Strife: Chapter One

Strife: Chapter One

~Piquant Tides~

Summary: In which the adventure begins, and Etheram's luck proves to be nigh-fatal.
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There were certain nights in the Flame region that became safe enough to allow one to simply walk around and do as one saw fit, whether that was causing mischief or preventing such things from occurring. In the Ice region, these rules seemed to vary greatly from my motherlands, where demons could simply pop up out of nowhere and run off with your precious treasures before you even realized it. A demon became savvy very quickly when such a thing happened often enough, [un]fortunately.

It was with slight disgust that I noticed my pocket money had gone missing...

At least it was only a $20. The wallet was left untouched, no thanks to it being kept in an inner pocket. Lucky me, I suppose.

Many demons did unsightly things during the nights, like any creature with sentience would likely do at one point or another in time. Some were more subtle about it than others--those same 'others' preferred to flaunt their victories as much (and as loudly) as they could. As previously mentioned, the same demons that could rob a person before they could properly react also tended to flaunt their steals or sell them for high profit, mindless of who they might've stolen those things from.

It was an occurrence that I hated ever since I became aware of such things, although nothing I could do would change anything in any significant way. One person, changing the world in such a way? Heroes are the ones that did that kind of thing; not someone weak, like me.

People referred to me as the Lord of Life... The few people that respected me did, anyways. The rest used the title mockingly, alongside similar pseudonyms I refused to repeat.

Regardless, that title was mine for whatever reason, and try as I might...it was hard to simply stay alive these days, much less upkeep that title and make it flourish. It might be because some of my clients could put up such a stunning facade of innocence or weakness... But, I was simply called foolish for such thoughts and trust whenever I made mention to those kinds of things.

As such, I learned that bringing up issues like those...it was one of the worst things a Lord could do: Show their weaknesses.

I had already practically bared myself to the entire Flame region in trusting others so much.

Even the Council of Lords, one every region held, the same people that upkept the ideals of peace and justice, could not be fully trusted.

Just as well... Justice is a twisted concept, no matter how you look at it.

There was no one around when my trek back home began, a limp in my step due to some...mishandlings...earlier that same evening, causing the trip to be a delayed one as pain lanced through me, bringing annoyance and anger along with it.
Idly, my wrists are rubbed as the memories of earlier pervade my mind, a shudder going through me involuntarily as I began to relive it...

"Aw, aren't you just the cutest thing I've ever seen? You're just like a mouse caught in a trap, milord~! Oh, but you really do look so cute, all red like that. Are you comfortable?"

I would never be rid of those horrible memories. As if the restraints weren't bad enough, I didn't need trolling added to the (ever growing) list of embarrassments that had occurred tonight!

"These chains... What do you want with me..? Couldn't you have simply asked me before chaining me up like this..?!"
"Don't worry, milord... Haku and I only wanted to try some of your blood. I've heard some rather...delicious...rumors. I'd like to confirm them, if you wouldn't mind~."

Of course one would mind being bitten! As if being chained by two low class mystics wasn't embarrassing enough!
The holes in my neck began to ache as the cold began settling in, mindless of the dense fur coat I wore that covered the wounds rather closely.

Cleaning those clothes would be such a (literal) pain...

If I'd received information that had foretold of the night's events sooner, I would've simply bailed from meeting with those two mystics, blackmail be damned. It was hard to even pretend I had anything worth viewing as special now; I might as well be a low class demon with how weak I am--the same kind of weakness existed in me that existed in those that scrounged around for food simply due to being constantly overpowered!

Ah, but there was nothing I could do about those kind of thing in that moment. I just had to grin and bear it...

Perhaps next time, I would plan ahead, have a ride scheduled to bring me home or something nice like that... It was not a terribly long walk once I got into the main city of Chounen, but it was a frigid one...

Unexpectedly, the phone in my pocket began to vibrate and jingle a cheery little chime as if on cue, the vibrating sound that came after the jingle only serving to severely irritate my oversensitive ears.

