AN: A bit rough but I hope you enjoy reading!

Disclaimer: who owns Black Haze? Not me. Ha ha. T_T


Prologue

"Listen closely. This is a story from a very long time ago. It begins with a king and the discovery of a door to another world. That king decided to open the door, not realising he'd be endangering the lives of all humans. Because once that doorway was opened… the demons began to enter. That's right. Beyond that door was a world where those demons resided. From the opened door came countless demons and the world was thrown into chaos. Hundreds of thousands of humans were lost and the world was painted red with their blood. Then, just when all hope was about to be lost, a human king pleaded to God, "Dear God, please give us the strength to drive away these evil demons."

Suddenly, a brilliant light appeared through the heavens. The demons turned into smoke and disappeared. Afterwards, special marks started appearing on certain human beings that granted them special powers. As if it were God's gift. They were able to fight against the demons and balance the scales in the ongoing war. People started calling them magicians and worshipped them. And so peace was restored to the world once again. The marked humans began calling themselves magicians and were worshipped as the saviours of mankind. The restorer's of peace in the human world.

But hey… did you ever wonder whether it really was God who granted the king's wish…? That maybe… just maybe… the one that granted the king's wish wasn't actually God… but… the King of Demons…"

~break~

His first memory was waking up in a cold, dark room to a woman's voice whispering to him. He only caught a few puzzling words, "… but… the King of demons…" and the feel of an icy cold hand cupping his cheek when a door opened to his left. The sudden switch from darkness to light made him blink twice. He glanced over to see a tall man panting in the doorway, staring at him with wide, pale blue eyes. The man looked like he'd seen a ghost.

His gaze went back to where he thought the woman had been and felt his heart stutter instead. The voice and hand weren't real – it had just been his imagination. Sitting across from him was a human skeleton. The flesh had been stripped bare; a tattered, dusty dress draped its frame and locks of hair still clung to its skull. Though the sockets were eyeless, they seemed to bore into his very soul.

The weight of manacles around his ankles registered vaguely in the back of his buzzing mind. The room was filled with other skeletons in a similar state. And he was the only one alive in there.

Chapter One

The horses trotted down the paved road, white manes gleaming in the light of the full moons as they pulled the carriage along. A pretty woman with golden tresses glared at the floor. "God, I'm so pissed," she muttered. Her assistant sat quietly opposite of her, counting down the seconds of blessed silence before – "They said it was a meeting for magicians!" The woman scoffed. "And only one or two showed up? What is that?"

Her assistant let out a nervous laugh. "But it was still a, ah, great performance. Everybody loved your singing, Seren –"

"Who cares?" Seren interrupted. Her expression of anger crumbled after a prolonged second and her assistant recognised the signs, quickly producing a handkerchief for her melodramatic mistress. "The Black Magician wasn't even there… and he's the most important one!" Seren cried bitterly, dabbing daintily at her watering eyes as to not to smudge her face paint. "Why do you think I went through all this trouble? Performing in front of those haughty nobles… ugh, he's so heartless…"

"Seren…" her assistant said with a dubious air.

"When will we get to our destination?" She waved a hand in the air, changing the topic abruptly. "I may as well walk there for how fast we are going."

Her assistant was well used to her mistress' abrupt mood swings. "A demon warning was issued for those passing through the Lupen Woods," she said patiently. "A few days ago, a demon ambushed a carriage there."

"Oh, please," Seren snorted. "You're saying we're taking the long way just because one measly carriage was attacked by one measly demon? Do you know how utterly exhausted I am? If I'm not in a soft bed in the next twelve hours, I'm liable to scream."

"Seren – " her assistant started.

But her mistress was already poking her head out of the carriage window, ordering the startled coachmen to take the route through the Lupen Woods.

~break~

Seren's assistant nibbled nervously on her lip. They were well into the Lupen Woods now and a sliver of unease ran through her as she gazed out the window into the murky darkness. The trees were so tall they blocked their view of the moons. "Mistress Seren? I-Is it just me or does everything look spookier than it should be?"

Seren rolled her eyes. "… If you keep saying stuff like that, I'm going to throw you out."

The ninny of frightened horses split through the night followed by the sudden rocking halt of their carriage and crunch! noises. "What," Seren stuck her head through the window and her assistant peered over her shoulder. "What's going…" her voice trailed off as she took in the sight before the carriage.

