Post by Deleted on Oct 19, 2018 21:14:32 GMT -5
1,310 Years Ago...
Today was quickly shaping up to be an entirely abnormal day for young Amatricina. It had begun as simply as any other; she woke with the rising red sun, as did her numerous siblings. They dressed and rush to their father’s great hall for the breakfast feast. It was a communal gathering time for the young demon’s family, her many siblings and her parents all gathered in one place at the same time. It was often the only occasion they all saw each other over the course of the day, each going their separate ways. Lord Tartaros taking to his throne, leading his soldiers into battle, or meeting with his generals after he’d finished consuming his meal. And Lady Bonara, secretive as she was, would slip away to seclusion or meet with the clan’s stewards and accountants to discuss matters beyond the warfare her husband thrived at.
For the many children of the brood of Tartaros, their days were filled with a myriad of activities. From studying the demonic histories as well as core subjects like mathematics and science, to training in the dojo or with each other, to games and other time wasting activities. The children often broke up into individual groups, having formed their own cliques and friendships within their closest group of siblings. Many of the younger siblings avoided the older ones, disliking their older siblings’ bossier natures and finding closer companionship with those their age. Amatricina shared a bitter rivalry with her eldest brothers, Raigu and Sofrito. The two were the closest to her in both age and strength, and it showed. Their feuding and bickering was nearly endless, with the children often recruiting their siblings into various factions against each other.
The parents of the young demons largely encouraged this behavior, believing competition between their children would only drive ambition. The strongest and most capable of their brood would naturally rise, and age alone would not be the single most determining factor of their pecking order. Naturally Amatricina hated this, simply wishing her siblings would fall into line beneath her. Her parents’ unwillingness to intervene did bolster her resolve, and she had to work all the harder to maintain her status among her kin. The fires of competition burned as fiercely among the demon children as any of their kind.
This day had held an unusual kind of surprise. Following their morning training the demons’ father had entered their dojo. The towering hulk of a demon cast a looming shadow over his children, literally and metaphorically. He had picked out the eldest four of his brood, commanding them to follow him. Tartaros took to the skies, leading the four children far and away from their home within the fortress. To them this was all just a game, betting and daring each other to keep up as they flew after their father. Amatricina made it her mission to come in first, much to her siblings’ dismay. Her smuck look of satisfaction was all the more they needed to fuel their anger.
Tartaros had led the four to the rim of an active volcano, one of the countless scores of them that dotted their planet’s surface. Theirs was a violent and tumultuous world of constant geological and volcanic activity. Fierce earthquakes ripped apart the ground and almost every peak was a volcano, active or otherwise. Geysers and hot spring left much of the planet’s water boiling and caustic, and the endless noxious clouds of gas even off by this filled the skies with a thick toxic haze. It meant nothing to the fire demons, having been created with the express purpose of thriving in molten hellscapes. To them their hellish world of fire and brimstone was as natural as a fish in the sea.
The four children stood at the rim of the great mountain of fire, looking down at the bubbling lake of lava below. Amatricina was the eldest of the four, with the most developed set of horns of the bunch. Her attire consisted chiefly of a long cloak, leggings, and a short cut top that showed off her bare midriff. Raigu was the tallest of the four, with broad shoulders and a powerful chest like his father’s. He was almost half a head taller than his elder sister, despite being several years her junior. Sofrito was only a few inches shorter than his brother, but had a more wiry build. He made up for in speed what he lacked in strength, and his features were sharper and more hawkish for it. Arissa was the black sheep of the bunch, she lacked her siblings jealousy with one another and squabbling nature. She had inherited her father’s more boisterous personality, ever good natured aside from the heat of battle, relishing the thrill of combat. She was also the shortest of the four, with the least developed set of horns. Arissa wore a flowing skirt with matching top, though she sported armored gloves and boots similar to her elder sister.
“What are we doing out here Father?” Amatricina asked after she’d grown bored of the volcano.
“Yeah, we could just train at home.” Sofrito added, annoyed he agreed with his sister on this.
Tartaros merely scoffed, crossing his thick arms across his barrel chest. “We could, but it wouldn’t have the same impact. Besides, out here I don’t mind if you break anything. And I expect plenty of destruction this morning.” The demon lord said with a grin on his face. He had something special in mind for the children.
“Why’s that!?” Arissa blurted out, interrupting her father and getting harsh looks from her siblings.
“Because my child.” Tartaros replied with a smirk. “Today the four of you will be fighting each other.” The children opened their mouths to protect, but were silenced by their father. “Be quiet, I haven’t finished yet. As I was saying, you will be fighting in a no holds barred free for all. No teams, no rules, besides staying within the arena.” The demon pointed down into the bowels of the volcano. “This will be our arena, from the bottom to the opening at the top. If you are knocked outside the volcano, or through it, you are disqualified. Any questions?”
Raigu shot up a hand in excitement, a vengeful look in his eyes. “Yeah, one. Do we get to go all out?”
His father chuckled, wide grin spreading across his chiseled face. “Of course my child, I expect nothing less of my endless children. No tactic is too cheap, no attack is too strong, just so long as you don’t kill each other. Or if you do, I suppose that only proves how weak the loser is, doesn’t it?” He shrugged, seemingly nonchalant about whether his children lived or died. “Come now, I’m eager to see how you perform.” Without further instruction the towering demon leapt down into the heart of the burning volcano, landing with a relatively graceful landing on an unmelted boulder towards the base. His children exchanged glances with each other, trying to size each other up and see if any of their courage waned. When none backed away from the challenge the four leapt down as well to join their father.
The rock at the bottom of the volcano was unsteady and difficult to balance on. It bobbed and floated on more molten stone like a raft on a river. Thick plumes of heavy black smoke rose around them, giving cover and obscuring vision. Large flares of magma boiled up and fired off in geyers of molten rock that rained down in thick chunks. To many beings, this place would be a death sentence, but to the fire demons it was as mild an inconvenience as a bit of rain.
Tartaros folded his legs, crossing them over each other as he took a meditative state on the boulder. He clapped his hands eagerly together, more than ready to watch his children fight. “Each of you take a corner, on my signal the match begins.”
The four nodded in unison. “Right” They each said, before hopping away to choose a different corner. Amatricina positioned herself with Arissa to her left, and Sofrito to her right. She knew Raigu was the closest to her strength, and she wanted him the furthest from her when the battle commenced. Their father raised one hand high over his head, holding it aloft. Four sets of ruby eyes watched it with absolute focus. Then in one swift movement the hand dropped, and the match had begun.
Immediately the four demons dashed ahead, moving so fast they were scarcely visible. Arissa went through for her older sister, with Raigu not far behind. Amatricina raised her guard, but not before her brother and sister slammed into her. The three clashed, the eldest of them doing her best to counter and parry the blows of the other two. Amatricina felt a presence behind her, but was unable to react to it in time. Sofrito had held back, diving under the lava and emerging behind them in a shower of magma. He grinned a savage grin, raising both hands and unleashing a beam of energy. The blast caught all three of guard, striking the three demons and scattering them across the room. Amatricina was struck the most cleanly, and crashed through a spire of rock before toppling into the lava below. Arissa landed on her feet, shaken but having avoided the brunt of the damage. She launched a flurry of ki blasts at her brother before diving into the molten rock after her eldest sister.
Raigu stood hovering in the air, arms crossed from weathering the blast. Rage burned in his eyes, and he let out a savage battlecry. The young demon threw himself at his brother in a frenzy, throwing out a withering flurry of punches and kicks. Sofrito however was prepared, and quicker on his feet than his elder brother was. He avoided most of the assault, taunting and feigning back with his own attacks. He was perhaps the best technical fighter of the three, savoring the thrill of wearing out and tiring his opponents. What he lacked though, was Raigu’s raw strength. When the demon finally landed a solid punch, it hurt, and Sofrito was sent reeling. His brother smirked at his sibling’s overconfidence, giving chase and slamming it him with a hard knee to the chest.
Meanwhile, under the molten waves the two sisters clashed. Blinded of their sight in the molten sea of rock, they tracked each other by feeling their ki alone. The two didn’t so much as fight as they did slam into each other like burning missiles of hate. Over and over again, the impact shockwaves of their collisions bubbling up and erupting out the surface as they sent lava showing everything. The two met in a savage headbutt, locking horns as they attempted to overpower the other. Their hands locked, and the two grappled back and forth beneath molten waves before erupting to the surface. Amatricina was able to overpower her sister, throwing her aside and then blasting her with twin beams of ki fired from her eyes. The attack sent Arissa smiling into the wall of the volcano where she was imbedded feet into the rock.
Amatricina exhaled, wiping the last bits of magma from her lip before she felt the energy of Raigu barreling towards her. He collided with nothing, succeeding only in striking his sister’s after image as she appeared beneath him. The demoness smiled, opening her mouth wide and firing her own beam of burning energy from it. It blasted her brother skyward, as Amatricina tried to force him skyward and out the summit of the volcano, forfeiting him from their fight. Raigu roared in defiance, trying to slow his ascent from the blast. He clawed and strained himself against the beam as he hurtled skyward, trying to free himself. His salvation came in the form of his brother, Sofrito slammed into his elder sister hard from the side, putting an end to her attack and knocking her away. Raigu recovered, looking down at his siblings fighting he rained down a volley of ki blasts like a shower of meteors. The two siblings clashed, matching each other blow for blow as the energy bolts rained down around them in brilliant bursts.
