Episode 0 - Three Demons

Episode 0 - Three Demons, Against the World

A pitched black night loomed over the barren land, an endlessly starless sky. Not a sliver of the moon could be seen in the sky, that appears darker than the opaqueness of closed eyes. There stood tall mountains, and a thick forest across the vast terrain. Down through the trees, lies a path through the woods. The trail had been cleared; there were several faceless dead bodies scattered to the side, fallen on the ground of slumped against a tree trunk. The blood from the corpses were still fresh, and seeped out onto the dirt and grass under them.

A broken wagon sat in the middle of the road, with the spoils spilled out. Boxes and crates seemed been broken, and items such as gold coins, precious stones and metal jewelery were scattered along the path. Two men were standing by the cart, analyzing the contents.

One of them had gray hair and was dressed in a dark cloak and pants, also holds a white staff with a clear orb at the tip. The first man reached down to an open bag on the wagon, that was filled with blackish crystals. He took a crystal and held it in front of his face to analyze the shard. "These are... Dark Crystals." he said, in monotonic musing. "We're getting close."

The other one had blue-hair, wore a ripped black jacket and carried a large scythe behind him. He smirked and also grabbed at the crystals, taking a bunch into his hands. "Heh, so this is the real thing?" he commented, and then opened his hand, letting the fragments drop from between his fingers. They clattered to the ground, and glinted.

A rustle in the bushes sounded. A small white demon spawn popped out of the leaves and stepped onto the edge of path. It blinked and looked at the pile of crystals on the ground, then up at the two men.

They stared back with expectant expressions, waiting in silence. The demon spawn cautiously walked towards the crystal shards, and the blue-haired man kicked a few of them in its direction. It flinched, but soon scampered right up to a shard. Suddenly, it opened its small mouth and picked up the shard, then nibbleed on the crystal until it had eaten the whole piece.

Its eyes glinted black, and suddenly the creature began to squeak. The sounds turn into growls, and the demon spawn slowly enlarged. As it grew in size, its white fur darkened to black, and its features became savage and beast-like. By the end of the transformation, the demon spawn has grown into a large dog-like monster, with large jaws and sharp claws.

The two men readied their weapons. The first one sighed to himself, as the other man snickered in amusement.

"Heh, guess it was the real thing." the scythe-wielder said, just as the demon spawn let out a roar. Him and his partner then lunged at the monster.

~

A towering castle stood on its own. Behind it was the night sky, and below it was the specks of light coming from houses. The front of the castle contained a portcullis, drawbridge and a tall gate.

Through the doors, the main hall is long and leads straight to the throne room. In that large chamber, there was an ornate chair at the front, with many stained-glass windows near the top of the tall walls. A few small black demon spawns were carrying a tray on the top of their heads. On the tray was a bottle of red wine, and a glass. The tray wass brought to the front of the room where the throne was, and the demon spawns stood up in unison on their hind legs to raise it to level with the armrest.

A hand reached over to take the bottle. There was a metal handcuff around the wrist of the hand, and chains attached to it. The hand took the bottle and opened it, before pouring some of the wine to fill up the glass. Then the bottle is set back down on the tray and the hand took the glass. The cup of red wine is lifted up to the mouth of the person, and they took a sip of it. The person in full view has crimson hair and also has on a long black jacket, dark pants and boots. He ssat on the throne, but the chains on his handcuffs are attached to the bottom point of a tall metal X behind the
chair.

"The wine tastes different today." scoffs the man. He looks down at his demons and frowns. "Where did you get it..."

Before any answer was given, the man turns his attention to the doorway across the room, as two shadows long shadows were cast from there. The figures of the men were seen, and they stepped into the room, walking towards the throne.

"Like it? We found it on a merchant cart on the way here." sneered one of the voices.

The red-haired man deepened his frown and snarled. "And just who the hell are you two?" he asked with a dangerous tone.

"We're visitors, who have simply wanted to meet you." the other voice answered calmly.

Both of the new arrivals stopped a few feet away from the throne, and were looking over the one chained to the wall. They stared from him to each other, and exchanged looks, before each going to one side of the throne. Somehow, they suddenly appearred skeptical and uncertain as they examined the person before them.

"He doesn't seem as... calamitous as I thought he would appear." the gray-haired man gave an unimpressed look at his partner.

"Not my fault. He IS the only one jailed here, so it's gotta be him..." the blue-haired man quirked.

"... You two... must be pretty strong to have gotten all the way here." the red-head muttered, eying them both as they go to his sides. He then shut his eyes and then pulled his arms, causing the lengths of chains to straighten. "So hurry up... and break these damn chains for me already!" he snapped impatiently.

