Occult Betrothal: Demonic Games

Disclaimer: I own nothing except the author created characters and concepts. Thanks to Ranger Red 2.3, Mistycharming and SA June for their OC's used in this fic.

Sayakriel Leviathan gazed from the large window of her room, a bright moon with a bluish hue to it had emerged from behind the thin clouds and now shone its lunar light upon the demon palace. Since the King of House Phoenix had stormed into the palace, the atmosphere had grown tense. Now hope rested on the finest soldiers House Leviathan had at its disposal. Unfortunately they stood at the front lines, beating back any foe that dare challenge them. Now the House and its people depended on their King to gather the strongest warriors available to face the dangerous game that their foes had prepared.

Though Saya hadn't been in her room for some time, it had been well kept in her absence, the deep blue of her silky sheets hadn't lost their colour and there was no trace of dust in her old room. As she gazed down into the courtyard of her home, the door slowly creaked open. Saya's younger sister entered quietly, she wasn't sure if the older demon had noticed her as she approached. It appeared as if her eyes were fixed on the courtyard.

"Saya, are you alright?" Sakura Leviathan asked as she made her way over to the bed, hopping onto the end of it as she reached it.

"I'm just admiring the view, guess I forgot how nice some parts of the palace look at night. I hope I didn't scare you earlier, I try to keep calm most of the time but House Phoenix gets on my nerves." She informed the demon girl on the edge of the bed as she turned to see her sibling.

"Yeah, they're horrible. Always after one seedy thing or another with them, poor old dad can't take much more of it." Sakura replied in agreement, before diverting her eyes.

"There's something else isn't there? It isn't like you can hide anything, I'm your big sister after all. It isn't that bad, right?" Saya asked, observing the odd behaviour of her younger sibling as she approached to sit beside her.

"He's not doing too well with all this. Everything that happened yesterday put some unneeded stress on him and now our dad's having to rally soldiers on short notice for some kind of war game only House Phoenix knows about. I'm scared we won't win this, and that I'll have to go with them… I-I don't want to." She explained, the fear of what would come if defeated invading her face as she thought of the consequences if House Leviathan lost.

Saya gave a small but somewhat warm smile as she set herself down beside her sister, wrapping an arm around her sister and pulling her in moments after. "It's going to be okay, we'll get out of this and show those Phoenix's how tough we Leviathan's really are. You wanna know how?" She asked, Sakura gave a shrug as Saya held her to her shoulder. "Because when they planned on taking my little sister away in their little conquest for power, there's on thing they didn't account for. Me, I'll make sure you stay safe. Even if they do win, they're gonna regret the day they came after you."

"So you're talking about yesterday right?" Sakura asked with a smile, now reassured by her sister's words and promise of protection. After a few moments, Saya returned a smile, wider than before and one that appeared genuine despite the hint of doubt that resided within the older High demon.

[Occult Circle]

Night passed quickly and the sun rose up from the horizon as day broke, golden rays of light cascading upon the Leviathan palace. In the early morning, the lighting made it a truly magnificent sight to see. Yet for the rangers, time to rest and relax had come to an end. House Phoenix had called the five Occult rangers and the rest of the Leviathan palace's residents to the courtyard so they could begin the game they had been waiting to play since their King first mentioned it.

While their opposition had managed to rally warriors, the six demons under the Phoenix banner stood with far more ferocity about them. King Fiedar and his eldest son Salch Phoenix stood adjacent to the two opposing forces divided by a large chessboard. While they stood awaiting the Leviathan High demons, the younger Phoenix, Pasra, stood by his demon underlings ready to take to the field of this game. He wore the fiery battle armour of a Phoenix noble and stood ready with his hand upon the hilt of his blade, prepared to humiliate the unprepared forces of the Leviathan House.

Joe, Ellie, Nyssa and Max stood at the side of the Leviathan peerage, prepared for the worst should House Phoenix openly attack. "Do you think we can trust them when they said they'd stop fighting until this was settled?" Max asked as he looked around, unsure of the demonic foes that Leviathan stood against.

"It's a house of snakes Max, there's always someone who'll take the opportunity to strike when there's an opportunity. Since I can see when someone else is being deceptive, looking at their house makes my stomach turn." Nyssa added, looking at the malefic house with an uneasy expression.

