Miaka’s P.O.V
I was crowned when I was two years old. Not because I was the intended King, but because my adoptive family had to protect me.
They knew I was a hybrid. And hybrids were the enemy.
Eons ago, there used to be just one world, one dimension. Different creatures lived together in harmony. It’s not that there weren’t wars, there were, but that was considered the natural order of things. Wars over territory kept the population of the supernatural in check; making sure that no one species ever dominated the world.
But that all changed when the species started inter-mating and hybrids were created. Some of those hybrids were unstable, unable to control their powers, and as a result, thousands of creatures were killed, both humans and supernatural. That’s when the five most powerful Mages of the world, the Fiostros, untied to form dimensions for the individual creatures and divided our world forever, thus saving us all in the process.
A total of twelve dimensions were supposed to be built, but such a task required a vast amount of power. So, after eleven dimensions were formed, the Mages ran out of power and died one by one while the final dimension was still in the making. That dimension was never finished and it came to be known as Shadowland. No one knew exactly what that dimension held until one of my brother’s mate, Sanaya, was sent there by an evil Mage. But now, Shadowland was an even bigger mystery than before.
“Shadowland has creatures in it. Both human like and black, gooey zombies.”
Rain, my Knight and a powerful demon in her own right, gave me an unimpressed look as she adjusted a pin in my hair. She was a bit of a perfectionist and couldn’t stand when things were out of place. If she were human, I’d say she had severe OCD. I guess I could still say it even though she was a demon.
Even now, the royal blue uniform she wore was spotless, every medal, every emblem, shore as bright as the stars. Her hair was cut short in a bob and there were some naturally occurring red streaks in them that were only visible under bright light. Her eyes were a beautiful aquamarine and they were probably the only soft feature in her body. She was a Knight through and through and she had been a Knight for the last seven hundred years. Rain Von Desero was a woman of Noble birth and almost nine hundred years old.
“Highness, it’s not our concern.” She scolded me, respectfully. “If possible, we must avoid any discussions of Shadowland altogether.”
“I’m afraid I can’t do that, Rain.” I stood up from my vanity and went to stand in front of the huge glass windows. The curtains were drawn so no one could peek inside, but I moved it just a tiny bit so I could look at all the lights that were lit up in my honour. “There are too many questions and too little answers.”
“Highness-”
“You know what I am, Rain.” I cut her off as I turned to face her, my eyes becoming crystal blue just for a second before they went back to their original colour.
“Yes.” She bowed her head.
“Then you must know why this is important to me.”
Rain didn’t say anything at first but then she looked me in the eyes with determination. “Have you decided what to do about the Dragon King?”
“No,” I sighed. “But he’ll be here tonight and he’s bound to cause a scene.”
“Are you sure we cannot revoke the invitation?”
I shook my head immediately. “It’s my eighteenth birthday and as the head of the Dark Council, I have to make sure that every one of the Kings is present. It’s too late to back off now and considering the fact that he literally threatened to expose me, I’m guessing he has something up his sleeves.”
There was a knock on the door then and I motioned for Rain to not discuss anything further. There was no need to blow this out of proportion…yet.
Rain opened the huge mahogany doors with all her strength and in stepped my grandmother, Cecelia Von Speltsper.
Lady Cecelia, or grapy, as I liked to call my grandmother, was the woman who found me. She said she had been out riding when a ray of light fell from the sky and there I was. I don’t know if that story was true or if it was made up to cover my origin as a hybrid, but she was the one who discovered I had the mark of a phoenix on my back and that I was to be the next Demon King. Lady Cecelia was King at the time and none of her five sons and two daughters had the mark.
“Miaka,” the golden haired woman with eyes as bright as beautiful as the sky, came forward to pull me into her embrace. “You look stunning.”