The four fought on for the better part of an hour, unsuccessful in their contest. Unable to decisively work together, they could not best their mutual foes. Instead the young demons succeeded only in tiring each other out. No one sibling gained the advantage, as soon as one seemed to hold the upper hand, the others would gang up on them accordingly. Easy alliances quickly broke once the scent of blood was in the water. No one demon wished to see their compatriot share their glory. Though Amatricina may have been the strongest individually, against her three siblings she could find no way to project her strength evenly. Exert too much energy on one foe, and the others would rise up and strike against her. There was no winning, only delaying defeat until she could come up with a better course of action.
After what felt like an eternity the four stood on a central platform of solid rock. The insides of the volcano were mired with craters and impact marks, the entire mountain was on the verge of collapsing under the weight of the damage it had sustained. Amatricina was ready to summon the last vestiges of her ki and made a desperate final gambit against her siblings, and she suspected they were ready to do the same. As their auras flared with power one final time, something happened that made the demons stop cold in their tracks. “Enough!” Their father bellowed, having sat idly observing the fight the entire time. He had no moved a muscle, not so much as flinched even when hit by stray ki blasts. The power of his children insignificant compared to his own.
“Yes Father.” The demon siblings said in unison, bowing their heads as they turned to face their father. Each was panting heavily, and silently relieved the fight had been called off. “What have we learned?” Tartaros stated, raising an eyebrow as he inspected his progeny. There was an important lesson to be had here, one more important than another simple sparring contest. Arissa spoke first, ever eager to impress her father.
“That Sofrito cheats.” She said, casting an angry glare at her older brother.
“Hey, Father said do what we had to in order to win. There’s no such thing as cheating in a fight.” The demon replied angrily, crossing his arms.
“Your brother is right.” Tartaros stated simply. “On the battlefield you cannot hold your enemy to any standards. When life and death are on the line, your opponent will take every avenue to make sure they come out on top. The sooner you learn the same, the better. No price is too great for victory.” Tartaros spoke sternly, though this was an important lesson it was not the lesson he wished to convey.
“I understand Father.” Arissa said, hanging her head low in shame.
“Anyone else?” Tartaros beckoned, slowly rising from his meditative stance.
Raigu stood and pondered for a moment, mulling over the battle. “We learned that we should always watch our backs. Almost all of us sneak attacked each other every chance we got.”
Tartaros slapped an armored knee, a mirthy grin on his face. “Close my son. And it is not a wrong answer, just not the answer. What you say is true, surprise attacks are a common part of warfare and battle. You can achieve much, while losing very little. There are few downsides to a surprise attack on an unprepared enemy, and you should always expect your enemies to think the same.”
Raigu smirked to his jealous siblings, who looked at him in envy. Save for Amatricina, who rubbed at her chin as she mulled over her father’s question. Suddenly it hit her, almost as hard as Raigu’s knee had hit her face minutes ago. She looked up to her father, her eyes shimmering in delight as she figured out the answer to his question. “Father I know the answer.” She said proudly, and Tartaros piqued his attention.
“Oh? Do tell me what you think it is my child.” The demon lord said, looking down at his eldest child with an impatient look on his face.
“The lesson is…” Amatricina paused to draw out the effect, much to her sibling’s annoyance. “That none of us could win.”
Her siblings looked shocked and confused, “How?” they asked, puzzling over the riddle their sister had answered.
“Because.” Their eldest sister stated painly, her confidence rising as she saw her father’s nod of approval. “I’m the strongest one of the four of us, and I couldn’t win. So neither could any of you.” Raigu looked red with anger at that comment, but his sister continued to talk over him. “None of you can ever beat me when you duel, its been close, but I win ever time. But when we all fight each other, that doesn’t matter. I might be the strongest of the four of us, but when there’s no allies and no rules you just gang on me to make sure I can’t win, even if it keeps you from winning.”
Her siblings stopped to think on the matter. What their sister said was true, Sofrito had several opportunities to ring out his little sister, and Raigu could have probably just beat his brother unconscious if he’d focused solely on him. But if they did that, Amatricina would gain the upper hand in the long run and best them one on one. They needed their rivals to stay in the fight to provide more targets for her to focus on. However the three could never simply work together to best their sister, they might stand a chance if they tried, but their inability to maintain an alliance purely on their word meant they backstabbed each other every time the opportunity presented itself. Each one too greedy for victory to risk the prisoner’s dilemma.
Tartaros let out a hearty laugh, before letting out a content sigh. “Yes, yes, that was the answer I was looking for. Do you children understand just why this is important?”
Raigu spoke up immediately, this time he was the one that knew the answer. “Because Father, it is just like the demon clans. We fight endlessly, and even the strongest can’t defeat the rest because the weak won’t allow the strong the win, even if it’s against their best interests!”
The demon lord nodded in agreement. “You will make a fine general someday Raigu, of that I am certain.” The son’s eyes lit up at his father’s encouraging words. “ Your brother is right my children. This was the lesson I wished to share with you in this contest. It is all a great metaphor for the nature of our demon clans, and our very realm. No one clan can ever rise above the rest, not alone that is. Their enemies will band together against them every time, even if it means they themselves will turn on each other. If we cannot win, we will make sure no one else can. That is one simply truth behind the driving nature of the innumerable clans that dot our realm.”
The towering demon rose to his feet, letting out a deep sigh. “And that is why our realm can never be united without a true demon king. Only a being so powerful that none can challenge him can ever hope to bring all the warring clans together under one banner. Until that day comes, we can only hope to slowly claim victories where we can, accumulating power slowly as to not provide a coalition of our enemies against us. Do you understand?” Tartaros looked down at his children, and they nodded in acknowledgement.
“Yes Father.” They stated, heeding their father’s words and each reflecting on their nature to themselves.
“Good, then you may return home. Our training is through here, though my own training has just begun.” The demon lord stated simply, dismissing his children. The four flew off as their father began to channel his own tremendous power. The walls of the volcano shook with his awesome power as the four reached the summit, darting high into the air as they headed skyward.
Exhausted, bruised, and aching all over Amatricina and her siblings flew back towards their home. It was a welcome relief when the looming spires of their father’s vast citadel began to sprout in the distance. Home meant a reprieve from the day’s intense physical training, a soft bed, and a hot meal. Amatricina looked over at her siblings, she could see it on their exhausted faces, they felt the same as she did. Each of them thinking of what they would do upon their arrival, the desire for rest the only thing keeping them airborne as they flew. The young demoness summoned her last reserves of strength, pushing herself to fly faster. It was never enough for her to just be one of the pack, she always had to stand above her kin. That pride and ambition drove her to be first among her siblings, and in this case that was literal. Amatricina began steadily gaining distance on her companions, carving out a lead until she was clearly the frontrunner.
With a less than graceful landing she touched down hard in a castle courtyard, nearly losing her balance as she decelerated and steadied herself. Dusting herself off from the landing the young demoness looked back, craning her head skyward as she watched her siblings make their final approach. Like meteors of demonic ki they rocketed towards her, each stopping as they landed in the courtyard, panting heavily and catching their breath. Their father’s training had been grueling, as it always was, and the young demons were eager to get some long overdue rest. Arissa, ever the most dramatic of the bunch, simply slumped down on her back, arms outstretched as she lie on the grass. She let out a long sigh, closing her eyes as she made herself comfortable. Her head could rest comfortably against the grass, something Amatricina silently envied. Her own crown of horns was more pronounced than her sister’s, and though neither was nowhere near finished growing yet, Amatricina’s were already long enough to made lying on her back a mild irritation. Her horns would be digging into the soft earth if she did the same, and she disliked having to clean dirt and grime from her horns greatly.
“It’s so nice to be home.” Arissa stated with a sigh, chest heaving slightly with every breath. “Just leave me here.” She said contently, closing her eyes as she relaxed her wear body. Her brothers seemed amused by the display, giggling as they walked past their younger sister.
“Whatever you say Ari.” Sofrito said with a snicker, passing her by as he walked towards one of the doors back inside.
“Yeah, have a good nap. Not like you don’t have a bed.” Raigu added, catching up to his little brother as the two headed inside.
Amatricina was left with her sister, she just shook her head, she was too tired to bother with any childish remarks. “If you wanna sleep out here Ari, go ahead.” She said simply, turning to head inside as well. “But Raigu’s right, we have beds. I’m gonna go take a nap.” With that the young demoness headed off as well.
