Chapter 1a: Ylrai, Rain Princess

Holy water. The bath of the princesses of the Heavens, located near the royal chambers, is filled with crystal clear, soothing, holy water. Therein lies a girl, skin as white as snow and blonde hair reaching up to near her waist (however it couldn't be discerned as such while in the bath as the hair floated in the crystal water). Her teal eyes was reflected on the water, and after a long while of thinking she got out of the bath.

"Greetings, princess Ylrai. What caused my fair mistress to have such deep thoughts?" Chione, the princess' most loyal attendant, asked.

"Hmm. Just thinking about things that I likely won't have any say in..." said Ylrai, with a resigned look on her face.

The princess was thinking about her upcoming meeting with the demon king. As the first princess of the Heavens, and the only one of her sisters who is of age to marry, she was forced by her father the King of Heavens to marry the son of the King of Draerth, the only inhabited planet in the universe.

Thus, she was thrust into deep thought in the bath. Actually, not only was it in the bath. She thought of it while in her room, she thought of it while she was in the throne room sitting on the throne on the King's left hand side, she thought about it everywhere. Why? Because even if she was the "Rain Princess" (the name was given to her due to the fact that she controls rain and is the reason why rain appeared on Draerth just 20 years ago), she actually had a warm heart and even warmer emotions. Ever since she was in the age to fall in love, she dreamt of a time when she will have a family of her own, along with the man that she loves so much. As time went by she grew older, and she knew more about her surroundings, but that dream of hers was still in her heart. She cherished it, and when she was informed of the arranged marraige, her feelings shattered like a fragile crystal ice wall that a hurled boulder crashed into.

The time for the arranged wedding was getting closer and closer. What's even weighing more in her mind was that she wasn't even able to meet up with her arranged partner. The previously scheduled meeting was cancelled due to an emergency on Draerth. The son of Draerth's King was supposed to meet them today as well. That takes us to the present situation. She went out of the bath and put on her royal garments, and waited with her father on the royal throne room to meet the prince of Draerth.

A few moments passed. Then those moments turned into hours.

"He sure is late. I don't remember Draerth having a lax sense of punctuality," bemoaned Omnus, the King of the Heavens the father of the "Weathers," his daughters.

As if the words uttered from his mouth were a signal, a guardian angel opened the doors and appeared before the throne room, rushing. "Prince Romeon is here, my King, my Queen, princess," reported the angel.

"If so, then why is he not here?" asked Queen Marianne, the Queen of the Heavens.

"We found him wounded just outside Heaven's Pearl Gates. The wounds itself are not something to be feared. We bought him to the Healing Touch to make him recover. However..."

"However?"

The figures in the throne room were shocked by the guardian angel's revelation. They waited with bated breath after the Queen asked the question.

"I come with grim tidings. Healing Touch members have identified the source of the wounds. At a glance they're claw marks, not that unusual for Draerth inhabitants. But on closer look, they're actually 'shadow' cuts."

"Then that means..."

"Yes, the assailants were agents from Hell. We're positive."

Mixed feelings grew from every Heavenly beings' hearts. Gasps were heard all across the throne room. Even the King of Heavens cannot hide his surprise. The previous Demon King, Bael, along with his strongest generals, were defeated on Draerth when the gates of Hell opened. King Bahamut, the King of Draerth exhausted and sacrificed himself to ensure that no more threats from Hell came to Draerth or the Heavens. Bael was supposedly destroyed. Is he back? Or is this another Demon King?

King Omnus came to his senses though, and immediately after regaining it he commanded the angel, "Take us to where Romeon is."

The angel, following a quick salute, led the way to the Healing Touch's bay area. King Omnus and some Seraphim and Archangels followed suit, with princess Ylrai inside the protective wings of said angels.

This narrative has been purloined without the author's approval. Report any appearances on Amazon.

They arrived at the bay area shortly. Amidst the layer of wings, Ylrai peeked through. What met her eyes though was a scene that made her world slow down for a moment. Clad with healing light that came from the Healing Touch, was a man who looked like in his mid-twenties. Firm and a bit muscular, but just enough bulge to not look disgusting. Brown hair, emerald eyes and a gaze that was unfaltering and courageous.

At first the eyes of the man were looking far away. Then, as if sensing that someone was looking at him from a distance, he looked at her direction. Their eyes eventually met, but not for long. Ylrai jumped back. She yelped. She had never felt it before. It was like something electric had come over her. She couldn't tell what it was.

That's when she whispered to herself, "He's beautiful."

