Demonheim

Chapter 2

Odiana woke up, which was a surprise because she expected to be dead. Or perhaps she was and the afterlife was the gooey substance she was currently submerged in. It was thick, she could barely move.
It took her sometime before she realized she wasn't breathing, there was no air in the pod encasing her. She clawed desperately at the walls, it tore easily and her world tumbled upside down as the contents drain quickly. She slammed into cold hard floor with a loud splat.
'The afterlife is not quite as they had preached, was this not the afterlife of the virtuous?' Odiana wondered. She was certain she had not strayed from the doctrine in all her life......well maybe not all of it but she had dedicated her life to ridding the world of evil, surely they must have prepared a warmer welcome for a paladin of her caliber.
"Good, you're finally awake!" came Roy's voice as she tried to gulp in some precious air. Definitely not in Elysium, no way Roy would make it into the Land of the virtuous. He was the devil in human form.
Footfalls echoed loudly as he approached her. Odiana assumed she was in a large chamber, somewhere underground most likely. She pondered the scrapping sound that followed each of Roy's step, and the slithering sound like he was pulling something long and slim across the floor.
He stopped beside her, making no attempt to help her up. The slithering sound continued, there was a thump sound.
"Oww!...you stupid.." Roy swore. He grunted in frustration before she felt his gaze turn back to her.
"Did you forget how to open your eyes?" Roy asked sardonically, "should I pry them open for you Princess?"
Odiana growled at him.The sound that came from her throat was feral and deep. Like an angry lioness.
"Whoa there!" Roy stepped back.
She heard his heart rate increase slightly, only slightly, before it settled into a steady rhythm again.
'what in tarnation was happening?!' Odiana thought in alarm. She could hear a man's heartbeat, even make out a slight change, and she had growled at him.
Still, She couldn't open her eyes. It was just like Roy had said, it was as though she had forgotten how, willing her eyes open provided no influx of images like it should.
She started to panic, her breathing increased to mirror her fear. Her eyes would not to open.
"Calm down" Roy said, his voice strangely reassuring. "Breathe slowly and give yourself some time. This is normal"
'yes' Odiana thought, strangely agreeing with Roy, his voice was so soothing. He was definitely right, it was only the logical thing to do after all. Panic would only cloud her judgement.
"You're quite strong" Roy said, something strange in his tone, not just the raspiness of it, was that admiration she heard?
"Most people can't get out on their own. The initial shock granted you ability to move but now your mind is slowly catching up"
She heard him sit on the floor close to her. The slithering sound again. Odiana didn't worry about that though. Feeling was slowly returning to her body. She realized she was lying face first on the floor and her ass was sticking in the air. The feeling of cold air on her sticker skin told her she was nude. Her breathe spiked again. 'Oh spirits! Her glorious ass was open for Roy to gaze at as he pleased!'
"Stop panicking Odiana" Roy said again. A soothing feeling enshrouded her once more. 'Right, no need to panic, Roy had not harmed her so far. No need to worry about it now' she reasoned, 'also he doesn't sound so much like a prick now. What changed?'. She sensed guilt in his tone but could not make any sense of it.
Finally, Odiana felt her eyes fluttering open. Everything was blurry and bathed in subdued blue light. Like a lamp was lit and covered with blue film. She saw what she assumed was Roy's form sitting not too far from her. His back leaning against a pillar. His eyes seemed to glow through the blurriness. A bright crimson colour. 
Instantly her vision sharpened, Roy's face came into focus. It was the same shape as she remembered it, sharp chin, slim nose thin lips and large slightly upturned eye. Once upon a time, Odiana admitted that he was quite handsome, if not pretty. Also, Odiana remembered his skin was pale and not deep blue like it was now, she was certain it was not a trick of the light. That was not the only change however. Massive horns spiraled straight up from his skull, she counted six, the two in front were longer than the pair behind and the third pair curled backwards almost blending with his black hair.
There was that annoying slithering sound again. Her eyes tracked it. At first she thought it was a snake covered in thick blue scales curled around Roy's waist.