“You guys just don’t get it I guess.” Arissa yelled back to the other three as they scurried off. “The grass is comfy…” Her words fell mostly on deaf ears, the others out of earshot and without a care about their little sister’s defense. Arissa pouted slightly, snorting twin puffs of smoke from her nostrils as they flared in agitation. “They’re just dumb…” She assured herself, before getting comfortable on the soft grey grass, closing her eyes as she readied herself for a nap. Amatricina herself was just reaching one of the great stone doors back into the keep, the sentries that stood over it bowing slightly before holding the door open for her. She paid them no mind, passing through as she made for her own destination.
Amatricina lost sight of her brothers, they must have run off ahead of her. She didn’t mind, they were slightly annoying at times anyways. The young demoness walked the halls, making her way back towards her bedchambers. The winding corridors of her father’s fortress were both cavernous and maze like, with thick carpets and fine fabrics and adorned in trophies, tapestries, and works of art commissioned over hundreds of generations. Soldiers and servants walked the halls going about their business, most paying the young demoness no mind or giving her a brief nod or salute. Though she was her father’s heir apparent, Amatricina was too young, and thusly too weak to be of much merit to most of her clan. In time she would have to earn her place properly, through strength and force of will. These concerns were far in the back of her mind, lost in the innocence of youth.
A figure came into view, rounding the corner at the end of the hall as she moved in a slow, graceful walk. Amatricina’s mother, Bonara, flanked by a throng of handmaidens and servant girls. The demon matriarch was a regal beauty, with a wide crown of horns bedecked in gold and jewels. She wore a loose flowing dress, the attire did little to leave anything of her wanton curvaceous figure to the captive imagination. The demoness bore a deathly serious expression on her face as she spoke with a servant on one matter or another, the woman was notorious as a ruthless ice queen. Those who did not immediately comply with her whims or treat her with sufficient authority were quick to feel the sting of her full scorn. To Amatricina, the sight of her mother was often a coin flip, either she was proud of her daughter’s recent accomplishments or she was quick to scold the child for not doing something up to her high standards.
Bonara’s gaze wandered to Amatricina’s, the young demoness was slightly unnerved and silently wished her mother had not seen her, even though she knew in her heart the elder demoness could simply sense her wherever in the area she happened to be. Amatricina wanted to make herself scarce, but her mother motioned with her finger for her daughter to come closer. Reluctantly she did, swallowing the lump in her throat first. As the younger demon approached she heard bits and pieces of the conversation her mother had been holding with her retainers, something about a banquet and how the preparations needed to be simply perfect. The matriarch dismissed her servants, sending them off with the simple wave of a hand. She smiled as her daughter approached, the single warm aspect of her otherwise cold visage.
“Hello my daughter” The elder demoness said sweetly, looking down upon Amatricina. Bonara’s daughter was the spitting image of her when she was that age. From her flowing mane of crimson hair to the way her horns were curving as they grew outwards. It filled the demonic mother with no small amount of joy. Little Amatricina did have her father’s eyes though, they shimmered a brilliant blazing orange, as opposed to her mother’s deeper crimson gaze. “You’ve completed your training with your father for the day I take it?” There was a hint of sarcasm to the demon’s words, she knew damn well where her own daughter had been.
“Uh huh.” Amatricina nodded in compliance. “It was really hard today, he made use fight each other… inside a volcano.” Her mother simply smiled and ran a hand through the girl’s hair. It was mired with soot and ash, moreover her apparel was singed and scuffed from the heat and the battle itself. It was completely unbefitting of Bonara’s eldest child, regardless of what her brute of a husband had been putting her children through.
The elder demoness shook her head slowly, bells jingling from her horns as she did. “Tsk tsk tsk. I can see that child. That look is unbecoming of you, here, let mother help.” Bonara held up her hands, channeling her ki and summoning her dark magics. There was a brief flash of ruby light that enveloped Amatricina, shimmering before vanishing in a dazzling flash. In a moment she had restored Amatricina’s outfit to flawless condition, repaired by the hand of her magic materialization. Dents and scratches in her daughter’s armor mended back to new, burns and tattered fabric remade into immaculate quality. Bonara smirked slightly, as her daughter inspected her attire approvingly. “There, that’s much better, but you will still need to bathe yourself later. You smell like sweat and sulfur.”
Amatricina nodded again. “Yes mother, I’ll go do th---” She was cut off as Bonara raised a hand to silence her.
“You will do no such thing my daughter, I did not dismiss you just yet.” The demonic matriarch’s tone turned sharp in an instant, she greatly disliked when her children tried to excuse themselves before she was finished speaking. “Come, follow me. Your training for the day is not nearly finished yet.” Without offering so much as an explanation, the ravishing demon turned and began to slowly walk away. Amatricina could only swallow the lump in her throat, she was already exhausted from her earlier sparring under her father, now mother also wanted her to train? The thought of refusing her mother was unthinkable to the young demoness, she had seen her mother’s wrath over even petty offenses, she did not wish to see how she responded to her own daughter disobeying a direct command. Resigning herself to her fate, Amatricina picked herself up and hurried along after her mother. In the back of her mind she wondered if her siblings were still napping in peace? Maybe she was wrong not to join Arissa in the courtyard, not that it mattered now.
Amatricina followed along after her mother, catching up quickly before matching her mother’s leisurely pace. “Where are we going exactly Mother?” She asked with slight concern, wondering what her mother had in store for her. With father, it was easy to guess. Train, spar, fight, in that order. Fighting was like breathing to the demon warlord, it was what he lived for. Nothing swelled his black heart with pride quite like watching his children battle and grow stronger. But with her mother, Amatricina never quite knew what to expect. She kept her cards closer to the chest, never letting others know more than they needed to. This air of secrecy was one reason she was entrusted with so much of their clan’s administration. In any event, Amatricina nearly held her breath as she waited for her mother to reply.
Bonara turned her head slowly, glancing down upon her daughter and narrowing her gaze. “Someplace special, where you will continue your training for the remainder of the day. Under my tutelage.” She fact she did not elaborate made it all the worse, and Amatricina thought about asking for specifics, but knew all too well her mother revealed only what she wished to reveal. Asking for more information would only get her a cold stare and stern lecture on holding her tongue.
“Yes Mother.” Was Amatricina’s only appropriate response, and she kept herself silent from that point forward. She would find out where they were headed soon enough anyways, which was probably her mother’s point. The two moved through the corridors of the fortress, entering a wing of the keep Amatricina herself was unfamiliar with. They passed by several large doors, before stopping before one in particular. Bonara nodded, and the sentries standing watch bowed low as the mother and daughter passed through. What they entered was a room the young demon had never seen before in her life. It was a vast chamber, with smooth round walls and a large machine in the center. The machine itself seemed like some kind of generator, it thrummed with power and even resting idle it could practically be felt. There was a small control panel on the center terminal of the device, teeming with buttons and dials. Bonara walked silently towards it upon entering the room.
“Brace yourself my daughter.” She offered only that cryptic advice as she began to press buttons on the machine. Amatricina didn’t quite know what to expect, but nonetheless did as she was told and braced herself as best she could. Bonara merely smiled as she adjusted the last dial, pressing a button that sent the machine whirring to life. It hummed louder, a central turbine beginning to spin rapidly as the great device powered up. Amatricina felt her body growing heavier, her knees began to tremble slightly and she had to strain herself just to stand upright. Even breathing was beginning to get harder, but the young demoness merely grit her teeth and bore through it.
“Mother, what did you do?” Amatricina asked, talking heavy labored steps as she walked towards her parent.
“Began the next step of your training my daughter.” The demon matriarch merely turned to face her daughter, a smile on her face as she watched her struggle. Amatricina’s mother contained a giggle at watching the display, then hovered in the air slightly and seated herself cross legged. Her long dress flowing down to kiss the flow as she gently floated in the air. “This room is a gravity chamber, Amatricina. The device in the center works like that on our starships, it can use energy to produce a field of artificial gravity around itself. Unlike the ones that keep you standing upright in a ship, this one can produce a field many hundreds of times stronger than our planet’s. What you’re currently experiencing is five times our world’s normal gravity.” Bonara motioned next to her, patting at the air as she gestured for her child. “Come child, mediate with me.”
Amatricina did as she was told, slowly trudging her way over to her mother and seating herself in the same position, albeit on the floor. Her mother glared at her, before addressing her sternly. “I said meditate, no sit on the floor. I expect you to levitate yourself with you ki, I do not care how hard it is, or how tired you claim to be.” Her daughter could practically feel the sting of her mother’s glare on the top of her skull. She exhaled deeply, focusing her energy and drawing forth more ki. The young demoness closed her eyes, eyebrows twitching in strain as she slowly lifted herself off the ground. After a few moments of harsh concentration though she had mostly adjusted to the effort needed and now floated gently alongside her mother. “Better.” Bonara said with approval, the faintest glimmer of a smile on her face. “For today we will begin with simple meditation, in the future you will train, and ultimately spar under increased gravity conditions. That is how your father and I train.”
Amatricina was slightly flabbergasted. She knew her mother was powerful, but with her demeanor she never actually thought she actively trained. The woman was more about courtely politics, not the battlefield like her father was. “You train Mother?” She blurted out, hardly thinking. Bonara chuckled, and nodded in acknowledgement.
