Chapter 1
Underworld Realm
"You don't understand Father; I refuse to do this any longer! I don't want this!" The girl shouted. "I have no interest as to what you 'want', daughter, I am only interested in what is good for this realm."
"This realm is strong enough on its own; it doesn't need more power to rely on!" The young girl's voice boomed within her chest. "There can never be not enough power, daughter. When you are wise enough, you will soon understand."
"You aren't listening, Father! If you take away any more of the innocent lives in all these worlds, there will be nothing but desolate wastelands and broken societies all across the universe! Bonds will be shattered with allies, hatred will overcome all, and entire civilizations will crumble into nothingness if we don't stop!" The pale-skinned child would not stop her rant. Emotions swirling into a hurricane of force were building up inside her at a rapid pace. "I do not give a damn about other civilizations! I only care about those in this very world, I want the best for my kingdom and I will not stop building it up until the ends of time prevent me from doing so! If I do not continue my reign over different nations, our own world could be taken over easily. Do you want that to happen, daughter?"
"Please, Father…hear me…we are not doing this in a way that is humanely acceptable, couldn't you for once loosen your tight grip on our economic success and focus more on the conflicts concerning your people inside our economy? You spend so much time thinking about yourself and others outside of our community than your own kind-"
"Daughter!" He screamed louder than she could ever imagine. "I am not having this conversation with you any longer! You will obey my commands or else suffer the consequences that follow, and you know how much I despise punishing my own kin."
The child's brow furrowed and her fists clenched into balls as she looked up to her father. "You and I both know that is not true." She hissed with a great amount of confidence. "You'd go out of your way to hurt anyone that stands in your path, regardless if it is your own offspring." The words spilled out from her mouth like they had been bottled up for years. The girls' father slowly turned towards her, his darkened red eyes began to burn into her own narrowed orbs. "Leave my chambers, daughter…"
"But Father!-" She was cut off short. "I order you to leave this instant! I will not stand here and take this horrid attitude from my own daughter! This discussion is over; I do not wish to see you for the rest of the evening. You will follow my mission respectfully like the reverent daughter I raised you to be." He quickly turned away, not wanting to even look at her any longer. In shock and disappointment, she departed from her father's chamber, not before hearing him mutter his few last words: "You'd think my own daughter would be grateful for the powers she has been granted…you will soon appreciate all that I do for you."
The girls' head was hung low, her eyes lingering on the tiled floors as she made her way down the long corridor. The once lit emotions and high temper was put out by her fathers' strict almost immediately. Oh, how she wished she could have the same attitude all the time. She only ever lost it and pushed the limits of her boundaries once in a blue moon. A thought struck her brain almost as he quick as her father put her in her place. She immediately stopped where she was in the hallway and lifted her hung head. She looked up at one of the large windows lining the entire hallway. "Once in a blue moon…" She said quietly to herself.
Outside the window in the dark, almost black sky, a red moon circled in the sky. It was a beautiful red-orange hue, the same color as the girls' eyes. The moon was rarely ever seen by the residents of the household where the father and daughter resided in, let alone a red moon. This was a once-in-a-lifetime phenomenon that might not ever occur again in the young girls' lifetime. "Father is too occupied to notice anything that could possibly happen to me…" She whispered to herself, now feeling hurt that her father would be the kind of person to think such a thing.
She gazed up into the sky now in awe, almost completely forgetting about the predicament that had happened with her father just a few moments ago. "Wow…it's…beautiful, who knew the moon could be such a magnificent thing in the night sky?" She paused for a moment. "Maybe the moon will look even more beautiful in the Earth realm."
Her thin lips widened as well as her eyes. "This…this is my chance to make a difference in this world, I-I can do great things! I can do what is right for the innocent!" She thought to herself. Overwhelmed with pure joy and excitement, she jolted down the corridor with a burning spark of determination. She raced out the extravagant homestead, leaving all her old memories behind for possibly the last time. She halted at the golden gates guarding the back of her home. This was it. She turned back to her home once more. "I'm sorry Father…I will not let you take over the innocent souls of any realm any longer." She climbed over the fence with ease, landing on the soft earth below her. "Especially not Earth realm." She ran down the hillside from where her home was built upon. The guards were usually out at this time of night, but luckily they were only surrounding the premises in the front of the mansion, letting her have a chance to slip away into the night without being noticed.
She made it to the end of the hill where the street started. Thank goodness she lived in a place with such perfectly kept roads, or else she would have idea where she was at this point. She had never once left the mansion on her own terms, only when her father permitted her to do so or to go fetch something for in in town. The sidewalk she stood on was dimly lit by the street light above her head. She looked all around her to absorb her surroundings. Everyone knew perfectly well that the streets were not so safe after dark. Usually all the felons and criminals were out and about, prowling the streets, breaking into stores and homes, causing trouble in dark alleyways, the list was limitless.
However, this did not faze her in the slightest. She was too audacious and in some cases careless to even thinks about the dangers that lurk in the shadows, especially in her own town. Maybe she pushed the envelope when it came to her own safety, but she was brought up by her father to not be afraid of anything, or else anybody could take advantage of you in your most venerable state.
She stayed in the darkness, lurking in the shadows like a vigilante. It was the safest route to not getting caught by any unlawful criminal; after all it would only waste her time.
