, as you must know."

"King…." With his head barely peeking over the top of the table, the Dwarven Guildmaster musters the courage to speak. "We don't have any stake in lands, we merely armed your soldiers and your King. We only want payment for crafting t-that thing… what is it? What does King intend to do with it?"

Again, all eyes are on me, watching intently. I've long become accustomed to stares like these, demanding, appointing stares that set you up on a pedestal everyone is dying to stand on.

I'd shrink in my clothes at their stares, tuck behind Mother or Valery, who aged and grew so much faster, and the leers would find me still. Worse, they'd take me out of my hiding place—the Sainid Emperor was the first to destroy all hiding places, and his ill-bred Prince would be the next, a folly on my part, because I let it happen. I let it all happen while Valery fought.

This time is different. There's no place to hide and, more importantly, I don't need to.

"Curiosity killed the cat, Ulfric," I say, tossing papers across the table, some spilling over onto the ground—Kofu frowns, his father's idea of a fair deal was among those. "Hescaria owes Denkel nothing, Kofu. In fact, your father should be grateful we let you keep your independence."

"What!" The table rattles as he roars to his full height, fists balled. "We fought for our share!"

"Yes, you did," I say pointedly, "But who took on the rest of the Empire? You Orcs found the most opportune time to rebel, right after Sainid had brought their full attention to our fronts. We provided you the very advantage needed to even be at this table."

He dares abuse the table with a frustrated punch. "Are you saying you would have won without our interference?"

"Yes."

The finality of my word forces his tongue down as he gulps, regarding me with a cautious look before slowly reclaiming his seat.

"Good Prince, now, I won't turn you away empty-handed. Denkel may have whatever castles, fortresses, cities, towns, and fiefs personally conquered. Jerad and Duruk have done good surveys and will burn in a new border for our two kingdoms to foster trade." With a bright smile, I add, "I look forward to meeting your father in person."

At word of his father, the prince snorts, heavy fingers drumming against the table. "The Demons at the seaside of our northern territories are… a plague. The King is exterminating them as we speak."

He tosses a look even Gertrude catches as she coughs, "May he find victory. With this matter settled in all but contract, Her Majesty and myself will get right to drawing one up. For now, why don't you entertain your entourage to some fine Hescarian cuisine?"

Orc he may be, he's far from dumb. He knocks on the table and sighs as he gets up to leave. "Very well, until we next we meet then."

Once he's stepped out the door, Turlens snaps, "You're not seriously giving thought to aligning Hescaria to that burning kingdom?"

Clearing his throat, Ulfric the Dwarven smith hops off his chair. "I think I'd better come back another time." Gertrude gives a grateful nod in my stead while I massage my head.

Reven's sighs and slouches in his seat. "Not to point fingers, but as we're a burning kingdom ourselves, I don't think we can afford to get involved, even in defensive stakes."

I glance at Hescai and his castaway look says it all—no one is willing to lend a hand in a far-off war with Demons. Gertrude steps out from my side and offers a word. "Perhaps we can simply monitor the situation instead? Have Valery provide guidance where needed?"

Irritated, I wave her away like I would a fly, sucking at my teeth. "You're all pathetic. That's why I'm not trusting a single one of you with land from Sainid."

"What!" Hescai is the first to protest.

Revens bears a sneer deeper than the usual brood. "You can't be serious. We fought your war, we—"

Slapping the table, I glare, "You what? You fought to protect your sovereign? Your children? You protected innocent, youthful Elves and our forests? You preserved our culture?" Seeing he's lost his tongue, I regard the three once more and find only Turlens understands where I'm going. "You've merely done what was necessary to begin with, and trust me, it will be necessary to fight these coming Demons."

Turlens raises a scarred eyebrow at this. "Does your King whisper you these truths?"

"That is a topic of discussion, among others. It hasn't escaped anyone's notice that the Arch-Priests of Vuius have been dismissed from their advisory post. Dear Gertrude occupies that space now. Glad to have her, but…" Reven adds, trailing off as he shares concerned looks with Hescai and Turlens.

Tapping my finger against the table, I sigh, "The Arch-Priests have had us deluded for centuries. Rather than accept that Vuius has long abandoned Hescaria for whatever reason, they drove my mother to an early grave." Meeting his gaze, I tell them, "I won't be buried, and I won't be distracted either. The bulk of Sainid's lands will be Crown Land. I'll have it partitioned once I trust we'll have no need for a large standing army and the threat of Prince Deran's return has passed."

There's a chorus of displeased grunts and snuffs, but none voice an argument.

