Author’s Note: To all who have been willing to read my first story up to this point. Thank you. I really appreciate the fact that you all were willing to read it at all. Whether or not you continue reading it is up to you. Either way I am truly grateful that you took the time to read it even though I know their are much better stories on Royal Road.

Ahem…. Now with that, I want you all to know that all side stories are an optional read. They only help to understand certain characters and their behaviors better. They will also sometimes fill in time gaps in the story that will not be told in a regular chapter. What I mean by this is that in a regular chapter these time gaps, how so and so met, and personal goals will only be briefly covered. They will explain enough for it to make sense but not enough for it to be completely explained. The side stories will fill in those gaps however, they are not necessary to be able to understand or enjoy the story. For example, this side story is about Samantha and how she met and grew up with Suzi and her brother…..mostly…… In the next chapter (which I had just started writing before randomly becoming full of inspiration to write this) it will talk about those events but, only for like six sentences. Twelve tops. (You can guess where I stopped writing) These are just extra chapters I will be writing from time to time for anyone who wants to know and or didn’t like the short explanations behind why certain things happen the way they do.

Warning!!! Side chapter is a little less than 3x longer than a regular chapter!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Now without any further adu. Enjoy this side chapter!

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Samantha’s side story 1: Childhood Friends

* Samantha’s Pov -

* Age 7 at the multi-religion Cathedral in Dinsor -

“So this is our new home daddy?”(Samantha)

“It sure is. Now listen. I am going to give you a tour of our new home. When I’m done you need to go to sleep because tomorrow starts your first day at a new school. Ok?”(Daddy)

“Ok!”(Samantha)

My daddy is a tall dark skinned man with dark blue hair. His eyes are green and his straight hair comes down to his shoulders. He took me through this giant building which we would call home. It is a large broken stone building with lots and lots of rooms. While we were walking around I got to pick which room was mine and I chose a big black one with no windows so I wouldn’t get the sun in my eyes every morning. After daddy moved my bed, clothes, and toys into the room we continued walking through the house. While we were walking to what he said was his room I saw a gray door with yellow drawings on it. When I stopped to look at it daddy told me that whatever happens I should never open that door. Nodding at him we went to his room and he had a wooden desk at one side of the room and his blue bed on another the rest was empty space. After showing it to me we went back to my room and he tucked me into bed.

“Good night sweetie.”(Daddy)

“Good night daddy. Oh! And daddy?”(Samantha)

“Yes sweetheart?”(Daddy)

“When can I talk to my friends? I haven’t seen them and I would like to tell them about my new home.”(Samantha)

“....You won't be seeing them for a long time sweetie.”(Daddy)

“Why not?”(Samantha)

“ I got a new job and it requires a lot of work before I can even start. Because of this we had to move here and your old friends can’t visit us anymore. But don’t worry. I’m sure you can make some new friends right? Samantha? Sweetie what's wrong?”(Daddy)

‘Loud crying’ “Waaaaaaahaa!”(Samantha)

After hearing that I couldn't see my friends anymore I couldn’t help but cry. I mean I spent so long trying to make them and I was starting to feel better about mommy leaving me and Daddy for reasons he won’t tell me. I just don’t know what to do. I don’t want to go to a new school! They will just be mean to me and no one will want to be my friend! I...I...I…

‘Loud crying’ “Waaahaaaa!”

‘Weary smile’ “So this was why you were taking the move so well. You didn’t know the move was going to be so far away. Now listen Samantha. I know this will be hard in the beginning but, I know we can get through this and it will all be better soon. Here, take Mr. Fluffles and…..”(Daddy)

Not wanting my bunny toy I grabbed it and started breaking it. By the time I noticed what I was doing all that was left of him was the white fluff from inside him all over my bed. But for some reason I felt a lot better.

“Mr. Fluffles?”(Samantha)

“Interesting. Such concentrated rage and sorrow just disappeared completely after destroying a single target and you didn’t even realize what you were doing until……..….. I have an idea.”(Daddy)

Picking up the fluff on my bed Daddy walked out the door and came back a few minutes later with a large sack attached to a chain. He then walked to a corner of my room and put the chain in the roof so the sack was a few feet off the ground.

“Now Samantha, I need you to do something for me. Whenever you become angry or are upset, I want you to hit this sack here until you feel better. If it breaks let me know and I will fix it. Can you do that for me?”(Daddy)

“Yes Daddy.”(Samantha)

“Good now here is your black cat plushy. You will have to sleep with it from now on. Good night.”(Daddy

“Good night.”(Sammantha)

The next morning I got out of my blue bed and put on a dark blue dress with white sneakers. Looking at the mirror on the wall I could see that my short curly dark blue hair and clear blue eyes went great with my dress. I’m 3 and a half feet tall and seeing my appearance I smiled because without this dress I would be easily mistaken as a pretty boy.