“Indeed I do, but only in a gravity chamber. Your father is the only one I will permit to see me sweaty and undignified, and I am one of the few who can give him a run for his money as a sparring partner.” The revelations were slightly blowing Amatricina’s mind as she listened to her mother speak. The thought of her normally cool and composed mother bruised and battered, locked in heated combat with his father was something she almost couldn’t picture.
“How strong are you exactly, Mother?” Amatricina asked sheepishly. She had always assumed most of her father’s generals and legion commanders outscaled her in terms of raw power.
“Stronger than I let on.” Came her mother’s ever cryptic reply.
“And how strong is that exactly?”
“Strong enough in another life I would be ruling my own clan, not helping your father in ruling ours.” Her mother’s tone seemed distant, almost wistful. Her normally piercing gaze seemed to be looking past Amatricina, in truth Bonara was reminiscing about a life she gave up centuries ago.
“What happened?” Amatricina asked her mother sheepishly. She was afraid a harsh scolding was sure to follow.
Her mother let out a very long sigh, running a hand along the side of her neck. “I suppose I have to tell you someday. It is quite the story. First though, a question. What do you think I was before I was your mother, before I was your father’s wife?”
Amatricina paused, thinking on the question. She had never really put any thought into it, her mother way just that… her mother. It was hard for her to picture a time before that part of her life. The momentary lapse in concentration cause the young demoness to wobble slightly as her ki weakened, and she quickly snapped back into focus. “I don’t know. Were you the daughter of a powerful general, or maybe a really strong warrior that father met on the battlefield?” Traditionally demons of her kind claimed their wives as captured prisoners or the battlefield, or claimed them when sacking a rival clan’s city. Men preferred the strongest possible wives, and thus, the harder their potential spouse fought back the more suitable a mate she would be. It was a violent, brutal, and ultimately ancient tradition. Sometimes women were given over as part of prisoner exchanges, or gifted as tribute to a stronger clan as political favor. These were generally given to the lesser sons of warlords and generals, more trophies than anything. Rarely did two individuals meet and wed for love, not for status or power, though it was not unheard of.
“You are almost right, my daughter.” Bonara said with a sad smile on her face. “At least you have my brains, and in time, hopefully your father’s brawn.” The elder demoness rolled her shoulders and arched her back, making herself more comfortable before she continued her tale. “I was not always part of your father’s clan, though it has felt like my home for a lifetime. Originally, I came from the different clan, one that shared the northern continent with what would be your grandfather’s clan at the time. Many generations ago our two clans were roughly similar in strength. But as time passed, that began to change. Every battle we lost more than your grandfather’s did, our numbers began to dwindle, our trade began to falter, and our enemies were growing more and more numerous. Soon it became quite clear the glory days of my clan were long behind us, our neighbors and rivals looked to our weak borders with hungry eyes.”
Amatricina was enraptured by her mother’s tale, she had never seen this side of her before. Nostalgic and remorseful all at once. She listened eagerly, with bated breath. It was somewhat difficult to focus on both levitating against the harsh gravity and her mother’s story, but she managed. “What did your clan do Mother?” The young demoness asked, hanging on the edge of her proverbial seat.
“What we must to survive.” Her mother replied with great shame in her voice. “My own father was no longer a young warlord, and could not ensure our continued safety and protection. He tried his best, leading what remained of our once great armies against our enemies again and again, throwing them back from our borders until he could do so no longer.” Bonara halted her story, growing deathly silent. Amatricina was at a loss for words, and her concentration nearly snapped.
“Did you father… did he die?” She finally worked up the nerve to ask.
There was a long pause before Bonara’s eventual reply. “Yes, my daughter. He died standing.” The demon matriarch was nearly forcing back tears, but she would not let her daughter see them. Those three little words, they meant the world to the fire demons. To die standing was to die on your own two feet, facing the enemy in battle. Even if victory was impossible, it meant the warrior had died bravely, his honor preserved for all time’s sake. “My father was cut down by a rival warlord, run clean through. I watched the life slip from his eyes as he hit the ground. My brothers were there, all of my siblings, on that battlefield. My eldest brother flew into a rage, his power surging to levels I had never seen. Our foe just laughed, and challenged him too. The dueled in the most climactic battle I had ever seen. The rest of our soldiers were hard pressed to hold back the enemy. My flank was crumbling, and slowly I was realizing no matter what happened the battle was already lost.”
“What did you do then?” Amatricina chimed in, fully engrossed in the story of her mother’s clan.
“Prepared to fight to the last breath. It was all I could do. No matter how many we killed, more just kept coming. Our forces were woefully outnumbered, and even my brother’s rage did not give him the strength to best the warlord that slew our father. He died too, his neck broken and his spine snapped as he was cast down low. It was my darkest hour. But then he saved us.”
“Who?”
“Your father.”
“How?”
“Simple, his forces struck the enemy from behind. Unbeknownst to us, your father’s clan had been playing their own offensive, though one aimed my clan’s rivals. Your father had played a dangerous gambit, putting his faith in the enemy over-committing themselves to their battle with us, and that my clan would be able to draw out the fight longer than anticipated. He was right, and when his legions descended on the enemy rear guard they were caught totally by surprise. It was a bloodbath, or so I was told after the fact. Either way, your father and his vanguard punched a line straight towards the center of the enemy clan. I rallied my own clan’s forces, and we drove a blood wedge into the enemy.” Bonara’s words were fire, and her spirits lifted from earlier in her tale.
“I remember that day like it was yesterday. Your father and I took on the demon who slew my father and brother. We had never met before, never so much as spoken. I did not even know his name, but we fought as one that day. He could not stand against the two of us and our combined assault. With one final blow we incinerated him and a swath of his army in one cataclysmic blast. The crater is still there to this day, though it has since filled with caustic waters.” Bonara let out a relieved sounding sigh, inhaling deeply as though she were at piece. “Together our armies routed our foes, killing the stragglers and cutting down anyone unable to escape. Thousands were taken captive as slaves, scores more lie dead in heaps. It was a truly magnificent sight.”
“And what happened afterwards?”
“Your father did something I never would would have expected, or allowed. He took me in his arms and kissed me right on the mouth. Right there on the battlefield surrounded by so much carnage.”
“That sounds so romantic.”
“It was Amatricina, it was. I knew in that moment he was the demon who’s children I wished to sire. He was to be mine, and I to be his, until the last of our days. After the dust cleared and the battle was over, and we finally had a chance to recuperate only then did I realize how dearly victory had cost me. I had lost my father, my eldest brother, and many of my siblings. I was the oldest living child of my father’s progeny, so by rights that made me his heir. And with his death that made me my clan’s newest, and final warlord.” The demoness looked up towards the ceiling, wistfully thinking back on that time. All the hard decisions she had made, and how they had paid off.
“My clan was a shadow of its former glory, we paid a terrible price for victory, and that battle would be our last if we simply returned home. I took your father side, sat down with him and told him how dire our situation was. I proposed a solution, one which both our clans would prosper from. We would unite our clans, and unite our ruling bloodlines in marriage so there would be no doubt as to who’s children would be the rightful heirs. Your father’s clan would gain all our lands, strongholds, and soldiers. My clan would gain his army’s protection, and be given a chance to start fresh. Your father didn’t take much convincing, he scooped me up in his arms and took me right there on the slopes of that battlefield.”
Bonara smiled, turning to look at her daughter, a motherly smile on her face full of pride. “You came into this world a year later. It was the happiest day of my life. Since that day, our clan has only grown stronger. My warriors earned their place among your father’s armies, proving their loyalty in blood and service. Our combined territory makes us one of the strongest clans on the planet, and I have no doubt your father will do everything in his power to see our clan grow ever stronger. Until the day he grows old and frail, and passes on the mantle of ruling to you.” Bonara gently reached a delicate hand down, taking her daughter’s chin and lifting it so she could plant a tender kiss on the girl’s forehead.
Amatricina blushed, taken back by her mother’s sudden display of affection. She was unused to it, the demoness’ normally ice cold demeanor seemingly melted away as she waxed nostalgic about the past. Amatricina’s composure broke, and she fell to the ground with a loud thud, momentarily losing the concentration to hold herself in her meditative state. She immediately winced, expecting to be verbally berated by her mother for the failure. But instead, Bonara simply held out a hand for her daughter to take. She lifted her daughter back onto her feet, and continued holding her hand even after she resumed her meditative pose. The two demons hovering silently in the gravity chamber, the only sound the steady hum of the generator at its center.
It was Amatricina who first broke the silence, looking up to her mother with a puzzled look on her face. “Why did you tell me that story Mother?” Bonara simply smile in response.
“Because Daughter, it was a story worth telling. One you needed to hear someday. Today felt right.” The demoness’ mother had returned to her normally cryptic tone, Amatricina reflected on what her mother had said, thinking as they mediated in silence for several long minutes.
“I love you Mother.” She finally said simply, breaking the silence.
“I know, and I, you.” Her mother replied, smiling as she closed her eyes and continued her meditation.
