This story is a work of fanfiction based on the visual novel "Demonheart". This story contains spoilers right at the start, so if you haven't played the game yet, please bookmark this story and come back to it later after you done a few playthroughs. The game is available on Steam.

"Ah... well, you see, that would cause me to have bad memories," I explain to Dorius as he tells me why he'd prefer to be called Raze. As if being tricked into becoming a demonheart by Orchid weren't bad enough, I was intended to raise to her demonspawn son in her stead after it killed her. Dorius was a greedy bastard – an adult demonspawn who saw the lifestyle Orchid was planning for her son and stole it out of jealousy. After learning about his past though, I decided I couldn't blame him. He was tortured at the hands of a pair of evil witches for years, and those witches were the ones who named him 'Dorius'. I understand his want not to be called by that name, but I don't want to call him 'Raze' either – especially since the real Raze is only a room away and stuck in an eternal cycle of electroshock torture. While I don't feel responsible for a demonchild that I didn't even agree to protect, it does still feel a bit wrong to pretend like he doesn't exist. I would still like to get him out, but there seems to be no way to day that without putting another demonspawn in, and... I've grown rather fond of Dorius, and so this is the way things have to be.

"I'm sure it's more civilized than anything you would come up with," Dorius counters me. He's so stubborn.

I raise a brow. "How do you know? You haven't even let me try. What about... Damien?"

"Nothing that starts with 'D'!" he insists angrily.

"Fine. Adrian? Spark? Blaze?"

He scowls at me, his tail swishing back and forth in annoyance. "Why won't you just simply obey me?"

I smirk. "Watch it, mister, or else I'll decide to call you Billy the Goat," I tease him.

"I don't have to let you out of here," he threatens, but I know he's not serious.

"Bright..." Ari speaks up, her voice breathy with worry. She's worried that I'll push him too far. The concern is all over her face, and she trembles slightly. "It isn't wise to test him." The young witch is more educated about the infernal sons than I am, and she's probably right. She also has a personal reason to be worried about this particular demonspawn – only minutes ago he had taken off with her and tried to throw her in a lake of fire. I had managed to stop him just in time. I'm sure she's eager to leave Inferno as quickly as she can, and he is our only way out.

The demonspawn smiles triumphantly. "You see, Bright? The witch girl is smart. You, on the other hand, need to learn to live up to your name."

"And you don't even have a name to live up to," I counter him. When both of them give me exasperated looks, I sigh and try to be more agreeable. I attempt to put it into terms that the demonspawn will understand. "Look... we're all allies here. Ari wants to travel the world and explore," I nod at her while speaking to her. "You want me to find more demonhearts and increase my power," I indicate the disgruntled demonspawn with my left hand. "And I'll be happy as long as both of you are happy. But there will be times when, inevitably, our interests don't align so well. And times like that require compromise." I give Dorius/Raze/whatever-his-name-is a pointed look. "Real compromise; not tricking each other and backstabbing one another in order to get our own way. The Outside World wants to hunt down all three of us, for only slightly different reasons. We are all each other have, and we have to protect one another. That means working together, and being prepared to give as well as take." I size the demonspawn up with my eyes. "Consider this practice." I tone the phrase like a challenge.

Ari smiles softly, still seeming worried. "You're right, Bright. We need to look after each other." She gives the winged figure a wary glance.

I can see the demon boy trying to find a counter argument, but at last he gives up and huffs, clenching his fists. He's too egotistical to back away from a challenge. "Fine! Name me whatever you like then. See if I care! You are so... obstinate."

I smile at him. "Would I be half as entertaining for you if I weren't?"

His gaze softens slightly at my remark. "Pick a name... but I have to like it."

Ari looks between the two of us. "Can we do this in the other world? Please? I do not want to stay here any longer."

The demonspawn looks at her, and then at me. He sighs and gestures us both closer to him. He hugs both of us in his arms and begins to mutter an infernal spell. We're all so close together. Ari looks at me and blushes a little, probably recalling our recent kiss at the edge of the fiery lake. She knows that, only moments before, I had kissed the Raze impostor too. The moment is as awkward as it is intimate.