"You have a tail" she said in a deadpan. Her voice was raspy and deep. Deeper than it had ever been before.
Roy chuckled "I should've brought a mirror".
The implication of his words hit him the same time it did Odiana. He paled.
Feebly, Odiana moved her hand so she could see it. First there was the claws, long and pointy, ready to shred anything to ribbons. Her skin wasn't blue like Roy's, it was red like fresh blood.
She felt the weights on her head. Some investigation revealed she had goat-like horns curling out of her forehead. They were smooth unlike Roy's.
Slowly, she pushed herself up from the floor. Not caring about her nudity anymore. She slowly inspected her body. From what she could see she retained most of her original form but she felt different, not just the insane increase in bust size. A lot had changed and deep down she knew it was irreversible. She knew she was never going to be human again.
"Roy" her voice was eerily calm, "what is this?"
He stared at her, his expression was stone, but underneath it all she sensed his guilt and pity.
"What is this Roy?!" Her voice started to crack. The beginnings of a wail coursing up her throat.
"What did they do to me?!" She roared. The chamber they were in rumbled like there was an earthquake. Her mouth gaped open, she felt the power in her lungs expelling the force that even Roy had to brace himself against. She felt the familiar yet foreign drain of mana, as though she was using magic.
"Stop!" Roy shouted at her. She felt pressure in her mind. Her jaw clamped shut with an audible snap.
Odiana shut her eyes, willing all of this to be a dream, hoping that she would wake up in her bed and realise she had never left the castle. Tears stung her eyes, she let them flow, glad that it had not been taken away with her humanity too. A terrible sob wracked her frame. She wasn't sure when he approached but she felt Roy's arms encircle her in a hug, or at least he tried. She leaned into him, glad for the comfort. He smelt like sandalwood, burning sandalwood if that made any sense.
"What happened?" She asked finally.
"Warrick brought us here after we lost"
She flinched when he mentioned their defeat. She remembered Roy jumping in front of her to deflect an incoming blow from the demon and it hadn't done much to stop him. The force threw them both and she was certain Roy had multiple broken bones that instant. Warrick was upon before she could recover and he delt her a powerful kick to the head, she didn't feel the pain for long after that because she lost consciousness.
"Why did he not simply kill us?".
Roy swallowed before he answered.
"It was the only way we could survive"
And then it dawned on her. Roy had chosen this for both of them.
Rage and outrage coursed through the princess. She rose unsteadily to her feet, anger fueling her. Roy's eyes widened at their obvious size difference, something like fear flashed through them.
"You doomed us to this existence for your own greed?!"
She slammed her palms into his chest, not minding that she was bigger than him now she put as much force in it as she could. Roy flew back, claws on his toes scrapped against the floor as they tried to find purchase.
Odiana staggered after him awkwardly, taking jerky steps as she tried to relearn how to walk.
"Why not let me die and go to the afterlife in peace?! Elysium awaited me!" She screamed.
Roy took another step back, only for his feet to get tangled in his own tail and he fell on his butt. His eyes flashed brightly as he rose quuckly. His face twisted in anger. He grabbed her hands as they reached for him and stood his ground.
"They lied to you! There was never an afterlife"
"How would you know?! Even before you were spawned you had the heart of a demon!"
"I sought answers!"
"You sought to extend your wretched existence!"
Roy growled and did a maneuver that she thought was impossible due to her larger size. He twisted, heaving her entire mass over his head without so much as a grunt, and slammed her on the ground. The breath left her. Roy straddled her waist, pinning her hands above her head.
"When you die you don't go to Elysium, or Purgatory, the doctrine was false!"
"You're lying!"
'No he is not' Odiana's eyes widened as a voice spoke in her head.
"Get out of my head Roy!"
"What?!" For a moment he looked baffled before he looked up sharply.
Floating there, making absolutely no sound was the closest thing to a goddess that Odiana had ever seen. She looked beautiful, beyond all imagination. Her skin was white and absolutely flawless, eyes were large and expressive with bright blue irises that pulsed with fey light at intervals, lips were thick and bow shaped and she had an upturned cute button nose. Her hair shone like silver, reaching down to her knees and it flowed like it was surrounded by it's own air current.
