This story is the "rewrite" of His Will Be Done. Thanks to the people that read the original, thanks to those that are coming here instead. And thanks to Nekro for sharing his "Take Me Back to Eden" verse (verse name pending, that's his story's name) with me to bring these characters and tell this particular story.
Also, no. It's not necessary to read His Will Be Done to understand this story, a lot of people thought that it was too bleak/unnecessarily tragic. I won't force anyone to read it, so if you know what's up bear with me. There are some differences in the lore, so do keep that in mind too. If you know, you know. I'm not asking people not to share the stuff they know, but I'm saying that it might not be canon to the story anymore.
Finally, this is inspired, of course, by Dungeon Defense. And this story will also be over on AO3, and maybe Spacebattles. I don't know, haven't decided yet. Anyway, see you next chapter (or next HWBD chapter, that'll happen too).
Edit. Don't confuse this story with "Power and Blood" by Timothy something something. I don't have anything to say about it, just don't get confused!
Life is laughably unfair. It throws curveballs whenever it pleases, which is often the time you least expect it. Even the most prepared people can fall victim to a badly timed slip, an unfortunate display of weakness. And although I referred to life as some sort of manifestation or cosmic entity, what I really meant was that the people that live and die with you will always look out for themselves first and foremost.
Even the most prepared person will inevitably fall victim to a blunder sooner or later. That's how opportunities appear, and the strong separate themselves from the weak by being able to bounce back from it.
That's why, in theory, I should be able to get out of my current predicament. No matter how strange, out of the ordinary, or outright insane it appeared. Surely, if I gather my thoughts and really put my brain into it; I should be able to come out on top.
But, well, what do you do when you go to sleep in the safety of your room and wake up strapped to an operation table surrounded by light and strangers?
"He's awake. Life signals are stable, breathing normalized after the third injection." One of the people looking over me, wearing strange surgical clothes, spoke with an old man's voice. I didn't know who he was talking to, but at least I knew that I was in no imminent danger due to any… Proding on their part. Or at least I hoped that was the case "Demonic power reduced after procedure down to—."
Someone approached rapidly. I didn't see or hear them at first, but soon enough some of the surgeon people were shoved aside and a woman's head obscured most of my vision. She had to be some big short or something, because the surgeons didn't protest or ask someone to get rid of her. This whole thing felt a little too important to just randomly let someone interrupt, or maybe it's just me being the 'patient' and thus I really wanted to avoid anything that had to do with my body going wrong.
"There we go." She sounded really salty as she studied my face. She was tan, with brown hair and wearing square glasses that complimented her face's shape oddly well.
"Guh?!" Then she grabbed my hair and pulled it to the side, leering at me with malice.
"Stupid little whoreson, tainting the inviolable bloodline of one such as I… Your very presence sickens me." She tightened her hold, and to be honest I too felt something stir inside me from her proximity.
She was beautiful, even with the ugly expression and dangerous tone; don't get me wrong. But that had nothing to do with my reaction. It also had nothing to do with the painful way she dug into my scalp with her nails, or the way she pulled my surprisingly long hair to the point even my neck muscles hurt.
No. It was something else, something less physical and more emotional. Or perhaps instinctive, if I had to explain it better. A reaction unfounded, with nothing to support it besides the fact that her arm had so much strength that it felt like she could snap me in half if she wanted to.
…Okay, maybe not completely unfounded. But I knew it for a fact even before she touched me. I knew for certain that this awful woman was strong, unfathomably so. And that not even distance would assure my safety as long as she had her eyes on me.
Calm down.
I didn't know why I woke up in such a place, or what the hell was going on. I had no idea who this person was or why she hated me so much, I didn't even know if I was fully paralyzed or if my restraints were simply too well put. I had too many holes in my knowledge, to the point that it couldn't even be called knowledge. More like, I had a blank page about the here and now. And I had no time to think back to the last thing I knew or thought I knew.
What do I actually know? It's safe to assume I've been kidnapped, that the person in front of me wants something from me. Which is strange, given that mom's no longer rich. But, well, maybe keeping them in the dark about it would be a good thing. I don't know what this woman wants, I don't know what I'm strapped here for. All I know is that I'm powerless and she's incredibly dangerous.