It didn't help that most demons had two sets of ears. That sound happened to be one of the few noises capable of aggravating the both of them.

Hastily, the phone was flipped open, the caller's name being unexpectedly familiar, even if his knowledge of the number was not.

For whatever reason, my Charge answered the phone with more energy than I could possibly muster this late at night. It was a miracle that his words didn't exhaust me alone!

"Master~!" he chimed happily, the sound of clattering in the background giving away the fact that he was using the speaker base of the home phone again.

"Tsukissu? Is there something wrong?"

The question wasn't detailed, nor was it particularly amusing (in both tone and execution), but Tsukissu treated it as such anyways, giggling childishly before he calmed down enough to properly reply.

I'm assuming he found the chocolate stash in the pantry... Grand.

"Nope~. Nothing's wrong, Master~." he chirped, oblivious to my current mood and thoughts.

(If there was no point to this call, then why bother even dialing...?)

He answered the unasked question before I could speak my mind, however.

"Oh, but I didn't just call to check on you Master! Nope, I heard from the neighbors that there's a lot of crime in those areas, especially right now! In a way, I..."

Here, clothes rustled as Tsukissu fidgeted uncomfortably, although for what reason, I wasn't sure.

"I... Well, I'll always protect you, Master! You know that, right? So... So... Hum... Be careful, okay~?"

A grin left me when the words were processed. The leveret always treasured my attention, and he hated it when I left for work. To be so concerned as to do something like this...

"I'll be absolutely fine, Kissu. I'm almost at the train station, anyways. But thanks for your concern~."

The answer satisfied the young rabbit easily, and after a rather lengthy farewell, the phone was returned to my pocket, a chilly breeze passing by soon after. The shudder that followed was harsh enough to hurt the bite marks on my neck, a wince resulting when a thought came to me in that moment.

Tsukissu would notice these injuries... And he would DEFINITELY attempt to hunt those mystics down, like he'd done in the past with anyone who had so much as looked at me funny.
...served those mystics right if Tsukissu did so, though. Although, he was still too young to even know what religion and social ranks were, much less how to track down such an enigmatic pair of characters...

How he did it would likely elude me for the rest of my life. Although, that probably wasn't a bad thing, knowing Tsukissu's temperment...

It took a while for the train to arrive at the station, as per usual. It was during this time lapse that the thoughts and memories from earlier returned to me, although they weren't quite as vengeful as I'd previously expected them to be, amongst other things.

The encounter earlier did bring to mind another thought I'd focused on before, however... Love... What was it?

Ever since I was small, the thought of love and desire was interchangeable, and both came to hold some kind of importance in my life, whether directed at me or coming straight from myself.

To my chagrin, I had to admit that I had no idea what the big idea with love was. To me, it was the same as desire, only weaker and for lower class demons and such (if the words of my elders were to be believed). Uncertain emotions coupled with uncertain gambles and untrustworthy knowledge... At least when someone desired something, they realized what they'd need to do to achieve such a thing! To "love" someone sounded to be a punishment to oneself; it was almost guaranteed that the people involved would be hurt in some way or another when love was involved...

How strange, to wish for something so painful!

Still, I couldn't really talk about love in depth, although I almost always tended to fall back on some kind of thought that pertained to that particular issue from time to time. It was almost like an obsession by that point...

Perhaps it was because my life had always been governed by desires. The desires of others who expected me to fix their problems (and then condemned me when I wasn't able to), the desire my mother held for power (and thusly, the ideal that power meant everything and that nothing else mattered; an ideal which was commonplace in our old home), and my own desire to understand the world (and people) just a bit better. If I could see things more clearly and rationally than I already did... Perhaps, with those improvements, I'd become a suitable Demon Lord?

As it were, my role in the Council had already been dwarfed and rendered nigh-useless with repeated failures and idiocies. It would be an insult to other demons to even consider myself a Lord anymore...

