Waves crashed against rocks and the smell of river water wafted through the air.
Seagulls flew around and poked and prodded at the crates being set down by the Zone, one even trying to make off with one of the food bags. (Y/N) watched a Capturer kick the bird away, hoping they didn't get bad luck from it.
Following the plan, the Zone found a small park next to the river a couple blocks away from the island. Not much was going to be unloaded. Once contact and negotiations with the Outsiders were done, they were going to start heading north. Hearing it made (Y/N) nervous, knowing they were going to be heading for the asylum. But if she was going to avenge her community and prevent any more pain from happening, then she needed to be a part of this.
She sat a top a carrier to be able to get a view of the distant island. She used her hand to shade her eyes from the sun and observed the large land positioned in between two cities. Even after how deep the Zone has went, there was still so much more on the other side of the water.
The cities were so dense and cramped together. You can't even walk a few feet without running into another skyscraper. How could people have lived like this?
"Hey."
(Y/N) looked down to see her friend hopping onto a crate and using it to climb onto the carrier. B had binoculars strapped to her belt that she pulled off and brought them up to her eyes to peer at the island.
"That's the place? Looks abandoned." She observed.
"That's only from the outside." (Y/N) spoke. "It's a trick."
"Mom, you better be right about this..." B whispered to herself.
Approaching the Outsiders was a bit risky considering how they felt about Zones. (Y/N) wanting to tag along to help was even more risky. She's a demon now but she's still a Topsider at heart. She just hoped their leader was the understanding type.
(Y/N) looked back up at B as the Capturer pulled the device away. "Are you going with them?"
B nodded as she took a seat next to her. "Of course. Me and Tyr are gonna be on the 'look tough' team while Mom and Dad talk with them. Makes me nervous."
Her parents, both of them. They were to be the main ones to make contact with the Outsiders. The stories that B has heard, rumors too, one thing could go wrong and her parents would be in the middle of it.
(Y/N) saw this anxiousness on her face. Her mom was the Head Keeper and her dad, the Chief. But they were still her parents.
She placed a reassuring hand on B's shoulder. Hoping that it'll help calm her worries. "They'll be fine. The Outsiders aren't as barbaric as people think."
"Says the demon who they'll gladly use your hair as a wig." B joked but she appreciated the comfort.
On the ground, the Chief was beginning to round up a team for the Outsider job. He gave his orders, what to do if things went south and what to do while they were gone. As (Y/N) watched, she could see the same tenseness on everyone else's face. They were all worried.
As the only Topsider here, it made (Y/N) want to go even more. They needed someone who can relate to the Outsiders. Someone who can understand them in a way a Ground dweller couldn't. Most importantly, they needed an example of what the Elitists can continue to do if they weren't stopped.
"So... about what happened in the carrier?" B started. "You're sure you don't think I'm crazy?"
(Y/N) turned toward her. "No. What was that about, anyway?"
B propped her head up on her knee as she watched her Zone below. "Can you keep it a secret? Even from my family?"
The demon girl slowly nodded but was still confused. Should she be worried?
"There's a man in my head." B kept her voice down but was quick to say it.
Now (Y/N) was even more confused. "W-What-"
"There's a man in my head." B repeated, watching for (Y/N)'s reaction. "Sometimes he shows up and talks to me. Sometimes he disappears."
(Y/N)'s words were caught in her throat. Her expression kept changing as she tried to process this information. A man... in her head..?
The two watched each other for a second before (Y/N) leaned closer with her voice down. "Are you sure you're not just- a little-"
"Wow, ok." B pulled away.
"No n-no no wait I didn't mean it like that!" (Y/N) rushed. "It's just- it's a little-"
B started to laugh which made the demon girl even more anxious. "You're not... offended, right?"
"Well, I can't expect a normal reaction from what I said, so no. I'm not." B giggled. "But it's true. I just haven't told anyone. People already look at me in some type of way and my family worries about me enough. Just best if I kept it to myself."
(Y/N) nodded along. She still didn't quite understand B when it came to her abilities. The same can be said with her mother.
"You wanna meet him?" B asked with a sneaky smile.
She almost laughed at how her friend's eyes widened.
"The man in your-"
"Yup! He's chill, I promise."
(Y/N) looked around nervously. This was probably the most strangest thing she was ever going to do. She hesitated but trusted her friend, making B smile even more. She pointed to her eyes and (Y/N) looked into them as she fiddled with the seams on her jeans.
