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// Chapter the First... Wait no, Still the Prologue 
// Story: Lord Blade 
// by Jex 
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	I awoke slowly, blinking the sleep from my eyes. Sitting up with a groan, I sighed inwardly. “If only that dream could have lasted a little while longer,” I said quietly to no one in particular. Standing and stretching, I surveyed my room. What was I going to need to pull this off? I now knew that the Scythe was in my father’s armory. Getting there without anyone spotting me would be difficult but not impossible. 

Sadly, I found myself unable to blink in. I don’t know what my ancestors had done to that place, but I couldn’t bring up its image in my mind. No thoughts, no teleporting, but that wasn’t too bad. I knew the palace well enough to be able to sneak around most of the trafficked areas, but  knew I would have to cross the main antechamber at some point. It was nearly as big as the throne room itself, stretching nine twenty-foot floors tall and a hundred feet wide. Essentially, it divided the castle in half, and the place I needed to go to wasn’t on my side. Literally and figuratively.

The key, on the other hand, was a very different and much more challenging prospect. That was kept in a glass case, presumably protected with magic, in my father’s bedroom. Not the safest place to put it but he had made the assumption that no one would ever go in there, least of all me. He was, of course, completely correct because there were few places I would rather not be. But you know what? It was time to male demon up! I was going to get that key if it killed me, which it very well could.

I cracked the door to my chambers open, peering down the hallway to check for servants, or worse, my siblings. The last thing I needed was to run into Sergei or one of my other brothers, who would inevitably find some way to mess everything up. Maybe I could find a chance to see Lunea before I left. Of all the demons here, she was the only one I could conceivably miss. And I owed her all those years she stuck up for me.

I left my room and began to slowly pace down the long, dark hallway, my clawed toes clicking on the hard ash flooring. I made sure to try and look as normal and disinterested as I normally was, which of course, simply made me look suspicious. I passed by various demons of all shapes and sizes, colors and types. You had your incubi and your succubi, your wyrms and your gorgons. Little imps scurried up and down the halls carrying messages and objects throughout the palace at the bidding of my family. I watched it all with a apathetic eye, now and again kicking an imp out of the way to keep up the act.

I continued like this for a little while, slowly working my way through the winding passages, up and down dark staircases, taking a roundabout way to the royal chambers, skirting the more populated areas when I could manage it. As I neared the chambers, the crowds thinned out and I was soon walking alone with nothing to hear but my own footsteps. I was almost there. Just a few more minutes.

Of course, it would have been boring if everything had just gone as planned, so naturally I ran into my brother Sergei. I swiftly blinked into a small hidden alcove off the main corridor, hoping against that he hadn’t seen me. I heard his footsteps stop at the intersection.

“Well, brother,” He called out to the empty air, “I’m not sure what you’re doing skulking around, but I’m sure our dear old dad would take quite an interest in it. Maybe I’ll go tell him that you were sneaking again. You know how he hates that!” His iron-spiked boots clattered on the floor as he turned in circles, presumably looking for me. I could just imagine the overabundance of shredded red and black fabric swooshing around his oh-so-majestic ten feet seven inches, his spiked hair sticking in place from all of the... whatever it was that he put in it. 

‘Fashionable,’ he called it. ‘Ugly’ I had said, and then he had thrown me through a wall, smiling all the while and talking nonchalantly about my “terrible” choice of simple black garb. He’s flamboyant, is what I’m trying to get across. It’s more than annoying.

“Now, Lacuna, we don’t want to disappoint daddy, do we? Why don’t you come on out and talk to me and we can arrange something to keep me quiet? I think an explanation of what you’re doing would suffice, don’t you?”

Of course I saw right through it, recognizing the attempt to have my father potentially execute me. I’d fallen for Sergei’s little “deals” before, and none of them had ended well, to say the least. So, of course, I said nothing and stood perfectly still right where I was, hardly daring to breathe. I looked toward the wall opposite me at the flickering shadows from the torch around the corner, and attempted to discern any movement he might have made. But given the oscillating nature of fire, I found this rather difficult and instead relied on my ears to determine his location.

The infrequent and nearly silent tapping of his feet on the ash floor indicated that he wasn’t moving much. Straining to pick out which direction he was moving, if any, I inevitably became unaware of all of my other surroundings. Though it was amusing to hear his futile attempt to find me, as I had moved to a place where it would be difficult to find me, the hairs on the back of my neck stood on end like imps at attention. Straining to pick out which direction he was moving, if any, I inevitably became unaware of all of my other surroundings. 