I had chosen a cream colored gown for today, embroidered with thousands of crystals forming a floral design. My hair was up in a fancy bun with a few stray curls hanging loose around my face and a diamond tiara. But the tiara wasn’t what showed my status as King, it was the pendant I wore around my neck that did.
The pendant was ancient, probably as old as the world itself, but it was said to be filled with the power of all the previous Demon Kings. It was a gold pendant with a sapphire in the middle and attached to a gold chain. It was this sapphire that was the most precious stone in our world since it was supposed to have absorbed the blood of our previous Kings. There is also a rumour that it contains the blood of the five great Mages, but there is no proof for this claim.
“Not as pretty as you, grapy.” I smiled at my grandmother as she pulled away from me.
Grapy was wearing a light pink dress that hugged her figure like a glove. The dress itself was simple but she had chosen to wear a diamond necklace that reached her waist and diamond danglers. Grapy liked a lot of bling. And her gorgeous golden locks were in loose ringlets down to her hips.
She gave me a bright smile, but it soon turned into a frown.
“What’s wrong?” I asked her, because I didn’t like seeing her upset.
“I’m worried.” She sighed. “I just have this gut feeling that something bad might happen tonight.”
I looked at Rain over Grapy’s shoulders, who looked just as worried. I wanted to reassure her, I really did, but even I was worried. Rihero Von Palestine was one of the strongest people I knew. It’s not that the other species weren’t strong in their own right, but Rihero was a dragon and over two thousand years old. He was the oldest amongst us and I feared that it might cause a problem even for me.
“Let’s get going,” Grapy gave me her best smile. “Everyone is waiting for the woman of the hour.
“Yes, let’s go.”
There was no delaying the inevitable. All I could do now was wait and watch and figure out how to turn the odds in my favour.
Miaka’s P.O.VI stepped on the first staircase that led down the hall where the party was being held. My grapy stood beside me proudly, followed by my uncles Geraldine and Kameron. Nervously, I looked down at the awaiting crowd.“He’s not here yet.” Grapy squeezed my hand reassuringly. But I knew he would be here soon and he was going to make quiet an entrance.Smiling despite my anxiety, I nodded at grapy and we began descending the stairs to the sound of cheers and surprised gasps. My brother, Lyric Von Crusader, the King of the shifter dimension, was the first to greet me as he pulled me in for a bear hug.“Damn! I can’t believe you only just turned eighteen!” He pinched my cheeks lovingly. “It seemed like you had aged way before your time.”“Maybe I had, you never know.” I winked at him before being passed onto my next brother, Lancelin, the Incubus King and his
Miaka’s P.O.V“I agree.”I watched as satisfaction dawned in his eyes and everyone else looked at me in horror. Rihero was confident he had won, that he had me exactly where he wanted me and he did…except, I wasn’t going down without a fight.This time when I spoke, I looked him in the eye, noticing every tiny detail. “I agree to marry into your Kingdom. But I will not be marrying you, Rihero, because you’re so old you’re practically an ancient and that would just be paedophilic. Instead, I will agree to marry your son, Jayden. He is the heir apparent and your successor, not to mention he’s only two hundred years old, so it’s an acceptable age range. Don’t you think so?”With every word I spoke, Rihero’s eyes changed colour, becoming darker and darker until they were completely obsidian. He tried to keep his face expressionless, but he was failing, I could tell
Miaka’s P.O.VI stopped my car a few meters away from the warehouse, in case someone was watching. There was only one heartbeat that I could sense in this entire area but there could be cameras or other devices that could pick out my car and I didn’t want to destroy the electronics right away and give anyone reasons to suspect. Kaleb had especially“Kaleb? Are you there?” I looked around the abandoned warehouse but found only dust and broken boxes. But when I strained my ears, the faint sound of a heartbeat could still be heard from nearby. “Ka-”Suddenly I was being pulled aside by my and down a flight of stairs through an open trapdoor. Bright lights were being turned on the next instant, blinding me temporarily before the somewhat familiar face with the unique eyes came into view.“Was that really necessary?” I asked with a frown while dusting off my jacket.“They’re in