Word Count: 8,054
Today was quickly shaping up to be an entirely abnormal day for young Amatricina. It had begun as simply as any other; she woke with the rising red sun, as did her numerous siblings. They dressed and rush to their father’s great hall for the breakfast feast. It was a communal gathering time for the young demon’s family, her many siblings and her parents all gathered in one place at the same time. It was often the only occasion they all saw each other over the course of the day, each going their separate ways. Lord Tartaros taking to his throne, leading his soldiers into battle, or meeting with his generals after he’d finished consuming his meal. And Lady Bonara, secretive as she was, would slip away to seclusion or meet with the clan’s stewards and accountants to discuss matters beyond the warfare her husband thrived at.
For the many children of the brood of Tartaros, their days were filled with a myriad of activities. From studying the demonic histories as well as core subjects like mathematics and science, to training in the dojo or with each other, to games and other time wasting activities. The children often broke up into individual groups, having formed their own cliques and friendships within their closest group of siblings. Many of the younger siblings avoided the older ones, disliking their older siblings’ bossier natures and finding closer companionship with those their age. Amatricina shared a bitter rivalry with her eldest brothers, Raigu and Sofrito. The two were the closest to her in both age and strength, and it showed. Their feuding and bickering was nearly endless, with the children often recruiting their siblings into various factions against each other.
The parents of the young demons largely encouraged this behavior, believing competition between their children would only drive ambition. The strongest and most capable of their brood would naturally rise, and age alone would not be the single most determining factor of their pecking order. Naturally Amatricina hated this, simply wishing her siblings would fall into line beneath her. Her parents’ unwillingness to intervene did bolster her resolve, and she had to work all the harder to maintain her status among her kin. The fires of competition burned as fiercely among the demon children as any of their kind.
This day had held an unusual kind of surprise. Following their morning training the demons’ father had entered their dojo. The towering hulk of a demon cast a looming shadow over his children, literally and metaphorically. He had picked out the eldest four of his brood, commanding them to follow him. Tartaros took to the skies, leading the four children far and away from their home within the fortress. To them this was all just a game, betting and daring each other to keep up as they flew after their father. Amatricina made it her mission to come in first, much to her siblings’ dismay. Her smuck look of satisfaction was all the more they needed to fuel their anger.
Tartaros had led the four to the rim of an active volcano, one of the countless scores of them that dotted their planet’s surface. Theirs was a violent and tumultuous world of constant geological and volcanic activity. Fierce earthquakes ripped apart the ground and almost every peak was a volcano, active or otherwise. Geysers and hot spring left much of the planet’s water boiling and caustic, and the endless noxious clouds of gas even off by this filled the skies with a thick toxic haze. It meant nothing to the fire demons, having been created with the express purpose of thriving in molten hellscapes. To them their hellish world of fire and brimstone was as natural as a fish in the sea.
The four children stood at the rim of the great mountain of fire, looking down at the bubbling lake of lava below. Amatricina was the eldest of the four, with the most developed set of horns of the bunch. Her attire consisted chiefly of a long cloak, leggings, and a short cut top that showed off her bare midriff. Raigu was the tallest of the four, with broad shoulders and a powerful chest like his father’s. He was almost half a head taller than his elder sister, despite being several years her junior. Sofrito was only a few inches shorter than his brother, but had a more wiry build. He made up for in speed what he lacked in strength, and his features were sharper and more hawkish for it. Arissa was the black sheep of the bunch, she lacked her siblings jealousy with one another and squabbling nature. She had inherited her father’s more boisterous personality, ever good natured aside from the heat of battle, relishing the thrill of combat. She was also the shortest of the four, with the least developed set of horns. Arissa wore a flowing skirt with matching top, though she sported armored gloves and boots similar to her elder sister.
“What are we doing out here Father?” Amatricina asked after she’d grown bored of the volcano.
“Yeah, we could just train at home.” Sofrito added, annoyed he agreed with his sister on this.
Tartaros merely scoffed, crossing his thick arms across his barrel chest. “We could, but it wouldn’t have the same impact. Besides, out here I don’t mind if you break anything. And I expect plenty of destruction this morning.” The demon lord said with a grin on his face. He had something special in mind for the children.
“Why’s that!?” Arissa blurted out, interrupting her father and getting harsh looks from her siblings.
“Because my child.” Tartaros replied with a smirk. “Today the four of you will be fighting each other.” The children opened their mouths to protect, but were silenced by their father. “Be quiet, I haven’t finished yet. As I was saying, you will be fighting in a no holds barred free for all. No teams, no rules, besides staying within the arena.” The demon pointed down into the bowels of the volcano. “This will be our arena, from the bottom to the opening at the top. If you are knocked outside the volcano, or through it, you are disqualified. Any questions?”
Raigu shot up a hand in excitement, a vengeful look in his eyes. “Yeah, one. Do we get to go all out?”
His father chuckled, wide grin spreading across his chiseled face. “Of course my child, I expect nothing less of my endless children. No tactic is too cheap, no attack is too strong, just so long as you don’t kill each other. Or if you do, I suppose that only proves how weak the loser is, doesn’t it?” He shrugged, seemingly nonchalant about whether his children lived or died. “Come now, I’m eager to see how you perform.” Without further instruction the towering demon leapt down into the heart of the burning volcano, landing with a relatively graceful landing on an unmelted boulder towards the base. His children exchanged glances with each other, trying to size each other up and see if any of their courage waned. When none backed away from the challenge the four leapt down as well to join their father.
The rock at the bottom of the volcano was unsteady and difficult to balance on. It bobbed and floated on more molten stone like a raft on a river. Thick plumes of heavy black smoke rose around them, giving cover and obscuring vision. Large flares of magma boiled up and fired off in geyers of molten rock that rained down in thick chunks. To many beings, this place would be a death sentence, but to the fire demons it was as mild an inconvenience as a bit of rain.
Tartaros folded his legs, crossing them over each other as he took a meditative state on the boulder. He clapped his hands eagerly together, more than ready to watch his children fight. “Each of you take a corner, on my signal the match begins.”
The four nodded in unison. “Right” They each said, before hopping away to choose a different corner. Amatricina positioned herself with Arissa to her left, and Sofrito to her right. She knew Raigu was the closest to her strength, and she wanted him the furthest from her when the battle commenced. Their father raised one hand high over his head, holding it aloft. Four sets of ruby eyes watched it with absolute focus. Then in one swift movement the hand dropped, and the match had begun.
Immediately the four demons dashed ahead, moving so fast they were scarcely visible. Arissa went through for her older sister, with Raigu not far behind. Amatricina raised her guard, but not before her brother and sister slammed into her. The three clashed, the eldest of them doing her best to counter and parry the blows of the other two. Amatricina felt a presence behind her, but was unable to react to it in time. Sofrito had held back, diving under the lava and emerging behind them in a shower of magma. He grinned a savage grin, raising both hands and unleashing a beam of energy. The blast caught all three of guard, striking the three demons and scattering them across the room. Amatricina was struck the most cleanly, and crashed through a spire of rock before toppling into the lava below. Arissa landed on her feet, shaken but having avoided the brunt of the damage. She launched a flurry of ki blasts at her brother before diving into the molten rock after her eldest sister.
Raigu stood hovering in the air, arms crossed from weathering the blast. Rage burned in his eyes, and he let out a savage battlecry. The young demon threw himself at his brother in a frenzy, throwing out a withering flurry of punches and kicks. Sofrito however was prepared, and quicker on his feet than his elder brother was. He avoided most of the assault, taunting and feigning back with his own attacks. He was perhaps the best technical fighter of the three, savoring the thrill of wearing out and tiring his opponents. What he lacked though, was Raigu’s raw strength. When the demon finally landed a solid punch, it hurt, and Sofrito was sent reeling. His brother smirked at his sibling’s overconfidence, giving chase and slamming it him with a hard knee to the chest.
Meanwhile, under the molten waves the two sisters clashed. Blinded of their sight in the molten sea of rock, they tracked each other by feeling their ki alone. The two didn’t so much as fight as they did slam into each other like burning missiles of hate. Over and over again, the impact shockwaves of their collisions bubbling up and erupting out the surface as they sent lava showing everything. The two met in a savage headbutt, locking horns as they attempted to overpower the other. Their hands locked, and the two grappled back and forth beneath molten waves before erupting to the surface. Amatricina was able to overpower her sister, throwing her aside and then blasting her with twin beams of ki fired from her eyes. The attack sent Arissa smiling into the wall of the volcano where she was imbedded feet into the rock.
Amatricina exhaled, wiping the last bits of magma from her lip before she felt the energy of Raigu barreling towards her. He collided with nothing, succeeding only in striking his sister’s after image as she appeared beneath him. The demoness smiled, opening her mouth wide and firing her own beam of burning energy from it. It blasted her brother skyward, as Amatricina tried to force him skyward and out the summit of the volcano, forfeiting him from their fight. Raigu roared in defiance, trying to slow his ascent from the blast. He clawed and strained himself against the beam as he hurtled skyward, trying to free himself. His salvation came in the form of his brother, Sofrito slammed into his elder sister hard from the side, putting an end to her attack and knocking her away. Raigu recovered, looking down at his siblings fighting he rained down a volley of ki blasts like a shower of meteors. The two siblings clashed, matching each other blow for blow as the energy bolts rained down around them in brilliant bursts.