“I hope this is ok.”(Samantha)

_____________________________________________________________________

* at age 8

My first year at the new school was terrible. On the very first day I was made fun of for not being a demon. The girls in my class were throwing rocks at me because my dress was better than theirs, which resulted in my dress being torn up. Over the last year things didn’t get any better. My life was sucking and the only thing that made me happy well, besides my straight A’s. Was the fact that I gained a boxing and a hand to hand combat mastery from all the times I punched that hanging bag in my room. Over the year I destroyed 28 of them. I destroyed them so often that dad replaced the last two so that the insides were completely made of steel. Oh! I also grew half a foot taller. I never told Daddy about my problems because he always seemed busy trying to get the house ready for work. I sometimes believe I’m worrying him but, I don’t want to cause him trouble by getting into a fight with the kids at school. This resulted in me getting beaten up and bullied every day I was at school. Over the course of this year, Daddy fixed up our home. It’s now much bigger and has four gray bell towers surrounding it. The main building was clean and has been repainted a soft cream color. Inside the main hall are several dozen benches as well as a large open space for prayers. Around the main hall as well as the rest of the Cathedral/Monastery or whatever the worshippers want to call my home, are several more places for people to pray to their gods. The presences of all sorts of gods reside here. They range from that guy on the cross to that fat bald man with his right hand open forward while he is holding beads and smiling. There is even a four armed blue lady with a sword in each hand and some guy named Gandhi. These were some of the many that were here. My home has become a place for all faiths to gather. When the day for it’s opening to the public came, my Daddy told me to stay out of trouble while he worked for the next few hours. Shortly after saying that, the gates opened and groups of demons came pouring in. While Daddy did his job I wandered outside and went to the back of the house and started bouncing a black and red ball against a wall. After making a few trick shots against the wall and catching the ball again for several hours, Several of my classmates walked around the corner of the building and saw me. Two red skinned demon boys, two tan girls, and a pale girl who was walking in front of them. The boys had black hair, green eyes and overly large fangs. They looked fairly similar however one was tall and fat while the other was short and skinny. The two tan girls were dark elves with black hair and bird tattoos on their necks. They were twins so I could never tell them apart. The pale girl in front of them was Carolina. The meanest and most popular girl in our grade. She had shiny silver hair that went down most of her back. Her eyes were ruby red and she had a tendency to look down on anyone who wasn’t as good as her at something. Even more so if they were not a demon.

“Look who we have here! The crossdressing pretty boy.”(Skinny boy)

“How does it feel to have so many people come to your house? I bet it makes you feel all good inside doesn't it? You pervert!”(Elf twin)

“I’m not crossdressing….”(Samantha)

“Oh ya! Prove it! Take off your pants and show us!”(Fat boy)

“No!”(Samantha)

“Oh look she has finally started to show some backbone! We can’t have that. Alright you four beat her a bit more than usual for trying to be better than she is. Then take her cloths to see if she is really a she.”(Carolina)

“Yes ma’am!”(Four minions)

Seeing them run toward me I drop my ball, turn and run toward the forest path my Daddy made for people to have a pleasant walk through with tall trees and flowers. Right now it is my best chance at being able to escape from them. I didn’t make it to them though. Instead, I got hit in the back of the head by the ball I was playing with and fell to the floor scraping my hands and knees on the rocks. I saw the ball roll away as I crawled toward the nearest tree and leaned my back against it. While they were laughing I raised my bloody hands up to cover my face and waited for the punches and kicks that normily came soon after. However, this time was different.

‘Swoo’ “Aaah!”(one of the twins)

“Who threw that at my sister?!”(other twin)

“You all are so cruel that you would hurt someone in their own home? That's bold.”(???)

While I wasn't looking, my ball flew into one of the twins and knocked her out. When I lowered my hands to see what happened, I saw all of my classmates looking angrily at me. A few moments later, two people walked out from behind the tree and stopped a few feet in front of me. To my right is a pale skin girl wearing a priestly robe. She has black and white hair that spirals in a circle from the top of her head to the tips of her hair that goes down to her shoulders. She picked the ball up when it rolled to her and turn to her left slightly to talk to the person on my left. The person on my left had black and white hair on each side of her head respectively. Her hair went halfway down her back. She wore a suit that seemed to be constantly changing colors as black smoke went over it. This caused it to look like a moving rainbow suit. Other than this, she looked just like the person on the right. Then they both turned to look at me with only half their faces, I saw that the one on the right had red eyes and the one on the left had gold eyes with a velvet slit down the middle.

“Is what they say true bro?”(???)

‘Whisper’ “Bro?”(Samantha)

The one on the left  glared at me for a second then took my face. She changed shape until she looked just like me. After a second she turned back and made a few hand signs before facing my classmates again.

“Don’t worry friend. Leave these bullies to us.”(???)

“You think you two can beat the four of us?”(Carolina)

“No.”(???)

