Chapter 1:

King of the World

Devils Of Vinerva


Chapter 1:

King of the World

Vinerva, October 22nd, 1050

The large stone doors were opened by the two guards, revealing a massive staircase which led down to the pit of the castle. Each step he took echoed off the walls, the sound could have been matched by a giant army marching into battle. The sounds of the echoing footsteps were only canceled out by the sound of his teeth chattering against each other. The staircase to the castle pit was completely empty and cold. There were no candles to light the dark path, no pictures or paintings, there was only the strong feeling of hatred and anger filling every single air particle. So strong that it weighed down on anyone who stepped foot. Every step he took was more difficult than the previous. All the nerves in his body were telling him to turn around and go back up, he wanted so badly to put the burden of this task onto somebody else.

“No.” the man said to himself. You need to do this; direct orders were given to report the results no matter if they were good or bad. He gathered himself together and got the courage to start walking down the staircase once again. At the bottom of the staircase were two wooden doors, the letter D was imprinted on both of them. That same symbol was shown almost everywhere you could see. This was the symbol for the devils of Vinerva, a sign that represented victory among its species. This symbol’s representation was not the same anymore, for there was nothing in which their species could celebrate as a victory.

He put his hand on the door handle and opened the door. It was a large chamber, with windows for walls. The floor was made of stone, and a large bed sat on the right side of the room. This was the king's bedroom, not many people other than his wife were allowed entry. To be in this room was a privilege that not many got to experience, which might have been a good thing. Large amounts of security were required in order to protect the king.

In the middle of the room was his throne, a large chair with a black outline laced with gold jewels. The seat itself was made of very expensive red dyed fabric which perfectly matched the room's red decor. The king was sitting on his throne, he hadn’t noticed him yet. He seemed to be lost in thought. This room was often called the pit of blood, a large pool of blood surrounded the chamber and was clearly shown through the glass walls surrounding the room. The king suddenly looked up and gave him a big smile.

“Xavier, you are already back! Please, come join me, I am excited to hear the results of the mission, I hope what I hear doesn’t disappoint.” These words made Xavier’s spine shiver, he made his words sound soft and inviting but he knew better. Under that false persona was truly the definition of a devil. Xavier took a deep breath and replied, “Of course, Master.”, and walked towards him. There was a long, red carpet that led towards the throne with gigantic stone pillars as tall as large giraffes that went up and down, supporting the chamber. There were also statues of previous devils of royalty across the wall next to where the throne lay on the back side of the wall. On the right side were the kings, on the left side were the queens. The most recent statues created were supposed to be of the devil king's parents. However, his father's statue was smashed and there was no statue for his mother.

Xavier made his way across the chamber, now standing at the foot of the king’s throne. The both of them made eye contact for a moment, his eyes pierced into Xavier’s own, he almost couldn’t look back at him. Xavier cleared his throat and began telling him the results of the mission. “We sent 5 ships west of here to lands we have never searched before, but had no success, there was no sign of any strong aura. We also sent two ships to the north of here to land we have just discovered, there was no trace of an aura there either. However, we were able to collect 500 bodies on the coast and bring them back for you.”

There was a moment of silence, he couldn’t tell what the king was thinking. His face didn’t show any emotion, his eyes seemed to be staring at the devil’s symbol on the door across the room. He stood up and walked towards the window. A trail of sweat started to drip from the side of Xavier’s face and fell to the floor. “Another wasted trip.” he mumbled to himself. Xavier noticed a change in his voice, it was no longer inviting and cheerful, it was low and raspy. His persona had changed, it was only a matter of time before he showed his true self.

“10 years.” the king said to him. He started walking towards him slowly. Xavier could see his eyes clearly now; they were on fire. Light puffs of steam were emitted while he stared straight at him. “10 years we have been searching, 10 years we have failed. You would think it would take us a shorter amount to find anything the second time. Wouldn’t you?” Xavier replied, “Yes sir.” The king was 3 feet away from him now, he could see steam coming out of his pores. “The first search took 6 years, and we failed, we let them escape. That was our species' second loss ever since the world was created. Why is it when I am the king, everything goes wrong! 16 years! What have you idiots been doing for so long!”