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Chapter 1b: Romeon, Surface Dragon Prince

Draerth. The only inhabited planet in the entire universe. The other realms cannot be considered as "planets," they are distinct from it. The Creator has created the 3 realms: The Heavens, the universe, and Hell. Two astral gates have once locked Heaven from the universe (Heaven's Pearl Gate), the latter from Hell (Hell's Fiery Gate), and vice versa for both. One cannot cross from the Heavens to Hell without going through the universe first, unless you're the Creator Himself.

The universe was once ruled by the Creator's favorite son, the great Dragon King Bahamut. The universe was the Creator's masterpiece. It was neither too pure nor too corrupt. It was neither half-baked nor overcooked. It was just right. Spiritual beings as well as unholy beings can survive here. All of His creations can mingle with each other. Thus it is no wonder why the Creator entrusted His favorite place to His favorite child. With power rivaling that of his father's, the destroyer and preserver in one, that is King Bahamut.

Now though, the great Dragon King is gone. So has the Creator, who, after losing two of his beloved sons (the Kings Bahamut and Bael) and almost losing his last (The Heavens' Omnus), has closed His heart, ceased to care, and went into eternal slumber. The Great War between the realms claimed too much, including the lives of the Dragon King Bahamut and the Demon King Bael.

In the Dragon King's place ruled the Mother Dragon, Tiamat. So have the King's two sons. Leviatein, the Dragon Prince of the Deeps, and Romeon, the Surface Dragon Prince, ruled alongside their mother. The first two ruling Draerth's 2 "realms," and their mother on matters outside Draerth. It started 20 years ago, after the defeat of Hell's Legion.

At the same time, the first rain poured. It was as if the Heavens cried and showered its tears onto Draerth. And Romeon, the prince who never showed any sadness after the loss of his beloved father, who tried to stay strong in an attempt to replicate his father's strength, saw such act of the Heavens, and broke down with emotions for the first time.

Twenty years have passed. Romeon had been waiting for this very day. He coaxed his mother to appeal to the King of the Heavens to enable him to marry the cause of the soothing rain coming from above. Her appearance didn't matter. Her demeanor didn't matter. He just wanted to be with his savior. He was saved from the dark abyss of sadness. He was determined. He was ready.

Or so he thought. When the day to meet his savior came, a sudden dark and malicious aura was sensed in one of the surface kingdoms of Draerth. They were faint, they were little, but they were the same aura that came from Hell's Legion more than 20 years ago.

"How? I thought father put an end to all of this...how is this possible?" asked Romeon to himself.

It was an easy task to put an end to those lesser ghouls by himself, but it wasn't the lesser ghouls themselves that were the threat.

It was the fact that there were lesser ghouls in the first place, and that they commenced an attack on one of Draerth's kingdoms.

Romeon rushed to the place where the lesser ghouls were found. The various beasts of Besa Forest Kingdom, headed by the Lion King were fighting valiantly against the lesser ghouls. They even seem to have an advantage due to their familiarity of the terrain. Their great use of flying vision provided by the birds and the cover of the trees and bushes to set up traps and ambushes gave them that much. But it was not long after that Hell's lesser ghouls proved their superior strength. One lesser ghoul had the strength, speed and power to hold its ground against 10 royal beastcat guards simultaneously. Even when outnumbered, they simply overpower their opponents.

Fangs and claws clashed with each other. Beasts against lesser ghouls. Even the birds who provided intelligence from above joined into the fray. Beaks and talons crashed down. One lesser ghoul fell to the beasts' ambush. Crunched down by a pack of wolves, the lesser ghoul's body was smashed to pulp. The wolves spit out the putrid flesh of the ghoul. They commenced their attack on another ghoul who was now standing on top of a pile of beast corpses, faces mutilated, blood and viscera flowing out of the holes punched by the ghoul through their soft bellies.

Romeon flew straight to the place where the battle was held. He went there as fast as possible, but of course, his speed is not infinite. When he arrived, a hellish scene was reflected on his emerald eyes. Dead, mutilated bodies of beasts and ghouls lay scattered in the battlefield. Quite a number of ghouls still remain, squaring off against the remnants of the Lion King's subordinates trying to protect their injured king who fought for them.

Without a word more, Romeon stormed through the remaining ghouls. Though they were strong enough to lay waste to an entire kingdom's army, they were nothing compared to Romeon's strength. Speed and strength like a mighty rushing wind, a tempest of the deities blew behind him as he dashed towards the ghouls. He destroyed all of them, ripped them apart and blew them up. Bits of putrid flesh fell to the ground, and the combined stench of the remains of battle wafted up Romeon's nose like an inhalable curse.

"This time, I now have two reasons to go to the Heavens," muttered Romeon to himself as he looked at the wake of battle.