“Then why are you hel….”(Carolina)

“Helping her? It's simple. You are being overly cruel to a person who doesn't even fight back. If she fought back I wouldn’t care. However, that is not why I said no.”(???)

“Then why did you…”(Carolina)

“ I said no because you said two on four.”(???)

“What?”(Classmates)

“It’s not two on four. It’s one on four.”(???)

“Ha! you think you can beat us?”(Carolina)

“Yes.”(???)

After saying that she threw the ball at them and knocked out the skinny boy after it hit his head. She caught the ball in mid air and threw it at the fat boy, then the twin, then lastly Carolina. While she was throwing the ball at them, I could hear her count down from four until she reached one. For each new number she hit someone else. When she was done she walked to the tree on my right and sat down. Facing me she smiled and started talking in a cheery tone.

“I won the bet bro. Five shots, five outs. Perfect score. Come and reward me.(???)

“Um excuse me? Thank for helping me but, why did you call me a friend? We don’t know each other.”(Samantha)

“I just did something that will probably cause problems for us three later. If we stay apart, nothing will change and everyone is unhappy. If we are friends then we can all help face the challenges together. This means we will always have friends and can be happy. So what do you say? Will you be our friend?”(???)

“Yes! I would really like to be your friend! What are your names? Mine’s Samantha.”(Samantha)

“My name is Suzi. My brother doesn't have a name.”(Suzi)

“Why not?”(Samantha)

“His species is unique. They can be named but unless the name resonates with them, the name is nothing more than empty words. Whenever you call them by a name or refer to them by a name on paper, they won't respond and the name disappears. He only responds to the words brother/sister or son/daughter. Both me and mom think of him as a boy so brother and son.”(Suzi)

“Interesting. Why has he not said anything?”(Samantha)

“Screeeeeeeeeeeee!”(Suzi’s brother)

Ow! What was that noise?

“Ok! Ok! I'm in position. Now come on and lay down. Also turn to your regular appearance. That will be part of my reward.”(Suzi)

“Wait you could understand that?”(Samantha)

“No but I can guess what he wanted. Now the reason he doesn't talk is because he can’t create real vocal cords yet. What you heard is his closest to talking. He uses something called sign language to talk in an understandable way.”(Suzi)

While we were talking, Suzi’s brother shifted into a shadowy figure with smoke lightly coming off him and rested his head on her lap.

“So what was this bet you were talking about?”(Samantha)

“Well you see…...we saw the entire fight. From when they rounded the corner to when I kicked their butts. He was the one who suggested that we help you. Before we stepped in I told my brother that I could beat those five with one ball to the head each. He didn’t think I could so we made a bet. If I win he had to use me as a lap pillow. If he won then I would need to eat his portion of mom’s cooking. Before you ask, yes. It is really bad food.”(Suzi)

“I see. Oh! Can I try giving him a name?(Samantha)

“Sure. I don’t see why not.”(Suzi)

Cool! I so hope I can pick a name that sticks. Let's see. He can be either boy or girl. He seems to change appearance fairly often. The way Suzi has described him up to this point makes him sound mean but acts kind. So how about….

‘Whisper’ “Diuscrucis…”(Samantha)

“What did you say?”(Suzi)

“Why not name him Diuscrucis? In some of the faiths it means neutral, both, everything and nothing, neither…..”(Samantha)

The moment I said the name loud enough for them to hear, Suzi’s brother started glowing. After a few seconds the glow disappeared and what was left was a boy with short checkered black and white spiked hair. His skin was a lightly tanned cream color and his face was….nice to look at. His suit turned a dark velvet color and it was easy to tell that he was asleep.

“The name that resonates with him was Diuscrucis…….”(Suzi)

Suzi said this with a smile as she petted her brother's hair. We continued talking to each other after that. Whenever Suzi was talking she would look at me with a sharp toothy smile and I could see joy in her eyes. Whenever I was talking she was looking at her brother with eyes full of love. They looked similar to how my Daddy looks at me when he puts me to bed. While we talked I learned that both her and Diuscrucis were home schooled last year because, no one understood her brother and she got into bloody fights with everyone until he stopped her. With special permission to keep them together at all times, they were allowed to go back to school. As luck would have it, they will be going to my school. I wonder if we will have the same classes. I learned where she lived and that I can come over whenever I wanted. After a while of getting to know each other she started teaching me sign language so I can talk to her brother. When the sun was starting to set, my Daddy came around the corner while talking to a lady with long black hair and red eyes. She had pale skin and white horns that were on fire. The flames were a dark green color but, they still let you see the snow white horns on her head. She was a very pretty lady. As they were walking toward us they both stopped when they saw us and then started running our way. Daddy wrapped his arms around me while the lady kneeled in front of Suzi.

