"..." Sitri stared at the wanted poster at his hands.
The demon king was currently sitting on his throne, sorting out some documents from his real castle at the underworld. Then suddenly, an informant from the humans' kingdom had given him this poster.
"The Demon Lord, Sitri. 500,000,000,000 gold." Sitri read out loud. "Destroyed 56 villages, 45 towns and 4 capitals. Also the destroyer of the kingdom Vinkaza. And currently the kidnapper of princess Eliya of Terrania. Needed ALIVE." Sitri frowned. "No. Just no." He shook his head.
The double doors suddenly swung open, with Ani coming inside while skipping again. She turned happily to her master. "Good morning master!"
Sitri looked at the beaming girl. "You look happy."
"Yep, yep. Me and the princess went really wild last night." She nodded to herself.
"Went... wild?" Sitri rose his eyebrow.
"Uhuh! You know, playing, role playing then parties!" Ani jumped in front of him, finishing her skip.
"Oh." Sitri relaxed.
"How about you? You look annoyed. Again." Ani giggled.
"Yes. It's this poster." He showed her the paper.
"Ooh! That's a lot of zeroes!" Ani stared at the huge number.
"That's not the problem, it's this." He pointed at his image. "My hair style is off. It infuriates me quite badly." He suddenly stood up. "I'm going to the kingdom and have a talk to whoever drew this." Grumbling, he teleported away, leaving dark red beams where he formerly stood.
"I think he looks girly here... Hihihi." Ani stifled a laugh as she stashed the poster at her secret pocket under her dress. "I'm gonna keep this, kukuku." Then she seemingly moved towards the double door without moving her feet.
=≠=≠=≠=≠=≠=≠=≠=≠=
Sitri looked at the empty plaza in the middle of the city. Different taverns and houses litter everywhere, but no human can be sensed around him. Tall green trees surround the spacious site, with the leaves swaying along the calm wind. A fountain continued to work at the middle, but the usual people hanging around it was gone.
Sitri paid no mind. "Hmm? This wasn't the place I was aiming for." He mused.
"Nice one Jhina, your interception was a success." A grumpy voice said behind Sitri.
Sitri turned around, slightly surprised as he didn't sense the unknown guy anywhere. "Hey, by any chance, do you have a daughter whose name is Ani?" Sitri asked.
"I know no one with that name." It was an armored guy, the heaviest set Sitri had ever seen. He wore a huge plated armor, with a huge great sword strapped to his back. His face is hidden behind his helmet.
"Don't talk to him Thanrus, you never know what he'll do to you." A feminine voice said from the empty air beside the armored man. Then, the air began began to static, as a robed female appeared. She wore a long blue robe, with a stereotypical wizard hat donned on her crimson hair.
"Oh well, I thought you were related to Ani, since you started appearing out of nowhere too. Guess it's just magic." Sitri shrugged.
"You can drop the act, demon. Nobody has escaped us, the Chosen three." Thanrus said.
"Three?" Sitri looked around them. "Don't tell me someone's gonna appear behind me?"
A gasp was heard behind him, then a speeding blur passed to his side and towards the two persons. "He noticed me, but how?" Another figure appeared. Now, it was a girl, wearing a white short robe and a white glass on her eyes. She had her blonde hair tied to a ponytail with a white ribbon.
"Simple, I can." Sitri smirked.
"His aura started flaring after you answered him, Thanrus. He must have gotten serious. That's how he sensed you Sezall." The wizard named Jhina explained.
"Oh, getting serious, you say...?" Sitri laughed deeply. "He ha ha ha ha. Did you mean, this?" A dark crimson face appeared behind Sitri, as his were shadowed, only showing his glowing white eyes. Their bodies stiffened as they trembled at the mere aura of the demon king.
"I'm making this quick. I have to talk to someone."
=≠=≠=≠=≠=≠=≠=
"Hey, so your name is Eliya?" Ani arrived at her room, and proceeded to talk with her 'best friend'.
"..." The princess just smiled.
"Why didn't you tell me before? You have such a pretty name!" Ani rested her cheeks at her palms.
"..." Eliya continued on smiling.
"Oh, we were busy?... Oh right, we were fixing your eye! And also making you smile before we did that. I see you're still smiling, that's nice." Ani nodded.
