Demon and the Boys

The following day, Lilac decided she would find the hero first thing in the morning. The sun was up, birds filled the cool morning air with their songs, and nothing could sour Lilac’s mood. For a long time, Lilac wished she could meet a human, and now she was living among them.

Finding the hero was her plan, but… she had no idea where he would be. So, she decided to take a stroll around the academy, familiarizing herself with the school while hoping she would “accidentally” run into the hero.

First, the school grounds looked like they wanted to be explored. Lilac strolled down the cobblestone, admiring the neatly trimmed hedges and the arrangement of red, purple, and white flowers that decorated the yard.

Ahead, the path led to a white pavilion near the edge of the property. A few boys stood in a circle underneath the canopy in the attitude of conversing.

Lilac strained her ears to pick up on their conversation. Gradually, their words became more clear the nearer she drew to them.

“How’s the… coming a…?” The guy furthest from Lilac asked one of his peers.

“...well… you?” Came the response.

In a short minute, the voices became more comprehensible, as well as the boys’ faces.

To the left was the neatly dressed blond prince. Behind him was a muscular guy with fiery red hair and a little bit of stubble on his chin. To his right was the one Lilac was hoping to see. The shaggy icy blue hair, the handsome face, the well-defined physique… A sigh escaped from Lilac, unnoticed until after it had finished. She shook her head to compose herself and approached the three men.

“It looks like someone’s here to see us,” the muscular young man in the back said. The other two turned their heads to see who was coming.

A smile formed on the prince’s lips and he took a step toward Lilac. “I remember you from the entrance ceremony yesterday. Lilac, was it?”

Lilac stopped a few paces in front of the prince. “That’s right.”

“You’ve got some impressive skills. I was surprised to hear you already have C-rank magic. Would you mind giving us the honor of seeing C-rank magic firsthand?”

“Um…” Lilac’s eyes met the hero’s for a brief moment before they darted back to the prince. “I suppose I can show you.”

“Wait, C-rank? Did I hear that right?” The redhead asked in shock. “As a first year?”

Prince Glenn turned his head slightly to look back at his friend with the slightest smile. “Yes. Impressive, isn’t it?”

“That… certainly is,” he said. “Alan I can understand, being the hero and all.”

“Right. Lilac here must be special,” the prince returned his attention to her. “You don’t have to show us any magic if you don’t want to.”

“It’s okay, it’s not like I’m hiding anything,” Lilac chuckled to herself. She reached toward the ground and placed her hand against the smooth stone. A blackish purple spread from her hand into the stone, turning it into a puddle of darkness. The affected area expanded like a hungry parasite, consuming every stone and blade of grass it touched.

Just before it reached the prince’s feet, it stopped and faded into nothing. The grass that the darkness had consumed remained withered like a husk, the life sucked out of them.

“Impressive,” the prince nodded his approval. “You are one talented girl.” He reached out his hand, as if to touch Lilac’s cheek, but she took a step back.

“Speaking of impressive,” she started, “I didn’t expect there to be two space magic users in our class.”

“Neither did I,” Prince Glenn chuckled and turned to the side, resting against the pillar behind him. “To think that girl has the same magic as me…” He glanced at Lilac through the corner of his blue siren eyes with the faintest hint of a smile. “You’ll have to introduce me sometime.”

“Definitely!” Lilac agreed. Personally, she didn’t understand what Scarlett and so many other girls saw in this man. Perhaps it was because he was royalty, or his shallow compliments. Maybe humans had a different sense of what was considered attractive?

“Do you want something?” The emotionless question came from the hero, who gazed at her with uninterested eyes.

She lowered her gaze to the stone beneath their feet. “I just wanted to say hi…”

“Come on, Alan. There’s nothing wrong with striking up a conversation, is there?” The burly gentleman threw his arm around the hero’s shoulder.

“Uh, sorry. I wasn’t trying to be rude,” the hero apologized with a sigh.

“It’s okay,” Lilac said. After a deep breath she moved her gaze to meet his.

“What was your name again?” He asked.

“Lilac,” she curtsied. “And your name…?”

“Alan,” he responded.

“And I’m Vance,” the redhead pointed to himself with a large grin on his face. “Pleasure to meet ya.”

“I don’t recall seeing you at the entrance ceremony… you must be an upperclassman?”