"Ugh…!" I stopped resisting immediately, as much as I could. Doing some might only encourage her to do something worse, and I can't even defend myself. The only thing I can do is let her get bored of manhandling me, or hope she does get bored. Can't even look around for answers because she'll just do something to force my attention back to her.
"Nothing to say? I thought those treacherous bastards would at least have taught you to respect those above you, but as expected they couldn't even do that right." She sounded a bit amused, revering in the fact that her abuse was met with nothing but a pained expression and drowned grunts.
As expected, she wanted something out of me. I… She probably didn't just want to make me suffer, things like these usually have a purpose. A reason to be. She wouldn't try to rough me up… Yet.
That single word sent my heart racing again.
I don't like pain, I hate it when things hurt. It's completely unfair how kidnapping victims have to suffer so that the kidnaper gets what they want from someone else. The victim is often at fault for nothing but being related to the actual target. And I think this is the case here because I'm not old enough to owe money to anyone, nor have I stepped on the toes of someone that looked related to the people that do these things.
In other words, if they really kidnapped me for something; that'd be to take advantage of mom. It's the only way this makes sense. Dad's dead, and I'm not sure how his business partners took it. And maybe he got involved with businesses that he shouldn't, I couldn't know. But the fact that he was three feet under did not change.
Or that's what I'd like to say, if the people around me hadn't said some pretty ridiculous things that made my thoughts slow down.
"Milady." One of the surgeons spoke up in a hurry "It might be advisable not to push him too much, the loss of demonic power is—."
"Silence. Do you think a half-breed would be able to lay even a finger on me?" The woman's grip ceased to be, and I had to remind myself not to throw my neck back to a better position if I didn't want to snap it. My sigh of relief didn't go unnoticed, though "This thing is an insult not just to the Leviathan clan, but to all of devilkind instead. Such a disgrace can only struggle uselessly, like a worm."
Okay, that's definitely not a word. And this woman looked more and more unhinged by the second… Logic might not work here, or I might be panicking too much to actually make sense of her words. For all I knew, she could be messing with me. Just confusing me even more for the sake of it. There are such people in the world, and it's at least better than torture.
However… That doesn't explain the hair.
That damning hair that shouldn't have been easy to grab, the same hair that my dad always insisted I should cut short if I didn't want to be mistaken for a girl; the same hair that should neither have been such a borderline white tone or long enough that, when the woman released me, it covered part of my face to the point I had to shake my head to get it off.
The woman held my hair again, forcing me to look straight into her eyes. She got so close that I could see myself reflected in them, panicking.
The face reflected there, although small and lacking in some details, was definitely not my face.
"Wu—wha…?" I couldn't articulate a word, not when the unknown boy's lips reflected on the woman's eyes moved when I tried to speak. Not when tanned skin and a strange whitish hair accompanied the stranger's face. Not when said stranger had the same expression of utter terror that logic dictated that I had on my face "Huh…?"
"Hmmm. I suppose if respect is too much for such a lowly being, fear would have to do." The woman basically purred with fake sweetness. Her voice basically oozed sadistic glee, and it might've made my back shiver if I hadn't been trying to process why the hell I couldn't see my own face reflected in her eyes.
Don't panic. Everything feels weird, maybe I was drugged? Maybe… Maybe I was operated on, changed. Plastic surgery is a thing, maybe they want to sell me? Then the hair… Wait, no. Sell? What? What did I get myself into…?!
Her grip became tighter again, getting a hiss out of me.
"I don't know if disciplining you would be possible, or even worthwhile. Alas, we may never know." She released him and turned her back on me with disdain "You said the ritual took out his demonic power?"
"That is so, milady." The main surgeon sounded relieved that the woman had taken a step away from me "We're uncertain if he will recover on his own, so this method might not be useful."
"Well, that's what progress is all about. Right?" The woman sounded bored now, waving them off as she walked away before speaking "Leave. You can write down your findings elsewhere, I'll make sure that this thing is punished properly for his insult of an existence."