He began to chuckle, it then turned into loud laughter. Xavier had seen him yell, he’d seen him angry, but it seemed like he'd snapped. The king was in his face at this point, his hot breath was blowing against his face making his eyes water. “I COULD DIE ANY TIME NOW, WE DON’T HAVE ANY MORE TIME FOR FAILURE.” His long black hair was covering his eyes, Xavier knew they were burning hotter than before. The steam coming out of his body was almost burning his skin, he couldn’t move any muscle in his body, however. His skin was no longer white but a shade of red, the king’s blood was boiling. He flipped his black hair out of his eyes and stared into his soul. A layer of blood had spread over his eyes and tears of blood fell from them.

It had begun, Xavier’s stomach started twisting and turning. He fell to the floor in agony. “I don’t want to die! I’m sorry! I will search everywhere for them, just please don’t kill me!” The king wasn’t listening, he continued to make his stomach knot. Xavier started coughing up blood, gagging himself with it. A pool of blood started to form around his body. Blood was dripping from the king’s eyes, slowly falling onto Xavier’s body. He was torturing him, taking all of his anger out on him. Giving him the worst death possible.

I’m sorry, I’m sorry I never got to say bye. Darling, please take care of our baby. Xavier was shaking from the pain; his stomach had been on the verge of bursting for the last minute. Finally, the king released his glare, blood splattered everywhere. On the ground, around his body, onto the stone pillars behind them. His last vision was of the king staring at him, showing no remorse. Xavier had died in pain, never capable of going home to see his wife and daughter again.

The king stared at him, the life in his eyes had left and there was only a broken corpse with a pool of blood before him. He kneeled on the ground next to him and touched him gently with his finger, he began to disintegrate. He turned around and walked towards the statues of his relatives. The blood in his eyes no longer filled them nor were they falling down his cheek. He started to grin, there was a crazy look in his eye. He turned back and looked at Xavier right before his head disappeared. Go to hell.

There is nothing that’s going to stop me from achieving my goal. If these stupid devils can’t do anything, I’ll just do it myself. A glass laid next to the king’s throne; it was filled with red liquid from the top to the bottom. He picked up the glass and chugged down the entire drink. He licked his lips slowly, making sure he got every possible hint of flavor. “THESE DAYS OF SUFFERING WILL NO LONGER CONTINUE. I WILL AVENGE MY MISTAKES. MY BLOODLINE WILL CONTINUE AS IT HAS FOR GENERATIONS. THAT DAMN BASTARD WON’T GET AWAY WITH WHAT HE DID, HE WILL PAY...HE WILL PAY GRAVELY. THERE IS NOTHING YOU CAN DO TO STOP ME. I AM THE KING OF THE WORLD!”

Akrove, January 1st, 1051

“What the hell are you doing Leo? Get off the table, you're going to get us in trouble.” a serious voice said from behind him. He turned around with a grin that spread all the way across his face. “Anna, you better watch what you say before you speak to me in that tone. You don’t want me to burn you alive, do you? And you can’t do anything to stop me because I’m...THE KING OF THE WORLD!” His voice echoed across the room and gained the attention of everyone there, Leo failed to notice this. All of his friends called him Leo, his full name, however, was Leonidas Sylvester. He was always energetic and carefree, never thinking twice about what other people thought about him.

He had messy, pitch-black hair that fell down on his forehead and almost covered his eyes, receiving this color from his mother’s beautiful hair. He stood 6’0 tall and had white skin. He was skinny but had muscles that were noticeable. The thing about Leo that stuck out to everyone, however, was his eyes. Dark red eyes. They were almost scary to look at, not matching his personality in the slightest. His father had always told him since he was little that he had a special eye condition. The red color came from his blood vessels behind the iris of his eyes showing through.