Turlens snorts, "So, for a century at least, Humans die out past one hundred, yes? How old is the deserter Prince?" she asks, searching for an answer from anyone.

"It doesn't matter how old he is; it matters that his effects are mitigated, even if he's not found," I say. The Major is still out there; it pains me that Valery couldn't avenge her father, but it stresses me more to know someone like the Major is aligned with Heroes.

It might be a leap right now, since nothing is confirmed about the Emperor and his family's disappearance, but if the Major was taken by the Heroes, it wouldn't be a leap to say they're responsible for the Sainid Royal family's desertion.

"We have to focus on destroying whatever loyalist cells pop up across the continent. I'll assign regions for you three to temporarily govern. Don't take liberties with it, this isn't the time, and you do not want to test me."

Cackling, Turlens kicks her legs up onto the table. "I say that King Demon is a good influence on little Luminosa," she says, using the name Valery and Navi used to tease me with— heir to all I am Queen of, I wore quite a number of flashy dresses. Even now.

Groaning, I let myself stand and they stand with me—Turlens with a pout. "I have an engagement to get to. If anyone has any questions, remember, curiosity killed the cat."

They bow and I wave as I exit the room, strolling down the hall before picking up on Gertrude trailing after me. I'm conflicted. I don't think what King did to her was my fault, at least I'm trying not to.

Sure, I was weak and I needed help, and King solved that. She gave me Gertrude, the diplomatic voice that had the ear of those three. Under King's Mesmerization, she stopped at nothing to convince all three to commit to the war—something I intend on punishing them for later; why did they need to be convinced to fight for our freedom?

No, that's wrong, isn't it? It wasn't too long ago I rebuked Valery for even daring to summon an E-tier, and here I am, fraternizing with a high C-tier Demon to the point of thinking of her every day.

The narrative has been taken without permission. Report any sightings.

Where has she gone now? She'd sorted and ordered her undead to guard several cities, hillsides, and plains— focusing little on Kyis itself as Valery and my armies took occupation.

I'm tempted to rip the willing blinds off—as her patron, I certainly have the power to find her at the drop of a hat, but she'd feel it. I'd done it once before, and that's how we began speaking—she came straight to me, thinking I'd been looking to speak with her. I don't want to disturb; I just want to know what's going on.

Valery would know. She's been out there on the front of it all, she's the one who reported the Major's escape—a fact only known to myself, King, and—I smash head first into someone. "Oh! Sorry, I didn't see you coming," I blurt, looking up at the tall person I've bumped into.

Based on the brooding, dark hairstyle, I think I'm staring at Revens for a moment, but it's actually his son, Kelv. The last person aware of Valery's fight with the Major, as well as the Heroes interference.

"Kelv, what are you-?" He pulls me into the closest room and quickly dismisses every Elf working within it. Once the door shuts on the last of them, he fixes me with an intense stare.

"Your Majesty, the war is over now. The contract with the Demon, isn't it fulfilled? What happens now? The Heroes have gotten involved already, where does Hescaria fit in all of this?"

A flare of anxiety streams through my temple, and I resist the urge to hold my head as it starts to ache. "Kelv, those are some heavy questions for… an administrative room."

"They need to be asked. The Arch-Priests are gone now, at your order apparently."

"They aren't all gone." I wave him off, lifting myself onto a table filled with documents of all sorts. "They still perform their duties to the Hescarian people. They preach of Vuius' mercies still, don't they? Just not here."

Inhaling, he sets himself before me. "You don't believe anymore?"

"If I did, then my answer to your questions would be 'as Vuius's mercies guide us, child.' Would that satisfy any of your questions?"

He turns away, biting his lip before admitting, "No, it wouldn't, but not because I don't believe in Vuius, I do. I also believe we have a responsibility to act on her teachings."

"And haven't I? Have I not put my brothers and sisters, my kingdom before my personal values and concerns? I know the council thinks I did this all on a whim, that I'm being manipulated, but the truth is, I've only done what was necessary."

He presses forward, "Then will you do what is necessary now?" Seeing me raise an eyebrow, he explains, "That Demon… she is no mere C-tier. Valery and I have seen and fought rogue C-tiers in the early days of our rebellion, we've brought them down with little trouble, but this… King. She is as she calls herself, and in this world she has no kingdom, so she will take yours."

It's a thought I had frequently about a year ago, when King, no… when Nil first woke up underneath Valery's basement, right after she'd saved me from Prince Deran.