The four fought on for the better part of an hour, unsuccessful in their contest. Unable to decisively work together, they could not best their mutual foes. Instead the young demons succeeded only in tiring each other out. No one sibling gained the advantage, as soon as one seemed to hold the upper hand, the others would gang up on them accordingly. Easy alliances quickly broke once the scent of blood was in the water. No one demon wished to see their compatriot share their glory. Though Amatricina may have been the strongest individually, against her three siblings she could find no way to project her strength evenly. Exert too much energy on one foe, and the others would rise up and strike against her. There was no winning, only delaying defeat until she could come up with a better course of action.
After what felt like an eternity the four stood on a central platform of solid rock. The insides of the volcano were mired with craters and impact marks, the entire mountain was on the verge of collapsing under the weight of the damage it had sustained. Amatricina was ready to summon the last vestiges of her ki and made a desperate final gambit against her siblings, and she suspected they were ready to do the same. As their auras flared with power one final time, something happened that made the demons stop cold in their tracks. “Enough!” Their father bellowed, having sat idly observing the fight the entire time. He had no moved a muscle, not so much as flinched even when hit by stray ki blasts. The power of his children insignificant compared to his own.
“Yes Father.” The demon siblings said in unison, bowing their heads as they turned to face their father. Each was panting heavily, and silently relieved the fight had been called off. “What have we learned?” Tartaros stated, raising an eyebrow as he inspected his progeny. There was an important lesson to be had here, one more important than another simple sparring contest. Arissa spoke first, ever eager to impress her father.
“That Sofrito cheats.” She said, casting an angry glare at her older brother.
“Hey, Father said do what we had to in order to win. There’s no such thing as cheating in a fight.” The demon replied angrily, crossing his arms.
“Your brother is right.” Tartaros stated simply. “On the battlefield you cannot hold your enemy to any standards. When life and death are on the line, your opponent will take every avenue to make sure they come out on top. The sooner you learn the same, the better. No price is too great for victory.” Tartaros spoke sternly, though this was an important lesson it was not the lesson he wished to convey.
“I understand Father.” Arissa said, hanging her head low in shame.
“Anyone else?” Tartaros beckoned, slowly rising from his meditative stance.
Raigu stood and pondered for a moment, mulling over the battle. “We learned that we should always watch our backs. Almost all of us sneak attacked each other every chance we got.”
Tartaros slapped an armored knee, a mirthy grin on his face. “Close my son. And it is not a wrong answer, just not the answer. What you say is true, surprise attacks are a common part of warfare and battle. You can achieve much, while losing very little. There are few downsides to a surprise attack on an unprepared enemy, and you should always expect your enemies to think the same.”
Raigu smirked to his jealous siblings, who looked at him in envy. Save for Amatricina, who rubbed at her chin as she mulled over her father’s question. Suddenly it hit her, almost as hard as Raigu’s knee had hit her face minutes ago. She looked up to her father, her eyes shimmering in delight as she figured out the answer to his question. “Father I know the answer.” She said proudly, and Tartaros piqued his attention.
“Oh? Do tell me what you think it is my child.” The demon lord said, looking down at his eldest child with an impatient look on his face.
“The lesson is…” Amatricina paused to draw out the effect, much to her sibling’s annoyance. “That none of us could win.”
Her siblings looked shocked and confused, “How?” they asked, puzzling over the riddle their sister had answered.
“Because.” Their eldest sister stated painly, her confidence rising as she saw her father’s nod of approval. “I’m the strongest one of the four of us, and I couldn’t win. So neither could any of you.” Raigu looked red with anger at that comment, but his sister continued to talk over him. “None of you can ever beat me when you duel, its been close, but I win ever time. But when we all fight each other, that doesn’t matter. I might be the strongest of the four of us, but when there’s no allies and no rules you just gang on me to make sure I can’t win, even if it keeps you from winning.”
Her siblings stopped to think on the matter. What their sister said was true, Sofrito had several opportunities to ring out his little sister, and Raigu could have probably just beat his brother unconscious if he’d focused solely on him. But if they did that, Amatricina would gain the upper hand in the long run and best them one on one. They needed their rivals to stay in the fight to provide more targets for her to focus on. However the three could never simply work together to best their sister, they might stand a chance if they tried, but their inability to maintain an alliance purely on their word meant they backstabbed each other every time the opportunity presented itself. Each one too greedy for victory to risk the prisoner’s dilemma.
Tartaros let out a hearty laugh, before letting out a content sigh. “Yes, yes, that was the answer I was looking for. Do you children understand just why this is important?”
Raigu spoke up immediately, this time he was the one that knew the answer. “Because Father, it is just like the demon clans. We fight endlessly, and even the strongest can’t defeat the rest because the weak won’t allow the strong the win, even if it’s against their best interests!”
The demon lord nodded in agreement. “You will make a fine general someday Raigu, of that I am certain.” The son’s eyes lit up at his father’s encouraging words. “ Your brother is right my children. This was the lesson I wished to share with you in this contest. It is all a great metaphor for the nature of our demon clans, and our very realm. No one clan can ever rise above the rest, not alone that is. Their enemies will band together against them every time, even if it means they themselves will turn on each other. If we cannot win, we will make sure no one else can. That is one simply truth behind the driving nature of the innumerable clans that dot our realm.”
The towering demon rose to his feet, letting out a deep sigh. “And that is why our realm can never be united without a true demon king. Only a being so powerful that none can challenge him can ever hope to bring all the warring clans together under one banner. Until that day comes, we can only hope to slowly claim victories where we can, accumulating power slowly as to not provide a coalition of our enemies against us. Do you understand?” Tartaros looked down at his children, and they nodded in acknowledgement.
“Yes Father.” They stated, heeding their father’s words and each reflecting on their nature to themselves.
“Good, then you may return home. Our training is through here, though my own training has just begun.” The demon lord stated simply, dismissing his children. The four flew off as their father began to channel his own tremendous power. The walls of the volcano shook with his awesome power as the four reached the summit, darting high into the air as they headed skyward.
Exhausted, bruised, and aching all over Amatricina and her siblings flew back towards their home. It was a welcome relief when the looming spires of their father’s vast citadel began to sprout in the distance. Home meant a reprieve from the day’s intense physical training, a soft bed, and a hot meal. Amatricina looked over at her siblings, she could see it on their exhausted faces, they felt the same as she did. Each of them thinking of what they would do upon their arrival, the desire for rest the only thing keeping them airborne as they flew. The young demoness summoned her last reserves of strength, pushing herself to fly faster. It was never enough for her to just be one of the pack, she always had to stand above her kin. That pride and ambition drove her to be first among her siblings, and in this case that was literal. Amatricina began steadily gaining distance on her companions, carving out a lead until she was clearly the frontrunner.
With a less than graceful landing she touched down hard in a castle courtyard, nearly losing her balance as she decelerated and steadied herself. Dusting herself off from the landing the young demoness looked back, craning her head skyward as she watched her siblings make their final approach. Like meteors of demonic ki they rocketed towards her, each stopping as they landed in the courtyard, panting heavily and catching their breath. Their father’s training had been grueling, as it always was, and the young demons were eager to get some long overdue rest. Arissa, ever the most dramatic of the bunch, simply slumped down on her back, arms outstretched as she lie on the grass. She let out a long sigh, closing her eyes as she made herself comfortable. Her head could rest comfortably against the grass, something Amatricina silently envied. Her own crown of horns was more pronounced than her sister’s, and though neither was nowhere near finished growing yet, Amatricina’s were already long enough to made lying on her back a mild irritation. Her horns would be digging into the soft earth if she did the same, and she disliked having to clean dirt and grime from her horns greatly.
“It’s so nice to be home.” Arissa stated with a sigh, chest heaving slightly with every breath. “Just leave me here.” She said contently, closing her eyes as she relaxed her wear body. Her brothers seemed amused by the display, giggling as they walked past their younger sister.
“Whatever you say Ari.” Sofrito said with a snicker, passing her by as he walked towards one of the doors back inside.
“Yeah, have a good nap. Not like you don’t have a bed.” Raigu added, catching up to his little brother as the two headed inside.
Amatricina was left with her sister, she just shook her head, she was too tired to bother with any childish remarks. “If you wanna sleep out here Ari, go ahead.” She said simply, turning to head inside as well. “But Raigu’s right, we have beds. I’m gonna go take a nap.” With that the young demoness headed off as well.
