Crimson lightning crackled through the sky as the clouds churned far above. The wind was akin to blasts of air from a freshly-opened furnace, and the humidity was making it hard to breathe. As Cobalt quickly marched back towards the looming shape of B.I.D., he frowned and reached up to loosen his tie, only to stop in his tracks upon touching the fabric.

He had nothing in his life that connected to his father. He had never once stopped to think about who he was. And now he found out that Brass Trayer was a forgotten hero, and a remnant of his legacy still hung around his son's neck even after everything else had been redacted.

There was a lot to process. Almost too much, in fact.

Tugging at the collar of his shirt, the Incubus took a deep breath of the suffocatingly hot air and leaned against a nearby wall.

"At a loss for words?" spoke a familiar voice.

Baring his teeth, he turned away as the black cat appeared from behind a lamppost.

"Get out of my head," Cobalt hissed, already growing impatient.

"Who says I'm in your head? I could be just as full of flesh and blood as you are."

As soon as he said those words, his head throbbed painfully, causing Cobalt to stagger and almost collapse onto the ground.

"Oh, my mistake. I ought not to say anything that could trigger anything within you," the cat remarked as it licked its paw.

"Do you think this is funny or something?!" snapped the Incubus.

"Not at all. In fact, it's a very serious matter."

It ambled over to him and stretched itself out on the pavement.

"You've been given a handful of hard pills to swallow lately, Cobalt, and you've been doing well so far. But while you're still choking down this issue regarding your father, I fear you're avoiding the biggest and bitterest pill of them all."

"Sh- Shut up..."

"You need to admit it to yourself. There's no running from fate, and you can't cheat it forever, Everlast or no."

"Shut up...!"

The cat's eyes glinted.

"You feel it, don't you? The hunger?" it said in a dour tone.

"Stop it! Stop trying to-!"

"To what, Cobalt? Make you admit to yourself what you are? Who you are? Because Cobalt Trayer isn't the man you think he is, and it's something that goes deeper than you think."

It cocked its head.

"Look around you," the cat instructed.

Swallowing hard, Cobalt slowly craned his neck to see his surroundings. He was on a street that was usually packed with cars and pedestrians, but with the oncoming dry storm, it was deserted. The hot wind blustered down the empty road, gently tousling the petals of the-

He stifled a gasp. Roses. Here and there, thorny roses had pushed their way up through the tarmac.

"N- No...!" he breathed.

"Everlast bought you a few years, Cobalt. But I'm sorry to say that you can't outrun your own base urges," sighed the cat, padding next to him.

The Incubus clenched his fists.

"What the Hell do you want from me, huh? Do you want me to just give in and wind up like every other Incubus?! Or would you rather I keep fighting it and wind up worse off?!" he cried desperately.

In reply it turned its head and swished its tail.

"I want you to become better. To transcend your chains; mental, emotional and psychological. To reach true potential."

Cobalt stared at the cat as it sat in front of him. It was slightly blurred around the edges, and in the corner of his vision, he could see the roses flicker in and out of reality.

"I've already started going insane, haven't I...?" he asked in a small, terrified voice.

The cat turned away.

"You started losing yourself a long time ago. But it's up to you to decide just how mad you truly get."

With that, it stepped back behind the lamppost and winked out of existence, alongside the roses. Swallowing hard, he turned on his heel and began to walk faster in the direction of B.I.D., feeling his heart pound at an impossibly quick tempo. The streets began to blur together as his brisk walk transitioned to a panicked run, though he wasn't sure whether he was running to the school or away from that damned cat.

He couldn't be going crazy.

He couldn't.

They told him that he was one-of-a-kind. A billion-in-one chance. An exception to the rule.

Why now?

Why?!

With every step he took, Cobalt was reminded of that awful day, a mere year and a half ago.

He was in his final year of university, on the cusp of becoming an educator when he was called back to Hell. He didn't know why at the time; the nature of Incubi had been kept from him up until then. His mother brought him back to their hometown of Phrodival where he met with many of the town's elders, who each sat and spoke with him of years gone by with wistful tears in their eyes.

It was without warning when they stuck him with a paralytic needle.

Unable to freely move, he was dragged to a boat and brought out to an island in the middle of a lake, where the entrance to the Undercroft lay. Down, down, down a long elevator shaft and deeper still to the darkest parts of that underground facility.