"But… Milady, his power is not—."
"I won't repeat myself. You've played around enough." The woman sent a glare to the person she was talking to.
The surgeon became quiet, but I didn't hear anyone leaving. Why were they hesitating?
"What about this woman?" Another voice said, but I couldn't turn to look given my position.
"Ah, her." The woman with the glasses sounded amused. She moved and did something, which sounded like a hit to something or someone. It got a wince, and I'm pretty sure I heard something being dragged across the floor "Tell me, traitor, what is that thing's name?"
The chamber fell into a dreadful silence for a moment, and my eyes darted everywhere as I tried to look around for answers. Only a couple of surgeons were watching me; and since their eyes were mostly covered, I couldn't read their expressions. Although they all seemed to be waiting for that woman's orders all the same.
A pitifully small voice reached my ears. And for some reason, I couldn't make it so I didn't hear it.
"...Milord Ilosander." Her tone was small, weak. It came from somewhere away and close to the floor. And yet, I desperately tried to compare it to anyone I knew. Looking for answers.
"Ilosander? I see." A flash of light momentarily appeared in my field of vision, and the surgeons reacted with some horror as something laser-like pierced something else and something… Someone. As someone hit the floor hard "Do whatever you want with the body."
She approached again, and I instinctively tried to move away to no avail. The bindings were too strong, and I couldn't even move a bit without tipping the bed or whatever I laid on. That'd do nothing but piss the woman off even more, and if I knew one thing it was that I didn't want that no matter what.
"Ilosander, hey. Now, I know you're a worthless little disgrace, but think carefully about your answer. Okay?" The woman placed a hand close to my shoulder, resting her weight on it "Do you know who I am?"
My eyes opened even more without my consent. I knew she'd be the kind of person to toy with people beneath her, she showed the willingness already. But I didn't think she'd go straight into the fake 'punishment' bit right off the bat. It meant that she really had nothing for me but pain, and that meant that her hatred ran so deep that nothing I did would change that.
I opened my mouth but no sound came out, my mind was blank. I didn't know what to do.
What did they say? Something, anything. Even if it sounded like they were trying to mess with me. Something other than silence or no.
"...Lady Leviathan." My throat was too dry to speak properly, so my words came out more like a crack than anything else.
She grinned at me, seemingly joyful of either my state or my answer.
"Flattery will get you nowhere." She warned me, even though that sentence made no sense "But correct. I am your Lady, the true descendant of the original Leviathan: Katerea Leviathan."
That name… Something in my mind clicked, although I couldn't be sure of what or why. It felt like it connected to a memory, but I didn't know to which one. Like a line had been drawn into the dark, and I couldn't see where it ended. But all the same, what I focused on was that she wanted to play along with me.
Still… Knowledge. Fake, probably. But knowledge all the same. A path toward action.
Relax, don't panic. If she wants me to make a fool of myself, then I'll clown so hard her sides hurt from laughing. If she's insane, then I'll avoid setting her off at all costs. She used something flashy to kill someone, because that sound was nothing if not a body hitting the ground. It might also be that she's messing with me in this too, but the danger of her just being insane in some way was too big to ignore. The surgeons… Well, sick people exist everywhere in the world. I only knew that they followed her, and thus she was the main danger right now.
So… What did she call me? Isolte? Isoland? No matter who she thinks I am, I have no choice but to assume she needs me to be that person.
"Still nothing to say?" Her voice became harsher, and I realized I had stared at her without doing anything else for a little too long.
"I-It's a pleasure. The honor is all mine." I couldn't help tripping over my words. I couldn't be sure how fancy I had to talk, given how extravagant her insults were. So I just put together the first thing that came to mind.
"It is. Indeed it is." She sounded satisfied, although she didn't move at all from her place "At least you know your place. Good."
She straightened up and moved away, leaving me behind but staying in the room. Simply getting out of my field of vision as if she wanted to toy with me. And, to be honest that's all she appeared to be interested in. Just getting some reactions out of me, behaving like a badly acted torturer or something like that.
Strangely enough, I knew where she was. Even when I couldn't see her, something in my mind kept me relatively aware of her proximity to me. As if the feeling of being watched persisted from the moment I woke up. Like something in my mind working differently.