“Samantha! What happened to you? Why are your classmates knocked out with a bruise on all of their heads?”(Daddy)

“I’m ok Daddy. I just fell and hit the floor..”(Samantha)

“Care to explain further? I would also like to know why your brother has a complete transformation now when a few hours ago he could barely keep the color of his clothes.”(Lady)

“Well those five were picking on Samantha and we stopped them. Bro is sleeping on my lap because he was tired from fighting all five bullies at once. The reason he has a proper appearance now is because he has a name now.”(Suzi)

“My god really?! What is it?”(Lady)

“It’s Diuscrucis. I named him. He changed to this appearance when he heard the name.(Samantha)

“Thank you so much Samantha! I am so happy that he has a proper name now. Come on Suzi. It's time to go home. Good bye Lorredo. It was a pleasure catching up with you.”(Lady)

“It was good to see you too. Feel free to bring your kids to visit any time.”(Daddy)

With that said we all said our goodbyes to each other. The lady held Diuscrucis under one arm and as he was swinging with every step she took Suzi grabbed her brother’s hand and was excitedly talking to the lady. That lady is probably her mom. I wonder why she lied about what happened? Daddy took me inside a short time later to heal my wounds. While he was doing that I couldn’t help but think one thing.

“I wonder when I will see them again?”(Samantha)

_____________________________________________________________________

* At age 11

It has been three years since I first met Suzi and her brother. In that time we have become best friends. Over the last three years Suzi has helped me be less afraid about acting out. Even though this resulted in us often being sent to the principal's office. At least neither of us went there alone. Diuscrucis has always been quiet around me however, he is starting to talk a lot more and now it only sounds a little off putting. Like someone talking through a fan or someone is grinding gravel while they talk. It’s not perfect but a lot better than before. He has taught me many different ways to fight so I could “Stop sucking” as he would often say. They were fun times and I learned that at least once a year they fight each other in the arena. They first fought each other in something called the ”Heaven and Hell Competitions” a few weeks after we met. I couldn’t go because Dad was teaching me basic light magic but, I heard that the fight was intense. When I finally saw them fight I was impressed. Suzi’s attacks were slow but strong enough to cut her brother’s arms off. Multiple times. She also used magic to slow him down. Diuscrucis was very fast and used magic weapons  such as swords, maces, and spears at all times. During their fight he was constantly changing weapons while flying swords danced around him. It was a cool fight which ended with Diuscrucis as the winner. After the incident three years ago, I don’t get bullied anymore. Well besides from Suzi and her pranks that is. Suzi likes pulling pranks on people and sometimes they become so complex that it looks like it naturally happened with no planning or cause. She likes a good laugh and her brother seems to either be working on something or he is keeping us out of trouble. One time we got gum stuck in our teacher's hair, forcing him to shave his hair off and Diuscrucis got in trouble because he didn’t want us to have Saturday school punishments again. He is fun to be around. We are far from being popular at school but, the three of us are happy so that's all that matters. In history class I learned that Demons and Angels are enemies by nature. Although there has been a peace treaty, that doesn't mean they will get along any better. When I learned this I started to panic because I thought they would stop being my friends. When I asked them about this, Diuscrucis laughed at my face and Suzi started lightly patting my head. Apparently they knew this from the beginning and didn’t care. Seeing that my fears were baseless I hugged them and they just let it pass. Today was a religious holiday so no worshippers were at my house. Today Suzi and Diuscrucis showed up and we started playing tag for awhile. We stopped playing when Suzi stopped in front of the gray door with yellow carving on it. She started reaching out for it when Diuscrucis grabbed her hand and I yelled.

“Stop!”(Samantha)

“Why? What’s behind the door? We are told not to open it but, never told why.”(Suzi)

“I don’t know but, our parents told us to not open it. So don’t open it.”(Samantha)

‘Grinding gravel’ “Don’t open….Heavy sealing carvings…… Whatever is behind it is strong.”(Diuscrucis)

“I just want to see what’s there. After we see it we can close the door again.”(Suzi)

After kissing her brother on the cheek which caused him to let go of her, she pushed the door open and disappeared. Behind the door was darkness. Just darkness. We could see nothing past the door frame. Diuscrucis followed after her and vanished the same way she did. Not wanting to be left behind I followed after them. When I walked past the door frame I see a gray throne room. Everything in the room are different shades of gray. From the chair made of skulls to the pillars made of bones to the metal chandlers. Turning around I saw the door we came through closing on us. Panicking I turn to tell them but, find the two of them glaring at me. Why are they glaring at me? Before I say anything Suzi speaks.

This book was originally published on Royal Road. Check it out there for the real experience.