"..."
"Oh, I also came here to show you master's picture! Here, he looks girly right? Hihihi!" She showed the unmoving girl the poster.
"..."
"I know, it's funny! Ahahaha!" Ani laughed with herself. She raised her plastic cup, and cheered. "To the legendary picture of a girly Sitri! Ahahahahaha!" She continued on laughing.
=≠=≠=≠=≠=≠=≠=≠=
"... I feel like someone's talking ill of me." Sitri mumbled. He looked around, but seeing no one but the piles of dust behind him, he guessed it. "Probably that brat Thalia."
"Well, this sucks. They were all bark and no bite." He started glowing red. "Time to go to my real destination."
=≠=≠=≠=≠=≠=≠=≠=
"..."
"What? My past?" Ani asked.
"..."
"How I got here? Hmm..." Ani thought about it. "Brother merely just adopted me on a whim, though he killed everyone in my village. I don't know why he spared me..." She looked down.
"..."
"Of course I haven't bothered Sitri about it! Why would I ask him that? I know he's really kind to me but..." Ani trailed off.
"..."
"Well, yeah. He hadn't done anything bad to me." Ani slowly looked at the poster on her table.
"..."
"S-Should I really...? O-Okay then. I will ask him." Ani smiled. "Thank you Eliya!" She hugged the doll. "Don't worry, I'll ask brother to bring you back, too. You're really nice. Bu-bye!" She waved then ran outside. Eliya the doll just smiled.
=≠=≠=≠=≠=≠=≠=≠=
"Master?" Ani peeked at the double doors towards the throne room.
Only silence answered her. She looked around, but didn't see her master sitting at his usual place, his throne.
"He's still not here yet? That's unusual." The girl entered.
Ani looked at the glass pane at the two sides of the room. It showed a three sided war between angels, humans and demons.
"Master..." She noticed the white haired demon's visage floating at the background of the pane. "Why did you spare me?" Then she looked at all the dead angels and humans below him.
She remembers the moment when Sitri came to their village...
'It was--' Ani scrunched up her face. 'We were,' she blinked. 'I... can't remember it? Have... Have I really not questioned master yet before? I, can't remember too.' She shook her head.
"Did I eat too much cookies last night?" She thought out loud.
Ani heard a whizzing sound beside her. She looked at it, and saw her master slowly materializing into existence.
"Ah, master! Just in time! I was gonna ask you a question." Ani walked closer.
"Hmm?" Sitri looked at her.
"Why... Why didn't you kill me like t--" She suddenly collapsed, but was caught by Sitri before she hit the hard brick below. Sitri's eyes glowed after using a sleeping spell on the oblivious child.
"That's the sixth time you asked me this month..." Sitri sighed while looking at the girl. "I can't tell you, not yet." Sitri said to himself.
He stared at his hand, noticing the slight tremble from it. Then, another piece of his darker past floated from his mind.
=≠=≠=≠=≠=≠=≠=≠=
He sat at his chair, looking at the window just beside it. He saw the glowing city of the underworld, the world he's governing at. The sky was dark, like always. Smokes and lights filled the lively place, as the devils and other creatures celebrated down below the castle of the demon Lord. Normal looking houses and establishments can be seen everywhere, as if it was a normal city on the humans' plane.
He felt a bit nice that time, and so he let his people have fun. They better make the most of it, a festival only happens once in a century after all. He grinned, as he rose a glass of wine to the air.
"A toast, to my success on getting the throne, and the death of that stupid Lucifer. Enjoy now, my people. Because starting from this day, hell's going to get back it's reputation again. Kehehe."
He's their lord. Anything he wants, he gets. Anything he sees, he owns.
Because he's the king.
"Servant." He spoke.
A small girl wearing a ragged dress appeared from the darkness, with her aqua-tinted eyes hollow of emotions and hope. Those orbs could be mistaken to that of a dead person.
He tugged on the chain wrap around the girl's neck, egging her to come closer.
"Hey, why are you looking so sad? Come on, smile for me." Sitri grinned menacingly.
The girl just silently obeyed him, giving him an obviously fake smile.
"Is that it? Kahaha. I guess you really deserve to be turned into a d--"
=≠=≠=≠=≠=≠=≠=≠=
'No, forget that, forget that stupid part of your life...' Sitri thought. 'And hers...'
