It was a serene environment in the large palace of Lucifer. Inside, the empty halls stretching out through the castle until the peaceful and beautiful garden of Hell was filled with absolute silence. Well, except on one part of the castle, Damian's room. As we travel inside the messy room of the dark prince of hell, the sound of snores flooded the room. Damian was seen stretched out on his bed as his blanket laid crumpled, fallen on the floor besides his bed. A line of drool was seen flowing down his lips as he sleeps like a log.
Suddenly, his mouth curves upwards as he begins muttering. A smile forms as Damian's mind journeyed to the land of good dreams. The sight of pleasure was present on his face as he continues to indulge in the world he materialised in his dreams. An innocent giggle was then heard besides his sleeping body thought, it wasn't loud enough to wake him up. It was Athena with a bright smile plastered on her beautiful face. Somehow, Damian's sleeping face was so cute for her.
"Damian, wake up!! It's time!!" Athena whispers at his ears. His body reacted as he smack his lips but he didn't wake up. Instead, he rolls his body over so he wasn't facing her. Athena giggles before she teleports towards the opposite side as she tries it again.
"Damian!! Come on!! You promised right?!!" She whispers again but this time she lightly push his body in an attempt to wake him up.
A groan suddenly escapes Damian's mouth as he turns his body again.
Athena sighs at the snoring mess in front of her that refuses to wake up. A thought suddenly flashed in her mind as a devious smile crept up her face. She then rubs her hand together as she puts the mischievous thought to work.
"Ignoring me are you? Well, let's see if you can ignore this!" Athena says as she moves towards the end of the bed. Her eyes than laid eyes upon Damian's feet which was bare. She giggles menacingly as she stretches her arms.
One of her fingers than points out towards the sole of his feet. A blue aura suddenly engulfs her finger as a small crackle of electricity can be seen forming around her finger. She then suddenly brings it towards the sole of his feet. Soon, her finger contacted his sole as the electricity from her finger travels towards his skin.
In a flash, a rush of electrical shock flows on every corner of Damian's body. His eyes shot open as his muscles begin to tense up. His heartbeat spikes in a matter of seconds as the pain starts covering him. He jumps from his bed in shock as a loud ouch escapes his lips. He panicked and quickly looks over at his feet to see the giggling face of Athena.
"WHAT THE FUCK?!!" Damian yells at her in disbelief as he knew she had something to do with it. He was panting heavily and sweating profusely from the shock as his body starts heating up.
"You finally woke up sleepy head! Come on! We don't have any time to waste!!" Athena says as Damian tries to wrap his head around what she meant.
"What the fuck did you just do to me?!!" Damian yells at her still shocked about what happened to him.
"Don't be such a drama queen, it's just a little taze!!" Athena responds to him with a belittling tone.
"LITTLE?!! It felt like I got struck by a fucking lightning bolt!!" Damian exclaims in disbelief as he throws his arms up.
"Well, you deserved it!! Now get up, we're gonna be late!!"
"Late?!! For what?!!" Damian asks her.
"Seriously... remember what we talked about yesterday?!" Athena responds as she crosses her arms looking at him with disbelief.
As a minute pass, he finally recognised what she means as he groans out before crashing his body back on his bed.
"Urrghh, can't we just... do it tomorrow?!!" Damian groans out tired as he covers his eyes with his arm.
"No! You promised!! Now either you get your ass up... or I'll shock you again!!" Athena warns as electricity starts crackling on her fingers again.
"Okay! Okay!! Sheesh!!" Damian responds quickly as he didn't want to be shocked by her again. His sleepy mood fades away at the rush of adrenaline in his body.
"Good! Get dressed!!" Athena orders him as Damian just sighs at her. Was this going to be his fate everyday?
We now bring ourselves to a large area inside the castle grounds. It was an open as large as two football fields surrounded by huge walls. This was the training grounds for the royal guards of hell, protecters of the royal family. The area was divided by two, the barracks in which all weapons were stored and the official training and gathering area for the guards. The area was utterly empty with no soul in sight, not even one. It's because it was too early in the morning so everyone was still indulging in their sleep, traveling the dream world.
Well, this wasn't the case for one person. From the entrance of the area, appeared a demon. It was a cat demon. She had purple fur with a few stripes up her muscular arms. Her iris was made of blue with red pupils. She wore the typical training attire for the royal guards. This is Jill. Hell's Vice Commander of the Royal Guard and Jack's childhood crush.