“Leo, get down now.” Anna insisted. Another voice came from behind him, this one was soft, however. “Leo, it’s so early in the morning, what are you doing?” Leo turned around and saw Mason walking towards them. “Heyyyyy Mason, just giving the people a proper show before the opening speech.” Mason snickered. “No, you're just being an idiot.” Mason often called him out on things he had done that were questionable in a sarcastic tone that matched Leo’s. “Yeah, maybe you're right, but who else is going to do it if I don’t.” Leo responded. Mason and Anna had been Leo’s close family since a very young age. The decision to attend this camp together was done by all of them in order to experience it together.

Anna had straight brown hair that fell down below her shoulders, she usually wore it down. She had hazel eyes and a face that usually wore a serious expression. She was about 5’5 and had a tan tone to her skin. Today, she was wearing a light blue jacket with matching jeans. Mason was about 5’10, he had dirty blonde hair and green eyes. His full name was Mason Raxton. His hair was straight and went to one side, it fell down on his forehead right before reaching his eyes, similar to Leo’s. Mason was wearing a puffy green jacket with the hood pulled over his head. He had white skin and a skinny figure. Mason got along with most people and was known to be a hard worker. Nobody really knew what motivated him to be this way, not even his closest friends. They thought perhaps he was born with the quality.

Suddenly, Leo sensed a pair of dark brown eyes staring at him from around the entrance of the room. It was his father; he could recognize that stare from anywhere. Leo quickly jumped down from the table, purposely making his landing as loud as possible. He turned again and saw that his fathers’ pair of eyes had vanished. He was a serious man, but that hadn’t always been the case. He used to smile a lot back then, but ever since that day, he hadn’t been the same. He always had a stone-cold expression. “Why so serious?” Leo thought. “Just trying to have a little fun this beautiful Monday morning.”

“You're lucky that wasn’t General Everly that caught you.” A blonde-haired girl was walking towards the 3 of them. She was about 5’8 and had short, curly hair, sparkly blue eyes, and white skin. She was skinny, but obviously in shape due to her previous years of training. Walking behind her was a very tall, muscular guy with short, curly black hair, light brown skin, and dark brown eyes. He stood about 6’4 which increased his intimidating look. Leo turned his focus towards her. “Oh, you mean Gordon. Yeah, he is kind of scary.” The blonde-haired girl stared at him in disbelief, his red eyes caught her off guard. She regained her composure, attempting to not express her shock. “You just called him by his first name? Would you like to be sentenced to death while you're at it?”

Anna stared at the girl with an emotionless face. “That’s my father, those two have known each other since we were little. He doesn’t like it when he calls him by his first name, but he still does it. Also, could you quiet down a bit? It’s 8 in the morning.” Alexis stared back at her and gave her a menacing glare. “Huh? Have you heard your boyfriend’s voice? He’s the loudest one in this whole room, tell him to be quiet.” Anna’s expression remained unchanged. “I can’t, he won’t listen, but you might. Also, he’s not my boyfriend.” Anna replied. Leo found their conversation funny and snickered. This girl gets on Anna’s nerves. Those two might be entertaining to watch. “Alright ladies let’s calm down.” he said in his usual sarcastic tone. “The name is Alexis Smith, and he is Russell Jones.” She said while pointing to the man behind her. Russell continued to stare in their direction, not seeming to focus directly on them. “Your 1st years, we are 3rd years, don’t come in here thinking you are the stars of the show.” She turned around and walked away towards another table across the room.

Anna didn’t easily get along with people, Alexis was becoming one of those people quite quickly. She could almost sense which people she would like or dislike. She was serious, but kind to the people she cared for, similar to her father. Her close friends called her Anna, but her full name was Annabella Everly. Her dad was one of the camp trainers, so she was mentally tough like him. Her dad’s specialty was strength, hers was aiming. People would call her deadeye because she could hit her target almost every time with a variety of tools. Everything from a bow and arrow to a gun was in her arsenal of weapons she could use. She was usually left alone and not picked on by others due to this fact. She also had an intimidating factor to those who didn’t know her, similar to Russell.

