Pain Continues Walking Around the Past

Pain ended up following the young Demon Lord around all day to find out that she had a monotonous schedule. He sighed as she finished up her last lesson and was happily walking back to her room. She skipped down the hall alone, clearly happy to be free from classes for the day.

"I wonder what I will do now!" she happily said to herself.

"I wouldn't get too excited; it's probably near your bedtime anyway," Pain said while walking next to her. She, of course, could not hear him. "And here I thought I would get an interesting backstory, but all you did was classes. Did you ever have any fun as a child?"

"Charlotte," a voice called out to the young Demon Lord. She turned around to see a guard running up to her.

"Yes, what is it?"

"Your father seeks your audience immediately!" the guard told her. Without a second word, she began to hurry off to her father. Charlotte's sudden burst into a sprint caught Pain off guard, and he ran to hurry after her.

She ran down the halls and into the throne room. It was a vast open room with a single, large throne sitting in the middle of it. A large chandelier that hung in the center of the room was the only source of light. Pain had not ever been in this room either. It was sealed shut with a magic barrier, and no one was allowed to enter in his time.

A figure sat on the throne in the middle of the room. He was a large figure with an imposing presence. The past Demon Lord, Charlotte's father, Pain guessed. Charlotte kneeled in front of the throne.

"Hello Father, you summoned me?"

"Yes, Charlotte, I wanted to see how you have been progressing."

"Of course, Father." Charlotte put her hands out with open palms facing the ceiling. On top of her palms, mana began to twist into small vortex's. Spinning energy immediately caught fire, and two fireballs flew up in the air. They exploded into fireworks shaped like flowers, which hovered in the air for a moment before fizzling out.

Pain gave a small applause for the show, not that anyone could hear it. He was genially impressed. Having studied magic since he arrived, he could tell what she had just performed was something he would struggle with accomplishing. He had learned to create fire, and he could create the rough shapes, but he knew he would not be able to make the shape as neatly as she did, nor would he be able to keep it from fizzling right away. As far as Pain could tell, the young Demon Lord was either a prodigy or had studied hard, perhaps both.

Charlotte's father, however, was not impressed. He sighed and put his elbow on the armrest of the throne. He leaned over and began to prop his head up with his arm before speaking.

"I have several points to make about that display."

"Yes, father."

"First, your magic was weak. You could barely knock over a rabbit with that level of magic, much less a Kingdom of Bright soldier."

"What kind of rabbits do you think she will be up against?" Pain asked while the young Demon Lord just nodded.

"Second, I would guess that your mana efficiency is only about 40%. I should never see the mana in your palms at all, but I should especially not see it for as long as I did."

"Are you sure, because my teachers told me a mana efficiency of 30% was pretty good for the first couple of years? Was I lied to?" Pain wondered as the young Demon Lord nodded again.

"And lastly, and most importantly, a Demon Lord should never do something as foolish as making the shapes of flowers," her Father readjusted his posture to sit upright to say this, "I expect you to instill fear in others. Never let me see you do that again!" the last Demon Lord said firmly.

"But Mother said the flowers were lovely!" Charlotte exclaimed. She immediately put her hands over her mouth and made a bow, "I apologize for my outburst, father."

"You may leave," was all her father said. Charlotte turned around and walked out. Her mouth was downturned as soon as her father could no longer see her face.

"Flowers, huh?" Pain said as he followed the young Demon Lord out. When the door of the throne room closed, she immediately broke off into a sprint. Pain had to break into a sprint to keep up with her.

She ran through the castle in the direction of her room. She didn't make it, however. As she ran around a corner, she crashed into an old demon walking by on a cane. They both went tumbling down.

"Ow," she said as she tumbled to the ground.

"What are you doing? You got to pay attention," Pain said as he reached out to help her up. His hands phased through her shoulders as he attempted to help her up. He shook his head as he realized he was getting swept away in everything.

"Oh, my dear, I think you may have broken my hip," the old guy said while lying on the ground.

"Come on, Grandpa, that didn't hurt you at all," the young Demon Lord said as she sat up.

The older man sat up and made a raspy laugh.

"Hehehe, I suppose it didn't. It's a shame you don't fall for it anymore, though."

"Grandpa!"

"I remember that time I made you think you snapped my arm. You were crying for weeks, hehehe."

"Grandpa, I must be going."

"Ah, what's the harm in talking to this retired Demon Lord a little while longer. Tell me, why do you look so sad today?" the old man asked with a smile.

"It's... nothing. I just need to improve is all...."

"Ah, I see, that son of mine must have scolded you again," the retired Demon Lord said with a smile. Charlotte just looked away.

"I told you, it's nothing," she spat.

"Hehehe, don't worry about it. You'll appreciate it when you're a powerful Demon Lord. Heck, even that father of yours was a crybaby at your age, and look at him now! I did such a good job raising him!" Charlotte said nothing while the older man laughed his raspy laugh. "I do admit; I was a bit nervous for a while; I thought my son would never strike fear in the hearts and minds of the Kingdom of Bright but look at him now! I was able to retire peacefully."