B's eyes began to glow and (Y/N) could feel her body get lighter as everything around her began to blur. The bright morning sky, the crashing waves of the river, the squawks of the seagulls, they were all drowned out and soon replaced by somewhere much darker. Faint walls covered in posters and graffiti appeared, LED lights of signs and bulbs gave off colorful light, and the wet street below was slightly littered with trash formed underneath them.
When (Y/N) was able to fully move, she looked away and saw all of these things appear. She became confused. What happened to the river? The camp ? The sky?
Her eyes darted up and above, all she could see was a dark but rocky ceiling, far above them. But LED lights strung along lines help illuminate the ground.
"Welcome to my home!" B exclaimed as she got to her feet. She helped her friend up as well, seeing how shocked she was.
"Your... home?" This murky place? It took her a second to realize, but soon she started to understand. "This is underground?"
"Just an alley. I promise everywhere doesn't look this bad. This is just what my mind creates." B looked around too, seeming comfortable here.
They were in her mind. How is that even possible?
"This is definitely the strangest thing I've ever done..." (Y/N) whispered to herself.
"Yo, Ruby! My guy!" B called out, making (Y/N) face her. B turned back to look around for him. "Reu- oh there you are."
She was looking behind (Y/N). The demon quickly darted around and almost yelped at seeing the figure of a man behind her. She fell against B who giggled as her milky (e/c) eyes stared up at the man.
He was definitely older, with tanned skin, haggard red hair and facial hair, yellow eyes like B's, and a tired look to him. He didn't acknowledge B who happily greeted him but instead he stared down at (Y/N). Almost like he was studying her. It was really scaring the poor demon.
"Uh, I think I wanna wake up now." (Y/N) rushed.
"You're the girl I keep hearing about?" A deep slow voice emanated from the man. It made her shiver. "The one with Zankoku in her?"
The Capturer helped the girl stand but (Y/N) meekly hid behind her. "She's not technically Zankoku, she just has his abilities, Reuban."
The man, now called Reuban, slowly nodded. Still studying the girl. "All of him should've stayed dead."
The older man started to pace away while (Y/N) kept her eyes locked on him. "That's him?!" She whispered.
"Yea. Like I said, he's chill." B waved her off.
"He's scary!"
"He isn't that bad."
They began going back and forth like children. Something Reuban shook his head at. He was used to Blythe being this way, having been around since she was a child, but he didn't expect the King's successor to be the same.
Especially not as shy and small as she was. It was almost amusing to wonder how the once big and dangerous Zankoku would react to his abilities being passed down to just a simple girl.
He pitied her. To be turned the way she did and have to live with such evil abilities, it was a curse she unfortunately obtained.
He went to stand at the edge of the street that looked out into nothing. The voices of the girls were still behind him. He was only a fragment of his true self but he welcomed the lively air the two had brought.
"Just shake his hand!" B whispered.
"But I don't want to!" (Y/N) whispered back.
"He's not going to bite!" B snickered.
The girls were approaching him and he glanced back to see B urging (Y/N) closer to him. When the demon met his eyes, she froze up and almost tripped from her friend's pushing. She caught herself just a feet away from the man and avoided looking into his eyes as she shyly held a hand up towards him. "H-Hi... I'm-"
"(Y/N). The human turned demon. The one who can manipulate blood just as he did. The one the Elitists are after." Reuban spoke, making her shocked.
He turned away without shaking her hand, leaving his folded behind his back. "I know."
Maybe he's heard it all from B? Of if he's in her head, he heard it all himself? Either way, (Y/N) timidly pulled her hand back.
"Zankoku wouldn't have agreed with this. None of this." The older man stated. "This isn't what he envisioned at all."
The demon girl's nerves started to calm once the man said that. This isn't what Zankoku would have wanted?
"A kingdom of demons. A world that only they dominated. Those parts are true." Reuban spoke, each word a dragged-out mutter. "But to use his blood to turn humans in such a reckless way, to exploit what made him so powerful, to even risk someone like you being created..."
(Y/N) hugged herself.
The older man shook his head. "Zankoku is rolling in his grave."
"But didn't he turn humans himself?" (Y/N) asked. Marsol told her he did. To three human children. He wasn't any different than Zankora.
"He only turned those he deemed worthy. Which was almost never. He hated humans. He wouldn't let them join his kingdom unless he saw some use in them."
B folded her arms and paced away as she thought. Comparing Zankoku to Zankora, they had their similarities. But different ways of going about the whole 'demons ruling the world' philosophy.