“Has anyone seen Andrew?” Mason questioned. The three of them scanned the large auditorium and found no trace of him. They hadn’t even noticed that he wasn’t there. Andrew was the type of person to be early to everything, seeing that he wasn’t there was worrisome to the three of them. He was super kind and thoughtful to everyone he knew that fact was a double edged sword, however. People could easily step on him, and he would let them. There had been multiple times when Leo and Anna had to defend him while Mason treated his wounds. He always told him the same thing when it happened. “It’s ok, hopefully they feel better after that. They could be going through some stuff right now that we don’t know about.”

“I’m going to go look for him.” Leo said. “He’s always leading himself into a mess somehow.” Mason and Anna both nodded. “That’s why he’s got me. I will do anything to protect my precious Andrew.” The grin on his face widened and he laughed at his own joke. Nonetheless, his joke was true in his own heart, for Andrew and the people closest to him. “I will fill you in if you miss anything.” Mason said. I know I would have had to do that anyways. Leo was a good kid, he always stood up for his friends when they needed him. But when it came to putting effort or paying attention to things he needed to practice or complete, he was useless. Luckily, his natural talent at everything he did made up for it.

Leo started to walk towards the doors leading to the exit of the auditorium opening day orientation was being held in. The room was large with an elevated stage located on the far end of the room. Light colored, wooden tables were lined up in rows going up and down each part of the room. It could fit about 500 people, which was almost the exact amount of first years attending to join the camp that year. Large windows were spread evenly across the walls, showing the outside land covered with a light layer of snow. Noticeable footprints were scattered across the ground, creating unusual patterns throughout its surface.

The new students would have to attend 5 years training to become soldiers. There were also third, fourth, and fifth years present in the room with them. Rules were less strict on the more experienced students. Making it through years of training wasn’t guaranteed, so they were qualified to be there. They were all grouped in the far corner of the room, two of those people were Alexis and Russell who already got their first impressions on Leo, Anna, and Mason. Anna had noticed the two of them, along with a few other upperclassmen that caught her attention. She could sense the students that were talented by the way they carried themselves.

“Who the hell do you think you're talking to, don’t try to act nice to me, got it?” a voice said from the hallway. Leo walked into the hallway and saw Andrew pinned up against the wall. “I really didn’t mean to upset you; I was just trying to be friendly.” Andrew replied. He was nervous, he had sweat rolling down the side of his cheek. His full name was Andrew Lavine, he was about 5’11, he was decently skinny with a little amount of strength. His hair was dirty blonde and short while parted in the middle. His skin was white, and his eyes were a pretty crystal blue, Anna had always been fond of his eyes. Those same eyes turned to Leo in fear. His pupils shook inside his eyes, signaling for Leo to come save him without Andrew’s own consent.

Leo walked towards them and attempted to interfere. “Hey buddy, could you put my friend down. You see, you might be shorter than him, but you look pretty strong, you wouldn’t want to break his bones and get in trouble now, would you?” It was true, the boy looked to be about 5’6 and was muscular. He had short dark brown hair that was flipped up in the front, brown eyes, and a tan tone of skin. There was a glare in his eye when he looked at Leo. “Are you mocking me?” He let go of Andrew and started walking towards him. Andrew took a sigh of relief and slid down the wall onto the floor to sit down and catch his breath.

“Yeah, I am.” Leo said bluntly. He liked the satisfaction of getting under people's skin, he was pretty good at it as well. His remarks were enough to get on anybody’s nerves, and this guy seemed to be the perfect target. “Who are you supposed to be?” Leo asked. “Why did you feel the need to pin him up against the wall? He was probably too kind for you wasn’t he. You see, that’s called being a good person. He is pretty good at that, one time-``''SHUT UP!” the boy yelled to Leo, stopping him from continuing. “You're messing with the wrong guy, making me an enemy is a very bad idea. I can already tell you think you’re better than everyone else here and not taking anything seriously. You are a disgrace to this camp, don’t let it get to your head.”