After Ani collapsed, he brought her with him to his chair. He looked at the lightly snoring Ani at his lap. Sitri smiled, albeit small. "I'm sorry Ani. You shouldn't remember that. You're a human now, okay?" He rubbed her head. "Forget." A dark smoke seeped from his white hands and into the girl's head. Ani whimpered slightly, then silenced.
"Besides, I'm your big brother, right? You think I don't hear you when you sleep talk? Haha." Sitri continued on rubbing the sleeping girl's head.
"And, big brothers protects their younger siblings from anything. I can do that." He smiled to himself. "I can do that now... unlike before."
He shook his head. "Ah, it's happening again. I'm being too emotional. Curse you, Ani's childishness. You're rubbing off on me too much."
He teleported with Ani towards the child's room, to bring the sleeping little lady to her pink, frilly bed. "I can't still agree with this girly room but, she asked for this." He sighed.
He looked to his right, and noticed the once alive doll who's name is Eliya. He remembered that he kidnapped the girl to be Ani's playmate.
"Really went wild huh. Ani, that's so creepy." He walked towards the doll. "And not you, Ms. princess. It's the phrase 'went wild'." He talked to the doll.
Before Sitri had noticed it, it was already nighttime. He thought that he should go to his bed early, since nothing interesting was and is gonna happen, he felt it.
Yet he opted to go stargazing, more like moon gazing. He flew to the highest part of the castle, and sat at the pointed roof outside. He looked at the large moon in front of him, a calm expression adorning his face. "Peace isn't so bad, but chaos is still better."
"Let's see what's my schedule tomorrow..." He began thinking. "Uh-oh. It's all babysitting with that nosy brat vampire. I swear she really hates my guts like I'm some kind of angelic being out to kill her, which is isn't true. That Thalia..." He began to get lost at his train of thoughts.
"More destroyed things caused by some green haired vampiress, noisy kids, a grown-up girl acting like a child, and more paper works. Great. What an exciting day. Ha ha." He laughed slowly.
"Still, better than my days before. I guess all is okay." He stared at the moon again.
He noticed the huge magical aura just some hundred meters away from him, and the occasional rumble of a thunder, but he didn't care. He knows who it was, and he's pretty sure it wasn't hostile... for now.
'And I gotta deal with this girl too. I hate my past self.' He groaned.
He looked at his hands again, managing to control his shaking hands this time. "This hands... it has done many things. Mostly evil ones. I always remember my past when I see them, so I hid it with a pair of gloves. How stupid..."
=≠=≠=≠=≠=≠=≠=≠=≠=
It was a full moon, with the red sky giving off it's usual crimson light below. A ray of red light got in into his room, illuminating what's inside.
Sitri was shown screaming to a servant girl with a dirty-blonde hair.
"How stupid are you?! Didn't I say to prepare my bed before 9:00?!" Sitri yelled at the girl.
She looked down, but her face showed no emotions. "I'm sorry, I was busy with your other tasks--"
"Oh, now you're talking back? You just really want to be punished are you?" Sitri smiled maliciously. Then, he grabbed her by her horn.
"O-Ow..." The girl winced, but still kept her emotionless face.
"You worthless crap." He kicked her in the stomach, making the girl clutch her tummy in pain. Then he yanked her upwards by her hair.
"Oh, how far you have fallen, Ahahaha. If you just followed your so called 'mother', this wouldn't have happened to you." He glared at her.
The girl looked down, with a single tear running down from each of her eyes.
"Don't you think so, you hybrid freak?" The demon devilishly grinned.
=≠=≠=≠=≠=≠=≠=
Sitri woke up with a start, again. He didn't care even though he was already falling from the roof of his castle, down to the hard ground below, as his attention is currently at his recent dream.
'That one again...'
=≠∆≠=
A/N: And that's that for the second chapter. And what's this, a flashback already in the second chap? Why, yes! Characters can only live on one's mind if we know them deeper.
Enough on my rant here, and hopefully I'll see you guys(and gals) on the next chapter. A vote would be really appreciated! ;)
Next time, on Kurai Yoru!
"Eeep! M-Master's head... Waaaaah..."
"Never a dull moment when she's here."
'That's creepy.'