Miaka’s P.O.V “Help? That’s what you want?” I asked him incredulously. “You’re working with people who capture innocent immortals and torture them to get a kick out of it; who hurt people when they are down to feel empowered! And you are saying that you are one of them…to get my help?” “I never had a choice!” He raised his voice only the slightest before lowering his head and clenching his hands into fists by his side. He took a couple of deep breaths, trying to control his anger and then, he took off his glassed once again as he looked into my eyes. “I never had a choice.” “Everyone has a choice.” I told him. “Do you?” He fired back, catching me off guard. “Do you have a choice in being the King? Of ruling over the council? Can you take off your disguise right here, right now, and announce your identity without fear of being swarmed by everyone at the park?” He was right…I didn’t have a choice. But I was different…and maybe,
Chapter 10:Miaka’s P.O.V“They call themselves the League.” Kaleb sighed, running a hand down his face. “I don’t know who the higher ups are but there are five supervisors in control of different aspects of their work: funds, testing’s and research, gathering targets, getting special drug supplies and one who’s in charge of security, Daniel Shawn. I work under him, but I did come in contact with Alexandra Michelle, the woman in charge of research, while I was guarding the warehouse. She personally brought in the boy.”“Any idea on what this is all about?” I leaned forward on the railing, taking a sip of my caramel macchiato. “Any propaganda against dethroning me and establishing human supremacy?”“More like they want to be…the supremacy.” Kaleb took a sip of his own coffee. “The research they are doing, it all comes down to i
Miaka’s P.O.V“Kaleb Takeshi; height six feet two, grey eyes with central heterochromia; age : twenty years.” Kathy turned her laptop towards me with an image of Kaleb on the screen. “This him?”“Yes.” I nodded, frowning. “So…nothing fishy about him?”“Oh, absolutely everything about him seems fishy. Shady even.” Albert Hemsworth, the man in charge of security for the healer facility and the person who helped me find the location of the warehouse, spoke with a sly smirk. “All these records…they didn’t exist until two years ago.”“What?” Kathy and I exchanged glances. “How?”“Someone hacked into the system two years ago and made a bunch of non-existent people profiles that didn’t exist before then. If you hadn’t gotten me the DNA sample, I don’t think any of us would’ve guessed eithe
Miaka’s P.O.V“You’ve been following me. Were you ordered to?” I asked him, leaning against the railing that bordered the cliff. The sea roared as the oncoming waves crashing through the rocks, the evening sunlight painting the sky a beautiful gold.It had been a week since I had last seen him and so far, there had been no new reports from Kathy about Zero or from Rihero about my future engagement. But just because everything was calm didn’t mean it was the end of all my problems. This felt more like the calm before a storm and whatever happened next would blow it all out of proportion.However, when I had come out of the castle this morning, I had seen a car trailing behind me for quite some time. I was initially supposed to head over to Kathy and Albert to discuss their findings, but I’d changed routes and found the car still trailing. So I ended up here, in the Cherry Blossom Park once more and guess who ca
Miaka’s P.O.VI looked around the apartment as Kaleb went to the kitchen to get that coffee. Apparently he didn’t drink alcohol, so he said he needed coffee to listen to the rest of my theory.It wasn’t a big place, but since I was used to living at the palace, I pretty much considered everything else small.The kitchen was right opposite to the sitting area and had a counter with two chairs in front of it serving as the dining area. The living room had two couches and a small wooden centre table. The pictures of Kaleb, his sister and his parents were on the wall behind me. To my left were two doors that I assumed were the bedrooms, with possibly en-suit bathrooms. And that was pretty much everything in the house.For a secret lair, this seemed normal and the touches of portrait, a couple dried out plants on the kitchen window…they gave it a sense of home. A home that wasn’t frequented as often anymore, sinc