This was her morning routine. She knew that most people are still asleep this early in this time of day so she always took this as a chance to do some private training. She was typically a lonely and quite person. She doesn't usually socialize due to her introverted attitude so she doesn't like to train when people are watching.
As she steps into the training area, a few sounds penetrates her ears. As a cat demon, her hearing capabilities are enhanced allowing her to pick up even the smallest of sounds. She tries to focus her hearing and then picks up the sound of gasps of a person on the training fields. She instantly carves a curious look on her face. Usually, each member of the royal guards, no matter how high their rank are, is usually still asleep this early, so who was it? Most importantly, what were they doing? She made her way to the fields sneakily as she hides behind some objects trying to hide her presence.
Her eyes then picks up someone a bit further from her. She hides behind a wall before peaking through the edges as she squints her eyes trying to figure out who the person was. Her eyes widen when she recognised who it was.
"The dark prince?" Jill thought to herself as she just observes Damian from the shadows. She was curious to why he was at the training fields.
Unknowingly to Jill, the area around Damian was scorched, the ground stained black. Damian gasps for air as he held his hand out, smoke emitting from it.
"Damn!! That was close!!" Damian gasps before turning his gaze to Athena.
"Ehh, still isn't good enough!" Athena immediately tells him off making him groan.
"We've been doing this for one fucking hour!! It's going nowhere!!" Damian groans out as he drops down and sits on the ground below him.
"That's why it's call TRAINING dummy!!" Athena says to him as she crosses her arms.
"Now, stand up! There's still an hour left!!" Athena says to Damian.
"Look, Athena, I know you're wise and all but can't you see I'm tired? It's too early for this!!" Damian complains at her.
"Tired or not, you need to do this! You have a responsibility to at least make yourself stronger! A time will come when you'll need your strength!!" Athena reminds him as she tries pushing his back so he would stand up forgetting her astral form.
"I know that... it's just too hard, I can barely hold my hands up!!" Damian says as he looks at his arms, shaking wildly.
"I told you that this wasn't going to be easy... but at least you have me right? To guide you through all this!!" Athena speaks with a hint of encouragement.
"Come on! Suck it up and stand up! You said you're a prince right?! Where's all the confidence you shown me before?"
Damian looks at her for a while before looking in front as his eyes lay sight upon a training dummy in front of him. It was unscathed as Damian's attempts has failed him for the past hour. His fists suddenly clenches before he pushes himself of the ground to a standing position. A determined gaze dawned on his face.
"Attaboy!! Now, try it again! Try to focus the heat on your fingers. Make sure that you don't break your concentration!!"
Damian looks at her before he looking back at the target in front of him. He takes a deep breath while closing his eyes, trying to clear his mind. He then brought his hands forward before forming a 'gun' shape with his fingers. He then aims it towards the dummy in front of him. Then, fire started forming on his fingers as it slowly forms into something.
"Good, now imagine it as sort of a ball... Fueled by heat and magic. Concentrate everything on the tip of your fingers!" Athena orders with a serious tone.
Then the fire starts moving like it's alive as it concentrates itself on the tip of his finger. Soon, it shapes itself into a flaming ball of magic. The ball of flame then expands and contracts. Damian's hands started to tremble as sweat starts pouring down his body.
"Focus Damian! Don't let it explode again!" Athena says as Damian glares at his hand. He tries to put all the power and focus he had on his finger. He grits his teeth as he tries to keep his magic stable, his fangs baring against the wind.
Suddenly, the tip of his fingers begins to glow in a bright red hue as Damian growls. His arms started to shake more forcing him to hold it steady with his other arm.
"You're close!!" Athena encourages him.
Damian screams out loud trying to hold it steady before a flash suddenly went on his arms. His eyes observe as he manages to launch the ball of fire as it zooms towards the dummy. Damian could tell that it was going to be a direct hit. A smile immediately carves itself on his face as he finally did it. Just as he was about to celebrate his victory, it was cut short when the ball of flame makes contact with the dummy. Just as it touches the ragged cloth of the dummy, it starts evolving into an explosion.
Damian's victorious smile was instantly replaced with a look of horror. A bright light covered his entire skin as his pupils shrunk.
"Oh shit!!"
He cursed as the explosion reaches him blowing him away. He was too close to it and didn't realise it as he celebrated his victory. Damian flew for a few feet before rolling on the ground as lumps of dirt starts flying. After a few seconds of rolling, he then finally stops. A few small craters could be seen as the aftermath of the destruction he just caused.