One was a kingdom, the other was just a crude copy. A sad attempt at recreating what he started. All the while exploiting their precious 'King' at the same time.
Zankoku wasn't just rolling in his grave, he was pounding against it.
"I can see him in you." Reuban began to walk around the demon girl, he can tell that statement alone scared her. "Somewhere deep inside, he's in there."
"What?!" (Y/N) gasped.
But the older man slowly nodded as he studied her. His yellow eyes pierced into her that she felt so intimidated. But he can see Zankoku. Somewhere in there.
"The interesting thing about humans inheriting a demon's abilities, there is always a trace of the original." He met B's eyes when he said this. Her fingers graced her temple as she looked down. "Some traces are stronger than others. But it's always there. For you, I can smell Zankoku all over you."
(Y/N) pursed her lips. Her eyes fell to her feet.
"I can see it ready to emerge. It's waiting for its chance to take control. It wants to come out."
Her blood began to grow hotter, that same rage feeling she always feels when fighting. Just wanting to slaughter everything in sight until the ground was covered in remains. That feeling scares her. Is that feeling him?
Due to her mind being connected to B's to allow her to even be here, Reuban was able to hear her thoughts. The fears those feelings brought. But if he listened closer, he can hear something else. Something darker. Something he was all too familiar with.
He unfolded his arms from his back and started approaching the demon girl. A large hand reached out for her head that she started shrinking away from.
"Why not see for ourselves?" He muttered. His fingers tapped her head and she started to feel something hot form in her abdomen. It grew and made its way up her body until her eyes became bloodshot and her body tensed up.
B stepped back in horror as (Y/N)'s head shot back and a cloud of black murky blood began to pour from her lips. It fell to the ground and traveled past her feet before it began to merge into something behind her.
Reuban's eyes glowed as he watched the blood contort and shape. Soon there were hands, then arms, then legs, then a head that was covered by a deer skull. As the last bits of blood left her lips, (Y/N) grew tired as she started to stumble back.
Her vision blurred as she slipped on the blood and when she fell back, a large rough arm caught her before she could hit the ground.
She took in a deep breath as she settled her gaze up and met the dark sockets of the deer skull that looked down at her, no way of knowing what it was feeling.
But instantly, she knew. The same feeling she got when she saw that large skeleton for the first time, that pull towards it. It was back and stronger than ever.
A growl emanated from the figure as he let her drop to the ground. "What a joke."
Reuban watched as the demon stood up and looked around before his sights found the older man. He tsked. "Even more jokes. To be surrounded by those who are pathetic, almost makes me wish to be in the grave."
"The real you is dead." Reuban spoke as he stared up at the skull. "We're the same now, you and I."
"I am nothing like you." Zankoku hissed, stepping around the girl as she stared up at him in shock from the ground.
The large demon approached Reuban and jabbed a finger down into his chest. "I should kill you right here, right now."
"You can't kill what's already dead." Reuban pushed the King's hand and paced away. "This is all that's left of you. What made you who you were, the power you achieved, it all belongs to that girl now."
Zankoku whipped his head around to glare at the poor demon girl. She whimpered and backed away, that alone could make him reel. So pathetic, it was appalling.
"If you want even a spect of you to live on, I suggest hoping that she stays alive and away from the Elitists' grasp." Reuban spoke.
At hearing the name, the King tsked. Those fools were laughable. That girl was laughable. "They're all mere pretenders trying to be me. Using me for their own benefit. I'd outta have them all killed."
He looked back at (Y/N), not believing this was the one to carry on his abilities. "I'd have you killed first. You're an abomination."
(Y/N) shrunk back but to be continually insulted by the one she's inherited from, looked down upon by him, it angered her. A sudden braveness came over her as she stood up and stared the King down. "I didn't ask for this! I don't want to be this!"
She marched up closer to him, having to peer up at him from how tall he was. "My life was perfect until you and your people ruined it!"
"Don't group me into those clowns!" The King growled. "Who do you think you are to approach me like this?!"
"The girl who was turned into a monster like you!" She growled back.
The King sneered as he swung his fist down towards her but just inches away from her, his fist connected to a wall that splashed in black blood, shielding her from harm. Her arms shot up to protect herself but she slowly pulled them down as each attempt he made to attack her was shielded by blood.
Their blood.
Reuban shook his head. The reason was so obvious. "You can't harm what holds you, Zankoku."
The King looked down at his bloodied fist and then to the girl who dropped her arms. He couldn't touch her. She was his holder.