“What are our chances of getting out of here alive?”(Suzi)

‘Grinding gravel’ “Lower if we fight together.”(Diuscrucis)

“Not a hard fight but, a long one huh? Guess I go first.”(Suzi)

“What are you talking about? Can’t we just leave?”(Samantha)

“Not an option here Sammy. Whatever is here locked us in. We now need to wait until someone comes to get us or….”(Suzi)

‘Speaking through a fan’ “We die……. Here they come!”(Diuscrucis)

After he said that groups of people started to come from the wall. They were tall, white, well dressed, floating, and appeared to be mostly see through. Skeletons with a large variety of weapons come out from behind the throne and a tall shadow figure with red eyes sat in said throne. Jumping back Diuscrucis stood in front of me with a silver sword in his hand. Suzi only looked at the shadow creature but……. The air around her was different. Instead of the playful, friendly air she normally has around her, now it’s…… very similar to Carolina’s. Suzi’s is just a lot stronger. This was the air of those who can tell others what to do and they do it. Pure arrogance is all I can see. She is looking down on that thing sitting on the throne of gray skulls. Diuscrucis is constantly looking around to make sure I stay safe. The floating people surround us and the skeletons stand in front of Suzi. Not wanting to get in their way I back up until I’m against the door.

“Well now. Look what we have here men. Two demon royalties and an angel. Interesting. A True Doppel Mimic King. Here? Such creatures still exist? Capture the demons alive men. The girl can be used as a bargaining chip to leave this place. The boy would make a great gift to my daughter. Do what you want with the angel girl.”(Shadow man)

“Yes Sir!”(all non friendly creatures)

“You will need a lot more than a few Underworld monsters to beat me.”(Suzi)

Saying that Suzi charged at the skeletons and started breaking them apart with the giant black sword she started wielding recently. After several minutes of fighting, the shadow man clapped his hands and more skeletons came out to attack her. Looking at the situation I noticed that for every skeleton she took down a transparent person took its place. We need to change tactics. If this continues we might not last. She already looks really tired from fighting. As if to prove my fears true, the shadow man stood up.

“Enough games. It’s time we end this brat.”(Shadow man)

‘In sign language’ “We need to help her.”(Samantha)

‘In sign language’ “Why? She seems fine to me.”(Diuscrucis)

‘In sign language’ “She is my friend and your sister. We need to help her. It is our job to help and protect one another. If you won't step in then I will.”(Samantha)

After saying that he smiled and patted my head.

‘Grinding gravel’ “You have grown stronger Samantha but, words mean nothing when you don’t have the power to back them up.”(Diuscrucis)

Hearing those words my cheeks started to heat up. He walked away from me and through sign language said “You don’t have the power to win this fight. Protect my sister and watch how real demons battle.” Walking up to Suzi he grabbed her shoulder and smiled. Smiling back at him, Suzi turned around and walked towards me. The air of arrogance completely gone by the time she reached me.

“Looks like we are about to have a show.”(Suzi)

“Ya. It looks like it.”(Samantha)

“Well now. Switching for the big fight? It’s good to know that my daughter’s new plaything is not a coward. Come now boy. Let us do battle to see how worthy you truly are.”(Shadow man)

Clapping his hands the transparent creatures and the skeletons charged at Diuscrucis. However, they didn’t make it far. When they charged, Diuscrucis raised his sword into the air and it started to shine with a bright white light.

‘Grinding gravel’ “[Purification]”(Diuscrucis)

The charging creatures faded away a short time later. After lowering his sword, seven more came out of his shadow and started floating around him.

‘Grinding gravel’ “on guard.”(Diuscrucis)

“It seems I have underestimated you... King. I apologize for my act of arrogance. I won’t make the same mistake again. My name is Count Von Crow. Now however, people might refer to me as the “King Of Crows”. What's your name?”(Crow)

‘Grinding gravel’ “Diuscrucis.”(Diuscrucis)

“I see. I will remember this name. Now then  Diuscrucis. Let’s see if that show of power was just that. A show.”(Crow)

Spreading his hands, crows flew out to his dark body and made two weapons. A white trident in his right hand and a black battle axe in the other. A swarm of crows flew around them in a large circle and Crow readied his weapons before saying…

“On guard.”(Crow)

Both of them charged at each other. Crow would lunge forward at Diuscrucis with his trident. He would also deflect Diuscrucis’s main sword with it. Crows axe was swinging at Diuscrucis from many different angles but, I could see that he mostly used it to deflect the flying swords. Diuscrucis’s swords flew around and swung at crow from many different angles, causing small cuts here and there. His main sword was mostly used to deflect the trident and stop it from skewering him. The beginning of the fight was a high speed battle that created a small whirlwind around them. a few minutes later they jumped away from each other. Both of them were covered in cuts and were lightly bleeding. Crow breathed in and summoned a large number of crows to attack Diuscrucis. However Diuscrucis made a large shrieking sound that caused all the crows in the room to fall to the floor. It also caused me to start bleeding from my ears but, Suzi was perfectly fine. Crow looked shocked at what just happened but, continued casting spells at Diuscrucis anyway. Crow started throwing crow based spells at Diuscrucis who countered them with fireballs and lightning magic. Suzi started sneaking up behind Crow while he was distracted casting magic. They went at this for several more minutes until, Crow charged at Diuscrucis in a big cloud of crows.  Diuscrucis was pushed back and coughed up a pool of his own blood. Looking at his blood Diuscrucis started changing shape. He grew large wings from his back, the one on the left was a black feathered bird wing. It was covered in red vein like things that seemed to pulse in a strange red light. His right wing was angelic with white feathers. It lightly glowed in a dim, murky light. As it moved, I could see blue dust coming off of it. I have a really strong urge to run up and touch it. He grew a small tail that broke the back of his pants. His tail was black and covered in scales. Lastly, a crown grew from his head. It was transparent-ish but, the fact that it grew from his head means it was covered in blood. It had eight grooves to hold something in them and they all connected at the top to form a holder for something else. Turning towards us, Diuscrucis opened his eyes and they were a different color. Instead of being gold and velvet, they were a soft velvet color that seemed to put me at ease.

