Demon Blood: Chains of Fate

Chapter 23

Shadow

"My name is Shadow Ata Zenith, Cursed Child and Demon Lord of Shadows," I bow, "a pleasure to meet you, Evelyne."

I look at her when I don't hear any movement. She looks confused and stunned. I ask her the obvious question, "What's wrong?" It takes her a time to respond.

"You said... Demon Lord of Shadows... right?" She asks slowly.

"Aye, why do you ask? Is there something wrong?" I cross my arms and stretch out my wings, they've been awfully stiff lately.

"There is no Demon Lord of Shadows yet... there hasn't been ever since the old Demon Lord of Shadows overthrew the previous king more than 100,000 years ago..." her words are slow and carefully selected.

"Then that means that I'm unofficially a Demon Lord."

"No, your self-proclaimed, unless..." she trails off. Slowly, realization washes over her as she stares at me with panicked eyes, "You wield a Mark and claim to be a Demon Lord..."

"I have a mark?" When did I get a mark and where is it? I begin to look over my body for any changes.

"Yes... you have a Mark... that earring..." she points at the gem on my earring, "it shows your status... but how can you have a mark? And how can you know you're a Demon Lord?" She starts to walk towards me.

"I never knew I had a Mark until now. As for being a Demon Lord... I don't really know how I know... I just know..." now I'm confused. How did I know I was a Demon Lord?

"So you don't understand it either?" She stops.

"No... no I don't..."

"This is a problem... if you really are a Demon Lord... then I need to present you to the Demon King," she takes a deep breath and straightens up, "Shadow, will you willingly accompany to the Demon King's Realm?"

"Aye, I will. If I refuse then you would have to force me and that would be an inconvenience for both of us. Am I right?" I begin to pack my things, which isn't much to pack.

"You are correct, lets leave as soon as possible." Yuki stopped reading an entry on Nightshades before I grabbed the notebook and packed it away.

When I awoke three days ago, she told me everything that happened while I, as she put it, was dead. Apparently five years have passed since I fought the founders. During that time, Yuki trained even harder to get stronger, she was able to mastered her invisibility and FoxFire because of this. She also trained even harder in order to be able to fight. She became stronger and faster, but not smarter. When she finished telling me what happened I proposed an idea, for three hours a day, I would teach her about herbs, monsters, tactic. Anything that would prove useful in any given situation.

I lift the backpack onto my right shoulder and grab my sword with my left hand. Yuki climbs up my back and onto my head where she lays down. It's been quite some time since she was on my head... not counting the five years I was dead...

"Come, lets go for a walk. Shall we?" I head for the door. Evelyne follows. Those very important guests can wait.

We leave the building with little incident. Apparently we were roomed at the center of the top floor. On the way down people would sometimes stop to thank me but most would just stare at me. I'm glad for that though, it means that we could leave faster.

Currently we're walking through the forest.

"That little fox, Yuki you called it, what exactly is it?" Evelyne asks while we walk.

"She is a Kitsune." I answer plainly.

"How did you get a Kitsune?!"

"Ask her," I point at Yuki who is sitting happily on my head, "she probably knows more about it then me.

"Is that so?" Evelyne looks at Yuki, "How did you come know Shadow?" Yuki shifts on my head.

"He is my master! I am just a loyal servant to him..." Yuki answers. Is that what she really thinks?

It seems Evelyne heard what she said because next thing I knew, she was going off on me about treating Yuki better.

"CALM DOWN!!!" I slightly panic. She hits really hard, "I do treat Yuki right! I swear!!"

"He treats me better than all the others do!!" Yuki looks down at me, "He isn't mean like them. He doesn't think I'm useless like they do. He only scolds me when I do something wrong or dangerous. They yell and insult me whenever I come near them, but he doesn't yell, he doesn't insult me. He is kind to me, even if I am weak." I think I felt a drop on my head. Evelyne is tearing up. What's going on? Why does everything feel so emotional all of a sudden? "I'm here because of him. If he didn't take me with him then I would be alone in the darkness, forever scorned by the others for being weak and useless."

"That's so sad!" Evelyne cries. "So, exactly how did you two come to meet?"

"He called upon us all, including me. We gathered around him, awaiting his words. I wanted to see him so I slowly made my way past the others but when I came to the inner ring, Demmyn kept pushing me back saying 'The Young Lord has no time for a weakling like you'. The Young Lord noticed his growls and approached. Demmyn stopped struggling with me as he neared so I slipped underneath him and landed before the Young Lord. I was frightened by him at first, so much so that I couldn't even answer him. It took some time but I could finally answer his question. 'I am Yuki Inari', I said. I told him that I wanted to be stronger and to be useful. Then everyone started to yell at me, telling me I should just die, calling me a waste of time, weak, useless, and so many more cruel things. All but one did this, the Young Lord neither moved nor spoke, then he said one thing. Silence," I feel her lay down and rest her head on my hair, "everyone stopped, no more yelling, no more insults, just silence. He wished to hear me, for me to tell him my problems, my wishes, my desires." My hair feels wet... is she crying on my head? "I cried and cried, told him all my problems, my worries, doubts, fears, wishes, wants, desires, everything. All the while, he listened. Listened to me, who was the weakest among his servants. He didn't scorn me, didn't insult me, didn't even feel annoyed by me. He then said something to me. 'I would love to have you by my side'. I felt so happy. The Young Lord promised to help me get stronger and teach me to fight. My happiness only grew. He took me with him when he left the darkness, using his magic to create a body for me and placed me inside it." I don't remember that part! When did this happen?! "And we've been to get there ever since... except for the past five years."

"Shadow?" I look at Evelyne and for the first time since Yuki started talking! I was actually scared of her. She had a devious 'Lie and I'll kill you' look on her face, "If I heard her correctly, this means that you used necromancy... is this true?" I need to choose my words carefully here...

"I swear I never did any such thing! When I awoke that day she was on my chest asleep!" She looks confused.

"Wait... what do you mean she was there when you woke up?"

"I was inside the Young Lord's soul before then, his magic gave me a body for my soul to bind to!" Yuki says. Is that really what happened? How in the world is that possible?! "I don't know the answer, I just assumed you did it." That's right... telepathy...

"So wait, Yuki was a soul inside your soul?" I nod. I feel Yuki do the same. "Then when you said the others..."

"Yep! Other souls inside the Young Lord's soul!"

"How many exactly are there?" Evelyne asks slowly. Please I want to know too...

"As the Young Lord wishes..." she pauses, "Before I met the Young Lord, I would pass the time by counting all those I saw... I lost count around I think 2,187,359 souls, but that isn't even one percent of the total... Does this satisfy the Young Lord?" Both me and Evelyne don't move. "Is something wrong, Young Lord?"

"How are you still you?" Evelyne asks quietly.

"...I don't know..." I answer.

"Is it something I said?" Yuki asks.