They dressed him in a straitjacket and bound his limbs in shackles. A collar was clapped around his throat and his mouth was bound with a muzzle. From there, they forced him into a wheelchair and brought him down a dark hallway, lined on all sides with padlocked doors. He could hear manic howling from beyond.

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

He still remembered Jezebel's sobs echoing through the stone corridors as her son was chained up and left in the centre of a bleak grey room, completely featureless save a mirrored window and an intercom.

Then, from the other side, someone began to speak the words of the Aging Rite.

For most demons, hearing that ancient spell incanted in Tongues was supposed to be a joyous occasion. An event celebrated with music, dancing and cake. But all Cobalt felt was fear and confusion as the words took hold. His vision blurred, his heartrate accelerated, his mind tore itself asunder.

And then it failed.

Cobalt was left on his knees, bound in chains, exactly the same as he was; body unchanged and mind intact. Jezebel burst into the room and held him close, sobbing all the while, but at that moment in time, he felt something he couldn't rightly say he had ever felt in his entire life.

He felt angry.

Once free of his bindings, the Incubus demanded that they spilled everything. Why they had dragged him there to force him through the Aging Rite. Why they had chained him like an animal. Why they didn't even give him a chance to speak up for himself.

So they told him the truth.

The horrible, damning truth.

Cobalt slowly came to a stop at a small intersection, gasping for breath as his head throbbed. He had pushed it down for so long since that day. He had tried to forget and move on, but the feeling of cold metal biting into his wrists was all too much to bare.

"I will not be fettered again... I will not..." the Incubus muttered to himself, leaning against a nearby lamppost.

He heard frantic footsteps coming from a nearby road. Up ahead, the stout form of an Imp skidded into view, grinding to a stop at the sight of him.

"M- Mr. Trayer?" exclaimed the panicked voice of Arnn Srenth.

"Arnn?"

The Imp stumbled over to his teacher and grabbed his shirt, almost dragging the pair of them down to the ground. His blazer bore a massive rip down the back, and his shirt was completely soaked through with sweat.

"Th- The school, man...! The fucking... Th- The...!" he guttered breathlessly, pawing at the Incubus' tie.

Grasping his student's shoulders, Cobalt held him upright and gave the Imp a good shake.

"Take a breath Arnn. What's the matter? What happened to you?" he asked, glancing at the tattered edges of his blazer.

"One of them made a grab for me... Had to crawl out through a vent..."

"What? Arnn, what are you talking about?"

Reaching up for Cobalt's shoulder, the Imp fixed him with a cold, terrified gaze.

"Sulfur Bloods. They fucking ramraided the school, man. They got the whole place on lockdown."

The Incubus' eyes widened.

"What...?"

"That's not all. There's this other guy. Tall creepy fucker. Fuck... Fuck...!" Arnn gasped as he began to hyperventilate.

A cold, numbing feeling of dread spread from the pit of his stomach. Taking a step back, Cobalt glanced down at his hands to find them shaking.

No.

How could he have been so foolish?

He ran out of the school without even a thought.

Taking a deep, shaky breath, he grabbed Arnn's shoulders and pulled him close.

"Arnn. Go to the police. Get your father, tell him that Diate is back and he's at B.I.D. right now," he said urgently, trying his best to control his own breathing.

"Wh- Who?"

"Just go! Tell him to send everyone!"

Nodding, Arnn stumbled back.

"A- Alright! What are you going to do?" he asked right as he was about to make a beeline for the police station.

"Don't worry about me; just go!"

As the Imp nervously set off to gather the local constabulary, Cobalt turned to the road that Arnn had taken and took off as quickly as his legs would allow him.

They were in danger. They were in danger because of him. How could he have been so stupid?! Why did he believe that Diate wouldn't stoop as low as to threaten the entire school?! He was so bloody wrapped up in this business of his father that-!

"GAAAAGH!" Cobalt screamed as an agonising sensation suddenly tore through his skull, completely derailing his train of thought.

He fell to his knees in the middle of the road, clutching his head as the splitting pain grew worse. Clenching his teeth, he looked up to see B.I.D. looming in the distance, surrounded by black SUVs.

"Wh- What... is this...?!" Cobalt choked, clenching fistfuls of hair in his hands.

In the back of his mind, he heard a grating, insidious laugh. Like rough nails on rusted metal, and all too familiar.