She planned a mental route to her 'second home' as she liked to call it, where a loyal and trustworthy accomplice was usually waiting for her. When she gets there, she would seek help from her good friend and ask him for assistance in her getaway. She dodged past streets without a second thought, recognizing the names on the street signs and following them to the address. Within minutes, she came to a driveway with the numbers '723' written on the mailbox. She walked up to the door, looking onto the windows that were covered by thick curtains. She could tell that all the lights were off, however, as the whole house was darkened black. Her friend must have been asleep by now.
She prayed that someone would hear her knocking at the door. She pulled the silver knocker hanging from the blood red door and knocked three times. She waited for a moment to listen for any shuffling movements coming from inside. She lifted the knocker once more to knock, but was stopped by the sound of chains unlocking and the doorknob turning. The door swung open, startling the girl since she did not hear any footsteps coming to the front door. A tall figure stood in the doorway, covered completely in darkness. A shadow silhouetted behind the towering figure from the moonlight, giving a small sliver of light ability to drape itself over the face of the figure. Silver eyes were seen from the light source, staring into the skull of the girl.
"May I help you, Stella?" The boy said, his words were modulated but softly spoken. The familiar voice that she had not heard in a long time was music to her ears. The girl could not help but smile at her companion that she had known for nearly her entire life. "Damien, a pleasure to see you again." She said in a sweet tone, almost in a sing-song voice. "It's been too long. May I please come in? There are some issues I wish to discuss with you, it's rather urgent." She said in a lower tone, changing her voice drastically. Without another word, Damien stepped out of the way to let her into his household. "What's happened? Is everything okay?" He asked and flicked on a light on the wall.
"It's my father again…" she hesitated before saying that. She looked up at the taller boy. He had grown much bigger than when she last saw him. A mop of messy brown hair was scattered across his head, hanging below his forehead and coming down to his neck. It was strewn across his face in an uneven manner, covering his nearly sparkling eyes. A neutral expression was plastered on his mouth, which usually stayed there all the time. Damien was never one to feel emotion that often. Going 'with the flow' and succumbing to the norm was much more of his cup of tea than anything.
"Oh? And what could he be up to now?" he asked as he walked into the kitchen, not bothering to turn on anymore lights than the one in the foyer. Stella sat down in the living area on one of the sofas covered with plastic, which made an irritating squeaking noise as she sat down. "I'm afraid he's been up to no good lately. As of right now he's planning on sending his recruits to the Earth realm to take over the human race." Tenseness and animosity surged through her veins again. "I don't want him to take over another innocent race because of his selfish charisma. Not after his last bout with those in the Quantum realm." Stella heard the burner be turned on in the other room where Damien was, most likely making tea.
"I see, but isn't your father just doing his job? It is his soul purpose in life, is it not? Besides, it's not like he has any other life he can go to."
"No other life? What about his family? His friends? Even though all of the ones he once trusted and cared for have either become his enemies or have turned on his ruthless behavior, he still has my mother and I, not to mention his five hundred other minions and 'children' as he would call them."
Stella slumped back into the seat cushions, regretting bringing up such a subject concerning her father. He's always made the excuse that he does care for them, and would spend time with them, only if he wasn't as busy. She knew that was a lie from the moment he said it. You'd think he'd have respect for the only beings that would actually care if gods forbid something happened to us, but no, all he sees us as are alibies and moral supporters, nothing more.
"I just want him to focus more on his personal life than his work…" She said in a small voice, feeling distressed.
Damien walked into the room with a painted food platter lined with a tea kettle and two china teacups. "Chamomile?" Stella asked. He nodded and poured the tea into the two cups. "Two lumps of sugar?" Damien asked. "One is fine, please." She said and heaved a sigh. "This should help calm your nerves. You seem very tense, Stella. Just relax and take it easy."
He took a sip of his tea and sat down across from Stella. "How could he be so calm all the time? It's not natural. Tea is the ultimate remedy for any situation to him." She stared into the cup in her hands, hesitant on drinking it.
"Now…" said Damien, setting down the saucer and small cup on the coffee table in front of him. Stella's head shot up attentively. "I know you are not the person to come over here so late at night just to rant to me about your father. You are much too busy for that sort of thing. So, my question is, what is the true reason you came here?"
Damn, he was good. He can see right through anyone. Stella stuttered at his question. His piercing eyes staring unemotionally at her were not helping. Closing her eyes and putting down her teacup, she inhaled deeply. "Damien, I need you to come with me to the Earth realm to make sure all is well with the innocent humans living there. I need you to be my partner for protecting their world."
Her eyes opened, expecting to see a surprised expression on the boys' face. There was no change in his expression. "You see, without us there, the civilians that live there will have no chance at defending themselves from my father when he begins taking over. We need to warn them before this invasion." She straightened out her face and looked at her friend with similar eye contact, although not having the same effect as him. After a good moment or two of determined staring, Damien spoke up.
"Okay. Then what are we waiting for? Let's get going then."
He shot up from his seat, putting the dishes away in the sink. "Wait, w-wait, what? You're just going to immediately accept this proposition without any discussion?" She said dumbfounded, turning around in her chair to watch as Damien put away their cups. "Well you said you needed help. You are my friend, and as good friend should normally do, I am here to assist you in whatever you may need." He looked around at her. "After all, we were partners for nearly five years after we met." A cheeky little grin made its' way upon his lips as he looked at her. Stella mirrored his smile, getting off the couch. "Wonderful."
And with that, she bounded off the couch and ran outside. "I'll be waiting outside, hurry up and be sure to pack a clean pair of underwear!"
The front door slammed shut as they left.