“You guys just don’t get it I guess.” Arissa yelled back to the other three as they scurried off. “The grass is comfy…” Her words fell mostly on deaf ears, the others out of earshot and without a care about their little sister’s defense. Arissa pouted slightly, snorting twin puffs of smoke from her nostrils as they flared in agitation. “They’re just dumb…” She assured herself, before getting comfortable on the soft grey grass, closing her eyes as she readied herself for a nap. Amatricina herself was just reaching one of the great stone doors back into the keep, the sentries that stood over it bowing slightly before holding the door open for her. She paid them no mind, passing through as she made for her own destination.
Amatricina lost sight of her brothers, they must have run off ahead of her. She didn’t mind, they were slightly annoying at times anyways. The young demoness walked the halls, making her way back towards her bedchambers. The winding corridors of her father’s fortress were both cavernous and maze like, with thick carpets and fine fabrics and adorned in trophies, tapestries, and works of art commissioned over hundreds of generations. Soldiers and servants walked the halls going about their business, most paying the young demoness no mind or giving her a brief nod or salute. Though she was her father’s heir apparent, Amatricina was too young, and thusly too weak to be of much merit to most of her clan. In time she would have to earn her place properly, through strength and force of will. These concerns were far in the back of her mind, lost in the innocence of youth.
A figure came into view, rounding the corner at the end of the hall as she moved in a slow, graceful walk. Amatricina’s mother, Bonara, flanked by a throng of handmaidens and servant girls. The demon matriarch was a regal beauty, with a wide crown of horns bedecked in gold and jewels. She wore a loose flowing dress, the attire did little to leave anything of her wanton curvaceous figure to the captive imagination. The demoness bore a deathly serious expression on her face as she spoke with a servant on one matter or another, the woman was notorious as a ruthless ice queen. Those who did not immediately comply with her whims or treat her with sufficient authority were quick to feel the sting of her full scorn. To Amatricina, the sight of her mother was often a coin flip, either she was proud of her daughter’s recent accomplishments or she was quick to scold the child for not doing something up to her high standards.
Bonara’s gaze wandered to Amatricina’s, the young demoness was slightly unnerved and silently wished her mother had not seen her, even though she knew in her heart the elder demoness could simply sense her wherever in the area she happened to be. Amatricina wanted to make herself scarce, but her mother motioned with her finger for her daughter to come closer. Reluctantly she did, swallowing the lump in her throat first. As the younger demon approached she heard bits and pieces of the conversation her mother had been holding with her retainers, something about a banquet and how the preparations needed to be simply perfect. The matriarch dismissed her servants, sending them off with the simple wave of a hand. She smiled as her daughter approached, the single warm aspect of her otherwise cold visage.
“Hello my daughter” The elder demoness said sweetly, looking down upon Amatricina. Bonara’s daughter was the spitting image of her when she was that age. From her flowing mane of crimson hair to the way her horns were curving as they grew outwards. It filled the demonic mother with no small amount of joy. Little Amatricina did have her father’s eyes though, they shimmered a brilliant blazing orange, as opposed to her mother’s deeper crimson gaze. “You’ve completed your training with your father for the day I take it?” There was a hint of sarcasm to the demon’s words, she knew damn well where her own daughter had been.
“Uh huh.” Amatricina nodded in compliance. “It was really hard today, he made use fight each other… inside a volcano.” Her mother simply smiled and ran a hand through the girl’s hair. It was mired with soot and ash, moreover her apparel was singed and scuffed from the heat and the battle itself. It was completely unbefitting of Bonara’s eldest child, regardless of what her brute of a husband had been putting her children through.
The elder demoness shook her head slowly, bells jingling from her horns as she did. “Tsk tsk tsk. I can see that child. That look is unbecoming of you, here, let mother help.” Bonara held up her hands, channeling her ki and summoning her dark magics. There was a brief flash of ruby light that enveloped Amatricina, shimmering before vanishing in a dazzling flash. In a moment she had restored Amatricina’s outfit to flawless condition, repaired by the hand of her magic materialization. Dents and scratches in her daughter’s armor mended back to new, burns and tattered fabric remade into immaculate quality. Bonara smirked slightly, as her daughter inspected her attire approvingly. “There, that’s much better, but you will still need to bathe yourself later. You smell like sweat and sulfur.”
Amatricina nodded again. “Yes mother, I’ll go do th---” She was cut off as Bonara raised a hand to silence her.
“You will do no such thing my daughter, I did not dismiss you just yet.” The demonic matriarch’s tone turned sharp in an instant, she greatly disliked when her children tried to excuse themselves before she was finished speaking. “Come, follow me. Your training for the day is not nearly finished yet.” Without offering so much as an explanation, the ravishing demon turned and began to slowly walk away. Amatricina could only swallow the lump in her throat, she was already exhausted from her earlier sparring under her father, now mother also wanted her to train? The thought of refusing her mother was unthinkable to the young demoness, she had seen her mother’s wrath over even petty offenses, she did not wish to see how she responded to her own daughter disobeying a direct command. Resigning herself to her fate, Amatricina picked herself up and hurried along after her mother. In the back of her mind she wondered if her siblings were still napping in peace? Maybe she was wrong not to join Arissa in the courtyard, not that it mattered now.
Amatricina followed along after her mother, catching up quickly before matching her mother’s leisurely pace. “Where are we going exactly Mother?” She asked with slight concern, wondering what her mother had in store for her. With father, it was easy to guess. Train, spar, fight, in that order. Fighting was like breathing to the demon warlord, it was what he lived for. Nothing swelled his black heart with pride quite like watching his children battle and grow stronger. But with her mother, Amatricina never quite knew what to expect. She kept her cards closer to the chest, never letting others know more than they needed to. This air of secrecy was one reason she was entrusted with so much of their clan’s administration. In any event, Amatricina nearly held her breath as she waited for her mother to reply.
Bonara turned her head slowly, glancing down upon her daughter and narrowing her gaze. “Someplace special, where you will continue your training for the remainder of the day. Under my tutelage.” She fact she did not elaborate made it all the worse, and Amatricina thought about asking for specifics, but knew all too well her mother revealed only what she wished to reveal. Asking for more information would only get her a cold stare and stern lecture on holding her tongue.
“Yes Mother.” Was Amatricina’s only appropriate response, and she kept herself silent from that point forward. She would find out where they were headed soon enough anyways, which was probably her mother’s point. The two moved through the corridors of the fortress, entering a wing of the keep Amatricina herself was unfamiliar with. They passed by several large doors, before stopping before one in particular. Bonara nodded, and the sentries standing watch bowed low as the mother and daughter passed through. What they entered was a room the young demon had never seen before in her life. It was a vast chamber, with smooth round walls and a large machine in the center. The machine itself seemed like some kind of generator, it thrummed with power and even resting idle it could practically be felt. There was a small control panel on the center terminal of the device, teeming with buttons and dials. Bonara walked silently towards it upon entering the room.
“Brace yourself my daughter.” She offered only that cryptic advice as she began to press buttons on the machine. Amatricina didn’t quite know what to expect, but nonetheless did as she was told and braced herself as best she could. Bonara merely smiled as she adjusted the last dial, pressing a button that sent the machine whirring to life. It hummed louder, a central turbine beginning to spin rapidly as the great device powered up. Amatricina felt her body growing heavier, her knees began to tremble slightly and she had to strain herself just to stand upright. Even breathing was beginning to get harder, but the young demoness merely grit her teeth and bore through it.
“Mother, what did you do?” Amatricina asked, talking heavy labored steps as she walked towards her parent.
“Began the next step of your training my daughter.” The demon matriarch merely turned to face her daughter, a smile on her face as she watched her struggle. Amatricina’s mother contained a giggle at watching the display, then hovered in the air slightly and seated herself cross legged. Her long dress flowing down to kiss the flow as she gently floated in the air. “This room is a gravity chamber, Amatricina. The device in the center works like that on our starships, it can use energy to produce a field of artificial gravity around itself. Unlike the ones that keep you standing upright in a ship, this one can produce a field many hundreds of times stronger than our planet’s. What you’re currently experiencing is five times our world’s normal gravity.” Bonara motioned next to her, patting at the air as she gestured for her child. “Come child, mediate with me.”
Amatricina did as she was told, slowly trudging her way over to her mother and seating herself in the same position, albeit on the floor. Her mother glared at her, before addressing her sternly. “I said meditate, no sit on the floor. I expect you to levitate yourself with you ki, I do not care how hard it is, or how tired you claim to be.” Her daughter could practically feel the sting of her mother’s glare on the top of her skull. She exhaled deeply, focusing her energy and drawing forth more ki. The young demoness closed her eyes, eyebrows twitching in strain as she slowly lifted herself off the ground. After a few moments of harsh concentration though she had mostly adjusted to the effort needed and now floated gently alongside her mother. “Better.” Bonara said with approval, the faintest glimmer of a smile on her face. “For today we will begin with simple meditation, in the future you will train, and ultimately spar under increased gravity conditions. That is how your father and I train.”
Amatricina was slightly flabbergasted. She knew her mother was powerful, but with her demeanor she never actually thought she actively trained. The woman was more about courtely politics, not the battlefield like her father was. “You train Mother?” She blurted out, hardly thinking. Bonara chuckled, and nodded in acknowledgement.