I didn’t know she was behind me until something, presumably her hand, touched my shoulder. I jumped about ten feet in the air and whirled around, looked up, and strained to keep in a sigh of relief at the sight of my sister, Lunea. Her white-flecked grey eyes bored into mine and made her concern and confusion at the present situation more than evident. As soon as I had my wits about me once more, she leaned in and whispered to me.

“What in the Seventh are you doing here? What’s going on?” she frantically implored.

“Apparently I’m looking too suspicious for Sergei. Again,” I replied, hoping she’d save my neck one more time. I already owed her more than a few favors, though she had never actually wanted me to do anything for her. On the contrary, she had always insisted that I shouldn’t. Unlike anyone else who might do me a favor. I just hoped my luck would keep up with me this time. If all went well, this would be the last time she ever did something like this for me.

“Ah, I see. Well, you stay here. I’ll see what I can do with this little twerp.” With that, she spun around and ducked out of the alcove. Her long black hair with its one white streak circled around her and fell neatly down her back as she crept into the hall. I peeked my head out to watch the fireworks. And boy, was it a show.

“Hey, dimwit. I see you’ve done your hair just as elegantly as usual. You compensating for something?” she jeered, her face contorting into a smirk. She walked past Sergei so she was facing me, and so Sergei wouldn’t see me as I watched. She was getting good at this.

“Yes, in fact. I’m overcompensating for your lack of hygiene,” Sergei sneered. “Honestly darling, how much ash do you have under your claws today? Enough to make another beach? And what’s that white streak in your hair? Got some lightspawn attached to you?” Lunea’s brows knitted together and her hands clenched slightly, but she stayed put. “Besides, what are you doing down here anyway? Getting dangerously close to dad’s stomping grounds, aren’t we?”

“I was about to ask you the same thing, Sergei, but I think we both already know. Why do you keep shouting for Lacuna? He’s probably in his room like he always is. Go bug him there or something.” She said in her ‘I’m getting angry’ voice. Okay, so that last part wasn’t exactly conducive to my overall well-being, but I appreciated her trying to get him to leave.

“How do you know he’s there if you never saw him? I could have sworn he was here! He ducked right into that hallway you came out of!” Sergei was already getting peeved. He always did have a short temper behind all that glamour. “Why don’t you go find him yourself if you’re so ‘concerned’ about him.”

“I never said I didn’t see him, did I? You’re making assumptions again, Sergei. You seem to have a problem with that. I’d watch what I said if I were you. You never know who’s around,” taunted Lunea as she looked around for added effect. I ducked back into the alcove as Sergei looked behind him, falling for Lunea’s trick. Within seconds, she was inches in front of him. He turned around and jumped about ten feet in the air, just like I had when I saw her. She seemed to have an uncanny ability to appear right in front of people without them noticing.

“What, are you scared of me, Sergei?” she whispered menacingly, glaring at him. Though he was easily a foot and a half taller than her and three times as strong, his shoulders slumped forward and his eyes widened and darted around as he looked for a place to hide. Of course he would never admit it, but he was terrified of her. And I have to say, I was too. At least she was on my side.

“No. Why would I be scared of you?” he lied, looking at his feet.

“You know, Sergei, I don’t see why you can’t leave our brother alone. What did he ever do to you?” Lunea whispered. Her glare became etched in her face as she waited for a response. When none came, she scoffed, “Well?”

“Uhhh... n-nothing, I guess,” Sergei squeaked. Some of his hair fell out of place and he timidly reached up to fix it.

“Then leave,” finished Lunea, pointing down the hall. “I don’t want to see you down here again today, you sniveling cretin. Now, get out.”

Relieved to be released, Sergei bolted, tripping over his over-decorated feet as he ran like he had just suffered father’s wrath, but not without shooting a hateful glance behind him. Lunea sighed in discontent and walked back to me. I knew she enjoyed fighting about as much as I did. I appreciated that she was willing to stand up for me, something I’d never really considered before.

“So, what was that all about?” she asked. “You’re never down here. There’s got to be a reason.” Oh wait, now I had to explain stuff. Dangit.

“Ummm, nothing really. I was just, you know, having a look around. Nothing important or life changing or super dangerous!” I wanted to stuff that back in my mouth; I sounded more than stupid. Lunea raised an eyebrow, giving me about the most skeptical look of all time. She wasn’t fooled. Then again, she never was.

“Right, and I’m a unicorn with wings that can control various elements of life” she said sarcastically. I almost choked on the irony of that statement. “Seriously now, what are you doing here? Do you have any idea what Ira will do to us if he finds us? You specifically. Sergei is fine in this part of the castle, dad likes him. In case you hadn’t noticed, we’re not fine here. Now let’s go before someone else comes wandering around.” She started dragging me away by the arm. I dug my clawed feet into the ash and brought us to a halt. Great. Now my father would know that somebody had been here.