"We don't make a habit out of assaulting newly spawned daemas Roy" she gave him a reproachful look and eyed their compromising position with a raised eyebrow.
Odiana would have blushed if her skin wasn't already red. She intended to push Roy off but misjudged the force so she swatted him aside like a ragdoll. He flew six feet rolled and landed on all fours like a cat, with his tail curving back like a scorpion's. Odiana found herself too desensitized to even be surprised, there was too much to worry about already.
"Who are you? And more importantly, will somebody get me some clothes?!"
Roy started to shrug off his coat but Odiana have him a look. He glanced at the coat and then at her larger form and back again.
"You're right this won't cover anything" he put it back on.
The mysterious floating woman waved her hand and a large robe materialized around Odiana's form.
"Thank you" Odiana said courteously. For the first time showing herself to be the princess she was.
"Pardon the rude welcoming. Roy made me believe you were on better terms"
"I hate him" Odiana growled
"I see that" the woman shot Roy another look. He simply shrugged in response. She focused on Odiana once more.
"My name Dera. Welcome to Demonheim".
Odiana's eyes narrowed at the creature. She had since surmised that Dera wasn't human. She wore a gauzy gown that accentuated her barely covered body more than it covered anything. It billowed eerily even though there was no wind. It left little to the imagination.
"I want to go back to being a human"
"A foolish request" Dera said simply, "you've only just evolved and you want to return to being blind and ignorant"
"What does that even mean?"
Dera stared at her for a moment, as if trying to convey the importance of her next words with her eyes.
"Humans were created by demons to serve as nothing more than a power source"
"What?" Odiana asked incredulously.
"Your world was made to serve as farm of sorts"
Dera turned drifted ahead, expecting them to follow behind. She floated through a large door and up a flight of stairs, her feet never touching the ground for once.
Odiana followed her, her legs seemed to have started working properly again. Roy followed behind her silently as Dera continued giving a speech. Odiana was certain the creature had given before.
"Berrionheim is part of the world tree we created to supply us mana, and occasionally good warriors"
Dera glanced at her with begrudging respect.
"But the doctrine...."
"It was an elaborate lie" Dera said with finality.
"By telling you that demons were evil we hoped that humans would send their bravest warriors to combat us. From there we take our pick"
"But they raided villages! Why?!" The princess questioned as she glared at Dera's back.
"Population control" Dera answered with a shrug.
Odiana's mouth fell open, "all those lives..."
"Insignificant"
"It is wrong to treat human lives as insignificant"
Dera smiled, it looked ghastly despite her beautiful face.
"There is no right or wrong, in the grand scheme of things none of that matters"
"Then what does matter?"
"Power" Dera replied simply.
She waved her immaculate fingers at a door. It slid open with a slight hiss and they stepped into the outside world for the first time.
Odiana's jaw fell. What she saw confirmed Dera's words. This world made Berrion look insignificant in comparison.
The buildings were tall, reaching far higher than her eyes could see and it gleamed like steel and marble. Where would anyone find this much iron to make humongous structures out of? And there were so many of it that it felt like they were at the bottom of a canyon.
The entire space within her view was bathed in white light. She expected to see a sun but there wasn't any. All the light came from a massive beam shining down from above. It looked like a bolt of lightning but not as jagged and far bigger than anything she had ever seen. It's branches disappeared into the clouds above.
"That's the world tree" Roy explained, "it's a bridge between worlds. It's beautiful isn't it?"
"Yes" she whispered in awe.
Roy stood next to her, admiring the view as well.
A loud roar broke her out of the trance. Something massive flew past them. Leathery wings spanning wider than a castle, scales shinning like gold.
"Is that.. "
"A dragon, a gold dragon"
She could hear the smile in his voice.
"I thought they were rare"
"Not out here" he replied.
She glanced at him.
"Tell me everything".
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A/N: okay that's it for the second chapter. I've decided to alternate between Odiana and Roy as MCs as I tell this story. I'm pretty optimistic about it and I hope I get to finish it soon. I'm open to suggestions anytime 😊.