Jill's face got lit up by the blinding light as she immediately hides behind the wall. She could feel the wind flowing like a current as it passes by her. The thunderous sound of the explosion forcing her ears to close itself up on her head. Meanwhile, Athena was horrified with what just happened.
"Damian are you alright?!!" Athena rushes towards him as she kneels beside his body lying on the ground.
Luckily, he was conscious as he stares at her worried face. Suddenly, a smile carved on his face as Athena immediately becomes confused.
"Wooh!!! That was awesome!!" Damian jumps up as he threw his fists in the air. He was excited as he finally did it. Athena was surprised that he wasn't fazed by the injuries he had obtained. Instead, she wonders if he had got injured by the explosion and he went crazy.
"Are you alright??!" She asks him again this time with a more concerned tone.
"Did you see that?! I fucking shoot that shit and look at that!!" Damian giddily points out at the area where the dummy used to stand.
"I almost died!! But at least it'll be an awesome death!!"
Athena was surprised how excited he was that he was willing to pass up the probability that he almost died. She then turns her head at the destroyed area.
Now it's scorched black and the training dummy was nowhere to be seen, probably blown to smithereens. Only a large crater exists on where it used to stand, a reminder on the explosive power Damian just displayed.
"Well I... have to admit that was impressive" Athena admits to him as Damian smiles as he finally got her recognition after an hour of gruesome training.
"But... you have to learn to control your power! You'll only need to defend yourself remember! That magic you just casted was meant as a bullet, not a nuke!! It's not like you'll be fighting a dragon or something!! I mean... look... you could have roasted someone by now!!" Athena advices as she points at the destruction that was present.
"Yeah-yeah! Whatevs!!! Anyways, all this talk about roasting is making me hungry! Let's get breakfast and then we'll probably head back to the overworld!!" Damian ignores her advice completely, shrugging it off before walking away from the field.
"You... why the... urrghhhh... Damian!! Don't just ignore me!!!" Athena yells at him at him as she tries to catch up. Suddenly, Damian's leg starts giving in before he falls on the ground kneeling.
"Damian!!" Athena switches her tone to a concerned one.
"It's alright... I'm just... a bit dizzy..." Damian gasps as he tries to recover his balance. His head was aching as he felt like he was spinning like a top.
"That's why I said you need to learn to control your magic! It might have packed a lot more power but you used a lot more energy. You could have actually died if you had put on a bit more power!!" Athena explains with a mixture of concern and stern voice.
"Well, I'll keep that in mind!" Damian says as he slowly recovers some energy. Now, he knew what had to be done.
"Can you stand up?" Athena asks him.
"Yeah... I'll try..." He says before he pushes himself of the ground. His legs wobbled at first but he manages to firm his balance and kept himself steady. He then takes one step forward before...
"Wait Damian!!" Athena suddenly calls him telepathically. Damian immediately freeze in his tracks as he puts on a cautious look. When Athena speaks to him telepathically, there's usually something going on.
"Yeah... what?" He asks her as he keeps a cautious eye.
"You don't have to worry, it's nothing bad... just... you have a spectator!" Athena point out towards a wall.
Jill was still hiding behind the wall as she observes Damian from the shadows. Suddenly, Damian turns towards her exact direction making her eyes bulge. She quickly tries to dodge his sight as she lies silent behind the wall.
"Did he see me?" Jill thought to herself.
"Do you like... have a thing for sneaking up behind people?" Damian suddenly pops up from besides her.
"Your highness!!" Jill immediately kneels as she puts her head down to the ground.
"I apologize for sneaking up on you and not alerting you of my presence. I'll ask for your humble forgiveness and prepare to receive any punishment for my actions." Jill immediately says which made Damian panic.
"What the hell? What punishment? You didn't do anything!" Damian asks her perplexed by her behaviour.
"I... sneaked up on you which is blasphemous..." Jill explains.
"Look... stalking might be creepy but it's not something to be... punished for!! What the hell have they been teaching you guys? Anyways, it's fine alright! You... may go on about your business!!" Damian says to her.
"I shall forever be thankful for your mercy!!" Jill responds as she stands up.
"Right..." Damian didn't know what to do with her as the situation was getting awkward.
"Anyways... I'm just... gonna go..." Damian excuses himself as he walks away from her. After he was a few feet from her, he starts speedwalking wanting to get away from her as fast as possible.
