• Yula traced a small pattern on the bark of the tree branch she sat on with her fingertip. She released a sigh, enjoying the feel of the sun's warm rays on her pale skin. Birds chirped happily to one another and she could hear the laughter of children somewhere in the distance. She thought it strange how everything could be so perfect. But Yula felt detached from the world, separated from the laughter and the safe little haven everyone pretended they lived in. It was all a lie... everything a lie. Was her whole town really so blind, or did they just like to play pretend and make it seem like everything was still okay?

    Voices drew Yula's attention to the ground and away from the stretching horizon lined with tall mountains flecked with trees.

    "Did you hear about last week?"

    "Do you mean about Lord Daius?" It was two girls in their later teens whispering to one another. Yula narrowed her eyes and perked her slightly pointed ears, eavesdropping. The two girls stopped under the shade of the tree, fanning themselves to stave off some of the humidity after thier walk.

    "He raised the living taxes again, but that's not even the worst part! He made a new order that all men over the age of fifteen must be drafted into the army to aid his attack on Nezdeth." This girl had light brown hair, and Yula noticed she had tears in her eyes.

    "Oh my God.. but Avrie, doesn't that include your older brothers and your dad?" Her friend backed away, shocked. Avrie nodded with a sniff and dabbed her tears with her sleeve. "And yours, too, Mia." She replied after several moments to the other girl.

    "That's not fair! We shouldn't have to suffer because Lord Daius is so power-hungry and all he cares about is claiming more territory!" Mia exclaimed angrily, gritting her teeth. Avrie's eyes widened and she put a hand to her friends mouth, pushing her against the trunk of the tree and glancing around skeptically.

    "You have to remember that we can't disrespect our Lord like that. What he chooses to do is always for the good of the country. And don't you remember what happened to the last person who openly spoke out against our Lord?" Mia's face went ashen. Yula bit her tongue. Who couldn't remember that? They'd beheaded that man who held a rally against Daius and then hung the decapitated head in town square for all to pass and see. It was an example for anyone who had the urge to protest their 'great' leader or question the 'utpoian' society.

    "Oh, my. You're right! Thanks for catching me on that... Lord Daius is a very powerful and scary man. I would hate to ever come under his wraith." Mia nodded. Yula didn't bother to contain her snort. The two girls jumped at the sudden sound and looked up into the trees, white-faced.

    "Holy s**t." Mia placed a hand over her thudding heart. "Yula you scared the crap out of us! Were you listening the whole time?"

    "We thought you were a Leegion spy." Avie whispered timidly, her flushed face showing she was relieved. Yula shook her head and jumped from the high branch of the tree, gliding the the thirty feet to the ground as graceful as an angel. The two girls watched her descend gracefully in awe.

    "The way you move is so creepy!" Mia exclaimed, a shudder coursing through her spine. "It's sometimes like you're a ghost.." Her voice trailed off.

    "You two are hopeless." Yula retorted, and swept past them. Avrie furrowed her eyes, offended.

    "What do you mean by that?" She huffed, crossing her arms. Yula's lip twitched. Spinning on her heels she turned to face them.

    "Daius is a damned fool. He doesn't care about his people, only gaining more land for himself and making everyone fear him. I bet the fool thinks he's pretty damned high and mighty sitting on his thrown all day barking orders like he thinks he's some sort of god. But Daius wouldn't know true power if it flapped about him like a red, naked bearded lady." Yula all but screamed at the two girls. Avrie gasped and drew a hand to her mouth. Mia took a step forward.

    "You think you're so tough now, Yula, but I'd like to see you say that to Lord Daius's face. He would have your head for sure!" She threatened. Yula snorted.

    "That's a load of lycan s**t. Daius is a big flake. If anything he'll have one of his Leegion guards to attempt the job." Yula didn't give the girls a chance to respond or reprimand her, storming off in a fury to terrorize small children.

    ---------

    Yula slammed the door and kicked off her shoes. The house was quiet. It was always quiet, considering she lived alone. Yula's parents had been murdered in their sleep nearly a year ago. The authorities never bothered to investigate, calling their murder a freak lycan attack. Which was absolute bullshit, because since when did lycans carry guns? There were at least five bulletholes in their bodies. Yula knew, she'd been the first to find them. Because of that a lot of rumors floated around the small town about how she was the one who went crazy and shot her parents herself.

    But Yula knew to the bottom of her core that it was Daius who'd had her parents murdered. Her parents were once well-respected pure-blood demon nobles, in close council to Daius's father. When Daius killed his ailing father to gain the throne, her parents shredded their noble name and went to live in a small, remote village, calling him a disgrace to the country and various other not-so-nice things. So of course Daius retaliated by having her parents killed.

    They moved to the village when Yula was fourteen, so she'd grown up dappling in the life of luxury and was taught at one of the most excelled private schools in the county. She'd also known Daius all of her life, and saw him here and there. He was a demon, and had stopped aging over seven-hundred years ago, when he was literally 22 and his body stopped developing. Yula, being a demon herself, was literally 18. Very young in demon standards although age is never a factor. Demons are not only the most powerful creatures, but they also mature a lot faster than other breeds. At the age of three they can alread talk full, intelligent sentences.

    But Yula's family had been so close to Daius's that they actually lived together in the castle. Yula saw a lot of Daius, sometimes more so than her own parents. So despite their age difference they related to eachother about parental issues, both never seeing much of their parents due to the noble and ruler statuses. And while Daius still held duties as the ruler's son 'or prince, you could commonly cal him' he was more of a figure-head than anything else and had a lot of time on his hands.

    Yula remembered countless times she'd eaten dinner with just Daius because their parents were too busy. They would hold quiet conversations about absolutely anything that crossed their minds. She saw some of the horrible things that Daius had done when no one was around. The plotting and the murders, everything leading up to poisoning his father, killing him, and taking the throne.

    And Daius, whenever she stumbled upon these feats, would make Yula swear not to tell or he would stitch her mouth shut. And she would never tell, because she knew he was completely serious. But being a child, and looking back now, Yula knew she should have told her mother and father.

    Looking back now she rued the day she ever dare sit in the middle of the night and twirl Spaghetti on a fork with that ******** and not even think about stabbing him in the eye with a meatball.

    She rued the days she looked up to him in wonder.

    And despite their past kinshop she didn't doubt that had she not been out in the woods that she would have been killed as well. Sometimes Yula wondered if Daius would ever decide to come back and finish the job, just out of spite.

    So Yula lived in the house that her parents had been murdered in, the ghost of her worst memories plaguing her every time she opened the door. She was technically an emancipated minor, being seventeen when they died. Much too old for anyone to bother sending her to an orphanage and her parents were her only family.

    Setting her keys on the counter, she slung her jacket over the kitchen chair and padded into the bathroom. Turning the knobs she slipped out of her jeans and corset and stepped into the steaming shower. She let the water run until all the hot was gone, running her hands through her snow-white hair multiple times. When it felt like all of Yula's worries and burdens has disappeared down the drain she shut off the shower and reached blindly for a towel from behind the shower curtain.

    Yula stepped out of the bath and wrapped the towel around herself. The bathroom was hot and steamy, so much so that she couldn't see anything in front of her. She pressed her palms against the counter and leaned over the sink, letting her white hair drip. She reached her hand up and smeared some of the fog off the mirror. She looked back at her own reflection, and narrowed her violet-red eyes. There was something else in the mirror... Eyes widening, Yula spun and gripped the towel closer to her chest. She swallowed her gasp as she saw the red-eyed, blonde-haired, death god of a man standing coolly in the middle of her bathroom floor. A sadistic grin played about his lips.

    "Daius!" She exclaimed.