Think, keep thinking. What can be done at the moment? What is it that can help me turn the tables on this insane woman?
"You're taking this rather well." The woman sounded amused as her voice reached me from somewhere I couldn't see. The region around my head "Way too well, I'd say."
"I…" I swallowed, not too sure how to proceed "I don't think my lady would just wake me up to dirty her hands with my blood."
I heard a chuckle, and the woman dropped something. Not on the floor, but perhaps a table or drawer.
"I didn't 'wake you up', trash. You're just an experiment for our sake, an unintended effect of research." Her tone didn't change, and the voice sounded like she wasn't looking at me. So I tried to move my neck to see my surroundings better.
Silence lingered for a bit, and I closed my eyes and kept my breathing even. Nothing worked, and I wasn't sure what else I could do at the moment. The strange feelings didn't cease, and I felt tired. There were other things, but my main worry were those two. The two things that made me the most anxious… If I could separate my body from the situation at all.
Hunger and thirst almost didn't even register. The situation was as screwed as screwed situations go. So bad it was, that I couldn't even come up with a clever metaphor to put things into perspective.
I know, irreverence wouldn't help me. But a mind must deal however it can.
"Disappointed? If you think your life has been spared due to mercy, then your hopes are misplaced." The woman approached. Slowly walking toward me, almost dragging out my nervousness by force "Because of you there are traitors yet to be uncovered, and my house won't stand for that."
Ah…
She placed her hands at either side of my head, smirking viciously as she looked down on me.
"I can't help my lady with that…" I murmured, avoiding her stare as dread built up in my chest.
"I disagree. Those bastards had the gall to hide you from me and mine for quite some time…" Her grin widened "I wonder if they'll manage to keep laying low if I throw you into the grinder."
No! NO!
"Isn't… Isn't that too barbaric for someone of your…?" My voice disappeared as I saw the woman lift a hand and… And…
Right there, above her palm, a circle of light appeared. It traced lines within its circumference, and rotated around its axis once it was complete. The sheer nonsense of what I was seeing made me mute. Even more as I realized I could feel the light like I could feel the woman's presence. I didn't know what that was, no logic could aid me as I panicked. Still, maybe since before, I also knew exactly what that was.
"My go…" I murmured before becoming very acquainted with the power she conjured.
"Shut. Don't say that name or I'll hurt you more." The woman hissed, somehow becoming even more deranged.
I couldn't help flinching at the cracking noise that the lightning held in her palm made.
"A-Ah…! Names, of course!" I hurried to speak, interrupting her train of thoughts no matter the cost. I'd been zapped before, and it sucked. I was not about to let this psycho touch me with actual magical lightning no matter what "Now that I think about it, I might be of some assistance with that! Maybe we can solve the problems of traitors? Yes?!"
Of course, I had no idea of anyone's name anywhere. I couldn't even recall my name under the pressure of seeing literal lightning being conjured from thin air, but that didn't deter me. In fact, I might've screwed myself by opening my mouth. Because I could see the amusement retake the psycho woman's features as I desperately tried not to bite my own tongue with the bullshit I was saying.
"Really? Just because I showed you just a little bit of demonic power?" She did not un-conjure it, but she did take some distance as she giggled. Then some more when that became a full blown burst of laughter "What else could I expect from a pathetic little worm?! Pathetic, scaredy little half-devil."
The lightning became stronger, but she didn't approach again. She was having too much fun with it to just cut the chase and zap me.
I twisted my lips upwards.
"I'm serious. It's just that I'm a little out of sorts, is all! If allowed, I could…"
"You're allowed nothing, little half-breed." The psycho slammed her free hand besides my head, making me flinch "I don't need your help. Your screams will do the trick, I'm pretty sure."
"And if they don't?" I hurried to ask.
"You'll have to scream more." She replied as if it was the most obvious thing in the world.
"Okay, but isn't that just incredibly inefficient?" I almost tripped on my own words, desperate to keep the tanned woman in that comfortable mood where she was making fun of me and not zapping me with magical lightning "I mean, they could be planning something right now! Why not cull the problem from the root?"