Nil is the name of the Demon I made the pact with, and King is merely an unknown entity or personality. I didn't know for certain, but I think I do now. King is an entirely different person, a different soul, and one that's powerful enough to subdue the original Demon I made the pact with.

The pact itself doesn't allow me to differentiate between the two, rather I have influence over the Demon's [Soul Crystal], and that's all I need, right?

"There is nothing to take that I haven't already given, Kelv. How do you think we've successfully beaten the Sainids? Elves are talented with magic, immensely so, but Humans are numerous, uncanny and ruthless creatures, and bringing down that Empire has taken everything."

He starts to say a word, but I raise a finger. "King is… a tool, and she has served Hescaria's purpose wonderfully. Have you seen the streets? My kingdom rejoices! Songs I thought lost are sang freely, and we give prayers as we wish. We grow our forests, our people, and our magic without Humans a mere fraction of our age oppressing, monitoring, and controlling our lives!

"You are a Warrior, Kelv. Be grateful that what you've fought for has come to fruition and pick up your weapon, because the real truth is that not everyone is happy to see us happy. Heroes, Gods, Demons, Orcs, or even fellow Elves. It doesn't matter who the enemy is, as long as you're willing to fight to preserve us, Hescaria."

Kelv droops. Wearing a solemn look, his eyes glaze over with burgeoning tears. Sniffling them away before I can express concern, he says, "You speaks as Her Majesty did."

As Her Majesty? But… oh. The sting of tears pools in me as well, and I straighten my slouch and sit up straight. "Thank you, Kelv. I hope she thinks so in Vuius' embrace too."

He nods away his sentimentality, "Yes, it's been a full year since you took the throne. Or stole it back from Sainid. Yes, you are indeed a legendary Queen of our history, Lumina."

Blushing, I steal one of Valery's lines, "You said it, not me."

Kelv and I share a hearty laugh at that before my nose crinkles. A strong scent of burnt hair permeates the room—Kelv is slower on the uptake, but I'm already hopping off the table as the hairs on the back of my neck stand.

A thin tear in space rattles and sparks at the edges of its oval shape, startling Kelv at its appearance, but it's merely one of King's portals. King herself soon steps through afterward, filling the room with her presence and that unique lavender smell that never escapes her.

She heaves, taking a deep breath as she shudders and takes greedy inhales. When her eyes open, she finds me instantly and reaches out a hand for me. "Lumina, it's time."

"Time for what?" Kelv asks, eyes narrowed with suspicion. "The siege is over, is it not?" He turns to me for confirmation.

I nod. "As of yesterday, yes. This is pact business; it shouldn't affect Hescaria any more than carving through the Sainid already has. I'll be back soon," I tell him, taking King's awaiting hand. She smiles down at me, and I look through the portal.

It's a dark place, wherever we're going.

"I'll be waiting," Kelv says, glowering right at King.

She ignores him and says to me, "Be ready, this place is a bit… suffocating." She urges me as she inhales deeply, and I do the same. I wave goodbye to Kelv as she pulls me through.

Immediately, it's clear she meant suffocating in more ways than one. The air is thick, dank with dust, rust, and hints of decay. Even worse is the weight of mana in the air. It's a sludge of deadening power. Stepping in from a mana-active environment like Hescaria, the atmosphere here almost feeds off the life we bring.

"What is this place?" I ask, bringing a cloth to cover my nose. From the little I can see, it's a labyrinth of crumbling structures and twisted metal remnants. The only illumination comes through from cracks in what I assume is a ceiling, casting eerie shadows on the warped architecture.

King silently leads me down a narrow path carved from rock. The opposing walls have murals of some language, pictographs of power and majesty. Squeezing my hand reassuringly, she says, "These are the ruins of a kingdom I ruled some thousand years ago."

"What?" She has spoken about how she ruled, how she managed her kingdom, armies, and people, but she's never once mentioned where or what that kingdom was. "This is your kingdom?"

She shrugs, looking back at me. "Technically, no. It's was as much my kingdom in the same way Hescaria belonged to the Sainid Empire."

"Oh, you conquered it."

She doesn't lose her smile, even as we pass parts of the ruins reclaimed by nature. Thorns of roses and ivy creep along the walls and deeper paths. Gleaming eyes skulk and stalk us through curtains of vines, broken walls, and darkest shadows.

"And now you have," she says, grinning down at my confused face. "This is Kyis, underneath it anyway. How's the first impression?"

We leave the unsettling ruins to a large, albeit-broken cathedral path. There's only one door left on the hinge as we step in, but there's a well-lit spot at the end.

