They had all packed their things and were ready to go on this epic journey throughout this new world they were in. Everyone, except for Tanner. He was forced to go since the amount of money they would be paid was too good to give up, but Tanner still wanted to stay home and try to make some new things. 

"Come on Tanner, it will be fun, we will get to explore the world!"

"Ya, with assassins always trying to kill us, and with a princess who is extremely snobby."

Tanner was complaining to Joey while they were waiting for Bree and Nathan to get packed up, and Joey just laughed at Nathan.

"Just because they are royalty doesn't mean they are snobby, come on, maybe you'll fall in love with her and become the next King of the Citadel?"

Tanner could feel a chill go up his spine as if Joey was foreshadowing his doom. Tanner would hate to become King, too much stuff he would have to do. After talking a little bit more, Nathan and eventually Bree showed up. Bree had bought some books to read about magic so she was sorting them before the trip, as for Nathan, he bought ingredients for poison and was mixing them up before they went. He had decided to put poison on his throwing daggers so he could be even more deadly than he already was. They all went outside and packed their stuff onto the massive carriage The King had sent to pick them up. Apparently, The King's name was Leano III, and his daughter was named Niki. She was 18 and she was pushing to leave the kingdom. This is why Leano sent her out to explore the world but got her protection first. Their driver took them to the Royal Palace, and they were amazed by the size. They could see it from their house, but they never thought it was this big. Tanner thought it was unnecessarily big, and laughed at how long that must have taken to make. Once inside, the group was brought straight to the dining room so they could have dinner with the Royal Family.

Creeaaakkk~

The butler opens the massive twin doors, and it lets out a loud creak and the group is met with a beautiful sight. There was gold everywhere, that is the only way to explain it. Even the plates were made of gold, which is kinda stupid if you really think about it. Beyond that, the Royal Family consisted of Leano, his daughter Niki, The King's brother Wallas, and his daughter Julia. Niki had long white hair and had an attractive body, as expected of royalty. The group was dressed in their normal equipment but the Royal Family had very formal clothes. Nathan had noticed the Niki and Julia were judging all of them intensely. 

"Come on, sit down and enjoy the food!"

Leano had urged the group to sit down, so that's what they did, and there was already food on their plates. It looked like steak served with buttered potatoes for them, but the Royal Family had fancier meals that the group had never seen before. They chose to go ahead and start eating. Nathan turned on his "Heightened sense" just in case something seemed fishy, and sure enough, he found something. It was Niki, and she was looking at Tanner like she was amazed. She would also look at Nathan, but when she did, she looked disgusted. Nathan had caught her staring at him, and Niki looked away quickly.

"So Novaxil, it is not common for humans to have red colored eyes, may I ask why yours is like that."

"Now Julia, it is not nice to pry into the personal information of other people."

Wallas had given Nathan a quick smile to apologize for his daughter's remark, but Nathan just waved it off.

"The reason they are red is because I am in fact not human."

"Then what are you, I was told all of you were human heroes?"

Now even Leano was intrigued with why Nathan was like this, and especially since Livian said they were all human for sure.

"Well, first I wouldn't call us heroes, secondly I was born human, but sooner or later I....... Well, you could say I became a part of the Abyss."

Nathan had known that demons were shunned throughout any kingdom, so he wouldn't straight say that he was a demon, but the book he had read explained what had happened to him in great detail. With having the characteristics of an Abyssal, you are connected to a demon from the Abyss, even if it is as weak as a small bug, it is basically your other half. The more you use your powers that are Dark Magic related, the more you become intertwined with your demon, and sooner or later you can even control it. That is all Nathan knew for now, but he will read more of it while on the road with the princess. 

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"So you are a demon aren't you."

Niki had said that out loud, and everyone gasped at her. Apparently calling someone a demon was the worst thing someone could do, but she did it anyway. She stood up and started yelling at her father.

"I refuse to have such a disgusting creature as my guard, in fact, I don't want him in this kingdom!"

"How do you know he is a demon? You are being irrational! You need to calm down before I calm you down."

After saying this, Leano exerted a presence that scared Niki straight, and she sat down in defeat. Niki still kept looking at Nathan is disgust and then back to Tanner in amazement. 