Something in her expression changed. It became less amused and more annoyed. She looked away, with her glasses reflecting the energy she still held between her fingers. I forced my brain to work overtime, trying to decipher what exactly from my words made her think about it.
"Hey, we have goals that align." I narrowly avoided saying 'we're similar' just in time. I didn't have time to think carefully, and the ideas that popped were only half-formed. So I focused on keeping her thinking. Keeping her at least wanting to make me drop my guard by faking it "You want your house purged, and I'd love not to be zapped. How convenient, isn't it?"
"You'd sell the people that have taken care of you for a century just like that?" Her tone became that of disgust again "Just how much do you plan on dragging the name of Leviathan through the mud? Your fear of pain is nothing short of disgusting. Is there not even a drop of unblemished devil blood coursing through your veins?"
Hm. How am I supposed to answer that? Humiliating myself is not an option, she might just think I'm unworthy or whatever and zap me anyway. I… Where's the balance in this?
"Painful things are painful, and scary things are scary. This much, even I can understand." Tragedy, pain, suffering… As a person that can think, isn't it obvious to avoid those things at all cost? "We don't romanticize suffering in this hou—ssSsSsssSSS!"
I didn't manage to complete the sentence. Energy flowed through my body, looking for the easiest path to the floor. My mouth was shut, my jaw locked in place while the psycho's lightning made me shake against the restraints keeping me pinned down.
It didn't hurt. I felt the energy coursing through my body and it didn't hurt. Not in the normal sense, at least. It felt like hitting a nerve, but all over the body. Just a strange, uncomfortable sensation that made me feel a little bit ill. What did hurt, was the way my muscles clenched and spasmed, how my organs reacted. Now that? That hurt.
"MPH!" I couldn't even scream. My jaw was locked and I might've bit my tongue when it slammed closed. Even though I could see, my brain just didn't register anything but the shaking and lightning. I couldn't tell the seconds, or the laughter, or even the saliva and snooze that ran down my mouth and nose. I was pinned down. Unable to do anything.
The only thing that registered was the energy, the pain. And although I couldn't think, I was indeed able to will it away.
Disperse, get out. Like ripping off a bandaid. Willing it out like my body had its own energy. Like I could displace it out by way of flexing every muscle in my body, by flexing something that was a part of me but did not exist within my body. Not inside, outside, or amidst. Somewhere that, all the same, was still 'me'.
I hit my head, and the rest of the back of my body for that matter. I didn't fully register it until the pain spread, and I realized I now laid over the broken operation table-slash-bed that had held me restrained. With said bondages remaining loosely around me because the thing hadn't broken down entirely.
I moved my arms somewhat dumbly, the lack of electricity coursing through them made it feel like they didn't weigh anything. But at the same time, my movements weren't as sharp or coordinated as they should.
"Ugh…" The psycho woman's groan made me jump to my feet.
The room looked like it took a live grenade like a champ. Furniture that might've been used to store medical things had cracked like the explosion smashed everything. The light threw out flickers of light, and the floor also caved in a little.
I realized that I did that as the psycho woman tried to get to her feet, with her clothes charred and her skin reddened by the impact. The feeling I pushed toward had changed the lightning in some way, and the result was… This.
I ran for it, knowing full well that I wouldn't be able to outrun lightning. I went for the door that was opening, showing people on the other side that lifted their arms when they saw me coming.
I didn't have to think or even realize that I was screwed. In an instant they raised their hands, in the other all their blasts of demonic power sent be against the wall of the room. Smashing against it painfully.
"Ugh…" I was alive though. Hurting, yes. But alive and whole. The guards tried to surround me with their magic circles still active, like guns cocked and ready to shoot. However…
"You WORM!" The psycho woman flared up her aura or something, pushing everything away from her as the ghost of a snake slithered and coiled around her body "You dare lay a hand on me! Me!"
I blinked, stealing a glance in the direction of the open door. The guards had been pushed back by the psycho's power and were struggling to hold onto their positions.
I ran for it.
