The Daemos Princess

Prologue

Aeris POV:
Walking through the unusual empty castle walls, felt weird. Ever since the magic crisis had started, many servants had started leaving the castle to stay home with their families and ensure they were safe. I found that weak and pathetic. Why stay with your family if they're gonna die anyway? I know it may sound harsh and a little heartless of me, but that's how Daemos works. Only the strongest can survive, here. Us Royals have personal guards, and I treated mine with respect. I found that everyone can be treated equally, even if they're weak. Father found my wishes unacceptable, and decided that I could never become a queen with such wishes. I wouldn't become queen, anyways. If anything, Rhal was first in line for the throne. And if that didn't work, then Asch would become king. I certainly wouldn't become queen for a long, long time. But I was fine with that. Being a princess was good enough for me.

I loved the royal gardens. I always found that I had a strong connection with nature, from the start. You see, my mother had nature as her magic type. My father had fire. Both Asch and Rhal inherited from my father. And I did, too. Or so, I thought. Turns out I had inherited both my parents' magic types. Lady Grandma and Asch were the only ones who knew this. My father found my mother weak. So he used her for making me, Asch and Rhal. Afterwards, he had her head. I was devastated by the loss of my own mother, even though I was just a baby. I knew Father would have my head, too, if he ever found out I inherited from my mother. Lady Grandma swore to never tell a soul. Asch found out because he overheard our conversation. But he swore to not tell anyone, either. He said I reminded him of Mother, and that he actually loved me dearly for that. I never thought Asch loved me, until that day.

I walked through the empty hallways, on my way to the gardens, until I was pulled aside. Before I could scream or shout, my mouth was covered.

'It's okay, Aeris. It's only me.' The voice of an old woman sounded from behind me.

'L-lady grandma?' I questioned, turning around. The room was dark, but lit up just a little.

'Yes, dear. Look, I need your help. Asch and his knights are planning to go to another planet, to find more human souls and solve the magic crisis. I know your magic hasn't died down even a bit, and I want you to go with them.'

'B-but Grandmother, I've never been outside the borders of the kingdom, before! Let alone another planet!'

'I know, my dear. But I don't trust them there, alone. Please go with them.'

'Alright, I will. Speaking of Asch, where is he?'

'He is currently in the enchanted forest. His knights are getting the last soul to open the portal.'

'The last soul!? Are they crazy!? Father will have his head if he finds out!'

'He won't. I will create as much as a distraction that I can while you 6 are on the other planet. And please lower your voice, my dear. We don't want anyone to hear us.' She turned on the lights. I recognized the room. It was a room next to the library. I never paid much attention to it, since it was only full of old parchments and old books. Lady Grandma loved this place. She loved the history of Daemos. The light that flickered on revealed the entire room. In the middle was a huge table, with potion material on it. I'm guessing this was where they were gonna make the potion.

'Please meet Asch in the forest and come back here. I will prepare everything in the meantime.' Lady Grandma spoke, walking towards the table.

'Of course, Grandmother.' I turned around, and opened the door slightly, before looking from left to right. Making sure there was absolutely no one, I opened the door fully, exited the room, and quickly closed it. The door disappeared afterwards, but little sparks of magic were coming from the stone wall. I'm guessing Lady Grandma used her magic to hide the door so no one will find out. Clever.

I walked down towards the hallway, and made my way to the huge entrance of the palace. Walking iver the stone bridge, it revealed the edge of a forest. I put my hand against a tree, and used my magic. I could connect through plants. I used a spell so I could see through their veins, revealing what they were seeing. Eventually, I found Asch. I closed off the spell, and out of respect I bowed to the tree. 'Thank you, o wise one, for revealing my brother's whereabouts.'

For a moment, I thought I heard the tree respond. It said something that sounded like a "your welcome", but I couldn't make anything of it clearly. I entered the forest, making sure to not even step on the tiniest of branches. Every plant has life, you see. I wouldn't wanna upset them.

Finding my brother was easy. You could hear his loud annoyance mumbles from miles away. 'Asch!' I yelled, running towards where the sound came from. After a bit of running, the trees revealed a figure. He was tall, and had white horns. His hair was raven black, just like mine. He had a crown on one of his horns.

Asch POV:
I stopped in my tracks, hearing my younger sister's voice. I turned around, and the trees revealed her. 'Aeris? What in the world are you doing here!? Your not supposed to be here!'

'Look, Lady Grandma told me everything. She requested me to come with you.' She explained. Lady Grandma requested her to come with us!? But, she's so young! And she's a female! She wouldn't be strong enough! Then again.. her source of magic is the only one in Daemos that is still unlimited.

'She requested for you to accompany us?' I questioned her, and I continued to walk further into the forest. From the sound of her footsteps, she fallowed me.

'Yea. Trust me, I wouldn't wanna join you either.' The tone of sarcasm in her voice made me annoyed. But I couldn't yell at her. Aeris was sensitive when it came to emotions, and if I made her cry, her magic could get completely out of control. Besides, she was my favorite sibling..

'Just fallow me. My knights should be near. Have you ever met them?' I asked, continuing my path.

'I don't think so.' She replied, still fallowing me as I had ordered her. Aeris was a sweet girl. And she always listens to me and lady grandma. She only listens to Father because, well.. he could kill her if she didn't.

'Hmh, I see. Some of them can be idiots sometimes, so don't mind them. I'm sure they've seen you before, though. You wander around the palace almost every day.'

'Asch! You shouldn't talk bad about someone! Especially if they're not here!'

'Oh come on! You're way too soft to be a Daemos Princess if you act like that!'

'I'm not soft! It's called respect! Something you don't have towards anyone expect father!'

'I have respect towards you.'

'That's because I'm your little sister.'

'Hmp, whatever. Let's just keep going.'

'Do you even know where we're going, Asch?'

'Of course I do!'

'If you say so..'

I could hear her sigh behind me. I shook my head a little and we kept walking. Why would she think I wouldn't know where I was going? Like she can navigate in a forest like this!

'Asch, if we can just-'

'No! We're almost there, trust me!'

'Asch, I can use my nature magic! Nobody's here but us!'

'... Fine. But hurry up.'

'Yeah yeah.' She went over to a random tree, and put her hand on it. I never understood how that type of magic worked. It was just- weird, in a way. But also a little cool, I guess. Fire is still the best, though.

'Your guards are over there. I didn't even need to use my magic to find them. You can hear them yelling from right here.' She said after some time, pointing into a direction. I sighed. Couldn't they ever do something right?

'Alright, let's go, then.' I said. As we started walking again, she started humming a song.

'What are doing?'

'Humming nature's melody. Don't you hear it?'

'I hear absolutely nothing.'

'Awh, that's too bad. Must be because of magic, then!'

'Or you're just going crazy..' I mumbled. This was gonna be a looong journey with her by our sides.