"Nobody knows that we're Power Rangers either, if they do try anything while this is happening, they'll not know what hit 'em. I'm just hoping that this game of theirs doesn't have any surprised twist to it." Joe added. Though he had a hint of worry that there was more to this game than what met the eye as he looked upon the visages of Fiedar Phoenix and his son beside him. The latter stood confidently, yet he radiated an angry aura behind his noble stance. A stern expression came across Joe's face as his gaze met Salch's, the Phoenix High demon staring daggers at his latest rival.

"Guess somebody woke up on the angry side of the bed this morning. I didn't though. Those beds in the Leviathan palace are so great, it totally beats hanging upside down in your attic." Ellie remarked as she looked at the two who had their gazes locked. "Think they could let me take one?"

"If we pull this off, I think my father would listen to any request you have." Came the calm and collected voice of Saya from behind them, spooking the other four rangers as they turned to see her alongside her sister.

Before long, King Bourus approached the rival King. He wore the unique battle armour of a Leviathan King, shining Underworld steel shaped to embody a tidal theme in it's appearance and a fine blue cloak wrapped loosely around it bearing the Leviathan mark. Saya had an uneasy feeling as she looked upon her father, now dressed for combat. Fiedar passed his foe a white pouch. As the Leviathan King met with the royal guard he had chosen for this task, King Fiedar turned, heading to his own champions he had prepared and bestowing on them a black pouch in contrast to their foe's white pouch.

Opening the pouch, Bourus drew seven white chess pieces from it, though the rangers had no clue as to what purpose the pieces played in this game, Fiedar had made it clear to his rival just what it meant. One by one, he handed his elite troops a piece from the bag. The Queen piece going to an elite soldier of the Leviathan household that appeared to be clad in the armour of a Leviathan commander, having far more vibrancy to his outfit. A Rook piece was entrusted upon a large and burly demon showing his true demon form and sporting an astoundingly protective armour set. A Leviathan mage, who wore a set of armoured robes in the House's colours, was given the piece of the Bishop as Bourus moved down the line to his last three troops. Two of his soldiers, clad from head to toe in protective plate armour and sporting shields with the House sigil upon them stood to attention as their King gave them the two Knight pieces he held. Finally, the last elite troop stood ready. He appeared to be the youngest and wore the armour of a scout as he stood before his leader, who bestowed the Pawn upon his final troop before taking the King for himself and leading his squadron to the different squares of the field. While the soldiers and King Leviathan represented each unique piece of chess, it was clear that it was built to include every piece in a real game and that as a demonstration, this game included only a few pieces.

"What's he doing? It's too dangerous for him to play their game, and now I have an idea what kind of game this is. He needs to get out of there!" Saya explained to the other rangers, worried for the wellbeing in the face of what appeared to be a dangerous game.

"Something doesn't feel right to me either, I'm getting some bad vibes from that giant chessboard they're on. We better put a stop to whatever they're up to, and fast." Nyssa added, noting an ominous aura radiating from the playing field.

"Alright, let's move, before they start this game of theirs." Joe ordered. Though before they could move to protect the Leviathan King and his demon soldiers, the demon champions of House Phoenix took to the board after selecting the pieces they would possess for this game. As soon as the final warrior had taken to the board, most attendants of the event turned wide eyed as a magical barrier erected itself around the board and rose a few meters overhead. Despite the demon's ability to fly, the barrier also contained them from above. There was no means of escape as the remaining Phoenix troops and nobility outside the field of energy looked on in amusement.

As panic and fear of what was to come spread through the crowd, Fiedar spread a set of six fiery demon wings from his back. Floating into the air, he gave one final amused look at Saya as she gritted her teeth and readied herself to fight if there was no other option.

"Demons, Demonesses and peasant lower beings. Today, I'm unveiling a game that will in future, decide who pays the tribute to our lord Lucifer, and sacrifice their people so that he is appeased. I present, the Judgment Game." He announced as he scanned the crowd's faces, looking at their disturbed reactions as to what this meant with a sickening delight. "Each player takes on some rules of a chess piece such as movement for the duration of the game. They will also take on the characteristics of their chosen piece, such as the Rook possessing unnatural strength, or the Knight possessing speed and agility like no other. When two pieces contest for a square, the other pieces are locked into their squares by magical barriers like the one around the field and enter a state of immunity. They will only drop for the game to continue when one piece has slain the other, by any means necessary and the victorious piece claims the square." Fiedar briefly explained to the crowd and the players, enjoying the reactions that each twisted word of his brought. "The Kings however, cannot be attacked by any piece except for the opposing King and can only attack other pieces once every four moves. When every piece on an opposing team has been disposed of, the game ends and the King piece surrenders, if he is slain by the other King, then a victory is earned by cleaning the field of all other opposing pieces. Once this happens and only when it happens, the barrier drops. Everyone understand yet?" He asked the audience who looked on with shock as they spoke of the barbaric game amongst themselves. "Then let the game begin. Though I believe that I should show some courtesy, so King Leviathan, make the first move and command your troops as you see fit." Fiedar explained briefly as he handed off the first move of the Judgment game to his rival.