Leo had been looking at Andrew and didn’t pay attention to a word that the boy said. He yawned loudly while placing his hand on his shoulder. “Excuse me.” Leo said. He started to walk around the boy and towards Andrew. The boy had his hand balled up in a fist, his face was bright red, the veins in his arms were bulging out of his skin. “You piece of shit.” he mumbled to himself. “DON’T EVER TALK TO ME LIKE THAT AGAIN!” He started to run towards him and swung his fist upwards towards his face. Without a thought in his mind, Leo palmed his hand around his fist right before it made contact with his face. The boy stood there shocked; he couldn’t move a muscle. The grip on his hand was so tight he thought his hand was going to break. Leo turned his head and looked at him with a smirk on his face. “That was very inconsiderate of you.” His body froze as he stared at him. Those eyes...

“What’s going on here boys?” a familiar voice said from behind them. Leo knew who it was as soon as he heard the deep voice. He turned around and saw the man in his tight, short sleeved white t-shirt and dark green jacket flipped over his shoulders. He was about 6’0 tall and extremely muscular. He had dark brown hair and hazel eyes. His hair was shaved tight to his head and his skin tone matched his hair color almost exactly. “Hey Gordon, nothing going on over here. Andrew was just resting, and this guy wanted to see if he could punch me...he couldn’t.” He gripped his hand even tighter and started to ask him a question. “I didn’t catch his name though, what’s your name little buddy?”

“Leonidas, that’s enough, call me Gordon one more time and you’ll run laps until the sun goes down. You too Hunter, leave Andrew alone.” Hunter snatched his hand away from Leo and clenched his jaw. He then walked past General Everly and into the auditorium where the opening speech was being held. Leo hadn’t noticed that Hunter left, he was choking back laughter when he noticed Gordon’s nose move up and down while he talked. Why does it move like that? “What’s so funny?” Gordon asked. “Oh, nothing sir.” Leo smiled and helped Andrew up off the ground. “Both of you, get into the main room before I make you both run all day, the opening speech is about to start.” Gordon demanded. Leo and Andrew both simultaneously nodded. “Yes sir.” Gordon watched them as they opened the doors and followed behind Hunter into the auditorium. The boy is already getting himself in a mess before the opening speech starts, why is Anna friends with him?

“Andrew, you idiot, you scared us.” Anna commented when he sat down next to her. “I’m sorry, I won’t do it again,” he replied. Mason looked at him and could tell something was off about him. “What’s wrong with you, why were you late.” Andrew glanced over at Leo and was about to start talking but he was cut off. “Your little buddy was getting pinned against the wall by a tiny man.” Mason and Anna looked at each other, confirming they were both confused by Leo. “Tiny man?” Mason asked. Leo started to laugh so hard, tears formed in his eyes. “No, just a little guy that thought he was tough. He might have beat up Andrew if I hadn’t got there in time.” Leo replied. Andrew’s face got red, and he looked down into his lap.

Andrew often got embarrassed easily and Leo was usually the cause of this. Ever since they were little, Leo was always saving him whenever he was in trouble. He was the reason why Andrew put everybody before himself and was so kind. Whenever he was in trouble, Leo would’ve done anything to help him. Andrew wasn’t as strong or brave as him, but he was super kind and thoughtful to others to make up for it. Andrew admired Leo, wishing he could be just like him. “I’m ok, I just tried to be nice to the wrong person that’s all.” Andrew said.

Andrew became friends with Leo, Anna, and Mason about a year before it happened. He moved to the neighborhood the three of them lived in for their whole lives when he was about 5. He joined their friend group and they had been good friends ever since. Nothing had ever changed between them, everything they had all been through only brought them closer. Andrew was really lucky to have them as friends, if he didn’t, he would have been bullied badly and no one would have been there to save him.

The noise of feedback from a microphone filled the entire room. The room went silent and moved their attention to the stage where 5 people stood evenly spread out in the front of the stage with more people spread out unevenly behind them. Leo noticed that his dad was the man with the microphone. He tapped the microphone a few times more and turned his head away from the microphone to clear his throat. He then scanned the crowd for a second and began to talk. “Hello everybody, welcome to your first day at Camp Sylvester.” 

Devils Of Vinerva


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