The woman threw a blast of demonic power at me, and this time it didn't end with just some scratches.
"Guh?!" I pierced the reinforced wall as the power burned part of my body. Breaking through with such force that I heard, rather than feel, my bones cracking. I went through one, two, three reinforced walls until the fourth finally cushioned the blow and left me embedded in it.
I looked like a piece of clay slammed onto the wall and held there by the adherence of the material, except that I was made of bone and flesh; and the wall now had a me-shaped dent in it. Like straight out of a TV show.
And just like a piece of clay slammed against the wall, my own weight made me come down to the floor.
"Ugh…" I knew she was coming even before I could take my face off the floor. Even through the agony, I still could tell her presence (?) apart from any other sensation in my body. Just distinct enough that it actually made me want to hurry, but the blast had too much power in it. And although I was -mostly- in one piece, my body still didn't enjoy being hit with such force.
I grunted when she put a foot on my back and felt the energy coming off her body. Growing bigger by the moment.
I chuckled.
"No more gloating…?" I managed to croak in spite of how little I could move.
"..." I couldn't see her face, but I bet she got even angrier because of that "Die."
And then I escaped.
The problem with devil society being used to the Pillars and Extra Demons being the ones with the most power and skills, was that things like this sometimes happened and no one knew what to do.
By the time the tremors and grinding of metal stopped, the devils that had worked for Katerea Leviathan were at a loss. The massive gauges in the headquarters were problem enough, but the mistress was beyond furious now and that was kind of a bigger problem.
Worst part? She kind of had a point.
"Well, it was a good run." A young devil murmured, seeing how clouds kept on pouring rain for kilometers around them while others weaved spells to bring out the gallons of water that had leaked into the lower levels.
Working for one of the descendants of the Old Satans wasn't precisely the best paying, or safest of jobs. But their forces were obsessed with amassing power, and for some devils that was incentive enough to join the ranks. Others, too, saw it as an opportunity to weave connections that would translate in the respectful side of devil society. If nothing else, because gaining power already opened enough doors as-is.
"You're leaving too?" An older devil approached him, taking off the surgical suit and revealing a middle aged-looking woman beneath it "You're brighter than you look."
The young devil still donned the uniform, so his features were mostly obscured. However, he couldn't hide the disheartened mood that permeated through his body language.
"A half-devil that inherited the Sea Serpent of the End? Yeah, that's a receipt for disaster." The young devil shook his head with a sigh "Thanks to 'her' he escaped, so this little adventure is over."
"You'd think that, but the heirs still know a thing or two about fixing their own messes." The old woman shook her head "Or else, they'd have been discovered sooner. Right now the biggest threat is Katerea's meltdown, so…"
"You say it like you're not leaving yourself." The younger devil scoffed.
"It's not so simple, young man. This and that are not the same." Her words made him stop in his thoughts. He looked at her quizzically, almost like he was berating her for something.
"You knew. You're one of the people that hid him from her."
"It was my mistress' will. What else could I do?" The old woman sighed "At least Lord Ilosander is awake now. Lucifer knows that he should've died from the Sleeping Disease decades ago."
"This will blow up sooner or later." Probably the former too, given how the guy transformed into a sea dragon and broke his way out with jets of water and sheer strength.
"That's why it's smart to leave now." The older woman replied "Disappear, make yourself scarce. We'll take it from here."
"You can't just openly protect him." He pointed out.
"No. But we can slow down our so-called heiress." The older woman's features became tense "The proof that she's not worthy just exploded in her face, after all."
That made sense. The eldest son of the Lord of the Bael was locked out of inheriting because he did not possess the Power of Destruction. And if a household that stood with the New Satans were that old fashioned… What could be said about a clan that desperately tried to cling to their roots above all devils?
"I need to get off this island." The young devil came to this conclusion almost immediately.
"That's why I came to you." The older woman gave him a small note "In exchange for a way out, do me a favor."
The young man hesitated to take the note, but after looking around for a moment he relented.
"As long as it's not a risk."
The older woman smirked.
"Go back now that it's easier, get rid of anything related to the experiments they did on him."
The young devil deflated. He shouldn't have taken that offer.