Jill just watch as Damian disappears from her sight and immediately puts on a serious look. She then looks at the training field before walking towards the area which Damian destroyed. She walks towards the massive crater surrounded by the scorched ground and grass before kneeling down. Her hands gently touch the soil as it definitely was a bit hot to the touch. She then looks at the centre of the crater before she carried a perplexed look.
"Wasn't this where the training dummy used to be? Wasn't it imbued with protection magic?" She asks herself.
The training dummy was military grade and it functions as a long lasting punching bag for the elite royal guards. So it should be able to withstand strong physical attacks and intermediate level magic. Only high level magic with massive destructive power could damage the dummies. She then looks back at the entrance of the training field as a thought came inside her.
"Was the prince always this strong?" She asks herself but decides to shrug it off. After all, she lost some time for her training and needs to make up for it. It wasn't the time for her to be lost in pointless thoughts.
After a while, we bring ourselves to the overworld where the majestic Zoophoenix Academy stands.
"So what should we call it?" Damian asks Athena.
"What?"
"You know the shooting flame thingy!" He asks her as he tries to best describe it.
"You mean the Flaming Hell Sphere?" Athena asks him back.
"Wow, that's a mouthful, I'm not calling it that!!" Damian complains to her.
"Well.. then you give a name!!" She suggests at him.
"Well, I was thinking more on the line of... Flameshot! You know since it's sort of like a bullet and it's made out of fire..." Damian says to her as she hopes she will agree.
"To be honest, yours sound better to be honest!" Athena admits as both of them laugh but it was short-lived.
Damian walks alongside the school corridor as he was holding on to the straps of his school bag. To be honest, he was nervous the moment he walked into school as the incident from yesterday still lingers in his mind. And he was right, everytime he walks he could hear the murmurs and stares of people as he walks pass them. It wasn't like he didn't know that they were talking about. It was fucking obvious.
"Relax Damian! It's all in the past!!" Athena tries to comfort him she skips around besides him.
"Yeah well, it would be better if everyone had the same thought as you... but clearly, that's not the case!" Damian says as he tries to avoid eye contact with any of them.
"Damian!!" He suddenly hear a person shouting at him. He looks in front to see Sahara waving at him. He froze for a while, a moment of hesitate swell inside his brain. What happened yesterday would've scarred them... Would they still accept someone who almost murdered in front of them...
"Have some faith..." Athena encourages him. Damian clenches his fists before moving towards them as he tries to carve a friendly smile.
"H-hey guys..." He stuttered in his words as his voice sounded awkward.
"Damian, are you okay dude?" Sahara asks him.
"I... I just hope you guys aren't... well, mad or scared... about what I did yesterday..."
"Scared? Why would I be?" Sahara asks him back in a confused tone.
"Damian... you might have lost control yesterday but... in the end... you did it to protect me! Ask Addison, or Vince or Leo! All of them would have said the same thing!!" Sahara says as she steps back a bit revealing Addison, Vince and Leo who nods in agreement.
"We've been friends, forever right? I'm not going to dump our friendship on just one mistake! Come on!" Sahara says which made Damian's heart cool off a bit.
"Well thanks, it means a lot and... for what it's worth... I'm also sorry..." Damian responds while rubbing the back of his head.
"Awee, don't be... plus, we're the ones who should be thanking you... Perhaps now, Rusty won't bother us anymore!" Addison adds he places his hand on Damian's shoulder.
"Speaking about him, where is he? He didn't come to school?" Damian asks them.
"Well, from what we've heard, he's staying at home until his injuries are healed." Sahara adds.
"That'll teach him for always shoving me around!" Addison says with a hint of rage in his voice.
"Well, it's still sad though!" Sahara says with a hint of compassion.
"Though, how the heck did you manage to lift him up like that? You've been working out or something?" Leo asks Damian which made him freeze.
"I... uh... well.. you could say that!" Damian hides the truth.
"Well anyway, I have something to tell you guys!!" Sahara suddenly says which caught their attentions.
"What?" Addison asks her.
"I've heard... that Kayla and Zill broke up!" Sahara says which made all of them gape with surprise.
"Wow, that's unexpected!" Athena remarks as she stares at Damian. Damian had the same look of shock on his face before staring back at Athena.
A brand new day. And brand new developments. Good or bad. Something obvious or something truly unexpected, what will happen next? Perhaps, a chance sparked from this... A chance... to be a hero...