"And lo the hellpup returns with his tail betwixt his legs," echoed the damnable voice of Diate, his every syllable causing Cobalt's head to throb.

"Y- You...! Why are you doing this...?!"

"Because I can. Because I have to. Because I find pleasure in it. Because I have no choice. Really Trayer, does it matter? Means to an end, nothing more. Your end, to be precise."

He tried to get back onto his feet, but the pain was too great.

"Wh- Why?! I'm not him! I'm not Brass!"

"Of course not. You're far too pathetic. At least Brass had a semblance of respectability, enough for me to consider him halfway equal. You, however...?"

He laughed again, painfully so.

"You're just a poor stand-in. I want nothing more than to face your father one last time, but we both know that is no longer possible. So I'll just have to settle for you."

"Then why won't you face me yourself?!"

"Because I've been following you long enough to know that you will never show your true colours of your own volition. No, you need to be backed into a corner before you bear your teeth, and I am more than willing to provide that extra push."

"Wh- What...?!"

"Come find me in the storage basement, Trayer. I have seven special girls here waiting to see you."

As the Devil's voice died away, the pain gradually ebbed away, only to be replaced by a different pain altogether. Deep down, the Incubus felt a horrid mixture of fear, anger and deep, deep dread.

He had them.

They had done everything to protect him, and they had gotten captured because of his selfishness.

He shouldn't have run off like that.

"Damn it...!" Cobalt roared, slamming his fist against the road as he forced himself back to his feet.

With his companion's wellbeing at the forefront of his mind, the Incubus pushed away the doubts and fears that had been dragging him down up until that point. He had gotten too focused on himself, and now they were suffering for it.

Idiot. Idiot!

"Gah! Get it together, Trayer...!"

As he approached the front gates, he sat that a lone Sulfur Blood guard standing by one of the SUVs, lazily clutching a submachinegun in one hand as he smoked a cigarette with the other. Upon noticing the oncoming Incubus, he spat the smoke out and brought the gun up to his shoulder.

Cobalt bared his teeth. Without thinking, he called upon as much magical power as his body would allow him, causing oily shadows to coil around his arms like furious snakes. He could feel his blood running hot. He could taste the rancid honey on his tongue. He told himself he would never call upon this power again.

But he was simply too desperate to care.

"OITANIMOD!"

The shadows shot forward from his palm, knocking the gun from the gangster's hands as it coiled around his throat, forming a twisted shadowy collar.

"Gah?! What the fuck...?! choked the Oni, trying and failing to pull it away.

"Oge oebui et eretcelfuneg!" Cobalt roared, slamming his foot down as shadows flowed around him like a black shroud.

The man unwilling slammed onto his knees with enough force for him to cry out in pain. Rushing forward, the Incubus grabbed his horn, causing him to scream.

"Edualc idua em...!" he hissed.

Immediately, his cries of pain ceased as his mouth shut tight.

"You. Your will is mine. You will do what I say, when I say, and you will like it. You will tell me why you are here, why you are working for a monster, and what he's planning. When you spill your guts, you will rise to your feet and knock yourself out. Do you understand?!" he hissed insidiously.

The Oni clenched his teeth and tried to fight it, but before long, his eyes clouded over and blood began to flow from his nose.

"Y- Yes, master! The boss, he's written us all off, threatened us into working for this Diate guy! He wants us to put the school under lockdown, and I don't know any more than that, I swear!" the Oni cried, staring up at Cobalt reverently.

He clenched his fists. Lorenzo. Did his grudges really take priority over his loyalties? Was he truly willing to join forces with an old friend's nemesis for the sake of honour?

"ETI CNUN!"

Shoving the Oni back, Cobalt took a step back and watched as the Oni stumbled to his feet like a newborn deer struggling to stand. He twitched this way and that, before he staggered over to the SUV and began to slam his face into the vehicle's hood. Once. Twice. Three times until he groaned and keeled over, blood gushing from both nostrils like a sanguine fount.

As soon as the spell's effect ended and the shadows faded, Cobalt exhaled sharply and almost toppled to the ground alongside the gangster. The energy simply drained from his body, and for a terrifying moment, his limbs refused to obey his commands. He overdid it.

"G- Get it together...!" the Incubus gasped, leaning against the dented SUV.

My Will Be Done.

He did it again.

But he had no time to admonish his own actions.

Choking down his fear and regret, Cobalt looked up at the school gates.

He had to get to the basement.