"So this is a death game?" Sakura asked with a frightened expression as she stood beside her sister who stared at the Phoenix King, angry at how high the stakes truly were and the sick delight he was gaining from his deadly design. "Saya, you're looking angry, is something wrong? Is Dad in trouble?"

After a few moments, the blue ranger had managed to calm herself enough to answer the worries of her sister. "He said that the King can't get attacked unless it's by another King. Dad's smart enough to stand back and command his forces, Pasra's no match for him and they both know it. But the troops in danger, I'm worried that they won't hold up against their opponents. It's a horrible game he's concocted. But I think they can conquer it, He's fighting to protect his girls from harm after all." She explained her thoughts on the matter, while trying to reassure Sakura, placing a hand on the younger demon's shoulder.

King Bourus pondered his move for a few more moments as the onlookers stared on in anticipation and angst as to what other surprises the game may hold. "I'll move my Pawn. Scout Nerath, advance one space toward our enemy and be careful of them, I know some of their faces, and they aren't to be taken lightly."

"Understood sir, I'll watch myself." The blue demon scout acknowledged as he stepped forwards onto the vacant space before him.

Without a moment to lose, Pasra, who had taken the King piece, gestured lazily with his hand for one of his Knights of move forward as many spaces as possible. The Leviathan watched closely as the Knight piece in question charged forward two spaces and stepped sideways to come face to face with the Pawn. A Phoenix demon with a large scar and a face full of fury now stood only three spaces away, Nerath's eyes widened in surprise as he realised who he had come across. Though for now, he held his tongue so that his King could give his command and devise a strategy.

"Gladius, I want you to move forward five spaces and reinforce Nerath and flank their Knight form the right." Bourus ordered as the large Rook by the name of Gladius marched forward until he was stood parallel to the Phoenix Knight.

Pasra laughed as he looked to his Knight. "Alright then, father did say you wanted them to pay for all their meddling. For giving mortals a reason to stop the Tithe and shame you, disfiguring your face in the process. That scout there tipped off those meddling human Knights from what I've been told, so you let loose." Pasra addressed the Knight under his command, getting the soldier more angered as he readied his blade and charged two more paces with lightning fast speed.

He was now face to face with Nerath and held his blade ready to strike. As the Knight swung, smaller magical barriers arose around the other occupied squares, protecting the other pieces and allowing the combatants to move freely in the designated arena. Clashing his blade against Nerath's shortsword, the force of the strike Knocked the blue demon back. The Knight in question didn't lets up as he spread his pair of demon wings and used them to boost himself forward with more speed than before. Each time he struck, he wore down the Leviathan scout and it wasn't long before Nerath's blocks were weakened severely.

As the Pawn readied to block, the Knight utilised the added speed of the Knight piece, dropping down behind Nerath's block in a blur of motion and advancing past him with a swift horizontal slice from his blade. Nerath dropped to one knee as the wind was knocked from his stomach. While he was still able to, he turned his head to King Bourus. He wore an apologetic face as he looked at his master. "I-I should've told you as soon as I saw… him. The knight. He's-He's the strongest swordsman they have, Malcaris… I'm so sorry my lord.. I've f-failed yo-u…" He stuttered as he collapsed and his body ignited in a brilliant blue flame that illuminated the board for a moment before dying down and leaving no trace of the scout.

King Leviathan gritted his teeth as the audience looked on in horror. To casually risk the lives of their strongest soldiers like this in a game that was a mere power play. Despite everyone's feelings however, the only way to win this game was for one side to win and the other to be defeated. Only then could the rangers take action. Malcaris walked over, the scarred swordsman capturing the square Nerath once stood upon with a content look from his killing blow to the scout.

"Enough playing games! As soon as I take swift justice out upon your minions, I'm coming for you Fiedar! Alright Dexion, my Bishop, move diagonally left, all the way to the edge of the board!" He commanded, his Leviathan mage proceeding diagonally until he came to a halt, directly opposite the Phoenix Rook that was in play.