Though I would've loved to ponder on those thoughts for a while longer, the sound of the train's approach grabbed my attention instead.

Ah... Finally. The weather in the Ice region... well, it was horrendously frigid, to say the least.

Before I could step onto the train, however, a rough hand enclosed itself over my mouth, strong hands and arms pulling me away from the light of the vehicle before I could even begin to comprehend what was happening.

As soon as my hands were pinned, however, the memories of what occurred earlier struck me remarkably harshly, and I began to struggle like a banshee gone mad, teeth baring to dissuade my attackers from approaching once I managed to free myself from their grip.

There was at least three or four low-ranking demons here. Normally, it wouldn't be too difficult to take them down, but on a day like this, when my blood had been drained moreso than usual...

They quickly closed in on me in that moment, a hidden feral instinct preventing me from shutting down completely as I continued to struggle in their holds, the hands of the ones who tried to touch any of my bare skin becoming dark with poison as charged magic began to float to the surface of my own skin. A few punches were thrown my way when this discovery was made, although it hurt them more than it did me, fortunately.

Unfortunately for me, there was one certain demon that had had the mindset to wear gloves tonight, my hands becoming restrained when I made to slash at one of his comrades. The two of us grappled as my rage began to grow, fueling my strength as fear began to nip at my mind in that moment...

I hadn't made mention to it before, but there were many demons who wanted me dead, if only for the sole reason that it would be simple to take my position and wealth from then on if the assassination attempts were successful.

It was a shame that I couldn't reach the gem on my neck at all. Those demons, as much as I loathed even thinking it, would've been skewered clean through eons ago if I'd had Eglantine in my hands.

The scuffle stopped when a blade passed right through my back and through my stomach, however. The pain that had been flaring up from my throat was nothing in comparison to that pain by a longshot.

Not even the collision with the ground a moment later was enough to match it.

How ironic, to think of skewering those lowlifes through, only to have the exact same thing happen to me...

(Ah... Irony hurts...)

The yelling that followed and the scuffling of feet above me left me feeling rather relieved, however, as it meant one of two things would be likely to occur.

One, the demons fled simply because if one was caught attacking a higher ranked demon, they'd instantly be destroyed (even if it was me we were talking about here).

The latter option boded better for me, however, as it meant help had arrived for me.

However, that option was soon shot down as everything became quiet again, the hiss of the train's engines catching my attention, however dizzy it made me become.

All of that, in a matter of moments... Fortunately, Tsukissu wasn't still talking with me when that happened, else I'd have more to worry about than just a stab wound.

Oh, but... Something...it's missing...

My pockets revealed themselves to be completely barren of electronic devices the moment I realized my phone had been stolen, resulting in a heavy groan leaving me as my mind began to plague me with thoughts of the future. The pain went by ignored as I began to worry myself to a hastier death, sick with fear and hatred in the same vein with the revelation that occurred.

Getting all those clients' numbers... And canceling that phone's service... Not to mention speaking with the Council and telling them why my contact information would change so suddenly...
Surely, this would detract from my 'powers' even further!
Not to mention, I'd have to inform my mother of all of this at some point in time, or else she would never stop griping about it. Worst of all, I was likely to be "demoted" again in the council...and it would just serve to piss her off anyways!

If there was one thing I hated more than being put down (specifically in and by the Council), it was to speak with my witch of a mother more than necessary--ESPECIALLY when it was with bad terms pending. I just couldn't handle her when she flew into a rage like that, throwing anything in her reach if I so much as spoke to her, sarcastic or not!

That is...I just...hngh...

(I can't win...)

So many things struck me in that moment that it was all I could do to get up and head for the train's open doors, flopping down onto one of the free seats in a dead faint as soon as I let myself drop, the substantial amount of blood I lost on that day finally forcing my body to give up on me...

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END CHAPTER ONE