He lets us go and pulls away. We're in Rivera's dungeon, specifically in the room with the chests full of her supplies. "Here we are. Don't look so surprised. Did you think I'd simply drop you off at a city of your choice?"

"Um... I did, actually," I respond.

Ari hesitates, but after looking around, she slowly admits, "This is... good. There are lots of supplies here, and some gold as well. Rivera won't be needing them anymore." Rivera is the witch that Ari apprenticed under, and also her former lover. But Ari grew exasperated with Rivera's constant jealous threats, and agreed to help me and Mr. Name-to-be-Decided put a stop to the senior witch's plans, on the condition that Rivera lived. Rivera was arrested by Sir Brash – another demonheart victim in Rivera's schemes – and hauled away to prison by the Scarcewall military. The Lord of Scarcewall would probably not let Rivera live, but I did, and to Ari that is all that matters. Rivera definitely won't be needing her supplies and gold in prison, either way. So if Ari agrees we should take them, I have no objections.

As the three of us clear out the room, I keep suggesting names, and my stubborn infernal patron rejects every single one of them. I begin to run out of ideas. Ari must be tired of hearing the two of us go back and forth, because she finally steps in and says, "What about Ezar?"

He looks at her and tilts his head. His tail flicks once, but he pauses and seems to consider it.

"Isn't that just 'Raze' backwards?" I ask Ari.

The demonspawn laughs. "Yes! I like it."

Ari looks a little sheepish. "It is. Well... technically... it is 'Raze' in demonspeech."

"The witch is clever." Ezar grins and looks Ari over. "Yes... I'm glad I didn't burn you after all."

Ari tenses and silently puts her hands behind her back, obviously discomforted by his bringing that up so soon.

I shrug. "I suppose it will do. At least it doesn't sound the same."

Ezar chuckles in a fiendish, self-satisfied way – no doubt pleased that he had found a loophole to get what he wanted anyways. I would probably despise his arrogance were it not for the fact that it looked so good on him. He grins at me when he catches me staring and I look away with a blush. "Oh, come now, Bright. You see? It wasn't that hard," he croons as though he had done anything except make it difficult.
Ari makes a final check of the supplies, and nods. "I think that is everything we will need from this room. Rivera kept her gold in a different place. I know where. Once we get it, we can go."

Ezar stands up from the chest he had been kneeling in front of, and Ari offers me her hand to help me do the same. Once we're all standing, Ezar stretches his wings a little and makes a pleased sound. "Well ladies, I'll be going back to Inferno. I trust the two of you can take it from here?"

Ari nods. "I own a house in Ravage. It is far enough away from both Scarcewall and Feline that we should be safe there, at least until we decide where to go next."

I smile at Ari, glad that at least one of us is prepared. "Sounds like a plan."

"Excellent. I'll be sure to stay in touch~." Ezar vanishes.

Ari stares at the open air where Ezar had been only moments before and breathes a sigh of relief. "I'm glad he's finally gone... even if it is only for a little while."

After Ari and I leave Rivera's vault, we're ready to start our journey. We have 12 jars of healing salve, 7 days' worth of food, and 872 gold pieces. Ari stares at the treeline with a hesitant expression on her face. "It... feels so strange, finally being able to leave without fear of scolding. Without... worrying about what Rivera will do." She begin to tremble a little, seeming frozen with disbelief. I reach for her hand and give it a squeeze. She turns her head to look at me.

"It's okay now, Ari. You're free." I comfort her.

She smiles at me, and tears well up in her eyes. "Yes... I am. Finally free. Thank you, Bright."

I squeeze her hand again. "Are you ready to leave?" I ask, knowing this must be hard for her.

She nods, a look of determination washing over her face. "Yes!" She looks straight ahead.

I return the nod and count down. "Alright. Then if you're ready...1, 2...3." We take the first step together – the first step away from a place where we were both tortured... even if it was in vastly different ways.