“That’s right. This is my second year here at Silverten Academy, so you can trust me when I say you’ll learn a lot this year,” he said.

“Vance grew up with me,” the prince explained. “We’ve been friends since before I can remember. But he’s a year older than me, so he beat me to the academy.”

“And Glenn was determined to add Alan to the group when he found out he was the hero,” Vance added.

“I figured he would be in need of someone who would be his friend for who he is, not his status as the hero,” the prince shrugged.

“Yeah, yeah. Who better than the prince to not take advantage of someone else’s station, right?”

An idea formed in Lilac’s mind, bringing an itch of excitement. “Since this is your second year here, do you happen to know a girl by the name of Emmalyn?”

“Emmalyn?” Vance shifted and rubbed the stubble on his chin, deep in thought. “The name sounds familiar, but I can’t attach it to a face.”

“She’s got ribbons in her hair. Blonde, pretty social. Likes having tea parties. Does any of that ring a bell?”

“Oh, that chick,” he snapped his fingers, finally making the connection. “I know of her, but that’s about it. I take it you ran into her?”

“Yes, she showed me where my room is,” Lilac said. “She’s quite nice.”

“That’s nice you’re making friends on your first day at the academy,” he smiled. “But why do you ask about her?”

“Curiosity,” her reply was accompanied by a grin. “Oh, Alan. Has that holy girl taken you for a tour yet?”

“Hm? Oh, not yet,” Alan said. “She said she’d let me know, but I haven’t heard anything.”

“A tour? You could’ve asked me,” Vance slapped him on the back, throwing the hero forward a few inches. “I would’ve been happy to show ya around.”

“I don’t mean to be rude,” Prince Glenn interjected. “But I have responsibilities to attend to.” He took a step away from the group and paused beside Lilac. “Until next time,” he smiled and walked away.

Lilac watched the prince until he disappeared, the thought of how she could hook him up with Scarlett stealing her brain power. A high-pitched growl caught her attention. She looked back to see Vance with his hand on his stomach. “Man, I’m getting hungry! Why don’t we go get some food at the dining hall?”

“That sounds wonderful! To be honest, I haven’t had anything to eat since I arrived here yesterday,” Lilac confessed.

“Wait, really?” Vance gawked at her. “Are you okay?”

“You should really take care of yourself better,” Alan advised.

“My servant had to return the carriage we borrowed, so I’m on my own until he comes back.”

“Oh, that makes sense…” Vance responded. “Wait, no it doesn’t. How is your servant coming back if not by carriage?”

Lilac froze for a moment. ‘I can’t tell him he’ll teleport back… That would raise suspicions.’ “Maybe he’ll hitch a ride with someone?”

Vance laughed. “Wouldn’t that be something? Well, I hope your servant makes it back soon. The dining hall is always open in the meantime.”

“Thank you for letting me know!” She smiled back at him.

“I’m not particularly hungry, so you two can go ahead without me,” Alan breathed.

“Oh? What will you be doing in the meantime, then?” Vance turned to ask him.

“Who knows? Maybe I’ll find a quiet place to train.”

“Train?” Lilac tilted her head. “You already have C rank magic. What do you need to train for?”

“There’s no such thing as too much training. If I’m to defeat the Demon King, I have to make sure I’m strong enough.”

“But what if the Demon King isn’t actually a bad guy? Would you still kill him because of the prophecy?” She didn’t know her king on a personal level, but from what she knew of him, he had her respect.

“What kind of question is that? Everyone knows demons are the enemy of humanity. There’s no doubt that the Demon King would try to conquer the world. We have to make the first move before he has the chance to kill innocent people,” Alan explained with a shred of disbelief caused by her question.

“But–” Lilac stopped herself. If she continued trying to dissuade him from killing the Demon King, her cover would be blown. Every human was either afraid of or disliked the Demon King. If she were to show her support for him, it wouldn’t be long before she would be exposed as a demon. She glanced at the ground beneath her feet with a sigh then lifted her head to meet Alan’s gaze.

It was strange–staring into his blue eyes set her heart ablaze with an uneasiness that she had never felt before. Her eyes darted over to Vance, and the strong feelings began to dissipate enough to allow her to breathe.

“That’s a fair point,” Vance said in response to Alan. “Lilac and I will grab something to eat. See you later, Alan.”

Alan nodded to him as he and Lilac turned to start their journey to find food.