“No way! You were that strong and you hadn’t even reached puberty yet!?”(Crow)

‘Highly attractive voice’ “Stand down Crow. You won't win.”(Diuscrucis)

“No. A king will never abandon his duty. I called for this battle and I’m going to end it. Either by your loss or my death.”(Crow)

“So be it.”(Diuscrucis)

Saying these words, Diuscrucis raised his right hand up and all his swords flew at Crow. Swinging his battle axe Crow blocked most of the swords but, Suzi’s sword took off the head of Crow creating a fountain of blood to start shooting up into the air and the last flying sword nailed him to a wall. Looking at the bloody scene, I couldn’t help but wonder something strange. Why was I more worried about  Diuscrucis being ok than feeling disgusted about the bloody room in front of me? Is it ok for me to not feel bad about people dieing? Aren't I supposed to be sad or something? More importantly is……….. Why did Suzi help? This was a one on one fight.

“Now that's just cheating.”(Samantha)

“We never promised to play fair.”(Sibling)

After they said that, Suzi tackled him to the ground and started cuddling Diuscrucis from his left. Not wanting to miss this chance I ran over and started cuddling his right side. While I was there, I could feel his white wing and it was amazing. It was soft, warm, comfortable, and it made me feel safe.

“I’m cuddling him because we won the fight. Why are you doing it?”(Suzi)

“You both look far to happy.”(Diuscrucis)

I was so happy feeling his wing that I didn’t know that they were staring at me. I looked up at them but, when I saw Diuscrucis looking at me so intently I…. My mind went blank. I felt my face heat up and I didn’t know what to do. Why am I feeling this way? After a while of me not responding, Suzi went back to cuddling and Diuscrucis stared at the door. After waiting a few hours, our parents charged into the room with weapons drawn and wearing full battle armor.

“What happened here?”(Suzi’s mom)

“More importantly, Why are you three here? I thought I told you to never open the door.”(Dad)

“I was curious and dragged these two with me. When we got inside the door closed and we were surrounded. My dearest brother fought them all in a one against several hundred battle while protecting us. After killing hundreds of demons, the “King of Crows” flew at him and they had an epic magic battle. The crow man tossed bro around and almost killed him. Limp on the floor, both me and Samantha ran to him and when we reached him he….he…...he….”(Suzi)

“He what?”(Dad)

“He… He… He kissed us!…. When he did this his appearance changed and he was completely healed. Raising a hand into the air, all the swords in the room flew at the King and he ended up dieing a short time later. We are curled up next to him for our safety.”(Samantha)

Looking at Suzi I could see her smiling at me. Over the last few years I learned that she will always lie when it made her brother look cooler. What she says may not always be the complete truth but, she has never shifted the blame to someone else. Even when it was never her fault, if it would make her brother sound cooler she didn’t care. Sometimes she would lie herself into a corner and I would need to get her out of it.

“Oh did he now!?”(Dad)

“Calm down Lorredo. I bet at least half that story is false but, since it looks like Diuscrucis has started going through puberty, I guess he needs his own room now.”(Suzi’s mom)

“What!? No! We stay together until we both hit puberty. That's what you said!”(Suzi)

‘Devilish grin’ “I did. However, when I said that I thought both of you would hit puberty around the same time. Now I want to separate you because his hormones might cause you to…”(Suzi’s mom)

“Noooooooooooo!!!”(Suzi)

Conversations like these were good to hear from time to time. It helps remind me that I have the weirdest friends. As we walked out the room Diuscrucis stopped and ran to the throne. When he got there he reached behind it and pulled out a golden jewel that was the size of my fist.