“Indeed I do, but only in a gravity chamber. Your father is the only one I will permit to see me sweaty and undignified, and I am one of the few who can give him a run for his money as a sparring partner.” The revelations were slightly blowing Amatricina’s mind as she listened to her mother speak. The thought of her normally cool and composed mother bruised and battered, locked in heated combat with his father was something she almost couldn’t picture.
“How strong are you exactly, Mother?” Amatricina asked sheepishly. She had always assumed most of her father’s generals and legion commanders outscaled her in terms of raw power.
“Stronger than I let on.” Came her mother’s ever cryptic reply.
“And how strong is that exactly?”
“Strong enough in another life I would be ruling my own clan, not helping your father in ruling ours.” Her mother’s tone seemed distant, almost wistful. Her normally piercing gaze seemed to be looking past Amatricina, in truth Bonara was reminiscing about a life she gave up centuries ago.
“What happened?” Amatricina asked her mother sheepishly. She was afraid a harsh scolding was sure to follow.
Her mother let out a very long sigh, running a hand along the side of her neck. “I suppose I have to tell you someday. It is quite the story. First though, a question. What do you think I was before I was your mother, before I was your father’s wife?”
Amatricina paused, thinking on the question. She had never really put any thought into it, her mother way just that… her mother. It was hard for her to picture a time before that part of her life. The momentary lapse in concentration cause the young demoness to wobble slightly as her ki weakened, and she quickly snapped back into focus. “I don’t know. Were you the daughter of a powerful general, or maybe a really strong warrior that father met on the battlefield?” Traditionally demons of her kind claimed their wives as captured prisoners or the battlefield, or claimed them when sacking a rival clan’s city. Men preferred the strongest possible wives, and thus, the harder their potential spouse fought back the more suitable a mate she would be. It was a violent, brutal, and ultimately ancient tradition. Sometimes women were given over as part of prisoner exchanges, or gifted as tribute to a stronger clan as political favor. These were generally given to the lesser sons of warlords and generals, more trophies than anything. Rarely did two individuals meet and wed for love, not for status or power, though it was not unheard of.
“You are almost right, my daughter.” Bonara said with a sad smile on her face. “At least you have my brains, and in time, hopefully your father’s brawn.” The elder demoness rolled her shoulders and arched her back, making herself more comfortable before she continued her tale. “I was not always part of your father’s clan, though it has felt like my home for a lifetime. Originally, I came from the different clan, one that shared the northern continent with what would be your grandfather’s clan at the time. Many generations ago our two clans were roughly similar in strength. But as time passed, that began to change. Every battle we lost more than your grandfather’s did, our numbers began to dwindle, our trade began to falter, and our enemies were growing more and more numerous. Soon it became quite clear the glory days of my clan were long behind us, our neighbors and rivals looked to our weak borders with hungry eyes.”
Amatricina was enraptured by her mother’s tale, she had never seen this side of her before. Nostalgic and remorseful all at once. She listened eagerly, with bated breath. It was somewhat difficult to focus on both levitating against the harsh gravity and her mother’s story, but she managed. “What did your clan do Mother?” The young demoness asked, hanging on the edge of her proverbial seat.
“What we must to survive.” Her mother replied with great shame in her voice. “My own father was no longer a young warlord, and could not ensure our continued safety and protection. He tried his best, leading what remained of our once great armies against our enemies again and again, throwing them back from our borders until he could do so no longer.” Bonara halted her story, growing deathly silent. Amatricina was at a loss for words, and her concentration nearly snapped.
“Did you father… did he die?” She finally worked up the nerve to ask.
There was a long pause before Bonara’s eventual reply. “Yes, my daughter. He died standing.” The demon matriarch was nearly forcing back tears, but she would not let her daughter see them. Those three little words, they meant the world to the fire demons. To die standing was to die on your own two feet, facing the enemy in battle. Even if victory was impossible, it meant the warrior had died bravely, his honor preserved for all time’s sake. “My father was cut down by a rival warlord, run clean through. I watched the life slip from his eyes as he hit the ground. My brothers were there, all of my siblings, on that battlefield. My eldest brother flew into a rage, his power surging to levels I had never seen. Our foe just laughed, and challenged him too. The dueled in the most climactic battle I had ever seen. The rest of our soldiers were hard pressed to hold back the enemy. My flank was crumbling, and slowly I was realizing no matter what happened the battle was already lost.”
“What did you do then?” Amatricina chimed in, fully engrossed in the story of her mother’s clan.
“Prepared to fight to the last breath. It was all I could do. No matter how many we killed, more just kept coming. Our forces were woefully outnumbered, and even my brother’s rage did not give him the strength to best the warlord that slew our father. He died too, his neck broken and his spine snapped as he was cast down low. It was my darkest hour. But then he saved us.”
“Who?”
“Your father.”
“How?”
“Simple, his forces struck the enemy from behind. Unbeknownst to us, your father’s clan had been playing their own offensive, though one aimed my clan’s rivals. Your father had played a dangerous gambit, putting his faith in the enemy over-committing themselves to their battle with us, and that my clan would be able to draw out the fight longer than anticipated. He was right, and when his legions descended on the enemy rear guard they were caught totally by surprise. It was a bloodbath, or so I was told after the fact. Either way, your father and his vanguard punched a line straight towards the center of the enemy clan. I rallied my own clan’s forces, and we drove a blood wedge into the enemy.” Bonara’s words were fire, and her spirits lifted from earlier in her tale.
“I remember that day like it was yesterday. Your father and I took on the demon who slew my father and brother. We had never met before, never so much as spoken. I did not even know his name, but we fought as one that day. He could not stand against the two of us and our combined assault. With one final blow we incinerated him and a swath of his army in one cataclysmic blast. The crater is still there to this day, though it has since filled with caustic waters.” Bonara let out a relieved sounding sigh, inhaling deeply as though she were at piece. “Together our armies routed our foes, killing the stragglers and cutting down anyone unable to escape. Thousands were taken captive as slaves, scores more lie dead in heaps. It was a truly magnificent sight.”
“And what happened afterwards?”
“Your father did something I never would would have expected, or allowed. He took me in his arms and kissed me right on the mouth. Right there on the battlefield surrounded by so much carnage.”
“That sounds so romantic.”
“It was Amatricina, it was. I knew in that moment he was the demon who’s children I wished to sire. He was to be mine, and I to be his, until the last of our days. After the dust cleared and the battle was over, and we finally had a chance to recuperate only then did I realize how dearly victory had cost me. I had lost my father, my eldest brother, and many of my siblings. I was the oldest living child of my father’s progeny, so by rights that made me his heir. And with his death that made me my clan’s newest, and final warlord.” The demoness looked up towards the ceiling, wistfully thinking back on that time. All the hard decisions she had made, and how they had paid off.
“My clan was a shadow of its former glory, we paid a terrible price for victory, and that battle would be our last if we simply returned home. I took your father side, sat down with him and told him how dire our situation was. I proposed a solution, one which both our clans would prosper from. We would unite our clans, and unite our ruling bloodlines in marriage so there would be no doubt as to who’s children would be the rightful heirs. Your father’s clan would gain all our lands, strongholds, and soldiers. My clan would gain his army’s protection, and be given a chance to start fresh. Your father didn’t take much convincing, he scooped me up in his arms and took me right there on the slopes of that battlefield.”
Bonara smiled, turning to look at her daughter, a motherly smile on her face full of pride. “You came into this world a year later. It was the happiest day of my life. Since that day, our clan has only grown stronger. My warriors earned their place among your father’s armies, proving their loyalty in blood and service. Our combined territory makes us one of the strongest clans on the planet, and I have no doubt your father will do everything in his power to see our clan grow ever stronger. Until the day he grows old and frail, and passes on the mantle of ruling to you.” Bonara gently reached a delicate hand down, taking her daughter’s chin and lifting it so she could plant a tender kiss on the girl’s forehead.
Amatricina blushed, taken back by her mother’s sudden display of affection. She was unused to it, the demoness’ normally ice cold demeanor seemingly melted away as she waxed nostalgic about the past. Amatricina’s composure broke, and she fell to the ground with a loud thud, momentarily losing the concentration to hold herself in her meditative state. She immediately winced, expecting to be verbally berated by her mother for the failure. But instead, Bonara simply held out a hand for her daughter to take. She lifted her daughter back onto her feet, and continued holding her hand even after she resumed her meditative pose. The two demons hovering silently in the gravity chamber, the only sound the steady hum of the generator at its center.
It was Amatricina who first broke the silence, looking up to her mother with a puzzled look on her face. “Why did you tell me that story Mother?” Bonara simply smile in response.
“Because Daughter, it was a story worth telling. One you needed to hear someday. Today felt right.” The demoness’ mother had returned to her normally cryptic tone, Amatricina reflected on what her mother had said, thinking as they mediated in silence for several long minutes.
“I love you Mother.” She finally said simply, breaking the silence.
“I know, and I, you.” Her mother replied, smiling as she closed her eyes and continued her meditation.
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