"I'm sorry Novaxil, my daughter has the ability to see into people's souls, and she thinks you are a demon even though your guild card says other wise, so please forgive her-."

"No, she is right, I am considered a demon due to my blood, but I am not entirely a demon."

Nathan interrupted Leano to tell him the truth, and Leano's face was drained of its color. In fact, everyone's in the Royal Family's face was like that, except for Niki, who had a "Ha, I told you" kinda face. No one said anything for a while and the group just kept eating their food. Tanner, Bree, and Joey saw nothing wrong with what Nathan was so they weren't bothered by this. The Royal Family was just sitting there in shock, and Leano just laughed a little nervously.

"Well, since you're not full demon, I guess it will be ok to over look your blood."

"What do you have against demons anyway?"

As soon as Leano finished, Joey pitched in and asked that question. Leano explained the situation to the group in very, very long detail. Something about how when a demon entered the Citadel, the world will fall, an Angel might save everyone, they might not. Everyone kinda just ignored him because he started talking about side stories and everyone was more focused on food really. They basically listened to the point where the demon came into play and then toned out Leano for the rest. As the group finished their food, the Royal Family had as well.

"Well then, you all will be leaving tomorrow, it is getting late so we should all go to bed!"

Even though it seemed like Leano was full of enthusiasm, he was really tired from fighting the group and using most of his power to stay alive, even though he didn't tell them that. A butler showed everyone to their rooms, and for the first time in a while, Joey and Bree had to stay in separate rooms since it was mandatory. Joey and Bree went to sleep immediately, but Tanner went over to Nathan's room to talk a little bit. It wasn't anything too important, it's just they never go to sleep this early so they talked about books and what Tanner should make next. 

"How about you make me a basketball court?"

"You're retarded."

"What?! How did it go from you wanting suggestions, to me being mentally handicapped?"

"Don't try to use big words just to try to prove you are not retarded."

"I swear to god I will end you-."

Nathan was interrupted by a knocking at the door, which Tanner was the closest to the door so he went and opened it. Once he upon it, Tanner was met with an extreme hit that burned his skin all over. He was sent flying into the back of the room and hit hard into the wall. He could feel his bones shatter throughout his whole body, and his skin felt like it was melting off. He can barely move, but when he went to go look at Nathan, Nathan vanished in front of him while screaming something. There was such an immense aura coming from Nathan before he vanished that it actually made him look cool for once, at least he was safe. Tanner started blacking out from the pain. "Were we betrayed?", "Was it because of Nathan's condition?", "This is it, this is where I die, surprisingly it wasn't due to a cliche." is what Tanner thought as his conscious escaped reality.

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Nathan was talking to Tanner as Tanner was roasting when he felt a presence near the door. It was a small one so he didn't really worry about, but they did knock on the door. They ran away so Nathan figured it was a "ding dong ditch" kinda prank, so he let Tanner get the door so he could be pranked. Tanner touch the door knob and Nathan was instantly blinded, and a vibration could be felt throughout his whole body. Pain shot through Nathan's left eye as he was pushed back into the wall. What just happened. Nathan tried to open his eyes, but only his right eye would open, he puts his hand up to his left eye and something hard was coming out of it. What is going on, where is Tanner? Nathan turns around to see the sight of what was left of Tanner. The overcoat done its job and below his head there were no burns, but his face was charcoal black and his hair was gone. He slammed into the wall so hard that his body looked like a big pile of just skin and flesh. Nathan could feel something welling up inside him as he tried to hold back the tears. The ground around him started to break under the force Nathan was emitting. "Who would do this, why did Tanner open the door and not him, was it that presence he had felt before", these were all thoughts racing through Nathan's head as he could feel himself slipping away. It wasn't because he was dying, but because his inner demon was coming out of him. He didn't care what happened to his eye now even though he felt so much pain from it he could pass out. All he cared about was finding that person, so he decided that he would finally try it. He would let the demon take control and go find the killer. He let himself go and the demon took over his body. The demon was under Nathan's command though, but this was the first time so the demon tried to fight back a little. Nathan was transported into darkness and stood in front of him... was his demon.