“What is that?”(Samantha)

“A dungeon core. A baby one at that. Give it here Diuscrucis. Children should not be playing with such such dangerous things.”(Dad)

Diuscrucis glared at him and held the core closer to his chest and pouted the word…

“Mine.”(Diuscrucis)

“It wasn't a request boy.”(Dad)

“Oh just let him have it. He is responsible enough to take care of pets, his sister, and your daughter, so let him take care of a dungeon. Their all practically the same thing anyway.”(Suz’s mom)

“As you wish Devil…....and my daughter is not a pet!”(Dad)

“Ha!”(Suzi’s mom)

Her name is Devil? That doesn't sound like a girl’s name.When we walked out the room, the door shrunk into a ball that looked like bloody meat with metal bits. Diuscrucis picked it up and put it in one of the groves in his crown. When he did that, his crown turned blood red with a metallic outline. We all looked at him with blank expressions for a few moments after that. When nothing else happened we all went out to go have dinner at Suzi’s house. When we heard this, Dad, Suzi, and Diuscrucis all broke into a cold sweat. At the time I couldn’t understand why they started sweating because I was distracted thinking about something else.

“Why have I been acting so weird today? Am I sick?”(Samantha)

_____________________________________________________________________

* At age 15 -

Four years have passed since the battle with Crow and all of us are now 15 years old. All three of us are now a lot taller. Recently both Suzi and I have been sleeping on her brother’s wings every night because they are so comfortable to sleep on. Over the last few years Suzi and I both started going through puberty. I grew a large pair of storm gray wings and my breasts grew a few sizes larger. I also gained a white halo which means I am an unaligned angel. After lots of arguing with Suzi, I finally allowed my hair to grow until it reached my lower back. Suzi grew horns and a tail that was covered with scales. She could change the tip of it to take the shape of a heart at will. She also grew black dragon wings that had sharp edges which could cut steel. Her black horns curled around her head to make a kind of tiara shape. We all quickly learned how to hide our extra body parts but, Diuscrucis seems to like taking the appearances of other people. He has never made a perfect copy though. This is because his hair always seems to take on two different shades of the same color. He can also copy other people's magic but, when he uses them they become twisted. Thing like a regular orange fireball become black and burn a lot longer than they reasonably should, plant magic makes the plants look ghostly, and lightning magic looks black instead of yellow. Things like that. He talks a lot more now and only uses sign language when he needs to talk quietly. He has grown much taller and I finally figured out how to make him look at me with interest and respect. I needed to act more assertive and have a clear goal in mind when I do things. Especially when we are sparring. When I act like this I can have his undivided attention until, he needs to leave, Suzi comes and steals his attention from me, or when I’ve had my ass handed to me a couple dozen times. Suzi has proven to be power hungry. She has slowly but surely took control of our entire school. She is always trying to aim for something higher and wants things that are currently not possible. Knowing this she seems to have big plans for the future and is stopping at nothing to accomplish them. A year ago she saw one of the maids in her house flirting with her brother. When she saw this she snapped. She killed everyone who worked at her mansion. After she was release from prison due to killing other inmates and guards, she needed to be put under house arrest. Her brother was hired to keep her in line whenever he wasn't at school. From this I quickly figured out that she had an unnatural attachment to her brother. When I asked her why. She said it was because when they were younger, he always protected her from the monster under her bed. After doing it for so long, she started falling in love with him. Not believing her, I asked Diuscrucis about it and he said monsters would crawl out from under her bed. He would often stay up all night keeping her safe. It appears they have more problems than most. Today I was waiting for the last school bell to ring when something happened. It would later prove to be one of the turning points in my life.

“What are you drawing Sammy?”(Suzi)

Sneaking up on me, Suzi stole the notebook from my hands. This isn’t good…

“Give that back and stop calling me Sammy! I hate that damn nickname! My name is Samantha or Sam!”(Samantha)

“Why does it bother you so much? Nice drawings of my brother by the way. Fairly lewd though and…… Did you turn him into a tentacle monster in some of these?........ Are these two people us? ……….Can I have some of these?!!!!”(Suzi)

“No!”(Samantha)

“I see… Guess it’s time to tell him that he has a secret admirer… and who that person is.”(Suzi)

“Just take a few….then give the notebook back to me. Aren't you still under house arrest?”(Samantha)

‘Tearing sound’ “I still am. I just snuck out to see what my brother was doing. For the last few days he has been smelling like someone else. I just wanted to see why.”(Suzi)

Oh no…

“Why do you look so scared? Do you know who it is?”(Suzi)

“I know he’s been spending more time with the cheerleaders recently but that's it.”(Samantha)

Why did I give that information so freely? Something isn’t right here. Suzi has a smug grin. What did she do?