A purple creature had one of their horses clamped in its bloody jaws, the other horse lying on the ground in a growing pool of blood, its belly mauled and legs twitching. The creature's head was slightly lowered, horns gleaming and diamond mark glowing red, and all six of its red eyes were trained on the carriage. Seren took in the claws on its braced forelegs, making easy gouges on the ground, and could feel the terror beginning to sweep through her.

Her assistant screamed at the horrifying visage and Seren's guards broke out of their stupor. "A demon!" one of them shouted, pulling on the reins of his horse. "A high ranked demon! We have to hurry and get awa –" Almost faster than her eye could follow, the demon had swiped out its foreleg, sending the guard flying into a nearby tree. The man lay crumpled and unmoving at the base of the trunk.

The demon's eyes narrowed and it let out a blood-chilling growl that froze everybody with fear. Another guard made a strangled sound, hands trembling as he prayed to somebody, "S-Save me…"

Seren flung herself back from the window, landing next to her assistant; not wanting to see what would happen to that gua –

The sickening sound of a body being crushed made her flinch. If they stayed still, maybe the demon wouldn't notice them.

When the demon clawed through the wall of her carriage like it was nothing, Seren clamped her hand over her assistant's mouth mid-scream, knowing sound would attract it. They stared through the hole in the carriage, only able to see the demon's leg. The glowing red light of its mark drew closer from above.

Why…? She thought to herself. Why… is this happening to me?

Its head finally appeared, sharp, jagged teeth bared; Seren could see her death in its red gaze. It disappeared from view but not a second later, something landed on the top of their carriage, rattling them.

Please.

The top of their carriage was ripped off, and Seren could do nothing but stare at the monstrous demon.

Anyone's fine…

She could feel its breath on her face.

Just please save me!

The demon roared and suddenly reared back. Why was it…? Something splattered onto her face and her hand wiped it away in reflex. She looked down to find her fingers smeared with a blue liquid. Its blood?

Seren's eyes flew back to the demon just in time to hear a loud shuuak! noise. There was a moment of suspension before the demon fell over, making the earth tremble beneath her. She stood on shaky feet, leaning on a piece of ruined carriage to help support herself. There was a person standing on top of the fallen demon. An obvious magician, dressed in black… It couldn't be?

"You… you are…" she stuttered over her words. "Could you be... the Black Magician…?" The man glanced over to her and she was struck by his cerulean eyes. The weapon he'd used to kill the demon was still in his hands. It looked like a cross of some kind – a magic cross? Tendrils of black magic were curling up from it. Wait, dark blue magic? It was hard to tell. "Y-Yeah… There's no doubt…" It's definitely him! "You are, right?!"

The man stepped off the demon's carcass as though the height difference from the ground was nothing, landing lightly on his feet. His magical weapon had dissipated and he'd started walking in her direction. Seren instinctively stepped back, stammering, "S-So… I… Uh…"

He stopped right in front of her and Seren couldn't squeeze another word past her throat. It was the real life Black Magician

"… It'll be dangerous to go this way for a while…" He trailed off, gaze flickering to the side.

Seren blinked. That was not what she'd been thinking he would say. Seren imagined him asking her if she was okay, and her swooning into his arms… She looked into his eyes and realised she hadn't said anything for a solid ten seconds. "Uh, yes!" she blurted out as the blood rushed to her face. Seren really hoped her darker skin tone wouldn't let it show.

"Also…" he hesitated.

"Yea – yes?!" The man was as attractive as the rumours said he was, her mind sighed in appreciation.

"I'm sorry for asking this in such a situation but…"

Seren thought she was about to faint. Was anyone going to believe she'd met him?

He brought his fist to his mouth and let out a little cough, "… Could you do me a favour?"

Mother Nature decided to send a breeze their way and Seren could almost feel the metaphorical arrows hitting her heart as it artfully tousled the man's hair. "Yes! Of course!" She clasped her hands together at her sternum, the perfect picture of eager and willing. "Anything!"

The Black Magician looked at the ground, hair falling into his eyes and masking his face of reluctance. He shifted his weight from leg to leg and finally took something out of his cloak. "Here," he said, yielding over a pen and paper. "Could I have… a signature…" his shoulders slumped. "Please…?"

Seren floundered for a minute. "… That's it?" she finally asked, more than a little disappointed that that was all he seemed to want.

"Ah, could you also write…"

~break~


AN: Remember to let me know what you think about this! Thanks!