The King backed away as he erupted in anger and took his fury out on the poster-covered concrete walls. They shattered against the force of the blows and crumpled to the ground as each punch sent waves through the ground.
(Y/N) backed away from the scene and towards B who stood in the back watching it all. She had an unreadable expression throughout the entire discourse but once the rage-filled King began throwing stuff, she rolled her eyes. "Yea, really appreciate that."
Once the King was finished, he heaved heavy breaths as the sockets of his skull peered threateningly over to (Y/N) who did her best to hold his stare. Being told that he couldn't harm that little abomination made the girl feel more confident and that felt like salt in his wounds.
(Y/N) bit back her fear and approached him once he was no longer beating concrete walls to a pulp. She stopped before him, fist balled and legs held tight.
"I'm going to make sure that your abilities can never ruin any more lives like they've ruined mines." She stated. "Don't be mad at me. Be mad at the ones exploiting you."
"Don't tell me who I should be mad at." He growled, leaning down so he was closer to her.
"Then don't speak down on me." She muttered, staring into the voids of the skull. "You're answering to me now whether you like it or not."
A deep growl shook around her as she held her ground. It was like staring death in the face.
Zankoku's sights wandered over her. She was just a girl. One that he can see fear written all over. One that he could kill with no effort if he was still alive.
But he started to see something in her. A reminder of someone. And slowly, he saw her hazel eyes, her long blond hair, her cream skin.
So small but so filled with a purpose. He saw her. His Sade.
(Y/N) watched the demon lean back as he grunted. He observed her before turning away. "You're just like her."
The demon girl didn't understand, neither did B, but Reuban looked down. He understood.
"You're hellbent on killing that fool that names herself after me?" Zankoku questioned.
(Y/N) nodded. "She took everything from me. She's mine."
"How far are you willing to go to do it?" His voice was low and urging.
B started to become concerned once a dark look clouded her friend's face. Her fist clenched tighter and her bloodshot eyes grew a dangerous look in them.
"As far as I can." She whispered.
The King began to chuckle. Maybe this abomination was something. "Then let's make a deal, girl. My full power for your obedience. You may be a nuisance now, but I can make you even greater."
He can turn her into a beast. Someone who can rival him in strength and power. Someone he can dare call his true successor. She had his abilities, after all, those were only the first step. All she needed to do was give in to him and he can take the reins from there.
She can be a Queen.
His large hand moved out towards her. She stared at it and he waited for her to take it.
"Killing them all is what you want, right? Let me help with that. Let me out."
B started taking steps towards them but Reuban moved his arm to hold her back. She looked at him worriedly but he shook his head. There was nothing to worry about.
(Y/N) took a shaky breath as she stepped away, to the King's disappointment. "I'm not letting someone like you come back. You're just like Zankora, but worse."
His claws moved through the air as he balled up his fist. A deep growl of dissatisfaction came from him.
"All I want is to stop the Elitists and you're helping me regardless." (Y/N) stated, putting her foot down. She pointed at the older man but held Zankoku's eyes with all her might, she could almost see his brown eyes hidden underneath. "Just like he said, I am your holder. You have no choice."
A tense silence grew between them. She was a stubborn one, he had to admit. Ordering him around like his job was to answer to her? Such ignorance. Such naiveness.
Just like his Sade.
"Fine." The King finally gave in. He bent down to her and got dangerously close, the antlers of his deer skull could scrape her. "But this doesn't make us friends, girl."
"It doesn't." She whispered.
"I'll be watching." He finished.
Deep chuckles reverberated through the space as the King began to turn black in color and melt into the liquid substance that was his blood. Their blood.
She watched it trail up to her, climb up her legs and body to be absorbed into her skin. Instead of the rage feeling she always fought back, she began to feel instantly calmer. A wave of trust washed over her and as she watched the blood seep into her arms, she felt a weight get pulled off of her shoulders.
Her eyes returned to normal as she glanced up at Reuban and B.
The older man gave her a nod. She made peace with Zankoku. Somehow, she actually did.
"Wake her up." Reuban told B. "You two have been unconscious for too long."
"Right, right." B agreed. Time went by faster in her mind but they must have been out for at least a minute or two.
She approached (Y/N) as the last of the blood returned to her. She carefully rotated her arms and sighed.
"You alright?" B asked once she was near. "You feel any different?"
"I feel..." (Y/N) muttered. "Better. Like I don't have to hold it down anymore."
"That's a good thing, right?" B questioned.
(Y/N) wasn't sure but from the relief she felt, she hoped so. "I guess we'll see..."