"Dragio, do what you do best and smash that little Bishop to pieces already." Pasra carelessly ordered.

A large brute of a demon clad in dark and jagged steel approached Dexion, moving a single space forward before barriers rose around the remaining pieces. Sparing no time at all, the Bishop channeled his mana into a strong pulse of demon magic and fired it at the Rook before him. The magic pulse hit directly and burned the foe, causing physical damage, yet Draigo appeared to be unfazed as he brought his large hand up in a fist and slammed it into the mage, crushing him into the board. After a moment, the broken body of Dexion ignited just as it had with Nerath. Proceeding to the empty square, the Phoenix Rook claimed it as the barriers around the other pieces dropped. The crowd looked on in fear at the seemingly unlimited display of force shown in that turn.

King Levaithan grew more angry by the second as he saw the second piece become claimed by his foes. It appeared to be a losing battle, but he wasn't about to give up yet. "Vollon, advance five squares and lock their pawn in." He commanded, his Queen piece and strongest warrior nodded sprinting forward until he came face to face with the first pawn.

"If that's how you want to play things. Dragio, take care of his Queen too." Pasra tiredly ordered while giving a yawn.

Dragio did as he was commanded, stomping his way over to the Queen piece and instigating battle, once again the barriers rose up around the other pieces as Vollon took a defensive stance, preparing for the power of the Rook. Yet even preparation wasn't enough as the brutal crushing hand of Dragio slammed down upon Vollon, his fate was the same as the previous pieces to fall and Dragio took the Queen piece's place as soon as the fires of death burned away.

"Knight Garon, move two spaces forward and one to the right, prepare to take that Bishop." Bourus took charge once more, hoping that his strategy would pay off in the end.

Pasra didn't even say a word, lazily gesturing his Rook to move to his right by one space. His Bishop now directly protected and his Rook lined up to take down Garon.

"Alright then, Knight Xinoch, move two spaces forwards and one left. You're the best swordsman I have on hand alongside Garon. Prove that you're stronger than Malcaris and wipe him from the field before he can do any more damage." He commanded his second Knight, who obliged, charging forward to battle against the scarred Phoenix demon now opposite him.

Despite the speed at his disposal, there was a clear skill difference between Malcaris and Xinoch. Their blades clashed in a flurry of lightning fast swings, yet even then, Xinoch couldn't keep his attacks up against his foe and match his speed. In one motion, Malcaris faked a low strike and quickly turned his blade forwards lunging straight into the heart of the opposing Knight, once more igniting the flames of a demon's death.

"You seriously don't understand yet do you? None of your soldiers are prepared for House Phoenix's finest. This is a losing battle and you should give up now, while you still have a chance." Pasra offered as he looked at his Bishop. When it comes to my next turn, move forward diagonally by two squares. Once he takes the bait and sends his Rook after you, annihilate him. For now, I send the pawn in front of me forward by one to make way for my Bishop!" He said, calling the last sentence out loud as to bait King Leviathan further.

"Then I'll move myself forward one space, get ready for retribution for my fallen warriors, Pasra." Bourus declared as he moved forward, getting ready to take Malcaris on himself should there be no other option.

Once more Pasra gestured to his Rook to advance and destroy the Knight Garon. Even with the element of speed at his back, the last Knight on the Leviathan's side was crushed in less than ten seconds, sharing the fate of the other warriors that had fought this day.

"Gladius, move into position between their two Pawns, get ready for that Bishop and as soon as it attacks, hammer him to the ground like they've done to ours this entire match." Bourus commanded, hoping that he could still come back from the losses they had received.

"Go, on you know what to do. Get this boring game finished before I pass out from boredom." Pasra commanded, his Bishop charging up the field diagonally until he came face to face with Gladius.

As the barriers rose around the remaining pieces in the game, the mage Bishop of the Phoenix House began channeling all of the mana at his disposal as Gladius drew a greatsword and prepared to strike. As the Leviathan Rook swung, the Phoenix mage unleashed the devastating demon spell upon his foe, a fiery blitz that blasted out from the hands of the Bishop, completely obliterating him from the field.

Everyone in the audience looked on in shock as the game was lost and now the prize that the Phoenix House had played for was theirs. Their opportunity to finally take the Leviathan lands had finally come. As the energy barriers dissipated and the large field around the board also dispersed, King Leviathan dropped to his knees in defeat while the members of House Phoenix laughed, mocking the King for his defeat.

Saya and Sakura both ran past the rangers and onto the board to their father to make sure he was okay as Pasra, Salch, Fiedar and Malcaris approached.