“Good to know. Let’s go and torture the fuckers that dare lay a hand on our man.”(Suzi)

“Our man?”(Samantha)

“Come now Samantha. We both know that you have fallen in love with him.”(Suzi)

“No I haven…..”(Samantha)

“You are usually a calm and friendly person, well to most. This only changes when Diuscrucis is involved. When it is something concerning him you become cold hearted and blood thirsty. I have even noticed you starting to become a lot more clingy to him. Just last week you made him a homemade lunch. It’s easy to tell.”(Suzi)

‘Whisper’ “I didn’t…”(Samantha)

“It’s ok Sam. As long as you share him with me, I will be more than willing to let you have him.”(Suzi)

“Really?”(Samantha)

“Definitely.”(Suzi)

“I still don’t think we should torture whoever he is handing out with.”(Samantha)

“I already know it’s Carolina and her followers who are trying to get in his pants.”(Suzi)

“How could you possibly know that?”(Samantha)

“Just follow me.”(Suzi)

Following her, we walk out to our school’s football/soccer field. When we got there Suzi hid behind a wall and motioned me over. When we looked around the corner we saw Diuscrucis sitting on a bench reading a book. Surrounding him were soccer players and cheerleaders all talking about stuff that I couldn’t hear from our hiding space. It looks like they all stopped practicing for today. Next to him was a tall silver haired girl she was beautiful and had ruby colored eyes. Her breast were a modest size and she has a small silver horn coming out from the center of her forehead. Looking at them talking together made me angry. Why could she be so happy around him while I was trying so hard to make him think of me as more than just a friend?

“Carolina.”(Samantha)

“I told you it was her. Now how should…”(Suzi)

“kill them.”(Samantha)

“That’s….”(Suzi)

“Kill them all. If they want to date him then they need to go through me first. He is mine. I won’t share him with anyone else but you until Diuscrucis and I are married.”(Samantha)

“See? Clingy and bloodthirsty.... Killing them is easy but….. Don’t you want them to suffer before they die?”(Suzi)

“Torture the fuckers.”(Samantha)

“.....Cold. Blooded. Murderer.”(Suzi)

Over the next few weeks we started hunting, torturing, and killing each girl systematically until there was no one left but Carolina. The reason we couldn’t get to her earlier was because she has been sticking to Diuscrucis like glue. Before we were going to confront her she moved to another city. Since then we have never seen her. Now I need to get myself a job. I don’t want to be a priestess because I actually want to do something with my life. Sorry dad but, I want to travel around the world and kill things.

“Dad! Is it possible for me to get a job from Heaven while living in Hell?”Samantha)

_____________________________________________________________________

* At age 18 -

Three years have passed since Carolina moved and all of us are now eighteen. Both Suzi and her brother have been working under their mom for the last few years. I enrolled into Heaven’s military program. While I was there I learned exactly what profession I wanted. I wanted to be a Black Valkyrie. They are the executioners of the gods. The only problem was that I didn’t qualify for the position because my halo was white. Because of this, I chose a profession  that will allow me to transfer over to it. I became a regular Valkyrie. It’s not as cool of a job but, it’s close enough. We all are about to go to college but, we wanted to participate in the “Heaven and Hell Competitions” before we left. A few weeks before the competitions, Suzi came to me for help. She wanted help to finish pushing her plans into motion. Apparently she has been planning to take the title of Devil from her mom for years now. She really wants to control all of Hell. After talking with her for several hours I learned a few things. Firstly, her brother won't be helping us. Diuscrucis won’t do anything to hurt his family if he can help it. Suzi says if he doesn't know about it then he won't try to stop us. Secondly, The reason my halo is still white is because I have not picked any side to fight on when a war starts. Until I pick a god or angel group to follow, my halo will stay white. Lastly, Suzi has plans to make Hell the most powerful realm of them all. How she plans to do it is beyond me. I decided to help her in her plan to take over Hell. Suzi has been my best friend for years now. We have been there for each other through thick and thin. I know which side I’m on and I will do whatever it takes to make sure we succeed. When I agreed to help her, my halo lost a third of its shape. Now from certain angles it looks like a floating crescent roll. I can make it whole again when I think about it but, otherwise it looks like a broken halo. Today the competitions will start. I am wearing my black colored Valkyrie armor that Diuscrucis made for me a year ago. It was made to be the best living armor I would ever have and it was modeled after what a real Black Valkyrie would wear. It is the single greatest gift he has ever given me. Suzi has donned a red dress that makes her look beautiful. We just went over the plan once more before Suzi needed to leave the room to take a call. I’m now picking up my shape shifting weapon that I got for serving exceptionally under god Loki’s command, for the last two years.

‘Yelling’ “Samantha! Hurry up! We are going to be late. What are you doing?”(Suzi)

‘Yelling’ “Just looking over old memory crystals. Be their in a minute.”(Samantha)

‘Yelling’ “Just hurry it up. I don’t want to miss my appointment.”(Suzi)

Appointment…. Right…….. When is tricking your brother into a date an appointment? I hope nothing goes wrong with this.

‘Yelling’ “Samantha!”(Suzi)

‘Yelling voice that is gets farther and farther away’ “I’m coming!  I’m coming! Why are you so impatient? We are not going to be late or anything. Just calm down and remember to……….”(Samantha)