They still seem,ed slightly suspicious, but soon got to obeying his words. Without hesitation, they took hold of the chains, and gripped them tightly. Using harsh strength, they broke the metal bonds and let the chains to clatter to the ground. In that instant, an increase in the aura of Dark Magic was emitted from him. As his restraints are broken, the man in the center raised his freed arms, and broke the remaining chains on his arms by himself. He snaps the metal rings broken and also lets them fall to the ground. All of the metal pieces soon fade away in a red light, disappearing completely. Rubbing his wrists, the red-head opens his eyes again, to look at his right, then to his left. "About time I got these things off..." he murmured to himself first. Then he crossed his arms over his chest and formed a devilish smile. "And all I needed was a little help from some other cursed demons."

"We have names, y'know." the blue-haired man rolled his eyes. He twirled his scythe with his hand and then leaned against it. "It's Dreymeil, heh~"

"Hm. I am Eclipse..." muttered his companion, unenthusiastic about the informal introduction. Eclipse moveed a hand over his face, covering his eyes after he looked over the last man. "And you're the one known as... 'Lord' Chisoku." he coughed.  

~

Striking a match, a small flame wass lit and brought to the end of a cigarette. The cigarette was lit, and the flame was shaken out. Dreymeil took a drag from the cigarette as he followed after the other two.

Eclipse coughed and gave Dreymeil an exasperated look. But he remained silent since the other demon seemed not to notice how his own smoke was adding to the already dusty air in the hallway.  

The trio had left the throne room and were making their way down a long corridor, and up many flights of stairs. Chisoku led the way through his castle, keeping at a fast pace even up the steep stairs and the narrower halls up on the higher levels. "It feels like it's been forever since I've actually been up here...." Chisoku grumbled, yet he is able to remember every turn and door to use through the insides of his fortress.

"Jeez, just how long have you been stuck there?" Dreymeil snorted and blew another puff of smoke. He was force to lower his scythe and carry it horizontally as they went through a lower doorway.

"I lost track of time." Chisoku replied curtly. "When you get sealed in your own home, it just feels like an eternal prison." he snarled, knowing that his punishment had been meant to last forever. "I can't tell if it's been months, or years..." the demon trailed off, as he glareed down at the ground.  

"Well... while you have been locked up in here, a lot of people have forgotten about you~" Dreymeil jeered.

Chisoku stopped in his tracks and then turned around, shooting a murderous look at Dreymeil. He grabed the man by his collar and shoved him against the stone wall. "What the hell are you talking about?" he snarled threateningly.

Dreymeil didn't flinch, but drops his carefree act for a moment. "The world's not your playground anymore. People have been turning into demons, and your Dark Crystals..." he bit down on his cigarette, holding it with his mouth as his left hand reaches into his pocket. The blue-haired demon takes out some of the black shards and held it in front of Chisoku's face. "Heh, these things are everywhere now."

Widening his eyes, Chisoku stared at the crystals before swiping them out of Dreymeil's hand. He ket go of his jacket, now in disbelief as he looked at the mineral. "These... They're MINE. How the hell did you-"

"We found them on the way here... on a merchant cart that was leaving your kingdom..." Eclipse murmured and met Chisoku's eyes. "The Dark Crystals that had once been your most precious resource... is being harnessed and spread over the world." the man stated. Before Chisoku could say anything, he elaborated on what he meant, to explain just what had been happening. "Ever since you were turned into a demon and sealed away, the people you once ruled over have been taking these crystals. You know better than anyone that the magic from these things corrupt anyone in near contact with it."

"And without you dictating and controlling them, they just went straight for source of your power to take it for themselves." Dreymeil snickered. "Greedy bastards turned themselves into demons, and now the whole island is screwed up with them all going crazy." he said smugly. "But anyways, we weren't here when that was going on. Me and Eclipse are from other parts of Reflection, so we have nothing to do with the Dark Crystals~" he smiled with fake innocence. "All of this is just what we found out during when we came over here..."

Chisoku scoffed and closed his hand, then turned right around again. "Then you're like me...." he mumbled, but already knew that. The difference between what he considered real and fake demons was how the person was corrupted. Continuing his stride, he brought the other two with him to the highest point in his castle. They reached the room at the very top of the stairs, and Chisoku threw open the door to enter it. The room had several open windows, and Chisoku walked up to the one in the center. He stared out at the night sky, that was slowly being lightened by the rising sun. His snarl turned into a dry evil grin. "... real people who don't need crystals to be demons." Chisoku clenched his fist, crushing the pieces and letting the black dust get swept out of his hand.