"I've been to Kyis before," I say, and she oh's. "I've been all around the Empire, or… I don't know what to call it now."

"Call it yours," King replies almost instantly, "it technically is anyway, if you can keep it."

The air weighs heavy in the classic cathedral; slim tendrils of mana pool out of my fingertips to the center. King's arranged a table, a stand, and dug a circle in the ground. Behind it the statue of Anera, the Sainid's Goddess, stands in the middle of it all, whole and almost brand new, except for the red stains splattered over it. I take another step in before I stop. "King… whose blood is this?"

All over the floor is a giant pool of blood dripping down the side and through the cracks. Her hand slips from mine as she strides through the blood without a care, looking over her shoulder at it. "Hm? Ignore it. Come, it's time."

"Wait… no, really. Whose blood is this?"

Sighing, she cracks open the chest sitting on the table and sets the Egg on a pedestal parallel to Anera's statue. "Ignore it, Lumina. It's the blood of monsters."

Monsters? No, whatever those things out there were, they wouldn't be brave enough to approach a Demon of her tier. "Who was here, King? Tell me."

She inserts the [Soul Crystal] from her choker onto a groove on the Egg and regards me with a still look. "The Emperor, the Empress, and their many Princes and Princesses."

"Prince Deran?" I ask. She glances at my feet and I gag. "Oh Vuius, how did you find them?"

"Who said they were missing?"

Gasping, I want to reach her, but the blood…. Gulping, I do my best to leap over and not drag my dress through it. "You… the war would end a lot cleaner if there were someone from the other side to hand over. People from the other side to maintain and curtail their citizens."

Chuckling, she steals my hand again and caresses my cheek, an act that sends shivers down my spine as she says, "And how did that work out for you? Didn't you end up rising up and striking them down with a great fury, Queen Lumina au Hescaria, hm?"

"They were cruel. Rising up was the only choice we had to free ou-Mhm!" she seals my lips with a kiss. I'm wide-eyed, but she's passionate.

Tucking my hair behind my ear, she says, "Stop. You can handle whatever comes. I'll be leaving you an army of undead anyway, yours alone to command." She frowns, searching my eyes, "Besides, you've told me all about them. They deserved this more than anyone for hurting you."

I'm struck silent and breathless. She chuckles again and steps into the circle, "Now, will you help me build the future? One without horror, without cruel men and wicked Gods?"

Gathering my senses, I stutter, "Yes… I mean… you're leaving me an undead army? Where are you going?"

Her eyes carry mine to the Egg. "You'll need the undead, just in case Nil tries something… extreme. But, I promise it won't be long before I'm back with you. As long as you protect it, I will return."

"Okay… okay, let's do this? What are we doing?"

She smiles, "Brace yourself." She taps Anera's statue and it breaks apart, crumbling to pieces and then immediately absorbing those pieces as a pitch-black orb reveals itself.

Mana steals away from me to fuel it, despite my best efforts. Loose rocks, the blood, and even dirt cyclone into its center as it vibrates, letting out a low hum throughout that rattles everything around it.

King stands in the circle, hair billowing around her but standing unfazed as ever. She yells, "Once this is over, take the Egg and run!" Her eyes go white with energies before I can say anything in response.

I mold the earth around my feet to lock me in place, but even that begins to crack as King recites a frightening incantation. The thick orb of power pierces her [Soul Crystal], and agony carries through her face.

Utilizing hand-signs and incantations, she makes the orb's pull lessen as it pierces straight through her neck to stab the Egg behind her—the [Soul Crystal] embedded in it explodes with power that blows away the ceiling.

A well-placed gust of wind spares me from being crushed. Demonic Essence ploughs through the afternoon skies, darkening it within moments as King's incantation continues.

Lightning arcs fall, striking down at the ruins with uncanny precision. I lift an entire rock dome between myself and King as more and more strikes come through.

Over an hour passes before the earth stops quaking and lightning stops raining down. Digging myself out of the deep dome, I find soot falling from the sky and King… Nil laid out on the ground. The orb is gone, vanished, presumably into the Egg. Right along with King herself.

Taking cautious steps over the piles of fallen rumble, I notice not a single rock or scorch mark found King within the circle. The Egg's blue-green color is now a deep red, almost black, but its insides refract a spectrum of stellar colors as it steams.

Tearing a bit of my dress, I wrap the Egg and lift it into its chest before it can burn through. It's far heavier than it was the last time I had it. Shutting the chest, I take one last look at King, or at least her image.

"I hope this is right."

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