"Such a pity you can't win a simple game against a young demon like my son. You'll be going the way of Virin soon enough you old fool." Fiedar mocked as he gestured to Malcaris to take hold of Sakura.

As Malcaris snatched the young demon away from her family, she struggled refusing to go with the Phoenix demons, despite their forceful insistence. "Let me go, I'm not going through with this!" She yelled at the rival demon faction as their King laughed, amused at her weak attempts to free herself.

"My dear, you don't have a choice in the matter, as soon as we return to the Phoenix palace, we'll be preparing for the ceremony. For any of you who choose to come see this young beauty become wed to the family of your soon to be rulers, the ceremony will be at sundown today, and for anyone who wants to stop this, you can try but it won't help.

As the remaining Phoenix forces gathered near, Saya stood up and turned to the King who now held her sister against her will. She clenched her fists tightly together as her eyes flared to life with the fiery blue tone they took on when Saya was about to release her power. "You're gonna regret messing with my family, I'll take every last one of you Phoenix demons right now!" She exclaimed as her anger began reach its limits.

"My my, so much fire for someone like you. As soon as a little business is taken care of though, Salch is going to have a wonderful time breaking your spirit. But for the time being, it's goodbye." He smirked as out of nowhere a large orange aura sigil, patterned in the symbols of House Phoenix appeared under their feet and transported them away from the area. Even if Saya had unleashed all her power here, it would have been futile thanks to their aura sigil.

Saya stared at the place the Phoenix demons and her sister had stood for a lingering moment as her anger persisted, dying down slowly as her ranger teammates called over to her.

Joe's voice was the first she heard as they approached her with some haste. "Saya, they said they were going to their own palace to perform the ceremony. They were acting too smug to realise that we're an actual threat to them. Don't worry about losing this match, I've got a plan to fix things. We're going to their palace and we'll crash that ceremony and teach House Phoenix a lesson. They'll be so confident to win it'll be too late when they see our plan come into effect." He explained, planting a reassuring hand on her shoulder.

"What kind of plan do you have in mind, because so far all we've done is managed to help them achieve their goals." She asked, uncertain that she could trust Joe to fix the mess they had made.

"We're gonna beat 'em at their own game, but we're gonna add our own little twists to it too." Joe said confidently as the others gathered around, silently agreeing with the red Occult ranger that the only way to beat them was to use their own creation and ego against them.

|Occult Circle|

Demon Lore - The Tithe - The Ancient Demon Houses and Faerie Courts fought against each other, the demons doing so to take souls to their eternal lord, Lucifer. A peace agreement between the two factions was signed not long after humans began to establish themselves on Earth. Every seven years the Faerie courts allow the demons to collect souls to appease Lucifer, to spare their own, the fey allowed the demons to take humans from the lands they would otherwise protect in return for sparing most of their own. The fey that were sacrificed were criminals that deserved death and so the balance was kept. Only by the intervention of human Knights wielding fey magic and a successor of an ancient peoples who acted as a mediator, was the Tithe broken and a new agreement settled. While the Tithe is no more, the Demons search for a new way to appease their lord, for some no sacrifice is too much and would gladly sacrifice their own people if they had to.

That's chapter 8 everyone. I'm sure you're all surprised at how dark the game turned out to be, and at how easily House Leviathan's warriors were defeated. Malcaris and Nerath both appeared in Hibernian Knights by my pal Sir Perfluous and were part of the two opposing factions here in the Tithe arc. Since he let me use them for whatever I wanted, when it came to this arc, they just fit right in. There's no doubt though as this arc reaches it's conclusion, House Phoenix will get what they have coming to them.

As a final couple of notes, I'm back at college now so it will take longer to write things out, but I'll manage. The other thing is, that I've taken the time to change the style this was written in a little, I feel like there's a lot more to the actions it it just looks and flows a lot better to anything I've written previously. But I can't just take my word for it, so let me know if you felt this looks and flows a lot better or if you prefer the style I usually use. That's all from me and I'll catch you all later.

Next Chapter: Occult Betrothal: The Rising Phoenix

Synopsis: As House Phoenix prepares the wedding ceremony after defeating House Leviathan's soldiers in a deadly game known as the Judgment Game, it's up the the five Occult rangers to come to the rescue of Saya's sister and stop House Phoenix from achieving their goals. But what will happen when Joe makes their foes an offer they can't refuse? Find out next time on Power Rangers: Occult Circle.