I tried to change the subject. “Well, what are you doing down here? You’re never near dad’s rooms either.” She recognized my evasion, of course, but maybe I could still find some way to escape without her harping on me, or worse, ratting me out.

“Are you kidding me? You’d have to be deaf to not hear that moron brother of ours. I figured you were getting yourself into trouble again.”

“No, Lunea, there’s something I need to do down here,” I said patiently. “Something really important.” I looked at her, almost pleadingly. She raised her eyebrow again. I sighed. “And yeah, it might get me into trouble. Scratch that, it will.”

“Well, what is it?”

I sighed again. “Now, this is going to sound crazy, but I’m trying to get out of here. Out of this castle, out of the Sixth, out of Hell entirely. I’m trying to go to the living world. Please, don’t tell anyone. You of all demons know what dad would do if he found out.”

Lunea’s eyes widened in shock, and her already pale skin became even paler. “You’re right, that is crazy, you’re crazy! Now come back with me or I’ll knock the crap out of you and drag you with me!”

“Lunea, no!” I almost shouted. Looking around to make sure no one had heard us, I whispered,” Hear me out on this one. I don’t belong here. I’ve read all about the living world. It’s amazing! There’s wind and water and dirt and sky and clouds and even though I only have a vague idea of what those are I need to see them. I need to know that there is a place that isn’t here... a place that’s for me... and I’m going to use the Scythe to do it.” I was breathless after my rant, hoping that she’d believe me.

“The Scythe? You mean THE Scythe? You’re not just crazy. You’re insane! How in the Seventh are you going to pull this one off?” Lunea was doing her best not to raise her voice and draw attention to us, for which I was... grateful to say the least. The last thing I needed was somebody to come along, especially if that somebody was another family member.

“Good question. I figured just stealing it and sneaking off with it would work. It’s not like he’s concerned with it, right? Nobody’s tried to use it in at least a thousand years. Why would he worry now?”

“Umm. Do you even know where the Scythe of Belial is?”

“Probably in dad’s closet of doom, with all of his other torture devices and sharp, pointy objects.” I said proudly, glad that I at least knew some of what I was talking about.

“Okay then, how are you going to get it without the key?”

Crap. The key.

“Uhhhh... I guess I’ll just have to find the key.” I’d been so focused on getting to the Scythe that I’d forgotten entirely about the only way to access it.

“Uh huh. You do that,” Lunea scoffed. “We’ll see where you end up in a few days.” She sounded pretty pissed. Who could blame her at this point? Her little brother was on a mad quest that would probably find him dead sooner or later.

“Please, Lunea.” I said. “I need to do this. Do you promise you won’t tell anyone?”

“I don’t need to tell anyone. Someone will find out eventually.”

“They won’t know where I’ve gone other than... well... not here,” I said uneasily.  “But they’re going to ask you. You of all demons would know. You can’t tell them.”

“They won’t ask if you don’t go in the first place.”

“Well, I’m going, whether you like it or not.”

She sighed and fell silent. I could see her weighing her options, almost mathematically. After about ten seconds, she looked at me and said, “Fine. I won’t tell. But don’t come asking me for help, because you won’t get it.” 

“Alright. Now if you’ll excuse me, I have some... some treasure hunting to do.” I turned and started walking down the hall toward my father’s rooms, but Lunea’s hand caught my shoulder again and spun me around. She smiled at me, a kind, sad smile. Damn, I was going to miss her.

“Be careful, okay?” 

I sighed again. I was glad she was looking out for me. I figured that was probably a good thing in case something went wrong. I smiled back at her, trying to emulate her gentle countenance.

“I will.”

“I’m here if you change your mind,” she said as a last-ditch attempt to get me to stay.

“I know.” At least I had someone to come back to. The sad thing was, I probably wouldn’t come back. She took my hand in hers and squeezed it gently. Her eyes seemed to be pleading with me, begging me to stay even though she knew there wasn’t a chance.

“Will I ever see you again?”

“I don’t know.”

With this, she stepped forward and took me in an immense hug, nearly squeezing me to death. Having never been hugged before, I awkwardly reached my hands around her and hugged her back.

“Good luck, brother.”

“Thanks.” I left her at in the middle of the hall and continued walking on my own. My footsteps and heartbeat echoed like a lonely drum in an execution procession. When I reached the end of the passageway, I turned back, but she was gone. I was on my own.