Charlotte continued to say nothing while the retired Demon Lord made another laugh. They stayed silent for a moment before the sound of someone shouting to them came down the hall.

"Lord Robert, Mistress Charlotte! It's terrible."

"What is it?" The old man finally stopped his raspy laugh to address the soldier that ran up to them. The soldier was a young orc who stopped to catch his breath for a single moment before delivering the news.

"A Kingdom of Bright soldier has infiltrated the castle! He has just slain Mistress April in the courtyard!" he shouted.

"Mother!" the young Demon Lord shouted. She broke off in a sprint down the hall.

"Ah, there she goes," The retired Demon Lord sighed. He turned to the guard. "Don't worry about the enemy; it is nothing my son can't handle," he said before briskly walking after Charlotte.

Pain ran alongside the young Demon Lord. She wiped tears from her eyes as she ran down the hall. They exited on an open balcony that overlooked the courtyard. On the ground below, a Kingdom of Bright soldier was standing over Charlotte's mother, who was lying face down on the ground.

The human soldier was shaking as he backed slowly away from the Demon Lord. Groups of other monsters and troops began to fill the courtyard to surround him.

"You!" The soldier said through his shaking as he pointed his sword to the Demon Lord. His sword shook in the air along with his body.

"Mot-" Charlotte began to yell, but old hands covered her mouth.

"No, my Granddaughter, as the future Demon Lord, you cannot show any emotion here," the retired Demon Lord said after suddenly appearing behind them.

Pain watched quietly as she struggled to break free from his grip as he held her in place.

"If you wish to go down there, you must expand your wings now. I will not stop you if you do. Otherwise, you need to stay here."

"I'll kill you!" the soldier yelled, but he only continued to stay in one place. Charlotte stopped her struggle and stood completely still.

"Now, watch as my son dispatches this guy without showing emotion whatsoever," the old man said.

The Demon Lord walked quietly up to the soldier. In his hand, a sword of darkness appeared as he strode over to the soldier. He swung his blade in front of the soldier, and the man from the Kingdom of Bright fell onto his knees, then he fell onto his face. The Demon Lord's sword disappeared, and he walked out of the courtyard without giving anything else a second glance.

"Clean up this mess," was all he commanded his troops as he casually walked out.

"There you go, my Granddaughter; he quickly dispatched the problem without even a show of emotion. That is the kind of Demon Lord you need to be. You'll never command respect in your troops and fear in your enemies otherwise."

Pain looked out to the courtyard and back to Charlotte, tears were rolling down her face, but she didn't make a sound. The retired Demon Lord sighed.

"Well, you are about halfway there. If you can't break that habit of crying, I recommend getting a frightening helm that covers your face."

Pain tried to punch the old Demon Lord, but his hand only phased through.

"Her mother just died; let her cry in peace!" he shouted. But, it was heard by no one. He sighed.

The world began to shake suddenly, but only Pain perceived it. The rest of the scene was still playing out as it had been, even with everything shaking around it. Pain figured it was time for him to leave this vision, world, or whatever it was.

Sure enough, moments later, he opened his eyes. He was back in the library, staring at the ceiling. The Demon Lord was hovering above him with her hand in the air. She looked down at him with a concerned expression. Suddenly, his face hurt. He sat up in a jolt and put his hands over his cheeks.

"What did you see?" the Demon Lord Charlotte demanded as she kneeled beside him.

"Ow, ow, did you hit my face?"

"It was the only way to wake you. Now, what did you see?" she asked more aggressively.

Pain thought for a moment as he rubbed his face where he had been slapped repeatedly. He could tell her everything he saw, but he figured that was something she would rather leave unsaid.

"What makes you think I saw anything?"

"After the picture you drew started glowing, and you passed out, there was magic on my subconscious the whole time you were out."

"Okay."

"You should have seen something. What was it?" she said firmly.

"Okay, okay. I'll tell you. I woke up in the castle, but it was like I was a ghost."

"A memory invasion spell. So, you were freely able to see something from my memories?"

"Was that what that was? I just got excited that no one could see me and went to spy on the women's ba-" Pain didn't finish. He received a slap to his face that send him back to the floor. The Demon Lord stood up and began to walk away.

"Jeez, my hand hurts now because of you," she said as she walked out of the library.

The door of the library made a loud bang as it shut.

"Was that the right thing to do?" Pain wondered aloud as he rubbed his face. He laid on the floor and stared at the ceiling for a while before getting up and heading out.

He walked by the throne room first. It was tightly sealed shut with a barricade of wooden planks and magic seals that softly glowed. He pushed on the door for a moment, but it was clear it would not move easily. The energy that burned his hand told him the seal was made by magic only a Demon Lord could cast. After that, Pain walked out to the balcony that overlooked the courtyard. A demon blossom tree had been planted in the spot sometime after the scene Pain had witnessed. Its crimson red flowers were in bloom and gently swayed in the breeze.